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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?byline=bobbie-edwards&#038;post_type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/bobbie-edwards/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Wed, 27 May 2026 21:51:57 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>Bobbie Edwards Archives</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/bobbie-edwards/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Loopholes undermine palm oil industry’s antideforestation pledges</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/loopholes-undermine-palm-oil-industrys-antideforestation-pledges/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/loopholes-undermine-palm-oil-industrys-antideforestation-pledges/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 May 2026 21:51:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandrapopescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[EUDR]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forest Destruction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forest Loss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Global Trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Monitoring]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Palm Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Plantations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rainforest Deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Supply Chain]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/02173520/sabah_1209-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320195</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia, Malaysia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Certification, Commodity agriculture, Corporate Responsibility, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, International Trade, Monitoring, Oil Palm, Palm Oil, Plantations, Rainforest Deforestation, and Satellite Imagery]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — More than a decade after the palm oil industry embraced a pledge to not deforest, clear tropical peatlands, or use exploitative practices, policies to that end now cover most of the global palm oil trade, as major traders, refiners and consumer brands have pledged to keep deforestation-linked palm oil out of their supply [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — More than a decade after the palm oil industry embraced a pledge to not deforest, clear tropical peatlands, or use exploitative practices, policies to that end now cover most of the global palm oil trade, as major traders, refiners and consumer brands have pledged to keep deforestation-linked palm oil out of their supply chains. However, deforestation linked to palm oil continues, particularly in Indonesia, the world’s largest producer of the commodity. Satellite analysis by forest-mapping initiative TheTreeMap shows 31,073 hectares (76,783 acres) of forest were cleared for palm oil in Indonesia in 2025, slightly higher than the 30,956 hectares (76,494 acres) recorded in 2024 — highlighting persistent gaps in how the industry enforces its zero-deforestation pledges. In some cases, palm oil from newly cleared land still enters supply chains that companies describe as deforestation-free. “No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation” (NDPE) policies aim to eliminate three major sources of harm in palm oil production: clearing natural forests, developing plantations on carbon-rich peatlands, and exploiting workers or local communities. By 2020, these commitments covered roughly 83% of palm oil refinery capacity in Indonesia and Malaysia, the world’s main producing region. In recent years, companies have also built systems to enforce these pledges. Many now publish grievance mechanisms where violations can be reported, while third-party monitoring groups use satellite imagery to track forest loss and flag suspicious activity. Large-scale corporate deforestation in Indonesia has fallen compared to the mid-2010s, when some plantation companies were clearing vast areas of rainforest. Deforestation for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/loopholes-undermine-palm-oil-industrys-antideforestation-pledges/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>A ‘symphony’ of wildlife suggests carbon financing is working in Sierra Leone</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/a-symphony-of-wildlife-suggests-carbon-financing-is-working-in-sierra-leone/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/a-symphony-of-wildlife-suggests-carbon-financing-is-working-in-sierra-leone/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 May 2026 20:36:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claudia Geib]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/27093342/White-necked_rockfowl_Picathartes_gymnocephalus_Nyamebe_Bepo_-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320170</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Sierra Leone, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bioacoustics, Bioacoustics and conservation, Biodiversity, Birds, Carbon Conservation, Carbon Sequestration, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forests, Rainforest Biodiversity, Rainforest Conservation, Rainforests, Research, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[One of the first things H.S. Sathya Chandra Sagar noticed in Gola Rainforest National Park was its profusion of sound. Standing amid the tallest trees he’d ever seen, Sagar could hear the calls of countless birds, the hoot of primates, and in the distance, drumming: chimpanzees, beating fists and sticks on tree roots to check [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[One of the first things H.S. Sathya Chandra Sagar noticed in Gola Rainforest National Park was its profusion of sound. Standing amid the tallest trees he’d ever seen, Sagar could hear the calls of countless birds, the hoot of primates, and in the distance, drumming: chimpanzees, beating fists and sticks on tree roots to check in with faraway friends. The din was a chorus of good news. Sagar, a conservation biologist, had traveled to the Sierra Leone national park as part of his Ph.D. research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the U.S. to try and figure out if economic measures aimed at conserving carbon in the Gola Rainforest also helped protect its animal biodiversity. In a study published in Conservation Science and Practice, Sagar and his co-authors find that its noisy soundscape suggests that it does. “We see that if it’s done well, carbon financing initiatives do have the capability to protect both biodiversity, beyond just habitat, and carbon markets,” Sagar says. Gola Rainforest National Park is one of the largest remaining portions of the Upper Guinean Tropical Rainforest, which once covered some 700,000 square kilometers (about 270,000 square miles) of West Africa. After a century of mining and logging, and a devastating civil war in the 1990s, Sierra Leone protected 700 km2 (270 mi2) of this forest that remained within its borders in 2010. In 2012, Sierra Leone established the Gola REDD+ project, a framework created through the United Nations Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+)&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/a-symphony-of-wildlife-suggests-carbon-financing-is-working-in-sierra-leone/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>US prepares to auction leases for seabed mining blocks in federal waters</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/us-prepares-to-auction-leases-for-seabed-mining-blocks-in-federal-waters/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/us-prepares-to-auction-leases-for-seabed-mining-blocks-in-federal-waters/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 May 2026 20:29:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/27100412/sea-star-coral-ex1702-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320180</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Alaska, Pacific, and Pacific Islands]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deep Sea Mining, extractives, Marine Ecosystems, Mining, Ocean, Ocean Crisis, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is part 1 of a two-part series examining the U.S.’s efforts to begin deep-sea mining in federal waters. Part 1 explores the process behind proposed lease sales in U.S. federal waters and reactions to those plans. Part 2, to be published soon, will examine the regulations that would govern the industry. The U.S. agency [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is part 1 of a two-part series examining the U.S.’s efforts to begin deep-sea mining in federal waters. Part 1 explores the process behind proposed lease sales in U.S. federal waters and reactions to those plans. Part 2, to be published soon, will examine the regulations that would govern the industry. The U.S. agency responsible for overseeing deep-sea mining in federal waters is preparing to auction off seabed blocks within months — a step that could kick-start commercial-scale deep-sea mining and make the U.S. one of the first countries to allow it. Deep-sea mining has not yet begun anywhere in the world. Opponents say it could cause widespread and irreversible damage to the marine environment if it begins, while supporters say it could provide an important source of critical minerals. In a budgetary document released in April 2026, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) indicated it intends to hold at least three offshore lease sales during the 2026 and 2027 fiscal years. The lease sales will take place through competitive auctions, providing a pathway for winning companies to gain exclusive rights to explore and exploit minerals in designated tracts of seabed. The first sale is slated for the federal waters of American Samoa in August 2026; a second in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) in November 2026; and a third in Alaska in 2027. A spokesperson for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the U.S. agency currently responsible for the development of offshore energy&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/us-prepares-to-auction-leases-for-seabed-mining-blocks-in-federal-waters/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Brazil to invest $75 million in highway through Amazon and unveils environmental protection plan</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/brazil-to-invest-75-million-in-highway-through-amazon-and-unveils-environmental-protection-plan/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/brazil-to-invest-75-million-in-highway-through-amazon-and-unveils-environmental-protection-plan/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 May 2026 20:16:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/27201346/AP26147686836103-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320220</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Conservation, Deforestation, Development, Infrastructure, and Roads]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s government has announced a $75 million investment in the BR-319 highway, a move environmentalists fear could speed up Amazon deforestation. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva claims it will be the most environmentally advanced road in the world. The highway, linking Amazonas and Rondonia, remains mostly unpaved since its 1976 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s government has announced a $75 million investment in the BR-319 highway, a move environmentalists fear could speed up Amazon deforestation. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva claims it will be the most environmentally advanced road in the world. The highway, linking Amazonas and Rondonia, remains mostly unpaved since its 1976 inauguration. The government also unveiled an environmental protection plan that includes monitoring and conservation units. Critics argue the project lacks necessary safeguards and could worsen deforestation. The Amazon plays a crucial role in regulating the global climate. By Gabriela Sá Pessoa, Associated Press Banner image: A man walks down an unpaved stretch of highway BR-319 in the Brazilian Amazon between the cities of Manaus and Porto Velho on Aug. 10, 2018. Image by Fabiano Maisonnave, Associated PressThis article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/brazil-to-invest-75-million-in-highway-through-amazon-and-unveils-environmental-protection-plan/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Nepal&#8217;s infrastructure risks wildlife habitats beyond protected areas, study warns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepals-infrastructure-risks-wildlife-habitats-beyond-protected-areas-study-warns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepals-infrastructure-risks-wildlife-habitats-beyond-protected-areas-study-warns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 May 2026 13:25:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Deepak Adhikari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/27132222/Ultramarine_flycatcher_in_Nepal_2019_in_Nepal_01-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320178</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Development, Environment, Forests, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Destruction, Infrastructure, Protected Areas, Roads, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — As Nepal expands highways, railways and power lines across the country, a new nationwide study warns the infrastructure boom is cutting through habitats and movement routes used by threatened species. The mapping study, published by WWF Nepal, identifies 515 “biodiversity important areas” (BIAs) and finds extensive overlap between those landscapes and the sites [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — As Nepal expands highways, railways and power lines across the country, a new nationwide study warns the infrastructure boom is cutting through habitats and movement routes used by threatened species. The mapping study, published by WWF Nepal, identifies 515 “biodiversity important areas” (BIAs) and finds extensive overlap between those landscapes and the sites of existing or planned infrastructure projects. A total of 6,529 kilometers (4,057 miles) of roads and 4,862 km (3,021 mi) of power lines already pass through these areas. Nearly a quarter of Nepal’s proposed railway network could also cut across them once completed. The findings sharpen a growing policy dilemma for Nepal: how to build the transportation and power networks needed for economic growth without fragmenting the forests, wetlands and rivers that wildlife depend on, especially outside the country’s protected areas. The BIAs identified in the report fall under 11 categories, including key biodiversity areas, important bird areas, Ramsar wetlands, forest conservation areas, and ecological corridors. Together, they form habitats and ecological zones that allow wildlife to move, breed and survive. Jhamak Bahadur Karki, a former chief warden at Chitwan National Park and faculty member at the Kathmandu Forestry College, who wasn’t involved in the study, said its significance lies in the fact that it highlights biodiversity important areas outside of Nepal’s national parks and wildlife reserves. “The study is eye-opening,” Karki said. “It clearly shows why Nepal needs to pay attention to biodiversity important areas that lie outside protected areas.” Distribution of all infrastructure&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepals-infrastructure-risks-wildlife-habitats-beyond-protected-areas-study-warns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Ebola outbreak draws attention to longstanding virus spillover risks in western Uganda</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/ebola-outbreak-draws-attention-to-longstanding-virus-spillover-risks-in-western-uganda/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/ebola-outbreak-draws-attention-to-longstanding-virus-spillover-risks-in-western-uganda/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 May 2026 06:37:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika VyawahareSharon Muzaki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/26225057/IMG_9541-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320158</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bats, Diseases, Ebola, Environment, Governance, Government, Health, Planetary Health, Public Health, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KAMPALA — In the hills and trading centers of western Uganda, bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities are racing to limit the spread of Bundibugyo ebolavirus, a rare species of Ebola for which there is currently no vaccine or cure. The number of suspected cases in the DRC is fast approaching 1,000, with Uganda [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[KAMPALA — In the hills and trading centers of western Uganda, bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities are racing to limit the spread of Bundibugyo ebolavirus, a rare species of Ebola for which there is currently no vaccine or cure. The number of suspected cases in the DRC is fast approaching 1,000, with Uganda reporting seven cases, as of May 25. The first cluster of cases of the ongoing outbreak was detected in early May in Ituri province in the DRC, which shares a border with Uganda. The close community and economic ties between people residing on both sides of the border has complicated efforts to contain the outbreak, with Uganda taking measures to stem the flow of people. The Ebola virus driving the current outbreak is named for Uganda’s Bundibugyo district, where it was first detected almost two decades ago. (International health bodies including the World Health Organization have since moved away from naming disease-causing pathogens after places, citing stigmatization.) Most Ebola outbreaks to date have been caused by the Zaire ebolavirus, which also drove the 2014-2016 epidemic centered on West Africa. The Bundibugyo ebolavirus has been linked to two outbreaks in the past. The second outbreak emerged in the DRC in 2012 remained limited to the country, before subsiding later that year. This time may be different, since cases have emerged in Uganda, and the risk of regional spread is high. On May 23, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) identified 10 other&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/ebola-outbreak-draws-attention-to-longstanding-virus-spillover-risks-in-western-uganda/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Reintroduced platypus population &#8216;tracking well&#8217; in Australia’s oldest national park</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/reintroduced-platypus-population-tracking-well-in-australias-oldest-national-park/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/reintroduced-platypus-population-tracking-well-in-australias-oldest-national-park/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 May 2026 03:51:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Megan Strauss]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/26230634/Duck-billed_platypus_Ornithorhynchus_anatinus_Scottsdale-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320163</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mammals, Reintroductions, Rewilding, Rivers, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Platypuses reintroduced to Australia’s oldest national park are breeding and appear to be on a good population trajectory with 20 known individuals now, scientists say. For more than 50 years, the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal, had been absent from Royal National Park, a protected area located just south of Sydney in the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Platypuses reintroduced to Australia’s oldest national park are breeding and appear to be on a good population trajectory with 20 known individuals now, scientists say. For more than 50 years, the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal, had been absent from Royal National Park, a protected area located just south of Sydney in the Australian state of New South Wales. A reintroduction program was initiated in 2023, led by Gilad Bino from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and a co-founder of the Platypus Conservation Initiative. “It is a privilege to be part of bringing platypuses back to a part of their former range where they had been missing for generations,” Bino said in a statement. In 2023, researchers first introduced a founding group of 10 platypuses to the Hacking River that flows through the national park. A second group of three animals followed in 2025. Each animal was fitted with a transmitter to allow scientists to monitor their survival, movements, and breeding. In May 2026, researchers introduced four more platypuses sourced from healthy populations: two males they named Absinthe and Duckie, and two females they named Dawn and Hydra. At the same time, the researchers carried out extensive surveys and found 20 known individuals. More individuals could be present that were missed. Researchers Gilad Bino and Tahneal Hawke during a platypus survey in Royal National Park. Image courtesy of Gilad Bino/Platypus Conservation Initiative. Visitors are also reporting platypus sightings in the park, especially around the river. “That public connection&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/reintroduced-platypus-population-tracking-well-in-australias-oldest-national-park/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Luxury yacht maker Sunseeker pleads guilty to violating a US environmental law</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/luxury-yacht-maker-sunseeker-pleads-guilty-to-violating-a-us-environmental-law/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/luxury-yacht-maker-sunseeker-pleads-guilty-to-violating-a-us-environmental-law/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 May 2026 03:46:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/04050944/Burmese-teak-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320169</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, United Kingdom, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, environmental justice, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Green, Illegal Logging, Illegal Timber Trade, Logging, Military, Protected Areas, Rainforest Conservation, Rainforest Deforestation, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforest Logging, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Luxury yacht manufacturer Sunseeker has pleaded guilty to violating a U.S. environmental law by using illegally sourced teak from Myanmar on two of its yachts imported into the U.S. The U.K.-based Sunseeker International Limited, which describes itself as “the world’s leading brand for luxury motor yachts,” along with its U.S. subsidiary pleaded guilty on May [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Luxury yacht manufacturer Sunseeker has pleaded guilty to violating a U.S. environmental law by using illegally sourced teak from Myanmar on two of its yachts imported into the U.S. The U.K.-based Sunseeker International Limited, which describes itself as “the world’s leading brand for luxury motor yachts,” along with its U.S. subsidiary pleaded guilty on May 13, 2026, to violating the U.S. Lacey Act. The regulation prohibits trade in wildlife and plant products, including timber, that have been sourced in violation of domestic or foreign laws. Sunseeker had not responded to Mongabay’s request for comment at the time of publishing. As part of a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Sunseeker agreed to pay a $200,000 fine and implement a compliance plan. The U.S. DOJ said in a news release that illegally sourced timber was identified in components of two yachts priced at approximately $2.98 million and $1.07 million, respectively. The company is scheduled for sentencing in the U.S. on Aug. 20, 2026. Sunseeker, which manufactures its yachts in the U.K., previously pled guilty to violating the U.K. Timber Regulation in a U.K. court in 2024.  The company was accused of using illegally obtained teak in its yachts. It was fined 358,759.64 pounds (about $454,300) for 11 specific timber exports, according to previous Mongabay reporting. U.S. authorities noted the teak imported into the country originated from the same illegal imports prosecuted in the U.K. While highly prized in the luxury yacht industry, much of the teak from Myanmar,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/luxury-yacht-maker-sunseeker-pleads-guilty-to-violating-a-us-environmental-law/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Building bridges for human-wildlife coexistence: Interview with Yap Jo Leen</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/building-bridges-for-human-wildlife-coexistence-interview-with-yap-jo-leen/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/building-bridges-for-human-wildlife-coexistence-interview-with-yap-jo-leen/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 May 2026 00:54:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Isabelle LeongPhilip Jacobson]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/26092551/Yap-conducts-canopy-bridge-education-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320118</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Malaysia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Deforestation, Development, Endangered Species, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Human-wildlife Conflict, Innovation In Conservation, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Mammals, Monkeys, Primates, Rainforests, urban ecology, Urban Planning, Urbanization, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[TANJUNG BUNGAH, Malaysia — When Yap Jo Leen was tracking dusky langurs in the forests of Penang for her master’s degree in 2016, she watched a langur they called Towkay Soh — Hokkien for “lady boss” — get hit by a car while trying to cross a busy coastal road. Dazed, the langur managed to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[TANJUNG BUNGAH, Malaysia — When Yap Jo Leen was tracking dusky langurs in the forests of Penang for her master’s degree in 2016, she watched a langur they called Towkay Soh — Hokkien for “lady boss” — get hit by a car while trying to cross a busy coastal road. Dazed, the langur managed to get back on its feet and retreat into a tree while Yap and her colleagues blocked traffic. As Towkay Soh recuperated over the next few days, the langur group’s empathy for each other was on full display, Yap says. “Female individuals, they would approach her and groom her and even try to make her feel better,” Yap says. “I always believe that the primates, humans and monkeys, we all share a similarity, which is connection.” Two dusky langurs called &#8220;Kim&#8221; (left) and &#8220;Sunny&#8221; (right) named by the Langur Project Penang at a playground near a residential area in the Tanjung Bungah area of George Town on Malaysia&#8217;s Penang Island. For Malaysia&#8217;s endangered dusky langurs, recognizable by the characteristic white &#8220;eye masks&#8221; that stand out against their black fur, survival increasingly depends on manmade crossings across urban landscapes and the work of &#8220;citizen scientists&#8221;. Image by Mohd Rasfan / AFP. Other langurs weren’t so lucky. From 2016 to 2018, Yap recorded eight langur roadkill deaths in the same area. So, in 2019, Yap and her collaborators built an artificial canopy bridge over the road, made from old fire hoses. Since then, they’ve recorded zero langur roadkill&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/building-bridges-for-human-wildlife-coexistence-interview-with-yap-jo-leen/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Australia is failing to meet its environment targets, argues ecologist</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/05/australia-is-failing-to-meet-its-environment-targets-argues-ecologist/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/05/australia-is-failing-to-meet-its-environment-targets-argues-ecologist/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 May 2026 20:52:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike DiGirolamo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mikedigirolamo]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/25073856/Black-flanked_Rock_Wallaby-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=podcasts&#038;p=320095</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Crisis, Biodiversity Offsets, Environment, Environmental Policy, Featured, Global Environmental Crisis, Government, Interviews, Podcast, Wildilfe, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Australia is one of 17 “megadiverse” countries that account for 70% of Earth’s biodiversity. However, Australia is unique in having the highest mammalian extinction rate in the world. That makes conservation on the island continent, where most of the wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth, all the more urgent. Conservation and environmental scientists have [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Australia is one of 17 “megadiverse” countries that account for 70% of Earth’s biodiversity. However, Australia is unique in having the highest mammalian extinction rate in the world. That makes conservation on the island continent, where most of the wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth, all the more urgent. Conservation and environmental scientists have come out against the Australian federal government’s claim that it’s “on track” to meet most of its targets under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreed upon at the U.N. biodiversity summit in 2022. This week on the Mongabay Newscast, Euan Ritchie, a professor of wildlife ecology and conservation at Australia’s Deakin University, and a councilor with the Biodiversity Council, an academic alliance in the country, argues why conservationists say the Australian government is failing its commitments. “The short answer, unfortunately, is that Australia is doing terribly in terms of honoring its international obligations to meet those targets in the agreement. If we look at the number of threatened species in Australia, it&#8217;s more than 2,200 now, and that list continues to increase,” Ritchie says. Despite being a relatively wealthy nation by gross domestic product per capita, Australia funds conservation at a diminutive scale compared to other industrialized countries.  The latest annual budget allocates 0.06% of federal spending to nature. Ritchie and some 60 fellow experts suggest that it would only take about 1% of the federal budget to save most threatened species and restore soils and rivers. In 2024, the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/05/australia-is-failing-to-meet-its-environment-targets-argues-ecologist/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Tracking Lucero: Scientists follow a rare Eastern Pacific leatherback sea turtle</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/tracking-lucero-scientists-follow-a-rare-eastern-pacific-leatherback-sea-turtle/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/tracking-lucero-scientists-follow-a-rare-eastern-pacific-leatherback-sea-turtle/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 May 2026 20:33:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bobby Bascomb]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/26202912/20260320-NikkiRiddy-7O4A8545-BW-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320155</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bycatch, Fisheries, Fishing, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Migration, Ocean, Sea Turtles, Turtles, Turtles And Tortoises, Wildilfe, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Fewer than 1,000 leatherback sea turtles remain in the Eastern Pacific, nesting along the coastline that runs from Mexico to Ecuador. Scientists have previously fitted tracking devices to leatherbacks on other beaches across Latin America and from bycatch near Ecuador. However, they recently tagged the first nesting leatherback in Ecuador, the southern limit of the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Fewer than 1,000 leatherback sea turtles remain in the Eastern Pacific, nesting along the coastline that runs from Mexico to Ecuador. Scientists have previously fitted tracking devices to leatherbacks on other beaches across Latin America and from bycatch near Ecuador. However, they recently tagged the first nesting leatherback in Ecuador, the southern limit of the species’ nesting range. Scientists named the turtle Lucero, “morning star” in Spanish, and estimated her age at 25-40 years. They plan to gather data on her migration and feeding patterns, which should help inform conservation policies for the critically endangered subpopulation. (Globally, the species, Dermochelys coriacea, is listed as vulnerable.) Researchers from Ecuador-based Fundacion Reina Laud were at sea when they first spotted Lucero heading toward a remote stretch of beach to nest. They alerted Callie Veelenturf, a marine conservation biologist and founder of the U.S.-based Leatherback Project. The team didn’t know where Lucero would emerge, so they stationed people the length of the beach with radios to watch out for her, according to Veelenturf. “It was really quite an adventure because we just spent multiple nights out on the beach waiting for her,” she told Mongabay in a video call. When sea turtles lay eggs, they enter a trance-like state in which they don’t seem to notice activity around them, Veelenturf said. That’s when the team attached a satellite tag to the top of Lucero’s shell. Now, each time she surfaces to breathe, the tag pings a satellite and transmits information about her movements. Leatherbacks&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/tracking-lucero-scientists-follow-a-rare-eastern-pacific-leatherback-sea-turtle/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Peru&#8217;s Quellaveco mine tied to water scarcity, contamination, investigation finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/perus-quellaveco-mine-tied-to-water-scarcity-contamination-investigation-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/perus-quellaveco-mine-tied-to-water-scarcity-contamination-investigation-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 May 2026 18:13:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandrapopescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Copper]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environmental Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forest Destruction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/26174151/WhatsApp-Image-2026-05-14-at-3.27.18-PM-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320143</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Conservation, Copper, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Mining, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A copper mine in southern Peru that took decades to complete environmental assessments has been contaminating local watersheds with harmful metals, critics say. In its first few years of operation, the mine has allegedly endangered wildlife, threatened the local economy, and created health concerns in communities. Developers of the Quellaveco mine in Peru’s Moquegua department [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A copper mine in southern Peru that took decades to complete environmental assessments has been contaminating local watersheds with harmful metals, critics say. In its first few years of operation, the mine has allegedly endangered wildlife, threatened the local economy, and created health concerns in communities. Developers of the Quellaveco mine in Peru’s Moquegua department spent more than 20 years conducting and revising environmental assessments to responsibly extract copper and molybdenum, a metal used in industrial alloys. But after the mine started operating in 2022, the impacts from pollution, erosion and other issues became difficult to ignore, residents say. “[The project] has exhibited the tensions that are typical of large-scale mining in the Andean south: disputes over water in fragile basins, distrust in environmental evaluation and enforcement procedures, promises of employment and local development that are difficult to verify,” said a recent investigation by several advocacy groups, including Red Muqui, a collective of 32 NGOs in Peru. The mine is operated by Anglo American Quellaveco S.A., a subsidiary of British mining company Anglo American. The company received its first environmental impact assessment approval for the project in 2000, but then spent another two decades revising it and finishing technical permitting and negotiations with local communities. The Quellaveco mine. Image courtesy of Red Muqui. More than half of Moquegua department is covered by mining concessions, some of them causing contamination and water scarcity. Residents around the Quellaveco mine said they wanted to avoid the problems that had emerged from earlier large-scale&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/perus-quellaveco-mine-tied-to-water-scarcity-contamination-investigation-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Kenyan agency responds to protests rejecting proposed nuclear power plant near Lake Victoria</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/kenyan-agency-responds-to-protests-rejecting-proposed-nuclear-power-plant-near-lake-victoria/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/kenyan-agency-responds-to-protests-rejecting-proposed-nuclear-power-plant-near-lake-victoria/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 May 2026 18:04:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lynet Otieno]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/26180311/Photo-of-Siaya-Protesters-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320151</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Clean Energy, Green Energy, Nuclear Power, Renewable Energy, Solar Power, and Wind Power]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[About a year ago, Kenya announced plans for its first nuclear power plant to be built in Siaya County, on the shores of Lake Victoria. However, following local protests, Kenya’s state-run Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (NuPEA) announced plans to conduct “a robust, transparent, and multi-layered educational campaign” to address concerns. The facility would produce [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[About a year ago, Kenya announced plans for its first nuclear power plant to be built in Siaya County, on the shores of Lake Victoria. However, following local protests, Kenya’s state-run Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (NuPEA) announced plans to conduct “a robust, transparent, and multi-layered educational campaign” to address concerns. The facility would produce roughly 2,000 megawatts of energy and cost roughly KSh500 billion ($3.85 billion) to build. “As the Nuclear Power and Energy Agency, we hear and respect the voices of the residents of Siaya. Public participation is not a mere procedural formality. It is a constitutional right,” the agency said in a statement shared on social media. The agency said the project wouldn’t proceed “without the broad informed consent of the community.” The statement came two days after protests from residents living near the proposed nuclear power project. They voiced concerns about potential nuclear contamination and ecological risks to Africa’s largest fresh-water lake. Many locals depend on the lake for food and their livelihoods. Kenya’s President William Ruto has previously assured the public that the flagship energy project will be safe. Power Shift Africa (PSA), a Pan-African think tank focused on climate change, has condemned the proposed shift toward nuclear energy, saying it risks diverting attention and resources from Kenya’s readily available renewable energy solutions, which are cleaner and safer. In a statement sent to Mongabay, PSA Director Mohamed Adow said a nuclear facility can take more than a decade to become operational. “For comparison, the 55MW&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/kenyan-agency-responds-to-protests-rejecting-proposed-nuclear-power-plant-near-lake-victoria/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Parts of Europe swelter in record May heat as deaths at amateur sports events spur warnings</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/parts-of-europe-swelter-in-record-may-heat-as-deaths-at-amateur-sports-events-spur-warnings/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/parts-of-europe-swelter-in-record-may-heat-as-deaths-at-amateur-sports-events-spur-warnings/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 May 2026 17:47:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/26174016/AP26145501492734-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320145</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change And Extreme Weather, Extreme Weather, Heatwave, Public Health, and Temperatures]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PARIS (AP) — Europe is baking under unseasonal heat that is shattering temperature records, including in the United Kingdom on Monday, and prompting government warnings after deaths were reported at amateur sports events in France. The French sports minister, Marina Ferrari, posted condolences to the loved ones of a runner who died Sunday in a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PARIS (AP) — Europe is baking under unseasonal heat that is shattering temperature records, including in the United Kingdom on Monday, and prompting government warnings after deaths were reported at amateur sports events in France. The French sports minister, Marina Ferrari, posted condolences to the loved ones of a runner who died Sunday in a Paris race. Le Parisien newspaper reported that the 53-year-old man suffered a heart attack during the run in the capital’s 20th arrondissement, and that firefighters were unable to revive him. It wasn’t yet known if the cause of the runner&#8217;s death was heat-related, but Ferrari suggested a possible link. Temperatures in Paris went as high as 32 C ( 90 F) in the afternoon. “The events that occurred today (Sunday) during running races are a reminder that practicing sports in extreme heat requires absolute vigilance,” Ferrari said in an X post. “My thoughts are with the family and loved ones of the runner who died in Paris, as well as with the people who were treated by emergency services.” In the southeastern city of Lyon, local media Actu Lyon on Monday reported the death of a woman who suffered heat stroke there during another sports competition, also on Sunday. The national weather service, Meteo France, said temperatures are breaking records for the month of May, soaring past 30 C (86 F) in many parts of the country and forecast to last into the week. The United Kingdom broke its record Monday for the hottest temperature&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/parts-of-europe-swelter-in-record-may-heat-as-deaths-at-amateur-sports-events-spur-warnings/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Indonesia seizes mercury shipment bound for illegal mines in the Philippines</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/indonesia-seizes-mercury-shipment-bound-for-illegal-mines-in-the-philippines/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/indonesia-seizes-mercury-shipment-bound-for-illegal-mines-in-the-philippines/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 May 2026 16:23:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anggita Raissa]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/26103526/indonesia-illegal-mining-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320126</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Jakarta, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Gold Mining, Illegal Mining, Illegal Trade, Law, Law Enforcement, Mercury, Mining, Poisoning, Pollution, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Authorities at Indonesia’s largest port seized hundreds of kilograms of the toxic heavy metal mercury in late April. The bust reflects the vast scale of illegal mining underway in forests across much of Southeast Asia amid record-high gold prices. “This mercury was to be shipped to the Philippines using manipulated customs documents, so [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Authorities at Indonesia’s largest port seized hundreds of kilograms of the toxic heavy metal mercury in late April. The bust reflects the vast scale of illegal mining underway in forests across much of Southeast Asia amid record-high gold prices. “This mercury was to be shipped to the Philippines using manipulated customs documents, so that the cargo appeared to be textiles, clothing and carpets,” Victor Dean Mackbon, special investigations lead with the Jakarta Police, told Mongabay Indonesia. Police and customs officials said the 760 bottles of mercury were packed in cardboard and concealed within 145 rolls of carpet. Investigators allege the mercury was procured in Indonesia for a buyer in Davao, on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. Mercury is widely used to separate gold from crushed ore by miners in the illegal sector. But the heavy metal is also a potent neurotoxin linked to developmental disorders in children, as well as severe cognitive, neurological and physical impairment in adults. The seized mercury bottles displayed by authorities in Jakarta at a press conference. Image courtesy of Jakarta Police. Authorities have questioned nine people over the Jakarta seizure, and charged two — the alleged supplier and alleged exporter — with violations of trade and mining laws, for which they could face up to four years in jail. Victor said the suspected trafficking route may have been used to ship mercury to the Philippines since 2021. Davao, the alleged destination of the mercury consignment, is the political stronghold of the Duterte&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/indonesia-seizes-mercury-shipment-bound-for-illegal-mines-in-the-philippines/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>White rhinos are back in Uganda</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/white-rhinos-are-back-in-uganda/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/white-rhinos-are-back-in-uganda/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 May 2026 15:16:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Juan Maza]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/26151530/042A1864-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320139</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Northern White Rhino, Reintroductions, Rhinos, White Rhino, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Uganda was home to around 300 Northern white rhinos, but after years of intense poaching, the population disappeared, with the last wild rhino killed in 1983. But now, they are back. In 2005, a breeding program for rhinos was established at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, and authorities are now reintroducing them to Kidepo Valley National Park [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Uganda was home to around 300 Northern white rhinos, but after years of intense poaching, the population disappeared, with the last wild rhino killed in 1983. But now, they are back. In 2005, a breeding program for rhinos was established at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, and authorities are now reintroducing them to Kidepo Valley National Park in the north of the country. Conservationists believe that this will not only create a stronghold for rhinos, but their presence will also support the local economy through tourism and conservation-related activities.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/white-rhinos-are-back-in-uganda/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Iceland must protect wild salmon and reject new aquaculture legislation (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/iceland-must-protect-wild-salmon-and-reject-new-aquaculture-legislation-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/iceland-must-protect-wild-salmon-and-reject-new-aquaculture-legislation-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 May 2026 14:56:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Yvon Chouinard]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/26140226/A-SALMON-NATION_STILLS_6_1.3.1-1-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320134</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean and Iceland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquaculture, Business, Commentary, Fish, Fish Farming, Fisheries, Governance, Government, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Conservation, Marine Ecosystems, Nutrient Pollution, Oceans, Pollution, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a little more than 50 years, the population of wild North Atlantic salmon has plummeted by 75%. Today, it is estimated that fewer than 60,000 exist in and around Iceland. Unless we do something soon, we may be condemning what Icelandic environmentalist and wild fish advocate Orri Vigfússon has called the “king of fish” [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In a little more than 50 years, the population of wild North Atlantic salmon has plummeted by 75%. Today, it is estimated that fewer than 60,000 exist in and around Iceland. Unless we do something soon, we may be condemning what Icelandic environmentalist and wild fish advocate Orri Vigfússon has called the “king of fish” to extinction. Warmer waters caused by climate change already pose a potential mortal threat to wild salmon (Salmo salar). If Iceland’s legislature passes the latest draft of its aquaculture bill and opens the country to more salmon farms, the fish will be headed toward disappearance even faster. I’ve visited Iceland regularly since 1960 and have personally seen the decline of wild salmon in the rivers. Expanding open net-pen fish farming in Iceland would compound an already critical problem and open the country to disaster, both for wild fish and the environment. It is no secret that these farms are ecological scourges, even when they function as designed. But when they fail, the effects are catastrophic. A wild Atlantic salmon returning to its home river. Image via IRD Duhallow/Raptor LIFE. If you’ve never seen an open net-pen salmon farm before, picture an array of massive floating cylindrical cages that run 30-50 meters (about 100-160 feet) down from the surface of the water. There may be 16 pens on a farm, each holding 100,000 salmon or more. Feeding such huge numbers of carnivorous fish takes millions of pounds of food made with fishmeal and oil sourced from&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/iceland-must-protect-wild-salmon-and-reject-new-aquaculture-legislation-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Amid efforts to save Australia’s southern cassowaries, their numbers remain unknown</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/amid-efforts-to-save-australias-southern-cassowaries-their-numbers-remain-unknown/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/amid-efforts-to-save-australias-southern-cassowaries-their-numbers-remain-unknown/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 May 2026 12:46:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Cooper Williams]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/20180858/5-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319831</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Corridors, Ecosystem Engineers, Endangered Species, Environment, Rainforest Animals, Rainforest Biodiversity, Rainforests, Saving Species From Extinction, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With a striking blue neck, jet black plumage and bright red drooping wattles, the southern cassowary cuts an imposing figure in the dense tropical rainforests of Far North Queensland, Australia. Standing up to 2 meters (6.5 feet) tall and armed with razor-sharp claws, it is often labeled as the world’s most dangerous bird. In reality, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With a striking blue neck, jet black plumage and bright red drooping wattles, the southern cassowary cuts an imposing figure in the dense tropical rainforests of Far North Queensland, Australia. Standing up to 2 meters (6.5 feet) tall and armed with razor-sharp claws, it is often labeled as the world’s most dangerous bird. In reality, it’s a shy, gentle and solitary animal rarely seen by people. While it’s listed as endangered under Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) populations have always been difficult to track. “They occupy very rugged and remote terrain. So, to be able to find scats, get sightings through camera traps or collect DNA is very challenging,” said Wren McLean, a cassowary researcher and member of the Cassowary Recovery Team. Estimates have changed dramatically since the turn of the 21st century, growing from fewer than 1,500 birds in the early 2000s to around 4,400 in the most recent national survey, which was conducted between 2012 and 2014. Led by Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, that survey recommended that population monitoring become a “central component” of the species’ management and should be carried out more frequently. More than a decade later, that hasn’t happened. A camera trap image of an adult female cassowary roaming the Apudthama National Park in the Cape York Peninsula. Image courtesy of Wren McLean, Ipima Ikaya Aboriginal Corporation and Cape York NRM. The Cassowary Recovery Team has produced a new conservation plan for the species, set to be&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/amid-efforts-to-save-australias-southern-cassowaries-their-numbers-remain-unknown/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Nepal’s rhododendron tourism sparks unchecked liquor trade concerns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepals-rhododendron-tourism-sparks-unchecked-liquor-trade-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepals-rhododendron-tourism-sparks-unchecked-liquor-trade-concerns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 May 2026 08:59:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mukesh Pokhrel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/26085236/Dhaulagiri_and_Rhododendron-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320077</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Consumption, Environment, Environmental Law, Flowers, Forests, Natural Resources, Overconsumption, Regulations, Tourism, Trees, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, and Wildlife consumption]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[TINJURE-MILKE-JALJALE, Nepal — Every April, Nima Sherpa’s family used to picnic in a rhododendron (lali guras in Nepali) forest about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from her home at Basantapur Bazaar in Tehrathum in the Tinjure-Milke-Jaljale (TMJ) region, which stretched across the eastern districts of Tehrathum, Taplejung and Sankhuwasabha. It has been five years since her [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[TINJURE-MILKE-JALJALE, Nepal — Every April, Nima Sherpa’s family used to picnic in a rhododendron (lali guras in Nepali) forest about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from her home at Basantapur Bazaar in Tehrathum in the Tinjure-Milke-Jaljale (TMJ) region, which stretched across the eastern districts of Tehrathum, Taplejung and Sankhuwasabha. It has been five years since her family has done so as they no longer have the time. Instead of enjoying their time in the forest, they said, they are busy running their hotel in Basantapur Bazaar, which sees a big surge in tourism for only a few weeks. This is when the hillsides get covered in crimson, pink and white blooms of at least 26 species of rhododendron (Rhododendron spp.), the national flower. All family members get busy welcoming guests with smiles and souvenirs. This year alone, local officials estimate that around 500,000 visitors entered the TMJ area between April 1-15. One of the “souvenirs” growing in popularity among visitors is the flower-based alcohol, bottled in reused containers with handwritten labels and openly displayed in shops across. But authorities remain unaware of where the flowers are harvested, whether extraction levels are sustainable, and of the safety of the unlabeled products. Rhododendron trees in Tinjure. Image by Nirmal Dulal via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). A trade hiding in plain ssight In April this year, Mongabay found bottles of rhododendron liquor displayed openly in shops catering to tourists in Basantapur Bazaar and nearby Gufa Pokhari, in Chainpur municipality, Sankhuwasabha district. Several shopkeepers&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nepals-rhododendron-tourism-sparks-unchecked-liquor-trade-concerns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Asia’s overlooked leopard cat</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/asias-overlooked-leopard-cat/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/asias-overlooked-leopard-cat/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 May 2026 08:28:03 +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/20/2026/05/11123501/4-Close-up_of_a_Leopard_Cat_in_Sundarban-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320108</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Green, Mammals, Research, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Asia’s mainland leopard cat is easy to overlook. It’s small, nocturnal, and often mistaken for a domestic cat or a leopard cub. On paper, it appears secure. The species ranges from India to the Russian Far East, and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Asia’s mainland leopard cat is easy to overlook. It’s small, nocturnal, and often mistaken for a domestic cat or a leopard cub. On paper, it appears secure. The species ranges from India to the Russian Far East, and is listed as “least concern” on the IUCN Red List. It may be one of the world’s most abundant wildcats. That status is reassuring, though only to a point. The leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) is a generalist, able to live in forests, plantations, and other human-shaped landscapes. This adaptability has helped it persist where more specialized animals have declined. It also makes the species easy to misread. A wildcat can be widespread and still poorly understood, reports contributor Annelise Giseburt for Mongabay. Much of the uncertainty lies in the gap between maps depicting the cat’s global range and field data. Country-level population figures are often thin or missing. Researchers rely on small local studies and extrapolation. In some places, the cat may be doing well. In others, it faces habitat loss, hunting, road deaths, and genetic isolation. Local declines can disappear inside a global assessment that looks stable across a large range. The pattern is familiar in conservation. Big cats draw funding, monitoring technology like camera traps, and political attention. Smaller cats, even common ones, receive far less. That leaves the leopard cat in a strange position: present across much of Asia, yet still scientifically&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/asias-overlooked-leopard-cat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Polar bears off the ice: Photo of the week</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/polar-bears-off-the-ice-photo-of-the-week/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/polar-bears-off-the-ice-photo-of-the-week/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 May 2026 07:36:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/26073135/AP25335189689498-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320096</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Russia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Arctic Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Ice Shelves, Mammals, Photography, Polar Bears, Polar Regions, Sea Ice, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A polar bear, captured above, sits on a grassy expanse on Kolyuchin Island in the Chukotka district of far-eastern Russia. Several bears made themselves at home in the empty buildings of a Soviet-era research station, abandoned by humans in 1992. Photographer Vadim Makhorov took photos using a drone operated from an expedition vessel about 1 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A polar bear, captured above, sits on a grassy expanse on Kolyuchin Island in the Chukotka district of far-eastern Russia. Several bears made themselves at home in the empty buildings of a Soviet-era research station, abandoned by humans in 1992. Photographer Vadim Makhorov took photos using a drone operated from an expedition vessel about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) away from the bears in September 2025. “At first, [the bears] showed a lot of curiosity and even tried to catch [the drone],” Makhorov told Mongabay by email. “Eventually, though, they lost interest and simply went back to their daily routines: resting on porches and inside the abandoned houses, basking in the sun, while some wandered around exploring the surrounding area.” Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are listed as vulnerable on Red List maintained by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. Current estimates place the worldwide population between 22,000 and 31,000 individuals, split into 20 subpopulations. According to the most recent report by the IUCN’s Polar Bear Specialist Group, the loss of Arctic sea ice due to human-driven climate change is the most serious threat to polar bears throughout their range in the Arctic. Since 1979, the extent of Arctic sea ice has shrunk by 12.2% each decade, according to NASA. Polar bears typically depend on ice shelves for hunting. When that ice thins out in late summer and early autumn, the bears search for alternative places to survive, Makhorov said. He said he presumes that by late autumn, the bears leave&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/polar-bears-off-the-ice-photo-of-the-week/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Brazil has protected much of the Amazon. It now has to pay for it.</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/brazil-has-protected-much-of-the-amazon-it-now-has-to-pay-for-it/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/brazil-has-protected-much-of-the-amazon-it-now-has-to-pay-for-it/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 May 2026 00:35:10 +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/20/2026/05/25225357/amazon_200260-16x9-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320088</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Fund, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Environment, Forests, Funding, Parks, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Saving The Amazon, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For protected areas in the Brazilian Amazon, one of the most basic questions is not where the boundary lies. It is whether anyone has the money to manage what sits inside it. A reserve may exist in law. It may appear on maps, in international pledges, and in official counts of how much of Brazil [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For protected areas in the Brazilian Amazon, one of the most basic questions is not where the boundary lies. It is whether anyone has the money to manage what sits inside it. A reserve may exist in law. It may appear on maps, in international pledges, and in official counts of how much of Brazil is under protection. On the ground, though, management depends on less visible things: staff, fuel, boats, radios, boundary markers, fire brigades, monitoring, community work, and the ability to respond when illegal miners, loggers, poachers, or land-grabbers arrive. A protected area without these things is still protected, but only in a narrow administrative sense. A gap measured in money A new paper in Environmental Conservation puts numbers to this gap. The study, by Helenilza Ferreira Albuquerque Cunha and colleagues, examined funding deficits in 300 federal protected areas in Brazil between 2014 and 2023. Together, those areas cover nearly 750,000 square kilometers, representing most of the protected areas managed by ICMBio, Brazil’s federal biodiversity agency. The researchers compared actual spending with evidence-based estimates of the minimum cost of managing each site. In 2023, 72% of the protected areas they studied were underfunded. The combined shortfall was equivalent to about $958 million in purchasing-power terms. The gap was largest in the Amazon. According to the paper, Amazonian protected areas had an average funding deficit of 79.2% in 2023. In practical terms, they received about one-fifth of what they needed. In the Atlantic Forest, the average deficit was 27.6%.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/brazil-has-protected-much-of-the-amazon-it-now-has-to-pay-for-it/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Countries push new protections for the Amazon’s iconic migratory catfish</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/countries-push-new-protections-for-the-amazons-iconic-migratory-catfish/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/countries-push-new-protections-for-the-amazons-iconic-migratory-catfish/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 May 2026 13:11:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gustavo Faleiros]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/22105357/1-Ver-o-Peso-market-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319972</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Amazon River, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Biodiversity, Amazon Conservation, Amazon River, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Fish, Fishing, Freshwater Fish, Migration, Rivers, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The background was right for the announcement of the bad news. Fish swam in a wall-sized tank that framed a table of scientists and environmentalists in the auditorium of the Pantanal Biopark, the world&#8217;s largest freshwater public aquarium, in the Brazilian city of Campo Grande. They’d gathered for the launch of a report on the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The background was right for the announcement of the bad news. Fish swam in a wall-sized tank that framed a table of scientists and environmentalists in the auditorium of the Pantanal Biopark, the world&#8217;s largest freshwater public aquarium, in the Brazilian city of Campo Grande. They’d gathered for the launch of a report on the state of the world’s freshwater migratory fish. The event opened with a dire statement from a top official from Brazil’s environment ministry: “The numbers are chilling,” said Rita Mesquita, the ministry’s secretary of biodiversity. Mesquita was there to address the 15th Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Convention on Migratory Species (CMS COP15), a treaty adopted in 1979 that focuses on conservation of migratory animals and their habitats. Currently, 132 nations and the European Union are signatories. The meeting, which took place in Campo Grande, the capital of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, from March 23-29, also drew experts and civil society representatives from across the globe. This was the first time in more than a decade that experts analyzed data on global ichthyofauna: fish life. The last assessment, conducted in 2011, examined the status of 3,000 species. The new round was far more comprehensive, covering 15,000 species. Of these, 349 are migratory, almost all of them threatened. The CMS report recommended that 325 of those species be added to the convention’s appendices. Migratory species threatened with extinction are listed on Appendix I, giving strong protections, while species that need international&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/countries-push-new-protections-for-the-amazons-iconic-migratory-catfish/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Carbon cowboys and unpaid pledges: Ex-Gabon environment minister Lee White on conservation in Africa</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/carbon-cowboys-and-unpaid-pledges-ex-gabon-environment-minister-lee-white-on-conservation-in-africa/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/carbon-cowboys-and-unpaid-pledges-ex-gabon-environment-minister-lee-white-on-conservation-in-africa/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 May 2026 10:22:40 +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/20/2026/05/22132543/515214292_24384176691218875_2892785947593807379_n-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319983</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Congo Basin]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Finance, Climat, Climate Change And Conservation, Climate Change And Forests, climate finance, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Energy, Environment, Environmental Politics, Governance, and Government]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On May 11 and 12, 2026, the Africa Forward Summit took place in Nairobi, with several heads of state from across the continent and beyond attending. Thousands of political, economic and civil society actors also gathered in the Kenyan capital to discuss potential investments, particularly in the fields of energy transition and international financial assistance. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On May 11 and 12, 2026, the Africa Forward Summit took place in Nairobi, with several heads of state from across the continent and beyond attending. Thousands of political, economic and civil society actors also gathered in the Kenyan capital to discuss potential investments, particularly in the fields of energy transition and international financial assistance. Lee White, Gabon’s former minister of water, forests, marine and environment, was in Nairobi on the sidelines of the summit to discuss carbon markets and Africa’s development. Originally from the United Kingdom, White is a naturalized Gabonese citizen. A scientist and zoology Ph.D., he took over the reins of Gabon’s National Parks Agency (ANPN) in 2009, and 10 years later was appointed environment minister under the controversial presidency of Ali Bongo Ondimba. Following the 2023 coup d’état that ousted Bongo from power, White left Gabon and his ministerial position, but did not leave Central Africa behind. During the COP30 U.N. climate summit in Belém, Brazil, he served as a special envoy for the Congo Basin. Mongabay spoke to White over video call about the challenges facing the Congo Basin and the paths African countries should take to address them. The following interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Mongabay: During the Africa Forward Summit, France announced that it would sign agreements with several African countries generating up to 23 billion euros ($26.7 billion) in investments. These investments will target climate and energy transition sectors, among others. What do you think about this? Lee&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/carbon-cowboys-and-unpaid-pledges-ex-gabon-environment-minister-lee-white-on-conservation-in-africa/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>China solar exports hit all-time record in March as Africa, Asia demand jumps</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/china-solar-exports-hit-all-time-record-in-march-as-africa-asia-demand-jumps/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/china-solar-exports-hit-all-time-record-in-march-as-africa-asia-demand-jumps/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 May 2026 10:03:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/19155942/WomanCarryingSolarPanel_Malawi_JonStrandWikimediaBYSA4.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320081</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[China and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, China And Energy, Climate Change, Energy Politics, Energy Transition, International Trade, Renewable Energy, and Solar Power]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[China exported a record volume of solar components in March 2026, comprising photovoltaic panels, cells and wafers, according to data from the Chinese customs authority analyzed by U.K.-based energy think tank Ember. The 68 gigawatts in solar capacity was a 49% increase from the previous export record, set in August 2025. Experts at Ember attributed [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[China exported a record volume of solar components in March 2026, comprising photovoltaic panels, cells and wafers, according to data from the Chinese customs authority analyzed by U.K.-based energy think tank Ember. The 68 gigawatts in solar capacity was a 49% increase from the previous export record, set in August 2025. Experts at Ember attributed the recent surge in demand to rising fossil fuel prices due to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, and China ending tax rebates for clean technology from April 1, which resulted in a 9% cost hike on solar panels from the country. “The volumes exported are absolutely gigantic,” Euan Graham, senior analyst at Ember, told Climate Home News. “We will see over the coming months how much of that was linked to the tax rebate and how much of that is additional demand.” Graph by Andrés Alegría/Mongabay. The solar exports of 68 GW were double the amount exported the previous month, and equivalent to Spain’s entire solar energy capacity. In March 2026, 50 countries set all-time records for Chinese solar imports. African nations were among the countries whose demand for solar components surged. Nigeria’s demand in March 2026 was 519% higher than in February 2026, a total of 1.2 GW. Ethiopia imported 1.1 GW, up 391% from February. Map by Andrés Alegría/Mongabay. Several African nations have been rapidly expanding their solar energy capacity over recent years, as the continent hosts around 60% of the world’s best solar potential. The Central African Republic already generates more than&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/china-solar-exports-hit-all-time-record-in-march-as-africa-asia-demand-jumps/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>In India’s Nagaland, communities turn to Indigenous law to protect pangolins</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/in-indias-nagaland-communities-turn-to-indigenous-law-to-protect-pangolins/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/in-indias-nagaland-communities-turn-to-indigenous-law-to-protect-pangolins/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 May 2026 09:48:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/25094415/1920px-Sangtam_Naga_tribe_performing_traditional_folk_dance_at_Amongmong_festival_in_Nagaland_India-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320079</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Peoples, Mammals, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[To protect pangolins in the northeastern Indian state of Nagaland, conservationists are turning to community-driven customary laws, reports contributor Kasturi Das for Mongabay India. In February this year, the United Sangtam Likhum Pumji (USLP), the apex tribal body of the Sangtam Naga community, passed a resolution banning pangolin hunting in 42 villages in Nagaland’s Kiphire [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[To protect pangolins in the northeastern Indian state of Nagaland, conservationists are turning to community-driven customary laws, reports contributor Kasturi Das for Mongabay India. In February this year, the United Sangtam Likhum Pumji (USLP), the apex tribal body of the Sangtam Naga community, passed a resolution banning pangolin hunting in 42 villages in Nagaland’s Kiphire district. Village councils are responsible for enforcement, and customary courts will handle violations. Pangolins, the world’s most trafficked mammals, are protected under national laws in India, which prohibits hunting. However, enforcement is challenging in states like Nagaland, where land and resource management is largely governed by local customary laws. Monesh Tomar, assistant manager at the conservation group Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), told Mongabay India that many communities there aren’t fully aware of the national laws. Moreover, officials and community members frequently belong to the same social networks, making enforcement difficult, he said. Traditionally, pangolin hunting in parts of Nagaland was driven by cultural beliefs. “Our forefathers would say that if a pangolin enters a house, it was considered a bad omen or curse,” L. Kipitong Sangtam, 61, a Kiphire resident and member of the USLP, told Mongabay India. “In the past, if someone encountered a pangolin, they would try to catch and kill it, sometimes by digging it out of its burrow.” Now, hunting is mostly for local demand for meat and scales to make ornaments, according to Mukesh Thakur, wildlife forensic expert with the Zoological Survey of India. Pangolin scales are also targeted&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/in-indias-nagaland-communities-turn-to-indigenous-law-to-protect-pangolins/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Great Koala National Park tests whether protected forests can stay connected</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/great-koala-national-park-tests-whether-protected-forests-can-stay-connected/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/great-koala-national-park-tests-whether-protected-forests-can-stay-connected/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 May 2026 05:27:48 +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/20/2026/05/05181753/7.-Koalas-at-Wild-Koala-Breeding-Program-in-NSW-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320076</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forest Fragmentation, Fragmentation, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Mammals, Marsupials, Protected Areas, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. The case for Australia’s new Great Koala National Park rests on a practical point: koalas need more than scattered trees. They need connected habitat that can support populations over time. The national park, planned for the state of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. The case for Australia’s new Great Koala National Park rests on a practical point: koalas need more than scattered trees. They need connected habitat that can support populations over time. The national park, planned for the state of New South Wales, is meant to link fragmented eucalyptus forests along the east coast, giving koalas a better chance to disperse, feed, and breed. It would also protect habitat used by dozens of other threatened native species, reports contributor Johan Augustin for Mongabay. The park comes at a difficult time for one of Australia’s best-known animals. Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) have declined as forests have been cleared, divided by roads and development, and exposed to hotter, more severe fires. In some places, the question is no longer only how much forest remains. It is whether the remaining forest still functions as habitat. That makes connectivity more than a planning concept. A patch of forest can look useful on a map while being too isolated to sustain a local population. Corridors between forest remnants allow animals to move as food, shelter and climate conditions change. For koalas, which depend on particular eucalypt species, that movement can help determine whether a local population persists. The park will also test what protection means in practice. Conservationists have welcomed the proposal, while warning that logging pressure, development, land-use loopholes, and weak enforcement could limit its effect. A park declared on&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/great-koala-national-park-tests-whether-protected-forests-can-stay-connected/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>The most underfunded climate opportunities may be at sea</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-most-underfunded-climate-opportunities-may-be-at-sea/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-most-underfunded-climate-opportunities-may-be-at-sea/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 May 2026 00:45:20 +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/20/2026/05/23171940/OceanImageBank_CameronVenti_2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320057</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Decarbonization, Energy, Energy Security, Energy Transition, Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal, Marine Conservation, Marine Ecosystems, Oceans, Offshore Wind, Ports, Renewable Energy, Shipping, Wind, and Wind Power]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Ocean philanthropy remains a small field. Funding directed specifically toward ocean-climate solutions is smaller still. At last week’s “Sea Change” panel on ocean-climate solutions in Asia, convened as part of the Philanthropy Asia Summit, the discussion kept returning to this mismatch: the ocean is central to the climate transition, yet ocean-climate philanthropy remains a rounding [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Ocean philanthropy remains a small field. Funding directed specifically toward ocean-climate solutions is smaller still. At last week’s “Sea Change” panel on ocean-climate solutions in Asia, convened as part of the Philanthropy Asia Summit, the discussion kept returning to this mismatch: the ocean is central to the climate transition, yet ocean-climate philanthropy remains a rounding error in global giving. Ocean-climate philanthropy’s funding gap The numbers are stark: Less than 1.5% of global philanthropic giving goes to climate mitigation. About 0.25% goes to ocean issues. At the intersection of the two, the figure is roughly 0.05%. That is a narrow base of support for work that touches power generation, shipping, food systems, coastal protection, marine biodiversity, and the future of many island and coastal economies. The ocean has long been treated by funders primarily as a conservation concern. Grants have supported marine protected areas, fisheries management, coastal livelihoods, scientific research, and habitat protection. Much of that work remains essential. It has helped create institutions, protect places, and improve the management of fisheries and reefs. Climate change is now the force most likely to overwhelm many of those gains. Warming, acidification, rising seas, stronger storms, and shifting fish stocks are changing the conditions under which ocean conservation operates. Foundation Funding for Ocean-Climate (2015–2024). Foundation ocean-climate funding shown here is inclusive of all mitigation and sequestration-focused funding, including cross-cutting policy work. Funding to blue carbon is included in this chart as a sequestration strategy. Labels represent 2024 funding amounts. Graphic from &#8220;Funding Trends&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-most-underfunded-climate-opportunities-may-be-at-sea/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Will my president save the Amazon? (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/will-my-president-save-the-amazon-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/will-my-president-save-the-amazon-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 May 2026 23:50:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Enrique Ortiz]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/23235534/amazon_241209144859raw-26-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320068</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Colombia, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Conservation, Deforestation, Editorials, Environment, Environmental Policy, Environmental Politics, Forests, Governance, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the coming months, voters in Brazil, Peru, and Colombia will elect new presidents. Together, these three countries contain roughly 82% of the Amazon rainforest, making their elections consequential far beyond national borders. The future of the world’s largest tropical forest — and, by extension, global climate stability — will depend in large measure on [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the coming months, voters in Brazil, Peru, and Colombia will elect new presidents. Together, these three countries contain roughly 82% of the Amazon rainforest, making their elections consequential far beyond national borders. The future of the world’s largest tropical forest — and, by extension, global climate stability — will depend in large measure on the choices their citizens make at the ballot box. More than 35 million people living in the Amazon region of these countries also depend directly on those outcomes. Brazil, home to about 62% of the Amazon, offers a stark example of how presidential policies can shape the fate of the forest. The country has experienced dramatic swings in deforestation over the past two decades. While commodity prices, global markets, climate conditions, and geopolitics all play a role, government policy has often been the decisive factor. In 2004, for example, Brazil lost more than 10 million acres of Amazon forest. By 2012, stronger environmental measures had gradually reduced that loss to less than one-sixth of that level. Those efforts relied not only on stricter enforcement, but also on cooperation with agricultural and business sectors long associated with deforestation. More recent data suggest Brazil’s renewed environmental policies have again reduced forest loss by more than 30% from the previous year. Annual deforestation in the Legal Amazon (Amazonia) from 1988-2025, according to a preliminary estimate from Brazil&#8217;s national space research institute, INPE. Annual primary forest loss in the Colombian Amazon from 2002 to 2025 (hectares). Data from the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/will-my-president-save-the-amazon-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Mike Salisbury, wildlife filmmaker who made plants behave like characters, has died, aged 84</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/mike-salisbury-wildlife-filmmaker-who-made-plants-behave-like-characters-has-died-aged-84/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/mike-salisbury-wildlife-filmmaker-who-made-plants-behave-like-characters-has-died-aged-84/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 May 2026 23:28:29 +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/20/2026/05/23232705/mike-salisbury-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320066</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation and Obituary]]>
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							<![CDATA[To Mike Salisbury, patience was not a virtue so much as a working method. Lions did not hunt on cue. Plants did not move at a human pace. Polar bears did not respect production schedules, or much else. The task was to wait, improvise, and find a way to show television audiences that the natural [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[To Mike Salisbury, patience was not a virtue so much as a working method. Lions did not hunt on cue. Plants did not move at a human pace. Polar bears did not respect production schedules, or much else. The task was to wait, improvise, and find a way to show television audiences that the natural world was stranger, livelier and more intricate than they had thought. Salisbury, who died on May 13th aged 84, spent more than four decades turning that patience into television. His route into that work was suitably unpolished, according to an obituary in The Guardian. He did not go to university. He worked as a mechanic with Voluntary Service Overseas in Africa, where he developed his interest in photography. Back in Britain, he pressed the BBC for a chance until Horizon gave him a brief research opening. He worked first on Parkinson, then on science documentaries, before moving to Bristol and the BBC’s Natural History Unit. There he found the place where persistence, practicality, and curiosity could become a career. His breakthrough came with Life on Earth, David Attenborough’s 1979 account of evolution. Salisbury helped produce some of its most memorable sequences, including a lion hunt that had defeated him once before. He went back and got it. That became part of his reputation: not bluster, but refusal to be beaten by weather, animals, equipment or logistics. In 1985 he made Kingdom of the Ice Bear, filmed in Arctic conditions that tested both people and kit.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/mike-salisbury-wildlife-filmmaker-who-made-plants-behave-like-characters-has-died-aged-84/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/mike-salisbury-wildlife-filmmaker-who-made-plants-behave-like-characters-has-died-aged-84/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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					<title>West Asia conflict brings Norwegian marine research vessel back to Sri Lanka</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/west-asia-conflict-brings-norwegian-marine-research-vessel-back-to-sri-lanka/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/west-asia-conflict-brings-norwegian-marine-research-vessel-back-to-sri-lanka/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 May 2026 16:53:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/23160806/The-knowledge-of-mesopelagic-fauna-is-still-very-limited.-Some-of-the-many-inhabitants-of-the-deep-mesopelagic-layers-we-sampled-down-to-800m-depth-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320047</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
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											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Policy, Governance, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Conservation, Marine Ecosystems, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Pollution, and Research]]>
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							<![CDATA[COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s marine research efforts have benefited in a rare instance where geopolitical unrest owing to the ongoing conflict in West Asia created an unexpected scientific opportunity. A United Nations-flagged Norwegian research vessel Fridtjof Nansen was redirected to Sri Lankan waters after security concerns forced the cancellation of a planned survey in Oman, [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s marine research efforts have benefited in a rare instance where geopolitical unrest owing to the ongoing conflict in West Asia created an unexpected scientific opportunity. A United Nations-flagged Norwegian research vessel Fridtjof Nansen was redirected to Sri Lankan waters after security concerns forced the cancellation of a planned survey in Oman, giving the country a second chance to conduct a long-awaited study of its marine ecosystems and fishery resources. The Norwegian research vessel was originally scheduled to carry out a marine survey in the Sri Lankan waters last year as part of its planned scientific program. However, delays in granting national approvals meant the expedition could not proceed as intended. The vessel canceled the Sri Lanka leg of the voyage scheduled for 2025, an important opportunity lost in marine research efforts. The Nansen Program is a long-running international marine research initiative led by the Food and Agriculture Organization FAO) of the United Nations in partnership with Norway. Established in 1975, it operates through the research vessel Dr Fridtjof Nansen, named after Norwegian explorer, scientist and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922 for his extraordinary humanitarian work during the First World War. This longheaded eagle ray (Aetobatus flagellum) was caught by a sampling net. Image courtesy of Cruising with Dr. Fridtjof Nansen Facebook group. The Nansen missions survey marine ecosystems in developing countries to support sustainable fisheries management combining oceanographic research, fisheries stock assessment, and ecosystem monitoring while building scientific capacity in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/west-asia-conflict-brings-norwegian-marine-research-vessel-back-to-sri-lanka/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Why are people buying pet ants?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/05/why-are-people-buying-pet-ants/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/05/why-are-people-buying-pet-ants/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 May 2026 05:39:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhishyant Kidangoor]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/23054343/Mongabay_Thumbnail_Explains_Ants_Featured_V3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=videos&#038;p=319891</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Ants, Pet Trade, Pets, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Move over cats and dogs. There’s a new hot favorite pet in town: ants. More and more people are raising pet ants around the world. They are small, low-maintenance and display complex behaviors that fascinate humans. But this fascination is leading to a bigger issue: an underground global trade of ants. Wild ants are now [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[Move over cats and dogs. There’s a new hot favorite pet in town: ants. More and more people are raising pet ants around the world. They are small, low-maintenance and display complex behaviors that fascinate humans. But this fascination is leading to a bigger issue: an underground global trade of ants. Wild ants are now popping up in places where they are not supposed to. This trade could have serious environmental and financial repercussions, and is also making pet ants very expensive. In the latest episode of Mongabay Explains, we look at why people are obsessed with pet ants and why these insects are costing a fortune. Mongabay’s Video Team wants to cover questions and topics that matter to you. Are there any inspiring people, urgent issues, or local stories that you’d like us to cover? We want to hear from you. Be a part of our reporting process—get in touch with us here! Banner image: Collage, Giant African Harvester Ant. Lab-made jaguar: Is cloning a solution to extinction?This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/05/why-are-people-buying-pet-ants/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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