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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/charles-barber/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2026 18:16:35 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Stories by Charles Barber -</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/charles-barber/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Tiago Karaí and Laudiceia Benites helped reclaim Guarani land. They died with their children in an accident last month.</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tiago-karai-and-laudiceia-benites-helped-reclaim-guarani-land-they-died-with-their-children-in-an-accident-last-month/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tiago-karai-and-laudiceia-benites-helped-reclaim-guarani-land-they-died-with-their-children-in-an-accident-last-month/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 17:45:37 +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/20/2026/09/01165317/20220223_fellipeabreu_guarani_122061-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328206</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Obituary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On August 14th, seven people from Tekoa Kalipety were traveling between Guarani communities with seeds. They had spent the week checking in on relatives, praying at Porto Lindo, and sharing traditional seeds harvested back home in southern São Paulo. They were on their way to another Indigenous territory when, on that evening, a semitrailer carrying [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On August 14th, seven people from Tekoa Kalipety were traveling between Guarani communities with seeds. They had spent the week checking in on relatives, praying at Porto Lindo, and sharing traditional seeds harvested back home in southern São Paulo. They were on their way to another Indigenous territory when, on that evening, a semitrailer carrying maize detached from a truck and struck their car. Tiago Honório dos Santos, known as Tiago Karaí, 34, died with his wife, Kerexu Laudiceia Benites, 31; their children, Tadeu, 14, and Luna, seven; Tiago’s sister, Kerexu Cleonice Honório dos Santos; and two other members of Kalipety, Ileo Benites and Genilson Euzébio Karay Mirim. The truck driver fled the scene. Tiago Karaí. Courtesy of Synchronicity Earth Kerexu Laudiceia smoking a petyngua, the Guarani people’s sacred pipe. Image by Fellipe Abreu. Tiago was born in a Guarani village near the coast of São Paulo state. His parents moved to the Tenondé Porã Indigenous Territory before he was two. At the Guarani Gwyra Pepó school, he wondered why children were taught so little about Guarani life. After finishing secondary school at 19, he returned to the school as a teacher. Known then as Karaí Tataendy, he taught Guarani language and culture to primary-school children. He believed they needed to know both Guarani and non-Indigenous ways of life. Teaching their own language gave them something he had found missing when he sat in the same classrooms. In 2013, Guarani families began reclaiming ancestral sections of Tenondé Porã, moving onto&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tiago-karai-and-laudiceia-benites-helped-reclaim-guarani-land-they-died-with-their-children-in-an-accident-last-month/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328206</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Biomass cooking fuels raise toxic metal exposure risks in Bangladesh, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/biomass-cooking-fuels-raise-toxic-metal-exposure-risks-in-bangladesh-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/biomass-cooking-fuels-raise-toxic-metal-exposure-risks-in-bangladesh-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 17:20:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Usraat Fahmidah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/01171501/Cooking_rice-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=328220</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Bangladesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Biofuels, Energy, Environment, Food Waste, Fuelwood, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Pollution, Public Health, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Burning biomass fuels like dry wood and rice husk for cooking can produce air pollution and contribute to toxic heavy metals buildup inside rural kitchens in Bangladesh, a new study finds. Md. Badiuzzaman Khan, an environmental science professor at Bangladesh Agricultural University and the study’s lead author, said the research addresses a gap in understanding [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Burning biomass fuels like dry wood and rice husk for cooking can produce air pollution and contribute to toxic heavy metals buildup inside rural kitchens in Bangladesh, a new study finds. Md. Badiuzzaman Khan, an environmental science professor at Bangladesh Agricultural University and the study’s lead author, said the research addresses a gap in understanding indoor pollution in rural communities. “Local people use various kinds of fuels like cowdung, or branches of wood or agricultural byproducts like rice straw or jute sticks,” Khan said in an email to Mongabay. “Heavy metals may come to rice straw or jute sticks from the fertilizers used in the crop field. Heavy metals may also come from natural sources like soil.” For this study, researchers collected dust samples from the walls and ceilings of 63 households in Bangladesh’s Haor and Charland regions, which both heavily rely on biomass fuel. They also analyzed 11 composite samples of biomass fuels used for cooking and examined their elemental composition. The study ran from November 2022 to March 2023. Many low-income rural households use biomass, potentially exposing people to heavy metals and the health consequences associated with them. However, most pollution research in Bangladesh has largely focused on cities; little is known about rural exposure. The study found that the heavy metals in household dust likely come from both human activities, such as farming and burning fuel, and natural sources such as soil and sediments carried by floods. The types of metals found also differed between the two&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/biomass-cooking-fuels-raise-toxic-metal-exposure-risks-in-bangladesh-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328220</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Indonesia, 20 Indigenous subtribes seek common ground amid mining divisions</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-indonesia-20-indigenous-subtribes-seek-common-ground-amid-mining-divisions/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-indonesia-20-indigenous-subtribes-seek-common-ground-amid-mining-divisions/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 16:46:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/01161500/23f9659d-gp0sua2mg-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328173</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Papua, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Law, Mining, and Natural Resources]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ARBOREK, Southwest Papua, Indonesia — For generations, Raja Ampat’s Indigenous communities have governed different forests, reefs and islands according to their customary systems. Those communities have distinct identities and territorial claims, which sometimes overlap or lead to disputes. Recently, nickel mining has created new divisions, with some communities seeing the industry as an economic opportunity, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ARBOREK, Southwest Papua, Indonesia — For generations, Raja Ampat’s Indigenous communities have governed different forests, reefs and islands according to their customary systems. Those communities have distinct identities and territorial claims, which sometimes overlap or lead to disputes. Recently, nickel mining has created new divisions, with some communities seeing the industry as an economic opportunity, while others fear it will damage the land and sea on which they depend. Against that backdrop, representatives of 20 Indigenous subtribes gathered in the tiny island village of Arborek from Aug. 20-23, 2026, to find common ground and strengthen their collective voice over the future of Raja Ampat. The gathering, called Heyul Pelei Koranu Fyak, takes its name from the two major Indigenous groups in Raja Ampat, the Maya and Biak. Heyul Pelei is a Maya term meaning grand gathering, while Koranu Fyak in Biak means Indigenous people. The gathering, , was the culmination of a consolidation effort among Indigenous communities in Raja Ampat that began in 2025. It was organized by the Forum Gelar Senat Masyarakat Adat Raja Ampat in collaboration with Institut USBA, an Indigenous-focused organization based in Southwest Papua, and Greenpeace Indonesia. As night fell on the first day, representatives from each participating subtribe introduced themselves and shared stories from their respective villages. Many spoke about struggles over land, resources and environmental protection. The gathering ultimately produced a common resolution opposing mining in Raja Ampat. The Indigenous community of Arborek village welcomed the participants of the Heyul Pelei Koranu Fyak gathering,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-indonesia-20-indigenous-subtribes-seek-common-ground-amid-mining-divisions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328173</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Drones helped find people after Nepal floods but the search inside hydropower tunnels is a challenge</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/drones-helped-find-people-after-nepal-floods-but-the-search-inside-hydropower-tunnels-is-a-challenge/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/drones-helped-find-people-after-nepal-floods-but-the-search-inside-hydropower-tunnels-is-a-challenge/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 15:59:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/01155523/AP26244159886064-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=328197</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Nepal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Global Environmental Crisis, Hydroelectric Power, Impact Of Climate Change, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Drone pilot Manish Maharjan has helped rescue teams in Nepal find people missing after last week&#8217;s catastrophic floods, sometimes using speakers mounted on the devices to call out to or play music for those stranded on hillsides. But the search for hundreds of workers believed to be trapped in power plant tunnels — now [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Drone pilot Manish Maharjan has helped rescue teams in Nepal find people missing after last week&#8217;s catastrophic floods, sometimes using speakers mounted on the devices to call out to or play music for those stranded on hillsides. But the search for hundreds of workers believed to be trapped in power plant tunnels — now a major focus of rescue operations — presents an entirely different challenge, he said. “We found tunnels were filled with mud like toothpaste in a tube,” Maharjan said. “There was no hollow or empty space inside.” Maharjan, who is also a filmmaker, joined the Nepal Army’s rescue efforts a day after the Aug. 26 flash floods, which have killed more than 1,000 people and left thousands missing in Nepal and Tibet. “We used microphone speakers to call out to them. In some places, we even played songs and then waited for a response,” Maharjan said. &#8220;That worked in a few cases and helped us locate people.&#8221; The torrent of water unleashed after a glacial collapse in the Himalayan region caused widespread damage to critical infrastructure, including roads, buildings, bridges — and hydropower plants. At least 900 workers are still missing from 12 hydropower projects buried under mud and debris. About 500 of them are believed to be trapped inside power plant tunnels. Some workers in the tunnels managed to call for help when the disaster struck, according to Mohan Kumar Dangi, president of the Independent Power Producers’ Association. But it was unclear whether rescuers have had any contact with the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/drones-helped-find-people-after-nepal-floods-but-the-search-inside-hydropower-tunnels-is-a-challenge/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328197</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists use mining data to build malaria alert system in the Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/scientists-use-mining-data-to-build-malaria-alert-system-in-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/scientists-use-mining-data-to-build-malaria-alert-system-in-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 14:21:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda Wenzel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/01140632/mg_9069-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328177</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation Solutions, Crime, Diseases, Gold Mining, Governance, Health, Illegal Mining, Mining, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Saving Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A 1% increase in illegal mining led to a 24% spike in malaria cases among the Yanomami, prompting a new data-driven defense.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A study detailing the links between illegal gold mining and malaria cases in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory in the Brazilian Amazon won second place in the MapBiomas Award, announced in July. The research collective produces data on land use in Brazil and recognizes initiatives that use this information to promote conservation. The study examined the explosion in malaria cases under the government of Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s president from January 2019 to 2022, whose far-right policies encouraged illegal miners to invade Brazil&#8217;s largest Indigenous land, home to 31,567 Yanomami. Known locally as garimpeiros, the illegal miners spread disease, contaminated water sources with mercury, and scared away wildlife, prompting a humanitarian crisis in the territory straddling the states of Roraima and Amazonas. Using satellite imagery and data from the Ministry of Health, researchers led by Márcia Castro, from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in the U.S., found that a 1% increase in the mined area in the Yanomami territory was associated with a 24% increase in monthly malaria cases. The study, published in November 2025 in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, shows that malaria also increased in areas without mining activity but still used as routes by the miners. “The garimpeiros move around a lot because they have to bring in supplies and machinery,” Castro told Mongabay. “When you pass through these areas, you’re a carrier of the parasite as you walk, and you can get bitten by a mosquito along the way. And just like that, [the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/scientists-use-mining-data-to-build-malaria-alert-system-in-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328177</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As British Columbia mulls continued wolf-killing to save caribou, critics say habitat loss is the real threat</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-british-columbia-mulls-continued-wolf-killing-to-save-caribou-critics-say-habitat-loss-is-the-real-threat/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-british-columbia-mulls-continued-wolf-killing-to-save-caribou-critics-say-habitat-loss-is-the-real-threat/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 13:19:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/31125406/caribou-canada-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327912</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[British Columbia, Canada, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Development, Ecosystems, Environment, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Infrastructure, Mammals, Research, Top Predators, Ungulates, Wildlife, and Wolves]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The government of the Canadian province of British Columbia is in talks to extend its decade-long wolf cull program by another five years. Since 2015, the province has killed wolves in areas with declining populations of endangered woodland caribou as part of its Caribou Recovery Program. In April 2026, provincial authorities began engaging key stakeholders [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The government of the Canadian province of British Columbia is in talks to extend its decade-long wolf cull program by another five years. Since 2015, the province has killed wolves in areas with declining populations of endangered woodland caribou as part of its Caribou Recovery Program. In April 2026, provincial authorities began engaging key stakeholders about the proposed extension, including about 70 First Nations in affected areas, hundreds of landowners, environmental NGOs and others. They’re expected to make a final decision by October, according to a spokesperson from the provincial Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship and the Ministry of Forests, in an email statement to Mongabay. If the proposal passes, the government will continue shooting gray wolves (Canis lupus), the primary predators of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou), in 15 areas with herds. Eleven of these locations will have a yearly cull; in four, the canids will be killed every two years, the spokesperson said. B.C.’s wolf cull program was instituted to reverse historic caribou declines. Provincial data today show the ungulate’s numbers are rising in areas where wolves are killed. But the proposed extension, without steps to address habitat loss, has sparked outrage and concern among conservationists and scientists. This is an “equivocal, intensely debated” issue, said wildlife biologist Paul Paquet at the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, a B.C.-based NGO. “There’s a lot of moral confusion and ethical dilemmas here on this question about protecting caribou and helping caribou by killing wolves.” Caribou need protection: Over the last&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-british-columbia-mulls-continued-wolf-killing-to-save-caribou-critics-say-habitat-loss-is-the-real-threat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327912</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Ecuador’s Intag Valley, communities build their own micro-hydropower plant</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-ecuadors-intag-valley-communities-build-their-own-micro-hydropower-plant/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-ecuadors-intag-valley-communities-build-their-own-micro-hydropower-plant/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 12:55:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/01123136/HidroAguagrun-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328157</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Development, Energy, Environment, Hydroelectric Power, Indigenous Peoples, Natural Resources, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Ecuador’s Intag Valley, one of the major watersheds that supply the country’s Imbabura province in the north, 19 families from four communities are developing a 300-kilowatt (kW) run-of-river hydropower plant — a project that generates electricity by capturing the Aguagrún River’s natural flows without the construction of a large dam or water storage reservoir. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Ecuador’s Intag Valley, one of the major watersheds that supply the country’s Imbabura province in the north, 19 families from four communities are developing a 300-kilowatt (kW) run-of-river hydropower plant — a project that generates electricity by capturing the Aguagrún River’s natural flows without the construction of a large dam or water storage reservoir. Engineers say this makes them less environmentally impactful. The families, which are from the communities of Cerro Pelado, Chinipamba, Nangulvi Bajo and Barcelona, own 90% of the HidroAguagrún project. Registered as a business since 2022, half of the revenue raised from selling electricity to the national grid will go directly into a trust for conservation activities, such as the protection of cloud forests. The idea to create a small hydropower plant came from a general concern among the families about water availability in the region and the impact of the climate crisis, said Jorge Guachagmira, the president of the Río Aguagrún Renewable Energy Production Association, which represents the 19 families of the micro-basin and surrounding areas. “We live in a remnant of the natural world, and our daily activities are affected by the expansion of the exploitation frontier, such as agriculture, livestock farming, logging or deforestation of natural ecosystems,” he told Mongabay in a video call. “By expanding the agricultural frontier, we are generating greater water insecurity, water instability and climate instability.” The community of Barcelona, which depends on the Aguagrún River micro-basin within the Cotacachi canton, Imbabura province, Ecuador. Image by Denis Laporta. Ecuador,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-ecuadors-intag-valley-communities-build-their-own-micro-hydropower-plant/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-ecuadors-intag-valley-communities-build-their-own-micro-hydropower-plant/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328157</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Namibia greenlights controversial project to dredge phosphate from seabed</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/namibia-greenlights-controversial-project-to-dredge-phosphate-from-seabed/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/namibia-greenlights-controversial-project-to-dredge-phosphate-from-seabed/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 11:28:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jemima Beukes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/01094118/19393956375_9d683b0734_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328136</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Namibia, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Economics, Ecosystems, Environment, Governance, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Ocean Acidification, Ocean Warming, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Namibia has granted an environmental clearance to a controversial marine phosphate extraction project. The clearance allows the Sandpiper Project, operated by Namibian Marine Phosphate (NMP), to dredge the seabed off the coast of Walvis Bay for phosphate. Environmentalists are concerned about the impact on the country’s fisheries sector and the potential health impacts from consuming [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Namibia has granted an environmental clearance to a controversial marine phosphate extraction project. The clearance allows the Sandpiper Project, operated by Namibian Marine Phosphate (NMP), to dredge the seabed off the coast of Walvis Bay for phosphate. Environmentalists are concerned about the impact on the country’s fisheries sector and the potential health impacts from consuming fish that breed in the areas earmarked for dredging. The Environmental Clearance Certificate (ECC) granted to NMP by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) on Aug. 5 allows industrial mining within concession 170 (ML 170) off the west coast of Namibia in country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The concession area covers roughly 2,234 square kilometers (863 square miles) of the Atlantic seabed, according to the company’s website. NMP plans to dredge phosphate-rich sediments present in the seafloor at depths of 180-250 meters. Dredging is the removal of sediments and debris from the bottom of lakes, rivers, harbors and other water bodies. Nonprofit Ocean Conservation Namibia (OCN) has strongly criticized the decision to issue the ECC, saying “that the large-scale development could have significant impacts on the Benguela marine ecosystem, Namibia’s fishing industry, and marine conservation.” Saltpans in Walvis Bay, Namibia. Image courtesy by David Stanley via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). The Benguela Marine ecosystem along the coast of southwestern Africa is one of the world’s most productive coastal upwelling zones, areas where deep, cold water rises to the surface, bringing nutrients to the surface. An area off the shores of southern Namibia is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/namibia-greenlights-controversial-project-to-dredge-phosphate-from-seabed/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/namibia-greenlights-controversial-project-to-dredge-phosphate-from-seabed/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328136</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>UN fund for sharing biodiversity benefits struggles for attention — and money</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/un-fund-for-sharing-biodiversity-benefits-struggles-for-attention-and-money/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/un-fund-for-sharing-biodiversity-benefits-struggles-for-attention-and-money/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 07:17:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mactilda Mbenywe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/01021940/31248760644_5d0887d57d_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328108</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, climate finance, Conservation Finance, data, Economics, Genetics, Governance, Research, Science, Technology, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI — On Nov. 19, 2025, a small U.K.-based artificial intelligence startup called TierraViva AI transferred $1,000 to a United Nations trust account. It was the first payment ever received by the Cali Fund, a mechanism created at the U.N. biodiversity summit a year earlier in Cali, Colombia. The fund’s objective appears straightforward: to get [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI — On Nov. 19, 2025, a small U.K.-based artificial intelligence startup called TierraViva AI transferred $1,000 to a United Nations trust account. It was the first payment ever received by the Cali Fund, a mechanism created at the U.N. biodiversity summit a year earlier in Cali, Colombia. The fund’s objective appears straightforward: to get companies that benefit from “digital sequence information” — the policy term for digitized genetic information from biodiversity from around the world — to share some of those benefits with the countries that host that biodiversity and the Indigenous peoples and local communities who protect it. The Cali Fund formally opened for contributions on Feb. 25, 2025. As of August, this year, it had two confirmed contributions totaling $6,000. That’s far short of the $1 billion a year that the fund was expected to mobilize. TierraViva’s chief executive told Carbon Brief that the payment was an “ice-breaker,” intended to encourage other companies “who may be hesitating.” A second company, U.S. biotech firm Ginkgo Bioworks, had announced its intention to contribute earlier in the year but had not yet transferred any money. In July, another U,K-based company, biotech firm Prozomix, contributed $5,000 to the fund (though per current rules, it did not have to). “Nobody knows about the fund,” Astrid Schomaker, executive secretary of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), told Mongabay in an interview at the U.N. Environment Programme headquarters in Nairobi, where negotiators gathered in late July and August for preparatory meetings ahead of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/un-fund-for-sharing-biodiversity-benefits-struggles-for-attention-and-money/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/un-fund-for-sharing-biodiversity-benefits-struggles-for-attention-and-money/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328108</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Climate change parches Puerto Rico and Jamaica in rare early wet season drought</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/climate-change-parches-puerto-rico-and-jamaica-in-rare-early-wet-season-drought/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/climate-change-parches-puerto-rico-and-jamaica-in-rare-early-wet-season-drought/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 06:12:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/01055926/AP26217780658651-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=328121</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Caribbean, North America, Puerto Rico, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Development, Drought, Impact Of Climate Change, Infrastructure, Research, Science, Temperatures, Water, Water Scarcity, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A severe drought that has parched the Caribbean since May 2026 was fueled by human-induced climate change, according to a recent study. The rapid analysis was released by World Weather Attribution (WWA), a global network of researchers who analyze the influence of climate change in extreme weather events. In the Caribbean, the wet season runs [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A severe drought that has parched the Caribbean since May 2026 was fueled by human-induced climate change, according to a recent study. The rapid analysis was released by World Weather Attribution (WWA), a global network of researchers who analyze the influence of climate change in extreme weather events. In the Caribbean, the wet season runs from May-June to November-December. The researchers found that rising global temperatures due to human-induced climate change reduced rainfall during the early wet season, between May and July, by approximately 6% in Jamaica and 9% in Puerto Rico. They estimated this drop in rainfall has made extreme dry spells 40% more likely in Jamaica and 30% more likely in Puerto Rico, compared to the pre-industrial climate that was 1.4°C (2.5°F) cooler. “This three-month rainfall event was, in today’s climate, approximately a 1-in-50-year event in Puerto Rico, and a 1-in-30-year event in Jamaica,” Theodore Keeping, a climate researcher at Imperial College London and coauthor of the scientific report, said during a virtual WWA press briefing.   The impacts of the drought have accumulated across the region. San Juan International Airport in Puerto Rico registered its driest April-to-August period in 70 years, with precipitation 64% below average , according to Paul Miller, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Georgia, U.S., during the WWA briefing. The study added that critically depleted reservoirs forced Puerto Rican authorities to implement 48-hour rotating water rationing, affecting 180,000 water service customers in the capital region. Meanwhile, Jamaica placed seven parishes under strict water prohibition&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/climate-change-parches-puerto-rico-and-jamaica-in-rare-early-wet-season-drought/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/climate-change-parches-puerto-rico-and-jamaica-in-rare-early-wet-season-drought/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328121</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The world’s reefs are disappearing. Coral trafficking is booming</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/the-worlds-reefs-are-disappearing-coral-trafficking-is-booming/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/the-worlds-reefs-are-disappearing-coral-trafficking-is-booming/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 22:56:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Cherry Salazar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/31165539/aa.-%C2%A9Georgia-Aquarium-Euphyllia-sp.-SS16-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328049</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coral Reefs, Crime, Ecosystems, Governance, Marine, Oceans, trafficking, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ArtReef Rocks was an up-and-coming online shop offering aquarium accessories that made waves during the COVID-19 pandemic, offering hobbyists custom reefs and sculpted landscapes for their fish tanks. Aquarists raved about excellent packaging (“Not a single broken piece!”), quick turnarounds (“Arrived in only 4 days.”), and client support (“Customer service is amazing.”) — compliments that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ArtReef Rocks was an up-and-coming online shop offering aquarium accessories that made waves during the COVID-19 pandemic, offering hobbyists custom reefs and sculpted landscapes for their fish tanks. Aquarists raved about excellent packaging (“Not a single broken piece!”), quick turnarounds (“Arrived in only 4 days.”), and client support (“Customer service is amazing.”) — compliments that mean a lot for an online store that operates in the Philippines, more than 10,000 miles from its U.S. clients. The company gained a solid following about six years ago within a few years and exhibited in 2023 at some of the world’s biggest saltwater aquarium trade shows: the Reefapalooza in New York and Orlando, both in the U.S. Officially registered with the Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry as Pandorocks Artreef Artificial Reef&#8217;s Rocks Aquarium and Accessories Trading, ArtReef had distributors in the U.S., parts of Europe, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and other countries. Back home, its late founder and owner, Glenn Albert Binoya, is credited by the local reefing community as the “inventor” of unique aquarium landscaping described as “artificial live rocks” — substrates made of the mineral aragonite and crushed reef rocks. But court records in the U.S. show another side to Binoya’s business. In 2022, 10 U.S. nationals were indicted by authorities in the state of Alaska for trafficking corals in violation of the Lacey Act that regulates wildlife trade. They were accused of illegally selling coral and unlawfully conspiring to smuggle wildlife. Each of the accused men operated&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/the-worlds-reefs-are-disappearing-coral-trafficking-is-booming/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328049</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Growing Indigenous food trees in East Africa fights malnutrition and biodiversity loss</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/growing-indigenous-food-trees-in-east-africa-fights-malnutrition-and-biodiversity-loss/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/growing-indigenous-food-trees-in-east-africa-fights-malnutrition-and-biodiversity-loss/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 22:47:24 +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/20/2026/08/31142708/3840px-Chacma_Baboon_Papio_ursinus_eating_marula_fruit_2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327934</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Malawi, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Food, food security, Landscape Restoration, Natural Resources, Nutrition, Plants, Restoration, Solutions, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When the sugary-sweet masuku plum is in season in Malawi, locals go wild over it. “They will eat it while traveling, in the bath, on the streets … they just eat,” said Richard Swirah, an agroecologist with the Malawi chapter of the organization WeForest. Swirah has seen firsthand that native fruits like the masuku (Uapaca [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When the sugary-sweet masuku plum is in season in Malawi, locals go wild over it. “They will eat it while traveling, in the bath, on the streets … they just eat,” said Richard Swirah, an agroecologist with the Malawi chapter of the organization WeForest. Swirah has seen firsthand that native fruits like the masuku (Uapaca kirkiana) are in high demand in local markets — ”they sell like hot cakes,” he told Mongabay during a Zoom interview — but the supply is incredibly scarce. Owing to high levels of deforestation, native food-bearing trees such as the Masuku are becoming increasingly rare in Malawi and across East Africa. Recent work hopes to reverse this trend. Swirah is one of 40 people who participated in workshops earlier this year to share knowledge and questions about the use of Indigenous food trees in landscape restoration work, an area where they have so far been underutilized. Organized by University of Copenhagen postdoctoral fellow Emilie Vansant, the workshops identified the main challenges to integrating Indigenous food trees into the East African landscape, where tree-planting initiatives often focus on fast-growing, non-native timber species. These findings are summarized in a paper published in June. An agroforestry tour during a workshop at the Permaculture Paradise Institute in Lilongwe, Malawi. Image by Emilie Vansant. “Something important to highlight is that this work is not advocating for all introduced or all Indigenous trees, but for an integration — broadening the scope a bit to include these Indigenous tree species, because of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/growing-indigenous-food-trees-in-east-africa-fights-malnutrition-and-biodiversity-loss/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/growing-indigenous-food-trees-in-east-africa-fights-malnutrition-and-biodiversity-loss/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327934</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Gulf of Mexico’s unique Orca Basin shouldn&#8217;t become a carbon dump (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/gulf-of-mexicos-unique-orca-basin-shouldnt-become-a-carbon-dump-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/gulf-of-mexicos-unique-orca-basin-shouldnt-become-a-carbon-dump-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 20:56:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Craig R. McClain]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/31185024/Screenshot-2026-08-31-at-2.48.36-PM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328050</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Business, Carbon Sequestration, Climate, Climate Change, Commentary, Conservation, Critical Minerals, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Environment, Governance, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal, Marine Conservation, Mining, Natural Resources, Oceans, Renewable Energy, Research, and Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It’s 3 a.m. and I am standing on the deck of a research vessel, staring into water so dark it looks solid. I feel what I felt standing at the rim of the Grand Canyon, watching the sun set: there are places in this world deserving of our reverence, our protection, and our humility. The [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It’s 3 a.m. and I am standing on the deck of a research vessel, staring into water so dark it looks solid. I feel what I felt standing at the rim of the Grand Canyon, watching the sun set: there are places in this world deserving of our reverence, our protection, and our humility. The Orca Basin is one of those places. I have spent years working in the deep Gulf of Mexico, lowering instruments into the dark, pulling up sediment cores that smell of sulfur, watching remotely operated vehicle (ROV) footage of a seafloor that most people will never see, and few even know exists. Lying roughly 168 miles (270 kilometers) off the Louisiana coast, beneath more than a mile (2.2 km) of water, the Orca Basin is one of the most extraordinary environments on the planet. It is a lake on the seafloor, where the water is so salty and so dense that it resists mixing with the overlying seawater, and has occupied a vast depression on the gulf floor for thousands of years. Spanning roughly 154 square miles (nearly 400 km2), its salinity runs nearly 10 times that of normal seawater. No oxygen, no multicellular animals venture below its the ghostly boundary, where normal ocean gives way to something ancient and strange. When descending ROV cameras near the surface of the Orca Basin’s salty water, the interface shimmers like heat rising from sunbaked asphalt — a mirage a mile underwater. Map of the Orca Basin in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/gulf-of-mexicos-unique-orca-basin-shouldnt-become-a-carbon-dump-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328050</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous rangers pull killer ‘ghost nets’ from Australia’s northern coast</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-rangers-pull-killer-ghost-nets-from-northern-australias-coast/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-rangers-pull-killer-ghost-nets-from-northern-australias-coast/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 20:02:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/31195439/aad44e0a-4b0b-4d7d-8261-c4daa88bad1d-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328070</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Green, Oceans, Sea Turtles, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On a remote beach on Groote Eylandt, a large island in Australia&#8217;s Gulf of Carpentaria, Kirsten Eden and her colleagues found a fishing net that someone had tried to make disappear. It had been burned and melted into a lump while at sea, and thrown overboard. It didn&#8217;t sink, but floated to shore as a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On a remote beach on Groote Eylandt, a large island in Australia&#8217;s Gulf of Carpentaria, Kirsten Eden and her colleagues found a fishing net that someone had tried to make disappear. It had been burned and melted into a lump while at sea, and thrown overboard. It didn&#8217;t sink, but floated to shore as a wheel of hard plastic — once a net perhaps 60 meters (about 197 feet) long, now breaking into the microplastics that will outlast us all. “So, the entire Groote Eylandt is Aboriginal freehold land,” Eden, who manages the Anindilyakwa Land and Sea rangers, told Mongabay. “It&#8217;s spoken for by Indigenous Australians. So, they&#8217;re not beaches that anyone can just go to. There&#8217;s so much cultural value to these beaches. There&#8217;s so much significance. There are songlines, there are art sites … And I guess that&#8217;s the drive to try and protect it and move this debris. And it&#8217;s such an eyesore.” Aside from general cleanup, the team has its eyes on ghost nets: Discarded fishing nets that end up floating adrift, entangling sea life and gathering trash along their paths. Across northern Australia, Indigenous rangers are the working to retrieve the lost and abandoned fishing gear that keeps killing long after it is retired. Removing a ghost net on Australian beach. Photo courtesy of Timothy Hillier/Agency Project. Getting a net off a beach is slow, physical work. Some have sat for years, buried deep or wound around driftwood and rock. One net can take hours,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-rangers-pull-killer-ghost-nets-from-northern-australias-coast/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-rangers-pull-killer-ghost-nets-from-northern-australias-coast/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328070</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Coastal Texas and Louisiana warned of tropical storm as a potential hurricane moves toward Hawaii</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/coastal-texas-and-louisiana-warned-of-tropical-storm-as-a-potential-hurricane-moves-toward-hawaii/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/coastal-texas-and-louisiana-warned-of-tropical-storm-as-a-potential-hurricane-moves-toward-hawaii/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 19:56:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/31195157/AP26243562165200-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=328085</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Global Environmental Crisis, Oceans, and Storms]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MIAMI (AP) — The National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm warning on Monday for the Gulf of Mexico coast from the Galveston and Houston, Texas, area to the western parishes of Louisiana. As of late Monday morning, the potential tropical cyclone was centered about 120 miles (195 kilometers) south-southeast of Morgan City, Louisiana, and 230 miles [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MIAMI (AP) — The National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm warning on Monday for the Gulf of Mexico coast from the Galveston and Houston, Texas, area to the western parishes of Louisiana. As of late Monday morning, the potential tropical cyclone was centered about 120 miles (195 kilometers) south-southeast of Morgan City, Louisiana, and 230 miles (370 kilometers) southeast of Port Arthur, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph). It was forecast to strengthen into a named tropical storm by Monday night and make landfall in Texas on Tuesday. Forecasters are expecting 3-5 inches (7-12 centimeters) of rain in the greater Houston area, with some places getting up to 9 inches (22 centimeters). More than 4 inches (10 centimeters) per hour could fall, causing flash flooding, they said. Meanwhile, the remnants of Hurricane Dolly brought rain and thunderstorms to parts of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the Turks &amp; Caicos, and the Bahamas, the hurricane center said. In the Pacific Ocean, Tropical Storm Lowell was about 785 miles (1,260 kilometers) southeast of Hilo, Hawaii, and moving west with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 kph). Forecasters said Lowell could rapidly intensify as a hurricane by Monday night or Tuesday and reach the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands later this week. Elsewhere in the Pacific, Hurricane Karina strengthened Monday into a powerful Category 4 storm, but isn&#8217;t threatening land, forecasters said. Karina has intensified quickly since becoming a hurricane Sunday, fueled by warm waters far from any shore. It&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/coastal-texas-and-louisiana-warned-of-tropical-storm-as-a-potential-hurricane-moves-toward-hawaii/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/coastal-texas-and-louisiana-warned-of-tropical-storm-as-a-potential-hurricane-moves-toward-hawaii/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328085</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Singapore spending billions to adapt to climate change, but deforestation continues</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/singapore-spending-billions-to-adapt-to-climate-change-but-deforestation-continues/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/singapore-spending-billions-to-adapt-to-climate-change-but-deforestation-continues/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 16:49:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Robin Hicks]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/27151420/Save-our-forests-banner-Maju-protest-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327585</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Singapore, Southeast Asia, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Development, Environment, Extreme Weather, Global Environmental Crisis, and Impact Of Climate Change]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SINGAPORE — At a rare public demonstration against a state development plan, 22-year-old environmental studies student Saw Yun Ya called on the Singaporean government to redo an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for Maju Forest, arguing that it had overlooked the climate and health effects of clearing the site. The EIA for Maju, a 23-hectare (57-acre) [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SINGAPORE — At a rare public demonstration against a state development plan, 22-year-old environmental studies student Saw Yun Ya called on the Singaporean government to redo an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for Maju Forest, arguing that it had overlooked the climate and health effects of clearing the site. The EIA for Maju, a 23-hectare (57-acre) patch of regenerating forest bordered by housing in central Singapore, was announced in July, prompting an unusually impassioned public backlash in the conservative city-state. Maju is one of several secondary forests facing development as the 744-square-kilometer (287-square-mile) city looks to address an acute housing crunch amid a growing population. Forests at Sembawang, Woodlands, Tengah and Gillman Barracks are also on the chopping block. Secondary forests cover about 16% of Singapore’s land area, having regrown over abandoned villages and plantations after much of the population was moved into high-rise housing from the 1960s. The island lost almost all of its primary forests in the British colonial era. Singapore’s EIAs assess the pollution, waste and biodiversity impacts of developing an area, and have identified critically endangered species such as the Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) and straw-headed bulbul (Pycnonotus zeylanicus) at sites including Maju and Gillman Barracks. But residents and environmental groups say EIAs do not adequately account for the climate and health benefits provided by forests. A protester at a rally against deforestation on Aug. 16 holds a banner reading: &#8220;Know your enemy,&#8221; in reference to sites that could be used as alternatives to forest to build&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/singapore-spending-billions-to-adapt-to-climate-change-but-deforestation-continues/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/singapore-spending-billions-to-adapt-to-climate-change-but-deforestation-continues/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327585</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Environmental crimes don’t stop at borders. Neither can the reporting</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/environmental-crimes-dont-stop-at-borders-neither-can-the-reporting/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/environmental-crimes-dont-stop-at-borders-neither-can-the-reporting/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 15:53:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/28214737/daniela-Guainia-4-2026-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327670</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Interviews, Interviews With Environmental Journalists, and Journalism]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[High gold prices have fueled illegal mining across the Amazon. As Brazil tightened controls on the trade, criminal groups found another route through Venezuela, where it could be laundered and then exported overseas, according to a Mongabay investigation published last year. Documenting the trade required journalists in three countries to work together—an approach Daniela Quintero [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[High gold prices have fueled illegal mining across the Amazon. As Brazil tightened controls on the trade, criminal groups found another route through Venezuela, where it could be laundered and then exported overseas, according to a Mongabay investigation published last year. Documenting the trade required journalists in three countries to work together—an approach Daniela Quintero considers essential because environmental crimes rarely respect national borders. Near the Mavicure Hills with residents of the El Venado Indigenous Reserve. Credit: Rhett A. Butler As investigations editor at Mongabay Latam, Bogotá-based Quintero develops projects that combine field reporting with official records, satellite imagery, scientific papers, and legal documents. She also coordinates Mongabay’s Nature Crimes Fellowship, working with journalists from Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru on investigations in the Amazon and the Pacific. Quintero previously covered environmental issues and worked in the investigative unit at El Espectador before joining Mongabay in early 2025. Her reporting has ranged from glass-eel fisheries in the Dominican Republic to the gold smuggling story. Ahead of Mongabay Latam’s PUMA FEST in July, I traveled with Quintero to Colombia’s Guainía department, where I interviewed her about her work and her path into environmental journalism. Daniela Quintero Diaz An interview with Daniela Quintero &nbsp; Mongabay: Can you introduce yourself? Daniela Quintero: I&#8217;m a Colombian journalist and sociologist based in Bogotá. I&#8217;m an investigations editor at Mongabay Latam, where I develop and edit cross-border investigations into nature crimes and environmental issues across Latin America. Mongabay: What does a normal day at Mongabay look like&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/environmental-crimes-dont-stop-at-borders-neither-can-the-reporting/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/environmental-crimes-dont-stop-at-borders-neither-can-the-reporting/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327670</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Gold miners breach a crucial refuge for rescued Sumatran orangutans</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/gold-miners-breach-a-crucial-refuge-for-rescued-sumatran-orangutans/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/gold-miners-breach-a-crucial-refuge-for-rescued-sumatran-orangutans/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 14:37:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Junaidi Hanafiah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/28100815/orangutan-in-sumatra-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327699</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Aceh, Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Gold Mining, Governance, Great Apes, Illegal Mining, Mining, Orangutans, Protected Areas, Wildlife, and Wildlife Rescues]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JANTHO, Indonesia — Illegal gold miners in Indonesia’s Aceh province have breached a crucial reintroduction forest for critically endangered Sumatran orangutans rescued from the illegal wildlife trade. “The result of our monitoring indicates that maybe dozens of excavators are suspected of operating in the Jantho forest area,” said Afifuddin, campaign and advocacy lead at the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JANTHO, Indonesia — Illegal gold miners in Indonesia’s Aceh province have breached a crucial reintroduction forest for critically endangered Sumatran orangutans rescued from the illegal wildlife trade. “The result of our monitoring indicates that maybe dozens of excavators are suspected of operating in the Jantho forest area,” said Afifuddin, campaign and advocacy lead at the provincial chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), the country’s largest environmental pressure group. The Indonesian government established the Jantho orangutan reintroduction area more than 15 years ago within the wider protected forest known as the Jantho Nature Reserve. Jantho is located in Aceh province, on the northern tip of Sumatra. There were no Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii) living in what is now the Jantho reintroduction forest when conservationists began releasing animals there in 2011. Since then, the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP), which works with the Indonesian government on the reintroduction effort, has released nearly 200 orangutans into the forest. It remains one of the country’s most successful release sites for the critically endangered great apes. The Jantho sanctuary was chosen for reintroduction due to its habitat of fig trees, a key food source for orangutans, and proximity to the Leuser Ecosystem, which is home to most of the Sumatran orangutans that remain in the wild. Forest near Jantho. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. Rainforest river near Jantho. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. However, new analysis by Walhi’s Aceh chapter found that approximately 14 hectares (35 acres), of the Jantho Nature Reserve&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/gold-miners-breach-a-crucial-refuge-for-rescued-sumatran-orangutans/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327699</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>This rare wild cow is making a comeback</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/this-rare-wild-cow-is-making-a-comeback/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/this-rare-wild-cow-is-making-a-comeback/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 14:17:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sandy Watt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/31141516/Mongabay_Thumbnail_ThaiCow.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=327935</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Cattle, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Thailand’s banteng (Bos javanicus) population has declined dramatically across much of its range. But inside Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, this rare wild cattle species is making a comeback. Anti-poaching efforts and community-led ecotourism have allowed banteng to return to the forests, benefiting both wildlife and local livelihoods.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Thailand’s banteng (Bos javanicus) population has declined dramatically across much of its range. But inside Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, this rare wild cattle species is making a comeback. Anti-poaching efforts and community-led ecotourism have allowed banteng to return to the forests, benefiting both wildlife and local livelihoods.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/this-rare-wild-cow-is-making-a-comeback/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/this-rare-wild-cow-is-making-a-comeback/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327935</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Superb fairywrens disappearing in Australia’s capital: Conserving insects could help save them</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/superb-fairywrens-disappearing-in-australias-capital-conserving-insects-could-help-save-them/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/superb-fairywrens-disappearing-in-australias-capital-conserving-insects-could-help-save-them/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 13:39:56 +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/20/2026/08/28210838/BANNER-superb-fairywren-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327825</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia, Global, and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Impact Of Climate Change, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[If you sit in an Australian park or garden for long enough, chances are you might catch a flash of brilliant feathers out of the corner of your eye: the superb fairywren. With its bright blue and soft brown plumage, it was voted Australia’s &#8220;bird of the year&#8221; in 2021, “narrowly defeating the tawny frogmouth [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[If you sit in an Australian park or garden for long enough, chances are you might catch a flash of brilliant feathers out of the corner of your eye: the superb fairywren. With its bright blue and soft brown plumage, it was voted Australia’s &#8220;bird of the year&#8221; in 2021, “narrowly defeating the tawny frogmouth in a nail-biting finish” in a poll by Guardian Australia and BirdLife Australia. Yet, despite its seeming abundance in gardens and backyards, this iconic bird is showing worrying signs of decline. Superb fairywrens (Malurus cyaneus) are found in any habitat with dense shrubbery along the east coast of Australia, parts of South Australia and Tasmania. Despite being categorized as least concern on the IUCN Red List, a long-term study of superb fairywrens conducted in the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra determined that they&#8217;re disappearing, with climate change impacting their survival. Scientists have been monitoring these superb fairywrens since 1988, and research led by the Australian National University’s Cockburn Group found that this population has rapidly declined. In a recently published article in Nature Communications, the researchers write that this “common species … is in imminent danger, with virtually no time or way to prevent it.” Female superb fairywrens have a soft brown plumage unlike their bright blue male counterparts. Image by Cooper Williams. &#8220;We have seen some dramatic changes in the fairywren population in the Australian National Botanic Gardens,” said Damien Farine, a researcher from the Australian National University, who took over monitoring of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/superb-fairywrens-disappearing-in-australias-capital-conserving-insects-could-help-save-them/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327825</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists use satellites to track whale strandings in remote places from space</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/scientists-use-satellites-to-track-whale-strandings-in-remote-places-from-space/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/scientists-use-satellites-to-track-whale-strandings-in-remote-places-from-space/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 13:33:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manuel Fonseca]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/31114533/1-Dead-sei-whales-Balaenoptera-borealis-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327897</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation Technology, data, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Remote Sensing, Satellite Imagery, Technology, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2015, the remote coastal fjords of southern Patagonia turned into a whale graveyard. That June, scientists found 337 dead and decomposing sei whales, a species of baleen whale, on the beaches between the Gulf of Penas and Puerto Natales in Chile. Researchers flew over the area, then took samples from the rotting bodies, trying [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2015, the remote coastal fjords of southern Patagonia turned into a whale graveyard. That June, scientists found 337 dead and decomposing sei whales, a species of baleen whale, on the beaches between the Gulf of Penas and Puerto Natales in Chile. Researchers flew over the area, then took samples from the rotting bodies, trying to find clues as to why this happened. It was later reported to be the largest mass baleen whale mortality event on record. Data collected to determine the cause proved inconclusive, however. Scientists thought the most likely explanation was a toxic red tide provoked by pollution, a strong El Niño event and climate change. What researchers now know for certain, after using very high-resolution satellite images, is that the stranding occurred at least two months before the whales were found. “It’s quite shocking, really,” Penny Clarke, a whale scientist at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), told Mongabay in a video call. “Think that these whales are about the size of a bus, and there&#8217;s 300 … of them, and nobody knew about it for about two months.” The massive stranding in Chile had one bright spot: It offered an important opportunity to test the use of satellite technology to monitor strandings and support data collection on whale mortality. More than 10 years later, Clarke and her BAS colleagues not only use satellite imagery to identify different whale species by observing flippers and flukes in the water, but can spot whale strandings almost anywhere in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/scientists-use-satellites-to-track-whale-strandings-in-remote-places-from-space/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/scientists-use-satellites-to-track-whale-strandings-in-remote-places-from-space/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327897</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Recording a rainforest before Indonesia’s new capital changes it</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/recording-a-rainforest-before-indonesias-new-capital-changes-it/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/recording-a-rainforest-before-indonesias-new-capital-changes-it/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 08:46:00 +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/20/2026/08/31084321/Sound-Guardians-9-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=327891</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Acoustic, Animals, Bioacoustics, Biodiversity, Birds, Cities, Conservation, Culture, Development, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Monitoring, urban ecology, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In the forests around Pemaluan in East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, researchers led by Wendy Erb at the Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics in the U.S. have placed audio recorders on mountains, beside caves, and among [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In the forests around Pemaluan in East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, researchers led by Wendy Erb at the Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics in the U.S. have placed audio recorders on mountains, beside caves, and among mangroves. Over 18 months, they sampled 20 sites, collecting the calls of gibbons, frogs, hornbills, insects, and other wildlife. They want to establish a baseline before Nusantara, Indonesia’s new capital city, alters the surrounding landscape, according to a video produced by Mongabay, Scientific American, and Project Multatuli. Nusantara is being built in East Kalimantan province to relieve some of Jakarta’s congestion and pressure from land subsidence. Its planners describe a “smart forest city” where development and biodiversity can coexist. Roads, apartment buildings, a hotel, and a presidential palace have already appeared. Construction and chainsaws are becoming part of the local soundscape. The recordings will allow scientists to compare conditions over time. They may show where species remain, where they decline, and whether development is pushing wildlife into other areas. The findings could also help identify places where conservation measures are most needed. The project also records knowledge held by the Indigenous Balik people. Animal calls have long helped them interpret the forest. Gibbons marked the approach of dawn and, in unusual circumstances, were thought to warn of a death in the village. The great argus (Argusianus argus), a large pheasant native to the island’s forests,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/recording-a-rainforest-before-indonesias-new-capital-changes-it/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/recording-a-rainforest-before-indonesias-new-capital-changes-it/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327891</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>&#8216;You can’t protect what you don’t know:&#8217; Interview with marine scientist Loyiso Dunga</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/you-cant-protect-what-you-dont-know-interview-with-marine-scientist-loyiso-dunga/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/you-cant-protect-what-you-dont-know-interview-with-marine-scientist-loyiso-dunga/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 08:00:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alexandra Talty]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/28125637/3_Mapping_Loyiso-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327719</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Governance, Marine Conservation, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Research, and Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CAPE TOWN — When scientist Loyiso Dunga began mapping the Great African Seaforest in 2016, he decided to go snorkeling. The South African section of the kelp forest stretches around 800 miles or 1,300 kilometers, straddling two coasts and two oceans. Dunga grew up in a coastal community, Nqabara, in South Africa’s Wild Coast. As [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CAPE TOWN — When scientist Loyiso Dunga began mapping the Great African Seaforest in 2016, he decided to go snorkeling. The South African section of the kelp forest stretches around 800 miles or 1,300 kilometers, straddling two coasts and two oceans. Dunga grew up in a coastal community, Nqabara, in South Africa’s Wild Coast. As a member of the Xhosa nation, the ocean was kin or family to Dunga, and a sacred place. But that snorkeling trip was the first time he went into the ocean for fun. “That moment enchanted me,” said Dunga, who lives in Cape Town. Dunga’s research is now focused on evaluating kelp ecosystems. He works in South Africa as the executive director for the Seas of Good Hope program and globally with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Kelp Forest Alliance, a group that is dedicated to protecting over 9 million acres (3.6 million hectares) of kelp forests by 2040. But, for this conservation work to succeed, Dunga says that Indigenous wisdom, science and policy must be better connected. Dunga founded Asili Blue Renaissance, a nonprofit, to provide diverse, legitimate ocean conservation measures, including working with Indigenous communities. Dunga is now working on an initiative with the Kelp Forest Alliance to rename global kelp forests by their Indigenous names. Mongabay spoke with Dunga on the phone about his work. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. Loyiso Dunga. Image courtesy of Loyiso Dunga. Mongabay: How did you first become&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/you-cant-protect-what-you-dont-know-interview-with-marine-scientist-loyiso-dunga/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/you-cant-protect-what-you-dont-know-interview-with-marine-scientist-loyiso-dunga/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327719</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>&#8216;Lost&#8217; for 170 years, rare plant recorded in Sri Lanka</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/lost-for-170-years-rare-plant-recorded-in-sri-lanka/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/lost-for-170-years-rare-plant-recorded-in-sri-lanka/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 04:35:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/31050814/Indianthus-virgatus-growing-along-a-shaded-streambank-in-lowland-forest-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=327887</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biogeography, Biology, Conservation, Earth Science, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Flowers, Forests, Plants, Research, Science, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have   a population of an extremely rare plant species, last recorded in Sri Lanka in 1855, growing in a lowland forest fragment along the Sitawaka Ganga River. Documenting the finding in a recent study, researchers write that the plant, Indianthus virgatus, while officially listed as critically endangered in Sri Lanka, was presumed possibly [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have   a population of an extremely rare plant species, last recorded in Sri Lanka in 1855, growing in a lowland forest fragment along the Sitawaka Ganga River. Documenting the finding in a recent study, researchers write that the plant, Indianthus virgatus, while officially listed as critically endangered in Sri Lanka, was presumed possibly extinct in the wild in the country. I. virgatus, which has small white flowers, grows in the understory of wet tropical forests. It’s known from some 150 locations in India, but the only verified record of the plant in Sri Lanka is from a specimen collected in 1855, the study says. Using a combination of historical records across India and Sri Lanka, and predictive habitat modeling to identify potential habitats, researchers looked for the plant in southwestern Sri Lanka, in Sabaragamuwa Province. In January 2025, the research team successfully located a small population of I. virgatus of 70 to 100 individuals. This population was found in an area that researchers had predicted to be highly suitable for the species. I. virgatus, which is the only species within the Indianthus genus, has unique evolutionary and biogeographical context, said Vivek Pandi, coauthor of the study and assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India. The species has a disjunct occurrence across the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka, Pandi told Mongabay by email, meaning populations of the species are separated by a large geographical gap. This raises an intriguing question, he added,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/lost-for-170-years-rare-plant-recorded-in-sri-lanka/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/lost-for-170-years-rare-plant-recorded-in-sri-lanka/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327887</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>For 50 years, Philip Fearnside has calculated the costs of losing the Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/for-50-years-philip-fearnside-has-calculated-the-costs-of-losing-the-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/for-50-years-philip-fearnside-has-calculated-the-costs-of-losing-the-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 00:04:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/30150821/fearnside-header-16x9-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327527</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Dams, Deforestation, Development, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forests, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Infrastructure, Rainforests, Roads, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[At a September 2021 public hearing in Manaus, Philip Fearnside read from a prepared statement laying out his case against repaving BR-319, the highway between Manaus and Porto Velho, two cities in the Amazon. He called the project economically unviable, argued Brazil’s licensing process was broken, and warned that road would trigger “catastrophic” deforestation. People [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[At a September 2021 public hearing in Manaus, Philip Fearnside read from a prepared statement laying out his case against repaving BR-319, the highway between Manaus and Porto Velho, two cities in the Amazon. He called the project economically unviable, argued Brazil’s licensing process was broken, and warned that road would trigger “catastrophic” deforestation. People in the crowd started booing. Fearnside tried to keep speaking over the noise in his American-accented Portuguese, but someone killed his microphone. He was followed by Sérgio Kruke from the Movimento Conservador Amazonas, a vocal ally of then-president Jair Bolsonaro. Kruke pointed at Fearnside and asked why an American had any business telling Brazilians what to do with their land, adding that they had the right to cut down every tree in the forest if they chose. The audience cheered him on. “This house is ours!” Kruke shouted. The atmosphere was completely different earlier this month at the National Institute for Amazonian Research, or INPA. For two hours, researchers and former students held an event recognizing Fearnside’s 50 years of field research in the Amazon, work that made him one of the most recognized authorities on Earth’s largest rainforest. Carlos Nobre spoke about meeting him at INPA in the 1970s, before his own climate career took off, and how they collaborated on pioneering measurements of forest-atmosphere gas exchange. Susanna Hecht recalled running into Fearnside at a Belém bar while hunting for a dissertation topic. He suggested Acre, which is where she ended up doing her&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/for-50-years-philip-fearnside-has-calculated-the-costs-of-losing-the-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327527</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Turning the tables on invasive lionfish: How Honduran divers are fighting back</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/08/turning-the-tables-on-lionfish-how-honduran-divers-are-fighting-back/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/08/turning-the-tables-on-lionfish-how-honduran-divers-are-fighting-back/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Aug 2026 16:24:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fritz PinnowSandy Watt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/29161942/LionFish-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=videos&#038;p=327880</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America and Honduras]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Fish, Hunting, Invasive Species, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[TELA, Honduras — Mario never set out to become a lionfish hunter. An engineer by training and founder of the local dive center Tela Divers, he simply wanted to do something about the growing number of invasive lionfish appearing on the reef where he learned to dive. Native to the Indo-Pacific and thought to have [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[TELA, Honduras — Mario never set out to become a lionfish hunter. An engineer by training and founder of the local dive center Tela Divers, he simply wanted to do something about the growing number of invasive lionfish appearing on the reef where he learned to dive. Native to the Indo-Pacific and thought to have arrived in the Caribbean through the aquarium trade, lionfish have spread rapidly across the region. With few natural predators, they consume large numbers of native reef fish. In Tela, Mario and a group of fellow divers began experimenting with their own specialized spears, then turned their hunts into community derbies, with teams competing to catch the biggest, smallest and greatest number of lionfish. It was a fun way to get more people involved. Regular, community-led hunting is one of the most effective ways of helping keep local populations in check. But the fight is a constant one. By the time the divers return to a site they&#8217;ve already hunted, lionfish may have repopulated it. Now they&#8217;re looking for other ways to keep the pressure on, including encouraging local fishers to catch lionfish for restaurants. For Mario, it&#8217;s a long-term effort to protect the reef he calls home. 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&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/08/turning-the-tables-on-lionfish-how-honduran-divers-are-fighting-back/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327880</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Siraya language, deemed ‘extinct’ over a century ago, finds its voice again in Taiwan</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/siraya-language-deemed-extinct-over-a-century-ago-finds-its-voice-again-in-taiwan/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/siraya-language-deemed-extinct-over-a-century-ago-finds-its-voice-again-in-taiwan/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Aug 2026 12:52:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aylin Ho]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Yenni Kwok]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/28161645/image00003a-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327805</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Asia, Global, Philippines, Southeast Asia, and Taiwan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Culture, Education, Governance, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Hope and optimism, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Language, and Law]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[TAINAN, Taiwan — Since she was old enough to understand it, Uma Talavan has known she belongs to the Indigenous Siraya people.  She knew almost nothing of her ethnicity, however, the identity of which was dissolved by centuries of forced assimilation, save for a handful of words her parents used to speak. In search of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[TAINAN, Taiwan — Since she was old enough to understand it, Uma Talavan has known she belongs to the Indigenous Siraya people.  She knew almost nothing of her ethnicity, however, the identity of which was dissolved by centuries of forced assimilation, save for a handful of words her parents used to speak. In search of &#8220;who she is,&#8221; as she puts it, the Siraya activist decided to bring her language back to life nearly 200 years after it died out. “Language is an extremely important part of a people&#8217;s soul,” she says. “It lets us know the past and connect it to the present.&#8221;  Her work to revitalize the Siraya language, which began more than 20 years ago, helped secure the community’s legal recognition as Taiwan&#8217;s 17th Indigenous group. Uma Talavan, her activist father Wan Cheng-hsiung, also known as Cheng-hiong Talavan, and other members of the community traveled from Tainan to Taipei to attend a ceremony announcing the recognition on July 30.  Siraya activist Uma Talavan at Koupi Experimental Elementary School, the first school where learning Siraya is mandatory, in Sinhua district, Tainan, Taiwan, on Aug. 21, 2026. Image by Aylin Ho for Mongabay. The Siraya, one of Taiwan’s Austronesian-speaking Indigenous peoples, are the largest of the Pingpu groups, the peoples who have traditionally inhabited the island’s lowland plains and coastal areas. When the Dutch arrived in southern Taiwan in the 17th century, the Siraya were the first people they came into contact with.  The story of the Siraya language&#8217;s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/siraya-language-deemed-extinct-over-a-century-ago-finds-its-voice-again-in-taiwan/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327805</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>7 Indigenous Guarani killed after loose grain trailer hits car in central Brazil</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/7-indigenous-guarani-killed-after-loose-grain-trailer-hits-car-in-central-brazil/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/7-indigenous-guarani-killed-after-loose-grain-trailer-hits-car-in-central-brazil/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Aug 2026 01:05:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/28212047/RS41038_20190718_RH_2410_lpr-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=327834</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Culture, Indigenous Peoples, and Obituary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Seven Indigenous Guarani, including two children and a prominent community leader, were killed Aug. 14 in a crash with a grain cargo trailer that reportedly broke loose from the truck pulling it in central Brazil. All seven were from Kalipety village in the Tenondé Porã Indigenous Territory in São Paulo state. A fisher who witnessed [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Seven Indigenous Guarani, including two children and a prominent community leader, were killed Aug. 14 in a crash with a grain cargo trailer that reportedly broke loose from the truck pulling it in central Brazil. All seven were from Kalipety village in the Tenondé Porã Indigenous Territory in São Paulo state. A fisher who witnessed the crash told police that the corn-filled cargo trailer detached from the truck and “violently” struck the passenger car, according to a police report seen by Mongabay. The force of the collision caused both vehicles to catch fire, killing everyone in the car and incinerating the bodies. The truck driver fled the scene of the accident, the witness said. The bodies have not yet been officially identified but community members confirmed that the victims were Karaí Tiago Honório dos Santos, 34; his wife, Kerexu Laudiceia Benites, also a community leader, 31; their children, Jaxuka Luna Benites Santos, 7, and Tadeu Hiago Werá Mirim Benites dos Santos, 14; his sister, Kerexu Cleonice Honório dos Santos, 42; Ileo Benites, 32; and Genilson Euzébio Karay Mirim, 30. Karaí Tiago Honório dos Santos was the executive coordinator of the Guarani Yvyrupa Commission and Guarani Inter-Village Committee, where he worked to further the rights of the Guarani and other Indigenous peoples in Brazil. He also spearheaded environmental recovery and agrobiodiversity efforts. “[Tiago’s] journey was interrupted in such a brutal way, and what a sad coincidence that [it was] by a truck loaded with corn.” Tatiane Klein, an anthropologist and friend&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/7-indigenous-guarani-killed-after-loose-grain-trailer-hits-car-in-central-brazil/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327834</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>First Nations in Canada call for emergency order to protect southern mountain caribou</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/first-nations-in-canada-calls-for-emergency-order-to-protect-southern-mountain-caribou/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/first-nations-in-canada-calls-for-emergency-order-to-protect-southern-mountain-caribou/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Aug 2026 00:04:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/28230737/1-Caribou-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327848</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada, Global, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Mammals, Old Growth Forests, Primary Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“Under our Syilx Okanagan law, everything is sacred to us. We believe that Mother Earth is alive, all of kʷuləncutn, the creator&#8217;s creation, that it&#8217;s all alive,” Chief Dan Wilson of the Okanagan Indian Band, a Syilx Okanagan Nation, told Mongabay in a phone call. “That&#8217;s why the caribou are so important to us … [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“Under our Syilx Okanagan law, everything is sacred to us. We believe that Mother Earth is alive, all of kʷuləncutn, the creator&#8217;s creation, that it&#8217;s all alive,” Chief Dan Wilson of the Okanagan Indian Band, a Syilx Okanagan Nation, told Mongabay in a phone call. “That&#8217;s why the caribou are so important to us … they reflect on the job we&#8217;re doing for preserving kʷuləncutn as a creation for the next generation.” Southern mountain caribou are a type of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) found in mountainous regions of Western Canada, and until recently, parts of the U.S. They live in mature forests, and depend on lichen as a winter food. Three caribou herds — all imperiled — remain within Syilx-Okanagan territory in southern British Columbia. The Columbia North herd is the strongest with 185 individuals. The Central Selkirk herd has just 27 individuals, and the Frisby-Boulder herd, with eight individuals, is considered too small to remain viable. A fourth herd, the Columbia South, was extirpated from Syilx-Okanagan territory in 2023. The situation is mirrored across the southern mountain caribou’s range, where logging has chipped away at their mature forest habitat. In the past 20 years, 15 out of 40 herds once found in British Columbia and Alberta have disappeared or are too small to stand a chance, with numbers falling from nearly 10,000 in 1991 to just over 4,700 in 2023. In British Columbia alone, 11 of the province’s 32 herds have either vanished completely or become so small&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/first-nations-in-canada-calls-for-emergency-order-to-protect-southern-mountain-caribou/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/first-nations-in-canada-calls-for-emergency-order-to-protect-southern-mountain-caribou/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327848</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Global sea surface temperatures reach a record high, again</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/global-sea-surface-temperatures-reach-a-record-high-again/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/global-sea-surface-temperatures-reach-a-record-high-again/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Aug 2026 20:14:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bobby Bascomb]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/28200510/jan-15-2025-buffering.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=327823</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, Climate Science, Coastal Ecosystems, Coral Reefs, Disasters, Earth Science, Ecosystems, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fish, Fisheries, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Impact Of Climate Change, Marine, Marine Animals, Oceans, Research, Saltwater Fish, Science, Storms, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Global sea surface temperatures have reached a record high, raising serious concerns for global Earth systems, according to new data released by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). On Aug. 22, the daily global average sea surface temperature, outside polar regions, reached 21.1° Celsius (69.98° Fahrenheit), exceeding the previous record set in March [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Global sea surface temperatures have reached a record high, raising serious concerns for global Earth systems, according to new data released by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). On Aug. 22, the daily global average sea surface temperature, outside polar regions, reached 21.1° Celsius (69.98° Fahrenheit), exceeding the previous record set in March 2024 of 21.09° C (69.96° F). Even small temperature increases represent a huge gain in heat energy in the ocean because of its vast volume, noted the 2025 European state of the climate report. In 2025, too, the global ocean heat content — that is, the total amount of heat stored in the ocean — reached a new record high, passing the previous record set in 2024. The increase in ocean warming is having far-reaching consequences. “Our [latest] report highlights how sea surface temperatures contribute to sea-level rise, increase the likelihood and intensity of marine heatwaves, put critical ecosystems such as coral reefs and seagrass under greater stress, and threaten fisheries and food security,” Samantha Burgess told Mongabay in an email. Burgess is the strategic lead for climate with the C3S at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which produced the report. She added that increased sea surface temperatures “can also increase the potential for some extreme weather events, putting coastal communities at risk, all the while reducing the ocean’s ability to act as a carbon sink for the planet.” The world’s oceans have absorbed more than 90% of the excess heat produced by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/global-sea-surface-temperatures-reach-a-record-high-again/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327823</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Why a newly formed lake is sparking fears of more flooding along the Nepal-China border</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/why-a-newly-formed-lake-is-sparking-fears-of-more-flooding-along-the-nepal-china-border/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/why-a-newly-formed-lake-is-sparking-fears-of-more-flooding-along-the-nepal-china-border/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Aug 2026 17:51:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/28174044/AP26238334531076-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=327820</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Nepal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Global Environmental Crisis, and Impact Of Climate Change]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BENGALURU, India (AP) — Even as rescuers worked through mud and debris Friday in areas devastated by a catastrophic flash flood along the Himalayan border between Nepal and China, authorities warned that a newly formed, overflowing lake could trigger further flooding. Nepalese authorities said all security personnel, rescue workers and members of the public deployed in rescue and relief efforts have been told [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[BENGALURU, India (AP) — Even as rescuers worked through mud and debris Friday in areas devastated by a catastrophic flash flood along the Himalayan border between Nepal and China, authorities warned that a newly formed, overflowing lake could trigger further flooding. Nepalese authorities said all security personnel, rescue workers and members of the public deployed in rescue and relief efforts have been told to remain on high alert and immediately move to a safe location if necessary. Nepal police spokesperson Abi Narayan Kafle told The Associated Press that the rescue operation is continuing but with authorities remaining on high alert. “It hasn’t stopped,&#8221; he said. Where is the lake? Satellite imagery shown by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV seems to indicate that the newly formed lake was in the same area as where the glacial detachment event happened on Wednesday that resulted in the chain of events leading to catastrophic damage downstream. Nepal&#8217;s disaster management authority said that satellite imagery and preliminary assessments indicate that the river has been blocked upstream, creating a growing lake that could burst and trigger a sudden downstream flood. CCTV reported Friday morning that the lake’s barrier was more than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Gyirong Port, the border crossing with Nepal that was engulfed by mud and floodwater. The broadcaster said that the lake was at an elevation of 2,950 meters (9,680 feet), about 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) above Gyirong Port. How did it form? Climate scientists tracking developments in the Himalayan region said that Wednesday&#8217;s glacial collapse has resulted in several small&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/why-a-newly-formed-lake-is-sparking-fears-of-more-flooding-along-the-nepal-china-border/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/08/why-a-newly-formed-lake-is-sparking-fears-of-more-flooding-along-the-nepal-china-border/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327820</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As Photo Ark turns 20, Joel Sartore photographs 18,000 animal species</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/as-the-photo-ark-turns-20-joel-sartore-photographs-18000-animal-species/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/as-the-photo-ark-turns-20-joel-sartore-photographs-18000-animal-species/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Aug 2026 15:16:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/28145437/06_Female-red-handfish_black-BG_cr-Joel-Sartore-National-Geographic-Photo-Ark_NG-3002036-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327768</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Culture, Endangered Species, Media, Photos, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For 20 years, Joel Sartore has been on a quest: to photograph every animal species in human care, and then some. This year, on the 20th anniversary of the Photo Ark somewhere in Australia, Sartore photographed the project&#8217;s 18,000th animal. He’s not totally sure which one pushed the project over the threshold, but gives it [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For 20 years, Joel Sartore has been on a quest: to photograph every animal species in human care, and then some. This year, on the 20th anniversary of the Photo Ark somewhere in Australia, Sartore photographed the project&#8217;s 18,000th animal. He’s not totally sure which one pushed the project over the threshold, but gives it to the critically endangered red handfish (Thymichthys politus) a grumpy, red Muppet of a fish that could use the publicity. When Mongabay asked Sartore, just a few days after the official anniversary, about the last animal he had photographed, he got very excited about a small moth on the screen door of his home in the U.S. state of Nebraska. He coaxed it into an old cup and photographed it. He was still waiting on an identification from a couple of moth experts, who, he notes, are night owls. Portrait of National Geographic photographer and PhotoARK founder Joel Sartore with frill necked lizard, (Chlamydosaurus kingii). Photo by Douglas Gimesy for National Geographic Photo Ark. If you find Joel, you’ll likely find him working. Midwestern-friendly, practical, and optimistic, the National Geographic photographer shoots wherever animals turn up. This includes zoos and aquariums, pet shops, bioblitzes — where scientists and volunteers race to find and document as many species as they can — stream samplings by the Tennessee Valley Authority (a power utility), a cave in Kenya, and, as in the case of the moth, on his porch. When it comes to scheduling, “I would say we&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/as-the-photo-ark-turns-20-joel-sartore-photographs-18000-animal-species/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327768</doi>				</item>
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