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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?byline=fresno-bee&#038;post_type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/fresno-bee/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Wed, 15 Jul 2026 18:51:00 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Fresno Bee Archives</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/fresno-bee/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Community conservation under fire: Interview with Myanmar’s Clean Mountains founder</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/community-conservation-under-fire-interview-with-myanmars-clean-mountains-founder/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/community-conservation-under-fire-interview-with-myanmars-clean-mountains-founder/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 18:51:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Esther J]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/13175110/4-Local-community-in-Karenni-collect-garbage-2025-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323228</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Myanmar, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Degraded Lands, Environment, Fellows, forest degradation, Gender, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Mongabay.org, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Myanmar experienced a military coup in February 2021. In the aftermath, widespread repression by the military regime fueled the emergence of armed resistance movements across the country, pushing an ongoing conflict to its most intense level in decades. Starting from 2024, the military&#8217;s conscription law has further threatened the lives and futures of young people, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Myanmar experienced a military coup in February 2021. In the aftermath, widespread repression by the military regime fueled the emergence of armed resistance movements across the country, pushing an ongoing conflict to its most intense level in decades. Starting from 2024, the military&#8217;s conscription law has further threatened the lives and futures of young people, forcing thousands to leave the country. Meanwhile, environmental degradation continues to worsen. People are facing multiple crises, including environmental destruction caused by the overexploitation of natural resources, natural disasters, armed conflict, and human rights violations by the military regime. The democratic freedoms that used to exist during the five years of semi-civilian government before the coup have disappeared. Within this context, environmental activism and conservation efforts have widely faded. Yet, against this backdrop, the environmental group Clean Mountains was established in 2024 and is based in the conflict-affected states of Karenni (Kayah) and Karen (Kayin), areas controlled by resistance forces. The organization — funded through grants and donations — is a small, women-led team of four members between the ages of 22 and 28. The group&#8217;s founder, Ou Ou, 27, leads Clean Mountains in implementing community-based conservation in conflict-affected mountainous regions, focusing on waste management, water conservation, sustainable agriculture and forest conservation. Ou Ou, founder of Clean Mountains, attends an awareness session on waste management in Bago region, 2025. Image courtesy of Clean Mountains. Through both her previous organization and Clean Mountains, waste management systems have been established in more than 130 villages, including 15&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/community-conservation-under-fire-interview-with-myanmars-clean-mountains-founder/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/community-conservation-under-fire-interview-with-myanmars-clean-mountains-founder/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323228</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazil lists the Amazon river turtle as endangered for the first time</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/brazil-lists-the-amazon-river-turtle-as-endangered-for-the-first-time/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/brazil-lists-the-amazon-river-turtle-as-endangered-for-the-first-time/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 18:37:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Karla Mendes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15173950/BANNER-n.-%C2%A9-Andres-Camilo-Montes-Correa-original-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323320</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Freshwater, Herps, Reptiles, Rivers, Turtles, Turtles And Tortoises, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A food staple and once a common sight, the Amazon turtle is now officially endangered as its population halves.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A traditional food source for Amazonian communities, freshwater turtles have been included in Brazil&#8217;s list of fauna threatened with extinction for the first time. The cágado-iaçá, or six-tubercled Amazon River turtle, had its risk elevated from near threatened to endangered in a new national list recently released by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. Known in the Amazon as tracajás, freshwater turtles have been classified as nearly threatened for a long time, but it&#8217;s the first time that one of its species was classified as endangered, said Marília Marini, general coordinator of conservation strategies at ICMBio, the Brazilian agency in charge of conservation units. &#8220;For the Amazon, the main highlight is the inclusion of the tracajá,&#8221; Marini told Mongabay by phone. &#8220;That is a more delicate situation, because it also involves [traditional] communities that use them [for subsistence]. So, great care is needed regarding communication and how to direct actions — ensuring they don&#8217;t negatively affect those communities that have historically coexisted with the area.&#8221; Despite protection programs and conservation efforts, cágado-iaçá&#8217;s (Podocnemis sextuberculata) populations over the past 36 years — equivalent to three generations — declined by more than 50% in Amazonas and western Pará states, which accounts for approximately 70% of the species&#8217; total distribution, leading to an endangered classification, according to ICMBio&#8217;s Biodiversity Extinction Risk Assessment System (SALVE). Six-tubercled Amazon River turtle (Podocnemis sextoberculata). Image by © Rafael Bernhard via iNaturalist. CC BY 4.0. Six-tubercled Amazon River turtle (Podocnemis sextoberculata). Image by © Andrés Camilo Montes-Correa&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/brazil-lists-the-amazon-river-turtle-as-endangered-for-the-first-time/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/brazil-lists-the-amazon-river-turtle-as-endangered-for-the-first-time/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323320</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sitesh Ranjan Deb turned a hunter’s knowledge to saving wildlife</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/sitesh-ranjan-deb-turned-a-hunters-knowledge-to-saving-wildlife/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/sitesh-ranjan-deb-turned-a-hunters-knowledge-to-saving-wildlife/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 18:06:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15180210/Sitesh-Ranjan-Deb-header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323630</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Bangladesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Obituary, Wildlife, Wildlife Rehabilitation, and Wildlife Rescues]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The bear came out of the forest with enough force to kill him. It mauled the hunter badly and cost him an eye. He spent three months in a hospital recovering. There, he began asking himself questions that had not troubled him much before. Why was he hunting? Why was he killing? Hunting had come [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The bear came out of the forest with enough force to kill him. It mauled the hunter badly and cost him an eye. He spent three months in a hospital recovering. There, he began asking himself questions that had not troubled him much before. Why was he hunting? Why was he killing? Hunting had come to him through his family. His father and grandfather were known around Sreemangal, in northeastern Bangladesh, for killing leopards, wild boars, and other animals that threatened people or crops. As a boy, he accompanied his father into the forest. After his father died, he continued hunting. He became a gunsmith and a guide, familiar with animal tracks, forest paths, and the habits of creatures that most people encountered only by accident. Sitesh Ranjon Deb holds a pair of jungle cats in his house in Sreemangol, Bangladesh. Image via Agence France-Presse (AFP) After the bear attack, Sitesh Ranjan Deb, who died on July 14th, gave up hunting. He began capturing injured animals, removing snakes from houses, treating wildlife recovered from traffickers, and returning animals to the forest. The grounds of his home became a treatment center. It eventually developed into the Bangladesh Wildlife Service Foundation, one of the country’s best-known privately established wildlife-rescue institutions. The center remained closely tied to his household. Its patients occupied bedrooms, courtyards, cages, and improvised treatment spaces. Jungle-cat cubs, pythons, slow lorises, monkeys, birds, and other animals passed through. Those requiring constant attention stayed close to the family. Deb kept photographs&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/sitesh-ranjan-deb-turned-a-hunters-knowledge-to-saving-wildlife/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/sitesh-ranjan-deb-turned-a-hunters-knowledge-to-saving-wildlife/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323630</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>South Africa&#8217;s free-roaming cheetahs in steep decline, first national census finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/south-africas-free-roaming-cheetahs-in-steep-decline-first-national-census-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/south-africas-free-roaming-cheetahs-in-steep-decline-first-national-census-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 17:56:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15134921/23-CT-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323543</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cheetahs, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Governance, National Parks, Parks, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[South Africa&#8217;s free-roaming cheetah population is much smaller than previously thought, according to the first coordinated national census of the species living outside protected areas. Over three and a half years, between 2022 and 2026, researchers from Ashia Cheetah Conservation, the Cheetah Outreach Trust (COT) and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands surveyed almost [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[South Africa&#8217;s free-roaming cheetah population is much smaller than previously thought, according to the first coordinated national census of the species living outside protected areas. Over three and a half years, between 2022 and 2026, researchers from Ashia Cheetah Conservation, the Cheetah Outreach Trust (COT) and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands surveyed almost 100,000 square kilometers (38,610 square miles) of habitat across South Africa’s northern border. Wild cheetahs that inhabit the unprotected areas of South Africa are considered “free roaming.” Using camera traps, GPS collars, landowner surveys, genetic analyses, scat sampling and public sighting records, they compiled the Free-Roaming Cheetah Census (FRCC), which they described as the most comprehensive assessment yet of South Africa&#8217;s free-roaming cheetahs. During this time, they recorded only 83 mature adults, and 119 individual animals in total, which is 70% less than previous, smaller-scale studies suggested using model-based estimates. A young cheetah investigates a monitoring site in North West Province. Image courtesy of Ashia Cheetah Conservation. &#8220;Finding fewer than 100 mature adults is an extremely strong indication of how dramatically smaller the population has become within South Africa over the years,&#8221; Marna Smit, director of Ashia Cheetah Conservation, told Mongabay. Because of a high mortality rate in young cheetahs, which can be up to 90% for wild animals, mature adults — the breeding population —- are important for the survival of the species. Cheetahs in South Africa are currently managed in four separate systems: The free-roaming population, the semi-protected population in Kruger National Park&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/south-africas-free-roaming-cheetahs-in-steep-decline-first-national-census-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/south-africas-free-roaming-cheetahs-in-steep-decline-first-national-census-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323543</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In India’s Western Ghats, sacred groves are better at growing future forests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-indias-western-ghats-sacred-groves-are-better-at-growing-future-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-indias-western-ghats-sacred-groves-are-better-at-growing-future-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 16:07:16 +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/20/2020/08/04133403/Female_Great_Hornbill_carrying_food_1210px-768x451.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323594</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Fragmentation, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Indigenous Reserves, Religions, Traditional People, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the villages of India&#8217;s Western Ghats, some of the oldest and tallest trees do not grow inside a national park. They grow in sacred groves, small patches of old, mostly untouched forest that local communities have protected for generations, because they believe the trees belong to their deities and ancestors. A new study published [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the villages of India&#8217;s Western Ghats, some of the oldest and tallest trees do not grow inside a national park. They grow in sacred groves, small patches of old, mostly untouched forest that local communities have protected for generations, because they believe the trees belong to their deities and ancestors. A new study published in the journal PLOS One found that young trees regenerate far more successfully in these groves. Seeds dropped by fruit-eating birds are much likelier to survive and grow there than in surrounding farms and villages. India has more than 100,000 sacred groves, which are recognized as essential to community-based conservation. The Western Ghats is a mountain range that runs about 1,600 kilometers (nearly 1,000 miles) down India’s west coast, across six states. The study began there by chance. A team from the Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF), which runs a giant-tree program, had signed up a man in Vanzole village with a huge Terminalia bellirica (beheda) tree in his yard. Visiting, they saw giant trees all over the village. “It sparked a series of questions,” study co-author Kevin Matteson, associate director of Project Dragonfly at Miami University in the U.S. state of Ohio, told Mongabay in an email. How many giant trees were hiding in plain sight, and were birds like hornbills really using trees in such busy places? To find out, the team walked the whole village with two local experts, Namdev and Anant Shivgan, who mapped the land, identified the trees and led&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-indias-western-ghats-sacred-groves-are-better-at-growing-future-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323594</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Deep sea mining identified as biggest threat to known and unknown deep-sea creatures</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/deep-sea-mining-identified-as-biggest-threat-to-known-and-unknown-deep-sea-creatures/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/deep-sea-mining-identified-as-biggest-threat-to-known-and-unknown-deep-sea-creatures/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 15:41:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15153822/Least-Concern_Provanna-exquisita_credit-Chong-Chen-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=323591</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Indian Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biology, Conservation, Critical Minerals, Deep Sea Mining, Endangered Species, Governance, Invertebrates, Mining, Oceans, Research, Saving Species From Extinction, Science, Species, Species Discovery, Threatened species, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In its most recent update to the Red List of threatened species, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) identified deep-sea mining as the biggest threat to a critically endangered deep-sea snail. Discovered in 2021, scientists named the mollusk Lirapex felix — the lucky lirapex — because of the luck it took to find [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In its most recent update to the Red List of threatened species, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) identified deep-sea mining as the biggest threat to a critically endangered deep-sea snail. Discovered in 2021, scientists named the mollusk Lirapex felix — the lucky lirapex — because of the luck it took to find the roughly 2.5 millimeter (0.1 inch) long sea snail. So far, only two individuals have been recorded in one location 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) south of Madagascar in the Longqi vent field on the Southwest Indian Ridge. “Luckily, these two specimens gave us just enough information on its morphology and DNA so we could describe it comprehensively and give it a name,” Chong Chen, the scientist who first described the species, told Mongabay via email. “This likely means this species is naturally rare, making it especially vulnerable to anthropogenic impacts like deep-sea mining.” The species was found in an area that overlaps with a 15-year exploration license for polymetallic sulfide mineral extraction. The license was issued by the International Seabed Authority to China and expires this year. If exploitation-phase mining goes ahead, sediment plumes could smother and kill vent communities, Chen said. Even though little is known about the Lirapex felix, it was classified as critically endangered. By assigning the highest risk category the IUCN has taken a precautionary approach and  recommends further research into mining impacts. It has also called for surveys to see if the species exists at other vent sites along the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/deep-sea-mining-identified-as-biggest-threat-to-known-and-unknown-deep-sea-creatures/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323591</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Warming world could push Southeast Asia forests toward thermal limits, new study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/warming-world-could-push-southeast-asia-forests-toward-thermal-limits-new-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/warming-world-could-push-southeast-asia-forests-toward-thermal-limits-new-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 15:20:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15153104/raja-ampat2_RAB-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323577</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Ecosystems, forest degradation, Forest Fragmentation, Forest Loss, Forests, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Impact Of Climate Change, Rainforests, Research, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Forest canopies create the conditions for an extraordinary diversity of life to thrive. By casting shade and retaining moisture in the air and soil, they generate cool and stable understory environments. In the tropics, this regulating effect is particularly crucial for countless species that otherwise would be unable to survive in the extreme heat of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Forest canopies create the conditions for an extraordinary diversity of life to thrive. By casting shade and retaining moisture in the air and soil, they generate cool and stable understory environments. In the tropics, this regulating effect is particularly crucial for countless species that otherwise would be unable to survive in the extreme heat of surrounding open landscapes. However, forest scientists are increasingly concerned that the combined pressures of global warming and habitat degradation could undermine forests’ critical thermal buffering capacity. New research from Southeast Asia predicts forests across the region will experience unprecedented peak temperatures over the next three decades. Heat levels beneath the canopy could hit new highs even within currently intact ecosystems by 2050, the study found, potentially exposing forest-dwelling animals, plants and fungi to severe levels of heat stress. “Our findings show that climate change is not only warming the atmosphere globally, but also reshaping the local conditions that species experience inside forests,” said Erone Ghizoni Santos, who led the study while he was a Ph.D. student at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Clouded leopards are one of many forest-dependent mammals that could be impacted by shifting understory microclimates. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. Region-wide warming Prior research in Malaysian Borneo has demonstrated that when forests are degraded, such as through logging, they become more affected by climate shifts in the surrounding landscape. Depleted canopies allow more sunlight to reach the ground and trap less moisture, allowing heat to permeate the ecosystem. What was missing,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/warming-world-could-push-southeast-asia-forests-toward-thermal-limits-new-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/warming-world-could-push-southeast-asia-forests-toward-thermal-limits-new-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323577</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mongabay, Scientific American, and Project Multatuli release a documentary on Indonesia’s new capital</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/07/mongabay-scientific-american-and-project-multatuli-release-a-documentary-on-indonesias-new-capital/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/07/mongabay-scientific-american-and-project-multatuli-release-a-documentary-on-indonesias-new-capital/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 15:16:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Leah VarjacquesRizky RahadSandy Watt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Lucia Torres]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15151757/Sound-Guardians00002-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=videos&#038;p=323571</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Culture, Indigenous Peoples, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PEMALUAN, East Kalimantan — Indonesia’s plan to build a new capital in the province of East Kalimantan has captured global attention. Called Nusantara, the project is intended to ease pressure on Jakarta, a sinking and overcrowded megacity, by shifting the country&#8217;s administrative centre to the island of Borneo. But the new city is also reshaping [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PEMALUAN, East Kalimantan — Indonesia’s plan to build a new capital in the province of East Kalimantan has captured global attention. Called Nusantara, the project is intended to ease pressure on Jakarta, a sinking and overcrowded megacity, by shifting the country&#8217;s administrative centre to the island of Borneo. But the new city is also reshaping a forested landscape that is both rich in biodiversity and home to Indigenous communities who have lived there for generations. As construction advances, scientists and local residents are racing to document what remains of the forest before it changes forever. With audio recorders placed throughout the rainforest, researchers have created an acoustic baseline of its ecosystem. The calls of birds, frogs, insects and mammals offer a living record of biodiversity, helping scientists to identify species, track wildlife and measure how the landscape responds to rapid change. For the Indigenous Balik community, the project has another layer of meaning: the forest’s sounds are also part of their cultural heritage. Working alongside researchers, they are helping to preserve an acoustic archive of a place that may soon be permanently altered. As this corner of Borneo transforms, these recordings may stand as a lasting record of the forest at a pivotal moment. For the Balik community, the future will depend not only on the fate of the forest but on how they adapt to sweeping environmental and social change. Sound Guardians is a collaboration between Mongabay, Scientific American and Project Multatuli, with support from the Pulitzer Center on&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/07/mongabay-scientific-american-and-project-multatuli-release-a-documentary-on-indonesias-new-capital/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/07/mongabay-scientific-american-and-project-multatuli-release-a-documentary-on-indonesias-new-capital/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323571</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How Brazil’s federal fiscal policy hinders Amazon Rainforest conservation (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-brazils-federal-fiscal-policy-hinders-amazon-rainforest-conservation-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-brazils-federal-fiscal-policy-hinders-amazon-rainforest-conservation-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 14:05:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[João Gabriel de Araujo Oliveira]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/04/10170753/amazon_200509-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323538</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Economics, Ecosystems, Environment, Finance, Forests, Governance, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The forests of the Brazilian Amazon are, by any measure, among the most important ecosystems on Earth. They absorb carbon on a planetary scale, regulate rainfall across South America, and shelter biodiversity that science is still cataloging. International negotiations, carbon markets, and diplomatic agreements all rest on the assumption that these forests will remain standing. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The forests of the Brazilian Amazon are, by any measure, among the most important ecosystems on Earth. They absorb carbon on a planetary scale, regulate rainfall across South America, and shelter biodiversity that science is still cataloging. International negotiations, carbon markets, and diplomatic agreements all rest on the assumption that these forests will remain standing. Yet while the Amazon spans nine Brazilian states, the three whose territory is most overwhelmingly forest — and which therefore carry the heaviest share of the conservation burden — are among the poorest and most fiscally dependent in the country. The states of Amapá, Acre, and Amazonas operate on budgets so dependent on federal transfers that they have almost no fiscal room to act on their own. That is not a coincidence. It is a design flaw in Brazil&#8217;s fiscal constitution, and it is getting worse. The argument here is simple: Brazil cannot credibly lead global climate diplomacy while its Amazonian states remain fiscally trapped. The forest will not protect itself. And the states responsible for protecting it do not have the money to do so. Tropical forest near Atalaia do Norte, Amazonas, Brazil. Image by Gloria Pallares for Mongabay. What the budgets show Amapá is larger than Ecuador. Nearly three-quarters of its territory is classified as federally protected land — national parks, Indigenous reserves, and conservation units — that the state is legally obligated to maintain but receives no specific compensation for. In 2025, more than 60% of its entire state budget came from&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-brazils-federal-fiscal-policy-hinders-amazon-rainforest-conservation-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-brazils-federal-fiscal-policy-hinders-amazon-rainforest-conservation-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323538</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Wildfires expose millions in the Midwest and Northeast US to dangerous smoke</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/wildfires-expose-millions-in-the-midwest-and-northeast-us-to-dangerous-smoke/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/wildfires-expose-millions-in-the-midwest-and-northeast-us-to-dangerous-smoke/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 14:04:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15140020/AP26104637789245-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=323547</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fires, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Heatwave, Impact Of Climate Change, Planetary Health, and Public Health]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Heavy smoke from several large wildfires blazing in Canada and Minnesota is expected to engulf large swaths of the Midwest and Northeast U.S. this week, exposing millions of people to dangerous air pollution. Minnesota officials issued an air quality alert from Tuesday through Friday for areas including the Twin Cities metro area, Alexandria and Two Harbors, with very [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Heavy smoke from several large wildfires blazing in Canada and Minnesota is expected to engulf large swaths of the Midwest and Northeast U.S. this week, exposing millions of people to dangerous air pollution. Minnesota officials issued an air quality alert from Tuesday through Friday for areas including the Twin Cities metro area, Alexandria and Two Harbors, with very heavy smoke expected across the state’s northeastern corner as large wildfires spread. Air quality levels in Two Harbors, the Tribal Nation of Grand Portage and other regions in northeast Minnesota were expected to reach hazardous levels, making it unsafe for everyone. Dan Westervelt, associate professor at Columbia University’s Climate School, said severe drought conditions combined with heat in Canada and the U.S. have created “a perfect storm for really dry conditions to provide a lot of fuel for these wildfires to burn.” Research shows warming temperatures from burning coal, oil and gas are making fires more frequent and intense. People should stay indoors as much as possible to avoid the extreme heat, especially as smoke moves in, said Tyler Hasenstein, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Chanhassen, Minnesota. “Those two things coinciding with each other is not good from a health perspective,” he said. Officials in Michigan and Wisconsin warned residents Tuesday about air quality issues that could last for days. High levels of fine particulate matter in the air from wildfire smoke may be unhealthy for sensitive groups, such as children and people with heart or lung conditions. In parts of Maine, residents were reporting a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/wildfires-expose-millions-in-the-midwest-and-northeast-us-to-dangerous-smoke/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/wildfires-expose-millions-in-the-midwest-and-northeast-us-to-dangerous-smoke/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323547</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Bear-dar’ aims to give Arctic communities a heads-up on nearby polar bears</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/bear-dar-aims-to-give-arctic-communities-a-heads-up-on-nearby-polar-bears/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/bear-dar-aims-to-give-arctic-communities-a-heads-up-on-nearby-polar-bears/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 09:02:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhishyant Kidangoor]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhishyantkidangoor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/21131850/polar-bears-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323458</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arctic, Canada, Global, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bears, Biodiversity, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conflict, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Culture, Earth Science, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Human-wildlife Conflict, Mammals, Polar Bears, Research, Science, Sea Ice, Technology, Wildlife, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[How do you spot polar bears in the vast, and often dark, wilderness of the Arctic? Enter Bear-dar. This AI-driven radar system scans the landscape to spot approaching polar bears. The technology was developed by the nonprofit Polar Bears International in collaboration with U.S.-based security firm Spotter Global in a bid to mitigate encounters between [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[How do you spot polar bears in the vast, and often dark, wilderness of the Arctic? Enter Bear-dar. This AI-driven radar system scans the landscape to spot approaching polar bears. The technology was developed by the nonprofit Polar Bears International in collaboration with U.S.-based security firm Spotter Global in a bid to mitigate encounters between the animals and people. “We wanted to add another tool to the polar bear safety toolbox,” Alysa McCall, director of science at Polar Bears International, told Mongabay in a video interview. “With an early-warning detection system, there’s less chance of a bear getting killed because it surprised somebody.” Climate change is the biggest threat to the survival and existence of polar bears (Ursus maritimus). As sea ice melts in the Arctic, these threatened species are rapidly losing their habitats. As a result, they move on to land in search of food, where they risk coming into close contact with humans. With Bear-dar, scientists and conservationists say they hope to help manage such encounters and conflicts. The early-warning system uses radars and cameras that keep a watch on the landscape, looking out for motion in its field of vision. The radar panels, each about the size of an iPad, look at a distance ranging from a few hundred meters to 1.2 kilometers (0.75 miles). The AI algorithm in the radars was trained to detect polar bears from zoo-held animals at Assiniboine Conservancy Park in the Canadian city of Winnipeg. “There’s not a ton of polar bear&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/bear-dar-aims-to-give-arctic-communities-a-heads-up-on-nearby-polar-bears/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/bear-dar-aims-to-give-arctic-communities-a-heads-up-on-nearby-polar-bears/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323458</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How a spiritual practice is preserving Benin&#8217;s mangroves</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/how-a-spiritual-practice-is-preserving-benins-mangroves/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/how-a-spiritual-practice-is-preserving-benins-mangroves/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 03:46:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15034603/Mongabay_Thumbnail_VuduBenin_Featured-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=323455</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Culture, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Mangroves, Marine Conservation, Religions, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the West African nation of Benin, Vodun, an ancient spiritual religion rooted in a deep connection between humans and nature, has become a primary tool for protecting the country’s disappearing mangroves. By invoking the authority of the Zangbéto deity, local communities and conservationists create spiritual sanctuaries that forbid the destruction of mangroves under threat [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the West African nation of Benin, Vodun, an ancient spiritual religion rooted in a deep connection between humans and nature, has become a primary tool for protecting the country’s disappearing mangroves. By invoking the authority of the Zangbéto deity, local communities and conservationists create spiritual sanctuaries that forbid the destruction of mangroves under threat of divine punishment, reports Mongabay Africa’s Jahëna Louisin. Mangroves are vital carbon sinks, capable of capturing up to four times as much carbon as terrestrial forests. Benin’s mangroves are under extreme pressure from logging, salt production, intensive agriculture and urbanization. Between 1995 and 2015, mangrove cover in the country decreased by 29%, according to a study published in 2025. To combat this loss, the NGO Eco-Bénin partners with Vodun dignitaries to designate specific areas as sacred. In the last decade, this collaboration has preserved about 500 hectares (more than 1,235 acres) of mangroves. The process involves seeking permission from the spirits through a Fâ priest, a mediator who uses a traditional spiritual language to communicate with the divine. In the video, Isidore Jinou, a 57-year-old advertising director and the son of a fisherman, emphasizes the importance of this spiritual oversight for the Mono River region in the southwestern corner of Benin. This region is home to Bouche du Roy, an estuary and one of the richest mangrove ecosystems on the Beninese coastline. “All our resources, all our wealth comes from the water,” Jinou, who was initiated into the Vodun religion 14 years ago, tells Mongabay.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/how-a-spiritual-practice-is-preserving-benins-mangroves/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/how-a-spiritual-practice-is-preserving-benins-mangroves/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323455</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bill Montevecchi showed what seabirds could tell us about the sea</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/bill-montevecchi-showed-what-seabirds-could-tell-us-about-the-sea/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/bill-montevecchi-showed-what-seabirds-could-tell-us-about-the-sea/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 02:50:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/14175948/bill-montevecchi-psg-16x9-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323420</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Birds, Obituary, Oceans, Seabirds, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The North Atlantic can look empty until someone begins paying attention. A stretch of gray water off Newfoundland may hold only a few white specks at first glance. Through binoculars those specks become murres riding the swell, puffins carrying fish crosswise in their bills, or fulmars riding the wind above the waves. To Bill Montevecchi, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The North Atlantic can look empty until someone begins paying attention. A stretch of gray water off Newfoundland may hold only a few white specks at first glance. Through binoculars those specks become murres riding the swell, puffins carrying fish crosswise in their bills, or fulmars riding the wind above the waves. To Bill Montevecchi, these birds were never simply inhabitants of the ocean. They were observers of it. Their breeding success, feeding trips, and unexplained absences offered evidence about fish stocks, changing currents, pollution, and the state of an ecosystem that people could not otherwise see. For more than five decades, William A. “Bill” Montevecchi, who died on July 11th, aged 80, treated seabirds as the ocean’s most reliable witnesses. His work helped establish them as indicators of environmental change long before the idea became commonplace. At the same time, he became one of Canada’s best-known public interpreters of marine science, moving comfortably between academic journals, government advisory panels, newspaper columns, and radio interviews. He approached each with much the same purpose: to understand what the birds were saying and to explain why others should listen. Bill Montevechi shows a small injured storm petrel in Bay De Verde, Newfoundland. Photo © Mary Lynk/CBC Born in New York, he developed an interest in birds at an early age and trained as an ornithologist before moving to Newfoundland, where he spent most of his career at Memorial University. Newfoundland offered what he sought: immense seabird colonies, productive seas, and unanswered questions.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/bill-montevecchi-showed-what-seabirds-could-tell-us-about-the-sea/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/bill-montevecchi-showed-what-seabirds-could-tell-us-about-the-sea/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323420</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Laos’s illegal wildlife shops keep growing despite enforcement, investigators find</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/laoss-illegal-wildlife-shops-keep-growing-despite-enforcement-investigators-find/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/laoss-illegal-wildlife-shops-keep-growing-despite-enforcement-investigators-find/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 01:34:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/14121851/baby-pagolin-in-market-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323316</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, China, Laos, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bears, Biodiversity, Business, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Illegal Trade, Ivory, Law Enforcement, Monkeys, Organized Crime, Pangolins, Poaching, Rhinos, Tigers, Tourism, Trade, Traditional Chinese Medicine, trafficking, Wildlife, Wildlife consumption, Wildlife Rescues, Wildlife Trade, Wildlife Trafficking, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Schemes funneling Chinese tour groups through illegal wildlife shopping sites in Laos appear to be persisting and even expanding in spite of some law enforcement action by authorities, Mongabay has learned. In July 2025, a joint Mongabay investigation identified up to 21 illegal wildlife shopping sites embedded in package tours catering to Chinese [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Schemes funneling Chinese tour groups through illegal wildlife shopping sites in Laos appear to be persisting and even expanding in spite of some law enforcement action by authorities, Mongabay has learned. In July 2025, a joint Mongabay investigation identified up to 21 illegal wildlife shopping sites embedded in package tours catering to Chinese nationals in the Laotian cites of Luang Prabang and Vientiane. Typically masquerading as cultural centers, restaurants, jewelry stores and the like, or as stores embedded in such venues, the shopping sites typically only showcase their products to Chinese-language tours run by Chinese and Laotian operators, while barring entry to anyone else. Since then, the number of these shops appears to have nearly doubled, according to multiple groups investigating these operations on the ground. Mongabay has seen evidence suggesting that as many as 35 shops are now operating in Luang Prabang and Vientiane, with 22 in the former and the rest in the latter. When Mongabay asked the Laotian Department of Forestry about the first 21 shops in mid-2025, a spokesperson suggested that at least some of them were not registered as retail shops and that they would investigate. Since then, authorities have made seizures of suspected illegal wildlife products at several shopping sites in Vientiane and Luang Prabang, including of nearly 50 kilograms (110 pounds) during inspections of 17 unnamed locations In November and December, and of more than 57 kg (126 lbs) at an unnamed location on June 13, according to local media reports.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/laoss-illegal-wildlife-shops-keep-growing-despite-enforcement-investigators-find/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/laoss-illegal-wildlife-shops-keep-growing-despite-enforcement-investigators-find/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323316</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The unsung biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea needs urgent protection</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/07/the-unsung-biodiversity-of-the-mediterranean-sea-needs-urgent-protection/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/07/the-unsung-biodiversity-of-the-mediterranean-sea-needs-urgent-protection/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 00:23:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike DiGirolamo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mikedigirolamo]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/09/13073954/mediterranean-sea-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=podcasts&#038;p=322733</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and Mediterranean Sea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Carbon Sequestration, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, and Poaching]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Mediterranean Sea accounts for less than 1% of the world’s ocean surface water, but it contains roughly 18% of global marine biodiversity. It is home to 150 million people along its coastline (roughly equivalent to Russia&#8217;s population). And it sequesters 17.2 million metric tons of CO2 each year. Joining the Newscast this week to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Mediterranean Sea accounts for less than 1% of the world’s ocean surface water, but it contains roughly 18% of global marine biodiversity. It is home to 150 million people along its coastline (roughly equivalent to Russia&#8217;s population). And it sequesters 17.2 million metric tons of CO2 each year. Joining the Newscast this week to talk about the unique biodiversity of the Mediterranean Sea and its threats is journalist Manuela Callari. Callari has written for Mongabay, highlighting the threats to purple sea urchins (Paracentrotus lividus) along the Italian coast. These marine invertebrates are crucial to the health of marine ecosystems, such as those in the Mediterranean, by helping regulate algal abundance and serving as food for predators. However, they are being overfished and even poached in marine protected areas due to demand for them as the primary ingredient in a popular tourist dish: spaghetti ai ricci di mare. “In certain areas of Italy, like Puglia and Sicily, especially and Sardinia … ricci di mare are eaten either raw, or cooked with spaghetti … because [of] this, the sea urchins have been overfished. There are areas that where they don&#8217;t exist anymore,” Callari says. While the situation with urchins persists, Italy has been investing in an unprecedented effort to map its entire underwater coastline using deployed sensors to better understand the marine environment and manage conservation efforts. This is allowing them to identify where meadows of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica, which are “absolutely vital” to the Mediterranean ecosystem, persist, Callari says.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/07/the-unsung-biodiversity-of-the-mediterranean-sea-needs-urgent-protection/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/07/the-unsung-biodiversity-of-the-mediterranean-sea-needs-urgent-protection/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322733</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rising seas, garbage and heat threaten Brazil’s migratory shorebirds </title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/rising-seas-garbage-and-heat-threaten-brazils-migratory-shorebirds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/rising-seas-garbage-and-heat-threaten-brazils-migratory-shorebirds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2026 21:23:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sibélia Zanon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/14211324/capa-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323436</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Coastal Ecosystems, Marine, Migration, Oceans, Sea Levels, Seabirds, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[POTIGUAR BASIN, Brazil — On the estuary beaches where the Atlantic Ocean mixes with freshwater rising from mangrove soils, the shorebird known as the red knot has a single goal: to feed. While one member of the flock keeps watch, the others use their specialized, tireless beaks to capture clams, oysters, snails and earthworms that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[POTIGUAR BASIN, Brazil — On the estuary beaches where the Atlantic Ocean mixes with freshwater rising from mangrove soils, the shorebird known as the red knot has a single goal: to feed. While one member of the flock keeps watch, the others use their specialized, tireless beaks to capture clams, oysters, snails and earthworms that inhabit the muddy soils. Soon the time to migrate will come, and the birds must double their weight to endure the long trip. Each May, after spending the previous eight months in the coastal wetlands of Brazil’s shoreline and in Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego, at the far south of South America, red knots (Calidris canutus) begin a long return flight to the Northern Hemisphere. Their final destination is the cold, desert-like Arctic tundra. It’s there, during the northern summer, between June and August, that they breed. Even before the journey starts, on the beaches of Macau, Guamaré and Galinhos — coastal municipalities dotted throughout Brazil’s Potiguar Basin — observers can see a sign of their preparation: the birds’ chests display a reddish color typical of nuptial plumage. Among migratory birds, the red knot is one of the longest-distance travelers. It flies for about six days and six nights without sleeping, eating or drinking. After leaving Brazil, it will cover roughly 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles) to its next stop: Delaware Bay, on the northeastern coast of the U.S. From there, the journey continues toward the Arctic; over a year, the round trip may cover 30,000 km (nearly 19,000&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/rising-seas-garbage-and-heat-threaten-brazils-migratory-shorebirds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/rising-seas-garbage-and-heat-threaten-brazils-migratory-shorebirds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323436</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The US government says habitat destruction no longer counts as ‘harm’ to endangered species</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/the-u-s-government-says-habitat-destruction-no-longer-counts-as-harm-to-endangered-species/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/the-u-s-government-says-habitat-destruction-no-longer-counts-as-harm-to-endangered-species/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2026 19:55:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bobby Bascomb]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/14171051/large-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=323417</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Birds, Charismatic Animals, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Environmental Law, Governance, Herps, Law, Mammals, Polar Bears, Protected Areas, Reptiles, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration recently finalized a rule that narrows what qualifies as “harm” under the Endangered Species Act. Under the new definition of harm, only actions that directly harm or kill endangered species will be prohibited. Until recently, the definition of harm also included damaging the habitat endangered wildlife depend on for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration recently finalized a rule that narrows what qualifies as “harm” under the Endangered Species Act. Under the new definition of harm, only actions that directly harm or kill endangered species will be prohibited. Until recently, the definition of harm also included damaging the habitat endangered wildlife depend on for food and shelter. “This rule change is ludicrous. A kindergartener could explain that destroying an animal&#8217;s home will harm the animal,” Tierra Curry, endangered species co-director with the U.S.- based nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, told Mongabay in an email. The Endangered Species Act is a bedrock U.S. environmental law established more than 50 years ago. The law prohibits any person to “take” endangered species. “Take” has widely been interpreted to prohibit both directly killing or harming endangered species and damaging the habitat that is essential for their survival. That interpretation was upheld by a 1995 Supreme Court case involving spotted owls which ruled that harm also includes “significant habitat modification or degradation where it actually kills or injures wildlife.” The new rule abandons that longstanding interpretation. “Actions that directly injure or kill listed wildlife will continue to be prohibited,” the U.S. Department of Interior and the Department of Commerce said in their announcement. However, “[t]he final rule will reduce unnecessary permitting, cut compliance costs, and eliminate confusion for landowners, small businesses, energy producers, farmers, ranchers and local governments,” it stated. Tawny Bridgeford, the general counsel and senior vice president of the National Mining Association, an&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/the-u-s-government-says-habitat-destruction-no-longer-counts-as-harm-to-endangered-species/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/the-u-s-government-says-habitat-destruction-no-longer-counts-as-harm-to-endangered-species/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323417</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Waste, women &#038; environmental justice: Interview with Nubian activist Malasen Hamida</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/waste-women-environmental-justice-interview-with-nubian-activist-malasen-hamida/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/waste-women-environmental-justice-interview-with-nubian-activist-malasen-hamida/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2026 18:30:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ouma Elvine Tina]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/14131540/img5-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323283</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation leadership, Culture, Environment, Fellows, Gender, Interviews, Mongabay.org, NGOs, Social Justice, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Malasen Hamida, a Nubian Muslim woman from Kibera, in Nairobi, is an aspiring politician and an environmental activist with more than 25 years of advocacy behind her. Kibera, which was named by Nubians, meaning “land of forests,” is Kenya’s largest informal settlement and sits on land that the British colonial government allocated to the Nubian [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Malasen Hamida, a Nubian Muslim woman from Kibera, in Nairobi, is an aspiring politician and an environmental activist with more than 25 years of advocacy behind her. Kibera, which was named by Nubians, meaning “land of forests,” is Kenya’s largest informal settlement and sits on land that the British colonial government allocated to the Nubian community after their forebears served as soldiers in the King’s African Rifles. That allocation once covered 1,698 hectares (4,197 acres). Today, due to urbanization, forced evictions, land-grabbing and successive government projects, only 116 hectares (288 acres) remain under Nubian ownership, with no compensation ever offered. Through the Mazingira Women Initiative, Hamida has spent those years organizing around waste management, smart farming, land rights and women’s leadership. (“Mazingira” is a Swahili word for environment or nature.) She is also a three-time parliamentary candidate for the Kibera constituency and intends to run again in 2027. Hamida spoke with Mongabay on a cold Saturday afternoon, just as she was leaving the largest mosque in Kibera constituency. Her offices are a short walk away. As we moved toward them, several people stopped to greet her. She responded to each, “salaam aleikum,” paused to chat, and cupped a small girl’s face in her hands. She led me through a corrugated iron gate into a quiet compound of mud-walled, iron-roofed houses. The area was noticeably clean, with no stagnant water or litter in sight, unlike the typical sight in Kibera. We settled on the veranda of her home. Malasen Hamida addresses&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/waste-women-environmental-justice-interview-with-nubian-activist-malasen-hamida/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/waste-women-environmental-justice-interview-with-nubian-activist-malasen-hamida/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323283</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Trump reduces size of 2 national monuments in Utah as Republicans reshape land management</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/trump-reduces-size-of-2-national-monuments-in-utah-as-republicans-reshape-land-management/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/trump-reduces-size-of-2-national-monuments-in-utah-as-republicans-reshape-land-management/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2026 16:49:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/14164406/AP26194632078390-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=323414</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Energy, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Governance, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Natural Gas, Oil Drilling, Protected Areas, and public lands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[President Donald Trump is sharply reducing the size of two national monuments in Utah. The move to shrink Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments by about 90% unravels protections established by former presidents for areas with unique archaeological and historical features. It comes as Republicans under Trump have sought to drastically reshape the management [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[President Donald Trump is sharply reducing the size of two national monuments in Utah. The move to shrink Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments by about 90% unravels protections established by former presidents for areas with unique archaeological and historical features. It comes as Republicans under Trump have sought to drastically reshape the management of vast taxpayer-owned lands concentrated in Western states. Republicans have moved to expand oil and gas drilling, ramp up logging and remove habitat protections for imperiled species. The altered monuments had been designated under the Antiquities Act, a 1906 law meant to preserve important sites. Democrats and conservationists warn of the disposal of treasured landscapes for commercial gain. By Matthew Brown and Savannah Peters, Associated Press   Banner image: A hiker watches a waterfall at Lower Calf Creek Falls at Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, July 12, 2023, in Escalante, Utah. Image by Ross D. Franklin via Associated Press. This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/trump-reduces-size-of-2-national-monuments-in-utah-as-republicans-reshape-land-management/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/trump-reduces-size-of-2-national-monuments-in-utah-as-republicans-reshape-land-management/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323414</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Gus Mills, hyena expert and &#8216;the cheerful pessimist of the Kalahari&#8217;, has died</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/gus-mills-spent-a-lifetime-studying-africas-carnivores/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/gus-mills-spent-a-lifetime-studying-africas-carnivores/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2026 16:24:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/14161941/gus-mills-header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323402</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Carnivores, Cats, Cheetahs, Mammals, Obituary, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[His nephew recalled that the children were taught to chant, “Hyenas are beautiful!” as often as possible. On visits to Kruger National Park, he got them out of bed at midnight to look for bushbabies and again at five in the morning to search for big cats. Wildlife was often most active at inconvenient hours, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[His nephew recalled that the children were taught to chant, “Hyenas are beautiful!” as often as possible. On visits to Kruger National Park, he got them out of bed at midnight to look for bushbabies and again at five in the morning to search for big cats. Wildlife was often most active at inconvenient hours, and he expected anyone accompanying him to adjust. Michael “Gus” Mills, who died on July 13th, spent more than 40 years studying Africa’s large carnivores, especially hyenas, wild dogs, and cheetahs. He published more than 150 scientific papers, chapters, and reports, advised conservation bodies, and trained younger researchers. Much of his working life was spent in a vehicle on a sandy track, waiting beside an animal that might sleep for most of the day. Gus and Margie Mills. Sourced via the Endangered Wildlife Trust At school he had seemed an unlikely future scientist. He described himself as a “very bad student,” failed South Africa’s high-school leaving examination, and was told that science was beyond him. After passing the examination on a second attempt, he joked that he had earned an MA: “Matric Again.” Three years of psychology persuaded him that he did not want to be a psychologist. Zoology held his attention. A visit to Kruger in 1954, when he was eight, had already pointed him toward field biology. “It did something to me,” he said. From then on he wanted to work in the bush. After studying at the University of Cape Town and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/gus-mills-spent-a-lifetime-studying-africas-carnivores/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/gus-mills-spent-a-lifetime-studying-africas-carnivores/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323402</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Celebrating World Chimpanzee Day</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/celebrating-world-chimpanzee-day/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/celebrating-world-chimpanzee-day/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2026 16:10:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/14160849/b.-julie-larsen-9775-chimpanzees-uganda-6-10-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=323404</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Chimpanzees, Great Apes, Mammals, Primates, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Happy World Chimpanzee Day. On July 14, as the world celebrates one of humans’ closest living relatives, here’s a roundup of recent Mongabay stories about chimpanzees and their world: Chimps at war in Kibale National Park Chimpanzees, like humans, sometimes fight wars with each other.  Mongabay contributor Keith Anthony Fabro reported on a chimpanzee (Pan [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Happy World Chimpanzee Day. On July 14, as the world celebrates one of humans’ closest living relatives, here’s a roundup of recent Mongabay stories about chimpanzees and their world: Chimps at war in Kibale National Park Chimpanzees, like humans, sometimes fight wars with each other.  Mongabay contributor Keith Anthony Fabro reported on a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) “civil war” in Uganda’s Kibale National Park where a chimpanzee community split into rival factions and attacked former allies.  Before the split, the Ngogo community was unusually large, with 150 to 200 individuals making it one of the largest chimp groups ever recorded in the wild. The community then divided into two factions, which researchers call the Central and Western groups — named after the areas of forest they occupied. Between 2018 and 2024, the Western group carried out 24 attacks on the Central group, killing at least seven adult males and 17 infants. The conflict is still unfolding and may have lasting consequences for the population. The findings of a study show how shifting social ties can fracture animal societies and trigger collective violence. What do chimpanzees and Ringo Starr have in common? Drumming and singing at the same time is impressive, whether you’re Karen Carpenter, Ringo Starr or a chimpanzee. Mongabay’s Liz Kimbrough reported on Ayumu, a 26-year-old male chimpanzee at Kyoto University’s Institute for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior (EHUB). Ayumu has been spontaneously tearing floorboards from a walkway, fashioning them into instruments and performing extended drumming displays while also vocalizing.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/celebrating-world-chimpanzee-day/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/celebrating-world-chimpanzee-day/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323404</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Research offers nature-positive path to end and reverse biodiversity loss</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/research-offers-nature-positive-path-to-end-and-reverse-biodiversity-loss/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/research-offers-nature-positive-path-to-end-and-reverse-biodiversity-loss/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2026 15:05:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/13144253/25545049372_de54bc4a94_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323143</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Governance, Habitat Loss, Indigenous Peoples, Research, and Traditional Knowledge]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[From its nests high in the canopy of the Amazon, the harpy eagle depends on &#8212; and is critical to &#8212; the health of the forest around it. The species controls the numbers of animals such as sloths and monkeys that, unchecked, could consume too many leaves and turn the canopy into lace. But the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[From its nests high in the canopy of the Amazon, the harpy eagle depends on &#8212; and is critical to &#8212; the health of the forest around it. The species controls the numbers of animals such as sloths and monkeys that, unchecked, could consume too many leaves and turn the canopy into lace. But the massive loss of trees in the world’s largest rainforest has hampered the survival of the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja). Too few tall trees in the vicinity of their nests means fledgling chicks don’t have enough safe places to land as they learn to fly. Habitat loss, along with hunting, has led to the bird’s listing as vulnerable by the IUCN. Removing it entirely could accelerate the demise of the entire ecosystem, conservationist Harvey Locke told Mongabay in an interview, which could have knock-on effects such as diminished rainfall on farmland in the region. “The harpy eagle is not just an amazingly cool bird,” said Locke, the co-founder of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative based in Canada. “It&#8217;s not a luxury in that biome. It&#8217;s vital to it.” Just as other keystone species, such as elephants, beavers and bison, play similar roles in their respective environments, harpy eagles help hold together even heavily impacted ecosystems, Locke said. “If we pull these pieces out, it unravels,” he added. Research shows keystone species, such as the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) pictured here with a tufted capuchin (Cebus apella), play essential roles in maintaining the health of the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/research-offers-nature-positive-path-to-end-and-reverse-biodiversity-loss/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/research-offers-nature-positive-path-to-end-and-reverse-biodiversity-loss/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323143</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Why Africa should link nutritional data with fisheries management (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-africa-should-link-nutritional-data-with-fisheries-management-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-africa-should-link-nutritional-data-with-fisheries-management-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2026 14:11:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Essam Yassin Mohammed]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/14134651/54324375381_0dfb827375_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323387</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and East Timor]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Environment, Environmental Policy, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Food, Governance, Marine, Marine Conservation, Natural Resources, Nutrition, Oceans, and Saltwater Fish]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Off the coast of Timor-Leste, fishers are building something many countries still lack: A clearer picture of how small-scale fishing nourishes people. For six years, fishers have logged their trips and recorded the gear used, the habitats visited and the catch brought home in a digital system built with the government of Timor-Leste. More than [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Off the coast of Timor-Leste, fishers are building something many countries still lack: A clearer picture of how small-scale fishing nourishes people. For six years, fishers have logged their trips and recorded the gear used, the habitats visited and the catch brought home in a digital system built with the government of Timor-Leste. More than 77,000 trips later, that data has produced a study that urges governments to change how they think about fisheries management. The value of a catch is not just measured in kilos; where people fish and the gear they use can shape the nutrients that end up in local diets. Small pelagic fish can be rich in iron, calcium, zinc and omega-3s, while marine invertebrates gathered by hand, often by women and usually overlooked in official statistics, can also be nutritionally important. That matters because fisheries are too often managed around what is landed and sold, not who is nourished. A session during the Our Ocean conference in Mombasa, Kenya. Image by Malavika Vyawahare/Mongabay. After the first Our Ocean Conference held on African soil, this evidence feels especially timely. That event in Mombasa in June put Africa’s ocean future in the global spotlight, but the real test now is whether new commitments help countries build the systems needed to manage aquatic foods for people and not just for production, trade and conservation. Now the question is what those commitments will deliver. For decades, fisheries management has been built around one question: How many tons were landed?&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-africa-should-link-nutritional-data-with-fisheries-management-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-africa-should-link-nutritional-data-with-fisheries-management-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323387</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Kent Carpenter spent half a century counting the life of Philippine reefs</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/kent-carpenter-spent-half-a-century-counting-the-life-of-philippine-reefs/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/kent-carpenter-spent-half-a-century-counting-the-life-of-philippine-reefs/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2026 13:28:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/14132528/kent-carpenter-bw-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323372</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Coral Reefs, Fish, Freshwater Fish, Obituary, Oceans, Saltwater Fish, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[By some accounts, in the Philippine reefs of the 1970s, large groupers appeared every 50 feet or so. Some seemed as large as Volkswagen Beetles. Around them were snappers, fusiliers, wrasses, turtles, and corals, along with fish whose identities were still uncertain. A young biologist could spend his days diving and still feel he had [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[By some accounts, in the Philippine reefs of the 1970s, large groupers appeared every 50 feet or so. Some seemed as large as Volkswagen Beetles. Around them were snappers, fusiliers, wrasses, turtles, and corals, along with fish whose identities were still uncertain. A young biologist could spend his days diving and still feel he had only begun to understand what was there. Kent E. Carpenter arrived in the Philippines at 22, soon after graduating from the Florida Institute of Technology. The Peace Corps assigned him to the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and put him in charge of coral-reef research. He later called it “the best job there ever was or ever will be in the Peace Corps.” It gave him access to reefs across the archipelago and set the direction of his career. Carpenter was shot dead at his home in Sibulan, Negros Oriental, on July 12th. He was 73. According to police, three men entered the house late at night. A special task group was formed to investigate, and no motive had been established when his death was announced. Kent Carpenter. Image via Old Dominion University Pollution and destructive fishing were already damaging Philippine reefs during his early years there. The large predators he had seen so often became harder to find. He spent much of the next half-century recording marine life in increasing detail: which species lived where, how they were related, how populations changed, and what made them vulnerable. After completing a doctorate in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/kent-carpenter-spent-half-a-century-counting-the-life-of-philippine-reefs/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/kent-carpenter-spent-half-a-century-counting-the-life-of-philippine-reefs/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323372</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How birders in Chad ‘found’ the rusty lark, a bird lost to science for nearly a century</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-birders-in-chad-found-the-rusty-lark-a-bird-lost-to-science-for-nearly-a-century/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-birders-in-chad-found-the-rusty-lark-a-bird-lost-to-science-for-nearly-a-century/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2026 12:47:05 +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/20/2026/07/10163732/Rusty-Lark-260202-mirafra_Mongo_feb26%C2%A9Birard_DefosduRau_pm4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323087</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Chad, and Sahel]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biology, Birding, Birds, Conservation, Environment, Rediscovered Species, Research, Species, Wetlands, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The morning of Feb. 2, 2026, started like many others for Pierre Defos du Rau and Julien Birard: It was hot and sunny with a gentle breeze, ideal birding weather. The two French ornithologists, who have been birding since their teens and have traveled the world in search of birds, were at Abou Telfane Game [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The morning of Feb. 2, 2026, started like many others for Pierre Defos du Rau and Julien Birard: It was hot and sunny with a gentle breeze, ideal birding weather. The two French ornithologists, who have been birding since their teens and have traveled the world in search of birds, were at Abou Telfane Game Reserve in central Chad, looking for migratory birds that visit Sahelian wetlands. The duo has surveyed birds in Chad since 2016, they said, keeping detailed records of the winged visitors that fly across the Mediterranean and the Sahara Desert to overwinter in the Sahel every year, and catch any signs of trouble. Birds in the region face many threats: The construction of cities and farms drains their wetland homes; droughts — made more intense and frequent in a warming world — dry up water bodies; and some migratory species are hunted as bushmeat in conflict-prone countries, where food is scarce. Defos du Rau works at the French Biodiversity Agency, while Birard is at the nonprofit Tour du Valat Research Institute. On that early February day, they were joined by Idriss Dapsia and Abakar Saleh Wachoum from the Chadian governmental department for wildlife and protected areas, as part of a collaboration between the two countries for biodiversity monitoring. The team started the day with a plan in mind. “We had set ourselves the (unlikely) goal of searching for the Kordofan rufous sparrow,” Birard said, referring to a species found only in southwestern Sudan and across the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-birders-in-chad-found-the-rusty-lark-a-bird-lost-to-science-for-nearly-a-century/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-birders-in-chad-found-the-rusty-lark-a-bird-lost-to-science-for-nearly-a-century/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323087</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ecuador’s Amazon coffee farmers get ahead of Europe&#8217;s deforestation rules</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/ecuadors-amazon-coffee-farmers-get-ahead-of-europes-deforestation-rules/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/ecuadors-amazon-coffee-farmers-get-ahead-of-europes-deforestation-rules/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2026 11:37:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sibélia Zanon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/14111555/Fapecafes_local-production-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322761</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroforestry, Avoided Deforestation, Business, Coffee, Conservation, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Crops, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, EUDR, Farming, Governance, Natural Resources, Regenerative production landscapes, Sustainability, and Sustainable Forest Management]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“What motivates us most is being able to say, ‘I take care of the environment, I don’t cut down trees, and my coffee will be valued more highly,’” said Victoria Alverca Peña, a farmer for 25 years and co-founder of APECAP, a small coffee and cacao producers’ association in Zamora Chinchipe, a province in the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“What motivates us most is being able to say, ‘I take care of the environment, I don’t cut down trees, and my coffee will be valued more highly,’” said Victoria Alverca Peña, a farmer for 25 years and co-founder of APECAP, a small coffee and cacao producers’ association in Zamora Chinchipe, a province in the Ecuadorian Amazon. “I’ll be able to sell it under better conditions, and my work will be much more valued. “In our farms, besides coffee, you&#8217;ll find cacao, timber trees, fruit trees and even short-cycle crops,” she added. “When the coffee plants are still young, we can grow crops like corn, cassava or plantains. This helps us a lot with food security.” At the end of this year, the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is set to go into force, prohibiting products linked to deforestation from entering the EU market. Coffee is among the target commodities, and here in southern Ecuador, a group of coffee growers has been ahead of the curve in preparing for the EUDR implementation. Since 2019, nearly 400 farmers here have adopted a model that combines forest conservation, traceability, and geospatial monitoring as part of the Deforestation-Free Coffee Initiative, at work in 23 areas across the region. Between 2019-2021, the project developed Ecuador&#8217;s first deforestation-free coffee production model. The effort relies on a national protocol developed by the Ecuadorian government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which uses satellite imagery, traceability systems, and independent verification to track where coffee is grown&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/ecuadors-amazon-coffee-farmers-get-ahead-of-europes-deforestation-rules/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/ecuadors-amazon-coffee-farmers-get-ahead-of-europes-deforestation-rules/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322761</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Small-scale farming, logging eclipse megaprojects as top threats to Tapanuli orangutan habitat</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/small-scale-farming-logging-eclipse-megaprojects-as-top-threats-to-tapanuli-orangutan-habitat/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/small-scale-farming-logging-eclipse-megaprojects-as-top-threats-to-tapanuli-orangutan-habitat/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2026 11:24:36 +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/20/2024/03/12041811/Orangutan_Tapanuli_Anakan-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323335</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Indonesia, North Sumatra, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Business, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Endangered Species, Forest Loss, Forestry, Great Apes, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Illegal Logging, Industrial Agriculture, Logging, Mammals, Orangutans, Primates, Protected Areas, Subsistence Agriculture, Tropical Deforestation, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Large infrastructure projects have long dominated debate over the future of Indonesia&#8217;s Batang Toru ecosystem, the main stronghold of the critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan. But a new study suggests that while those projects have accelerated forest loss, the greatest direct threat to the ape&#8217;s habitat now comes from a much less visible source: [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Large infrastructure projects have long dominated debate over the future of Indonesia&#8217;s Batang Toru ecosystem, the main stronghold of the critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan. But a new study suggests that while those projects have accelerated forest loss, the greatest direct threat to the ape&#8217;s habitat now comes from a much less visible source: the cumulative impact of small-scale agriculture and logging. Recently published in the journal Biological Conservation, the study combines satellite imagery, causal inference, and years of ethnographic fieldwork — including interviews with local communities — to assess the drivers of forest loss in Batang Toru. Home to an estimated 716 Tapanuli orangutans (Pongo tapanuliensis), Batang Toru lost 7,659 hectares (18,925 acres) of forest — about 5% of its forest cover — between 2000 and 2023, the researchers found. Forest loss accelerated markedly after 2012, increasing at a rate significantly higher than historical trends would have predicted. The shift coincided with the development of three major extractive projects in the landscape: the Martabe gold mine, the Batang Toru hydropower project, and the Sarulla geothermal project. Using a counterfactual analysis, the researchers estimated that Batang Toru lost an additional 3,472 hectares (8,579 acres) of forest after the projects began, compared with what would have been expected had they never happened. At the same time, however, the researchers found that small-scale agriculture and logging accounted for roughly 70% of direct forest loss in the landscape during the same period. The findings suggest that while large-scale development projects remain an&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/small-scale-farming-logging-eclipse-megaprojects-as-top-threats-to-tapanuli-orangutan-habitat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/small-scale-farming-logging-eclipse-megaprojects-as-top-threats-to-tapanuli-orangutan-habitat/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323335</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Humans’ relationship with nature: Interview with ethnobotanist Pavel Partha</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/humans-relationship-with-nature-interview-with-ethnobotanist-pavel-partha/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/humans-relationship-with-nature-interview-with-ethnobotanist-pavel-partha/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jul 2026 22:56:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Usraat Fahmidah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/13134413/Pavel-Partha-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323233</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biodiversity, Biology, Botany, Conservation, Culture, Development, Ecology, Environment, Fellows, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Mongabay.org, Plants, and Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Pavel Partha and I first crossed paths almost two years ago at a 2024 sit-in protest against the destruction of Panthakunja Park in Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital. In a makeshift tent that housed a few activists, his eccentricity stood out as the researcher made a detailed list of the plants, birds and species affected by [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Pavel Partha and I first crossed paths almost two years ago at a 2024 sit-in protest against the destruction of Panthakunja Park in Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital. In a makeshift tent that housed a few activists, his eccentricity stood out as the researcher made a detailed list of the plants, birds and species affected by the felling of trees. When I asked him why such documentation was necessary for a protest, he said the plants, trees and species that make up the ecosystem deserve recognition and justice too. Partha is a trained botanist. For almost two decades, he has researched Bangladesh&#8217;s plant diversity alongside the knowledge of Indigenous and local communities through ethnobotanical research (the study of human-plant relationships). But he is just as likely to be found at a protest advocating for the rights of Indigenous communities and the systems they depend on. He is currently the director of the  Bangladesh Resource Center for Indigenous Knowledge (BARCIK), where he has worked since 2003, and continues his research. For almost two decades, Pavel Partha has researched Bangladesh’s plant diversity alongside the knowledge of Indigenous and local communities through ethnobotanical research. Image by Usraat Fahmidah. In this interview with Mongabay, Partha reflects on his philosophies of research and activism, shares why ecological justice matters and expounds on how scientific research can support Indigenous communities facing environmental destruction. This interview has been edited for length and clarity and has been translated from Bangla. Mongabay: Where does this begin for you? Can you&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/humans-relationship-with-nature-interview-with-ethnobotanist-pavel-partha/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323233</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Women Defenders of the Colombian Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/07/women-defenders-of-the-colombian-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/07/women-defenders-of-the-colombian-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jul 2026 21:38:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alejandro Prescott-Cornejo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alejandroprescottcornejo]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/15140431/IMG_6376-1200x800-1-e1760731721510-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=specials&#038;p=323303</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Culture, Gender, and Indigenous Peoples]]>
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											<description>
							<![CDATA[Colombia is among the most dangerous countries for environmental defenders. Yet here, women stand as frontline defenders of both nature and culture. Mongabay is documenting the women protecting forests, rivers and ancestral territories by strengthening traditional governance and reviving ancestral stewardship while confronting coca traffickers and illegal miners. In this Special Issue, meet the women [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Colombia is among the most dangerous countries for environmental defenders. Yet here, women stand as frontline defenders of both nature and culture. Mongabay is documenting the women protecting forests, rivers and ancestral territories by strengthening traditional governance and reviving ancestral stewardship while confronting coca traffickers and illegal miners. In this Special Issue, meet the women uniquely shaping new paths for Amazon conservation and community resilience.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/07/women-defenders-of-the-colombian-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/07/women-defenders-of-the-colombian-amazon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323303</doi>				</item>
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					<title>Cutting back vines lets recovering forests grow faster, Borneo study shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/cutting-back-vines-lets-recovering-forests-grow-faster-borneo-study-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/cutting-back-vines-lets-recovering-forests-grow-faster-borneo-study-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jul 2026 19:15:37 +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/20/2026/07/13150416/5-Malaysian-field-assistant-cutting-lianas-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323258</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Forest Recovery, Forests, Plants, Rainforests, Trees, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As the world faces the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, researchers are trying to understand how to restore degraded forests to most effectively sequester carbon, benefit biodiversity, and promote sustainable land use. A new study published in Current Biology adds to this endeavor, finding that cutting vining plants called lianas dramatically boosts [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[As the world faces the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, researchers are trying to understand how to restore degraded forests to most effectively sequester carbon, benefit biodiversity, and promote sustainable land use. A new study published in Current Biology adds to this endeavor, finding that cutting vining plants called lianas dramatically boosts canopy height in previously logged forests in Borneo. Lianas are a signature part of tropical forests, with their abundant flowers and fruits attracting insects, birds and mammals, and their looping woody vines creating natural bridges in the canopy. But in logged or disturbed forests, lianas can grow out of control — and they aren’t always the most considerate of neighbors. Proliferating in sunlit gaps, lianas use trees as scaffolding to fast-track their way to the very top of the canopy, while their roots pull water and nutrients from the ground. This can smother trees and change the way they grow, inhibiting forest regeneration. A number of studies have found that removing lianas by severing their stems can boost tree growth in disturbed forests; for example, a 2022 meta-analysis in Ecology and Evolution found that removing lianas more than doubled tree growth and biomass accumulation. So far, though, most of this research has been done in Latin America; less is known about tropical forests elsewhere. Dipterocarp forest at the Danum Valley Field Centre. Borneo’s tropical forests, dominated by trees from the Dipterocarp family, have some of the highest canopies in the world, with some trees reaching&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/cutting-back-vines-lets-recovering-forests-grow-faster-borneo-study-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323258</doi>				</item>
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					<title>China’s &#8216;Green Great Wall&#8217; tames desert growth, but scientists warn the fight is not over</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/chinas-green-great-wall-tames-desert-growth-but-scientists-warn-the-fight-is-not-over/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/chinas-green-great-wall-tames-desert-growth-but-scientists-warn-the-fight-is-not-over/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jul 2026 17:13:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/13170214/AP26191572693934-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=323272</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[China]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation Solutions, Desertification, Deserts, Ecosystems, Environment, Plants, Solutions, and Trees]]>
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											<description>
							<![CDATA[KUBUQI DESERT, China (AP) — For half a century, workers in northern China have been using a technique called &#8220;straw checkerboards&#8221; to combat desertification. This method stabilizes sand dunes and helps plants take root. The effort is part of the Three-North Protective Forest Program or Green Great Wall, aimed at reversing desertification. Since 2000, desertified [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[KUBUQI DESERT, China (AP) — For half a century, workers in northern China have been using a technique called &#8220;straw checkerboards&#8221; to combat desertification. This method stabilizes sand dunes and helps plants take root. The effort is part of the Three-North Protective Forest Program or Green Great Wall, aimed at reversing desertification. Since 2000, desertified land in northern China has shrunk significantly. The program has transformed vast regions, with forests now covering 200,000 square miles. Experts say continued success depends on long-term commitment and community involvement. The initiative has involved over 300 million rural laborers, mostly on a part-time basis. A highway cuts through a desertification control site of the Engebei Ecological Area near Ordos in northern China&#8217;s Inner Mongolia province on Friday, June 12, 2026. Image by Ng Han Guan via Associated Press. Desert control worker Yin Yuzhen visits a desertification control site of the Engebei Ecological Area near Ordos in northern China&#8217;s Inner Mongolia province on Friday, June 12, 2026. Image by Ng Han Guan via Associated Press.  Yin Yuzhen, a sand-control worker, holds up a plant that did not survive because it was not planted deep enough while at a desertification control site at the Engebei Ecological Area near Ordos in northern China&#8217;s Inner Mongolia province on Friday, June 12, 2026. Image by Ng Han Guan via Associated Press.  By Associated Press Banner image: Desert control worker Yin Yuzhen walks along sand dunes covered by grass checkerboard that&#8217;s part of desertification control efforts at the Engebei Ecological&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/chinas-green-great-wall-tames-desert-growth-but-scientists-warn-the-fight-is-not-over/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323272</doi>				</item>
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					<title>How narcos moved 108 tons of timber infused with drugs from Bolivia to Chile</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-narcos-moved-108-tons-of-timber-infused-with-drugs-from-bolivia-to-chile/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-narcos-moved-108-tons-of-timber-infused-with-drugs-from-bolivia-to-chile/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jul 2026 13:30:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Iván Paredes Tamayo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/10131149/Chile-run-anti-drug-operation-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323075</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Bolivia, Chile, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Crime, Drug Trade, Environment, Forest Products, Forestry, Governance, Illegal Trade, Law, Timber, timber trade, Trade, trafficking, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[New risks to South American forests emerge as trees becomes a key element in drug trafficking.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new case has exposed the connection between drug trafficking webs and the export of timber from the Amazon and other regions of Bolivia. After Chile announced in June the largest drug seizure — 108 tons of cocaine and ketamine — in its history, authorities confirmed the substances were detected impregnated in Bolivian wood planks. This is not the first time shipments of the so-called “narco-timber” have been caught: The illicit practice dates back at least 20 years, using the same recurring routes. Mongabay accessed prosecutorial sources in both Chile and Bolivia, two Andean nations in South America sharing a land border of 861 kilometers (535 miles). According to investigations in Chile, 32 shipments were made from Bolivia by 15 timber companies, mostly in 2026. In financial terms, the total amount of drugs moved through this system had a value exceeding $8.3 billion in international markets, according to the breakdown. “It is a six-month investigation developed by the Prosecutor&#8217;s Office of Arica [a northern Commune], the Maritime Police, and the National Customs Service of Chile, which culminated in the detection of 45 contaminated containers [with drugs] in the ports of Arica, Valparaíso, and San Antonio,” the Prosecutor&#8217;s Office of Arica and Parinacota stated in a report. Cocaine and ketamine impregnated in timber were detected in Arica, northern Chile. Image courtesy of the National Customs Service of Chile. The timber shipments departed from Bolivia, mainly from the departments of Pando, Santa Cruz, Cochabamba, Beni and La Paz. The cargoes had ports&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-narcos-moved-108-tons-of-timber-infused-with-drugs-from-bolivia-to-chile/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323075</doi>				</item>
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