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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/isabel-esterman/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Mon, 14 Sep 2026 16:50:43 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Stories by Isabel Esterman -</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/isabel-esterman/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Did you know cocoa pulp tastes like lychee?!</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/did-you-know-cocoa-pulp-tastes-like-lychee/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/did-you-know-cocoa-pulp-tastes-like-lychee/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2026 15:31:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[The Rainforester]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/14153051/CocoaFeatured.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=329647</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Ecosystems, Environment, Food, Forests, Natural Resources, and Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[From a symbol of wealth and the food of the gods, to a sweet treat many of us can’t go too long without; the story of cacao (or cocoa, depending on how it was processed), has been intertwined with humanity&#8217;s for millennia! In this 4-part series on NTFPs (non-timber forest products) with The Rainforester and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[From a symbol of wealth and the food of the gods, to a sweet treat many of us can’t go too long without; the story of cacao (or cocoa, depending on how it was processed), has been intertwined with humanity&#8217;s for millennia! In this 4-part series on NTFPs (non-timber forest products) with The Rainforester and Mongabay, we explore the ways that harvesting sustainably from our forests can keep them alive!This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/did-you-know-cocoa-pulp-tastes-like-lychee/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/did-you-know-cocoa-pulp-tastes-like-lychee/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329647</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Decline of migratory birds spurs calls for coordinated conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/decline-of-migratory-birds-spurs-calls-for-coordinated-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/decline-of-migratory-birds-spurs-calls-for-coordinated-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2026 14:09:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Wilson Odhiambo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/14122724/Bar-headedGoose.Anser_.indicus_-%C2%A9NejibAhmedShutterstock-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329611</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Europe, and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Birds, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Transmigration, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI — The decline of many migratory bird populations is a red flag that ecosystems around the world are under increasing pressure, conservation experts warn, adding it’s time for governments to come together and coordinate conservation efforts across national borders. Representatives from governments, conservation agencies, NGOs, financial institutions, and donors gathered in Nairobi from Sept. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI — The decline of many migratory bird populations is a red flag that ecosystems around the world are under increasing pressure, conservation experts warn, adding it’s time for governments to come together and coordinate conservation efforts across national borders. Representatives from governments, conservation agencies, NGOs, financial institutions, and donors gathered in Nairobi from Sept. 8-11 for the Global Flyways Summit, hosted by BirdLife International in collaboration with Nature Kenya to address the growing threats facing migratory birds and the habitats they depend on. BirdLife presented the latest edition of its quadrennial “State of the World’s Birds” report, which reported that 45% of migratory bird species are declining, while about one in nine faces the threat of extinction. Shorebirds and seabirds were identified as among the groups experiencing particularly severe declines. A great snipe (Gallinago media) in Nigde, Türkiye. These near threatened snipes breed in Scandinavia and western Russia, and spend their winters at sites across West, Central, and East Africa. According to the IUCN, this species’ numbers are declining rapidly due to habitat loss and hunting pressure. Image © Koray Öğreten via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0). The Red List Index of species survival for migratory birds, with examples of species uplisted and downlisted and the main factors driving these changes. Image courtesy of BirdLife International, 2026. The conservation organization said the main pressures include loss of habitat, agriculture, hunting, pollution, and climate change. Stuart Butchart, BirdLife International’s chief scientist, said these threats cannot be addressed effectively in individual countries&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/decline-of-migratory-birds-spurs-calls-for-coordinated-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/decline-of-migratory-birds-spurs-calls-for-coordinated-conservation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329611</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Can we stop ships from killing the Mediterranean’s last great whales?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/custom-story/2026/09/can-we-stop-ships-from-killing-the-mediterraneans-last-great-whales/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/custom-story/2026/09/can-we-stop-ships-from-killing-the-mediterraneans-last-great-whales/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2026 13:44:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Clea SkopelitiFederica RossiWouter Massink]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/08134319/Codamozza-whale-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=custom-story&#038;p=329085</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, Italy, and Mediterranean Sea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Shipping, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Collisions with ships are a leading anthropogenic killer of the Mediterranean’s two endangered large-bodied cetacean species, sperm and fin whales. In 2025, thousands of vessels traveled through the Mediterranean’s key whale habitats at speeds above 15 knots (28 km/h), the threshold at which vessel strikes are almost always fatal, according to an analysis by Magma [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Collisions with ships are a leading anthropogenic killer of the Mediterranean’s two endangered large-bodied cetacean species, sperm and fin whales. In 2025, thousands of vessels traveled through the Mediterranean’s key whale habitats at speeds above 15 knots (28 km/h), the threshold at which vessel strikes are almost always fatal, according to an analysis by Magma Magazine and Mongabay. Using vessel and whale telemetry data, Mongabay created a visualization that illustrates how dense maritime traffic poses a continuous threat to whales in the Mediterranean. Nascent solutions include vessel speed restrictions, rerouting ship traffic to avoid whale habitats, and systems that alert ships to the presence of whales. OSTIA, Italy — Standing before the carcass of a sperm whale on a beach in Ostia, near Rome, in 2023, Lisa Stanzani had no doubts about the animal’s cause of death. The marine biologist could see clear signs that this one had been killed by a vessel’s propeller. She recognized it from the wound on its head: a colleague had sent her a video of the injured animal near the island of Ponza, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) away, a couple of weeks earlier. “This means it died slowly, in agony. As with many collision cases, death isn’t instantaneous,” Stanzani, the founder of Sotto al Mare, an Italian cetacean research and conservation association, told Mongabay during an interview in Ostia. It was a young whale with a wound about a meter (3 feet) long. “For such a deep and clean cut to penetrate the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/custom-story/2026/09/can-we-stop-ships-from-killing-the-mediterraneans-last-great-whales/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329085</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Panama looks to science, fishers, and the law to protect its sharks and rays</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/panama-looks-to-science-fishers-and-the-law-to-protect-its-sharks-and-rays/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/panama-looks-to-science-fishers-and-the-law-to-protect-its-sharks-and-rays/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2026 11:47:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Monica Pelliccia]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/14102837/4-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329577</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, North America, and Panama]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Bycatch, Certification, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Illegal Fishing, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Protected Areas, Rays, Sharks, Solutions, Sustainability, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PUERTO CAIMITO, Panama — It’s a late April morning and the Tabor, an industrial fishing boat, is sailing around Chepillo Island in Panama Bay. Under the eyes of the crew, Yehudi Rodríguez, a marine biologist specializing in sharks, and sailor Joel Cordoba free a large black devil ray from a purse seine net and launch [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PUERTO CAIMITO, Panama — It’s a late April morning and the Tabor, an industrial fishing boat, is sailing around Chepillo Island in Panama Bay. Under the eyes of the crew, Yehudi Rodríguez, a marine biologist specializing in sharks, and sailor Joel Cordoba free a large black devil ray from a purse seine net and launch it back into the water. As they work with the biologist, the sailors, around a dozen of them, joke among themselves. Tabor is part of the Promarina S.A. fleet, a Panamanian company that produces fish oil and fish meal, authorized to catch only small open-ocean fish, or pelagics, such as sardines and herrings. Every two weeks, Rodríguez, a professor of biology at the University of Panama and director of the Shark Defenders NGO, analyzes bycatch — marine species not targeted but accidentally caught by fishers — freeing sharks, rays, and other animals entangled in the purse seine nets of Promarina vessels. “It’s an emotion to see a huge Mobula for the first time and liberate it in the ocean,” Rodríguez, 49, tells Mongabay after freeing the devil ray, which weighed an estimated 100 kilograms (220 pounds). Just a few hours later, Hermes, 18, the youngest sailor on the crew and nicknamed Mbappé after the French football star, helps Rodríguez liberate another ray, both taking care to avoid being hit by the animal’s venomous barb. Before returning an animal into the water, Rodríguez follows a short protocol:  she records the coordinates of the bycatch location, identifies&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/panama-looks-to-science-fishers-and-the-law-to-protect-its-sharks-and-rays/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329577</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Against the odds, endangered dolphins survive in Bangladesh’s polluted river</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/against-the-odds-endangered-dolphins-survive-in-bangladeshs-polluted-river/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/against-the-odds-endangered-dolphins-survive-in-bangladeshs-polluted-river/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2026 10:11:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Md Jahidul Islam]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/14095844/ganges-river-dolphin-bangladesh-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329579</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Freshwater, Mammals, Pollution, Rivers, Waste, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Buriganga River, which flows by Dhaka city, is one of Bangladesh’s most polluted waterways and ranks among the most contaminated urban rivers in the world. Every day, the 29-kilometre- (18-mile-) long Buriganga River absorbs toxic industrial effluent from hundreds of factories, continuous tannery discharges, untreated sewage and solid waste, leaving much of the river [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Buriganga River, which flows by Dhaka city, is one of Bangladesh’s most polluted waterways and ranks among the most contaminated urban rivers in the world. Every day, the 29-kilometre- (18-mile-) long Buriganga River absorbs toxic industrial effluent from hundreds of factories, continuous tannery discharges, untreated sewage and solid waste, leaving much of the river virtually lifeless for fish. However, in the Buriganga, where native fish species have essentially vanished, endangered Ganges river dolphins (Platanista gangetica) continue to persist. A recent study published in the Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity found that around 20 dolphins live in the river. Researchers conducted the study for 12 months, from September 2023 to August 2024, and systematically surveyed a 27-km (16.7-mi) stretch of this heavily polluted river that skirts the southern edge of Dhaka. “The Buriganga is not a usual place for dolphins, where native fishes have largely vanished. Leaving the river full of invasive suckermouth catfish [Hypostomus Plecostomus, locally called sakar fish],” one of the researchers, Md. Aminur Rahman, told Mongabay. “When we found [the dolphins], we were amazed at how it was possible. Because the river is not livable for fish. Around the year, we didn’t track any dolphins only during two of the months, but all the other 10 months we tracked them.” The highest number of dolphins were seen in December, and throughout the winter season, and none were seen in October 2023 or between July and August of 2024. The dolphin groups averaged 4.18 individuals, higher than in earlier&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/against-the-odds-endangered-dolphins-survive-in-bangladeshs-polluted-river/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/against-the-odds-endangered-dolphins-survive-in-bangladeshs-polluted-river/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329579</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pacific bluefin tuna will get some help as countries agree to new harvest strategy</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/pacific-bluefin-tuna-will-get-some-help-as-countries-agree-to-new-harvest-strategy/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/pacific-bluefin-tuna-will-get-some-help-as-countries-agree-to-new-harvest-strategy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2026 08:59:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Francesco De Augustinis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/13160625/b.-BANNER-GP01Y3H-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329570</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Marine Animals, Oceans, Overfishing, Saltwater Fish, and Tuna]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The annual meeting of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) concluded on Sept. 4 with an agreement to adopt a long-term harvest strategy for Pacific bluefin tuna. The agreement aims to ensure sustainable management of this species, which has only recently recovered after decades of overfishing. But the commission fell short of establishing a harvest [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[The annual meeting of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) concluded on Sept. 4 with an agreement to adopt a long-term harvest strategy for Pacific bluefin tuna. The agreement aims to ensure sustainable management of this species, which has only recently recovered after decades of overfishing. But the commission fell short of establishing a harvest strategy for other tuna species — bigeye, skipjack and yellowfin — managed under the convention. “A proposal was adopted … and that’s really great progress,” Dave Gershman, a senior officer for international fisheries at the U.S.-based think tank The Pew Charitable Trusts, who took part in the meeting as an observer, told Mongabay. The commission approved the plan for Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) after 10 years of research and mediation. The plan establishes science-based rules to support the stock&#8217;s complete recovery and long-term protection while taking into account impacts on the broader ecosystem. “You want to have these things in place when times are good so it’s there when you need it,” Gershman said. The 104th meeting of the IATTC took place in Lisbon from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4. One of five main regional fishery management organizations (RFMOs) responsible for tuna and tuna-like species, the commission is tasked with managing six tuna stocks, associated species and their ecosystems throughout the Eastern Pacific Ocean, from Canada south to Chile. There are more than a dozen RFMOs in the world, with some overlapping geographically but managing different fish stocks. The map shows the five best-known&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/pacific-bluefin-tuna-will-get-some-help-as-countries-agree-to-new-harvest-strategy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329570</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nearly forgotten languages are finding new words for Colombia’s dragonflies</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/nearly-forgotten-languages-are-finding-new-words-for-colombias-dragonflies/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/nearly-forgotten-languages-are-finding-new-words-for-colombias-dragonflies/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2026 07:20:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/24120503/DJI_20260520081010_0203_D-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=329569</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Culture, Indigenous Peoples, Insects, Invertebrates, Language, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. When researchers began cataloging dragonflies in Guainía, a remote region in eastern Colombia, the scientific record contained only about 10 species. By working with Indigenous communities, they’ve found nearly 120. “When we started, very little was known,” Yiselle [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. When researchers began cataloging dragonflies in Guainía, a remote region in eastern Colombia, the scientific record contained only about 10 species. By working with Indigenous communities, they’ve found nearly 120. “When we started, very little was known,” Yiselle Cano, biodiversity leader of the Dragones Guainía project, told contributor Manuel Fonseca for Mongabay. “I think we must be close to 120 species by now,” Cano said. “It’s a hugely diverse group, because it includes dragonflies native to the Orinoco, Amazonas, and dragonflies that are endemic to the Guiana Shield.” The diversity makes Guainía a hotspot for dragonflies and damselflies. It may also provide insights on what is happening to the region’s water. These insects depend on healthy freshwater ecosystems, and their aquatic habitats are coming under growing pressure from mining, deforestation, poorly managed waste, and rapidly expanding tourism. Cataloging the insects was only part of the work. Once the researchers had begun filling gaps in the scientific record, they held workshops to share their findings with local communities. There they encountered another gap: the language of biology meant little to people whose understanding of the landscape had been formed outside scientific taxonomies. Some participants didn’t speak Spanish at all. Community leaders invited everyone, from young children to elders who retained ancestral knowledge. As researchers displayed the dragonflies found around puddles, streams, and rivers, participants tried to identify them in their own languages. “This is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/nearly-forgotten-languages-are-finding-new-words-for-colombias-dragonflies/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329569</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Longest African mammal movement recorded by Zambian wild dogs</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/longest-african-mammal-movement-recorded-by-zambian-wild-dogs/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/longest-african-mammal-movement-recorded-by-zambian-wild-dogs/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2026 05:08:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ryan Truscott]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/14045527/African-wild-dogs-in-Kafue-National-Park-Zambia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=329567</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Southern Africa, and Zambia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Biology, Canids, Conservation, Endangered Species, Mammals, Research, Science, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Three male African wild dogs in Zambia have travelled more than 4,000 kilometers, about 2,500 miles, in search of new territory and mates, according to a new study. This nine-month odyssey, about half the distance between Cairo and Cape Town, reveals how these endangered animals connect populations and ecosystems that are far apart within Southern [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Three male African wild dogs in Zambia have travelled more than 4,000 kilometers, about 2,500 miles, in search of new territory and mates, according to a new study. This nine-month odyssey, about half the distance between Cairo and Cape Town, reveals how these endangered animals connect populations and ecosystems that are far apart within Southern Africa and potentially beyond, researchers say. “It’s the longest African mammal movement on record, and the longest [recorded] wild dog dispersal,” study co-author Matt Becker, chief executive of the Zambian Carnivore Programme, told Mongabay. The trio of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus), litter mates known as the Mayukuyuku males, left their birth pack in Kafue National Park in mid-2025. They travelled east out of the park, then north toward the industrial cities of Kitwe and Ndola, then doubled back before heading east toward the Luangwa River Valley and its 400-or-so-strong wild dog population. By April 2026, the pack had traversed 4,126 km (2,564 mi) to reach a game management area (GMA), a partially protected buffer zone, between the national parks of South Luangwa and Lower Zambezi. “We think they’ve actually established a [territorial] range, but we haven’t quantified who they’re with and how many dogs there are,” Becker said. The Mayukuyuku males were among 19 wild dog groups the team tracked using GPS collars fitted to individuals. Some journeys ended in tragedy. A female wild dog, nicknamed EWD-1355, set off with her two sisters from a pack in South Luangwa in 2021. After travelling more than&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/longest-african-mammal-movement-recorded-by-zambian-wild-dogs/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329567</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Biodiversity corridor payments boost household incomes in Vietnam’s Annamite mountains</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/biodiversity-corridor-payments-boost-household-incomes-in-vietnams-annamite-mountains/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/biodiversity-corridor-payments-boost-household-incomes-in-vietnams-annamite-mountains/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2026 02:00:47 +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/20/2026/09/13113754/Banner_Original_WW1304086-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329528</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Community Forests, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Forest Fragmentation, Fragmentation, Funding, Governance, Habitat, Indigenous Peoples, Payments For Ecosystem Services, Protected Areas, Research, Sustainable Forest Management, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Conservationists say connecting existing protected areas through biodiversity corridors is vital in many landscapes to prevent further loss of species and habitats. Yet the households living inside conservation areas often face stark financial tradeoffs associated with lost access to resources, sometimes making new designations controversial. A recent study from the rugged mountains of central Vietnam, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Conservationists say connecting existing protected areas through biodiversity corridors is vital in many landscapes to prevent further loss of species and habitats. Yet the households living inside conservation areas often face stark financial tradeoffs associated with lost access to resources, sometimes making new designations controversial. A recent study from the rugged mountains of central Vietnam, however, suggests that biodiversity corridors can bring significant economic benefits to the households who live inside them. The study, published in Conservation Science and Practice, analyzed interviews with 120 families living in four villages in Quang Nam and Thua Thien provinces within the Annamite mountain range to find out how financial incentives tied to two biodiversity corridors connecting isolated protected areas affected people’s lives and livelihoods. Households inside biodiversity corridors earned substantially more, mainly from conservation-linked payments, than those outside them. However, they also made less money from forest resources due to greater restrictions on how they could use their land. The researchers say their findings underscore how conservation-linked payments and other longer-term benefits from living near flourishing forests, such as water purification, healthy pollinator populations and conservation-based jobs, can help communities recoup income they once derived from forest exploitation. “By providing regular financial benefits from forest protection, programs like PFES [Payment for Forest Ecosystem Services] create incentives for communities to maintain forest cover and reduce pressures on critical habitats,” study lead author Nguyen Van Tri Tin, a conservation scientist at Southern Cross University in Australia at the time of the study, told Mongabay in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/biodiversity-corridor-payments-boost-household-incomes-in-vietnams-annamite-mountains/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329528</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A clownfish’s last stand</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/a-clownfishs-last-stand/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/a-clownfishs-last-stand/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2026 00:11:51 +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/20/2026/09/13221234/clownfish-illustration-16x9-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329552</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Coral Reefs, Development, Infrastructure, Marine, Oceans, and Seagrass]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Twenty years ago, scientist and Mongabay board member Debby Ng joined a team documenting life at Terumbu Bayan, a coral reef south of Singapore that was about to be reclaimed. There she encountered a pair of false clownfish living in an anemone. The mother was unusually aggressive, even for a species known to be feisty. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Twenty years ago, scientist and Mongabay board member Debby Ng joined a team documenting life at Terumbu Bayan, a coral reef south of Singapore that was about to be reclaimed. There she encountered a pair of false clownfish living in an anemone. The mother was unusually aggressive, even for a species known to be feisty. She repeatedly charged Debby, a diver thousands of times her size, biting her several times. Then Debby saw what she was protecting: a brood of eggs. She could already see tiny eyes through the thin membranes. Eyes of the brood of false clown anemonefish. Photographed by Debby Ng in 2006. Soon an alarm sounded, calling Debby and the other scientists out of the water. From the dive boat, they watched the first barges tip rock and fill directly into the channel, sending a plume of sediment through the shallows where they’d been swimming minutes earlier. The team had salvaged some of the hard corals and a tiger-tail seahorse, but there was only so much they could move. The smaller animals, including shrimp and nudibranchs, had to be left behind along with topshells that sat in crevices and cowries with eggs attached to the reef. Debby still remembers that clownfish. False clown anemonefish parents. Photo by Debby Ng. I first wrote about the dive last year in Requiem for a Clownfish. It resurfaced for me recently after The Woke Salaryman adapted the account into a comic. In August, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced that several islands&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/a-clownfishs-last-stand/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/a-clownfishs-last-stand/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329552</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How burnt coconut helped discover new to science endemic species in Sri Lanka</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/how-burnt-coconut-helped-discover-new-to-science-endemic-species-in-sri-lanka/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/how-burnt-coconut-helped-discover-new-to-science-endemic-species-in-sri-lanka/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Sep 2026 14:13:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/12093329/Banner-1.-Spiny-Mouse-Mus-dumbara.-Suyama-Boyagoda-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329510</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Habitat Loss, Mammals, Mountains, Research, Rodents, and Species]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO —  As dusk settled over the paddy fields at Puwakpitiya, a village on the northern edge of Knuckles Mountain Range locally known as Dumbara mountains in Central Sri Lanka, researchers began laying traps along the uneasy boundary between farmland and forest. They were targeting small terrestrial mammals moving through the landscape. On the ground, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO —  As dusk settled over the paddy fields at Puwakpitiya, a village on the northern edge of Knuckles Mountain Range locally known as Dumbara mountains in Central Sri Lanka, researchers began laying traps along the uneasy boundary between farmland and forest. They were targeting small terrestrial mammals moving through the landscape. On the ground, drift fences were created to lead animals to pitfall traps, while box style Sherman live traps were baited with feed. But the usual rodent lure — peanut butter — failed to attract the mice in Sri Lanka, so the researchers instead turned to something more familiar to the local mice — pieces of burnt coconut. On  March 11, 2004, one of the pitfall traps caught a small mouse that looked different. Six days later, a second specimen was caught in a baited trap. Both were females, not larger than a child&#8217;s palm, with fulvous-gray pelage broken by spiny guard hairs and a slender, naked tail longer than the head and body. Externally, the animal resembled Mayor&#8217;s mouse (Mus mayori), a species endemic to Sri Lanka’s highlands, but differed in tail length and head shape, offering initial clues about a new species. The species is so far known only from Sri Lanka’s Knuckles Mountain Range, and the image shows Puwakpitiya, the village from where researchers found the first specimens of Dumbara spiny mouse (Mus dumbara) after they set traps along the forest edge beside a sprawling paddy field. Image courtesy of Suyama Boyagoda. The two mice&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/how-burnt-coconut-helped-discover-new-to-science-endemic-species-in-sri-lanka/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329510</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The push for a sustainable artisanal mining in the Peruvian Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/09/the-push-for-a-sustainable-artisanal-mining-in-the-peruvian-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/09/the-push-for-a-sustainable-artisanal-mining-in-the-peruvian-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Sep 2026 08:54:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Felipe Esparza]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Lucia Torres]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/11144527/Mongabay_Thumbnail_CleanGold_Feature-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=videos&#038;p=329476</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Gold Mining, Mining, Rainforests, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MADRE DE DIOS, Peru — In Madre de Dios, in the Peruvian Amazon, thousands of people depend on gold mining, while the spread of mercury and deforestation are transforming the country’s most biodiverse tropical forest. In La Pampa, one of the region’s main gold mining hubs, a formalized artisanal mining operation is trying to prove [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MADRE DE DIOS, Peru — In Madre de Dios, in the Peruvian Amazon, thousands of people depend on gold mining, while the spread of mercury and deforestation are transforming the country’s most biodiverse tropical forest. In La Pampa, one of the region’s main gold mining hubs, a formalized artisanal mining operation is trying to prove that another way of mining is possible. While facing roadblocks, violence, informal economies, and government neglect, it seeks to produce “clean gold” using mercury-free technologies. Through the daily lives of workers, merchants, and small-scale miners, the film explores the tensions between survival, pollution, and legitimacy in one of the Amazon’s most complex extractive economies. This video is supported by the Amazon Film Grant, as part of the One World Media Fellowship. Mongabay’s Video Team wants to cover questions and topics that matter to you. Are there any inspiring people, urgent issues, or local stories that you’d like us to cover? We want to hear from you. Be a part of our reporting process—get in touch with us here! Banner image: Gold nugget. ©Felipe Esparza. Why are forests vanishing in southeastern Liberia?This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/09/the-push-for-a-sustainable-artisanal-mining-in-the-peruvian-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329476</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ituna/Itatá invasion escalates as Indigenous Land faces fires and illegal clearing</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/ituna-itata-invasion-escalates-as-indigenous-land-faces-fires-and-illegal-clearing/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/ituna-itata-invasion-escalates-as-indigenous-land-faces-fires-and-illegal-clearing/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Sep 2026 00:05:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/11235837/AP23291581276739-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=329508</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cattle, Conservation, Environment, Fires, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[More than 500 people have invaded Brazil’s Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Land in recent weeks, opening illegal roads, setting deliberate fires and threatening federal agents. The area is home to the Igarapé Ipiaçava Indigenous people who live in voluntary isolation with no contact with outsiders. On Aug. 26, a federal court ordered the government to deploy the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[More than 500 people have invaded Brazil’s Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Land in recent weeks, opening illegal roads, setting deliberate fires and threatening federal agents. The area is home to the Igarapé Ipiaçava Indigenous people who live in voluntary isolation with no contact with outsiders. On Aug. 26, a federal court ordered the government to deploy the National Public Security Force within 48 hours to contain the invasion. As of Sept 11, the forces hadn’t yet arrived. The recent invasion followed the creation of the Bacajaí Environmental Protection Area (APA Bacajaí) under a new state law, which allows private landowners to build homes and raise livestock. However, APA Bacajaí completely overlaps the federally protected Indigenous land in Pará state, creating legal confusion that authorities say has been weaponized by land-grabbers to justify occupation for cattle ranching and other agricultural activities. The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) has asked a federal court to fine the government 50,000 Brazilian reais (about $9,000) daily for failing to deploy enough security forces to contain the invasion. The area is currently under a temporary land-use restriction order to protect the isolated people living there. The government has argued it needs authorization from Pará’s government, which hasn’t cooperated. However, federal prosecutors say the federal government can be deployed on federal land without state authorization. Both the federal government and the state of Pará did not reply to Mongabay’s requests for comment by the time of publication. In its press statement, the MPF said the Indigenous Affairs Agency (Funai)&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/ituna-itata-invasion-escalates-as-indigenous-land-faces-fires-and-illegal-clearing/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329508</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Angolan communities return to seasonal migration amid severe drought</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/angolan-communities-return-to-seasonal-migration-amid-severe-drought/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/angolan-communities-return-to-seasonal-migration-amid-severe-drought/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Sep 2026 19:54:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/11195335/IMG_0532-1-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=329506</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Angola]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Disasters, Drought, Environment, Extreme Weather, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Human Migration, and Impact Of Climate Change]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Several years of severe drought are forcing people to leave their homes in Angola to search for water and food in neighboring Namibia. “There is real hunger and thirst here; that’s why the village has become depopulated,” Nghikembua (not his real name), who lives in Cunene Province in southern Angola, told Amnesty International in 2021. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Several years of severe drought are forcing people to leave their homes in Angola to search for water and food in neighboring Namibia. “There is real hunger and thirst here; that’s why the village has become depopulated,” Nghikembua (not his real name), who lives in Cunene Province in southern Angola, told Amnesty International in 2021. Nghikembua said nearly all the able-bodied people of his village have left, leaving behind only the elderly, like himself, “Those who still had some strength left felt forced to leave the village for Namibia.” More than 1.8 million people live in Cunene and nearly 75% of the population is rural and depends on pastoralism and subsistence farming. “Southern Angola has experienced repeated severe droughts, extreme heat and environmental degradation for quite a number of years, leaving families without water, crops, or livestock,” said Victor Nyamori, an Amnesty International researcher and migration lawyer who collected the testimonies for the recently published report featuring Nghikembua. Approximately 30% of the area has been degraded by desertification, according to the Amnesty International report, leaving many subsistence communities without livelihoods. “Namibia has also suffered from drought, but the state has responded much better and has put solutions in place to prevent the population from falling into food insecurity and to ensure access to water,” Nyamori told Mongabay in a phone call. Between 2023 and 2024, a strong El Niño event brought the most severe drought in more than a century to the region. Namibia responded to the drought by expanding&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/angolan-communities-return-to-seasonal-migration-amid-severe-drought/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329506</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Federal court rejects Trump order keeping Michigan coal plant open</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/federal-court-rejects-trump-order-keeping-michigan-coal-plant-open/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/federal-court-rejects-trump-order-keeping-michigan-coal-plant-open/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Sep 2026 19:31:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/11182932/AP26254603185282-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=329503</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Coal, Energy, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Global Environmental Crisis, and Governance]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[WASHINGTON (AP) — In a defeat for the Trump administration, a federal court on Friday ruled that the Energy Department exceeded its authority when it forced a Michigan coal-fired power to stay open past its scheduled retirement date last year. Energy Secretary Chris Wright had said the 64-year-old J.H. Campbell plant was needed to ensure [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[WASHINGTON (AP) — In a defeat for the Trump administration, a federal court on Friday ruled that the Energy Department exceeded its authority when it forced a Michigan coal-fired power to stay open past its scheduled retirement date last year. Energy Secretary Chris Wright had said the 64-year-old J.H. Campbell plant was needed to ensure reliable electricity in the region and used emergency powers to keep it operating. Environmental groups and three states — Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota — went to court to try to overturn orders keeping the plant online. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sided with the states and the groups, saying there was no real emergency under the law. The section of the Federal Power Act that allows emergency orders “is essentially a narrow, last-resort backstop,&#8221; Appeals Court Judge Cornelia Pillard wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel. By reversing the Campbell plant&#8217;s “long and carefully planned retirement &#8230; the results are disruptive,&#8221; Pillard wrote. There was “no ‘emergency’ within the meaning” of the statute, she added. The Michigan case is one several legal disputes that have emerged across the country as the Trump administration uses emergency powers to force a half-dozen coal-fired plants from closing. The orders are raising ratepayer bills, critics say, and adding air and water pollution that could otherwise have been avoided. Keeping the Michigan plant open cost at least $135 million in 2025 alone, officials said. Ted Kelly, U.S. clean energy director at the Environmental Defense Fund, said the court ruling rejected&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/federal-court-rejects-trump-order-keeping-michigan-coal-plant-open/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/federal-court-rejects-trump-order-keeping-michigan-coal-plant-open/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329503</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mozambique protects Mount Mabu ‘butterfly forest’</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/mozambique-protects-mount-mabu-butterfly-forest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/mozambique-protects-mount-mabu-butterfly-forest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Sep 2026 16:03:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/11152152/Mabusummitbutterflies_300dpi-2cropped-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=329480</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Mozambique and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Butterflies, Conservation, Protected Areas, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Mozambique has formally protected Mount Mabu, a hotspot of endemic wildlife and home to more than 200 species of butterflies, located in the Lugela district of northern Mozambique. The decree, published on Aug. 24 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries, created the 9,341-hectare (23,082-acre) Mount Mabu Community Conservation Area, with stewardship of the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Mozambique has formally protected Mount Mabu, a hotspot of endemic wildlife and home to more than 200 species of butterflies, located in the Lugela district of northern Mozambique. The decree, published on Aug. 24 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries, created the 9,341-hectare (23,082-acre) Mount Mabu Community Conservation Area, with stewardship of the land granted to the local communities that have preserved the forest for generations. “It&#8217;s a great relief,” Julian Bayliss, an ecologist who led several surveys over 20 years that helped build the case for protecting Mount Mabu, told Mongabay by phone. “These forests are very important because they&#8217;ve got high levels of endemism.” Map by Emilie Languedoc/Mongabay. Every year in October and November, hundreds of butterflies gather in the morning on the 1,700-meter (5,577-foot) summit of Mount Mabu, a mating behavior scientists call hilltopping. In 2013, the phenomenon was documented by naturalist David Attenborough who lent Mount Mabu the nickname “butterfly forest.” Scientists have recorded more than 200 butterfly taxa at Mabu but say the real number could reach 250 with further surveys. Since 2005, more than 30 species, including frogs, chameleons, bats and insects, have been discovered in the forests of Mabu. Bayliss and colleagues most recently described a new-to-science cobalt-blue butterfly, Iolaus mabuensis, found by a research team he led in Mabu in 2008. Only one specimen of the species has been collected to date, Bayliss said. Front and back of the Iolaus mabuensis butterfly. Image courtesy of Szabolcs Sáfián. Bayliss was also&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/mozambique-protects-mount-mabu-butterfly-forest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/mozambique-protects-mount-mabu-butterfly-forest/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329480</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Migratory bird species increasingly at risk, report finds, but there is still hope</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/migratory-bird-species-increasingly-at-risk-report-finds-but-there-is-still-hope/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/migratory-bird-species-increasingly-at-risk-report-finds-but-there-is-still-hope/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Sep 2026 13:54:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/11125304/Image_5_Lesser-and-Greater-Flamingos-at-Lake-Natron-%E2%94%AC%D0%B9-Akshita-Rabdiya-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329459</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, and Europe]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Change Denial, Conservation, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Habitat Loss, Migration, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Every year, billions of birds take to the skies, responding to changing seasons, navigating to breeding sites or escaping the cold of winter. The newest edition of BirdLife International’s State of the World’s Birds report says 45% of migratory bird species are in decline — 11% are threatened with extinction, the authors write. Launched at [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Every year, billions of birds take to the skies, responding to changing seasons, navigating to breeding sites or escaping the cold of winter. The newest edition of BirdLife International’s State of the World’s Birds report says 45% of migratory bird species are in decline — 11% are threatened with extinction, the authors write. Launched at the Global Flyways Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, on Sept. 11, the report is the first to focus on migratory birds. Migratory birds are sensitive indicators of wider ecosystem health, the report’s lead author Lucy Haskell, senior science officer at BirdLife, told Mongabay in an interview. They play a vital role in connecting ecosystems, cultures and people. “This report is about migratory birds, but it also serves as a warning about the state of the planet in general,” she said. Invasive species, agricultural expansion, climate change, residential and commercial development and hunting are major threats facing multiple species across the globe. The report found that seabirds and shorebirds are particularly threatened, while species that depend on marine habitats, forests and coastal wetlands are also increasingly imperiled. An Egyptian vulture in Spain. This species’ ongoing recovery is an example of how concerted conservation action can have a positive impact, experts say. Image © Lars Petersson. Last year, the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, officially confirmed the extinction of the slender-bill curlew, last seen in Morocco in 1995. It’s a poignant example of the pressures facing birds the world over, the experts say. Seven other migratory avian&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/migratory-bird-species-increasingly-at-risk-report-finds-but-there-is-still-hope/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/migratory-bird-species-increasingly-at-risk-report-finds-but-there-is-still-hope/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329459</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>World Dolphin Day: Reporting unusual behavior, threats and increased protections</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/world-dolphin-day-reporting-unusual-behavior-threats-and-increased-protections/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/world-dolphin-day-reporting-unusual-behavior-threats-and-increased-protections/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Sep 2026 13:24:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/08160916/a.-BANNER-GP0156K-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=329474</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Biology, Cetaceans, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Dolphins, Endangered Species, Ethics, Mammals, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Research, Science, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nine dolphin species, and several more subspecies and local populations, are currently critically endangered or endangered, according to the most recent assessment by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. September 12 marks World Dolphin Day, an awareness day created in 2022 by marine conservation nonprofit Sea Shepherd to bring attention to the threats that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nine dolphin species, and several more subspecies and local populations, are currently critically endangered or endangered, according to the most recent assessment by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. September 12 marks World Dolphin Day, an awareness day created in 2022 by marine conservation nonprofit Sea Shepherd to bring attention to the threats that these highly intelligent mammals face. In late 2025, Lahille&#8217;s bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus gephyreus), a subspecies of the common bottlenose dolphin, was reclassified from vulnerable to endangered, with fewer than 400 individuals estimated to remain in the wild. Its main threat, according the IUCN, is being killed as bycatch in gillnet fisheries that operate along the coasts of southern Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina. While threats to species and sub-species remain, efforts are being made to protect and better understand dolphins across the globe, from research uncovering novel behaviors, and increased formal protections, to steps to end cruel confinement practices. For this World Dolphin Day, we present three recent Mongabay stories reporting on dolphins around the world. Illegal drift nets trap dolphins in the Mediterranean despite ban The use of drift nets to catch swordfish is banned in the Mediterranean because the gear often traps dolphins, whales, sharks and turtles. But recent investigations by the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) found it was still widely in use in the Alboran Sea between northwestern Morocco and the south coast of Spain, Mongabay’s Victoria Schneider reported in July. &#8220;We can see that it is having an impact on precious&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/world-dolphin-day-reporting-unusual-behavior-threats-and-increased-protections/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/world-dolphin-day-reporting-unusual-behavior-threats-and-increased-protections/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329474</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Lack of data hinders fight against environmental crimes in Angola, says environmentalist</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/lack-of-data-hinders-fight-against-environmental-crimes-in-angola-says-environmentalist/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/lack-of-data-hinders-fight-against-environmental-crimes-in-angola-says-environmentalist/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Sep 2026 12:02:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Tjyakala]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/11072035/image2_DesmatamentoAngola1.CreditoAcervoEcoAngola-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329430</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Angola]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Deforestation Alert System, forest degradation, Forest Loss, Forestry, NGOs, Parks, Science, Sustainable Forest Management, and timber trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Angola faces severe environmental challenges, and the govern has signed international commitments, such as the Montreal Protocol and the Kigali Amendment, to phase out hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) by 2030 and cut hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by 80% by 2045. However, climate crises such as prolonged droughts affecting the country’s southern region, soil degradation, and floods caused by heavy [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Angola faces severe environmental challenges, and the govern has signed international commitments, such as the Montreal Protocol and the Kigali Amendment, to phase out hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) by 2030 and cut hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by 80% by 2045. However, climate crises such as prolonged droughts affecting the country’s southern region, soil degradation, and floods caused by heavy rains continue to have significant social and economic impacts. It is estimated that more than 2.2 million people are affected by these phenomena. It is against this backdrop that the voice of a new generation of Angolan environmentalists is gaining prominence. Among them is 29-year-old Érica Tavares. She studied Environmental Biology at the University of Nottingham in the UK and now works with environmental conservation and youth mobilization in Angola. She is a co-founder of the NGO EcoAngola and has been at the forefront of forest advocacy, environmental education and youth participation in sustainability debates. In an interview with Mongabay Brazil, Tavares discusses her journey as an environmentalist and the issues that concern her most. Érica Tavares, co-founder of the NGO EcoAngola. Image by EcoAngola Image Bank. Mongabay: How would you describe the state of the environment in Angola in 2026? Is it better or worse than five years ago? Érica Tavares: It’s always difficult to answer that question — which I am often asked — because one of our major challenges is the analysis of [nonexistent] data and information. To conduct a comparative analysis between now and five years ago, we would need to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/lack-of-data-hinders-fight-against-environmental-crimes-in-angola-says-environmentalist/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/lack-of-data-hinders-fight-against-environmental-crimes-in-angola-says-environmentalist/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329430</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous knowledge x tech in the search for a tiny Amazon monkey</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-knowledge-x-tech-in-the-search-for-a-tiny-amazon-monkey/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-knowledge-x-tech-in-the-search-for-a-tiny-amazon-monkey/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Sep 2026 10:40:18 +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/20/2026/09/11083700/Pygmy_marmoset_Peter_Kerrawn_B-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329438</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Ecuador, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Acoustic, Animals, Bioacoustics, Biodiversity, Business, Camera Trapping, Charismatic Animals, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Culture, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Education, Environment, forest degradation, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Indigenous Peoples, Mammals, Monitoring, Monkeys, Pet Trade, Pets, Primates, Technology, Trade, Traditional Knowledge, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[How do you search for the world&#8217;s smallest monkey? Earlier this year, Nicolás Schuldt Durán took on this task after he was approached by members of an Indigenous community in Ecuador. Ever since, he’s been tapping into the knowledge of the Siekopai people and combining it with passive acoustic monitoring technology to look for pygmy [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[How do you search for the world&#8217;s smallest monkey? Earlier this year, Nicolás Schuldt Durán took on this task after he was approached by members of an Indigenous community in Ecuador. Ever since, he’s been tapping into the knowledge of the Siekopai people and combining it with passive acoustic monitoring technology to look for pygmy marmosets. Spoiler alert: They’re still looking for this elusive species. Working in the Siekoya Remolino community in Ecuador, Durán is collaborating with Indigenous community members to track pygmy marmosets (Cebuella pygmaea), locally called leoncillo, and gather data on where they live and how they’re faring. “The community has already been setting up camera traps and running a territorial monitoring program to catch hunters and loggers,” Durán, founder of conservation technology organization Neblina Labs, told Mongabay in a video interview. “This is just adding one more tool to their toolkit to monitor biodiversity.” Pygmy marmosets are threatened by the illegal pet trade as well as deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest. Image by David Reece via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0). Pygmy marmosets, native to the western Amazon Basin, are so small that an adult weighs only 140-150 grams (about 5 ounces), or the weight of a small apple. They live high up in trees and are known for their high-pitched calls, including whistles that are often in the ultrasonic range and which they use to communicate with one another. Classified as vulnerable to extinction, these primates are threatened by the illegal pet trade as well as deforestation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-knowledge-x-tech-in-the-search-for-a-tiny-amazon-monkey/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-knowledge-x-tech-in-the-search-for-a-tiny-amazon-monkey/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329438</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nigeria’s Rachel Ikemeh wins Rolex Award for efforts to save rare red monkey</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/nigerias-rachel-ikemeh-wins-rolex-award-for-efforts-to-save-rare-red-monkey/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/nigerias-rachel-ikemeh-wins-rolex-award-for-efforts-to-save-rare-red-monkey/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Sep 2026 09:51:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/11094850/rikemeh2603tl_6787_rt_rgb-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=329456</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mammals, Monkeys, Primates, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nigerian conservationist Rachel Ikemeh has been named the 2026 Rolex Award laureate, for her work with communities in the Niger Delta to protect the region’s ecology and the critically endangered Niger Delta red colobus monkey. The red colobus (Piliocolobus epieni), a monkey known as epieni by the region’s communities, is listed as one of the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nigerian conservationist Rachel Ikemeh has been named the 2026 Rolex Award laureate, for her work with communities in the Niger Delta to protect the region’s ecology and the critically endangered Niger Delta red colobus monkey. The red colobus (Piliocolobus epieni), a monkey known as epieni by the region’s communities, is listed as one of the world’s 25 most endangered primates by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. It was first described scientifically in 1993. At the time, there were about 10,000 epieni estimated to be living across its limited range in the Niger Delta. However, by 2013, their numbers had plunged to just hundreds rather than thousands of individuals, Ikemeh noted in a study. In 2021, Ikemeh and her colleagues helped establish a 1,010-hectare (2,496-acre) community-protected area for the epieni in Apoi, a town within the monkey’s range. By 2024, the monkey’s population had doubled within the community-protected forest, from 180-200 individuals in 2021, Ikemeh told Mongabay by email. She added the team has since helped create community conservation areas in the neighboring communities of Garnaut and Kokoloama. The award “feels less like a personal honour and more like validation for the community model itself,” Ikemeh said. She added she’s optimistic about the epieni’s future because she’s seen community perception around their conservation model shift over the years. “[T]he same community who once suspected we&#8217;d come to ‘collect their forest’ for the government now talk about epieni as a source of pride, something that put their village on the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/nigerias-rachel-ikemeh-wins-rolex-award-for-efforts-to-save-rare-red-monkey/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/nigerias-rachel-ikemeh-wins-rolex-award-for-efforts-to-save-rare-red-monkey/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329456</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Can mining gold be sustainable?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/can-mining-gold-be-sustainable/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/can-mining-gold-be-sustainable/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Sep 2026 07:32:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Felipe Esparza]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Lucia Torres]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/11073149/Mongabay_Thumbnail_CleanGold_Featured.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=329434</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Gold Mining, Illegal Mining, Mining, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Madre de Dios, Peru, gold mining is deeply intertwined with the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people. But the industry is also leaving a heavy mark on the Amazon, with mercury pollution and deforestation reshaping one of the world’s most biodiverse forests. In La Pampa, an area known for gold mining, a formalized [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Madre de Dios, Peru, gold mining is deeply intertwined with the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people. But the industry is also leaving a heavy mark on the Amazon, with mercury pollution and deforestation reshaping one of the world’s most biodiverse forests. In La Pampa, an area known for gold mining, a formalized artisanal mining operation is attempting to find a different path. By using mercury-free technologies, the project aims to show that small-scale mining can produce “clean gold.” But making that transition is far from simple. The operation faces violence, informal economies, bureaucratic obstacles and limited government support. Through the stories of miners, workers and local businesses, the film looks at the challenges of moving toward more responsible mining in a region where environmental protection and economic survival are deeply connected. This video is supported by the Amazon Film Grant, as part of the One World Media Fellowship.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/can-mining-gold-be-sustainable/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/can-mining-gold-be-sustainable/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329434</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Javan rhinos survive eruption in Indonesia, but single habitat leaves species vulnerable</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/javan-rhinos-survive-eruption-in-indonesia-but-single-habitat-leaves-species-vulnerable/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/javan-rhinos-survive-eruption-in-indonesia-but-single-habitat-leaves-species-vulnerable/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Sep 2026 01:33:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/06081629/Fk7E_IMG_20231005_174838-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329426</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Asian Rhinos]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Charismatic Animals, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Environment, In-situ Conservation, Javan Rhinos, Mammals, Megafauna, Rhinos, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia’s critically endangered Javan rhinos appear to be safe despite an ongoing eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau near their last remaining habitat, conservation authorities said. Ardi Andono, head of Ujung Kulon National Park, home to the world’s only wild population of Javan rhinos (Rhinoceros sondaicus), said on Sept. 7 that the rhinos’ habitat had been [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia’s critically endangered Javan rhinos appear to be safe despite an ongoing eruption of Mount Anak Krakatau near their last remaining habitat, conservation authorities said. Ardi Andono, head of Ujung Kulon National Park, home to the world’s only wild population of Javan rhinos (Rhinoceros sondaicus), said on Sept. 7 that the rhinos’ habitat had been minimally affected by vibrations and noise from Anak Krakatau, which began erupting on Sept. 4. Mount Anak Krakatau, an active volcanic island in the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, lies about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the park on Java’s southwestern tip, and its recent eruption sent ash across parts of both islands, disrupting air travel and prompting some schools and fishing activities to halt. “The Javan rhinos remained safe and still appear normal,” Ardi told Mongabay in a WhatsApp message, adding that his park rangers continue to stand on guard. A female calf of the Javan rhinoceros with her mother. Image courtesy of the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry. The number of Javan rhinos remaining in the wild is disputed. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates the current minimum population of Javan rhinos at about 50, a figure used by conservation groups such as Save the Rhino International, while Indonesia’s forestry ministry puts the population at 87 to 100. The government’s figures have previously faced scrutiny after a 2023 investigation by Indonesian environmental group Auriga Nusantara found that rhinos not seen by camera traps for years, including some later&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/javan-rhinos-survive-eruption-in-indonesia-but-single-habitat-leaves-species-vulnerable/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/javan-rhinos-survive-eruption-in-indonesia-but-single-habitat-leaves-species-vulnerable/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329426</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Court rules residents of a US city don’t have a constitutional right to lead-free water</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/court-rules-residents-of-a-us-city-dont-have-a-constitutional-right-to-lead-free-water/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/court-rules-residents-of-a-us-city-dont-have-a-constitutional-right-to-lead-free-water/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2026 20:38:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bobby Bascomb]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/10203528/51486530327_a02c635dcf_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=329422</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Chemicals, Drinking Water, Environment, Freshwater, Health, Natural Resources, Planetary Health, Pollution, Public Health, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A U.S. federal court recently ruled that residents of Jackson, Mississippi, don’t have a constitutional right to truthful information from public officials, nor the right to municipal drinking water that is free of lead, a neurotoxin. “The Constitution does not provide redress for every governmental wrongdoing,” Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt of the U.S. Court of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A U.S. federal court recently ruled that residents of Jackson, Mississippi, don’t have a constitutional right to truthful information from public officials, nor the right to municipal drinking water that is free of lead, a neurotoxin. “The Constitution does not provide redress for every governmental wrongdoing,” Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, who was appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump, wrote in the majority opinion. The case was brought by a group of Jackson residents in 2022 who alleged that the city allowed lead to enter the municipal water system and then lied to residents saying the water was safe, though they knew it was not. “Knowing what is in our water is fundamental to protecting public health,” Caroline Leary, general counsel at the U.S.-based nonprofit Environmental Working Group, told Mongabay by email. Jackson is home to roughly 150,000 people. Nearly a quarter of them are children under 18 who are particularly vulnerable to the potentially life-long toxic impacts of lead exposure including seizures, lowered IQ, impaired brain development and even death. The plaintiffs alleged that several of their children have been diagnosed with lead poisoning and now require special educational, medical, sociological, occupational and disability services. The plaintiffs also argued that exposure to contaminated water and the failure to be informed about the risks violated their 14th amendment due process right to bodily integrity. A November 2025 ruling by a three-judge panel of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/court-rules-residents-of-a-us-city-dont-have-a-constitutional-right-to-lead-free-water/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/court-rules-residents-of-a-us-city-dont-have-a-constitutional-right-to-lead-free-water/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329422</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Japan deploys equipment to Indonesia&#8217;s Borneo to help fight wildfires causing toxic haze</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/japan-deploys-equipment-to-indonesias-borneo-to-help-fight-wildfires-causing-toxic-haze/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/japan-deploys-equipment-to-indonesias-borneo-to-help-fight-wildfires-causing-toxic-haze/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2026 18:47:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/10184032/AP26253095492154-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=329420</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Change, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fires, Global Environmental Crisis, and Impact Of Climate Change]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MEMPAWAH, Indonesia (AP) — A Japanese military transport ship docked on the island of Borneo on Thursday as part of a disaster relief mission to help fight wildfires in Indonesia that are causing a toxic haze impacting people’s health in other countries. Japan deployed 300 crew members, landing ship JS Kunisaki and three CH-47 helicopters, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MEMPAWAH, Indonesia (AP) — A Japanese military transport ship docked on the island of Borneo on Thursday as part of a disaster relief mission to help fight wildfires in Indonesia that are causing a toxic haze impacting people’s health in other countries. Japan deployed 300 crew members, landing ship JS Kunisaki and three CH-47 helicopters, which arrived in Kalimantan on the island of Borneo. The mission in Indonesia marked the first known overseas firefighting operation carried out by the Japan Self-Defense Forces, or JSDF. “To this end, we will learn from the Indonesian military’s operational experience and work in coordination and cooperation with them, striving to ensure that the Indonesian people can lead stable lives as soon as possible,” Col. Syunji Nakahara, the commander of the disaster relief activities, said at a port in Mempawah district. Japan and Indonesia have been also increasingly strengthening their military cooperation ties, with the two sides discussing the Japanese sale of its used destroyers. Indonesia has been plagued by forest and land fires for decades, but an intensifying El Niño pattern this year and a prolonged dry season worsened the impact of the fires. Toxic haze and smoke have caused a health crisis in neighboring countries. The smoke has drifted as far as the Philippines, more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) away, and breached Malaysia’s emergency-level threshold for air pollution, forcing authorities to declare an emergency last week in a town in Sarawak state on Borneo. The air pollution has also affected several areas on the island of Sumatra, forcing&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/japan-deploys-equipment-to-indonesias-borneo-to-help-fight-wildfires-causing-toxic-haze/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/japan-deploys-equipment-to-indonesias-borneo-to-help-fight-wildfires-causing-toxic-haze/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329420</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Amazon Fund grantees fear a new funding freeze after Brazil’s election</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/amazon-fund-grantees-fear-a-new-funding-freeze-after-brazils-election/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/amazon-fund-grantees-fear-a-new-funding-freeze-after-brazils-election/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2026 17:34:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda Wenzel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/10150522/1_Ricardo-Oliveira-_Instituto-Mamiraua-pirarucu-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329406</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Bioeconomy, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Fish, Freshwater Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Monitoring, Politics, Tropical Deforestation, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The fund helped Brazil reach a 10-year low in deforestation, but conservationists are bracing for a potential sharp policy U-turn.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2018, the Amazon Fund chose to support a project in the Brazilian Amazon helping 614 families engaged in babassu coconut breaking in 11 traditional communities. Encroached on by soy farming and cattle ranching, the families in the state of Tocantins would receive financial support to keep producing oil, flour and handicrafts from this unique Amazonian fruit while reinforcing their role as guardians of the forest. But the promise was short-lived. Jair Bolsonaro took office as Brazil’s president in January 2019, and immediately set his far-right agenda to work dismantling the country’s environmental frameworks and freezing the Amazon Fund’s contributions. The fund was created in 2008, with initial donations from Norway and Germany to reward Brazil for its success in reducing Amazonian deforestation. Over the last 18 years, it has benefited 288,000 people and supported 144 projects in forest restoration, sustainable production, firefighting, inspections and monitoring of environmental crimes, and Indigenous issues. “It is one of the world’s leading funds for investing in projects that protect the rainforest,” said Rayandra Araújo, climate policy specialist at Talanoa, a Brazilian climate think tank. When Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva replaced Bolsonaro, returning to the presidency in January 2023, he revived the Amazon Fund’s operations. The babassu coconut breaker project, led by the group Alternatives for Small-Scale Farming in Tocantins (APA-TO), was again considered and began implementation in April 2026. “The project was on hold for almost 10 years,” says Selma Yuki Ishii, the project coordinator and technical director at APA-TO. With Lula,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/amazon-fund-grantees-fear-a-new-funding-freeze-after-brazils-election/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/amazon-fund-grantees-fear-a-new-funding-freeze-after-brazils-election/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329406</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Offshore wind may be good for the climate but can it be good for the ocean, too?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/offshore-wind-may-be-good-for-the-climate-but-can-it-be-good-for-the-ocean-too/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/offshore-wind-may-be-good-for-the-climate-but-can-it-be-good-for-the-ocean-too/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2026 16:38:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/08151406/1-Greater-Gabbard-offshore-wind-farm-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329102</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Biodiversity, Birds, Climate Change, Conservation, Energy, Environment, Marine, Marine Conservation, Natural Resources, Oceans, Offshore Wind, Renewable Energy, Seabirds, Wildlife, and Wind Power]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is Part Three in a Mongabay series about trends in the offshore wind industry. Part One describes the sector’s untapped potential and gaps between installed energy generation capacity and climate goals. Part Two describes challenges the sector faces in scaling up to meet climate goals. Offshore wind farms are growing in number, with many [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is Part Three in a Mongabay series about trends in the offshore wind industry. Part One describes the sector’s untapped potential and gaps between installed energy generation capacity and climate goals. Part Two describes challenges the sector faces in scaling up to meet climate goals. Offshore wind farms are growing in number, with many experts saying this renewable source of energy is vital to tackling climate change. But many of the same experts caution that responsible construction is required to avoid potentially large impacts on marine ecosystems as farms proliferate in the coming years. On one hand, offshore wind farms can provide an ecological boon by acting as de facto marine reserves that limit fishing, including harmful practices like bottom trawling. They can also be refugia for fish like sharks and rays, crustaceans and other species, as their structures act as artificial reefs. But offshore wind farms also have a host of negative impacts across their life cycle, from construction to decommissioning. Birds and bats risk collision with offshore wind turbines and loss of habitat to farms, while some marine mammals avoid wind farms or change behavior due to their presence. Bass Rock, Scotland, is home to the world’s largest colony of northern gannets (Morus bassanus). The offshore Berwick Bank Wind Farm is expected to have a significant impact on populations of seabirds like the gannets, as well as guillemots, kittiwakes, razorbills and puffins. Image by Stephen Magee/RSPB. Over the past two decades, offshore wind farm numbers have increased, particularly&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/offshore-wind-may-be-good-for-the-climate-but-can-it-be-good-for-the-ocean-too/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/offshore-wind-may-be-good-for-the-climate-but-can-it-be-good-for-the-ocean-too/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329102</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Forgotten fauna’: Little known river sharks and rays face increased extinction risk</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/forgotten-fauna-little-known-river-sharks-and-rays-face-increased-extinction-risk/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/forgotten-fauna-little-known-river-sharks-and-rays-face-increased-extinction-risk/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2026 15:48:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/10135017/BANNER-e-Xingu-River-Stingray-031-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329379</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Freshwater Fish, Marine Animals, Research, Science, Sharks, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Vashishti River, originating in the biodiversity-rich Western Ghats and flowing into the Arabian Sea along India’s western coast, has long supported traditional fishing communities. But in 2023, local fishers encountered something entirely unexpected. As they hauled a gill net into a boat, a gray body, still making faint movements, emerged tangled in the mesh, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Vashishti River, originating in the biodiversity-rich Western Ghats and flowing into the Arabian Sea along India’s western coast, has long supported traditional fishing communities. But in 2023, local fishers encountered something entirely unexpected. As they hauled a gill net into a boat, a gray body, still making faint movements, emerged tangled in the mesh, and then another surfaced beside it. By the time the net was lifted aboard, three bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) were tangled inside. The video of the incident quickly spread across social media, drawing renewed scientific attention to the presence of sharks in inland and estuarine waters. “This is the first documented report of sharks from the Vashishti River, although historically sharks and rays have been recorded from several major Indian river systems,” Priyankar Chakraborty, an independent marine and wildlife researcher in India, told Mongabay. Across India, dozens of species of sharks and rays (collectively known as elasmobranchs) have been reported as inhabiting estuaries and rivers, but while species such as the bull shark are relatively well documented, many others are known from only a handful of records, leaving major gaps in understanding, Chakraborty said. Globally, around 60 species of sharks and rays spend at least part of their lives in inland waters. Yet compared with their marine counterparts, these species have received remarkably little scientific attention, even though many are among the most threatened vertebrates on Earth, Michael Grant, a marine biologist at James Cook University in Australia and member of the IUCN Species Survival&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/forgotten-fauna-little-known-river-sharks-and-rays-face-increased-extinction-risk/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/forgotten-fauna-little-known-river-sharks-and-rays-face-increased-extinction-risk/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329379</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As saltwater advances, Gambian farmers rethink how to protect rice fields</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-saltwater-advances-gambian-farmers-rethink-how-to-protect-rice-fields/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-saltwater-advances-gambian-farmers-rethink-how-to-protect-rice-fields/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2026 15:42:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Yero S. Bah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/10141500/TombongBarrow_KiangJifarongGambia_YeroBah-WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-06-at-12.20.50-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329393</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Gambia, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Coastal Ecosystems, Environment, Flooding, Freshwater, Global Environmental Crisis, Impact Of Climate Change, Oceans, Sea Levels, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Every year, the villagers of Kiang Jifarong contribute labor and money to build earthen dikes using clay and mud in an effort to keep seawater out of their farms. Rice fields once stretched unbroken for 5 kilometers, about 3 miles, along the Bintang Bolong estuary here in western Gambia. For generations, families cultivated rice on [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Every year, the villagers of Kiang Jifarong contribute labor and money to build earthen dikes using clay and mud in an effort to keep seawater out of their farms. Rice fields once stretched unbroken for 5 kilometers, about 3 miles, along the Bintang Bolong estuary here in western Gambia. For generations, families cultivated rice on these fertile lowlands, relying on seasonal floods and freshwater to sustain one of the country&#8217;s oldest farming traditions. There are now worrying gaps in this productive landscape. For 10 years now, many of the villagers have retreated inland, away from the coastline, as saltwater transforms once-productive rice fields into barren land. Farmers say saltwater stress is easy to recognize: rice leaves turn yellow, while harvested grains become light and hollow because the plants fail to develop properly. &#8220;The grains become almost empty,&#8221; says Tombong Barrow from the Kiang Jifarong village development committee, a statutory body responsible for identifying local development needs at the village level and coordinating responses to them. &#8220;The salt makes them useless.&#8221; Aerial view of the Bintang Bolong estuary at Kiang Sankandi, the Gambia. Image courtesy of Ansumana Darboe. Jonni Kinteh and Mama Njie, both veteran rice farmers, say they abandoned their fields eight years ago after repeated crop failures linked to salinity. &#8220;We have farmed these fields since childhood alongside our mothers,&#8221; Kinteh says. &#8220;Now we can no longer use them.&#8221; &#8220;Our parents farmed much closer to the river,&#8221; Barrow says. &#8220;Now those fields have been completely taken over by salt.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-saltwater-advances-gambian-farmers-rethink-how-to-protect-rice-fields/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329393</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Children’s health at risk in south Borneo as El Niño intensifies Indonesia wildfires</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/childrens-health-at-risk-in-south-borneo-as-el-nino-intensifies-indonesia-wildfires/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/childrens-health-at-risk-in-south-borneo-as-el-nino-intensifies-indonesia-wildfires/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2026 13:22:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Riyad Dafhi Rizki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/10131034/Raina-dan-Raihan-2-1200x800-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329368</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Indonesia, South Kalimantan, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Climate, El Nino, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fires, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Heatwave, Pollution, and Public Health]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANJARMASIN, Indonesia — Siti Sarah slept in fits and starts through August as the fires broke out around her village and surrounding peatlands. One fire on Aug. 18 at first seemed a safe distance away, but in a heartbeat the flames were within 100 meters (330 feet) of her home in Pengayuan, a village in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[BANJARMASIN, Indonesia — Siti Sarah slept in fits and starts through August as the fires broke out around her village and surrounding peatlands. One fire on Aug. 18 at first seemed a safe distance away, but in a heartbeat the flames were within 100 meters (330 feet) of her home in Pengayuan, a village in Indonesia’s South Kalimantan province. “The fire seemed to leap up,” Siti told Mongabay Indonesia. “All of a sudden it was right there — it grew so fast.” Cries for help echoed around the village as Siti joined the community’s firefighting press. “I also helped put out a fire,” she said. “By whacking it with a piece of wood.” Two days later, firefighters scrambled to extinguish yet another blaze in the village grounds, dousing the flames before they could reach any homes. Across Indonesia, community and government firefighters have been battling fires like this since the main dry season began in July, many of them burning across carbon-rich peatlands in the low-lying deltas and plains of Borneo and Sumatra. In recent decades, Borneo’s peatlands have been drained for oil palm plantations to meet rising global consumer demand for palm oil. Fire is often used as a cheap way to clear land, but the flames can quickly run out of control across drained peatlands, which become a tinderbox when desiccated by El Niño-fueled drought. Commuters on the road try to shield their noses from the thick haze as they drive. Image by Riyad Dafhi Rizki/Mongabay Indonesia. In&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/childrens-health-at-risk-in-south-borneo-as-el-nino-intensifies-indonesia-wildfires/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329368</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Huge AI data center project blindsides water-stressed town in Brazil</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/huge-ai-data-center-project-blindsides-water-stressed-town-in-brazil/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/huge-ai-data-center-project-blindsides-water-stressed-town-in-brazil/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2026 12:00:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Naira Hofmeister]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/08190834/Headerfeat-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328289</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence, Business, Conflict, Data centers, Development, Environment, Governance, Industry, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Land Use Change, Mining, Natural Resources, Resource Conflict, Technology, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As water wells turn to dust, local leaders learn of the massive facility firsthand from reporters.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PARACATU, Brazil — As the president of Paracatu’s city council, Manoel Alves is used to being courted by companies and executives that want his blessing for new business. But on a Thursday afternoon in May 2026, he was upset talking on the phone about a data center planned for his city, about which he was informed by reporters. “I just heard the data center construction will start in two months. Don’t you guys know about this either?” Alves asked someone at the mayor&#8217;s office. The answer from the other side of the call was “no”, the same received from all interviewees: Local authorities, business owners, farmers, and citizens. “It is some new hotel concept?” a major restaurant owner in the city asked. “A dentist?” a citizen in Paracatu’s main square questioned. “Data center? What is this?” queried the guardian of an 18th-century church. Read it in Portuguese. The data center in Paracatu, a municipality located a three-hour drive from Brazil’s capital, Brasília, is not just any data center, but a 1-gigawatt data center, which will be larger than the combined total of all data centers currently installed in the country, which use around 800 megawatts. Or similar to one of the gigantic projects that are part of the Stargate initiative, one of the world&#8217;s largest artificial intelligence infrastructure networks, strongly supported by the U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration. Paracatu’s data center is being planned by Atlas Renewable Energy, owned by an arm of the global asset manager BlackRock, which already&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/huge-ai-data-center-project-blindsides-water-stressed-town-in-brazil/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328289</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous fisherwoman finds ‘lost’ spinach pipefish, not seen by science in 40 years</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/indigenous-fisherwoman-finds-lost-spinach-pipefish-not-seen-by-science-in-40-years/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/indigenous-fisherwoman-finds-lost-spinach-pipefish-not-seen-by-science-in-40-years/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2026 10:52:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/24155007/Spinach_Pipefish_iv_%C2%A9_New_Guinea_Binatang_Research_Center_edit-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=329367</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Melanesia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, and Papua New Guinea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Ecosystems, Environment, Extinction, Fish, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Indigenous Peoples, Rivers, Saving Species From Extinction, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. On the final day of a two-week expedition, where researchers were searching for a “lost” species along Papua New Guinea’s Sepik River, Helen Asu arrived with two small, greenish-brown fish. She had caught them while fishing for prawns [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. On the final day of a two-week expedition, where researchers were searching for a “lost” species along Papua New Guinea’s Sepik River, Helen Asu arrived with two small, greenish-brown fish. She had caught them while fishing for prawns with an umben, a traditional hand net, near Imbando village in East Sepik province. They were spinach pipefish (Microphis spinachioides), a species known only from the Sepik and not recorded by scientists since 1985, reports Mongabay’s Spoorthy Raman. “It was honestly an incredible moment,” said Jerrica Agebigo, a researcher at the Papua New Guinea University of Technology and the New Guinea Binatang Research Centre, who led the expedition. “When Helen showed the fish to us, I immediately realized that we had found something very special.” The spinach pipefish is a freshwater relative of seahorses and seadragons. It grows to about 15 centimeters (6 inches) and uses its elongated snout to catch small prey. Its coloring helps conceal it among water lilies and other plants along the banks of the Sepik, Papua New Guinea’s longest river. Almost everything else about it remains uncertain. The specimen used to describe the species was held at Hamburg’s natural history museum, but was destroyed during the second world war. When the fish was last assessed for the IUCN Red List in 2016, it was classified as data deficient. It later became one of the 10 most sought-after species on the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/09/indigenous-fisherwoman-finds-lost-spinach-pipefish-not-seen-by-science-in-40-years/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329367</doi>				</item>
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