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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?byline=juliana-ennes&#038;post_type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/juliana-ennes/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 19:48:05 +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>Juliana Ennes Archives</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/juliana-ennes/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Taiwan’s tallest tree found with help of citizen science</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/taiwans-tallest-tree-found-with-help-of-citizen-science/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/taiwans-tallest-tree-found-with-help-of-citizen-science/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 19:46:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Lizkimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ancient tree]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[canopy research]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forest Destruction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[green]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Happy-upbeat Environmental]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous Communities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rainforests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Research]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tropical Forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/08192242/Team_climbing_The_Heaven_Sword-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320778</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[East Asia and Taiwan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Rainforests, Trees, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Deep in Taiwan&#8217;s misty mountains, researchers have confirmed the tallest tree in the country: a thousand-year-old fir tree higher than a 20-story building, which they’ve named &#8220;the heaven sword of the Da&#8217;an River.&#8221; Climbers scaled the tree and dropped a measuring tape from the top to the forest floor during the Lunar New Year holiday [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Deep in Taiwan&#8217;s misty mountains, researchers have confirmed the tallest tree in the country: a thousand-year-old fir tree higher than a 20-story building, which they’ve named &#8220;the heaven sword of the Da&#8217;an River.&#8221; Climbers scaled the tree and dropped a measuring tape from the top to the forest floor during the Lunar New Year holiday in January 2023. The tree measured 84.1-meters (276-feet). The findings have been published in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. A team of ecologists, geologists, remote-sensing specialists, professional climbers and Indigenous people that calls itself the &#8220;Taiwan tree seekers” began the search in 2014. “The common characteristics [of the team] are probably that we are all tree lovers and like adventures,” Rebecca Chia-Chun Hsu, lead author from Division of Forest Ecology, Institute of Taiwan Forestry Research, told CNN. &#8216;The Heaven Sword&#8217;, Taiwan&#8217;s tallest tree, measures 84.1 meters. Photo courtesy of Steven Pearce. Taiwan is one of the few places on Earth where trees can grow this tall. The island sits where the tropics meet the subtropics, and its mountains host several giant conifer species. The species behind the new record, Taiwania cryptomerioides, is known to the Indigenous Rukai people as &#8220;the tree that hits the moon.&#8221; Although nearly 60% of Taiwan is covered in forest, loggers cleared much of the island&#8217;s old-growth forest between 1912 and 1991. However, its steep slopes were too dangerous to reach, and pockets of ancient forest survived. Still, finding the tallest tree amid the rugged terrain was a task. Taiwan&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/taiwans-tallest-tree-found-with-help-of-citizen-science/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/taiwans-tallest-tree-found-with-help-of-citizen-science/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Sri Lanka bans single-use plastic bottles at government events, charges for plastic bags</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/sri-lanka-bans-single-use-plastic-bottles-at-government-events-charges-for-plastic-bags/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/sri-lanka-bans-single-use-plastic-bottles-at-government-events-charges-for-plastic-bags/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 19:09:09 +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/20/2026/06/08190037/1-Single-use-plastic-bottle-c-Pearl-Protectors-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320781</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Consumption, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Governance, Plastic, Pollution, Recycling, Sustainability, Waste, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lanka banned the purchase and use of single-use plastic water bottles in all government institutions effective May 31, under a new government circular that targets reduction of wasteful plastic consumption within the state sector. The move is the latest in a long line of attempts by the island nation to reduce plastic [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lanka banned the purchase and use of single-use plastic water bottles in all government institutions effective May 31, under a new government circular that targets reduction of wasteful plastic consumption within the state sector. The move is the latest in a long line of attempts by the island nation to reduce plastic pollution — a crisis that clogs waterways, pollutes beaches, harms marine life, and overwhelms the country’s fragile waste management systems. But environmentalists say the real question is not whether Sri Lanka can announce another ban, but whether it can be enforced. The new directive applies to public institutions and is expected to reduce the routine use of disposable plastic water bottles during government meetings, events, offices and official functions. Authorities are encouraging reusable alternatives and better drinking water infrastructure within public institutions, says Kapila Rajapaksha, the director-general of the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), the state agency mandated to address plastic pollution. Sri Lanka’s plastic problem is growing exponentially. The National Plastic Waste Inventory (NPWI) published in 2024 has estimated the island’s municipal plastic waste generation to be approximately 250,000 metric tons per year. Sri Lanka recycles only about 27,000 metric tons of plastic waste annually, roughly 11% of total plastic waste generated. An estimated 68,000 metric tons, or 27% of plastic waste, remain uncollected and are often burned, buried or illegally dumped. Approximately 101,000 metric tons or 41% of the plastics go unaccounted from the waste management system during collection, transport, sorting and disposal. According&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/sri-lanka-bans-single-use-plastic-bottles-at-government-events-charges-for-plastic-bags/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>A year on, Australia’s biggest harmful algal bloom continues to wreak havoc</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-year-on-australias-biggest-harmful-algal-bloom-continues-to-wreak-havoc/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-year-on-australias-biggest-harmful-algal-bloom-continues-to-wreak-havoc/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 18:42:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nick Rodway]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Climate Change]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Climate Change And Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harmful Algal Blooms]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marine Conservation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/08044105/1-d.-Algae-Bloom-Marine-Life-Washups-Stefan-Andrews_-12-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320708</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[algae, Animals, Biodiversity, Citizen Science, Climate, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Dolphins, Ecology, Environment, Fish, Government, Habitat, Health, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Ecosystems, Monitoring, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Penguins, Rays, Research, Sharks, Water, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PORT HUGHES, Australia — Situated midway along the Great Southern Reef that spans Australia’s southern coastline, the waters off Port Hughes typically teem with life. The coastal hamlet northwest of Adelaide plays host to a multitude of coral, bivalve and fish species. But in late March, the largest and longest harmful algal bloom (HAB) in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PORT HUGHES, Australia — Situated midway along the Great Southern Reef that spans Australia’s southern coastline, the waters off Port Hughes typically teem with life. The coastal hamlet northwest of Adelaide plays host to a multitude of coral, bivalve and fish species. But in late March, the largest and longest harmful algal bloom (HAB) in Australian history arrived to Port Hughes, depleting its waters’ rich biodiversity. The bloom had first appeared elsewhere off the state of South Australia’s coast a year earlier, causing eye and skin irritation and respiratory symptoms among beachgoers. Then, along with waves of acrid-smelling sea foam, scores of dead marine animals began washing ashore. In Port Hughes, the HAB’s impacts were most visible below the surface. The town’s wooden jetty had previously been one of the most consistent locations in South Australia to observe temperate species, said Stefan Andrews, co-founder of the Great Southern Reef Foundation, a conservation advocacy group. But by mid-April, when Mongabay joined Andrews on a dive, the site was drab compared with vibrant photographs taken in February and March. Under the jetty, sponges and corals that had previously adorned its pylons in a brilliantly hued mosaic appeared colorless. Apart from a short-headed seahorse (Hippocampus breviceps) — a “sign of hope,” Andrews called it — little life was visible in the murky waters. The reef, he said, had become quieter, lacking the sounds of snapping shrimp and other creatures that once played in the underwater soundtrack. “There’s a sense of loss when you&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-year-on-australias-biggest-harmful-algal-bloom-continues-to-wreak-havoc/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Huge ivory bust raises questions about follow-up investigations in Tanzania</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/huge-ivory-bust-raises-questions-about-follow-up-investigations-in-tanzania/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/huge-ivory-bust-raises-questions-about-follow-up-investigations-in-tanzania/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 18:06:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Charles Mpaka]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/08180430/Elephant_Tanzania_sama093FlickrBYNCND2.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320774</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environmental Crime, Illegal Trade, Ivory, Ivory Trade, Mammals, Poachers, Poaching, trafficking, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A North Korean man is set to face trial in Tanzania this week following his arrest in April while in possession of 500 elephant tusks. Un Hyok Ra was arrested April 19 at a hotel in Dar es Salaam, and is scheduled on June 9 to answer to charges of unlawful possession of the ivory [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A North Korean man is set to face trial in Tanzania this week following his arrest in April while in possession of 500 elephant tusks. Un Hyok Ra was arrested April 19 at a hotel in Dar es Salaam, and is scheduled on June 9 to answer to charges of unlawful possession of the ivory and intent to trade it. Tanzania is a signatory to CITES, the global wildlife trade convention, which requires parties to conduct forensic analysis of ivory seizures of 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) or more to determine where it came from. This is intended to support investigations that go beyond the typically low-level traffickers who are caught in possession. Tanzanian police did not respond to questions from Mongabay about the origins of the seized ivory or who Ra allegedly planned to sell it to. During an administrative hearing on May 28, prosecutor Florida Wancelaus told the court only that investigations are ongoing. Chris Morris, founder of wildlife crime monitoring group Saving Elephants through Education and Justice (SEEJ), based in neighboring Kenya, estimated that 504 tusks would weigh roughly 2,500 kg (about 5,500 lbs). In an email to Mongabay, he said law enforcement in the region does not always meet the CITES requirement to conduct DNA analysis on confiscated ivory. “It remains to be seen if Tanzania will comply with this directive,” Morris wrote. Morris, a former war crimes investigator, said Tanzanian authorities have often withheld information that would help sister agencies in the region and beyond trace&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/huge-ivory-bust-raises-questions-about-follow-up-investigations-in-tanzania/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>World Oceans Day: Marine protected areas surpass 10% mark in 2026</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/world-oceans-day-marine-protected-areas-surpass-10-mark-in-2026/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/world-oceans-day-marine-protected-areas-surpass-10-mark-in-2026/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 16:16:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/21084530/Photo-4-Jannes-Landschoff_credit-Jannes-Landschoff-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320771</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Ocean, Oceans, Protected Areas, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[World Oceans Day is celebrated every June 8 to raise awareness about the conservation of Earth’s oceans. In honor of World Oceans Day 2026, the United Nations is focused on marine protected areas (MPA), and the goal of protecting 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030. The world collectively reached a third of the goal [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[World Oceans Day is celebrated every June 8 to raise awareness about the conservation of Earth’s oceans. In honor of World Oceans Day 2026, the United Nations is focused on marine protected areas (MPA), and the goal of protecting 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030. The world collectively reached a third of the goal in April 2026, MPAs now cover 10% of oceans. Another 20% will need to be protected over the next four years to reach the 30% goal. New Marine Protected Areas The latest additions of MPAs included 284 marine or coastal protected areas in Indonesia and Thailand. This year, Ghana also declared its first MPA, the Greater Cape Three Points MPA, after more than 15 years of efforts. And in September 2025, Pakistan protected the key biodiversity hotspot of Miani Hor Lagoon, home to dalmatian pelicans (Pelecanus crispus) and great black-headed gulls (Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus). French Polynesia, a Pacific territory controlled by France, declared the world’s largest MPA in June 2025. It covers the archipelagos’ entire exclusive economic zone; 4.8 million square kilometers (roughly 1.9 million square miles) of ocean gained official protection with overwhelming local support. Some MPAs allow bottom trawling While there has been progress, experts have also highlighted that some MPAs do not have enough protection. Throughout Europe, many MPAs still allow bottom trawling, a damaging fishing practice that drags weighted nets across the seafloor. Though bottom trawling targets just a few commercially viable species, a recent study found such nets collect roughly 3,000 distinct&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/world-oceans-day-marine-protected-areas-surpass-10-mark-in-2026/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>‘Slumping’ afflicted soft corals around a South Korean island in 2024. Will it return this year?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/slumping-afflicted-soft-corals-around-a-south-korean-island-in-2024-will-it-return-this-year/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/slumping-afflicted-soft-corals-around-a-south-korean-island-in-2024-will-it-return-this-year/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 15:43:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/08085640/Dendronephthya-gigantea_P8140110_%ED%81%B0%EC%88%98%EC%A7%80%EB%A7%A8%EB%93%9C%EB%9D%BC%EB%AF%B8-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320733</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Asia, and South Korea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Change And Biodiversity, Climate Change And Coral Reefs, Coral Reefs, Marine Animals, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Conservation, Marine Ecosystems, Ocean Crisis, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Oceans And Climate Change, and Temperatures]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JEJU ISLAND, South Korea — In April 2025, I zipped myself up into a thick wetsuit and inched down a steep, rocky ledge toward the gray-blue water encircling Beomseom, a small island off the southern coast of Jeju Island in South Korea. Then I leapt into the chilly sea and wriggled into my scuba gear [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JEJU ISLAND, South Korea — In April 2025, I zipped myself up into a thick wetsuit and inched down a steep, rocky ledge toward the gray-blue water encircling Beomseom, a small island off the southern coast of Jeju Island in South Korea. Then I leapt into the chilly sea and wriggled into my scuba gear while floating on the surface. In the water with me was Sanghoon Yoon, an adviser for Paran Ocean Citizen Science Center, a South Korean civil society group that advocates for the protection of the ocean. That day, Yoon was my scuba dive buddy. Yoon and I sank beneath the dangling legs of snorkelers into a watery realm of rocks and kelp. Once in deeper water, I encountered gelatinous stalks of soft coral. The polyps appeared purple, pink, red, and even orange, depending on the light. The islet of Beomseom off South Korea’s Jeju Island hosts colorful gardens of soft coral. Image courtesy of Paran. Sanghoon Hoon, an adviser to the Paran Ocean Citizen Science Center, dives among soft corals in the waters off Jeju, South Korea. Image courtesy of Paran. The soft corals I saw that day were healthy. But in 2024, soft corals around Beomseom Island and other parts of Jeju experienced what scientists are calling a “slumping” event — and what Yoon describes as “melting” — which saw soft corals losing their shape, drooping, and even dying. The event was widely reported in local media and attributed to marine heat as Jeju waters&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/slumping-afflicted-soft-corals-around-a-south-korean-island-in-2024-will-it-return-this-year/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>What the platypus can teach us about smarter conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/what-the-platypus-can-teach-us-about-smarter-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/what-the-platypus-can-teach-us-about-smarter-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 09:03:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/17224317/Image-4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320737</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Citizen Science, Conservation, Environment, Green, Mammals, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. The platypus offers a useful lesson in conservation: before acting, it helps to know where the animal still lives, and where risks are growing. Australia’s best-known oddity is also difficult to count, reports contributor Paul Harvey for Mongabay. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. The platypus offers a useful lesson in conservation: before acting, it helps to know where the animal still lives, and where risks are growing. Australia’s best-known oddity is also difficult to count, reports contributor Paul Harvey for Mongabay. It feeds around dawn and dusk, spends much of its life underwater in rivers, and leaves few obvious signs. That makes its decline harder to measure and harder to manage. The IUCN Red List classifies the species as near threatened, based on an estimate of about 50,000 animals, though researchers say the true number is uncertain. That uncertainty has become more important as pressure on rivers increases. Drought can shrink the pools where platypuses feed. Bushfires can damage riverbanks and nearby vegetation. Floods can inundate burrows before animals can escape. Pollution from wastewater, mining, industry, and urban runoff can reduce the aquatic invertebrates that make up much of their diet. There is room for optimism because scientists have now developed a framework for deciding when to help platypuses where they are and when animals may need to be moved. Zoos are also preparing for a clearer role in emergencies, including temporary care for animals stranded by drought, fire, or flood. Citizen science can help close the information gap. Projects that map sightings show where platypuses are still being seen. Environmental DNA, collected from water samples, can detect their presence without needing to trap or even&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/what-the-platypus-can-teach-us-about-smarter-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/what-the-platypus-can-teach-us-about-smarter-conservation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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					<title>Malawi’s Elephant Marsh: The challenge of protecting a wetland that sustains thousands</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/malawis-elephant-marsh-the-challenge-of-protecting-a-wetland-that-sustains-thousands/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/malawis-elephant-marsh-the-challenge-of-protecting-a-wetland-that-sustains-thousands/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 07:54:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Charles Mpaka]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/05103912/14-LARGE-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320638</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Malawi, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Deforestation, Economics, Environment, Fish, Fish Farming, Fisheries, Fishing, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Governance, and Government]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ELEPHANT MARSH, Malawi — At 5:30 am, trader Flora Kumilai is squatting before a heap of smoked catfish at Sorjin Market in southern Malawi’s Elephant Marsh, haggling with sellers over the price. “I found gold in fish,” she chuckles as she fills a third cardboard box. “And Elephant Marsh is the mine.” Kumilai, who has [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ELEPHANT MARSH, Malawi — At 5:30 am, trader Flora Kumilai is squatting before a heap of smoked catfish at Sorjin Market in southern Malawi’s Elephant Marsh, haggling with sellers over the price. “I found gold in fish,” she chuckles as she fills a third cardboard box. “And Elephant Marsh is the mine.” Kumilai, who has traveled here from Malawi’s commercial capital, Blantyre, will spend a week in the area, visiting other fish markets around the marsh until she has 12 of these boxes, around 900 kilograms (1,990 pounds) of smoked fish. Then she will band together with other traders to hire a truck to transport their goods back to Blantyre, 140 kilometers (87 miles) to the north. But for Kumilai, the final destination for her goods is more than 1,500 km (930 mi) away, at a market in Kasumbalesa on the border between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She’s been in business for more than a decade now, mostly trading in produce within Malawi and sometimes importing clothes from Tanzania and South Africa for customers in the city. In October 2024, she changed course, when fellow traders introduced her to the cross-border trade in fish. In Kasumbalesa, most of Kumilai’s customers are from the DRC, she tells Mongabay in Chichewa. “They pay in [U.S.] dollars. When we change it on the black market to Malawi kwacha, it gives us a lot of money. That’s how I’m able to pay for my son’s education [at Chandigarh University in India].”&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/malawis-elephant-marsh-the-challenge-of-protecting-a-wetland-that-sustains-thousands/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/malawis-elephant-marsh-the-challenge-of-protecting-a-wetland-that-sustains-thousands/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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					<title>South Africa’s move away from coal marred by legacy of abandoned mines: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/south-africas-move-away-from-coal-marred-by-legacy-of-abandoned-mines-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/south-africas-move-away-from-coal-marred-by-legacy-of-abandoned-mines-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 07:46:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anna Weekes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/02115929/251103_Ermelo_Imbabala_CER_dp-13-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320479</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and South Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[charcoal, Coal, Economics, Environment, Governance, Government, Illegal Mining, mine, Mining, Pollution, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As South Africa transitions away from coal-fired electricity, hundreds of former coal mines are turning into abandoned dumping sites for waste and polluted water, which a new report warns will continue to contaminate surrounding land and waterways for decades. Nor is the South African government taking action to force mine owners to clean them up, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As South Africa transitions away from coal-fired electricity, hundreds of former coal mines are turning into abandoned dumping sites for waste and polluted water, which a new report warns will continue to contaminate surrounding land and waterways for decades. Nor is the South African government taking action to force mine owners to clean them up, environmentalists told Mongabay. South African law requires mining companies to set aside money to clean up and restore the land after mining ends &#8211; either in trusts or through bank or insurance guarantees. But a report by the Centre for Environmental Rights found that none of the 412 coal mines that closed between 2006 and 2023 had enough money set aside to pay for the full cost of rehabilitation. The full extent of the problem is unknown as the government has failed to keep any records of mines that closed in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2021, the report said. Mining companies must clean up and rehabilitate mines, pay for the damage, and remain responsible until the government officially signs off on the closure, according to the regulations. But most mines do not keep enough money aside to cover even a fraction of the rehabilitation costs, according to the report, titled “No More Ghost Towns : Lessons From Mpumalanga’s Mine Closure Crisis” and released May 22 in Johannesburg. With more than 100 coal mines and most of the country’s aging coal-fired power stations, the Mpumalanga region is the center of South Africa’s fossil fuel-based power&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/south-africas-move-away-from-coal-marred-by-legacy-of-abandoned-mines-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Three new ‘planking’ praying mantis species found in Australia and Papua New Guinea</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/three-new-planking-praying-mantis-species-found-in-australia-and-papua-new-guinea/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/three-new-planking-praying-mantis-species-found-in-australia-and-papua-new-guinea/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 05:02:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Megan Strauss]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/08045941/Rainforest-snake-mantis-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320727</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Papua New Guinea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Citizen Science, Conservation, Environment, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Insects, New Species, Research, Species Discovery, urban ecology, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have identified three new-to-science species of snake mantises, two from Australia and one from Papua New Guinea, and figured out their distribution and behavior with the help of citizen scientists. Matthew Connors, a Ph.D. candidate at James Cook University in Australia, led the effort to revisit the taxonomy of Kongobatha, a little-studied group of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have identified three new-to-science species of snake mantises, two from Australia and one from Papua New Guinea, and figured out their distribution and behavior with the help of citizen scientists. Matthew Connors, a Ph.D. candidate at James Cook University in Australia, led the effort to revisit the taxonomy of Kongobatha, a little-studied group of praying mantises known as snake mantises for the snake-like patterns on their wings. They’re also referred to as leaf-planking mantises, because they press their bodies against leaves to camouflage. The blending in helps because they are both predators of insects, including flies and mosquitoes, and prey themselves. “They have this special organ right on their chest that is a sensory thing, and it helps them flatten themselves down really nicely against a leaf, so that they&#8217;re really hard for a predator to see,” Connors said in a news release. Previously only two species of Kongobatha were known: one from Australia and another from Papua New Guinea. Now, there are three more, named K. serpens, K. spinosistyla and K. rufilinea. To describe these three species, Connors collected new specimens of the mantises and sourced others from Australian and international museums and private collections. He examined them under a microscope, focusing on male anatomical features called styli, which are a pair of small appendage-like structures located on the end of the abdomen, and may function in mating, although this remains a “mystery,” Connors told Mongabay by email. The styli of snake mantises have many spines on them,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/three-new-planking-praying-mantis-species-found-in-australia-and-papua-new-guinea/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Northern Thai residents march for action on polluted rivers. &#8216;This is an emergency&#8217;</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/northern-thai-residents-march-for-action-on-polluted-rivers-this-is-an-emergency/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/northern-thai-residents-march-for-action-on-polluted-rivers-this-is-an-emergency/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 04:19:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Community-based Conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Transition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environmental Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extractives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Illegal Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Renewable Energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[riverine communities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rivers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tropical Rivers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water Pollution]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/08040458/Peace_Walk_Chiang_Rai_06-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320710</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community-based Conservation, Energy Transition, Environmental Activism, extractives, Global Trade, Governance, Illegal Mining, Mining, Pollution, Public Health, Rivers, Tropical Rivers, Water Crisis, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — More than 600 residents of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces embarked May 31 on a roughly 68-kilometer, six-day ‘peace walk’ to demand the Thai government take action on the river pollution crisis that has seen Thai rivers polluted with heavy metals. The ensemble of affected residents, civil society groups, monks and students [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — More than 600 residents of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces embarked May 31 on a roughly 68-kilometer, six-day ‘peace walk’ to demand the Thai government take action on the river pollution crisis that has seen Thai rivers polluted with heavy metals. The ensemble of affected residents, civil society groups, monks and students marched from Tha Ton subdistrict in Chiang Mai to the city of Chiang Rai in northern Thailand, reaching their destination on June 5, World Environment Day. For more than a year, Thailand’s Pollution Control Department has reported dangerous levels of arsenic, mercury, cadmium and other heavy metals in rivers across northern Thailand, with mining operations across eastern Myanmar suspected to be responsible for the pollution. “We are walking because our rivers are slowly dying,” Pianporn Deetes, executive director of the Rivers and Rights Foundation, which helped to organize the peace walk, told Mongabay by phone. “Toxic contamination from unregulated mining upstream is already affecting water, fish, food, livelihoods, and public health. We do not want to wait until more people become sick. This is an emergency.” Pianporn said the walk (42 miles) was about taking collective action to share information, document impacts and build public pressure in a bid to force the government to address the issue, which Pianporn said has, so far, been lacking. “Monitoring has improved, but action has not matched the scale of the crisis,” she said. “We need urgent diplomatic engagement with neighboring countries, stronger health monitoring, transparency, and action to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/northern-thai-residents-march-for-action-on-polluted-rivers-this-is-an-emergency/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Rare Chinese pangolin found in a sacred community forest in Nepal</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/rare-chinese-pangolin-found-in-a-sacred-community-forest-in-nepal/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/rare-chinese-pangolin-found-in-a-sacred-community-forest-in-nepal/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 03:57:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/08034455/%C2%A9Nature-Conservation-and-Study-Centre-NCSC-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320709</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Nepal and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Camera Trapping, Communities and conservation, Community Forests, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Green, Mammals, Pangolins, Research, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Researchers in Nepal have confirmed a rare Chinese pangolin living in a small community forest considered sacred by locals, according to a recent study. It may also be the first video evidence of the pangolin in Nepal’s Sunsari district, researchers said.  The Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla), listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Researchers in Nepal have confirmed a rare Chinese pangolin living in a small community forest considered sacred by locals, according to a recent study. It may also be the first video evidence of the pangolin in Nepal’s Sunsari district, researchers said.  The Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla), listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List and protected under Nepalese laws, is threatened by both habitat loss and poaching. This makes every verified population, especially those outside protected areas, important for conservation, study lead author Tujin Rai with Tribhuvan University in Nepal told Mongabay by email. Chinese pangolins are found across Nepal. However, verified records of the species in eastern Nepal remain poor, the authors wrote. Previous research has found indirect signs such as pangolin burrows and footprints in Panchakanya community forest in Sunsari district. The community forest, spanning just 0.56 square kilometers (0.22 square miles), is located “within a mosaic of villages, agricultural lands, transportation infrastructure, and the Sewti River,” Rai said. To verify the presence of the pangolin in the forest, Rai and his colleagues installed camera traps on trails and around recently dug burrows in January 2025. On Jan. 21, 2025, the cameras recorded a male Chinese pangolin. Rai told Mongabay that during field surveys they also recorded nearly 30 pangolin burrows and other signs, especially in areas with abundant ant and termite colonies, which pangolins like to eat. These observations suggest the forest possibly supports more than a single individual; however, right now the team can only&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/rare-chinese-pangolin-found-in-a-sacred-community-forest-in-nepal/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Tuna are rebounding. The work is far from done.</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/tuna-are-rebounding-the-work-is-far-from-done/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/tuna-are-rebounding-the-work-is-far-from-done/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 00:07:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/07135939/Banc_de_thons_albacores_Thunnus_albacares-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320704</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Ocean, Overfishing, Species recovery, and Tuna]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Tuna offer a useful case study for World Ocean Day because their recovery has come through the least sentimental parts of conservation: quotas, enforcement, stock assessments, and years of difficult diplomacy. By the early 2010s, several tuna stocks were in serious trouble. Atlantic bluefin had become a marker of overfishing. Pacific bluefin had fallen to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Tuna offer a useful case study for World Ocean Day because their recovery has come through the least sentimental parts of conservation: quotas, enforcement, stock assessments, and years of difficult diplomacy. By the early 2010s, several tuna stocks were in serious trouble. Atlantic bluefin had become a marker of overfishing. Pacific bluefin had fallen to a small fraction of its historic abundance. The risk was ecological and commercial. Governments were looking at the possible collapse of one of the world’s most valuable fisheries. The response was slow, contested, and often technical. Regional fisheries bodies tightened catch limits, improved monitoring, began adopting automated harvest rules, and expanded electronic catch-documentation systems to make illegal and unreported fishing harder to hide. Fleets built around high catches had to accept lower quotas. The politics were difficult because the countries involved often had competing economic interests. That is part of what makes the outcome worth studying. Atlantic bluefin are showing strong signs of recovery, backed by decades of tagging, catch data, and population modeling. Pacific bluefin reached a key rebuilding target years ahead of schedule. Across commercial tuna fisheries, a much larger share of global catch now comes from stocks assessed as being at healthy levels. This does not mean the oceans have returned to abundance. Some stocks, particularly Indian Ocean yellowfin, remain in poor condition. Rebuilding to 20% of historic biomass is a critical scientific milestone for safety, not total restoration. Bycatch of sharks, turtles, and seabirds remains a serious problem, and some regional&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/tuna-are-rebounding-the-work-is-far-from-done/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Despite oil spills in Nigeria&#8217;s mangrove forests, Shell continued operations, documents show</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/despite-oil-spills-in-nigerias-mangrove-forests-shell-continued-operations-documents-show/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/despite-oil-spills-in-nigerias-mangrove-forests-shell-continued-operations-documents-show/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jun 2026 14:28:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David AkanaVictoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/05232017/AP788278067772-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320681</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Corporate Responsibility, Corporations, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Forest Loss, Forests, Industry, Law, Mangroves, Marine Ecosystems, Oil, Oil Spills, Pollution, Water, Water Pollution, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Global oil giant Shell continued operating a compromised pipeline in Nigeria’s Niger Delta despite knowing it posed a pollution risk in the surrounding coastal wetland environment, newly disclosed internal company communications reveal. The emails and memos, reviewed by Mongabay, show senior leadership knew of the poor conditions of the 97-kilometer (60-mile) Nembe Creek Trunk Line [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Global oil giant Shell continued operating a compromised pipeline in Nigeria’s Niger Delta despite knowing it posed a pollution risk in the surrounding coastal wetland environment, newly disclosed internal company communications reveal. The emails and memos, reviewed by Mongabay, show senior leadership knew of the poor conditions of the 97-kilometer (60-mile) Nembe Creek Trunk Line as early as 2008. Despite concerns it was operating outside technical integrity standards and proposals to shut it down, a top executive decided to keep pumping oil through the line. Carrying 150,000 barrels of oil per day to the export terminal at Bonny Island Rivers state, the Nembe Creek Trunk Line is a critical oil artery in Nigeria. Throughout the years, theft from the pipeline using illegal connections caused spills into the vast mangrove ecosystem of true (Rhizophora sp.) and flowering black (Avicennia sp.) tree species. An internal 2013 Shell document coded such tampered lines as “red,” requiring either their immediate shutdown or immediate action to remove all illegal connections. Locals from the nearby riverine Bille community said the oil spills killed about 2,000 hectares (4,900 acres) of mangrove swamps around the village while impacting an area of 13,200 hectares (32,600 acres). The contaminated waterways and degraded ecosystem, they told Mongabay, killed fish and other aquatic life. Satellite imagery surrounding the village shows massive degradation of the mangroves. &#8220;The aquatic life is gone. Our people can no longer go to the river and catch reasonable fish — they can&#8217;t even find the fish in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/despite-oil-spills-in-nigerias-mangrove-forests-shell-continued-operations-documents-show/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Canada’s watchdog post vacant as overseas mining complaints mount</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/canadas-watchdog-post-vacant-as-overseas-mining-complaints-mount/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/canadas-watchdog-post-vacant-as-overseas-mining-complaints-mount/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jun 2026 08:00:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Annie Burns-Pieper]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/04160700/Barrick-Gold-protest-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320600</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada, Global, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Leoncia Ramos has lived her 65 years in the lush Dominican Republic town of La Piñita, but now says she is fearful for her health and wants to leave. She’s among 450 families asking the government and the company behind the Pueblo Viejo gold mine to be relocated because of concerns of pollution from the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Leoncia Ramos has lived her 65 years in the lush Dominican Republic town of La Piñita, but now says she is fearful for her health and wants to leave. She’s among 450 families asking the government and the company behind the Pueblo Viejo gold mine to be relocated because of concerns of pollution from the nearby mine. They allege the site, controlled by Canadian giant Barrick Mining Corp., is harming their health and the environment, and fear that if a tailings dam about a kilometer away were to collapse, it would be disastrous. Ramos’s community has spent 15 years fighting to have its concerns addressed and now says Canada, where Barrick Mining is headquartered, could play a role. In 2019, the Canadian government created an office of an ombudsperson to handle complaints from communities like Ramos’s. But the government has left the role vacant for the past year, and its work has seemingly come to a standstill. Canada is home to about half of the world’s publicly traded mining and mineral exploration companies, with operations both in Canada and overseas, including some of the world’s largest miners, like Barrick Mining. The government created the office of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) in 2019 to address human rights complaints about Canadian companies’ operations overseas. But the office has now been without an ombudsperson since May 2025, and advocates say its work has stalled at a critical moment, as demand for transition minerals and a changing geopolitical climate are driving&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/canadas-watchdog-post-vacant-as-overseas-mining-complaints-mount/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>How trade bans and local conservation helped save a dazzling blue gecko</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-trade-bans-and-local-conservation-helped-save-a-dazzling-blue-gecko/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-trade-bans-and-local-conservation-helped-save-a-dazzling-blue-gecko/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jun 2026 06:43:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manuel Fonseca]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/06063558/TurquoiseDwarfGecko_MorogoroTanzania_ArdgardINaturalistBYlarge-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320662</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Fires, Forests, Habitat Loss, Herps, Primary Forests, Protected Areas, Reptiles, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Beauty is a curse — at least for the turquoise dwarf gecko of central Tanzania. Between December 2004 and July 2009, demand for this gecko from collectors in Europe boomed, leading to the capture and export of an estimated 40,000 of these striking reptiles from Tanzania. “I remember when I saw them for the first [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Beauty is a curse — at least for the turquoise dwarf gecko of central Tanzania. Between December 2004 and July 2009, demand for this gecko from collectors in Europe boomed, leading to the capture and export of an estimated 40,000 of these striking reptiles from Tanzania. “I remember when I saw them for the first time [at] a fair, it was about 600 euros per specimen,” or about $700, Dennis Rödder, a herpetologist at the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change in Germany, told Mongabay in a video call. “I think within three or four years, the species appeared everywhere across Europe. You could buy them in every pet shop.” Turquoise dwarf geckos (Lygodactylus williamsi) grow to a length of 6-9 centimeters (about 2.5-3.5 inches) and are known from only two small patches of forest in Tanzania: The Kimboza and Ruvu forest reserves. These protected areas cover a combined 34 square kilometers (13 square miles). Adult females have a green-brownish color that mimics the leaves of the trees they live in, but the males’ skins are a vivid contrasting blue, one of the rarest colors in nature, meant to stand out and attract females. Turquoise dwarf gecko (Lygodactylus williamsi). Image © Simon via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0). Active during the day, and so fiercely territorial they evict their young hatchlings from their home trees soon after birth, this species lives exclusively on screwpines (Pandanus rabaiensis), a tree found in Kenya and Tanzania. Standing anywhere from 3-20 meters tall&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-trade-bans-and-local-conservation-helped-save-a-dazzling-blue-gecko/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>In Peru and Brazil, extractivism threatens Indigenous people in isolation: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-peru-and-brazil-extractivism-threatens-indigenous-people-in-isolation-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-peru-and-brazil-extractivism-threatens-indigenous-people-in-isolation-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2026 21:58:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extractives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forest Destruction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forest Loss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous Communities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous Groups]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous Reserves]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous territories]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oil Drilling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Protected Areas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Threats To The Amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tropical Deforestation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/18170846/6-Yavari-Tapiche-Territorial-Corridor-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320678</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Mining, Corridors, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, extractives, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Oil Drilling, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation and Initial Contact (PIACI) in the Yavarí-Tapiche Territorial Corridor, one of the largest contiguous, intact forests in the Amazon and home to the world’s highest concentrations of PIACI, are under threat by extractive and large-scale industrial activities, which pose an existential threat to its inhabitants and the ecosystems they depend [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples in Voluntary Isolation and Initial Contact (PIACI) in the Yavarí-Tapiche Territorial Corridor, one of the largest contiguous, intact forests in the Amazon and home to the world’s highest concentrations of PIACI, are under threat by extractive and large-scale industrial activities, which pose an existential threat to its inhabitants and the ecosystems they depend on. This is according to a new report co-authored by Earth Insight, the Regional Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the East (ORPIO), the Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB) and the Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (AIDESEP). The report finds that oil and gas blocks overlap with 10% of the 16-million-hectare (39.5-million-acre) corridor, including almost 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres) of intact tropical moist forest, 907,000 hectares (2.2 million acres) of Key Biodiversity Areas and 713,000 hectares (1.8 million acres) of protected areas. “Pressure from hydrocarbons is increasing on the Peruvian side of the Yavarí Tapiche corridor,” Edith Espejo, senior program manager at Earth Insight and author of the report, told Mongabay over WhatsApp messages. “Our report serves as a warning for the irreversible harm that could take place if these oil blocks move into this corridor. Mining concessions within and on the peripheries of the corridor also pose a threat of encroachment and contamination of waterways.” A critical corridor for ecosystems and Indigenous communities The Yavarí-Tapiche Corridor covers Brazil’s western border states of Amazonas and Acre and Peru’s Loreto and Ucayali departments in the Amazon&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-peru-and-brazil-extractivism-threatens-indigenous-people-in-isolation-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>The ‘ghost dog’ of the Amazon reveals the value of intact forests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/the-ghost-dog-of-the-amazon-reveals-the-value-of-intact-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/the-ghost-dog-of-the-amazon-reveals-the-value-of-intact-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2026 19:14:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/18165649/G.-Ayala-M.E.-Viscarra-Camaras-trampaWCS-Bolivia-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320677</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Bolivia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Camera Trapping, Conservation, Endangered Species, Mammals, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The short-eared dog is one of the Amazon’s least-known carnivores. In Bolivia, it’s also one of the hardest to find. The species has a fox-like snout, small rounded ears, partially webbed toes, and a long bushy tail that often drags on the forest floor. In Spanish, it’s sometimes called perro fantasma, or ghost dog, a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The short-eared dog is one of the Amazon’s least-known carnivores. In Bolivia, it’s also one of the hardest to find. The species has a fox-like snout, small rounded ears, partially webbed toes, and a long bushy tail that often drags on the forest floor. In Spanish, it’s sometimes called perro fantasma, or ghost dog, a name that reflects how rarely even field biologists encounter it. A long-running camera-trap study has now brought the species into sharper focus, reports Iván Paredes Tamayo. Over more than two decades, researchers recorded the short-eared dog in Bolivia’s lowland Amazonian forests, in piedmont forests near the Andes, and in large protected and Indigenous-managed landscapes. The results suggest the animal may be present in more places than earlier records showed. That is useful evidence, although it doesn’t make the species common. It remains scarce, elusive, and closely linked to well-preserved forest. For conservation groups, land managers, and funders, the findings suggest the short-eared dog depends on large, connected areas of habitat. Small forest fragments are unlikely to provide what it needs. Its presence can help identify places where forests are still functioning well, especially where protected areas and Indigenous territories keep intact habitat at scale. The finding also shows why long-term monitoring matters. Rare species are easy to miss in short surveys. A camera trap may sit for months without recording one. A study that runs across years, landscapes, and management types can reveal patterns that would otherwise remain hidden. The short-eared dog will probably never&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/the-ghost-dog-of-the-amazon-reveals-the-value-of-intact-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Mongabay Africa’s most-read stories so far in 2026</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/mongabay-africas-most-read-stories-so-far-in-2026/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/mongabay-africas-most-read-stories-so-far-in-2026/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2026 18:19:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.org]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/05164435/car_2626790x-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320671</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic Of Congo, Guinea, Kenya, and Zambia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Forest Elephants, mine, Mining, National Parks, Parks, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[From human-elephant coexistence to an alternative conservation model from the Democratic Republic of Congo, from teen innovators in Kenya to Guinea’s complicated experience with mining, the stories that attracted the most readers in the first five months of 2026 reflect the richness of Mongabay’s Africa coverage on World Environment Day, June 5, 2026. They also [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[From human-elephant coexistence to an alternative conservation model from the Democratic Republic of Congo, from teen innovators in Kenya to Guinea’s complicated experience with mining, the stories that attracted the most readers in the first five months of 2026 reflect the richness of Mongabay’s Africa coverage on World Environment Day, June 5, 2026. They also showcase the talents of a diverse reporting team and a strong and growing network of resident contributors. Electric fences help farmers and elephants coexist in Zambian borderlands: Contributor Ryan Truscott reports from eastern Zambia on an initiative aimed at protecting farmland from elephants, even as the pachyderms are forced into narrower corridors as habitats shrink. A unique clearing in Central Africa draws elephants from the dense forests: Mongabay Africa’s program director David Akana takes readers to the forest clearing of Dzanga Bai in the Central African Republic. A place where the naturally elusive forest elephants gather, sometimes in the hundreds, forming a “village of elephants.” Descendants of people pushed out for DRC national park lead forest conservation efforts:  Contributor Jérémie Kyaswekera brings a story of hope from the DRC, where descendants of  families that had to leave the forests of what is today an area in and around Maiko National Park are leading efforts to protect biodiversity through local conservation efforts. Teen innovators in Kenya turn farm waste into award-winning vehicle exhaust filter: Kenya-based contributor Mary Mwendwa teamed up with Mongabay Africa editor Malavika Vyawahare to profile young innovators who developed an exhaust filtration system&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/mongabay-africas-most-read-stories-so-far-in-2026/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Genetic study reveals extinction risk for unique mangrove-adapted pampas cat</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/genetic-study-reveals-extinction-risk-for-unique-mangrove-adapted-pampas-cat/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/genetic-study-reveals-extinction-risk-for-unique-mangrove-adapted-pampas-cat/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2026 16:09:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/05134141/1-desert-pampas-cat-Leopardus-garleppi-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320650</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Corridors, Deserts, Dry Forests, Environment, Extinction, Genetics, Habitat, Infectious Wildlife Disease, Mammals, Mangroves, Research, Science, Small Cats, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Corridors, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[More than a decade ago, conservationists began working to preserve a unique population of desert pampas cats that has adapted to the mangroves of Peru’s northern coast. This small, isolated population roams the San Pedro de Vice dry mangroves, a Ramsar Site and South America’s southernmost mangrove ecosystem. “This is a very unique population, because [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[More than a decade ago, conservationists began working to preserve a unique population of desert pampas cats that has adapted to the mangroves of Peru’s northern coast. This small, isolated population roams the San Pedro de Vice dry mangroves, a Ramsar Site and South America’s southernmost mangrove ecosystem. “This is a very unique population, because as far as we know, [it] is the only Pampas cat population that lives in a mangrove [habitat],” Alvaro Garcia, co-coordinator of the Pampas Cat Working Group and the Peruvian Desert Cat Project, told Mongabay in an email. The desert pampas cat (Leopardus garleppi), distinctive for its broad face, ranges along a relatively thin band snaking southward from Colombia through Peru and Bolivia, to northern Chile and Argentina. The species is acclimated to dry conditions, so inhabits deserts, grasslands and dry forests, and isn’t found living in mangroves anywhere else aside from this region of Peru. Dry mangrove forests, also called scrub or dwarf mangrove forests, grow in highly saline soils in upper intertidal zones, so lack regular daily flushing by ocean tides. At first, it was thought the dry mangrove-acclimated cats were faring well: “[I]n the mangrove [habitat], we put cameras out for a week, and we got tons of photos,” whereas in other parts of the felid’s range, conservationists barely capture one desert pampas cat image per month, said Cindy Hurtado, co-coordinator of the Pampas Cat Working Group and the Peruvian Desert Cat Project. Based on the photos, the research team assumed the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/genetic-study-reveals-extinction-risk-for-unique-mangrove-adapted-pampas-cat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>US set to hold latest oil and gas lease sale for Alaska&#8217;s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/us-set-to-hold-latest-oil-and-gas-lease-sale-for-alaskas-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/us-set-to-hold-latest-oil-and-gas-lease-sale-for-alaskas-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2026 15:51:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/05154417/AP26155689213697-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320661</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Alaska]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Endangered Species, Exploration, Gas, Oil, Protected Areas, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Trump administration’s push to expand oil and gas development in Alaska faces a new test Friday. That&#8217;s when the latest lease sale is set for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. A coalition of conservation groups sent a letter to oil company leaders ahead of the sale, urging them to stay [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Trump administration’s push to expand oil and gas development in Alaska faces a new test Friday. That&#8217;s when the latest lease sale is set for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. A coalition of conservation groups sent a letter to oil company leaders ahead of the sale, urging them to stay away and citing risks such as ongoing litigation around the leasing program. Opponents of drilling in the refuge have pointed to a lack of major industry interest in prior lease sales. But supporters of drilling see the refuge’s coastal plain as a potential untapped resource that could boost oil production and generate new revenue. Banner image: FILE &#8211; The Kaktovik Lagoon and the Brooks Range mountains of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are seen in Kaktovik, Alaska, Oct. 15, 2024. Image by Lindsey Wasson via Associated Press.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/us-set-to-hold-latest-oil-and-gas-lease-sale-for-alaskas-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/us-set-to-hold-latest-oil-and-gas-lease-sale-for-alaskas-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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					<title>Nepal farmers struggle to access relief for wildlife crop damage</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepal-farmers-struggle-to-access-relief-for-wildlife-crop-damage/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepal-farmers-struggle-to-access-relief-for-wildlife-crop-damage/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2026 12:50:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Suresh Bidari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/05121940/The_Rose_Ringed_Parakeet_in_flight-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320629</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crop Raiding, Crop Yields, Crops, Environment, Environmental Law, Farming, Human-wildlife Conflict, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SARLAHI, Nepal — Dhruba Prasai, a farmer from Sarlahi district in Nepal’s southern plains, says he’s exhausted from lack of sleep. Every year, nilgai antelopes, wild boars, deer and Asian elephants raid his fields, and if left unguarded at night, they not only feed on standing crops, but also stored harvest. &#8220;There is a forest [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SARLAHI, Nepal — Dhruba Prasai, a farmer from Sarlahi district in Nepal’s southern plains, says he’s exhausted from lack of sleep. Every year, nilgai antelopes, wild boars, deer and Asian elephants raid his fields, and if left unguarded at night, they not only feed on standing crops, but also stored harvest. &#8220;There is a forest to the west, and our fields are right next to it,” Prasai tells Mongabay. “The nilgai eat the maize, and the deer can’t even stand the sight of wheat and oat grass, they eat it all. If people stay up at night to guard the fields, they run away; otherwise, they come and destroy everything.&#8221; Farmers such as Prasai across Madhesh province, considered the country’s breadbasket because of its fertile land, are struggling with growing crop losses from wildlife, but complex procedures and policy gaps make access to relief, which is already limited, difficult. From mid-July 2024 to mid-July 2025, 14,821 cases of ‘human wildlife conflict’ were reported in Madhesh, according to government figures. A total of 134 people and 457 animals lost their lives. Last year, a wild boar ate three tand (storage racks) of maize stored in Prasai’s house. Although forest authorities told him to get a recommendation letter from the local municipal ward office to apply for relief, he didn&#8217;t do it. “I haven&#8217;t done it; we simply don’t have the time,&#8221; he says. Even those who did fill out the forms around the same time have yet to receive relief, he&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/nepal-farmers-struggle-to-access-relief-for-wildlife-crop-damage/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Whale strike risk rises as international shipping reroutes around South Africa</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whale-strike-risk-rises-as-international-shipping-reroutes-around-south-africa/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whale-strike-risk-rises-as-international-shipping-reroutes-around-south-africa/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2026 06:37:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/04104305/IMG_9041-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320573</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and South Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Governance, Government, Science, Shipping, trafficking, Whale Sharks, Whales, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In April this year, two Bryde’s whales washed-up dead-on Dyer Island, a small nature reserve located a few kilometers off the coast of Gansbaai in South Africa’s Western Cape province. Both whales carried severe injuries; their vertebrae had been shattered. “It was very clear that it was [vessel] strikes, because both those whales were snapped [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In April this year, two Bryde’s whales washed-up dead-on Dyer Island, a small nature reserve located a few kilometers off the coast of Gansbaai in South Africa’s Western Cape province. Both whales carried severe injuries; their vertebrae had been shattered. “It was very clear that it was [vessel] strikes, because both those whales were snapped in half, and you can also see the propeller marks,” Loraine Shuttleworth, head of research at the Dyer Island Conservation Trust, told Mongabay. Two whale strandings linked to ship strikes in one month alone is an unusually high number, Shuttleworth said. A new risk assessment has linked the increase in risk of ships striking whales to the rerouting of maritime traffic around South African coast. Due to the Houthi rebels attacks on ships traversing the Red Sea, which started in 2023, and the more recent fallout from the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, many cargo companies have rerouted their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope. With greater shipping traffic comes a growing threat to marine species inhabiting the region: collisions with large, fast-moving vessels. Between December 2023 and December 2024, the number of large vessels traveling through South African waters at average speeds above 15 knots (28 kilometers per hour) has quadrupled, satellite data show. The scale of the increased maritime traffic struck scientist Els Vermeulen from the University of Pretoria’s Mammal Research Institute Whale Unit, on a flight into Cape Town in 2025. “It was a beautiful day, and there were just&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whale-strike-risk-rises-as-international-shipping-reroutes-around-south-africa/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>New golf-ball sized blue octopus species now identified in the Galapagos</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/new-golf-ball-sized-blue-octopus-species-now-identified-in-the-galapagos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/new-golf-ball-sized-blue-octopus-species-now-identified-in-the-galapagos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2026 04:37:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/05043300/Screen-Shot-2026-05-06-at-2.16.22-PM-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320625</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Galapagos and Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Ecosystems, New Species, Oceans, Species Discovery, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[While on a deep-sea expedition in the Galapagos in 2015, scientists found a golf-ball sized, short-armed blue octopus. In a recent study, they confirmed that it’s new to science. The newly described octopus, named Microeledone galapagensis, was first sighted with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) near an underwater mountain, roughly 1,773 meters (5,800 feet) below [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[While on a deep-sea expedition in the Galapagos in 2015, scientists found a golf-ball sized, short-armed blue octopus. In a recent study, they confirmed that it’s new to science. The newly described octopus, named Microeledone galapagensis, was first sighted with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) near an underwater mountain, roughly 1,773 meters (5,800 feet) below the Pacific Ocean surface close to Darwin Island.   Expedition researchers from the Charles Darwin Foundation and the Galápagos National Park Directorate collected it with their ROV. They saw two more octopus individuals on video. The body of the collected specimen was preserved and sent to octopus expert Janet Voight at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.  Voight and colleagues at the museum scanned the octopus using computed tomography (CT) to create a 3D model of the individual. The researchers then used the CT model to examine its internal organs and mouth parts.    “When you describe a new species of octopus, you have to look at all the parts, including the mouth, the beak, and the teeth. And to see those things, you have to cut the specimen open. We only had the one specimen, so I didn’t want to take it apart,” Voight said in a press release.   A comparison of the blue octopus’ parts with those from other octopus species revealed that it was a new-to-science species. Unlike many octopuses, Microeledone galapagensis is small, squat, and has short, stubby arms with few arm suckers. “One of the interesting questions about&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/new-golf-ball-sized-blue-octopus-species-now-identified-in-the-galapagos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Indigenous communities in eastern Indonesia revive systems for marine protection</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/indigenous-communities-in-eastern-indonesia-revive-systems-for-marine-protection/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/indigenous-communities-in-eastern-indonesia-revive-systems-for-marine-protection/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2026 04:27:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/05042638/Penampakan-Pulau-Langkai-Sulawesi-Selatan-kredit_-Arise-IndonesiaJPG-1-1-1-1-1800x1012-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320624</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Ecological Restoration, Ecosystem Restoration, Fish, Fish Farming, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Landscape Restoration, Mangroves, Marine, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Conservation, Marine Ecosystems, Rehabilitation, and Restoration]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Across the small islands of eastern Indonesia that lie within the Wallacea region, one of the world’s richest marine biodiversity regions, coastal communities are reviving ancient customary systems to safeguard marine ecosystems from destructive fishing and habitat loss. This movement is the centerpiece of Jejak Wallacea, a recent documentary highlighting how local empowerment can succeed [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Across the small islands of eastern Indonesia that lie within the Wallacea region, one of the world’s richest marine biodiversity regions, coastal communities are reviving ancient customary systems to safeguard marine ecosystems from destructive fishing and habitat loss. This movement is the centerpiece of Jejak Wallacea, a recent documentary highlighting how local empowerment can succeed where top-down conservation often fails, reports Mongabay’s Hans Nicholas Jong. The film features initiatives across four provinces: East Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi. These communities have turned to locally rooted methods of reverse biodiversity loss, such as seasonal fishing closures, customary sanctions and mangrove restoration. In Solor, East Nusa Tenggara, residents established traditionally protected marine areas that they refer to as &#8220;marine granaries&#8221; (kebang lewa lolon) to restore coral reefs and created turtle hatcheries. They are also moving away from harmful blast fishing. &#8220;What we chose was conservation, but based on local wisdom,&#8221; Vero Lamahoda, director of the local foundation Yayasan Tanah Ile Boleng that is supporting the communities in the transition, said in the documentary. In Southeast Sulawesi, the village of Wabula employs a customary system called Kaombo, which regulates access to traditionally protected areas like seagrass beds and mangroves. Violators face customary fines or rituals like Kaleo Leo, where suspects are dunked into the sea, and the individual who surfaces first is considered the guilty party. Similarly, communities on Langkai and Lanjukang islands in South Sulawesi utilize periodic closures of marine areas for octopus fishing to allow populations to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/indigenous-communities-in-eastern-indonesia-revive-systems-for-marine-protection/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Sea cucumber tissue survives for years in open water, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/sea-cucumber-tissue-survives-for-years-in-open-water-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/sea-cucumber-tissue-survives-for-years-in-open-water-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2026 04:16:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/05041627/Low-Res_Fluorescence-showing-cell-proliferation-in-tube-foot-700x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320622</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bacteria, Biology, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Biodiversity, Ocean, Oceans, Research, and Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Severed tissue from a cold-water sea cucumber can survive, heal, and even move independently for years in natural seawater, researchers recently found. Some animals have the ability to regenerate tissues and body parts. Certain lizards can regrow their tails, for example. Some sea stars and sea cucumbers, including Psolus fabricii that live in the cold [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Severed tissue from a cold-water sea cucumber can survive, heal, and even move independently for years in natural seawater, researchers recently found. Some animals have the ability to regenerate tissues and body parts. Certain lizards can regrow their tails, for example. Some sea stars and sea cucumbers, including Psolus fabricii that live in the cold waters of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, can regrow their severed arms or halves. However, researchers in the study showed that the discarded parts of a sea cucumber, instead of dying, can also remain viable for long periods of time. “It’s like a lizard that loses its tail,” study co-author Rachel Sipler from Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada, said in a statement. “We know some lizards can grow new tails; we&#8217;re talking about whether the tail can grow a new lizard.&#8221; Sipler and her colleagues removed parts of tentacles, feet and the main body from three Psolus fabricii individuals and placed them in natural seawater in the laboratory. The tissues showed active immune responses, cell diversification, and the ability to absorb nutrients (amino acids) dissolved in the seawater. Even when the researchers stopped the experiments after three years, the tissues continued to survive. &#8220;We haven&#8217;t grown a new, complete sea cucumber yet, but we are seeing pretty stunning growth and diversification of cells literally years after this tissue was removed,&#8221; Sipler said in the statement. Cell lines that are “immortal” and can perpetuate indefinitely are crucial for biomedical research. However, most such &#8220;immortal&#8221; cell&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/sea-cucumber-tissue-survives-for-years-in-open-water-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Rights groups renew call to free jailed Cambodian environmental activists</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/rights-groups-renew-call-to-free-jailed-cambodian-environmental-activists/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/rights-groups-renew-call-to-free-jailed-cambodian-environmental-activists/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2026 02:51:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[activists]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environmental journalism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Human Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Land Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Local communities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mining]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/07/02191933/Phuon-Keorasmey-another-prominent-figure-of-Mother-Nature-Cambodia-is-arrested-on-July-2-2024_banner-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320620</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Climate Activism, Communities and conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corruption, Deforestation, Endangered Environmentalists, Environmental Activism, Environmental Crime, environmental justice, Governance, Human Rights, Land Rights, and Mining]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Seven hundred days after activists from the environmental group Mother Nature Cambodia were imprisoned on charges widely regarded as retaliatory for their activism, 73 international and Cambodian civil society organizations have renewed calls for their unconditional release. After a trial lasting just over a month, 10 activists from Mother Nature Cambodia were sentenced [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Seven hundred days after activists from the environmental group Mother Nature Cambodia were imprisoned on charges widely regarded as retaliatory for their activism, 73 international and Cambodian civil society organizations have renewed calls for their unconditional release. After a trial lasting just over a month, 10 activists from Mother Nature Cambodia were sentenced on July 2, 2024, to between six and eight years in prison. Only five of the defendants attended the hearings, which saw Long Kuntha, 28, Ly Chandaravuth, 26, Phuon Keoraksmey, 25, and Thun Ratha, 34, each sentenced to six years behind bars for plotting against the government; fellow activist Yim Leanghy, 36, received an eight-year sentence for both plotting against the government and insulting the king. The five activists who did not attend the trial were sentenced in absentia. The appeals hearing for all 10 convicted activists was slated to take place on June 2, but has been postponed indefinitely by the Phnom Penh Court of Appeals. “The MNC5 are incarcerated in prisons in overcrowded and harsh living conditions, separated from each other and spread out all across Cambodia, hundreds of kilometers away from their families and legal counsel,” wrote the 73 NGOs in an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Hun Manet. “The … NGOs who have signed this letter sincerely request you take immediate action to ensure the unjust convictions of these five activists are reversed either prior to or at their upcoming appeals court hearing in Phnom Penh, and that their freedom&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/rights-groups-renew-call-to-free-jailed-cambodian-environmental-activists/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Local indigenous people get more land in a DRC community forest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/local-indigenous-people-get-more-land-in-a-drc-community-forest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/local-indigenous-people-get-more-land-in-a-drc-community-forest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jun 2026 21:12:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/04211138/53271907835_62c5692ea0_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320618</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Community Forests, Conservation, extractives, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Groups, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Logging, and Mining]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Tshopo province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo granted 31 community forest land titles to farmers in May, bringing a total of more than a million hectares of forest in Tshopo under the legal stewardship of local Indigenous peoples. Bantu and Indigenous Mbuti communities have lived in the province for generations, but without official [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Tshopo province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo granted 31 community forest land titles to farmers in May, bringing a total of more than a million hectares of forest in Tshopo under the legal stewardship of local Indigenous peoples. Bantu and Indigenous Mbuti communities have lived in the province for generations, but without official title or control of their own lands and under the ever-present threat of extractive and development projects without their consent. Community Forestry Lands (CFLCs) include community environmental management plans. They also offer legal tenure that’s meant to ensure any development on those forest lands requires the free and informed consent of the communities holding the tenure rights. According to the deforestation-tracking platform Global Forest Watch, Tshopo province lost roughly 46% of its total tree cover between 2002 and 2025, largely driven by timber harvesting, charcoal production and mining. These activities degrade the ecosystem and destabilize the livelihoods and food systems of indigenous peoples. “[E]xtreme poverty is gaining ground among indigenous peoples and local communities, for whom the forest is more of a habitat than a source of vital goods and services,” Alphonse Maindo, director of the environmental NGO Tropenbos DRC that helped the communities obtain CFLCs, told Mongabay’s Didier Makal. The recently granted community forest concessions in Tshopo, when added to other such community management areas, means nearly 6.3 million hectares (15.5 million acres) of secured land in the DRC. That’s an area roughly the size of Togo. Some local residents are planning to start beekeeping and cocoa&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/local-indigenous-people-get-more-land-in-a-drc-community-forest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Pilot project in San Francisco Bay aims to help ships avoid gray whales</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/pilot-project-in-san-francisco-bay-aims-to-help-ships-avoid-gray-whales/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/pilot-project-in-san-francisco-bay-aims-to-help-ships-avoid-gray-whales/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jun 2026 16:44:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/04160343/Screenshot-2026-06-04-at-12.02.54-PM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320614</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Marine Animals, Marine Ecosystems, Marine Mammals, Ocean, Shipping, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Starting in 2018, gray whales began regularly stopping in California’s San Francisco Bay, where they are vulnerable to ship strikes in one of the busiest ports in the United States. In response, researchers have deployed a monitoring network of thermal cameras and AI software to alert ships when whales are present in the bay to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Starting in 2018, gray whales began regularly stopping in California’s San Francisco Bay, where they are vulnerable to ship strikes in one of the busiest ports in the United States. In response, researchers have deployed a monitoring network of thermal cameras and AI software to alert ships when whales are present in the bay to help them avoid whale collisions.  Gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) have one of the longest migrations of any mammal species, roughly 19,000 kilometers (12,000 miles) from their feeding grounds in Alaska to their breeding grounds in Mexico, and back again. Climate change is making their feeding grounds in Alaska less productive, leaving the whales hungry as they head south to breed. Scientists believe that’s why gray whales have started stopping in San Francisco Bay to eat along their migration route. But the new pit stop brings whales into busy shipping zones, where more than 20 were killed by ship collisions in 2025, according to a news release. Whale biologists at the Benioff Ocean Science Lab, WhaleSpotter, and the Marine Mammal Center have developed thermal cameras that can detect the heat signature of whale spouts and bodies when the whales surface.  “Next a trained human confirms the detection and will help classify the species when possible,” Rachel Rhodes, a project scientist with the Benioff Ocean Science Lab told Mongabay in an email. Then the information is, “posted publicly on [the] Whale Safe website, which is accessed by mariners in the Bay Area including Vessel Traffic Service and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/pilot-project-in-san-francisco-bay-aims-to-help-ships-avoid-gray-whales/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Canadian government endorses a plan to move whales from shuttered Marineland park to US and Spain</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/canadian-government-endorses-a-plan-to-move-whales-from-shuttered-marineland-park-to-us-and-spain/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/canadian-government-endorses-a-plan-to-move-whales-from-shuttered-marineland-park-to-us-and-spain/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jun 2026 15:43:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/04154122/AP26155006572499-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320605</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Marine Mammals, Ocean, Parks, Whales, Wildilfe, and Wildlife Rescues]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[TORONTO (AP) — Canada&#8217;s government endorsed a plan Wednesday to move the last remaining captive whales from a shuttered theme park in Ontario to aquariums in the United States and Spain — a plan that could save them from mass euthanasia if the deal goes through. There are 30 belugas and four dolphins left in the Marineland park [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[TORONTO (AP) — Canada&#8217;s government endorsed a plan Wednesday to move the last remaining captive whales from a shuttered theme park in Ontario to aquariums in the United States and Spain — a plan that could save them from mass euthanasia if the deal goes through. There are 30 belugas and four dolphins left in the Marineland park and zoo in Niagara Falls, Ontario, which announced in early 2023 that it was for sale and closed to the public in late summer 2024. No sale has yet been announced. The former tourist attraction has since worked to move the park’s remaining animals and sell the sprawling property near Horseshoe Falls. In 2024, Marineland was found guilty under Ontario’s animal cruelty laws in a case related to its care of three black bears. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has issued the first batch of permits to move the whales and is set to issue different permits closer to the move, expected to take place in the next few months. It recently issued permits for the whales and dolphins under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, otherwise known as CITES permits. “I think this is a positive step forward,” Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson said. “There’s still more work to be done, but it’s a step forward.” Twenty whales — 19 belugas and one killer whale — have died at Marineland since 2019, according to provincial government data obtained through freedom-of-information laws and official statements. Thompson&#8217;s office said&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/canadian-government-endorses-a-plan-to-move-whales-from-shuttered-marineland-park-to-us-and-spain/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Offshore wind power cables can affect sensory system of sharks and rays: studies</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/offshore-wind-power-cables-can-affect-sensory-system-of-sharks-and-rays-studies/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/offshore-wind-power-cables-can-affect-sensory-system-of-sharks-and-rays-studies/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jun 2026 15:36:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Ocean wildlife]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marine wildlife]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oceans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Renewable Energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sharks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/04135735/1-Ray-species-c-Annema-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320586</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Energy, Environment, Fish, Green Energy, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Offshore Wind, Predators, Renewable Energy, Research, Sharks, Sharks And Rays, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, and Wind Power]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As offshore wind farms expand rapidly in the global renewable energy transition, scientists are studying how these large marine infrastructure projects affect ecosystems beneath the waves. Research from Wageningen University &#38; Research in the Netherlands suggests that offshore wind may bring both risks and benefits for sharks and rays, known collectively as Elasmobranchii, which are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As offshore wind farms expand rapidly in the global renewable energy transition, scientists are studying how these large marine infrastructure projects affect ecosystems beneath the waves. Research from Wageningen University &amp; Research in the Netherlands suggests that offshore wind may bring both risks and benefits for sharks and rays, known collectively as Elasmobranchii, which are highly sensitive to electromagnetic fields (EMFs). A six-year project called “Elasmopower” examined how EMFs from subsea power cables in offshore wind farms affect bottom-dwelling sharks and rays. These species depend on natural electric and magnetic fields for key behaviors such as navigation, prey detection, habitat use and long-distance movement, particularly in low-visibility environments. The studies conducted as part of the Elasmopower project have been published in four papers, with three additional papers currently undergoing peer review. Sharks and rays have specialized electroreceptors called ampullae of Lorenzini. The jelly-filled sensory canals around the head and snout can detect even extremely weak EMFs from prey and predators, water movement, and the Earth’s geomagnetic field, Erwin Winter, a scientist at Wageningen, told Mongabay. This system is central to hunting and orientation, making Elasmobranchii especially relevant for studying EMF exposure from offshore energy infrastructure, Winter added. Erwin Winter, a researcher with the Elasmopower project, presented findings on offshore wind, electromagnetic fields and bottom-dwelling sharks and rays at the Sharks International 2026 conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in May. Image by Malaka Rodrigo for Mongabay. During a presentation on a summary of the Elasmopower research at the Sharks International 2026&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/offshore-wind-power-cables-can-affect-sensory-system-of-sharks-and-rays-studies/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Bangladesh struggles to enforce ‘polluter pays’ principle amid legal delays</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bangladesh-struggles-to-enforce-polluter-pays-principle-amid-legal-delays/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bangladesh-struggles-to-enforce-polluter-pays-principle-amid-legal-delays/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jun 2026 15:07:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sadiqur Rahman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/04144147/tanneries-pollution-in-bangladesh-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320594</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aerosol Pollution, Air Pollution, Environment, Environmental Crime, environmental justice, Environmental Law, Governance, Industry, Law, Law Enforcement, Nutrient Pollution, Pollution, Waste, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The existence of the “polluter pays” principle (PPP) in Bangladesh, at least on paper, dates back to 1992, ever since the country endorsed the Rio Declaration. However, Bangladesh has made little progress in implementing the principle so far. A statement by the incumbent minister for environment, forest and climate change, Abdul Awal Mintoo, saying that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The existence of the “polluter pays” principle (PPP) in Bangladesh, at least on paper, dates back to 1992, ever since the country endorsed the Rio Declaration. However, Bangladesh has made little progress in implementing the principle so far. A statement by the incumbent minister for environment, forest and climate change, Abdul Awal Mintoo, saying that regulatory authorities recovered less than half of the total compensation imposed on polluters over the past 16 years, exposed the structural loopholes in environmental governance behind failures in implementing the principle. The minister pointed out that polluters can delay the compensation recovery by applying their right to appeal against the regulatory authorities’ orders. that Mongabay spoke to said that loopholes in the judicial system, weak evidence and economic analysis on pollution, and polluters’ influence must be addressed if the country really wants to implement the PPP. Environmentalist and Dhaka University’s zoology professor Mohammad Firoj Jaman told Mongabay, “Delays in implementation of laws against polluters aggravate environmental pollution, and the hope of reaping the benefits of environmental justice falls flat.” Shanties stand along the bank of Buriganga River in Hazaribagh, Dhaka district, Bangladesh. The area is known for tanneries, the waste from which fill the surrounding land and water. Image by Abir Abdullah/Asian Development Bank via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). Compensation recovery undermines the PPP The PPP binds polluters to bear the costs of managing and remedying the harm they have done to the environment. The concept of PPP was first mentioned in the recommendations of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bangladesh-struggles-to-enforce-polluter-pays-principle-amid-legal-delays/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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