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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?byline=le-quynh&#038;post_type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/le-quynh/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Wed, 06 May 2026 19:14:28 +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>Le Quynh Archives</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/le-quynh/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>A baby boom for North Atlantic right whales, but extinction still a threat</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/a-baby-boom-for-north-atlantic-right-whales-but-extinction-still-a-threat/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/a-baby-boom-for-north-atlantic-right-whales-but-extinction-still-a-threat/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 May 2026 17:21:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bobby Bascomb]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/02/01055739/North-Atlantic-Right-Whales-mother-and-calf-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=318848</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Change And Extinction, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered, Marine Animals, Marine Ecosystems, Marine Mammals, Ocean, Ocean Warming, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Calving season for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale has come to a close with 23 new baby whales, the most calves born in a single year since 2009. Part of the baby boom during the winter calving season can be attributed to females giving birth at closer intervals than in years past: 18 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Calving season for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale has come to a close with 23 new baby whales, the most calves born in a single year since 2009. Part of the baby boom during the winter calving season can be attributed to females giving birth at closer intervals than in years past: 18 of this year’s moms gave birth within the last six years. “While a healthy right whale can give birth every three to four years, we had been seeing nearly 10 years between calves for some females,” Amy Warren, scientific program officer with the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center, said in a statement. One explanation for the calving delay is the stress of climate change, researchers say. Small crustaceans called copepods, the main food source for baleen whales, including North Atlantic right whales, have started shifting locations over the last decade, and many whales are traveling farther to find sufficient food. There are an estimated 384 North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) today, living along the East Coast of North America. At least one whale was spotted near Ireland, and many are turning up in Canada’s Gulf of St. Lawrence, over a thousand kilometers from their usual habitat. Swimming to the Gulf makes their 1,600-kilometer (1,000-mile) migration from Florida to New England roughly 50% longer. That equates to more energy put into finding food, potentially leaving less resources for raising babies, Philip Hamilton, a senior research scientist with the New England Aquarium, told Mongabay in an email.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/a-baby-boom-for-north-atlantic-right-whales-but-extinction-still-a-threat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/a-baby-boom-for-north-atlantic-right-whales-but-extinction-still-a-threat/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Venezuela tells UN court that mineral-rich part of Guyana was &#8216;fraudulently&#8217; taken in colonial era</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/venezuela-tells-un-court-that-mineral-rich-part-of-guyana-was-fraudulently-taken-in-colonial-era/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/venezuela-tells-un-court-that-mineral-rich-part-of-guyana-was-fraudulently-taken-in-colonial-era/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 May 2026 16:21:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/06161831/AP26124346524790-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=318805</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Critical Minerals, Gold Mining, Land Rights, Mining, Offshore Drilling, Oil, and Timber]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Venezuela insisted Wednesday that a disputed mineral-rich region of Guyana was “fraudulently” taken in a 19th-century example of colonialism, arguing that a 1966 agreement and not the United Nations&#8217; highest court should finalize ownership of the territory. The International Court of Justice is holding a week of hearings between the South American [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Venezuela insisted Wednesday that a disputed mineral-rich region of Guyana was “fraudulently” taken in a 19th-century example of colonialism, arguing that a 1966 agreement and not the United Nations&#8217; highest court should finalize ownership of the territory. The International Court of Justice is holding a week of hearings between the South American neighbors who both lay claim to the Essequibo region, which is rich in gold, diamonds, timber and other natural resources and is located close to massive offshore oil deposits. An 1899 decision by arbitrators from Britain, Russia and the United States drew the border along the Essequibo River largely in favor of Guyana. The U.S. represented Venezuela in part because the Venezuelan government had broken off diplomatic relations with Britain. Venezuela contends the Americans and Europeans conspired to cheat the country out of its rightfully owned land. Venezuela has considered Essequibo as its own since the Spanish colonial period when the jungle-draped region was within its boundaries. The country argues a 1966 agreement sealed in Geneva to resolve the dispute effectively nullified the 19th-century arbitration. “Guyana presents itself as the true, legitimate heir to British and Dutch territories, but the reality is that it is the beneficiary of colonial dispossession, formalized through fraudulent arbitration. The Geneva Agreement seeks to correct this century-old injustice,” Venezuela&#8217;s representative Samuel Reinaldo Moncada Acosta told the world court. He said Caracas rejects the court&#8217;s jurisdiction that was “erroneously imposed” in a 2020 decision and said the 1966 agreement “establishes a framework”&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/venezuela-tells-un-court-that-mineral-rich-part-of-guyana-was-fraudulently-taken-in-colonial-era/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/venezuela-tells-un-court-that-mineral-rich-part-of-guyana-was-fraudulently-taken-in-colonial-era/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Ted Turner, a media mogul who tried to repair the land</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/ted-turner-a-media-mogul-who-tried-to-repair-the-land/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/ted-turner-a-media-mogul-who-tried-to-repair-the-land/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 May 2026 16:13:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/06162828/Turner-in-CNN-newsroom-bw-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318799</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Obituary, and Rewilding]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Ted Turner, who died on May 6th, liked to present himself as a businessman who had simply applied the same habits to a larger subject. First he bought a struggling billboard company and made it work. Then he built a television empire, beginning with CNN in 1980. After that, he turned much of his attention [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Ted Turner, who died on May 6th, liked to present himself as a businessman who had simply applied the same habits to a larger subject. First he bought a struggling billboard company and made it work. Then he built a television empire, beginning with CNN in 1980. After that, he turned much of his attention to land, wildlife, and the many ways humans damage nature when they treat it as an afterthought. He was rarely subtle about the stakes. “The planet is collapsing all around us,” he told an audience at Stanford in 2010. Turner’s environmentalism was neither ornamental nor detached from power. He did not confine it to speeches, documentaries, or naming rights. He pursued it in three connected ways: by acquiring and managing large landscapes; by funding environmental and public-health groups; and by using his prominence to argue that climate, biodiversity, and population pressures were practical problems, not cultural preferences. The mix could be hard to categorize. He was a billionaire who disliked the idea that capitalism required plunder, and a sportsman who came to talk like a restoration ecologist. His landholdings were central to the story. By the 2010s he was described as one of America’s largest private landowners, with roughly 2 million acres spread across multiple states, and additional holdings abroad. The scale mattered less than his intent. Turner repeatedly tried to keep places “as natural as possible,” and he was willing to spend money and hire people to do it. On his Nonami Plantation near&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/ted-turner-a-media-mogul-who-tried-to-repair-the-land/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Australia&#8217;s new national park links habitat to protect koalas</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/australias-new-national-park-links-habitat-to-protect-koalas/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/australias-new-national-park-links-habitat-to-protect-koalas/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 May 2026 13:46:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Johan Augustin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/05151344/tarryn-grignet-VPLkgFAPpDI-unsplash-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318756</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environmental Law, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Government, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Mammals, Marsupials, National Parks, Protected Areas, Reforestation, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“When I was a kid, forestry was more sustainable,” Mark Graham said, leaning against a massive tree trunk. “Now 30-tonne industrial machines bulldoze everything in their path.” He’s an ecologist who’s worked for state and federal governments — and has often been at odds with the forest industry. We were walking through the Coffs Harbour [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[“When I was a kid, forestry was more sustainable,” Mark Graham said, leaning against a massive tree trunk. “Now 30-tonne industrial machines bulldoze everything in their path.” He’s an ecologist who’s worked for state and federal governments — and has often been at odds with the forest industry. We were walking through the Coffs Harbour Botanic Garden in New South Wales (NSW), southeastern Australia, through a remnant of subtropical coastal rainforest. Graham pointed out flooded gum (Eucalyptus grandis) trees — a fast-growing eucalyptus — as well as Bangalow palm (Archontophoenix cunninghamiana) and other trees, some hundreds of years old. Wild koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), one of the world’s most beloved animals, also live here. This garden will be linked to the new Great Koala National Park (GKNP) by forest corridors that allow koalas to disperse into new areas. The Australian government says it will finalize designation of the new park in 2026, which it calls “a centerpiece of koala conservation [in the state of NSW],” but no one seems to know when that will be. Its creation was the culmination of a 13-year campaign led by environmental groups and grassroots organizations. One of the most outspoken figures in that struggle was Mark Graham, a veteran environmental activist who’s often been at odds with the NSW forestry industry. In 2023, the state government committed to establishing the GKNP on the mid-north coast. It announced creation of this vast new conservation area in September 2025  — and instituted a temporary moratorium on timber&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/australias-new-national-park-links-habitat-to-protect-koalas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/australias-new-national-park-links-habitat-to-protect-koalas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Rethinking conservation through elephants’ sense of time and memory</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/rethinking-conservation-through-elephants-sense-of-time-and-memory/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/rethinking-conservation-through-elephants-sense-of-time-and-memory/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 May 2026 11:39:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/06160058/car_2626790x-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=318790</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Intelligence, Animals, Conservation, Elephants, human-elephant conflict, Mammals, Research, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Historically, conservation has mostly focused on numbers like population and habitat size. However, in the mid-2000s, scientists started to investigate animal emotions, even trauma, when considering conservation success. In a recent Mongabay podcast, Khatijah Rahmat, a geographer at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, shared her research examining how elephants perceive and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Historically, conservation has mostly focused on numbers like population and habitat size. However, in the mid-2000s, scientists started to investigate animal emotions, even trauma, when considering conservation success. In a recent Mongabay podcast, Khatijah Rahmat, a geographer at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, shared her research examining how elephants perceive and navigate time, often differently than humans do, and what that means for conserving them.   “If we want to understand and appreciate animals, we have to consider that they have a meaningful and complex relationship with time that is their own,” Rahmat told Mongabay podcast host Mike DiGirolamo. “Often, we think of time as a socially or culturally neutral phenomenon. We think, ‘Oh, if this is how we experience time, it is [the same] for everyone else.’ I bring up this possibility that elephants may have their own expressions of time.” For elephants, this relationship with time appears to be deeply shaped by memory, including memories of trauma. In 2005, ecologist and psychologist Gay Bradshaw found that African elephants experienced post-traumatic stress disorder in response to witnessing violence such as family members killed by people. The animals she studied later displayed similar trauma responses seen in humans, including abnormal startle reflex, aggression, depression and even infant neglect. Elephants have famously good memories to survive in drought-prone habitats. A herd’s oldest, and typically largest, elephant often serves as a storehouse of memory. She can remember water sources from a decades-old drought and lead her herd to them.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/rethinking-conservation-through-elephants-sense-of-time-and-memory/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Study finds 40% of soil-dependent species threatened or data deficient</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/study-finds-40-of-soil-dependent-species-threatened-or-data-deficient/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/study-finds-40-of-soil-dependent-species-threatened-or-data-deficient/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 May 2026 07:03:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/06065732/Notomys_fuscus_Imported_from_ALA_on_14_january_2020-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=318786</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Research, Species, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have for the first time assessed the extinction risk of soil-dependent animals, invertebrates and fungi. They found that some 40% of these species are either threatened or data deficient on the IUCN Red List, according to a recent study. Soil hosts nearly 60% of life on Earth. These species are key for biogeochemical cycles, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have for the first time assessed the extinction risk of soil-dependent animals, invertebrates and fungi. They found that some 40% of these species are either threatened or data deficient on the IUCN Red List, according to a recent study. Soil hosts nearly 60% of life on Earth. These species are key for biogeochemical cycles, climate regulation and other ecosystem services. Yet, their risk of extinction is largely unknown, the study authors say. To better understand how soil-dependent species are faring, the researchers first established a working definition of what species are “soil-dependent.” They found that 8,653 species on the IUCN Red List satisfy their definition: species that “spend a key part of their life cycle within a soil profile or predominantly inhabit the soil-litter interface.” The list includes terrestrial vertebrates, invertebrates like arthropods and mollusks, and fungi. However, plants weren’t included in the analysis.   Neil Cox, study co-author and manager of the IUCN and Conservation International biodiversity assessment unit, told Mongabay by email that plants were excluded because nearly all plants are soil-dependent. Including them in the analysis would turn the review into one about the extinction risk of plants, he said. Of the species they examined, more than 20% are listed as threatened with extinction and another 20% are data deficient, meaning there isn’t enough information to determine their conservation status. Some 35 soil-dependent species are classified as extinct. Most of them used structures like burrows for an important part of their life stages, Cox said. For&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/study-finds-40-of-soil-dependent-species-threatened-or-data-deficient/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Climate change, socioeconomic shifts threaten Nepal&#8217;s yak herding traditions</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/climate-change-socioeconomic-shifts-threaten-nepals-yak-herding-traditions/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/climate-change-socioeconomic-shifts-threaten-nepals-yak-herding-traditions/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 May 2026 05:43:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/06054227/IMG_1786-1200x800-1-e1778046207389-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=318784</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Habitat, Indigenous Culture, Mountains, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the remote Dolpo region of western Nepal, the ancient practice of yak herding is facing an existential crisis. Traditional herders of domesticated yaks in these alpine rangelands are struggling against the convergence of climate change, rising operational costs, labor shortages, and the spread of lethal diseases, reports Mongabay’s Sonam Lama Hyolmo. According to the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[In the remote Dolpo region of western Nepal, the ancient practice of yak herding is facing an existential crisis. Traditional herders of domesticated yaks in these alpine rangelands are struggling against the convergence of climate change, rising operational costs, labor shortages, and the spread of lethal diseases, reports Mongabay’s Sonam Lama Hyolmo. According to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), warming temperatures are fundamentally altering Himalayan high-altitude ecosystems. The shifts are disrupting water cycles, affecting vegetation, and drying out wetlands, which then increases fire risks and reduces available grazing areas for domesticated yaks (Bos grunniens). The region is also facing a socioeconomic shift. Massive outmigration of young people to cities or abroad has left a critical shortage of labor for the intensive work of herding. Furthermore, the post-COVID-19 closure of border crossings into China has barred herders from their traditional rangelands, forcing some to switch to goats and cattle, which increases the risk of overgrazing. These challenges extend to the wild yak (Bos mutus). While the total number of wild yaks isn’t established, estimates suggest fewer than 10,000 individuals remain globally. As rangelands are degraded and shrink, the habitats of wild and domesticated yaks increasingly overlap. This proximity leads to crossbreeding, said Krishna Prasad Acharya, a veterinarian officer at the Department of Livestock Services in Nepal. He warned this threatens the genetic purity and adaptive traits of the wild population. While some yak herders once sought to crossbreed their animals to produce stronger calves, the hybrids are often&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/climate-change-socioeconomic-shifts-threaten-nepals-yak-herding-traditions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>In Bangladesh, traditional farming methods are being replaced by a modern system</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/in-bangladesh-traditional-farming-methods-are-being-replaced-by-a-modern-system/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/in-bangladesh-traditional-farming-methods-are-being-replaced-by-a-modern-system/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 May 2026 05:29:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/06052849/4-bamboo-machan-trellises-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=318782</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Environment, Farming, Indigenous Communities, and Indigenous Culture]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the Chittagong Hill Tracts of southeastern Bangladesh, Indigenous farmers are increasingly abandoning jhum, a traditional method of shifting cultivation. Instead, they’re moving toward the machan method where vegetables are grown above the ground on bamboo trellises. This transition is driven by a growing scarcity of arable land and declining yields, reports Mongabay contributor Sifayet [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[In the Chittagong Hill Tracts of southeastern Bangladesh, Indigenous farmers are increasingly abandoning jhum, a traditional method of shifting cultivation. Instead, they’re moving toward the machan method where vegetables are grown above the ground on bamboo trellises. This transition is driven by a growing scarcity of arable land and declining yields, reports Mongabay contributor Sifayet Ullah. For generations, Indigenous communities like the Chakma, Marma and Mro in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) have practiced jhum, clearing small forest patches, farming them, then leaving them fallow for up to 20 years to restore soil fertility. However, as the number of farmers in CHT districts like Bandarban has risen, the fallow cycle has plummeted to just two or three years. This constant pressure has exhausted the soil, leading to poor rice yields and increased soil erosion during heavy rains. Government data confirm this decline: land under jhum in Bandarban dropped from 9,050 hectares (22,363 acres) in 2014 to 8,270 hectares (20,436 acres) by 2025. Many farmers are now turning to the machan method, which uses bamboo trellises to grow vine crops like cucumbers, bitter gourds and beans. This system offers several advantages over traditional shifting agriculture, such as the prevention of pests and diseases. “When crops grow close to the soil, they are prone to pests, fungal infection and waterlogging during rains,” said farmer Tipu Tanchangya, from Rowangchari in Bandarban. “Machan farming raises crops like gourd, cucumber, beans 4-5 feet [1.2-1.5 meters] above the ground, which reduces the risk of disease and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/in-bangladesh-traditional-farming-methods-are-being-replaced-by-a-modern-system/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Overtourism threatens Sri Lanka&#8217;s leopards</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/overtourism-threatens-sri-lankas-leopards/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/overtourism-threatens-sri-lankas-leopards/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 May 2026 05:18:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/06051824/leopard-srilanka.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=318780</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Leopards, Tourism, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Yala National Park, Sri Lanka’s most famous wildlife destination, is facing a conservation crisis as overcrowding and speeding safari jeeps increasingly threaten its wildlife, particularly its famed leopards, reports Mongabay contributor Kamanthi Wickramasinghe. Block I of the park, which boasts of one of the world’s highest leopard densities at one animal per square kilometer (2.6 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Yala National Park, Sri Lanka’s most famous wildlife destination, is facing a conservation crisis as overcrowding and speeding safari jeeps increasingly threaten its wildlife, particularly its famed leopards, reports Mongabay contributor Kamanthi Wickramasinghe. Block I of the park, which boasts of one of the world’s highest leopard densities at one animal per square kilometer (2.6 per square mile), attracted nearly 390,000 visitors in the first half of 2025 alone, generating more than $5 million in revenue. Milinda Wattegedara, a wildlife photographer and co-founder of the Yala Leopard Center, attributed the escalating visitor pressure in the park to a social media boom and improved mobile reception, which allow drivers to quickly alert others of sightings, frequently resulting in &#8220;leopard jams.&#8221; Leopards in Block I have become habituated to humans and vehicles, Wattegedara added, but this proximity has often proved dangerous. Past vehicle strikes have claimed the lives of a young leopard and a jungle cat, and a prominent male leopard named Lucas recently made headlines after a close encounter with a safari vehicle. “Usually, when a safari jeep is close to an animal, jeep drivers have been advised to switch off the engine,” Ravindra Kumar, Yala National Park warden, told Mongabay. “But this driver had turned on the engine, and it had scared away the animal. However, Lucas was spotted the following night near Yala junction, the animal’s usual territory, and is in good health.” To address the challenges of speeding and other unethical driving behavior in Yala, the Department of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/overtourism-threatens-sri-lankas-leopards/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Killings related to land conflicts double in Brazil, most in the Amazon region</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/killings-related-to-land-conflicts-double-in-brazil-most-in-the-amazon-region/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/killings-related-to-land-conflicts-double-in-brazil-most-in-the-amazon-region/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 May 2026 21:50:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/05214627/WhatsApp-Image-2023-12-25-at-19.40.14-scaled-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=318754</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Reform, Land Rights, Murdered Activists, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On June 12, 2025, Everton Lopes Rodrigues was found beheaded in the state of Paraná in southern Brazil. An Indigenous Avá Guarani, Rodrigues was the 21-year-old son of the chief of the Yvyju Avary Indigenous village, and next to his body was a letter, left by his killers, containing “serious threats” against Indigenous communities. Marcelo [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[On June 12, 2025, Everton Lopes Rodrigues was found beheaded in the state of Paraná in southern Brazil. An Indigenous Avá Guarani, Rodrigues was the 21-year-old son of the chief of the Yvyju Avary Indigenous village, and next to his body was a letter, left by his killers, containing “serious threats” against Indigenous communities. Marcelo “Ku’i” Ortiz, a 33-year-old man, also an Avá Guarani, faced the same brutal violence a few months prior. His severed head was placed on a spike. These were two of 26 killings related to land conflicts recorded in 2025 in Brazil, according to a new report by the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), a nonprofit affiliated with the Catholic Church. Seven of the victims were Indigenous; another 10 were landless rural workers. “Extreme violence in rural areas doesn’t happen randomly. It follows relatively well-defined patterns,” report co-author Claudio Lopes Maia wrote. “Murder has turned into an instrument of conflict “resolution” in certain territories.” The number of killings in 2025 is double the 13 recorded in 2024. According to the report, 2025 was “one of the most violent years of the last decade.” CPT logged an additional 66 murder attempts and 105 death threats in 2025. Most of the killings, 62%, took place in the Brazilian Amazon. Pará and Rondônia states, which have some of the Brazil’s highest rates of deforestation, also recorded the most killings: seven each. These included two massacres, defined as three or more people killed on the same date in the same place.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/killings-related-to-land-conflicts-double-in-brazil-most-in-the-amazon-region/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>A new documentary film captures rare mountain gorilla behavior</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/05/a-new-documentary-film-captures-rare-mountain-gorilla-behavior/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/05/a-new-documentary-film-captures-rare-mountain-gorilla-behavior/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 May 2026 21:08:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike DiGirolamo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/01030443/Ben-Cherry-Gorilla-Selection-236-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=podcasts&#038;p=318525</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Rwanda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Apes, Charismatic Animals, Conservation, Documentary, Featured, Film, Gorillas, Great Apes, Interviews, Podcast, Science, and Wildilfe]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ “That might be something that you see in a decade, not in two years of filming,” Tara Stoinksi, CEO of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, tells me. The behavior she’s referring to occurs in mountain gorilla groups, such as a “dominance transfer,” where a younger male silverback takes over leadership from an older male, and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[ “That might be something that you see in a decade, not in two years of filming,” Tara Stoinksi, CEO of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, tells me. The behavior she’s referring to occurs in mountain gorilla groups, such as a “dominance transfer,” where a younger male silverback takes over leadership from an older male, and infanticide, where an outsider or ostracized gorilla kills the offspring of a new mother within the group. The former of these was captured on camera within days of filming for the new Netflix documentary A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough. Stoinski joins the Mongabay Newscast to discuss her role as a scientific adviser on the years-long project, the rarity of the behaviors captured on camera, and her thoughts on gorilla conservation in the Greater Virunga Landscape of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. “These gorillas now live basically in a small island of forests surrounded by some of the highest rural human population densities in Africa,” Stoinski says while discussing conservation challenges for mountain gorillas. Filming for the documentary took place in Rwanda, where the pressures and challenges mountain gorillas face differ from those in Virunga National Park in the neighboring DRC. Threats to gorillas in the latter include armed conflict, poaching, logging, and hunting for the wild meat trade. Stoinski says that within Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, where the documentary was filmed, the threats are different. “Climate change is an issue for the gorillas … also, climate change affects the people&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/05/a-new-documentary-film-captures-rare-mountain-gorilla-behavior/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Despite restrictions, forest loss continues on Ituna land, home to isolated people</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/despite-restrictions-forest-loss-continues-on-ituna-land-home-to-isolated-people/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/despite-restrictions-forest-loss-continues-on-ituna-land-home-to-isolated-people/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 May 2026 19:46:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/04162414/Ituna_Itata-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318685</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cattle Ranching, Conservation, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Governance, Illegal Logging, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Livestock, satellite data, and Uncontacted Tribes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Illegal invasions in the Ituna/Itatá Indigenous territory in Brazil’s Pará state, home to isolated Igarapé Ipiaçava Indigenous people, has continued despite being protected by one of the latest land use restriction orders, in 2022, according to satellite analysis by Mongabay. This follows a series of protective orders over the years by the country’s Indigenous affairs [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Illegal invasions in the Ituna/Itatá Indigenous territory in Brazil’s Pará state, home to isolated Igarapé Ipiaçava Indigenous people, has continued despite being protected by one of the latest land use restriction orders, in 2022, according to satellite analysis by Mongabay. This follows a series of protective orders over the years by the country’s Indigenous affairs agency, Funai, which did not halt land invasions. Between 2022 and 2025, data from Global Forest Watch show the area lost 2,211 hectares (5,463 acres) of tree cover. Cleiton Gabriel, the coordinator of the Middle Xingu Ethno-Environmental Protection Front, a specialized Funai unit, told Mongabay via WhatsApp that the forest loss in Ituna/Itatá is caused by land-grabbers who clear the forest without authorization for cattle ranching and other agricultural activities. “The deforestation in the Ituna/Itatá region historically stems from the illegal occupation of the territory,” Gabriel explained. “This is driven by land grabbing, the establishment of agricultural activities, especially intensive livestock farming, and also smaller-scale laboratory operations, mainly cocoa processing.” The land use restriction order, which prohibits unauthorized individuals from entering Ituna/Itatá, has been in place since 2011 to protect the isolated people. The precautionary measure has been renewed six times, the most recent being in 2025. Global Forest Watch data show that Ituna/Itatá was the third-most deforested area in Brazil between 2011, the year of the first land restriction order, and 2021. It was the most deforested Indigenous land in 2019. This has affected Funai’s efforts to obtain evidence of the presence of isolated&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/despite-restrictions-forest-loss-continues-on-ituna-land-home-to-isolated-people/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>In Senegal, artisanal fishing kills a surprising number of sharks and rays: study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-senegal-artisanal-fishing-kills-a-surprising-number-of-sharks-and-rays-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-senegal-artisanal-fishing-kills-a-surprising-number-of-sharks-and-rays-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 May 2026 16:44:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/05112126/BANNER-%40Elasmo-Project-IMG_3393-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318684</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Senegal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Endangered Species, Fish, and Ocean]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Senegal, artisanal fishing kills a surprising number of sharks and rays, according to a new study — so many, it probably eclipses industrial fishing, which is more commonly blamed for the species&#8217; decline. The study was published in the journal Ecology and Evolution in March. Researchers analyzed landings of sharks, rays and guitarfish at [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[In Senegal, artisanal fishing kills a surprising number of sharks and rays, according to a new study — so many, it probably eclipses industrial fishing, which is more commonly blamed for the species&#8217; decline. The study was published in the journal Ecology and Evolution in March. Researchers analyzed landings of sharks, rays and guitarfish at two major artisanal fishery processing sites, Kafountine and Elinkine, in southern Senegal’s Casamance region between June 2021 and July 2022. Most of the catches comprised species at risk of extinction, and many were traded abroad without obligatory export permits, the study found. While the researchers directly counted more than 100,000 harvested sharks, rays and guitarfishes, they estimated the actual number to be at least 174,000, as many were stacked or piled together and couldn’t be accurately counted. This number was surprisingly high, according to lead author Rima Jabado, chair of the Shark Specialist Group at the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. Jabado is also the founder of the Elasmo Project, a United Arab Emirates-based nonprofit that focuses on shark and ray conservation. “The study should be read as evidence of a serious problem, not as a ceiling on the true scale of exploitation,” Jabado told Mongabay in an email, adding the findings are conservative. Since the researchers covered only two out of dozens of landing sites in the country, the total number of rays and sharks caught and processed annually could be 1.7 million to 3.5 million, the study estimates. Scientists and environmental organizations&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-senegal-artisanal-fishing-kills-a-surprising-number-of-sharks-and-rays-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>A 10-year whale shark satellite study helps create new protected area in Indonesia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/a-10-year-whale-shark-satellite-study-helps-create-new-protected-area-in-indonesia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/a-10-year-whale-shark-satellite-study-helps-create-new-protected-area-in-indonesia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 May 2026 14:56:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claire Turrell]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/05093127/Konservasi-Indonesia_Whale-Shark_Photo-By-Abdi-Hasan-4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318672</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indian Ocean, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Marine Animals, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Research, Saltwater Fish, satellite data, Sharks, Whale Sharks, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“The whale sharks are a good omen for the fishers because they know when the whale sharks come, that means that lots of small fish or anchovies are around,” says Edy Setyawan, the lead conservation scientist of the Elasmobranch Institute Indonesia. It is the relationship between whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) and fishers in Indonesia that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[“The whale sharks are a good omen for the fishers because they know when the whale sharks come, that means that lots of small fish or anchovies are around,” says Edy Setyawan, the lead conservation scientist of the Elasmobranch Institute Indonesia. It is the relationship between whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) and fishers in Indonesia that has enabled marine biologists from Konservasi International and Elasmobranch Institute Indonesia to satellite tag more than 70 whale sharks for a decade-long study that has revealed previously unknown migration routes, feeding grounds and a whale shark nursery. It is one of the biggest tracking data sets across the globe on whale sharks and is the first time such a detailed survey has been conducted in the Indo-Pacific. While 60% of the global population of whale sharks can be found in the Indo-Pacific, it can be difficult for researchers to study them because the species travel such long distances. But the researchers experienced a breakthrough when they when found out about the relationship between bagan fishers and whale sharks. A satellite-tagged whale shark. Whale sharks are filter feeders and the world&#8217;s largest fish, typically growing to about 12 meters (39 feet), but occasionally reaching 20 meters (66 feet) in length. Image by Abdi-Hasan. Bagan fishers work on floating wooden platforms from which they lower an oversized net into the water to catch fish. Working at night with lights, the fishers attract shoals of ikan bilis (anchovies) into their nets. The whale sharks, which follow the small&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/a-10-year-whale-shark-satellite-study-helps-create-new-protected-area-in-indonesia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>The digital graveyard: Is Bangladesh becoming China’s e-waste back door?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-digital-graveyard-is-bangladesh-becoming-chinas-e-waste-back-door/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-digital-graveyard-is-bangladesh-becoming-chinas-e-waste-back-door/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 May 2026 13:34:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sajibur Rahman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/05110841/2-recovered-wires-from-dismantled-ships-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318733</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[E-waste, Environment, Environmental Law, Health, Law, Public Health, Recycling, Trade, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As the world turns its attention to China’s increasingly stringent waste import ban, a dangerous stream of electronic waste is entering Bangladesh. Despite the enactment of the Hazardous Waste (e-waste) Management Rules 2021, weak regulatory systems and illegal trade routes are making the country a major destination for global “e-waste.” Electronic waste (e-waste), which includes [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As the world turns its attention to China’s increasingly stringent waste import ban, a dangerous stream of electronic waste is entering Bangladesh. Despite the enactment of the Hazardous Waste (e-waste) Management Rules 2021, weak regulatory systems and illegal trade routes are making the country a major destination for global “e-waste.” Electronic waste (e-waste), which includes discarded computers, laptops, phones, refrigerators and medical equipment, has become a growing crisis. According to the Bangladesh Mobile Phone Importers Association, about 35 million mobile handsets are sold every year in Bangladesh. With an average lifespan of just 2-4 years, about 30 million devices enter the local waste stream every year, most of which go unmonitored. The crisis is exacerbated by a massive increase in electronics imports. Bangladesh Bank (BB) data show that more than $2.47 billion was spent on imports of electrical appliances and accessories in the 2024-25 fiscal year. A significant portion of this was coming from China worth $1.8 billion. However, experts warn that a growing black market in refurbished products is hiding the true extent of the environmental threat. Refrigerator compressors stored and dismantled in unsafe ways. Image by Abdullah Zahid Osmani, TIB. Escalating electronics imports and the e-waste shadow The influx of electronics into Bangladesh has reached staggering proportions, raising significant concerns over the nation’s potential role as an unwritten “dumping ground” for global waste. A latest Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) study, using import and export data from the customs department, has revealed that Bangladesh imported e-waste materials worth around&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-digital-graveyard-is-bangladesh-becoming-chinas-e-waste-back-door/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Facebook is a hub for illegal wildlife trade, and that’s by design, report says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/facebook-is-a-hub-for-illegal-wildlife-trade-and-thats-by-design-report-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/facebook-is-a-hub-for-illegal-wildlife-trade-and-thats-by-design-report-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 May 2026 11:04:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/01050735/Tiger-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318531</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Crime, Gibbons, Illegal Trade, Internet, Law, Leopards, Mass Extinction, Pangolins, Regulations, Sea Turtles, Sixth Mass Extinction, Social Media, Technology, Wildlife, Wildlife Crime, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With just the click of a button or a swipe on a phone, it’s possible to buy almost anything online, including rare or endangered animals. From quirky shark trophies to exotic live birds, contraband rhino horns or ivory, buyers can flock to e-commerce platforms and find them all. Traffickers hide behind their screens while profiting [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With just the click of a button or a swipe on a phone, it’s possible to buy almost anything online, including rare or endangered animals. From quirky shark trophies to exotic live birds, contraband rhino horns or ivory, buyers can flock to e-commerce platforms and find them all. Traffickers hide behind their screens while profiting from online sales of protected species as these animals dwindle in the wild. “It&#8217;s the largest wildlife market,” said wildlife trade researcher Chris Shepherd from the Center for Biological Diversity. “It&#8217;s easy, it&#8217;s convenient; you can operate anonymously from the comfort of your home. You don&#8217;t have the expenses of setting up a shop.” Online commerce in illicit wildlife products continues to grow, involving more species and wider geographies. It’s an illicit industry run by kingpins with well-connected networks, and it’s hard to prosecute. Catching online criminals is extremely challenging. “Wildlife markets have moved from physical locations into online locations, and that&#8217;s mirroring broader trends in the global economy,” said Simone Haysom, director of environmental crime programs at the Swiss-based organization Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. In a recent report, Haysom and her colleague Russell Gray analyzed online wildlife trade data from April 2024 to March 2026. They focused on 10 countries across three continents, places where environmental crime and internet use are high, making them fertile grounds for online wildlife trafficking. They found some 266,535 wildlife products posted on 61 online marketplaces, worth about $66 million. About 75% of the nearly 22,000 ads&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/facebook-is-a-hub-for-illegal-wildlife-trade-and-thats-by-design-report-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Study finds microplastics in tadpoles in the Amazon for the first time</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/study-finds-microplastics-in-tadpoles-in-the-amazon-for-the-first-time/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/study-finds-microplastics-in-tadpoles-in-the-amazon-for-the-first-time/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 May 2026 10:01:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/05095841/Scinax_x-signatus_10.5852-ejt.2022.836.1919_Figure_9_cropped-739x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=318729</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Green, Microplastics, Plastic, Rainforests, Research, Tropical Forests, Water, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have recorded microplastics in frog tadpoles and their pond habitats in the wild in the Amazon for the first time, according to a new study. This confirms widespread microplastic contamination in the Amazon Rainforest, the researchers say.   Previous studies from the region have found microplastic contamination in fish, invertebrates, soil and water samples. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Researchers have recorded microplastics in frog tadpoles and their pond habitats in the wild in the Amazon for the first time, according to a new study. This confirms widespread microplastic contamination in the Amazon Rainforest, the researchers say.   Previous studies from the region have found microplastic contamination in fish, invertebrates, soil and water samples. In the recent study, ecologist Fabrielle Barbosa de Araújo from the Federal University of Pará and her colleagues collected 20 water samples from five natural water bodies formed by the accumulation of rainwater in soil depressions at Gunma Ecological Park in Pará state in April 2025. These temporary ponds are important breeding sites and larval development areas for various frog species in the Amazon.  From each of the five ponds, the researchers also collected 100 tadpoles of the Venezuela snouted treefrog (Scinax x-signatus), commonly found in both forests and urban areas across South America. The researchers found microplastics in each sampled pond and tadpole. Most of the microplastics were transparent, blue and black fibers made of plastic like polyester. Other studies have also found similar blue and transparent fibers across the Amazon, possibly originating from sanitary sewage and fishing activities, the researchers write. Araújo told Mongabay by email that finding microplastics in the tadpoles and their habitats was not surprising as several previous studies have shown microplastic contamination in other organisms in the Amazon. “What really caught our attention was the large quantity found, especially because this is an area with low [human] population density&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/study-finds-microplastics-in-tadpoles-in-the-amazon-for-the-first-time/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>In India, few are tracking birds colliding with glass in buildings</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/in-india-few-are-tracking-birds-colliding-with-glass-in-buildings/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/in-india-few-are-tracking-birds-colliding-with-glass-in-buildings/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 May 2026 07:08:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/05070413/indian-pitta-e1776879436793-1200x800-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=318721</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Green, Human-wildlife Conflict, urban ecology, Urban Planning, Urbanization, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Bird deaths from collisions with glass structures are a global problem. But in India, conservationists are just beginning to learn the scale of the issue, reports Mongabay India’s Kartik Chandramouli. While humans are taught the concept of glass and its transparency, birds likely perceive the reflection of vegetation or the sky as reality, researchers say, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Bird deaths from collisions with glass structures are a global problem. But in India, conservationists are just beginning to learn the scale of the issue, reports Mongabay India’s Kartik Chandramouli. While humans are taught the concept of glass and its transparency, birds likely perceive the reflection of vegetation or the sky as reality, researchers say, leading to collisions, often fatal. In Gujarat state, in western India, for example, more than a dozen migratory rosy starlings (Pastor roseus) crashed into a glass building in February 2022. In Meghalaya, in northeast India, several long-tailed broadbills (Psarisomus dalhousiae) collided with the façade of an automobile showroom in January this year. While such sporadic local reports exist, well-recorded data on bird collisions are generally missing in India. Only recently have a few studies started offering some trends. A 2025 study in Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in southern India recorded 35 instances of collisions in just one year, involving 22 bird species, including the endemic Nilgiri wood pigeon (Columba elphinstonii). These collisions involved two-story buildings.  “Tall glass skyscrapers are not the only culprits,” Peeyush Sekhsaria, an architect and bird-watcher, told Mongabay India. Many birds in India move between trees and plants tall enough to reach the fourth floor, placing most buildings directly in their flight paths. Given the lack of data, Sekhsaria and Ashwin Viswanathan, an ecologist at the nonprofit Nature Conservation Foundation, launched a citizen science project called Bird Collisions India on the iNaturalist app in 2020. As of April 2026, it’s recorded nearly 88&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/in-india-few-are-tracking-birds-colliding-with-glass-in-buildings/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>EU moves to drop leather from deforestation law after industry lobbying</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/eu-moves-to-drop-leather-from-deforestation-law-after-industry-lobbying/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/eu-moves-to-drop-leather-from-deforestation-law-after-industry-lobbying/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 May 2026 01:57:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elisângela Mendonça]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/04202221/g.-8314902334_838bcb1b13_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318700</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Chaco, European Union, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Indigenous Groups, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The leather industry spent most of the last year intensifying an already determined lobbying campaign in Brussels to win an exemption from the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation, or EUDR. The effort is paying off: on May 4, the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, formally proposed excluding leather, hides, and skins from the regulation’s product [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The leather industry spent most of the last year intensifying an already determined lobbying campaign in Brussels to win an exemption from the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation, or EUDR. The effort is paying off: on May 4, the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, formally proposed excluding leather, hides, and skins from the regulation’s product scope, ahead of the law being enacted at the end of the year. The Commission’s proposal is being introduced through a delegated act, a legal mechanism that allows the EU executive to amend non-essential parts of an existing law without reopening the whole regulation for a full legislative debate. This process is set to change the EUDR’s Annex I, which lists the commodities covered by the deforestation regulation. Legal experts, including Brussels-based Mayer Brown senior associate Irina Antoshevska, have previously identified this delegated act review as a critical opening for industries seeking to add or remove Combined Nomenclature (CN) customs codes from the regulation’s scope. Following the publication of the draft, citizens and other stakeholders can provide feedback until June 1, the Commission said in a statement. After that, the Commission could formally adopt the act. Then, the parliament and the Council of the European Union generally have two months to object. If they don’t, the changes will automatically be enacted. The leather exemption is part of a broader “simplification review” announced by the European Commission to ease administrative burdens linked to the EUDR. Behind the scenes, however, leather industry groups have seized on the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/eu-moves-to-drop-leather-from-deforestation-law-after-industry-lobbying/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Suspected chemical pollution threatens Nairobi Nat’l Park &#038; key water sources</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/suspected-chemical-pollution-threatens-nairobi-natl-park-key-water-sources/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/suspected-chemical-pollution-threatens-nairobi-natl-park-key-water-sources/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 May 2026 01:34:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/04214840/WhatsApp-Image-2026-04-30-at-16.04.32-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=318718</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities, Health, National Parks, Parks, Pollution, Protected Areas, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A suspected chemical discharge is flowing into Nairobi National Park, raising concerns over the vulnerability of a unique protected ecosystem and the growing pressure of urban-industrial activity at its borders. On April 30, 2026, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) reported in a press release sent to Mongabay “abnormal foamy water inflows” entering the park through [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A suspected chemical discharge is flowing into Nairobi National Park, raising concerns over the vulnerability of a unique protected ecosystem and the growing pressure of urban-industrial activity at its borders. On April 30, 2026, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) reported in a press release sent to Mongabay “abnormal foamy water inflows” entering the park through the Mlolongo drainage corridor. In a statement sent to Mongabay, the agency described white, effervescent bubbles, continuous discharge and unnatural coloration, all “consistent with possible chemical contamination”. What makes the situation particularly alarming is the location. Established in 1946, Nairobi National Park is the only national park in the world located within a capital city. The park covers 117 square kilometers (45 square miles) of savanna, forest and wetlands. It’s home to four of the “Big Five”: lions, buffalo, leopards and rhinos (missing only elephants). The park also hosts a rhino sanctuary and an animal orphanage where injured wildlife are treated. But its proximity, surrounded by Nairobi’s expanding industrial zones, has long made it vulnerable. KWS warned that the risk goes beyond wildlife, noting, “The affected system feeds into the Mbagathi and Athi Rivers, placing Athi Dam a critical ecological and water resource at significant risk, alongside aquatic biodiversity and downstream water users, including communities, agriculture, and livestock.” Authorities have urged the public to avoid fishing and using water from the rivers. An investigation has been launched to determine the source of the contamination. Preliminary findings suggest that “the runoff may have interacted with nearby&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/suspected-chemical-pollution-threatens-nairobi-natl-park-key-water-sources/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Australia’s declining tree health is a slow-burning crisis (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/declining-australian-tree-health-is-as-big-a-problem-as-bushfires-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/declining-australian-tree-health-is-as-big-a-problem-as-bushfires-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 May 2026 00:31:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Michael ReidTed Alter]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/04193052/Image-1_fire-e1777923225283-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318695</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Queensland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Commentary, Conservation, Diseases, Fires, Forest Fires, Forests, Health, Invasive Species, Plants, Rainforests, Trees, Tropical Forests, and wildfires]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Some of the most serious threats to our forests do not arrive with smoke or headlines. They move quietly, through bark and new growth, weakening ecosystems long before we notice. Without sustained attention, our unique flora and fauna remain vulnerable. Tree health is often treated as a niche technical issue, but it is also a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Some of the most serious threats to our forests do not arrive with smoke or headlines. They move quietly, through bark and new growth, weakening ecosystems long before we notice. Without sustained attention, our unique flora and fauna remain vulnerable. Tree health is often treated as a niche technical issue, but it is also a question of ecological resilience, public health, and how well communities adapt to a hotter, more disturbed world. Devastating bushfires are reshaping Australia’s landscapes and ecosystems, and climate change is accelerating species loss. But there is a quieter threat with ecological, economic and human consequences. Alongside fire and drought, microscopic pests and pathogens are spreading through forests and urban canopies, thinning tree cover, weakening ecosystems, and leaving them more vulnerable to the next shock. Most of us appreciate the comfort of a shady tree on a hot day, and we’ve heard that the Amazon rainforests are the lungs of the planet. Yet many people underestimate the importance of healthy tree populations and how closely they are tied to our physical and mental health. The road to forest health, like this track through K’Gari rainforest, begins with vigilance, early detection, raising awareness, and working with those closest to the landscape to identify outbreak risks and track impacts over time. Image courtesy of Michael Reid. In his new book Nature and the Mind, Marc Berman, professor of psychology at the University of Chicago and director of the Environmental Neuroscience Lab, draws together evidence on how nature supports cognitive,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/declining-australian-tree-health-is-as-big-a-problem-as-bushfires-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>At 100, David Attenborough’s message is no longer just about wonder</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/at-100-david-attenboroughs-message-is-no-longer-just-about-wonder/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/at-100-david-attenboroughs-message-is-no-longer-just-about-wonder/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 May 2026 00:24:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/04030152/Sir-David-Attenborough-By-BBC-Passion-Planet-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318643</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Communication, Conservation, Environment, Green, Journalism, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As his 100th birthday approaches, David Attenborough occupies an unusual place in public life: not a practicing scientist, not quite a conventional journalist, and no longer only a broadcaster. His voice, familiar from decades of natural history programming, has become one of the most recognizable ways the public hears about the state of the living [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As his 100th birthday approaches, David Attenborough occupies an unusual place in public life: not a practicing scientist, not quite a conventional journalist, and no longer only a broadcaster. His voice, familiar from decades of natural history programming, has become one of the most recognizable ways the public hears about the state of the living world. That was not always the role he played. When Attenborough began his career at the BBC in the 1950s, the task was more modest. Television was still finding its footing, and natural history programming largely meant showing audiences what they could not otherwise see. Early series such as Zoo Quest were shaped by that spirit. They were exploratory, sometimes improvised, and often framed around the thrill of encountering unfamiliar species. The tone was one of discovery. The unspoken assumption was that the natural world, vast and varied, would endure. Attenborough in Borneo, 1982. Photo by Rex Features As his work evolved, so did the technology that made it possible. Color film, lightweight cameras and, later, digital imaging expanded what could be captured. Attenborough used those tools with unusual patience. His programs lingered on behavior as much as spectacle. Courtship rituals, feeding strategies, and migrations were given time to unfold. His programs did more than show animals; they asked viewers to notice how they lived. This attention to detail became one of his signatures. It reflected a view that understanding begins with careful seeing. Attenborough rarely made himself the story. His narration was measured and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/at-100-david-attenboroughs-message-is-no-longer-just-about-wonder/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Iceland plans to resume whale hunting this summer</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/iceland-plans-to-resume-whale-hunting-this-summer/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/iceland-plans-to-resume-whale-hunting-this-summer/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 May 2026 21:36:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bobby Bascomb]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/04/27142547/66419611_2719742001388891_15070357341863936_o-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=318717</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Iceland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Endangered Species, Hunting, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Ocean, Oceans, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Icelandic commercial whaling company Hvalur hf. plans to resume whale hunting this summer, following a two-year pause in commercial operations. In 2024, the Icelandic government issued the company a five-year license allowing it to catch up to 209 fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) annually. However, Hvalur hf. didn’t hunt any whales in 2024 or 2025. Iceland’s [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Icelandic commercial whaling company Hvalur hf. plans to resume whale hunting this summer, following a two-year pause in commercial operations. In 2024, the Icelandic government issued the company a five-year license allowing it to catch up to 209 fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) annually. However, Hvalur hf. didn’t hunt any whales in 2024 or 2025. Iceland’s Marine and Freshwater Research Institute advised that no more than 150 should be caught in 2026, a 28% reduction from previous catch recommendations. The IUCN Red List classifies fin whales as vulnerable to extinction. The species is the second-largest animal on Earth, after blue whales (B. musculus). Partly because they are so large, fin whales are “slow to mature, with low reproductive rates, which means populations recover slowly from any pressure,” Luke McMillan, head of hunting and captivity with the U.S.-based NGO Whale and Dolphin Conservation, told Mongabay by email. Following the 1982 International Whaling Commission moratorium on commercial whaling, most countries discontinued the practice. Just Iceland, Japan and Norway still allow it. However, Iceland Minister of Industries Hanna Katrín Friðriksson has reportedly said commercial whaling is not in the public interest and that legislation to end the practice will be introduced in the fall, after the 2026 whaling season. Animal welfare concerns remain a central question. A 2023 report from the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority found more than 40% of whales did not die immediately after being struck by harpoons, with a median of 11.5 minutes before death. In one case, a whale&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/iceland-plans-to-resume-whale-hunting-this-summer/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Endangered whale protections may be delayed to 2035 under Trump-backed plan</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/endangered-whale-protections-may-be-delayed-to-2035-under-trump-backed-plan/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/endangered-whale-protections-may-be-delayed-to-2035-under-trump-backed-plan/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 May 2026 19:51:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/04194401/AP26124524455854-scaled-e1777924274571-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=318697</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Marine Animals, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Mammals, Ocean, Regulations, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — For roughly 380 right whales left in the North Atlantic, which can die after getting tangled in fishing ropes or hit by ships, the Trump administration said this month it wants to delay new protections by almost a decade in favor of commercial fishing interests. The sleek black whales, which weigh as much as a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — For roughly 380 right whales left in the North Atlantic, which can die after getting tangled in fishing ropes or hit by ships, the Trump administration said this month it wants to delay new protections by almost a decade in favor of commercial fishing interests. The sleek black whales, which weigh as much as a midsized bulldozer, are critically endangered and their numbers have declined sharply in recent decades. Environmental groups say reducing deaths and injuries caused by people is essential to the species&#8217; recovery. The whales give birth off Florida and Georgia before making a long migration north to feed off New England and Canada. Protected areas of ocean aid them on their journey, but scientists have said they have strayed from those zones in recent years in search of food as the oceans have warmed. A proposal by U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine, would push back new federal protections for right whales to 2035, and allow time to craft regulations that are less burdensome to the fishing industry. The White House released a memo Friday saying it “strongly supports” the plan and that President Donald Trump’s senior advisors would recommend he sign it into law if it passes Congress. The proposal comes as the government already paused any new federal rules about right whales until 2028. According to Golden, Maine&#8217;s iconic lobster industry would&#8217;ve been crushed by the now-paused regulations, which he said were &#8220;based on flawed science and hypothetical scenarios rather than the reality on the water.”&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/endangered-whale-protections-may-be-delayed-to-2035-under-trump-backed-plan/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>In Nepal’s plains, traditional bins help keep food safe from heat, floods</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-nepals-plains-traditional-bins-help-keep-food-safe-from-heat-floods/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-nepals-plains-traditional-bins-help-keep-food-safe-from-heat-floods/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 May 2026 17:22:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tanka Dhakal]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/04115851/02_Dehari-kitchen-2--768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318664</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate Change, Climate Change And Conservation, Climate Change And Extreme Weather, Conservation, Food, food security, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Cultures, Indigenous Peoples, Temperatures, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional People, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[DANG, Nepal — With the start of the summer season in Nepal, farmers are worried about keeping their grain safe from extreme heat and insect infestation. But at Chattrapati Yadav’s home in Dang in western Nepal, that is not a concern thanks to handmade earthen pots passed down from previous generations. The 70‑year‑old learned the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[DANG, Nepal — With the start of the summer season in Nepal, farmers are worried about keeping their grain safe from extreme heat and insect infestation. But at Chattrapati Yadav’s home in Dang in western Nepal, that is not a concern thanks to handmade earthen pots passed down from previous generations. The 70‑year‑old learned the craft of making the pots from her mother. She eventually taught it to her daughters and granddaughters. “My granddaughter made this one, and that one was made by my mother‑in‑law,” Yadav said, pointing to the cylindrical and rectangular storage vessels. Across Nepal’s Terai, members of Indigenous communities, including the Tharu and Yadav, keep their grains safe using the dehari (traditional seed storage bins) secured by ancestral craftsmanship and Indigenous knowledge honed over centuries. These continue to stand the test of time even amid climatic stresses. “We use locally available mud and husk with some dung; we don’t use anything that isn’t available here,” Yadav said. “It takes around a week to make and a month to dry them.” If protected from water, a dehari can even outlast its maker. Dehari, traditional food grain and seed storage earthen pots made out of clay soil and husk inside Chattrapati Yadav’s family home in Dang, Nepal. These pots have been used to store grains for generations by Indigenous and local communities, including Tharu and Yadav. Image by Tanka Dhakal. A Tharu village in Chitwan, Nepal. Image by tearsxintherain via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). Climate-resilient storage In the Terai,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-nepals-plains-traditional-bins-help-keep-food-safe-from-heat-floods/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Can listening to a forest reveal whether it is ecologically healthy?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/can-listening-to-a-forest-reveal-whether-it-is-ecologically-healthy/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/can-listening-to-a-forest-reveal-whether-it-is-ecologically-healthy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 May 2026 15:36:46 +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/20/2026/04/16140215/Banner-Image-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=318687</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America and Costa Rica]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bioacoustics, Bioacoustics and conservation, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Green, Payments For Ecosystem Services, Rainforests, Research, Technology, Technology And Conservation, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Researchers have been using sound to study ecosystems for years. A study from ETH Zürich uses it to examine Costa Rica’s payment for ecosystem services program, reports Mongabay’s Abhishyant Kidangoor. Giacomo Delgado, a doctoral researcher, compares the method [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Researchers have been using sound to study ecosystems for years. A study from ETH Zürich uses it to examine Costa Rica’s payment for ecosystem services program, reports Mongabay’s Abhishyant Kidangoor. Giacomo Delgado, a doctoral researcher, compares the method to a physician using a stethoscope. With enough experience, a doctor can distinguish a healthy heartbeat from an irregular one. Forests, he suggests, also produce patterns that can be compared across sites. To test this, Delgado and colleagues deployed recorders across 119 sites on the Nicoya Peninsula in northwestern Costa Rica. They gathered more than 16,000 hours of audio from various types of landscapes: protected forests, areas regenerating under the country’s payment for ecosystem services (PES) scheme, monoculture plantations, and active pastures. Costa Rica’s PES program, launched in 1997, compensates landowners for maintaining forest cover and is frequently used as a reference point in conservation policy. Satellite data show that forest cover has recovered after steep declines in the late 20th century. They don’t show whether those forests function as habitats. Counting trees is simpler than assessing species diversity or ecological interactions. Sound offers a different way to assess this. Insects, birds and amphibians produce layered soundscapes that change over the course of a day. Forests with more activity tend to show pronounced peaks at dawn and dusk. Pastures do not. The recordings that Delgado and his team collected suggest that naturally regenerated forests under&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/can-listening-to-a-forest-reveal-whether-it-is-ecologically-healthy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>As wildlife trade expands, so do pathways for disease spillover to humans</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/as-wildlife-trade-expands-so-do-pathways-for-disease-spillover-to-humans/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/as-wildlife-trade-expands-so-do-pathways-for-disease-spillover-to-humans/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 May 2026 14:01:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Cate Twining-Ward]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/04125300/4-red-tailed-monkey-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318674</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Diseases, Environment, Environmental Crime, Environmental Law, Health, Nature And Health, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Crime, Wildlife Trade, Wildlife Trafficking, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Pandemics and novel diseases are perennial threats to human survival. People, wildlife and livestock carry a wide range of viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites. Close contact creates opportunities for pathogens to jump between species. To assess public health risks of massive legal and illegal trade in wildlife, an interdisciplinary team delved into trade records on [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Pandemics and novel diseases are perennial threats to human survival. People, wildlife and livestock carry a wide range of viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites. Close contact creates opportunities for pathogens to jump between species. To assess public health risks of massive legal and illegal trade in wildlife, an interdisciplinary team delved into trade records on thousands of species spanning the last 40 years. They focused on mammals. The researchers found that worldwide trade in wild mammals, as well as their parts and products, creates more opportunities for pathogens to mutate and jump from animals into humans over time — and poses a serious public health threat, conclusions they recently published in the journal Science. For decades, scientists and virologists have warned that the incidence of spillover is rising in a more crowded, interconnected world shaped by travel and trade. Many of the most dangerous or deadly outbreaks of contagious disease in recent history originated in animals, including mpox (1958), Marburg virus (1967), Ebola (1976), HIV/AIDS (first clinical evidence 1981) and COVID-19 (2020). A rescued chimpanzee receives veterinary care in Freetown, Sierra Leone, after being confiscated from the illegal pet trade there. As close human relatives, apes share a number of diseases with humans. Image by Cate Twining-Ward. Animals and pathogens shipped worldwide The global wildlife trade creates repeated opportunities for animals, pathogens and people to come into close contact and share germs. Animals are legally shipped around the world for food. They’re sold as pets. Their parts are used in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/as-wildlife-trade-expands-so-do-pathways-for-disease-spillover-to-humans/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>With its first marine reserve, Ghana protects its ocean to secure its future (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/with-its-first-marine-reserve-ghana-protects-its-ocean-to-secure-its-future-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/with-its-first-marine-reserve-ghana-protects-its-ocean-to-secure-its-future-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 May 2026 13:20:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Emelia Arthur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/01204718/OceanImageBank_LiamMcGuire_03-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318614</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Ghana, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Commentary, Conservation, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Food, food security, Governance, Government, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Conservation, Marine Ecosystems, Marine Protected Areas, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[How we feed the future is a critical challenge of our time. Yet too often, the focus remains on land, forgetting that the ocean is already a vital source of nutrition for billions of people. That oversight is costly. The ocean is under growing pressure, with an estimated 60% of the world’s marine ecosystems already [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[How we feed the future is a critical challenge of our time. Yet too often, the focus remains on land, forgetting that the ocean is already a vital source of nutrition for billions of people. That oversight is costly. The ocean is under growing pressure, with an estimated 60% of the world’s marine ecosystems already degraded or used unsustainably. This cannot continue. On April 14, Ghana put ocean protection on the map when the government officially declared the Greater Cape Three Points Marine Protected Area, our country’s first formally designated marine protected area (MPA). Covering 703.86 square kilometers (nearly 272 square miles) of coastal waters in the Western region, this landmark step will help restore precious marine ecosystems and protect the livelihoods of 21 coastal communities. It is a core element of Ghana’s vision for a “blue future” in which the ocean supports a diversified, sustainable economy. This is also a milestone in Ghana’s contribution to the global goal of protecting at least 30% of the ocean by 2030 (30&#215;30). With just 10% of the ocean currently designated for protection — and far less being effectively protected — scaling up action worldwide has never been more urgent. Ghana is proud to be stepping forward, and we urge other countries to do the same. The Greater Cape Three Points area is one of Ghana’s most ecologically and biologically significant marine environments. Its nutrient-rich upwelling waters host critical breeding and nursery grounds for fish species including sardinella, anchovy and mackerel, making the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/with-its-first-marine-reserve-ghana-protects-its-ocean-to-secure-its-future-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Solar installation and deforestation in the Amazon: Photo of the week</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/solar-installation-and-deforestation-in-the-amazon-photo-of-the-week/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/solar-installation-and-deforestation-in-the-amazon-photo-of-the-week/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 May 2026 11:28:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/04112608/CV_Black_Carbon_Brazil_EDITORIAL_26-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=318660</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation, Environment, Green Energy, Photography, Rainforests, Solar Power, and Threats To Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In August 2025, photojournalist Victor Moriyama captured this scene on the outskirts of Rio Branco, the capital of Acre, a state in the far northwest of the Brazilian Amazon. As a row of trucks in the background carries piles of wood freshly logged from the rainforest, employees of Primaz Energia Solar, a local solar energy [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In August 2025, photojournalist Victor Moriyama captured this scene on the outskirts of Rio Branco, the capital of Acre, a state in the far northwest of the Brazilian Amazon. As a row of trucks in the background carries piles of wood freshly logged from the rainforest, employees of Primaz Energia Solar, a local solar energy provider, installed solar panels on the roof of a small market. The photograph is part of the series “Black Carbon,” produced in partnership with Climate Visuals and the Clean Air Fund. Banner image courtesy of Victor Moriyama/Climate Visuals.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/solar-installation-and-deforestation-in-the-amazon-photo-of-the-week/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>This tiny house survives extreme floods</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/this-tiny-house-survives-extreme-floods/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/this-tiny-house-survives-extreme-floods/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 May 2026 09:01:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lucia Torres]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/25150421/KB_Asif_Salman_5.max-1800x1200-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=318207</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia and Bangladesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Community Development, Flooding, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Kalu lives in a Khudi Bari: a flood-resistant tiny house in Bangladesh. Floods come to his village every year. This house is built to protect his crops and family against the storm. Watch the full story ]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Kalu lives in a Khudi Bari: a flood-resistant tiny house in Bangladesh. Floods come to his village every year. This house is built to protect his crops and family against the storm. Watch the full story This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/05/this-tiny-house-survives-extreme-floods/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Cambodia tested waters amid pollution claims; months later, still no public results</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/cambodia-tested-waters-amid-pollution-claims-months-later-still-no-public-results/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/cambodia-tested-waters-amid-pollution-claims-months-later-still-no-public-results/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 May 2026 03:45:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andy BallGerald FlynnPhoung Vantha]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extractives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fish]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Freshwater Ecosystems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gold Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Illegal Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous Communities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rivers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water Pollution]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/04025851/November-2025_Mongabay_Virachey-Mining-12-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318641</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Mekong Basin, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Chemicals, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, extractives, Fish, Fisheries, Freshwater Ecosystems, Gold Mining, Governance, Indigenous Communities, Mining, Public Health, Rivers, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Authorities from Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment were dispatched to Mondul Yorn, a small village in the remote northeastern province of Ratanakiri, on Feb. 13 to conduct water and sediment testing on the O’Ta Bouk River following community complaints of health problems linked to declining water quality. Then, from Feb. 17-20, the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Authorities from Cambodia’s Ministry of Environment were dispatched to Mondul Yorn, a small village in the remote northeastern province of Ratanakiri, on Feb. 13 to conduct water and sediment testing on the O’Ta Bouk River following community complaints of health problems linked to declining water quality. Then, from Feb. 17-20, the Inland Fisheries Research and Development Institute (IFReDI), a government agency that sits under the Fisheries Administration, sent two teams to catch 34 species of fish from the Sesan River and the O’Ta Bouk, a tributary that flows into the Sesan, itself a key tributary of the Mekong River. The O’Ta Bouk flows south through a gold mining operation in Ta Veng district before it reaches Mondul Yorn, where Indigenous Brao communities have reported experiencing skin rashes and itching sensations after coming into contact with the river’s water since gold mining began in mid-2023. To date, no results of water, sediment or fish sampling have been made public, despite experts urging more comprehensive testing and communities languishing in uncertainty over the safety of the river. IFReDI officials taking samples on the Sesan River in February 2026. Photo sourced from IFReDI&#8217;s Facebook. A park in peril Villagers living along the O’Ta Bouk report the river had turned brown and murky starting roughly in mid-2023; the mud on its banks, sticky. Many of the Brao farmers and fishers have avoided entering the water, drinking it or bathing in it or fishing in the river. These problems persisted when&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/cambodia-tested-waters-amid-pollution-claims-months-later-still-no-public-results/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Tierney Thys, marine biologist and interpreter of the sunfish</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/tierney-thys-marine-biologist-and-interpreter-of-the-sunfish/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/tierney-thys-marine-biologist-and-interpreter-of-the-sunfish/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 May 2026 00:22:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/02151218/Tierney-Thys-with-sunfish-bw-banner-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318622</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California, Pacific Ocean, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Communication, Conservation, Environment, Fish, Green, Hope and optimism, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Ecosystems, Obituary, Oceans, Plastic, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the open ocean, far from coasts and categories, there is a fish that seems to defy the logic of design. It is round where others are tapered, truncated where others trail into a tail. It drifts and dives, basks and vanishes, a presence that appears accidental until one looks more closely. For those who [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the open ocean, far from coasts and categories, there is a fish that seems to defy the logic of design. It is round where others are tapered, truncated where others trail into a tail. It drifts and dives, basks and vanishes, a presence that appears accidental until one looks more closely. For those who did, the giant ocean sunfish became less an oddity than a set of questions—about form, movement, and how life adapts to a vast and changing sea. A sunfish (Mola mola). Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler/Mongabay. Tierney M. Thys, who died in March at 59, spent much of her life asking those questions, and then finding ways to share them. She was a marine biologist by training, though that title alone does not quite capture her range. She was also a filmmaker, a science editor, a National Geographic Explorer, and an advocate for the ocean who moved between research, storytelling, and public engagement. Her work, much of it beyond the ocean, was anchored in curiosity, and in a conviction that understanding the natural world required both analysis and attention. Her fascination with the ocean began early. Born in California, she was put into a homemade wetsuit by her parents so she could stay longer in cold water. She later moved to Vermont, where she learned to explore the outdoors on her own, and to see nature as both playground and teacher. That sense of immersion stayed with her. She studied biology at Brown University, returned to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/tierney-thys-marine-biologist-and-interpreter-of-the-sunfish/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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