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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?byline=nehru-pry&#038;post_type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/nehru-pry/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2026 20:09:16 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Nehru Pry Archives</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/nehru-pry/</link>
	<width>32</width>
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				<item>
					<title>Can ‘fog harvesting’ help solve water scarcity in Chile’s Atacama Desert?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/can-fog-harvesting-help-solve-water-scarcity-in-chiles-atacama-desert/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/can-fog-harvesting-help-solve-water-scarcity-in-chiles-atacama-desert/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2026 20:09:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/17195707/AP275353435726-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323860</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Chile, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation Technology, Deserts, Environment, Natural Resources, Technology, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Chile’s Atacama Desert is one of the driest places in the world. Some areas only see rainfall a few times in a century, while others have never recorded rainfall at all. In many rural communities there, local governments have to truck in water from other parts of the country or extract it from deep underground [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Chile’s Atacama Desert is one of the driest places in the world. Some areas only see rainfall a few times in a century, while others have never recorded rainfall at all. In many rural communities there, local governments have to truck in water from other parts of the country or extract it from deep underground wells. But in harder-to-reach settlements, these solutions still aren’t cost-effective or reliable. To address the problem, residents and researchers have looked for more innovative methods of getting water out of the environment. Some have begun using the fog that often blankets northern Chile. Off the Pacific coast, cold air currents cool into low cloud cover that blows inland, getting stopped by coastal mountains and settling at ground level. With the right approach, groups have found ways to “capture,” or “harvest,” the fog, turning it into useable freshwater. “In a very simple way, we have to understand that clouds are made up of water droplets,” Camilo del Río, director of the Catholic University’s Atacama Desert Center in Chile, told Mongabay. “They’re already formed, they’re already condensed. So whenever a cloud is transported by wind and comes into contact with the Earth’s surface, what is touching the surface is thousands and thousands of liters [of water].” Local groups have found ways to harvest enough fog to supplement drinking water and bolster agricultural projects. But many challenges with the strategy still remain. Researchers want to harvest the fog more efficiently and at scale, one day convincing local officials&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/can-fog-harvesting-help-solve-water-scarcity-in-chiles-atacama-desert/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/can-fog-harvesting-help-solve-water-scarcity-in-chiles-atacama-desert/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323860</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>US government announces plans to lease deep-sea mining rights in American Samoa</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/us-government-announces-plans-to-lease-deep-sea-mining-rights-in-american-samoa/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/us-government-announces-plans-to-lease-deep-sea-mining-rights-in-american-samoa/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2026 19:45:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/17190104/2025-deep-sea-frogfish-1000-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=323928</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Environment, Marine, Mining, Natural Resources, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The U.S. government has taken another definitive step toward launching a deep-sea mining industry, starting in the waters of American Samoa, despite public opposition. On July 17, the Marine Minerals Administration (MMA), a new U.S. agency formed by merging the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, announced intentions [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The U.S. government has taken another definitive step toward launching a deep-sea mining industry, starting in the waters of American Samoa, despite public opposition. On July 17, the Marine Minerals Administration (MMA), a new U.S. agency formed by merging the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, announced intentions to hold a lease sale for seabed mining on Nov. 19 in Camarillo, California. The MMA also stated that the proposed lease &#8220;does not guarantee that a lease sale will be held&#8221; or that &#8220;exploration or collection activities will occur should MMA move forward with a sale.&#8221; Still, opponents see the proposal as a major step toward commercial deep-sea mining — an industry that has drawn widespread criticism over its potential impacts on marine ecosystems. If the lease sale moves forward, the proposal indicates that companies will be able to secure 20-year leases across nearly 127,500 square kilometers (approximately 49,000 square miles) of seabed in the ocean surrounding American Samoa, a U.S. territory in the Pacific. The minimum bid for each of the two lease areas will be $3 million, and royalties in year 11 of the lease will be $1.25 per acre and increase over time. The lease sale itself won’t be open to the public, but will be live streamed, according to the announcement. The MMA indicated that the governor of American Samoa will have 60 days to comment on the proposed lease sale. “Advancing this notice is an important step toward building&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/us-government-announces-plans-to-lease-deep-sea-mining-rights-in-american-samoa/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/us-government-announces-plans-to-lease-deep-sea-mining-rights-in-american-samoa/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323928</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Beavers flourish in tidal habitats in the Pacific Northwest, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/beavers-flourish-in-tidal-habitats-in-the-pacific-northwest-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/beavers-flourish-in-tidal-habitats-in-the-pacific-northwest-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2026 18:23:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/17170904/Beaver-Szmurlo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=323921</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biology, Coastal Ecosystems, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Mammals, Marine, Research, Rodents, Science, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Beavers are well-known residents of rivers, lakes and streams across North America.  New research finds they are also far more common in estuaries and tidal wetlands than was previously understood. The study suggests the rodents are critical ecosystem engineers in a habitat where twice-daily tides raise and lower water levels, bringing saltwater inland from the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Beavers are well-known residents of rivers, lakes and streams across North America.  New research finds they are also far more common in estuaries and tidal wetlands than was previously understood. The study suggests the rodents are critical ecosystem engineers in a habitat where twice-daily tides raise and lower water levels, bringing saltwater inland from the sea. Estuarine ecologist and self-described “accidental beaver biologist” Greg Hood surveyed estuaries and tidal wetlands across coastal British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. He found beavers (Castor canadensis) in those ecosystems by surveying places other scientists tend to overlook. “Estuarine scientists and beaver biologists are generally working in other areas — the beaver biologist in normal streams and lakes where they expect to find beavers; the estuarine ecologists typically in herbaceous tidal marshes or even in eelgrass,” Hood told Mongabay in an email. Adding that scientists rarely work in “tidal shrub and forest habitats (tidal swamps) where beaver are most likely, because tidal swamps are very hard to move around in.” Hood found that beavers are widespread in tidal habitats across the Pacific Northwest. In some tidal channels of the Snohomish and Skagit rivers, he found beaver dams at twice the density of such dams on non-tidal rivers. Beaver dams in tidal habitats are shorter than those on non-tidal rivers, according to Hood’s research. He hypothesizes that since these dams are flooded at high tide, that their main function is to trap water at low tides, which allows beavers to continue&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/beavers-flourish-in-tidal-habitats-in-the-pacific-northwest-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/beavers-flourish-in-tidal-habitats-in-the-pacific-northwest-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323921</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How Costa Rica&#8217;s extreme climate changes the social behaviors of white-faced capuchin</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-costa-ricas-extreme-climate-changes-the-social-behaviors-of-white-faced-capuchin/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-costa-ricas-extreme-climate-changes-the-social-behaviors-of-white-faced-capuchin/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2026 18:15:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Adam Litchkofski]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/16221627/6-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323804</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Costa Rica, Global, Latin America, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Biology, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Deforestation, Disasters, Drought, Dry Forests, Earth Science, Ecosystems, El Nino, Environment, Extreme Weather, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Impact Of Climate Change, Mammals, Monkeys, Primates, Science, Tropical Deforestation, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COSTA RICA: Dawn is yet to break when primatologist Susan Perry and her field research team move through Costa Rica’s tropical dry forest for a day in the field studying Central American white-faced capuchin monkeys. Despite the darkness, the forest is humming. Perry calls this juncture “the changing of the guard,” when nocturnal animals end [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COSTA RICA: Dawn is yet to break when primatologist Susan Perry and her field research team move through Costa Rica’s tropical dry forest for a day in the field studying Central American white-faced capuchin monkeys. Despite the darkness, the forest is humming. Perry calls this juncture “the changing of the guard,” when nocturnal animals end their day and diurnal species are just beginning theirs. As the team approaches the site where the capuchin (Cebus imitators) sleep, the location of which changes nightly, spiders&#8217; glittering eyeshine emblazons the ungraspable dark of the forest. Perry, an evolutionary anthropology professor at UCLA, has researched capuchin monkeys living in and near the Lomas de Barbudal Biological Reserve for the past 33 years. She documents their complex social behaviors and group dynamics with a revolving team of scientists, capturing the intricacies of capuchin society while remaining on the periphery. A new study analyzing Perry’s observations of 12 neighboring capuchin groups over her 33 years in the field documents how extreme climate events, such as El Niño, alter the costs and benefits of living in large groups for capuchins. In the field, the researchers go through a highly intentional process to remain separate: Perry leaves her study subjects untagged and uncollared, and instead, identifies and gets to know each individual. These monkeys are listed as vulnerable by IUCN. They live in one of the most endangered and biodiverse habitats in the world:tropical dry forest. Due to deforestation and fire damage, just 1% of the original primary&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-costa-ricas-extreme-climate-changes-the-social-behaviors-of-white-faced-capuchin/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-costa-ricas-extreme-climate-changes-the-social-behaviors-of-white-faced-capuchin/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323804</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Can harpy eagles attack humans? Amazon case rekindles scientific debate</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/can-harpy-eagles-attack-humans-amazon-case-rekindles-scientific-debate/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/can-harpy-eagles-attack-humans-amazon-case-rekindles-scientific-debate/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2026 17:54:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tiago Mota e Silva]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/16175052/Harpia_chega_ao_ninho_com_um_macaco-prego-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323731</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Guyana, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Deforestation, Forests, Human-wildlife Conflict, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a remote area of French Guiana, a 29-year-old woman was attacked by a harpy, considered the world’s largest eagle, in October 2023. In an area with extensive tracts of preserved forest, such interactions between humans and wildlife are extremely rare but garner widespread media attention and scientific interest. A recently published study highlighted this [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In a remote area of French Guiana, a 29-year-old woman was attacked by a harpy, considered the world’s largest eagle, in October 2023. In an area with extensive tracts of preserved forest, such interactions between humans and wildlife are extremely rare but garner widespread media attention and scientific interest. A recently published study highlighted this incident. The attack took place about 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the closest village, near the Kourou River, as a group of 11 tourists and a local guide walked a trail. The harpy (Harpia harpyja) had perched about 6 meters (20 feet) high when it was spotted. Seeing no apparent signs of aggressive behavior, part of the group kept walking, while the woman and her partner stayed behind for a few minutes to photograph it. When the couple resumed their walk on the trail, the harpy dove and struck the back of her head. Since 2016, biologist Everton Miranda has been monitoring harpy eagles, considered a flagship species for Amazon conservation. He stressed how rare these cases are: “It’s extremely uncommon, just as it is for other large South American predators such as jaguars or crocodiles,” he explained. Miranda has co-authored a recent scientific article on the case, together with French-Guianan experts. This was the first harpy eagle attack ever recorded and described by researchers. In academia, there is resistance to publish cases like this, according to the biologist. “They fear that giving visibility to attacks will increase stigma, because we know there are many harpies killed because people&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/can-harpy-eagles-attack-humans-amazon-case-rekindles-scientific-debate/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323731</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>India launches first hydrogen-powered train built in the country to expand clean energy on railways</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/india-launches-first-hydrogen-powered-train-built-in-the-country-to-expand-clean-energy-on-railways/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/india-launches-first-hydrogen-powered-train-built-in-the-country-to-expand-clean-energy-on-railways/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2026 17:34:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/17173232/AP26198284464871-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=323924</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Clean Energy, Development, Energy, Energy Transition, Environment, and Transportation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NEW DELHI (AP) — India rolled out its first domestically built, hydrogen-powered train on Friday, a move aimed at expanding the use of clean energy in its vast rail network. The train made up of two hydrogen-powered driving cars and eight passenger coaches will operate in the northern state of Haryana. It can run at [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NEW DELHI (AP) — India rolled out its first domestically built, hydrogen-powered train on Friday, a move aimed at expanding the use of clean energy in its vast rail network. The train made up of two hydrogen-powered driving cars and eight passenger coaches will operate in the northern state of Haryana. It can run at speeds of up to 75 kph (47 mph) and carry a maximum of about 2,600 passengers, railway officials said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the “NaMo Green Rail” at Haryana’s Jind railway station on Friday. “NaMo” is a common abbreviation of Modi&#8217;s first and last names. “This is a very significant day in the direction of self-reliant India and sustainable development,” Modi said in a post on X. The pilot project includes hydrogen storage and refueling infrastructure to test the use of the technology in India’s rail network, according to officials. Hydrogen fuel cells generate electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen, producing water vapor as the only direct emission. Several other countries have introduced hydrogen-powered trains as an alternative to diesel on routes that are not fully electrified. The launch is part of India’s broader efforts to develop green hydrogen and reduce carbon emissions. India has set a target of reaching net-zero emissions by 2070, with Indian Railways exploring hydrogen as an alternative to diesel on some routes. By Associated Press Banner image: India Prime Minister Narendra Modi flags off India&#8217;s first indigenously built hydrogen-powered train named the &#8220;NaMo Green Rail,&#8221; at Jind, in the Indian state of Haryana, Friday,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/india-launches-first-hydrogen-powered-train-built-in-the-country-to-expand-clean-energy-on-railways/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323924</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How a community is helping sea turtles hatch in the Philippines</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-a-community-is-helping-sea-turtles-hatch-in-the-philippines/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-a-community-is-helping-sea-turtles-hatch-in-the-philippines/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2026 17:23:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rachel Duckett]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/17164527/olive-ridley-hatchlings-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323904</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Fellows, Herps, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Mongabay.org, Oceans, Reptiles, Sea Turtles, Solutions, Turtles, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Jerald Mahusay was a kid, he and his friends saw turtle eggs so often, they treated them like toys. “We were always playing with the eggs,” Mahusay recalled of his childhood in Santo Niño, a village in the Philippines’ Palawan province. “We didn’t know why they are important.” Mahusay’s relationship with turtles has changed. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[When Jerald Mahusay was a kid, he and his friends saw turtle eggs so often, they treated them like toys. “We were always playing with the eggs,” Mahusay recalled of his childhood in Santo Niño, a village in the Philippines’ Palawan province. “We didn’t know why they are important.” Mahusay’s relationship with turtles has changed. In 2023, he started working as a patroller for the Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines (LAMAVE), an NGO that conducts marine research around the country, including a turtle monitoring project in Palawan. This year, Mahusay was promoted to head of the local patrol unit and research assistant for LAMAVE’s turtle project. Santo Niño is located in San Vicente, an agriculture and fishing municipality that is a vital nesting ground for olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea), classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. However, nesting turtles here face a myriad of challenges. The most prevalent is a largely unchecked stray dog population, but higher tides and more frequent storms caused by climate change loom large, as do plans to develop the area for mass tourism. LAMAVE patrollers find a predated nest in Santo Niño, San Vicente, Palawan, April 2026. Image by Rachel Duckett for Mongabay. On patrol During peak nesting season, volunteers and local patrollers walk more than 8 kilometers (about 5 miles) in five shifts each night and early morning. When they find a turtle, they’ll wait for her to finish nesting, shooing away dogs when necessary. Before she re-enters the water,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-a-community-is-helping-sea-turtles-hatch-in-the-philippines/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-a-community-is-helping-sea-turtles-hatch-in-the-philippines/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323904</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Melanesian nations announce intention to create massive ocean reserve corridor</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/melanesian-nations-announce-intention-to-create-massive-ocean-reserve-corridor/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/melanesian-nations-announce-intention-to-create-massive-ocean-reserve-corridor/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2026 17:16:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashley Yeong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/17151125/a.-%C2%A9Justin-Hofman-Massau-PNG-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323862</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Fiji, Melanesia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Culture, Fisheries, Fishing, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Protected Areas, Saltwater Fish, Traditional People, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A group of Pacific island nations have agreed to formally establish the Melanesian Ocean Corridor of Reserves (MOCOR), a massive transboundary marine protected area (MPA) that will span their territorial waters. Papua New Guinea (PNG), Vanuatu and Fiji made a joint declaration announcing plans for the corridor at the first Melanesian Ocean Summit in May. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A group of Pacific island nations have agreed to formally establish the Melanesian Ocean Corridor of Reserves (MOCOR), a massive transboundary marine protected area (MPA) that will span their territorial waters. Papua New Guinea (PNG), Vanuatu and Fiji made a joint declaration announcing plans for the corridor at the first Melanesian Ocean Summit in May. Solomon Islands joined the initiative in late June. Melanesia, a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific that also includes the French territory of New Caledonia and parts of Indonesia, is one of the world’s most biodiverse regions. Located in the Coral Triangle, its ocean waters contain an estimated 75% of known coral species, along with iconic marine megafauna, including sharks, rays, dugongs and whales. This part of the ocean is also a hotspot for the discovery of new species. “The initiative represents a bold and timely step forward, recognizing that our oceans do not end at national boundaries, and that our stewardship responsibilities must therefore extend across them,” 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Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka told leaders at the summit in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The U.S.-based NGO National Geographic Pristine Seas, the exploration and conservation partner of the MOCOR initiative, has confirmed to Mongabay that the MOCOR is an entirely separate initiative from the Melanesian Ocean Reserve (MOR), which was announced by Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and PNG at the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference in France. A variety of corals in the shallows off Manus Island, Papua New Guinea. Image courtesy of Ollie Velasco/&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/melanesian-nations-announce-intention-to-create-massive-ocean-reserve-corridor/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/melanesian-nations-announce-intention-to-create-massive-ocean-reserve-corridor/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323862</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fighting new oil blocks in the Congo Basin: Interview with activist Pascal Mirindi</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/fighting-new-oil-blocks-in-the-congo-basin-interview-with-activist-pascal-mirindi/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/fighting-new-oil-blocks-in-the-congo-basin-interview-with-activist-pascal-mirindi/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2026 15:49:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Dan Yessa]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/16122152/oil-in-drc-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323702</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Congo Basin, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Energy, Environment, Fellows, Forests, Fossil Fuels, Governance, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Mongabay.org, Oil, Oil Drilling, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Pascal Mirindi is a young environmental activist based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, born in Goma. He was a member of a nonviolent movement, La LUCHA, fighting for democracy in the DRC. La LUCHA initiated him into nonviolent activism, but he used that opportunity to fight for Congolese ecosystems. Since 2024, Mirindi has been [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Pascal Mirindi is a young environmental activist based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, born in Goma. He was a member of a nonviolent movement, La LUCHA, fighting for democracy in the DRC. La LUCHA initiated him into nonviolent activism, but he used that opportunity to fight for Congolese ecosystems. Since 2024, Mirindi has been one of the main resistance forces against mineral, oil and gas exploitation inside the Congo Basin. Through campaigns and community awareness, he and his colleagues have successfully driven out oil exploration inside Virunga National Park. Now, Mirindi is fighting against the exploitation of 30 new oil blocks that cover 72% of the Congo Green Corridor, the country’s most emblematic conservation project, which spans a large part of the Congo Basin, home to thousands of animals and a lifeline for many communities in the DRC. Mirindi spoke with Mongabay in June, discussing what it means to resist from the inside and make a difference on a global scale, protecting the homes of endangered species such as mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) and okapis (Okapia johnstoni), endemic to the region. Pascal Mirindi&#8217;s first visit with the director of Virunga National Park, Emmanuel de Merode, in 2022. Image courtesy of Pascal Mirindi. This interview has been translated from French and edited for length and clarity. Mongabay: Who is Pascal Mirindi? Pascal Mirindi: I am Congolese; I was born in Goma in 1999. I have been an activist since I was 15 years old. I started in the citizen&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/fighting-new-oil-blocks-in-the-congo-basin-interview-with-activist-pascal-mirindi/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323702</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rivers are not just water bodies: Interview with the Waterman Of Odisha</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/rivers-are-not-just-water-bodies-interview-with-the-waterman-of-odisha/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/rivers-are-not-just-water-bodies-interview-with-the-waterman-of-odisha/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2026 15:07:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Stephin Thomas]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/17095646/Fishing_In_Orissa-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323831</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation leadership, Environment, Fellows, Freshwater, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Mongabay.org, Natural Resources, Rivers, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Rivers are not just seen as water bodies in India, they are considered religious. From taking holy dips (a sacred act of faith in Hinduism, also called snan) for spiritual purification to scattering ashes after one&#8217;s death, it all starts and ends with rivers. While some see them as  religious spaces, others consider them recreational [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Rivers are not just seen as water bodies in India, they are considered religious. From taking holy dips (a sacred act of faith in Hinduism, also called snan) for spiritual purification to scattering ashes after one&#8217;s death, it all starts and ends with rivers. While some see them as  religious spaces, others consider them recreational spaces. For some, there is no life without rivers. But others have forgotten to see how deeply connected rivers are to everyday lives. With rivers like the Ganga (considered the holiest river in the country) drying up and urban Indian cities like Bengaluru facing water crises, Ranjan Panda, popularly known as the Waterman of Odisha, has spent more than three decades working on water conservation and climate advocacy closely with communities in Odisha, eastern India. “I want to be a living Earth citizen and not a dead Earth citizen,&#8221; Panda says. Panda&#8217;s work is especially important at a time when rural India faces groundwater depletion. India&#8217;s share of the world&#8217;s population is roughly 18%, while its share of renewable freshwater resources is only about 4%, a gap that increases the consequences of river degradation. Panda, a trained sociologist, has written widely on water, disasters and climate change-related mental health challenges affecting coastal communities in Odisha. He shares his insights on issues like coastal cities, displacement and the effects of climate change on communities. He is not just a researcher but has also been a journalist for a decade of his early life. He has been&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/rivers-are-not-just-water-bodies-interview-with-the-waterman-of-odisha/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/rivers-are-not-just-water-bodies-interview-with-the-waterman-of-odisha/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323831</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ancient rock structures help restore biodiversity on the US-Mexico border</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/ancient-rock-structures-help-restore-biodiversity-on-the-us-mexico-border/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/ancient-rock-structures-help-restore-biodiversity-on-the-us-mexico-border/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2026 10:49:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rose Shimberg]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/17103615/IMG_0265-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323477</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Mexico, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Agriculture, Climate Change, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Drought, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Impact Of Climate Change, In-situ Conservation, Nature-based climate solutions, Ranching, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CANANEA, Sonora — The day was windless. Long brown grasses speckled the landscape, and a stray tree erupted from the earth. The river channel was rusty, bone-dry. A pond that swells with summer rain glimmered on the horizon, but local rancher Eduardo Ríos Colores pointed toward the mountains, his finger tracing the route of a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CANANEA, Sonora — The day was windless. Long brown grasses speckled the landscape, and a stray tree erupted from the earth. The river channel was rusty, bone-dry. A pond that swells with summer rain glimmered on the horizon, but local rancher Eduardo Ríos Colores pointed toward the mountains, his finger tracing the route of a bone-dry streambed cutting through the landscape. “There was a time when this stream didn’t exist,” he said. “There used to be a lot of trees, and all the trees prevented erosion from the water. But … the trees have been drying up.” It was difficult to imagine the streambed swollen, rain-choked. But water in this region comes in all at once, in a deluge. As it races across the landscape, it forms deep channels like this one, creating sandy areas where new plants can’t grow. The land soon fails to support life, from the native grasses to migratory birds to the cattle that are the lifeline of ranchers like Ríos Colores. “Many people say that when water flows, it shouldn&#8217;t flow straight,” he continued. “Those serve to divert the water … so the current flows like a snake.” He was referring to his trincheras — hundreds of small rock structures peppering the streambed. The small, permeable barriers go on for more than a mile, spanning the channel, each small weir composed of dozens of fist-sized rocks. The trincheras, the Spanish word for “entrenchments,” were built in 2021 to slow down water, raising the water table&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/ancient-rock-structures-help-restore-biodiversity-on-the-us-mexico-border/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/ancient-rock-structures-help-restore-biodiversity-on-the-us-mexico-border/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323477</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal’s birdwatchers can fill gaps in conservation data</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/nepals-birdwatchers-can-fill-gaps-in-conservation-data/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/nepals-birdwatchers-can-fill-gaps-in-conservation-data/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2026 04:28:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/17042726/nepal-birdwatching-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=323824</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birding, Birds, Citizen Science, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, data, Ecotourism, Environment, Research, Science, Tourism, Travel, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nepal’s expanding birdwatching community offers a vital lifeline for both biodiversity monitoring and ecotourism, reports contributor Bibek Bhandari for Mongabay. According to a recent study, a growing interest in birdwatching, particularly among younger generations, is helping bridge gaps in ecological data while promoting Nepal as a birdwatching destination. Nepal is home to more than 900 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nepal’s expanding birdwatching community offers a vital lifeline for both biodiversity monitoring and ecotourism, reports contributor Bibek Bhandari for Mongabay. According to a recent study, a growing interest in birdwatching, particularly among younger generations, is helping bridge gaps in ecological data while promoting Nepal as a birdwatching destination. Nepal is home to more than 900 bird species, including the endemic spiny babbler (Turdoides nipalensis). Of these, 172 species are nationally threatened owing to urbanization, infrastructure development and climate change. The study surveyed 135 birdwatchers and found that only 37% shared their observations on citizen science platforms, such as eBird, or with bird conservation organizations, while 46% kept their records private. This lack of participation limits the overall impact of citizen science on regional conservation efforts, the study said. Hem Bahadur Katuwal, study co-author and an assistant professor at China’s Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, said  birdwatchers should record their observations of the species they spot, the number of individuals seen and where they saw the birds. These data are helpful in conservation, he said. “This helps in fulfilling the data gaps related to bird population and habitat,&#8221; Katuwal said. He added that the records also help researchers like him in assessing species&#8217; risk levels for Nepal&#8217;s national Red Data List. Beyond science, birdwatching presents an untapped economic opportunity for the country. While some birdwatchers spend up to 40,000 rupees ($260) per trip, according to the study, the travel sector remains dominated by trekking and religious tourism, said Ishana Thapa, CEO of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/nepals-birdwatchers-can-fill-gaps-in-conservation-data/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/nepals-birdwatchers-can-fill-gaps-in-conservation-data/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323824</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ronald Sanabria sought to make tourism more sustainable</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/ronald-sanabria-sought-to-make-tourism-more-sustainable/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/ronald-sanabria-sought-to-make-tourism-more-sustainable/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2026 00:13:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/14125659/Ronald-Sanabria-wall-facebook-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323354</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Costa Rica, and Mesoamerica]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Certification, Ecotourism, Obituary, and Tourism]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Tourism often reaches small places with large promises. It can bring money to forests, beaches, villages, parks, and old towns. A family guesthouse may become viable. A young person may have a reason to stay. It can help persuade a government that a forest has value if left standing. The same industry can also strain [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Tourism often reaches small places with large promises. It can bring money to forests, beaches, villages, parks, and old towns. A family guesthouse may become viable. A young person may have a reason to stay. It can help persuade a government that a forest has value if left standing. The same industry can also strain the places it sells. In many places, roads arrive before rules. Hotels take the best land. Water and waste are handled after the money has begun to flow. Wildlife, wages, and culture are folded into the business later, if they are dealt with at all. The traveler leaves with photographs. The community is left with the consequences. Ronald Sanabria spent much of his career between what tourism said it could do and what it actually did. For him, sustainable tourism meant work: credible standards, training, certification, purchasing decisions, local capacity, and steady persuasion. Tourism, he knew, was too fragmented for simple answers. The same trip might involve a hotel, a guide, a tour operator, a booking platform, a transport company, and a village association. The work had to reach those relationships, or sustainability would remain a claim. Sanabria, who died on July 1st, aged 57, was a Costa Rican engineer who became a central figure in sustainable tourism in Latin America and beyond. He joined the Rainforest Alliance in 1998, first in sustainable agriculture. Two years later, he began building its sustainable-tourism program. Over the next two decades, he worked with hotels, tour operators, community&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/ronald-sanabria-sought-to-make-tourism-more-sustainable/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/ronald-sanabria-sought-to-make-tourism-more-sustainable/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323354</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Chasing Deforestation’ in Liberia: Behind the scenes with Mongabay</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/chasing-deforestation-in-liberia-behind-the-scenes-with-mongabay/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/chasing-deforestation-in-liberia-behind-the-scenes-with-mongabay/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jul 2026 21:46:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15103439/Cocoa-12-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323482</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Chasing Deforestation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Liberia, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Biodiversity, Cacao, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Governance, Industrial Agriculture, Mongabay investigation, Natural Resources, Tropical Deforestation, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay’s investigation into deforestation in Liberia started with a tip from a source last year. “There’s deforestation, and a migrant rights issue,” they said. Areas along the border with Côte d&#8217;Ivoire were losing vast swaths of rainforest to cacao farming. It was the beginning of a months-long journey that led us from the Liberian jungle [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay’s investigation into deforestation in Liberia started with a tip from a source last year. “There’s deforestation, and a migrant rights issue,” they said. Areas along the border with Côte d&#8217;Ivoire were losing vast swaths of rainforest to cacao farming. It was the beginning of a months-long journey that led us from the Liberian jungle to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, and through the history of West African labor migration. &nbsp; As a features writer for Mongabay’s Africa bureau, my work has brought me across the world. I’ve covered conservation conflicts, climate change, and the legacy of commodity extraction. These stories are always a window into the interconnected forces of modern life: economic inequalities, history, ecological change, geopolitics, and so on. I often joke that environmental reporters are really on every beat at once. Our societies were built on the exploitation of nature, and control over resources is one of the most fundamental expressions of power. Scratch the surface of an environmental story, and you’ll find one about how decisions are made, who gets to sit at the table, and what really matters to them. But few stories I’ve covered in my career pulled as many threads together as this one did. Mongabay Features Writer Ashoka Mukpo interviewing FDA rangers in Grand Gedeh, Liberia. Photo by Ashoka Mukpo for Mongabay. The tip wasn’t the first I’d heard of land deals for cocoa production in southeastern Liberia, an area where I’ve worked and reported in the past. Since 2024, civil society&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/chasing-deforestation-in-liberia-behind-the-scenes-with-mongabay/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/chasing-deforestation-in-liberia-behind-the-scenes-with-mongabay/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323482</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The vanishing forests on Liberia’s cocoa frontier</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-vanishing-forests-on-liberias-cocoa-frontier/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-vanishing-forests-on-liberias-cocoa-frontier/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jul 2026 21:38:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15124037/Banner-image-Cocoa-28-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323492</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Chasing Deforestation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Liberia, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Business, Cacao, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Industrial Agriculture, Mongabay investigation, Natural Resources, Rainforests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[(GRAND GEDEH, Liberia) – Off in the woods beyond the ekki trees, a sharp crack cuts through the buzzing of insects. “It’s a tree falling,” says George Bowey, a baby-faced community eco-guard who works here in the proposed Kwa National Park, a thick tropical rainforest in southeastern Liberia. There are different ways to grow cacao. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[(GRAND GEDEH, Liberia) – Off in the woods beyond the ekki trees, a sharp crack cuts through the buzzing of insects. “It’s a tree falling,” says George Bowey, a baby-faced community eco-guard who works here in the proposed Kwa National Park, a thick tropical rainforest in southeastern Liberia. There are different ways to grow cacao. In one method, saplings are intercropped with other tree species so they form a diverse ecosystem. Or there’s another method, where plantation land is cleared by pouring gasoline on the base of native trees and setting their roots on fire so they wither and die. This is the method that migrant cacao workers from nearby Côte d’Ivoire have brought into Kwa. &nbsp; The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation&#8217;s George Bowey walks past a burned tree in the proposed Kwa National Park. Photo by Ashoka Mukpo for Mongabay. The sound of more trees falling echoes in the distance as Bowey picks his way through the bush. The other eco-guards and forest rangers here at Kwa call him “Gentle George.” With his upbeat personality, it’s not hard to see why. He bounds up a damp hillside, listing off some of the species found inside Kwa. “We got western chimpanzees, forest elephants, pygmy hippos, giant pangolins, white- and black-belly pangolins, we got a lot of animals in here, like leopards, golden cats, we got Diana monkeys, western black and white colobus, we got three types of crocodiles,” he says. Eventually he reaches his destination. The cool overgrowth suddenly gives way&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-vanishing-forests-on-liberias-cocoa-frontier/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-vanishing-forests-on-liberias-cocoa-frontier/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323492</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>From Mardi Gras to marsh: Glass Half Full turns party glass into Louisiana coastline</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/from-mardi-gras-to-marsh-glass-half-full-turns-party-glass-into-louisiana-coastline/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/from-mardi-gras-to-marsh-glass-half-full-turns-party-glass-into-louisiana-coastline/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jul 2026 20:06:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/16182043/GHF_FranKDV_Bottle-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323746</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Ecosystems, Environment, and Recycling]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NEW ORLEANS, U.S. — On a cold Saturday in late January, a parade floats rolls down Royal Street painted with the image of the Louisiana coastline, eroding away. The next float displays Lady Liberty gagged and locked behind a chain-link fence. This is Krewe du Vieux, the raunchy, mule-drawn satirical parade that has rolled through [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NEW ORLEANS, U.S. — On a cold Saturday in late January, a parade floats rolls down Royal Street painted with the image of the Louisiana coastline, eroding away. The next float displays Lady Liberty gagged and locked behind a chain-link fence. This is Krewe du Vieux, the raunchy, mule-drawn satirical parade that has rolled through New Orleans’ French Quarter for 40 years, making political jokes few others dare to make in public. Its 2026 theme is “Save the Wet Glands,” a play on “save the wetlands.” This year’s Krewe du Vieux Queen is Franziska Trautmann, the pink-haired co-founder and CEO of Glass Half Full, a business that takes the city’s glass bottles and turns them into sand used to rebuild Louisiana’s dwindling coast. Growing up here, the coastal erosion crisis is “like the boogeyman,” Trautmann told me outside the Glass Half Full facility in Chalmette, Louisiana. “It’s this overwhelming thing looming in the distance.” Krewe du Vieux is a satirical parade that has rolled through New Orleans for 40 years. Its 2026 theme is “Save the Wet Glands,” a play on “save the wetlands.”  Photo by Liz Kimbrough for Mongabay. A Krewe du Vieux float depicts Louisiana&#8217;s eroding coastline and current Louisiana governor during their February 2026 parade. Photo by Liz Kimbrough for Mongabay. Most locals have heard the statistics: roughly a football field of Louisiana is lost to the sea every hour. Large areas of grassy marshes and tree-laden swamps that once knit the coast together have succumbed to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/from-mardi-gras-to-marsh-glass-half-full-turns-party-glass-into-louisiana-coastline/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/from-mardi-gras-to-marsh-glass-half-full-turns-party-glass-into-louisiana-coastline/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323746</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Gray whales are suffering catastrophic population decline in the Pacific Ocean</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/gray-whales-are-suffering-catastrophic-population-decline-in-the-pacific-ocean/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/gray-whales-are-suffering-catastrophic-population-decline-in-the-pacific-ocean/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jul 2026 18:27:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/16180029/gray-whale-gray_whaleretouched-altered.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=323744</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biology, Cetaceans, Climate Change, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Marine Protected Areas, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Protected Areas, Research, Science, Shipping, Species, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Gray whales are experiencing a potentially catastrophic population decline, a sharp reversal from what had been considered a conservation success. As of July 6, 2026, there were 145 gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) stranding deaths in the Pacific, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data. The environmental non-profit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Gray whales are experiencing a potentially catastrophic population decline, a sharp reversal from what had been considered a conservation success. As of July 6, 2026, there were 145 gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) stranding deaths in the Pacific, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data. The environmental non-profit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) estimates that for every one stranded gray whale observed, another nine or more may have died at sea, meaning another 1,305 gray whales may have died this year without anyone knowing. Scientists consider such a rate of gray whale deaths a “catastrophic mortality event.” In 2019, there were roughly 20,500 gray whales; by 2023, the population had declined to 14,526 individuals, nearly 30% of the entire population gone in four years. The whale’s population was already greatly reduced by a century of whaling, but protection under the Endangered Species Act had helped the species recover. Gray whales live in the eastern North Pacific and migrate between 16,000 and 22,500 kilometers (10,000 and 14,000 miles) from their winter calving lagoons off Baja California, Mexico, to their Arctic feeding grounds. But climate change is disrupting the Arctic food web on which the gray whales depend. The whales are coastal bottom feeders and use baleen plates inside their mouths to filter tiny invertebrates from the seafloor or benthic layer. Warming temperatures and earlier-than-usual ice melt mean that phytoplankton bloom earlier and are eaten before they can fall to the seafloor to feed benthic invertebrates and, ultimately, gray whales.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/gray-whales-are-suffering-catastrophic-population-decline-in-the-pacific-ocean/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323744</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Amazon deforestation falls to 10-year low in first half of 2026</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/amazon-deforestation-falls-to-10-year-low-in-first-half-of-2026/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/amazon-deforestation-falls-to-10-year-low-in-first-half-of-2026/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jul 2026 15:37:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/06165440/CV_Black_Carbon_Brazil_Victor_01-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=323722</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Avoided Deforestation, Climate, Deforestation, Ecosystems, El Nino, Environment, Environmental Policy, Extreme Weather, Fires, Forests, Governance, Politics, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Saving Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has fallen to its lowest level in the past 10 years, according to satellite data published by Brazil’s National Space Agency (INPE). Between January and June 2025, a total of 2,090 square kilometers (807 square miles) of deforestation was recorded in the Brazilian Amazon. In the same months of 2026, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has fallen to its lowest level in the past 10 years, according to satellite data published by Brazil’s National Space Agency (INPE). Between January and June 2025, a total of 2,090 square kilometers (807 square miles) of deforestation was recorded in the Brazilian Amazon. In the same months of 2026, the total deforested area was 1,295 sq km (500 sq mi), marking a 38% decrease. &#8220;This shows that the political will to fight deforestation has prevailed,&#8221; Ane Alencar, science director at the Amazon Environmental Research Institute, said in a statement. &#8220;From a scientific standpoint, this is evidence that deforestation is not an inevitable process and its reduction is responsive to decisions made by society and the government.” Alencar said that a drop in deforestation does not mean that the Amazon is protected. Threats, including illegal gold mining and forest fires, are still concerns. In 2024, fire accounted for an estimated 60% of primary forest loss in the Brazilian Amazon. Still more forest was cleared in the first half of 2025, according to INPE, with an increase in forest loss of 27% compared with the same period in 2024. In the first half of 2026, however, the area of the Amazon that burned was nearly 40% smaller than the 2013-25 historic average, João Paulo Sotero, director of deforestation and fire policy with Brazil&#8217;s Environment Ministry, told Mongabay in a video interview. Forecasts of a “super” El Niño through the second half of 2026 have put Brazil&#8217;s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/amazon-deforestation-falls-to-10-year-low-in-first-half-of-2026/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323722</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Invasive giant prawn spreads through protected areas in Brazil</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/invasive-giant-prawn-spreads-through-protected-areas-in-brazil/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/invasive-giant-prawn-spreads-through-protected-areas-in-brazil/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jul 2026 15:33:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Evanildo da Silveira]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/16153119/Giant_Malaysian_Prawn-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323715</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Invasive Species, Marine, Marine Animals, Oceans, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The stealthy and increasingly persistent presence of an exotic species — the giant river prawn— in Brazil’s coastal ecosystems has been raising numerous alarms among scientists, fishers and environmental managers. Introduced in the country in the late 20th century to supply the growing aquaculture industry, the prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) is no longer limited to captive [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The stealthy and increasingly persistent presence of an exotic species — the giant river prawn— in Brazil’s coastal ecosystems has been raising numerous alarms among scientists, fishers and environmental managers. Introduced in the country in the late 20th century to supply the growing aquaculture industry, the prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) is no longer limited to captive breeding. The species has established itself in extremely sensitive natural environments, including protected areas. A study conducted by researchers from Brazil and Uruguay was published in February, revealing the extent of the problem and detailing the ecological and environmental risks associated with the giant prawn “invasion” — negative aspects that, according to experts, may intensify in the coming years. Led by oceanographer Edison Barbieri, director of the São Paulo Fisheries Institute’s Southern Coast Regional Research Center, the work was driven by the scientific community’s growing concern regarding biological invasions in estuarine ecosystems. These systems, which also include mangroves, are located in areas of transition between rivers and the ocean and are widely recognized for their biodiversity. Estuarine zones serve as nurseries for numerous aquatic species, including fish and crustaceans of ecological importance and economic potential. At the same time, these delicate transitional environments are susceptible to the introduction of exotic species, which then compete with native fauna for different vital resources. According to Barbieri, the study — conducted between 2015 and 2025 — started from an observation: While the intrusive prawn had been seen in different regions of Brazil, there was no systematic monitoring in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/invasive-giant-prawn-spreads-through-protected-areas-in-brazil/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323715</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Beasts of the East’ chronicles the unheralded restoration successes of America’s eastern wildlife</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/beasts-of-the-east-chronicles-the-unheralded-restoration-successes-of-americas-eastern-wildlife/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/beasts-of-the-east-chronicles-the-unheralded-restoration-successes-of-americas-eastern-wildlife/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jul 2026 14:26:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15191023/Kentucky-Elk-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323641</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Books, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Culture, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Landscape Restoration, Media, Reintroductions, Restoration, Rewilding, Solutions, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Thinking of America&#8217;s iconic wild creatures and places usually brings images of Yellowstone or Denali National Park to mind, or the many wilderness areas scattered across multiple states, but the collective imagination generally passes over the East Coast, with its long history of human settlement and large urban population centers. However, a new book by [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Thinking of America&#8217;s iconic wild creatures and places usually brings images of Yellowstone or Denali National Park to mind, or the many wilderness areas scattered across multiple states, but the collective imagination generally passes over the East Coast, with its long history of human settlement and large urban population centers. However, a new book by Andrew Moore, “Beasts of the East: The Fall and Rise of America’s Eastern Wilderness” contains a collection of inspiring narratives which argues that this is a mistake. Through a combination of science, effort, imagination and policy, the East has seen a great resurgence of wildlife and wildlands through reintroductions, ecological restoration, and rewilding that adds up to one of this year’s most eye-opening reads. In an interview with Mongabay, Moore discussed themes in his book chronicling this underreported story, and his responses have been edited lightly. Chris Lucash releases a red wolf in northeastern North Carolina in 2004. Image courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Mongabay: What did wildlife populations in the U.S. East look like pre-European settlement, and afterward for a while before resource extraction and agriculture became rampant across the landscape, that might surprise readers to know? Andrew Moore: Picture first the landscape: bigger, wetter, wilder in all ways, and frequently on fire. And then fill this natural area with massive animals, including whooping cranes and sandhill cranes, black bears, deer, plus overwhelming flocks of Carolina parakeets and passenger pigeons. Imagine sprawling meadows and tallgrass prairies filled with bison and elk —&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/beasts-of-the-east-chronicles-the-unheralded-restoration-successes-of-americas-eastern-wildlife/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/beasts-of-the-east-chronicles-the-unheralded-restoration-successes-of-americas-eastern-wildlife/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323641</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In the Canadian Arctic, an experiment aims to stabilize thinning sea ice</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-the-canadian-arctic-an-experiment-aims-to-stabilize-thinning-sea-ice/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-the-canadian-arctic-an-experiment-aims-to-stabilize-thinning-sea-ice/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jul 2026 14:08:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15131526/Copy-of-Copy-of-20250120_Real-Ice_Elise-Imbeau_POLAR-POLAIRE-27-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323534</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arctic and Canada]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Ecosystems, Environment, Geoengineering, Marine, Sea Ice, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous peoples living in the Arctic rely on sea ice for many aspects of their lives, from hunting and fishing to travel and cultural practices. Owing to human-driven climate change, the ice is disappearing at an alarming pace. According to data compiled by NASA and the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous peoples living in the Arctic rely on sea ice for many aspects of their lives, from hunting and fishing to travel and cultural practices. Owing to human-driven climate change, the ice is disappearing at an alarming pace. According to data compiled by NASA and the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), a research organization based at the University of Colorado Boulder, the extent of Arctic sea ice cover has decreased by more than 12% per decade since satellite records began. Scientists even predict that the region could experience its first near-ice-free summer as early as the 2030s. The loss of sea ice threatens coastal communities in many ways, jeopardizing traditional livelihoods while accelerating coastal erosion and amplifying the impacts of sea level rise. To slow the melting of Arctic ice, researchers have proposed a number of innovative but controversial solutions, including spreading glass beads across the ice to bounce sunlight back into space, and spraying sea-salt aerosols into low-lying clouds to increase their reflectivity to slow down heating effects. In 2017, astrophysicist Steven Desch also proposed what was then considered a wild idea: Using millions of wind-powered pumps to draw seawater onto the surface of the ice during winter, allowing it to freeze and thicken the ice sheet. Real Ice, a UK-government-funded and UK-based climate tech startup, is attempting to thicken sea ice in the Canadian Arctic by drilling holes in it and pumping seawater onto the surface during winter. Image courtesy of Real Ice. At the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-the-canadian-arctic-an-experiment-aims-to-stabilize-thinning-sea-ice/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323534</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous advocates push for rights protections around AI data centers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indigenous-advocates-push-for-rights-protections-around-ai-data-centers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indigenous-advocates-push-for-rights-protections-around-ai-data-centers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jul 2026 13:59:35 +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/20/2026/07/16134609/emrip-4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323706</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Artificial Intelligence, Data centers, Development, Economics, Energy, Environment, Human Rights, Infrastructure, Technology, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Artificial intelligence is said to be the transformative technology of our time, with the potential to reshape our world on a global scale, according to research. Yet AI&#8217;s potential is underpinned by the need for hyperscale data centers, the large, energy-intensive sites that house servers and IT equipment. As tech companies and governments continue to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Artificial intelligence is said to be the transformative technology of our time, with the potential to reshape our world on a global scale, according to research. Yet AI&#8217;s potential is underpinned by the need for hyperscale data centers, the large, energy-intensive sites that house servers and IT equipment. As tech companies and governments continue to develop this infrastructure at scale, Indigenous peoples from Brazil to Canada affected by the projects have responded in different ways. Some have raised concerns about pressure on water resources and inadequate consultation, while others have embraced the projects for their economic benefits. In July 2026, at a meeting of the U.N. Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), Indigenous leaders, government representatives and experts called for data center projects to comply with the principles of free, prior and informed consent, or FPIC. They also explored whether growing AI infrastructure can be developed in ways that advance Indigenous priorities and rights. During a panel discussion on the second day of the EMRIP meeting, Indigenous delegates said that policies to ensure that AI does not harvest Indigenous knowledge without consent are of equal importance to protections for Indigenous lands and waters. “AI is resource-intensive and requires vast amounts of energy,” said Maren Storslett, a member of the Sámi Parliament in Norway at the meeting. “In Sápmi, we already see how large data centers put [immense] pressure on our territories. This forces a conversation about priorities and limits and we need to be at the table&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indigenous-advocates-push-for-rights-protections-around-ai-data-centers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323706</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>What living in one of the world&#8217;s hottest towns feels like</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/what-living-in-one-of-the-worlds-hottest-towns-feels-like/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/what-living-in-one-of-the-worlds-hottest-towns-feels-like/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jul 2026 13:57:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/16125356/AP26196538423127-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=323692</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Earth Science, Environment, Extreme Weather, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Heatwave, Impact Of Climate Change, Public Health, Research, Science, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANDA, India (AP) — The northern Indian town of Banda has endured weeks of extreme heat, with daytime temperatures repeatedly reaching 115 Fahrenheit and nighttime lows staying above 93 F. Banda has repeatedly ranked among India&#8217;s hottest cities, with temperatures peaking at 118 F. Climatologist and weather historian Maximiliano Herrera also said Banda was the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANDA, India (AP) — The northern Indian town of Banda has endured weeks of extreme heat, with daytime temperatures repeatedly reaching 115 Fahrenheit and nighttime lows staying above 93 F. Banda has repeatedly ranked among India&#8217;s hottest cities, with temperatures peaking at 118 F. Climatologist and weather historian Maximiliano Herrera also said Banda was the hottest spot on Earth seven times this year, most of them in April. Brief spells of rain have brought only temporary relief. Residents, long accustomed to scorching summers, are now changing their daily routines to cope, beginning work at the vegetable market by 4 a.m. or shifting hours to avoid the afternoon heat. A patient receiving oxygen lies on a hospital bed while suffering from a heat-related illness amid high temperatures during a heat wave in Banda, northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Friday, June 19, 2026. Image by Rajesh Kumar Singh via Associated Press Children gather around a mobile phone as local residents rest at a railway station to escape the heat in Banda, northern Indian state of Utter Pradesh, Saturday, June 20, 2026 Image by Rajesh Kumar Singh via Associated Press Residents sleep on the platform of a railway station to escape the heat in Banda, northern Indian state of Utter Pradesh, Saturday, June 20 , 2026. Image by Rajesh Kumar Singh via Associated Press Bird conservationist Shobharam Kashyap holds wooden birdhouses he makes for sparrows during a heat wave in Banda, northern Indian state of Utter Pradesh, Saturday, June 20, 2026. Image&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/what-living-in-one-of-the-worlds-hottest-towns-feels-like/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/what-living-in-one-of-the-worlds-hottest-towns-feels-like/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323692</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Meat giant JBS silently ditches bolder environmental targets in latest review</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/meat-giant-jbs-silently-ditches-bolder-environmental-targets-in-latest-review/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/meat-giant-jbs-silently-ditches-bolder-environmental-targets-in-latest-review/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jul 2026 11:13:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/26193914/03_amazon_cattle_confinement_fernando_martinho-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=323683</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Global, North America, South America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Beef, Business, Carbon Emissions, Cattle, Climate Change, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Emission Reduction, Environment, Food, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Livestock, Meat, Tropical Deforestation, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The world’s largest meatpacking company, JBS, has scrapped two of its key environmental goals in its latest annual sustainability report. JBS’s “Net Zero by 2040,” which aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout its supply chain, and zero deforestation targets were substantially rolled back compared to previous years, according to its 2025 Sustainability report, published July [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The world’s largest meatpacking company, JBS, has scrapped two of its key environmental goals in its latest annual sustainability report. JBS’s “Net Zero by 2040,” which aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout its supply chain, and zero deforestation targets were substantially rolled back compared to previous years, according to its 2025 Sustainability report, published July 8. Instead, the company redesigned its targets with a focus solely on its most direct emissions, called Scope 1 and Scope 2. Those include direct emissions from JBS factories, vehicles, and electricity provided to its facilities. Indirect emissions, called Scope 3, make up the vast majority of the company’s emissions and were dropped. Those include methane from cows, and transportation and deforestation emissions from supplier farms. “Backtracking on measurable targets doesn’t diminish the scrutiny JBS will face for its climate and nature-wrecking record of pollution, deforestation, land grabbing, human rights abuses and corruption,” Gemma Hoskins, global climate lead at U.S.-based environmental nonprofit Mighty Earth, wrote in a statement. Until 2025, JBS touted a commitment to “zero illegal deforestation in all Brazilian biomes by the end of 2025 for direct and indirect cattle suppliers,” Mongabay previously reported. JBS justified the change by saying it’s difficult to control indirect emissions. “Bold ambition is fine, but you now need to actually have really good, measurable, accountable goals. And that’s what we’re doing — we’re now setting goals that we believe where we have operational control,” Jason Weller, JBS’s chief sustainability officer, told the Financial Times. JBS operates more than 250 meat production facilities, mostly in Brazil and the U.S. It&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/meat-giant-jbs-silently-ditches-bolder-environmental-targets-in-latest-review/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323683</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>European Commission excludes leather from landmark deforestation law</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/european-commission-excludes-leather-from-landmark-deforestation-law/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/european-commission-excludes-leather-from-landmark-deforestation-law/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jul 2026 10:10:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/16100800/GP01XCY-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=323681</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, Global, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Business, Cattle, Commodity agriculture, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, EUDR, Forest Destruction, Forest Products, Governance, International Trade, Law, leather, Livestock, Natural Resources, Threats To Rainforests, Trade, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The European Union has dropped leather from its final list of products targeted under the bloc’s landmark antideforestation law. Experts say the July 13 decision is the result of industry lobbying rather than a true reflection of leather’s deforestation footprint. The EU deforestation regulation, or EUDR, mandates that companies selling commodities such as cattle, soy, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The European Union has dropped leather from its final list of products targeted under the bloc’s landmark antideforestation law. Experts say the July 13 decision is the result of industry lobbying rather than a true reflection of leather’s deforestation footprint. The EU deforestation regulation, or EUDR, mandates that companies selling commodities such as cattle, soy, palm oil and cacao in the European market must prove their supply chains aren’t sourcing from recently deforested land. The law is currently set to take effect at the end of this year, following two years of delays. It has faced a series of revisions that effectively weaken the law since it was first passed. “The decision to exclude leather from the EUDR is deeply disappointing. It ignores strong evidence linking European consumption of leather to deforestation in Latin America,” Fyfe Strachan, policy lead at U.K.-based watchdog organization Earthsight, wrote in an email statement. “It overlooks the voices of EU citizens from the recent public consultation and instead prioritizes the interests of industry lobbies,” she added. As Mongabay recently reported, the European Commission’s own research concluded that leather could account for up to 17% of the deforestation footprint linked to imports covered by the EUDR. Transparency records compiled by the nonprofit LobbyFacts revealed that leather industry groups met with lawmakers at least 22 times since 2021, and the EUDR was explicitly listed as a discussion topic in 11 of the meetings. The lobbying efforts were led by two Italian leather tannery unions, COTANCE and Unione&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/european-commission-excludes-leather-from-landmark-deforestation-law/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323681</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>War heightens isolation of Iran&#8217;s scientists</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/war-heightens-isolation-of-irans-scientists/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/war-heightens-isolation-of-irans-scientists/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jul 2026 04:12:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/16040818/Conservationists-with-AvayeBoom-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=323665</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Iran, and Middle East]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Extinction, Finance, Funding, NGOs, Politics, Research, Science, Social Conflict, War, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The ongoing war in Iran, which began following a joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Feb. 28, has intensified the long-standing isolation of the country&#8217;s wildlife conservation community, Mongabay’s John Cannon reports. While the current war has directly hindered research and damaged educational facilities, conservationists and researchers said that decades of international sanctions and political disconnect had [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The ongoing war in Iran, which began following a joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Feb. 28, has intensified the long-standing isolation of the country&#8217;s wildlife conservation community, Mongabay’s John Cannon reports. While the current war has directly hindered research and damaged educational facilities, conservationists and researchers said that decades of international sanctions and political disconnect had already crippled Iranian conservation efforts long before the first bombs fell this year. “Iran’s nature, Iranian conservationists and Iranian researchers have been isolated for a long time,” Iman Ebrahimi, deputy director of the Isfahan-based NGO AvayeBoom Bird Conservation Society, told Mongabay. “The war has made that isolation more visible, but it did not create it.” This isolation has restricted access to global funding, professional collaboration, and basic research tools such as reliable internet, academic journals and robust banking channels. AvayeBoom continues to monitor the conflict’s effect on critical habitats. During a brief ceasefire in April, the team documented at least 5,000 greater flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) at Maharloo Lake, a salt lake that was full of water at the time. Ebrahimi said industries and agricultural activities were possibly drawing less water from the lake. The nonprofit also works with local communities around the Arjan wetland to protect bird species like the ruddy shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea). The wetland is part of the UNESCO-listed Arjan and Parishan Biosphere Reserve, in southwestern Iran, home to thousands of species, but also illegal bird hunting. Ebrahimi expressed concern about researchers who are forced to leave the country due to a lack&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/war-heightens-isolation-of-irans-scientists/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323665</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Like ‘climbing Kilimanjaro’ without help: Interview with a Limpopo conservationist</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/like-climbing-kilimanjaro-without-help-interview-with-a-limpopo-conservationist/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/like-climbing-kilimanjaro-without-help-interview-with-a-limpopo-conservationist/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 19:34:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bernard Chiguvare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15161815/Baobab-Adansonia-digitata-limpopo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323589</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Fellows, Forestry, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Landscape Restoration, Logging, Mongabay.org, Plants, Restoration, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Limpopo province, in the far north of South Africa, where much of the population lives in rural areas, environmental conservation is often not considered very often. Instead, the residents spend much of their time trying to make a living either from the forestry around them or from fishing in the Mutale and Limpopo rivers. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Limpopo province, in the far north of South Africa, where much of the population lives in rural areas, environmental conservation is often not considered very often. Instead, the residents spend much of their time trying to make a living either from the forestry around them or from fishing in the Mutale and Limpopo rivers. But for Mutale resident Tshilidzi Mulugana, degradation of the local environment is a concern, as it will affect the community and endanger biodiversity. Mulugana is the founder of the Niani Youth Development organization whose mission is to educate local youth. He wants to make a change in the community, to help residents conserve the environment. Mulugana is afraid the next generation may not live to know indigenous tree species — yet these trees serve as traditional medicine. He noted several threats to indigenous species such as baobab (Adansonia genus), leadwood (Combretum imberbe), mopani (Colophospermum mopane) and marula (Sclerocarya birrea): recurring floods, the movement of elephant herds from neighboring Zimbabwe or Mozambique through the area, and traders who cut the trees to sell as firewood. In 2019, Mulugana began a grassroots conservation initiative focused on planting indigenous trees. One day, an official from Kruger National Park (KNP) — a walkable distance from where he lives — came across Mulugana, attracted to his project. The official later invited a representative from the forestry and fisheries department, and in 2024, the two groups funded the project. Mulugana also hoped to recruit community members to help with the work,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/like-climbing-kilimanjaro-without-help-interview-with-a-limpopo-conservationist/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323589</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New colobus monkey, &#8216;Likweli&#8217;, confirmed in DRC</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/new-colobus-monkey-likweli-confirmed-in-drc/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/new-colobus-monkey-likweli-confirmed-in-drc/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 19:16:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15100254/Likweli-Bernard-Bonanga-4-Jan-2021-cropped-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=323471</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mammals, Monkeys, New Discovery, Primates, Research, Science, Species, Species Discovery, Threatened species, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2008, wildlife researchers surveying a massive, underexplored forested region in the Democratic Republic of Congo photographed a black monkey. That region eventually became Lomami National Park. And now, nearly 20 years later, the team has confirmed in a study that the black primate is a new-to-science species of colobus monkey. The monkey isn’t well [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2008, wildlife researchers surveying a massive, underexplored forested region in the Democratic Republic of Congo photographed a black monkey. That region eventually became Lomami National Park. And now, nearly 20 years later, the team has confirmed in a study that the black primate is a new-to-science species of colobus monkey. The monkey isn’t well known by local communities, but those who have encountered it call it likweli, said John Hart, study lead author and scientific director at the Lukuru Wildlife Research Foundation, which spearheaded the creation of Lomami. The researchers have given the monkey the scientific name Colobus congoensis. Both male and female likweli are almost entirely black. What makes the species easy to distinguish from other colobus monkeys is a prominent patch of pinkish to orange-cream bare skin surrounding the mouth, Hart told Mongabay in a video call. When the likweli was first photographed in 2008, it was one of several monkeys the researchers couldn’t identify. “They are not in our field guides,” Terese Hart, the Lukuru foundation director, wrote in a blog post in 2008. Another of those monkeys, locally named lesula, also turned out to be new to science and was scientifically described as Cercopithecus lomamiensis in 2012. With the focus on the lesula and conservation work in the area, the likweli went on the back burner, John said. It was only 10 years later, in 2018, that local field researcher Jean Pierre Kapale photographed likweli several times during surveillance patrols and surveys. Kapale insisted the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/07/new-colobus-monkey-likweli-confirmed-in-drc/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323471</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>No corporation can buy the ‘right to destroy’: Interview with activist Raja Waseem Ahmed</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/no-corporation-can-buy-the-right-to-destroy-interview-with-activist-raja-waseem-ahmed/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/no-corporation-can-buy-the-right-to-destroy-interview-with-activist-raja-waseem-ahmed/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 19:09:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Muhammad Talal]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15144500/Katas_Raj_Temples_Near_Katas_Village_Punjab_Pakistan_10-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323388</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Pakistan, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Business, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Culture, Development, Environment, Environmental Law, extractives, Fellows, Governance, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, and Mongabay.org]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For generations, the Kahoon Valley in Pakistan’s Chakwal district in northwestern Punjab has thrived as a rich ecological haven. Its fertile soil has yielded lush, historical loquat orchards, while the surrounding scrub forests have provided vital refuge to diverse wildlife, including local peacock populations and rare mountain deer species. At the center of this landscape [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For generations, the Kahoon Valley in Pakistan’s Chakwal district in northwestern Punjab has thrived as a rich ecological haven. Its fertile soil has yielded lush, historical loquat orchards, while the surrounding scrub forests have provided vital refuge to diverse wildlife, including local peacock populations and rare mountain deer species. At the center of this landscape sit the Katas Raj Temples, an ancient Hindu pilgrimage site anchoring the region’s profound spiritual heritage. However, the unchecked expansion of mega cement factories in the early 2000s transformed this natural sanctuary into a toxic industrial zone. Relentless industrial pumping reportedly caused the water table to crash from 36 meters (120 feet) to 122 m (402 ft). This extreme depletion withered the famous loquat trees and displaced native birds, also draining the sacred Katas Raj pond. Determined to save his homeland from erasure, Raja Waseem Ahmed, an environmental activist, brought together residents from neighboring villages to establish the Kahoon Protection Committee to defend the Kahoon Valley against the extreme ecological and social damages caused by heavy industrialization. Waseem utilized environmental legislation and led a forensic legal campaign that exposed the manipulated environmental approval documents eventually driving the Supreme Court of Pakistan to intervene on its own accord, resulting in a historic verdict that banned factories from draining local groundwater and slapped the industry with huge fines. In retaliation for his activism, Waseem was struck by unjustified anti-terrorism lawsuits, temporarily exiled from his native district by local authorities, and subjected to stress so harsh that it&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/no-corporation-can-buy-the-right-to-destroy-interview-with-activist-raja-waseem-ahmed/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323388</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Community conservation under fire: Interview with Myanmar’s Clean Mountains founder</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/community-conservation-under-fire-interview-with-myanmars-clean-mountains-founder/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/community-conservation-under-fire-interview-with-myanmars-clean-mountains-founder/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 18:51:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Esther J]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/13175110/4-Local-community-in-Karenni-collect-garbage-2025-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323228</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Myanmar, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Degraded Lands, Environment, Fellows, forest degradation, Gender, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Mongabay.org, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Myanmar experienced a military coup in February 2021. In the aftermath, widespread repression by the military regime fueled the emergence of armed resistance movements across the country, pushing an ongoing conflict to its most intense level in decades. Starting from 2024, the military&#8217;s conscription law has further threatened the lives and futures of young people, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Myanmar experienced a military coup in February 2021. In the aftermath, widespread repression by the military regime fueled the emergence of armed resistance movements across the country, pushing an ongoing conflict to its most intense level in decades. Starting from 2024, the military&#8217;s conscription law has further threatened the lives and futures of young people, forcing thousands to leave the country. Meanwhile, environmental degradation continues to worsen. People are facing multiple crises, including environmental destruction caused by the overexploitation of natural resources, natural disasters, armed conflict, and human rights violations by the military regime. The democratic freedoms that used to exist during the five years of semi-civilian government before the coup have disappeared. Within this context, environmental activism and conservation efforts have widely faded. Yet, against this backdrop, the environmental group Clean Mountains was established in 2024 and is based in the conflict-affected states of Karenni (Kayah) and Karen (Kayin), areas controlled by resistance forces. The organization — funded through grants and donations — is a small, women-led team of four members between the ages of 22 and 28. The group&#8217;s founder, Ou Ou, 27, leads Clean Mountains in implementing community-based conservation in conflict-affected mountainous regions, focusing on waste management, water conservation, sustainable agriculture and forest conservation. Ou Ou, founder of Clean Mountains, attends an awareness session on waste management in Bago region, 2025. Image courtesy of Clean Mountains. Through both her previous organization and Clean Mountains, waste management systems have been established in more than 130 villages, including 15&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/community-conservation-under-fire-interview-with-myanmars-clean-mountains-founder/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323228</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazil lists the Amazon river turtle as endangered for the first time</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/brazil-lists-the-amazon-river-turtle-as-endangered-for-the-first-time/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/brazil-lists-the-amazon-river-turtle-as-endangered-for-the-first-time/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 18:37:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Karla Mendes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15173950/BANNER-n.-%C2%A9-Andres-Camilo-Montes-Correa-original-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323320</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Freshwater, Herps, Reptiles, Rivers, Turtles, Turtles And Tortoises, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A food staple and once a common sight, the Amazon turtle is now officially endangered as its population halves.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A traditional food source for Amazonian communities, freshwater turtles have been included in Brazil&#8217;s list of fauna threatened with extinction for the first time. The cágado-iaçá, or six-tubercled Amazon River turtle, had its risk elevated from near threatened to endangered in a new national list recently released by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. Known in the Amazon as tracajás, freshwater turtles have been classified as nearly threatened for a long time, but it&#8217;s the first time that one of its species was classified as endangered, said Marília Marini, general coordinator of conservation strategies at ICMBio, the Brazilian agency in charge of conservation units. &#8220;For the Amazon, the main highlight is the inclusion of the tracajá,&#8221; Marini told Mongabay by phone. &#8220;That is a more delicate situation, because it also involves [traditional] communities that use them [for subsistence]. So, great care is needed regarding communication and how to direct actions — ensuring they don&#8217;t negatively affect those communities that have historically coexisted with the area.&#8221; Despite protection programs and conservation efforts, cágado-iaçá&#8217;s (Podocnemis sextuberculata) populations over the past 36 years — equivalent to three generations — declined by more than 50% in Amazonas and western Pará states, which accounts for approximately 70% of the species&#8217; total distribution, leading to an endangered classification, according to ICMBio&#8217;s Biodiversity Extinction Risk Assessment System (SALVE). Six-tubercled Amazon River turtle (Podocnemis sextoberculata). Image by © Rafael Bernhard via iNaturalist. CC BY 4.0. Six-tubercled Amazon River turtle (Podocnemis sextoberculata). Image by © Andrés Camilo Montes-Correa&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/brazil-lists-the-amazon-river-turtle-as-endangered-for-the-first-time/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323320</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sitesh Ranjan Deb turned a hunter’s knowledge to saving wildlife</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/sitesh-ranjan-deb-turned-a-hunters-knowledge-to-saving-wildlife/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/sitesh-ranjan-deb-turned-a-hunters-knowledge-to-saving-wildlife/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 18:06:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15180210/Sitesh-Ranjan-Deb-header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323630</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Bangladesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Obituary, Wildlife, Wildlife Rehabilitation, and Wildlife Rescues]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The bear came out of the forest with enough force to kill him. It mauled the hunter badly and cost him an eye. He spent three months in a hospital recovering. There, he began asking himself questions that had not troubled him much before. Why was he hunting? Why was he killing? Hunting had come [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The bear came out of the forest with enough force to kill him. It mauled the hunter badly and cost him an eye. He spent three months in a hospital recovering. There, he began asking himself questions that had not troubled him much before. Why was he hunting? Why was he killing? Hunting had come to him through his family. His father and grandfather were known around Sreemangal, in northeastern Bangladesh, for killing leopards, wild boars, and other animals that threatened people or crops. As a boy, he accompanied his father into the forest. After his father died, he continued hunting. He became a gunsmith and a guide, familiar with animal tracks, forest paths, and the habits of creatures that most people encountered only by accident. Sitesh Ranjon Deb holds a pair of jungle cats in his house in Sreemangol, Bangladesh. Image via Agence France-Presse (AFP) After the bear attack, Sitesh Ranjan Deb, who died on July 14th, gave up hunting. He began capturing injured animals, removing snakes from houses, treating wildlife recovered from traffickers, and returning animals to the forest. The grounds of his home became a treatment center. It eventually developed into the Bangladesh Wildlife Service Foundation, one of the country’s best-known privately established wildlife-rescue institutions. The center remained closely tied to his household. Its patients occupied bedrooms, courtyards, cages, and improvised treatment spaces. Jungle-cat cubs, pythons, slow lorises, monkeys, birds, and other animals passed through. Those requiring constant attention stayed close to the family. Deb kept photographs&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/sitesh-ranjan-deb-turned-a-hunters-knowledge-to-saving-wildlife/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323630</doi>				</item>
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