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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/uganda/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<title>Uganda environmental news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/uganda/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Elephants return to Mount Elgon side of Uganda after four decades</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/elephants-return-to-mount-elgon-side-of-uganda-after-four-decades/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/elephants-return-to-mount-elgon-side-of-uganda-after-four-decades/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 May 2026 10:03:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Benjamin Jumbe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/18062559/Mount-Elgon-Uganda-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319622</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Kenya, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[animal tracking, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Corridors, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environment, Fences, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, human-elephant conflict, Human-wildlife Conflict, Infrastructure, Mammals, Migration, Protected Areas, Tracking, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- Monitoring of elephants on Mount Elgon, on the Uganda-Kenya border, shows a herd of elephants have crossed over to the Ugandan side, into areas they had largely abandoned since the 1970s.<br />- The Uganda Wildlife Authority says their return is a positive sign that efforts to restore degraded forest in Mount Elgon National Park is succeeding.<br />- Residents of Bukwo district, which overlaps with the national park, say elephants destroyed crops in 2025 but UWA rangers have so far prevented this in 2026.<br />]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[According to monitoring with tracking collars by the Mount Elgon Foundation (MEF), last year at least 60 elephants crossed from Kenya into the Ugandan side of Mount Elgon, a vast volcanic mountain that straddles the border, returning to a part of their natural range where they’ve not been seen for over 40 years. MEF funds community projects aimed at reducing forest degradation and raising awareness of environmental issues, as well as a team of 18 community scouts on the Kenyan side of the mountain, part of the East African Wild Life Society’s Mount Elgon Elephant Project. MEF’s chair, Chris Powles, told Mongabay that back in 2022, scouts tracked four elephants crossing the Suam river, which marks the border between the two countries. Drone footage of elephants on the Ugandan side of Mount Elgon. Image courtesy of UWA. In an email interview, Powles said a number of factors could explain the elephants’ return, though it’s impossible to say for certain what’s prompted them to reestablish themselves. “[These] include the growth of the elephant population on the Kenya side, the increasing human pressure on the Kenya side, the relative safety for them on the Uganda side as it is all national park (unlike in Kenya),” he wrote. “And, maybe, the elephants alive from the time when others of them were killed in Uganda have now died naturally and so their memory of what happened in Uganda may have passed.” In the late 1970s and 80s, elephants in Uganda and other parts of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/elephants-return-to-mount-elgon-side-of-uganda-after-four-decades/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Chimp ‘civil war’ follows rare community split in a Ugandan national park</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/chimp-civil-war-follows-rare-community-split-in-a-ugandan-national-park/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/chimp-civil-war-follows-rare-community-split-in-a-ugandan-national-park/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Apr 2026 13:27:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/17012030/4.-Old-male-BF-was-the-last-male-to-go-between-groups-photo-by-Aaron-Sandel-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317688</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Apes, Chimpanzees, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Great Apes, Infectious Wildlife Disease, Primates, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- A 30-year study documents a rare split within a chimpanzee community in Uganda’s Kibale National Park — one that sparked a deadly war.<br />- Two rival chimp groups have staged coordinated raids that killed both adult males and infants.<br />- Researchers recorded at least 24 attacks between 2018 and 2024, suggesting unusually intense violence.<br />- The findings show how shifting social ties can fracture animal societies and trigger collective violence.<br />]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A chimpanzee community in Uganda’s Kibale National Park that split into rival factions later attacked former allies in what researchers are describing as a rare chimpanzee “civil war.” The new study, published in the journal Science, draws on nearly three decades of observations at the Ngogo chimpanzee research site, led by primatologist Aaron A. Sandel of the University of Texas at Austin, in the U.S. He and his colleagues say this is a rare event that may occur only once every 500 years. It’s only been observed once before by humans. Before the split, the Ngogo community was unusually large, with roughly 150 to 200 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), making it one of the largest chimp groups ever recorded in the wild. After the rupture, the community divided into two factions, which researchers call the Central and Western groups — named after the areas of forest they occupied. Before the Ngogo chimps divided into two groups, it was one of the largest groups ever recorded: between 150 &#8211;  200 animals. Image by Aaron Sandel. Between 2018 and 2024, the Western group carried out 24 attacks on the Central group, killing at least seven adult males and 17 infants. Sandel told Mongabay the conflict is still unfolding and may have lasting consequences for the population. “The Central group is at risk — they have had a dramatic increase in mortality,” Sandel said. “A key question is: How are they going to fight back?” Unlike most primate group fissions, the Ngogo split involved&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/chimp-civil-war-follows-rare-community-split-in-a-ugandan-national-park/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Decades after poaching drove them extinct, rhinos are back in the wild in Uganda</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/decades-after-poaching-drove-them-extinct-rhinos-are-back-in-the-wild-in-uganda/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/decades-after-poaching-drove-them-extinct-rhinos-are-back-in-the-wild-in-uganda/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Mar 2026 07:15:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Benjamin Jumbe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/30123308/RhinoByCrate_ZiwaUganda_UWA-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316524</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Anti-poaching, Charismatic Animals, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Endangered Species, Extinction, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mammals, Protected Areas, Rhinos, Saving Species From Extinction, White Rhino, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- The Uganda Wildlife Authority has welcomed four southern white rhinos to Kidepo Valley National Park in the north of the country.<br />- The last of Uganda’s wild rhinos was killed in the early 1980s; the translocated animals come from a breeding program set up at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary in 2005.<br />- Authorities tout the reintroduction as both strengthening ecosystem restoration and enhancing the tourism value in the host parks.<br />]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Forty-three years after the last free-ranging rhinos were seen in the country, the Uganda Wildlife Authority has welcomed four southern white rhinos to Kidepo Valley National Park, in the country’s north, from a breeding sanctuary designed for the species’ reintroduction. “We are glad and privileged to be taking back rhinos much as it is a different subspecies from that that used to exist, because the northern white rhino is the one which used to exist there but was hunted to extinction,” UWA executive director James Musinguzi said at the Ziwa sanctuary on Mar. 17. According to the wildlife authority, a total of eight rhinos will be released in the park by May this year, marking the beginning of a longer process aimed at establishing a viable free-ranging rhino population in Kidepo Valley National Park. Kidepo Valley National Park. Image by Rod Waddington via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0). Uganda was once home to around 300 northern white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) and 400 eastern black rhinos (Diceros bicornis michaeli). But these populations were devastated by intense poaching that flourished amid the civil war that began in the late 1970s. The last of the country’s wild rhinos was killed in 1983. In 2005, a breeding program for rhinos was established at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. Six southern white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum simum) — four from Kenya and two from a sanctuary in the U.S. — were introduced the following year, and by 2023, that herd had grown to 42, according to the sanctuary’s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/decades-after-poaching-drove-them-extinct-rhinos-are-back-in-the-wild-in-uganda/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Five more community-led African groups join global landscape restoration network</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/five-more-community-led-african-groups-join-global-landscape-restoration-network/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/five-more-community-led-african-groups-join-global-landscape-restoration-network/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Mar 2026 15:57:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Charles Mpaka]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/25153904/U2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316292</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, and NGOs]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- The Global Landscapes Forum recently announced the addition of 12 new “chapter” members to its GLFx network.<br />- The GLFx network connects independent, community-oriented groups worldwide to strengthen their work protecting and restoring healthy forests and other landscapes.<br />- Five of the new members are in Africa, including the School Food Forest Initiative in Uganda, which works with children to plant trees and grow food on school grounds.<br />]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Amid rapid deforestation in Uganda’s Kalangala district, the School Food Forest Initiative launched a tree-planting project in school premises in 2019, aiming to instill knowledge and value for conservation in local communities by involving students planting and managing trees. The initiative has just become part of the Global Landscapes Forum. Its coordinator, Ngobi Joel, said becoming a GLFx chapter will help strengthen the group’s work against deforestation in Uganda. The School Food Forest Initiative has established nurseries where schoolchildren and others in the community grow seedlings for a range of indigenous tree species, other fruit trees and medicinal plants. The NGO has also set up agroforestry and vegetable plots on school grounds that serve both to provide food for students and as demonstration sites for how to make use of the land in ways that conserve the environment, Joel told Mongabay by email from Kalangala town. The project has so far established eight school forests, Joel said. Becoming a chapter of the GLF will enhance this work, he said. “Getting advice on agroforestry design, keeping an eye on biodiversity, and checking climate impact will ensure our projects are sustainable and help school communities as much as possible.” The School Food Forest Initiative is one of 12 new GLFx chapters announced in February, expanding a movement that mobilizes and connects grassroots efforts on restoration of degraded landscapes around the world. Fairness and sustainability: Acting to restore African landscapes By involving school children in planting trees and growing vegetables, the School Food&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/five-more-community-led-african-groups-join-global-landscape-restoration-network/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Ugandans affected by pipeline discontented over rehabilitation efforts: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/ugandans-affected-by-pipeline-discontented-over-rehabilitation-efforts-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/ugandans-affected-by-pipeline-discontented-over-rehabilitation-efforts-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 07:20:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Musinguzi Blanshe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/06153056/IMG_5484-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315351</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Environmental Activism, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Governance, Government, and Law]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- In a survey of people impacted by the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline in Uganda, a third of the participants said the livelihood restoration program implemented to rehabilitate them has not improved their lives.<br />- Project-affected persons say that agricultural inputs given to them were delivered late and that some of the seeds and seedlings were of poor quality with low germination rates.<br />- Some of those who received cash compensation to purchase alternative land said the compensation was inadequate and they were unable to buy land plots of similar sizes to those they had lost to the pipeline.<br />- People living along the pipeline route expressed concerns about safety, environmental risks and potential loss of property value.<br />]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[People whose land was acquired by the Ugandan government for the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) say livelihood restoration programs offered by project developers have not changed their lives for the better, a new report says. The 1,443-kilometer (897-mile) crude oil pipeline — the longest heated crude oil pipeline in the world — will transport oil from Hoima in midwestern Uganda to the coastal port of Tanga in neighboring Tanzania for export. Ugandan officials say the pipeline is almost 80% complete, and the country expects oil exports to begin before the end of 2026. Almost a third of the 246 people surveyed in a report commissioned by the Uganda-based nonprofit Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) expressed dissatisfaction with how the project was being handled. Residents affected by the project said agricultural inputs were delivered late and that some of the seeds and seedlings were of poor quality with low germination rates. These included inputs like bean and maize seeds, coffee seedlings, banana shoots and fertilizers. For the report, AFIEGO interviewed affected people from 10 districts in Uganda, through which the pipeline traverses. According to official estimates, the pipeline project has affected 3,648 people in Uganda. Of these, 203 individuals were physically displaced and 177 chose to receive alternative housing. Participants take part in focus group discussions during data collection for the AFIEGO report in Uganda’s Lwengo district in October 2025. Image courtesy of AFIEGO. EACOP Ltd., the company constructing the pipeline, leads the process for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/ugandans-affected-by-pipeline-discontented-over-rehabilitation-efforts-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>A hundred-year vision: Gary Tabor on the rise of large landscape conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/a-hundred-year-vision-gary-tabor-on-the-rise-of-large-landscape-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/a-hundred-year-vision-gary-tabor-on-the-rise-of-large-landscape-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Feb 2026 14:04:57 +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/20/2026/02/16003533/gary-tabor-rainbow_1425-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314276</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Nature conservation Influencers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Australia, Canada, East Africa, Global, North America, Uganda, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Corridors, Ecological Restoration, Ecology, Ecosystem Restoration, Endangered Species, Environment, Fragmentation, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Landscape Restoration, Mammals, Mountains, Temperate Forests, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- Gary Tabor’s career marks a shift in conservation from protecting isolated &#8220;island&#8221; parks to designing vast, interconnected ecological networks.<br />- Informed by his early years in the Adirondacks and a decade in East Africa, Tabor’s work emphasizes that wildlife survival depends on the &#8220;connective tissue&#8221; between protected areas.<br />- Through founding the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, he has moved connectivity into the global mainstream, focusing on practical engineering like wildlife crossings and the human work of community organizing.<br />- Tabor spoke with Mongabay’s Founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler in February 2026.<br />]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Many view conservation as a ledger of discrete gains—acres saved or species rebounded—but for Gary Tabor, the more vital metric is architecture. He focuses on systems that hold when pressure builds. Few careers illustrate that preoccupation better than that of Tabor, an ecologist and wildlife veterinarian whose work prioritizes the relationship between places as much as the protection of the places themselves. Tabor’s conservation instincts were shaped early. As a child, he spent nine summers at a rustic camp in the Adirondack Park, climbing all 46 peaks above 4,000 feet and learning to navigate the portages and open lakes of the New York wilderness. The landscape endured by design, protected by New York’s “Forever Wild” clause and by a civic idea that wilderness and people might coexist. He has returned to those same mountains for decades, seeing the same relatively unchanged woods that inspired the founders of the Wilderness Society. The lesson stuck. (left) Tabor doing a tropical forest wildlife survey. (right) Tabor doing Cock of the Rock research in Suriname. Courtesy of Tabor That early exposure provided Tabor with a sense of scale that would eventually outsize the mountains themselves. Tabor trained as a scientist, but his education accelerated in East Africa, where he lived and worked for nearly a decade. In places like Lake Nakuru, he saw the limits of the &#8220;island&#8221; model; the park was iconic, but it was also entirely fenced in and cut off from the broader landscape. While wildlife crossed boundaries by instinct, governance&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/a-hundred-year-vision-gary-tabor-on-the-rise-of-large-landscape-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Risk-taking comes earlier in chimpanzees than in humans, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/risk-taking-comes-earlier-in-chimpanzees-than-in-humans-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/risk-taking-comes-earlier-in-chimpanzees-than-in-humans-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Feb 2026 09:07:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/05165444/32723637508_7c81338653_6k-resize-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313806</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animal Intelligence, Animals, Apes, Chimpanzees, Conservation, Environment, Great Apes, Green, Psychology, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- A study found that chimpanzees tend to take more physical risks as infants and young animals rather than as adolescents, like humans.<br />- The researchers hypothesize that the level of care humans provide may cut down on the risks young children might otherwise take.<br />- The team tracked how often 119 chimps dropped or leaped through the forests without holding onto any branches at Uganda’s Ngogo Chimpanzee Project, and analyzed the results according to the animals’ ages.<br />- Infant and young chimpanzees were more likely to launch themselves through the trees than adolescents or adults, despite the risk of injury.<br />]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Chimpanzees appear to be the biggest daredevils when they&#8217;re infants. Humans tend to take more chances and put themselves in the most danger in adolescence, so the expectation has been that chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), among our closest evolutionary cousins, follow a similar pattern. But undergraduate researcher Bryce Murray&#8217;s observations of young chimps — and especially infants — from video shot at the Ngogo Chimpanzee Project in Uganda didn&#8217;t quite jibe with that assumption, according to research published Jan. 16 in the journal iScience. &#8220;I kept seeing these behaviors that seemed very risky,&#8221; Murray, the study&#8217;s lead author and a recent graduate from the University of Michigan in the U.S., told Mongabay. Young chimps, he noticed, frequently leaped through tree branches or dropped from them, flying freely through the air without holding onto anything. An adult female chimpanzee leaping in the forest at Ngogo Chimpanzee Project. Image by Murray et al., 2026 (CC-BY-NC-ND). Chimpanzees are well-adapted to life in the trees, picking up the ability to climb and swing through them as early as 2 years old. That’s an important skill, as high branches offer safety and provide the fruit that makes up the bulk of their diet. Still, it’s hard not to ascribe a bit of ebullience to their looping swings through the canopy. But moving around 10 meters (33 feet) or more above the ground can also be dangerous, particularly in the &#8220;free flight&#8221; incidents that caught Murray’s attention. One study found that around a third of chimp skeletons&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/risk-taking-comes-earlier-in-chimpanzees-than-in-humans-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/risk-taking-comes-earlier-in-chimpanzees-than-in-humans-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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					<title>Measuring biodiversity in a world of tree-planting pledges</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/one-year-on-tgbs-benchmark-shows-how-to-restore-forests-for-biodiversity/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/one-year-on-tgbs-benchmark-shows-how-to-restore-forests-for-biodiversity/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Jan 2026 16:54:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/12121050/Chimps_Photo-credit_Jane-Goodall-Institute-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312848</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Madagascar, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, carbon, Carbon Credits, Carbon Sequestration, Certification, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Change And Forests, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forests, Invasive Species, Reforestation, Saving Species From Extinction, Trees, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- The Global Biodiversity Standard (TGBS) is a certification scheme for forest restoration projects that show positive outcomes for biodiversity.<br />- Each assessment includes a field visit by experts from regional hubs, who have been trained in TGBS methodology.<br />- The regional hubs also offer ongoing mentoring to projects, to promote internationally recognized best practices in restoration.<br />- One year on, TGBS has certified six sites, and 15 regional hubs offer mentoring.<br />]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[There are around 60,000 known tree species in the world, and they can do amazing things: store carbon, provide people with food and firewood, shelter creatures big and small, and so much more. In the past two decades, numerous high-profile initiatives have announced ambitious restoration targets for forests. Restoring forests can bring all kinds of benefits and is widely seen as an effective nature-based solution to climate change and biodiversity loss. But planting the wrong trees, or planting them in the wrong places, is, at best, a missed opportunity — and at worst, can even harm biodiversity. In fact, a 2019 Nature commentary found that almost half the area pledged under the Bonn Challenge, a high-profile initiative to restore 350 million hectares (865 million acres) of degraded forest by 2030, was for plantation-style monocultures, and thus a poor strategy for both carbon sequestration and biodiversity. Meanwhile, half of the land pledged for reforestation under the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative was actually on savanna, a landscape not suitable for tree planting, according to a 2024 Science study. “It started to occur to us that there was potentially a problem here, particularly given the size of the pledges that were being made,” says Paul Smith, secretary-general at U.K.-based charity Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). What was needed, Smith and colleagues thought, was some way to promote best practices and recognize projects that got things right. When they looked at existing certification standards, they found that none focused primarily on biodiversity. What’s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/one-year-on-tgbs-benchmark-shows-how-to-restore-forests-for-biodiversity/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/one-year-on-tgbs-benchmark-shows-how-to-restore-forests-for-biodiversity/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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					<title>Chimpanzees and gorillas among most traded African primates, report finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/chimpanzees-and-gorillas-among-most-traded-african-primates-report-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/chimpanzees-and-gorillas-among-most-traded-african-primates-report-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Jan 2026 19:39:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/07193401/EasternChimpanzee_Uganda_NikborrowiNaturalistBYNC4.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312696</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Gabon, Germany, Southern Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Chimpanzees, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Gorillas, Governance, Great Apes, Primates, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- A new report finds thousands of African primates, including chimpanzees and gorillas, are being traded both legally and illegally.<br />- Most of the legal trade in great apes is for scientific and zoo purposes, but the report raises some concerns on the legality of recent trade instances for zoos.<br />- Chimpanzees topped the list of the most illegally traded African primates, as the exotic pet trade drives the demand for juveniles and infants.<br />]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Between 2000 and 2023, more than 6,000 African primates were traded internationally in 50 countries, according to a newly published report. Endangered chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and critically endangered western gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) were among the 10 most-traded species, according to data from CITES, the global wildlife trade agreement. African primates are traded as trophies, for scientific research, and to be kept in zoos. Hunting monkeys and apes for food and body parts used in charms and rituals is widespread in many parts of Africa. Infants and juveniles are also captured live for the exotic pet trade. The report by U.S.-based nonprofit Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA) is the first to try to capture the scale of the trade, the geographic hotspots, and the species targeted. It draws on data from the CITES trade database, seizure records from the wildlife trade monitoring NGO TRAFFIC, media reports, and other published research to present a picture of the global legal and illegal trade in African primates. “The intention is for this report to serve as both a diagnostic tool and a call to action,” lead author and wildlife crime specialist Monique Sosnowski told Mongabay by email. A chacma baboon in South Africa. The report found that these monkeys are the most traded species legally, mostly as hunting trophies. Image by Martie Swart via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0). Although the report captures international trade in primates from Africa, it doesn’t account for domestic trade, which is driven by food and other traditional uses.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/chimpanzees-and-gorillas-among-most-traded-african-primates-report-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Small cat conservationists hail Uganda’s new Echuya Forest National Park</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/small-cat-conservationists-hail-ugandas-new-echuya-forest-national-park/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/small-cat-conservationists-hail-ugandas-new-echuya-forest-national-park/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Dec 2025 14:56:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/11132905/Image_1-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311098</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Animals]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bushmeat, Cats, Climate Change, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Environment, forest degradation, Forests, Habitat Loss, Human-wildlife Conflict, Hunting, Indigenous Communities, Mammals, National Parks, Small Cats, Snares, Tourism, Traditional People, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- Uganda’s Echuya Forest Reserve will become a national park, alongside five other forest areas. That news is being heralded by small cat conservationists as a win for the threatened African golden cat (Caracal aurata) and other wildlife that dwell in the forest.<br />- African golden cats are forest dependent and considered vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN. They’re especially threatened by snaring across their range. It’s unknown exactly how Echuya’s population is faring, but camera-trapping efforts in 2015 required 90 days to record just one of these elusive cats.<br />- Data coming out of Uganda suggest that national parks can act as strongholds for the felid, raising hopes that Echuya’s population can recover and possibly thrive.<br />- Wildcat conservationists have also developed programs to build engagement and benefit communities near the new park, initiating goat and sheep “seed banks” as alternatives to bushmeat, setting up savings and loan associations to improve quality of life, and arranging community soccer matches to build goodwill.<br />]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In what’s being called immensely good news for the African golden cat, often described as the continent’s most elusive and threatened wildcat species, Uganda’s Echuya Forest will become a national park. “Having Echuya elevated to that level of protection is massive,” says Badru Mugerwa, founder and director of Embaka, an NGO, and of the African Golden Cat Conservation Alliance (AGCCA). “The African golden cat is one of those species that are being pushed to extinction in the forest.” Besides the African golden cat (Caracal aurata), it’s also a win for a multitude of other species, he adds, as Echuya is home to more than 100 bird species, many of them endemic to the region, as well as to baboons (Papio anubis), blue monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis) and other mammal species. Echuya Forest hosts a wide array of biodiversity, including more than 100 bird species. Among them is the regal sunbird (Cinnyris regius). Image by Giles Bassière via Flickr (CC BY 2.0). Echuya Forest covers around 3,400 hectares (8,400 acres) in Uganda’s extreme southwest near the Rwandan border, and is split between the districts of Kisoro and Rubanda. It’s currently a protected reserve. The declaration elevating it to a national park is part of a wider announcement by Uganda&#8217;s government as it creates six new national parks, bringing the country’s total to 16. The news of this added level of protection is welcome, says Emmanuel Akampurira, deputy director of the Embaka Echuya Project, who notes that numerous threats have persisted in Echuya&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/small-cat-conservationists-hail-ugandas-new-echuya-forest-national-park/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/small-cat-conservationists-hail-ugandas-new-echuya-forest-national-park/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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					<title>East African court dismisses controversial oil pipeline case in setback to communities</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/east-african-court-dismisses-controversial-oil-pipeline-case-in-setback-to-communities/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/east-african-court-dismisses-controversial-oil-pipeline-case-in-setback-to-communities/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Dec 2025 03:39:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/08033002/WhatsApp-Image-2025-12-05-at-15.05.25-768x471.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=310699</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conflict, Conservation, Energy, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Fossil Fuels, Governance, Green, Impact Of Climate Change, Indigenous Communities, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Oil, Oil Drilling, Pollution, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[On Nov. 26, the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) dismissed an appeal filed by four African NGOs, marking the end of a landmark case against the construction of a contentious oil pipeline. The case against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), expected to become the longest heated crude oil pipeline in the world, [&#8230;]]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On Nov. 26, the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) dismissed an appeal filed by four African NGOs, marking the end of a landmark case against the construction of a contentious oil pipeline. The case against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), expected to become the longest heated crude oil pipeline in the world, was first filed in 2020. “It was a very huge disappointment, especially as we ran to court and thought that at least we would find justice in the courts of law,” Balach Bakundane, an affected community representative for the Uganda-based EACOP Host Communities organization, told Mongabay by phone. The 1,443-kilometer (897-mile) EACOP runs from oil fields in Uganda to the Port of Tanga in Tanzania. The pipeline is being constructed by the French oil giant TotalEnergies and involves state-owned companies from China, Uganda and Tanzania. Its route runs through more than 40 protected areas and areas near Lake Albert and Lake Victoria, which are some of Africa’s most important freshwater sources. The project’s carbon footprint is estimated at about 34 million tons of CO₂ per year, considerably more than what Uganda and Tanzania emit annually. The NGOs in their case argued that the construction of EACOP had started without adequate environmental and social impact assessments or public participation, harming both local communities and ecosystems. After the first set of hearings, the EACJ in November 2023, dismissed the case based on a technicality, agreeing with the governments of Tanzania and Uganda that the NGOs hadn’t filed&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/12/east-african-court-dismisses-controversial-oil-pipeline-case-in-setback-to-communities/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Colony of world’s highest-flying bird under threat in Uganda</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/in-west-africa-hooded-vultures-vanish-as-abattoirs-modernize-2/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/in-west-africa-hooded-vultures-vanish-as-abattoirs-modernize-2/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Oct 2025 11:51:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Musinguzi BlansheRyan Truscott]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/28122547/Masai_Mara_National_Reserve_03_-_Ruppells_vulture_Gyps_rueppelli-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308411</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Birds, Birds Of Prey, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Poaching, Poisoning, Predators, Raptors, Scavengers, Vultures, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- Researchers in Uganda say the country’s only nesting site of critically endangered Rüppell’s vultures is under threat from hunting, charcoal burning and farming.<br />- Two nesting colonies are built on cliff faces in Luku Central Forest Reserve, in Uganda&#8217;s northwestern Arua district.<br />- The district hosts tens of thousands of people displaced by violent conflict in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.<br />- Many of these refugees, as well as native Ugandans, depend on the reserve to eke out a living, but at great cost to the integrity of its forests and wildlife.<br />]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LUKU CENTRAL FOREST RESERVE, Uganda — Ornithologist Ivan Oruka stops suddenly near the foot of a cliff that’s streaked with the telltale whitewash of bird droppings. He quickly presses his binoculars to his eyes. Against the clear blue sky, on a bright September morning, at least 29 large birds circle effortlessly above on broad, dark wings. “Can you see them?” Oruka says. “Observe clearly, see how they move? Can you see that bird is carrying nest construction materials?” The birds are Rüppell’s vultures (Gyps rueppelli), a critically endangered species, and the cliff is their nesting colony. Across their former strongholds in West, Central and East Africa, Rüppell’s vulture numbers have declined by more than 90% over the past 40 years or so. Once common across Uganda’s national parks, the birds, whose dark feathers edged with silver give them a handsome scaled appearance, and which also have the reputation for being the world’s highest fliers, are now rarely seen. Luku Central Forest Reserve, covering just over 4,000 hectares (nearly 10,000 acres) in Uganda’s West Nile region, is an exception. It’s the only place in Uganda where the vultures are known to breed. But for how much longer is uncertain. Luku is under threat, in part due to its location. Vultures, Luku forest reserve, Uganda. Image by Musinguzi Blanshe for Mongabay. A cliff in the Luku reserve hosts the only known nesting colony of critically-endangered Rüppell’s vultures in Uganda. Image courtesy of Ivan Oruka. A threatened refuge Arua district shares its western&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/in-west-africa-hooded-vultures-vanish-as-abattoirs-modernize-2/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Has Uganda done enough to prevent pollution of Lake Albert by oil drilling? (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/has-uganda-done-enough-to-prevent-pollution-of-lake-albert-by-oil-drilling-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/has-uganda-done-enough-to-prevent-pollution-of-lake-albert-by-oil-drilling-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Oct 2025 12:16:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Robert Agenonga]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/08/24135343/shoebill-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307898</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic Of Congo, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Commentary, Corporate Responsibility, Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Freshwater, Freshwater Ecosystems, Mining, Oil, Oil Drilling, Pollution, Water Pollution, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- Thousands of households in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo rely on Lake Albert for their daily water needs and for fish, and it provides key habitat for unique wildlife like shoebills and Goliath herons.<br />- Two oilfields — Kingfisher on its eastern shore and Tilenga near the northeastern terminus of Lake Albert — in active development there, by the Ugandan affiliate of Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Total E&#038;P Uganda respectively, appear to be a threat to water quality and wildlife, a new op-ed argues.<br />- “Issues such as the lack of commitment to a system of sound disposal of water, sewage and drilling cuttings all portend a bad omen in an area that is home to some unique wildlife,” the author writes.<br />- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.<br />]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Fears of underinvestment in mitigation against oil spills, poor waste disposal and water overuse remain a major concern for environmentalists, even as Uganda insists adequate measures are in place to protect Lake Albert and the surrounding ecosystem from the adverse effects of petroleum exploration and development. A report commissioned by my organization, Environmental Defenders — a conservation and human rights organization dedicated to protecting biodiversity and Indigenous communities’ rights — finds that destruction of biodiversity, spills and pollution of underground waters are phenomena increasingly present in the Albertine region. The report particularly decries the installation of oil facilities on the shores of Lake Albert without adequate investment in mitigation measures for the Tilenga and Kingfisher areas. According to the report, they pose major threats to the environment, water and health of communities around the lake. Drilling rig at the Kingfisher project. Image courtesy of Mathieu Ajar. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), about 100,000 households rely on Lake Albert to meet their water needs, and more than 20,000 people take fish from the lake. Consequently, there are fears that a major oil spill would threaten the very existence of these communities, yet mitigation against such an occurrence has not been adequate. E-Tech International has previously established that the technology being used in the Albertine region is aimed at maximizing profit and not protecting the environment. The focus on using cheap technology to maximize profits is, according to the report, a danger, given that 10 well pads, 181 kilometers (112&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/has-uganda-done-enough-to-prevent-pollution-of-lake-albert-by-oil-drilling-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Satellite images reveal oil project surge in Ugandan park and wetland</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/custom-story/2025/09/satellite-images-reveal-oil-project-surge-in-ugandan-park-and-wetland/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/custom-story/2025/09/satellite-images-reveal-oil-project-surge-in-ugandan-park-and-wetland/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Sep 2025 09:04:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/26084208/Capture-decran-2025-09-16-a-13.15.25-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=custom-story&#038;p=306622</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Deforestation, Energy, Environment, Forests, Governance, Green, Oil, Oil Drilling, Wetlands, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[New satellite&#160;analysis shows that wells and roads for a project in Uganda feeding Africa’s longest heated oil pipeline have progressed significantly within a protected area and near a critical wetland. The Tilenga oil field marks the starting point of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project, currently under construction by the French multinational&#160;TotalEnergies. The [&#8230;]]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[New satellite&nbsp;analysis shows that wells and roads for a project in Uganda feeding Africa’s longest heated oil pipeline have progressed significantly within a protected area and near a critical wetland. The Tilenga oil field marks the starting point of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project, currently under construction by the French multinational&nbsp;TotalEnergies. The pipeline will run 1,443 kilometers (897 miles) from the Tilenga and Kingfisher fields in landlocked Uganda to the Indian Ocean port of Tanga in Tanzania for export. Tilenga, also operated by TotalEnergies, sits near the border of Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda’s largest protected area and home to endangered Rothschild giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi), African bush elephants (Loxodonta africana) and Ugandan kob antelopes (Kobus kob thomasi). U.S.-based environmental watchdog Earth Insight analyzed satellite images that showed 39% of the EACOP pipeline was near completion as of June 2025, although some officials recently&nbsp;claimed&nbsp;62% of it is complete. Oil Expansion within Murchison Falls National Park and Ramsar Wetland. Map by Earth Insight. The analysis also showed that 22% of a feeder pipeline from Tilenga has been built, with about 630 square kilometers (243 square miles) of vegetation cleared near the park for the pipeline’s development. Furthermore, the analysis identified 38 kilometers (nearly 24 miles) of roads and nine areas cleared for drilling sites inside Murchison Falls National Park. One of the drilling sites cleared in 2025 is located on the border of the Murchison Falls–Albert Delta Wetland System, near the Victoria Nile River. Classified as a Ramsar&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/custom-story/2025/09/satellite-images-reveal-oil-project-surge-in-ugandan-park-and-wetland/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/custom-story/2025/09/satellite-images-reveal-oil-project-surge-in-ugandan-park-and-wetland/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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					<title>From counting trees to enhancing climate resiliency, Kampala focuses on its forests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/from-counting-trees-to-enhancing-climate-resiliency-kampala-focuses-on-its-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/from-counting-trees-to-enhancing-climate-resiliency-kampala-focuses-on-its-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Aug 2025 17:45:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/15153510/Kampala7-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304345</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Biodiversity, Cities, Climate Change, Climate Change And Extreme Weather, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Environment, Forestry, Impact Of Climate Change, Nature-based climate solutions, Plants, Trees, urban ecology, and Urban Planning]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- Recognized as a “Tree City of the World,” Uganda’s capital city of Kampala has set out on a journey to transform its urban forest into a resilient, native-rich landscape.<br />- What began as a response to falling trees has become a comprehensive environmental strategy tackling health, equity and climate change.<br />- Kampala has recently expanded its mission to increase green spaces to include biodiversity and connecting wildlife corridors throughout the city.<br />]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KAMPALA — Ten years ago, Uganda’s capital Kampala was facing a strange problem: trees were falling over on the city’s streets, injuring people and damaging cars and property. The municipality investigated, and found that the problem was mainly caused by aging and unhealthy trees. What followed was an initiative by the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) that not only solved the immediate problem of falling trees, but also led to long-term improvements in the city’s green infrastructure and its climate resilience. In 2016, the KCCA launched a two-year citywide tree audit, in which 10 foresters and two statisticians counted and assessed every tree in four of the city’s central districts: Kololo, Nakasero, Mulago and Makerere. “There was no baseline data — we didn’t know what we have and where we are coming from,” said urban forester Padde Daniel from the KCCA when he spoke to Mongabay during the Urban Forest Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa, earlier this year. Fairway Junction overlooking Kitante Golf course, Kampala. Image by Padde Daniel. Daniel was one of the young urban forestry graduates called in by the KCCA to lead the effort. He and his colleagues manually counted trees across public and private land, including parks and institutions. Documenting 23 parameters, including size, location, species classification and health condition, the team assessed some 53,000 trees comprising more than 300 species in 2016 alone. Of these, 80% were exotic species; only 20% were native to the region. At the time, urban greening had little visibility in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/from-counting-trees-to-enhancing-climate-resiliency-kampala-focuses-on-its-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>A forest garden project attempts to expand into the Sahel</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/a-forest-garden-project-attempts-to-expand-into-the-sahel/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/a-forest-garden-project-attempts-to-expand-into-the-sahel/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jul 2025 06:00:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/24214056/20231115_UNEP_Decade-on-Ecosystem-Restoration_African-Farmers-Transforming-Food-System_Senegal_Todd-Brown_14-e1753393737352-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=303161</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Kenya, Mali, Sahel, Senegal, Sub-Saharan Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Adaptation To Climate Change, Agriculture, Agroforestry, Climate Change, Climate Change And Food, Conservation And Poverty, Crops, Degraded Lands, Drought, Dry Forests, Erosion, Extreme Weather, Farming, Food, Hunger, Land Use Change, Monocultures, Natural Resources, Plants, Poverty Alleviation, Reforestation, Trees, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- A project in the Sahel and East Africa claims to fight both soil erosion and poverty through regenerative agroforestry.<br />- U.S.-based NGO Trees for the Future (TREES) trains farmers in what it calls the forest garden approach, an ancient model to plant diverse species next to each other.<br />- The approach is one of seven selected by the U.N. as a world restoration flagship program and aims to scale up massively to plant a billion trees by 2030.<br />- However, some experts say the potential for scaling up is limited, especially in the semiarid Sahel region, given the need for easily accessible sources of water.<br />]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Drought, irregular rainfall, deforestation, and the legacy of unsustainable human activities have left vast areas across the arid and semiarid regions of sub-Saharan Africa degraded, causing major challenges for the human population. According to environmentalists, one solution to this problem might be forest gardens. These “gardens” use regenerative agroforestry to revive patches of degraded agricultural land. In 2024, the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) selected a project led by Trees for the Future (TREES), a U.S.-based NGO, as one of seven world restoration flagships for its “forest garden approach” used in five countries in sub-Saharan Africa. These flagships promote restoration projects around the world that show potential to tackle challenges at scale and provide financial support. “Forest gardens promote healthy soil and diverse crops, leading to increased income and access to healthier food,” Enoch Makobi, country director for TREES in Uganda, told Mongabay. “Farmers are fighting climate change and can overcome poverty and hunger.” While NGO leaders say they’re optimistic about the outcomes of the project so far and their plans for expansion, some other conservationists have expressed skepticism, pointing to a lack of scientific evidence on impacts and the difficulty international NGOs face in tackling local problems and needs. A forest garden is a modern term for an ancient agroforestry model that mixes shrubs, herbs, vines, fruit and nut trees, and perennial vegetables, with the aim of supplying communities with food, medicine and animal feed. According to scientists, forest gardens can have significant&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/a-forest-garden-project-attempts-to-expand-into-the-sahel/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Balancing wildlife and human needs at Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth park</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/06/balancing-wildlife-and-human-needs-at-ugandas-queen-elizabeth-park/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/06/balancing-wildlife-and-human-needs-at-ugandas-queen-elizabeth-park/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jun 2025 15:36:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kristine Sabillo]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/10133932/QE3-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=301479</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Green, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Mammals, National Parks, Protected Areas, Rainforest Conservation, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[To the outside world, Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park is a model of successful conservation of wildlife amid declining populations in other parts of Africa. But while elephant, giraffe and buffalo populations have grown as much as sixfold, the people inside the park live with a colonial legacy that restricts both their livelihoods and their access [&#8230;]]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[To the outside world, Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park is a model of successful conservation of wildlife amid declining populations in other parts of Africa. But while elephant, giraffe and buffalo populations have grown as much as sixfold, the people inside the park live with a colonial legacy that restricts both their livelihoods and their access to sacred sites, Mongabay’s Ashoka Mukpo reported in April. The national park is a 1,978-square-kilometer (764-square-mile) protected area and among more than 700 UNESCO Biosphere Reserves meant to foster harmony between people and their environments. It’s home to elephants, hippos, big cats and almost 600 bird species, as well as residents of 11 “enclave” towns who are the descendants of the Indigenous Basangora and Bantu people, the region’s precolonial inhabitants, Mukpo wrote. Katwe, one of the enclave towns, used to be a highly contested area because of its proximity to a volcanic lake and its large salt deposits. It became part of the British protectorate of Uganda after the British East Africa Company captured the town, killing thousands of Basangora. The locals were forced to give up pastoralism and settle in fishing villages as the British demarcated the savanna into game reserves. “They created the park without the consent of the people,” Katwe-based tour guide Nicholas Kakongo told Mukpo, “and they cut us off from interacting with the animals.” While the park has become a valuable asset for Uganda, which is aiming for higher tourism earnings, residents of the enclave towns have suffered under the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/06/balancing-wildlife-and-human-needs-at-ugandas-queen-elizabeth-park/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Pandemic-era slump in ivory and pangolin scale trafficking persists, report finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/pandemic-era-slump-in-ivory-and-pangolin-scale-trafficking-persists-report-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/pandemic-era-slump-in-ivory-and-pangolin-scale-trafficking-persists-report-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jun 2025 08:31:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/17082738/White-belliedPangolin_Gabon_BureaubenjaminINaturalistBYNC4.0-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300838</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Angola, Asia, Cameroon, Central Africa, China, Democratic Republic Of Congo, East Asia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Bushmeat, China wildlife trade, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Ecology, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Hunting, Ivory, Ivory Trade, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Over-hunting, Pangolins, Poaching, Rainforest Animals, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Crime, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- A recent report from the Wildlife Justice Commission analyzed trends in ivory and pangolin scales trafficking from Africa over the past decade using seizure data and found that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted the illegal trade, with fewer significant seizures reported post-pandemic.<br />- The report attributes this dip to pandemic-induced lockdowns, increased law enforcement and intelligence gathering, successful prosecutions, and declines in the prices of ivory and pangolin scales.<br />- While Nigeria has been a major export hub for both commodities, the report finds that trafficking hotspots are shifting to other countries such as Angola and Mozambique, which have historically been hubs of the rhino horn trade.<br />- The report recommends that African nations strengthen law enforcement and intelligence gathering, dismantle crime networks by targeting those at the top tiers of these networks, and foster better cooperation between countries and other organizations to address trafficking.<br />]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A recent report surveying seizures of pangolin scales and elephant ivory over the past decade has found a sharp decline following the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data from media reports, public documents, and criminal intelligence and investigations, analysts at the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) found authorities seized more than 370 metric tons of pangolin scales and 193 metric tons of elephant ivory between 2015 and 2024. Seizures began to ramp up in 2015, peaked in 2019, and then declined sharply in 2020. The report found that the pandemic disruption to trade and travel, coinciding with increased enforcement based on intelligence, prompted these declines. Post-pandemic, the decline in trade has continued to hold as countries intensify law enforcement and intelligence gathering. “The report was motivated by a need to present up-to-date findings and offer a current assessment of the evolving criminal dynamics surrounding ivory and pangolin scale trafficking,” Olivia Swaak-Goldman, WJC’s executive director, told Mongabay by email. “From our investigations, we knew there had been some major changes since our last reports … so it was timely to publish updated analysis and highlight these shifts.” Pangolin scales act as armor to protect their body. The WJC report estimates that the 370 tons of pangolin scales seized over the past decade would have come from anywhere between 100,000 and a million pangolins. Image by flowcomm via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0). Pangolin scales, used in traditional medicine, are in high demand in East Asia. Over the past decade, as Asian pangolin numbers plummeted,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/pandemic-era-slump-in-ivory-and-pangolin-scale-trafficking-persists-report-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Derek Pomeroy, a leading figure in Ugandan ornithology died on May 29th, aged 90</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/05/derek-pomeroy-a-leading-figure-in-ugandan-ornithology-died-on-may-30th-aged-90/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/05/derek-pomeroy-a-leading-figure-in-ugandan-ornithology-died-on-may-30th-aged-90/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 May 2025 19:00:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/01134554/Derek-Pomeroy-header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=300026</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Environment, Green, and Obituary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[If Derek Pomeroy said to meet him at 7am, you were expected to be there by exactly 7am—not a minute later. Punctuality was not just a preference; it was a principle. Whether in a zoology lab, a birdwatching field station, or over tea at Makerere University, order and discipline mattered. Behind that exacting standard, however, [&#8230;]]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[If Derek Pomeroy said to meet him at 7am, you were expected to be there by exactly 7am—not a minute later. Punctuality was not just a preference; it was a principle. Whether in a zoology lab, a birdwatching field station, or over tea at Makerere University, order and discipline mattered. Behind that exacting standard, however, was a deeper devotion: to science, to Uganda’s biodiversity, and above all, to the generations of African conservationists he helped train and shape. Pomeroy arrived in Uganda in 1969 to study marabou storks. He stayed for most of his life. What began as ornithological curiosity became a lifelong project of institution-building, mentoring, and record-keeping. His field notes on birds, gathered across decades, became the backbone of the Bird Atlas of Uganda and the National Biodiversity Data Bank. He played a pivotal role in founding the Makerere University Institute of Environment and Natural Resources (MUIENR), a center that now shapes the country’s environmental policy and research. Through civil unrest, political transitions, and global shifts in conservation priorities, Pomeroy remained a constant. He trained hundreds of students—many of whom now lead major conservation efforts in Uganda and beyond. His greatest legacy may not lie in peer-reviewed journals or global assessments, but in the lives he shaped. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, one of Uganda’s leading wildlife veterinarians, remembered him as a mentor who encouraged her earliest efforts and celebrated her success. Edward Okot Omoya, now a professor, put it simply: “He was more than a supervisor. He was a father&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/05/derek-pomeroy-a-leading-figure-in-ugandan-ornithology-died-on-may-30th-aged-90/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>To collect native seeds, Ugandan botanists are climbing forest giants</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/to-collect-native-seeds-ugandan-botanists-are-climbing-forest-giants/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/to-collect-native-seeds-ugandan-botanists-are-climbing-forest-giants/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 May 2025 15:10:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/23072257/2_ivory-coast-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299532</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Botany, Conservation, Ecological Restoration, Endangered Species, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Reforestation, Restoration, Seed Dispersal, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- To access the best seeds for the propagation of native species, botanists often need to safely and sustainably collect from a variety of mother trees.<br />- In Uganda, Sebastian Walaita at the Tooro Botanic Gardens has been honing his skills and training botanists in high tree climbing for more than 25 years.<br />- These skills allow the botanists to collect seeds from even the tallest trees, in a way that captures genetic diversity.<br />- In October 2024, Walaita and a fellow Ugandan held a training in high tree climbing and seed collection in Côte d’Ivoire.<br />]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The mvule (Milicia excelsa) is a giant of a tree, up to 50 meters (165 feet) tall, with a trunk 6 m (20 ft) around. To collect seeds from such a large tree, climbers work in a team of three, explains Sebastain Walaita, curator at the Tooro Botanical Gardens in Uganda. Spacing themselves out evenly around the trunk they climb in tandem upwards using a system of ropes, harnesses and spurs. Once in the crown, the climbers separate, moving along the branches and stashing the mature seeds into their collection bags before descending back to the ground. Walaita first learned high tree climbing for seed collection more than 25 years ago at a course organized by the Danish nonprofit DANIDA Forest Seed Center and has been honing his skills ever since. Over the years, he has trained a cadre of Ugandan botanists at Tooro, who can now safely collect seeds from even the most difficult trees, he says, improving their ability to propagate native species. “It’s a passion,” Walaita says. Collecting native tree seeds for restoration Under the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative, or AFR100, governments across the continent have committed to restoring 100 million hectares (247 million acres) of land by 2030. There’s a growing awareness amongst conservationists that it’s best to replant areas with native species for biodiversity. In addition, an alarming number of tree species are now threatened with extinction, including in Africa; globally, more than one in three tree species is at risk of extinction, according&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/to-collect-native-seeds-ugandan-botanists-are-climbing-forest-giants/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>‘Satellites for Biodiversity’ upgrades with new projects and launches insight hub</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/05/satellites-for-biodiversity-upgrades-with-new-projects-and-launches-insight-hub/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/05/satellites-for-biodiversity-upgrades-with-new-projects-and-launches-insight-hub/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 May 2025 13:06:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kristine Sabillo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/26130016/Madikwe-Pleiades-Neo-C-Airbus-DS-2022-e1748264917480-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=299666</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, California, Global, Guinea, India, New Zealand, North America, Thailand, Uganda, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Anti-poaching, Artificial Intelligence, Beetles, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Crisis, Biodiversity Hotspots, Birds, Chimpanzees, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Dugong, Earth Science, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Forestry, Governance, Green, Mammals, Marine Conservation, National Parks, Oceans, Poachers, Poaching, Primates, Protected Areas, Rainforest Conservation, Rainforest Deforestation, Rainforests, Research, satellite data, Satellite Imagery, Science, Seabirds, Technology, Technology And Conservation, technology development, Threats To Rainforests, Trees, Tropical Forests, Wetlands, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[The Airbus Foundation and the Connected Conservation Foundation (CCF) recently announced the winners of their “Satellites for Biodiversity” grant, which now uses higher-resolution satellite imagery to aid conservation efforts. They also launched an Ecosystem Insight Hub, which comprehensively documents the processes and findings of their grantees. The latest batch of six “Satellites for Biodiversity” awardees [&#8230;]]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Airbus Foundation and the Connected Conservation Foundation (CCF) recently announced the winners of their “Satellites for Biodiversity” grant, which now uses higher-resolution satellite imagery to aid conservation efforts. They also launched an Ecosystem Insight Hub, which comprehensively documents the processes and findings of their grantees. The latest batch of six “Satellites for Biodiversity” awardees are granted access to Airbus’s Pléiades Neo and Pléiades satellite imagery at very high resolutions of 15, 30 and 50 centimeters (6, 12 and 20 inches). This time around, Airbus has developed AI and machine learning algorithms that can help enhance images taken with the base 30-cm resolution to be “sharper, more detailed,” Sophie Maxwell, CCF executive director, told Mongabay by email. Maxwell called the upgrade “an exciting development … effectively increasing the pixel count and improving image clarity.” She added this would allow “field teams to extract finer insights than ever before.” Similar to previous awardees, the projects will be integrating the satellite imagery with AI, machine-learning models and community-led conservation. Previously, only species-level monitoring proposals were accepted, but the new round of awardees were also allowed to explore “ecosystem-scale conservation.” “This shift recognises the interconnected nature of biodiversity, people and climate. By expanding the use of cutting-edge tools to assess entire ecosystems, we can better understand complex ecological dynamics and support more holistic, effective conservation strategies that benefit all inhabitants,” Maxwell said. This year’s six winning projects are: Mapping seagrass meadows in the Andaman coast in Thailand to monitor the habitats of dugongs (Dugong&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/05/satellites-for-biodiversity-upgrades-with-new-projects-and-launches-insight-hub/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Rwanda’s Olivier Nsengimana inspires protection for gray crowned cranes in East Africa</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/rwandas-olivier-nsengimana-inspires-protection-for-gray-crowned-cranes-in-east-africa/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/rwandas-olivier-nsengimana-inspires-protection-for-gray-crowned-cranes-in-east-africa/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Apr 2025 19:52:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Musinguzi Blanshe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/29184334/Olivier_Nsengimana_Fieldwork_Headshot_Olivier_with_Researcher_during_Rugezi_Biodiversity_Survey_Credit_James_Rooney_NGS-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=298353</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Rwanda, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Degraded Lands, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Policy, Governance, Tropics, Water, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- Ten years ago, the gray crowned crane (Balearica regulorum), faced with habitat loss and capture for illegal trade, was quietly slipping toward local extirpation in Rwanda.<br />- The Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association (RWCA), led by veterinarian Olivier Nsengimana, has been at the forefront of a campaign to end the keeping of cranes as pets, rehabilitating many captive birds and releasing them into the wild.<br />- The association is also enlisting community members to strengthen protection of the cranes’ wetland habitat from encroachment and damage — a strategy that it is extending to neighboring countries via partnerships with other NGOs.<br />- For these efforts, Nsengimana has been awarded the 2025 Whitley Gold Award, making him a two-time winner after he first received the award in 2018.<br />]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Just 10 years ago, spotting a gray crowned crane in Rwanda’s wetlands had become a rarity. These elegant birds — tall and statuesque, with golden plumes fanning from their heads — once flourished across East Africa. But by the middle of the last decade, their numbers in Rwanda had collapsed drastically. “It shocked me,” says Olivier Nsengimana, a Rwandan veterinarian and conservationist who founded the Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association (RWCA). He says a 2017 census counted fewer than 500 of the birds across the country. “We had more cranes in people’s homes than we had in the wild.” Faced with habitat loss, capture for illegal trade as pets, and other threats, the gray crowned crane (Balearica regulorum) was quietly slipping toward local extirpation in Rwanda. A similar story was unfolding in neighboring countries, including Burundi and Uganda, and elsewhere in the cranes’ range, which extends across East and Southern Africa. In 2012, the cranes were assessed as endangered by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. Gray crowned cranes: Olivier Nsengimana says nearly 80% of Rwanda’s crane population over the past 50 years. Image courtesy of RWCA. To protect cranes, protect wetlands The survival of these birds rests on the preservation of wetlands. Across Africa, vast areas of wetlands are being lost, frequently drained and converted into farmland or to make way for peri-urban expansion. Nearly 50% of these ecologically vital landscapes were lost over the past 50 years. “[Cranes] find food and breed in wetlands,” Nsengimana says. “In five&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/rwandas-olivier-nsengimana-inspires-protection-for-gray-crowned-cranes-in-east-africa/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Beyond the Safari</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2025/04/beyond-the-safari/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2025/04/beyond-the-safari/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Apr 2025 11:35:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alejandroprescottcornejo]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/10105221/QENP23-68-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=specials&#038;p=298191</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change And Biodiversity, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environmental Politics, and Extinction]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[The “fortress conservation” model is under pressure in East Africa, as protected areas become battlegrounds over history, human rights, and global efforts to halt biodiversity loss. Mongabay’s Special Issue goes beyond the region’s world-renowned safaris to examine how rural communities and governments are reckoning with conservation’s colonial origins, and trying to forge a path forward [&#8230;]]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The “fortress conservation” model is under pressure in East Africa, as protected areas become battlegrounds over history, human rights, and global efforts to halt biodiversity loss. Mongabay’s Special Issue goes beyond the region’s world-renowned safaris to examine how rural communities and governments are reckoning with conservation’s colonial origins, and trying to forge a path forward for the 21st century.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2025/04/beyond-the-safari/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>The colonial ghosts of Uganda’s ‘Queen Elizabeth’ park</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/the-colonial-ghosts-of-ugandas-queen-elizabeth-park/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/the-colonial-ghosts-of-ugandas-queen-elizabeth-park/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Apr 2025 08:59:17 +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/20/2025/04/10133658/QE3-7-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=297412</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond the Safari]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Forests, National Parks, Protected Areas, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- Queen Elizabeth National Park, a 1,978-km2 (764-mi2) UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve in western Uganda, is one of the country’s oldest protected areas.<br />- The park was established by British colonial authorities, who relocated many of its traditional occupants and banned most of their livelihood activities.<br />- The legacy of this dispossession has shaped the relationship between park authorities and the descendants of those who were resettled.<br />]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is the fourth story in the Mongabay Series – Beyond the Safari. Read the others here. KATWE, Uganda — In 1889, the British journalist Henry Morton Stanley stumbled out of the forests of Central Africa into the town of Katwe, a settlement on the shore of a sulfurous volcanic lake. The lake’s vast deposits of salt were famed across the region, drawing traders and making Katwe a desired prize. The Basangora, local pastoralists known for their cattle-rearing prowess, had waged fierce battles over control of the salt mine, one of the largest in Africa, against rival Bantu kingdoms. “The possession of Katwe town, which commands the lakes, is a cause of great jealousy,” Stanley later wrote. He’d arrived in Katwe just as the “scramble for Africa” was heating up, in the wake of King Leopold II’s Berlin Conference where the rules of European colonialism had been set. Not long after Stanley’s departure, Frederick Lugard captured the town. Along with the plains and hills to its east, Katwe would go on to become part of the British protectorate of Uganda, where it remained until independence in 1962. The salt mine at Lake Katwe. Image by Ashoka Mukpo for Mongabay. Stanley, Lugard and their royal European patrons are long gone now. But their ghosts still haunt the landscape, if only in name. The highest peak of the Rwenzori mountains that rise above Katwe is named Mount Stanley, below which lie lakes Albert, George and Edward. There are still pockets of Basangora&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/the-colonial-ghosts-of-ugandas-queen-elizabeth-park/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Africa’s last tropical glaciers are melting away along with local livelihoods</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/africas-last-tropical-glaciers-are-melting-away-along-with-local-livelihoods/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/africas-last-tropical-glaciers-are-melting-away-along-with-local-livelihoods/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Mar 2025 10:18:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/21095157/Image_1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=296236</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Carbon Dioxide, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Change And Extreme Weather, Climate Science, Conservation, Disasters, Earth Science, Environment, Flooding, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Impact Of Climate Change, Planetary Boundaries, Research, and Rivers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- Africa’s remaining tropical glaciers are rapidly disappearing as greenhouse gas emissions drive global warming.<br />- New maps published by Project Pressure show the Stanley Plateau glacier, in Uganda’s Rwenzori Mountains, lost nearly 30% of its surface area between 2020 and 2024.<br />- The Rwenzoris’ glaciers are a vital source of water for more than 5 million people living in the plains below the mountain range; they also have cultural significance.<br />- Project Pressure’s ongoing surveys, carried out in collaboration with the Uganda Wildlife Authority, are intended to provide local authorities with data needed to adapt to the loss of the glaciers and other impacts of climate change.<br />]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Africa’s remaining tropical glaciers are rapidly disappearing as greenhouse gas emissions drive global warming. In the Rwenzori Mountains, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, the retreat of glaciers is endangering local communities’ water security, livelihoods, and culture warns the NGO Project Pressure on the inaugural World Day for Glaciers. The Stanley Plateau glacier in the Rwenzori Mountains pictured in 2022 and 2024. Since 2020, the glacier lost nearly 30% of its mass. Image courtesy of Project Pressure. Since 2012, Klaus Thymann, director of Project Pressure, has led expeditions to the Rwenzori Mountains to track the demise of their glaciers. The pace of decline is “staggering,” he says. Mount Baker and Mount Speke have both lost their glaciers already, and the remaining glaciers on Mount Stanley are increasingly fragmented. Surveys found that the Stanley Plateau glacier lost nearly 30% of its surface area between 2020 and 2024. Klaus Thymann has led multiple expeditions to the Rwenzoris since 2012, witnessing a “staggering” rate of glacier retreat in that short time. Image courtesy of Project Pressure. “The pure basics of glaciers is that it has to be cold,” says Thymann. “As the melting point rises, they simply vanish and that’s what’s happening in the Rwenzori Mountains.” In recent years, as more and more greenhouse gas emissions have entered the atmosphere, the melting point — the elevation at which temperatures are too warm to form and preserve glacial ice — has crept ever upward.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/africas-last-tropical-glaciers-are-melting-away-along-with-local-livelihoods/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Ugandan researcher wins ‘Emerging Conservationist’ award for work on golden cats</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/ugandan-researcher-wins-emerging-conservationist-award-for-work-on-golden-cats/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/ugandan-researcher-wins-emerging-conservationist-award-for-work-on-golden-cats/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Mar 2025 11:47:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhishyant Kidangoor]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhishyantkidangoor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/05/04170704/2-African-golden-cat-caught-in-a-snare-540x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=295373</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cats, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Conservation Technology, Environment, Poaching, Research, Small Cats, Technology, Technology And Conservation, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- Ugandan conservationist Mwezi Badru Mugerwa has been awarded the Indianapolis Prize’s Emerging Conservationist Award for 2025.<br />- Mugerwa has dedicated the past 15 years working with local communities to stop the poaching of the African golden cat (Caracal aurata), a species endemic to West and Central Africa.<br />- He and his team at conservation organization Embaka are also using camera traps and artificial intelligence tools to monitor and survey the population of the species, and to gauge the impact of their work.<br />]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Indianapolis Prize, a prestigious award that recognizes leaders in wildlife conservation, has awarded its second Emerging Conservationist Award to Mwezi Badru Mugerwa. A Ugandan researcher and conservationist who combines community work with technology, Mugerwa has been working to stop the poaching of the little-known African golden cat (Caracal aurata) and bolster efforts to ramp up conservation of the species. In an email interview with Mongabay, Mugerwa called the recognition “surreal.” The Indianapolis Prize, awarded by Indianapolis Zoo, has long recognized individuals who have spearheaded successful conservation efforts around the world. The Emerging Conservationist Award, a new category which comes with prize money of $50,000, was established only in 2022 to recognize people under the age of 40 who have worked for the conservation of a species or a group of species. The main Indianapolis Prize will be announced in May, and both winners will be honored at a gala in Indianapolis in September. “Mwezi’s passion for involving the local community in conservation efforts is what makes him so worthy of receiving this award,” Rob Shumaker, president and CEO of the Indianapolis Zoological Society, said in a press statement. Over the past 15 years, Mugerwa has worked with local communities to stop the poaching of the African golden cat. Image courtesy of Embaka. Mugerwa, whom  Mongabay profiled last year, founded the community-driven conservation organization Embaka to monitor and protect the African golden cat, which is endemic to West and Central Africa. Over the past 15 years, Mugerwa and his team&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/ugandan-researcher-wins-emerging-conservationist-award-for-work-on-golden-cats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>African NGOs appeal judgement in controversial oil pipeline case</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/02/african-ngos-appeal-judgement-in-controversial-oil-pipeline-case/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/02/african-ngos-appeal-judgement-in-controversial-oil-pipeline-case/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Feb 2025 06:05:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/04/19152104/tz_2304-768x512-1.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=295084</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conflict, Conservation, Energy, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Governance, Green, Indigenous Communities, Land Rights, Oil, Oil Drilling, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[Four NGOs recently appealed to the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) to have their concerns about a contentious oil pipeline heard on merit. The landmark case, filed four years ago, had previously been dismissed on technical grounds. The four East African NGOs — the Center for Food and Adequate Living Rights (CEFROHT) and the [&#8230;]]]>
							</description>
																						<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Four NGOs recently appealed to the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) to have their concerns about a contentious oil pipeline heard on merit. The landmark case, filed four years ago, had previously been dismissed on technical grounds. The four East African NGOs — the Center for Food and Adequate Living Rights (CEFROHT) and the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO), both from Uganda, Natural Justice (Kenya), and the Centre for Strategic Litigation (Tanzania) — first filed their case with the EACJ in November 2020. They urged the court to halt the construction of the 1,443-kilometer (897-mile) East African crude oil pipeline (EACOP) that’s designed to transport oil from Uganda to Tanzania. The NGOs argue that EACOP violates human rights and environmental laws of both countries and was moving forward without adequate compensation and public participation, while displacing local communities and harming the ecosystems they depend on. EACOP is led by French oil giant TotalEnergies and involves state-owned companies from China, Uganda and Tanzania. At the first hearing in November 2023, the court dismissed the EACOP case, agreeing with the governments of Tanzania and Uganda that the NGOs had exceeded the objection period by not filing their complaint within 60 days of the 2017 agreements. However, David Kabanda, a human rights lawyer from CEFROHT representing the NGOs, previously told Mongabay they learned the details about the project only after a 2020 media briefing by the Ugandan government. The NGOs filed an appeal against the dismissal, arguing for the case to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/02/african-ngos-appeal-judgement-in-controversial-oil-pipeline-case/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Uganda community group restores shea groves and livelihoods</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/uganda-community-group-restores-shea-groves-and-livelihoods/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/uganda-community-group-restores-shea-groves-and-livelihoods/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Feb 2025 11:00:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sam Schramski and Pat Larubi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/10101428/Photo-5-Sorting-from-the-pan-fried-sheanut-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=294176</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Agroforestry, Culture, Development, Gender and Conservation, Poverty Alleviation, Sustainable Development, Traditional Knowledge, Tropical Forests, and Women in conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- In northern Uganda&#8217;s Pader district, a women-led cooperative is leading efforts to replant shea trees, restore deforested land and improve local livelihoods through the processing and sale of shea products.<br />- The Pader Shea Nut and Agro-processing Society, which started with just six members in 2004, has grown to more than 1,400 members.<br />- Through agroforestry techniques and Indigenous knowledge, the group has restored more than 500 hectares (1,240 acres) of degraded land, planting shea and other native tree species.<br />- Their efforts face challenges from charcoal production, land grabbing and climate change, but the women remain determined to preserve their natural heritage for future generations.<br />]]>
							</description>
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							<![CDATA[PADER DISTRICT, Uganda —  As the early morning mist lifts over the plains of northern Uganda, women gather at the Pader Shea Nut and Agro-processing Society&#8217;s nursery. Grown from seeds collected across the parkland landscape that dominates this district, hundreds of shea seedlings stand in neat, carefully tended rows under thatched shelters to protect them from the harsh sun that will soon burn through the morning&#8217;s mist. The women are here to collect seedlings to transplant into their fields. As part of a larger effort to restore Uganda&#8217;s shea parklands, the cooperative has successfully rehabilitated more than 500 hectares (1,240 acres) of degraded land, integrating shea trees (Vitellaria paradoxa) and other native species with maize and sunflower crops. The shea nut cooperative&#8217;s story began in 2004, during one of the darkest periods of Uganda&#8217;s modern history. &#8220;The group started with six members,&#8221; says Sarah Norah, one of the cooperative&#8217;s leaders. &#8220;By then we were in the [internally displaced people&#8217;s] camp. So life was not easy. We were being given food by the United Nations besides cooking oil and corn flour. And sometimes we could run out of those things.&#8221; A shea sapling: members of the Pader Shea Nut and Agro-processing Society are protecting and nurturing young trees like these to ensure their survival. Image by Pat Larubi for Mongabay. Shea parklands The fruit of the shea tree has long formed a key part of food systems in northern Uganda. A mature tree produces 15-20 kilograms (33-44 pounds) of green, egg-shaped&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/uganda-community-group-restores-shea-groves-and-livelihoods/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Shea&#8217;s silent guardians restore Uganda&#8217;s traditional parklands</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/sheas-silent-guardians-restore-ugandas-traditional-parklands/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/sheas-silent-guardians-restore-ugandas-traditional-parklands/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Feb 2025 17:33:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sam Schramski and Pat Larubi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/07090926/Photo-X-Maureen-Otika-Kanya-Akanya-Shea-Growers-Group-in-Latanya-sub-county-Pader-district-Uganda-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=294071</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Agroforestry, Culture, Development, Gender and Conservation, Poverty Alleviation, Sustainable Development, Traditional Knowledge, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- In Uganda&#8217;s Pader district, communities are reviving shea parklands — traditional agroforestry systems where farmers have maintained shea trees alongside crops for generations.<br />- These managed landscapes support both farming and biodiversity while providing crucial ecosystem services through carefully spaced trees and traditional management practices.<br />- Drawing on Indigenous agricultural knowledge, farmers are integrating shea trees with food crops through methods proven to improve soil health and yields.<br />- While their efforts show promise, charcoal production and agricultural expansion threaten these traditional systems and the communities that depend on them.<br />]]>
							</description>
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							<![CDATA[PADER DISTRICT, Uganda — In northern Uganda&#8217;s Pader district, farmers are working to preserve agricultural landscapes that have fed their communities for generations. These shea parklands, where carefully maintained trees grow among food crops, represent centuries of agricultural knowledge at risk of being lost. Unlike natural forests, these parklands are agricultural landscapes shaped by generations of farmers. According to research submitted to the Global Shea Alliance, communities historically created landscapes that balanced crop production with ecological diversity by selecting which trees to preserve during field clearing, and encouraging their natural regeneration on fallow land. The shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa) is central to this system. &#8220;The shea nut tree and its products have been very significant in our traditional culture from time immemorial,&#8221; says Gillian Josephine P&#8217;Ochen in Lapaya village. &#8220;In our parklands, we have more than 50 other tree species that are also very significant in the ecosystem. I prefer to call this a paradise in the woods and a pharmaceutical arena. Because when you look at all the tree species, they are medicinal in one way or the other.&#8221; She points to a mature African cherry (Prunus africana) growing alongside shea trees. &#8220;This tree&#8217;s bark has been used to treat fevers for generations,&#8221; she says. &#8220;Its thick leaves fall and decompose slowly, enriching the soil for our crops. This is how our ancestors designed these parklands — every species has multiple purposes.&#8221; Passion fruit and jackfruit trees add to the landscape&#8217;s diversity, providing additional food crops. The integration of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/sheas-silent-guardians-restore-ugandas-traditional-parklands/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Uganda’s tree-climbing lions grow scarce amid nationwide decline of the big cat</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/ugandas-tree-climbing-lions-grow-scarce-amid-nationwide-decline-of-the-big-cat/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/ugandas-tree-climbing-lions-grow-scarce-amid-nationwide-decline-of-the-big-cat/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jan 2025 17:32:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gilbert Nakweya]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Ochieng' Ogodo]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/29133241/QENP23-71-1-e1738158322956-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=293574</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Kenya, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Big Cats, Carnivores, Cats, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Environment, Human-wildlife Conflict, Lions, Research, and Top Predators]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- Lion populations in six protected areas across Uganda have declined markedly over the past decade, a recent survey shows.<br />- The researchers attribute this decline, in some cases of nearly 50%, to poisoning of the big cats by livestock farmers, snaring by poachers, and habitat loss.<br />- They’ve called for greater community engagement in conservation efforts, including monitoring lion populations; for their survey, they trained more than 100 lodge guides, trophy hunters, university students and government rangers to help with monitoring.<br />- Another potential solution could be the adoption of AI to boost monitoring, not just of lions but also other large African carnivores, and understanding of the challenges faced by animals and people across a landscape.<br />]]>
							</description>
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							<![CDATA[NAIROBI ― Poisoning, poaching and loss of habitat have significantly reduced populations of lion prides in Uganda, signaling the need for long-term commitments to conservation action, researchers write in a recent study. In the first study of its kind conducted in nearly two decades, the researchers surveyed lions (Panthera leo), leopards (Panthera pardus) and spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) in six protected areas across Uganda. They found a nearly 50% decline in some of Uganda’s most iconic lion populations over the past decade, including the famous tree-climbing lions of Queen Elizabeth National Park. That population, and one in Kidepo Valley National Park, have hit critical lows, according to the study. Queen Elizabeth National Park now has about 40 lions, while Kidepo has about 22. Murchison Falls National Park remains Uganda’s lion center, with about 240 of the big cats, according to the study. It also has one of the highest densities of leopards in Africa, at about 14 individuals per 100 square kilometers. Study lead author Alex Braczkowski, a research fellow at Griffith University in Australia, said Uganda has emerged as a prominent tourism destination for lion viewing, with Queen Elizabeth National Park a key draw because of the tree-climbing cats. “This is a sighting that one will never forget as long as they live. Eight lions wedged in a euphorbia tree is simply incredible! Apart from the conservation ramifications, lions are a key part of the tourism economy,” he said. Lion inside Queen Elizabeth National Park. Image by Ashoka Mukpo&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/ugandas-tree-climbing-lions-grow-scarce-amid-nationwide-decline-of-the-big-cat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>In Uganda, a women-led reforestation initiative fights flooding, erosion</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/in-uganda-a-women-led-reforestation-initiative-fights-flooding-erosion/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/in-uganda-a-women-led-reforestation-initiative-fights-flooding-erosion/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jan 2025 20:35:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Innocent Kiiza]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/23202249/JanetNyakiruAbwoli_KaseseDistrictUganda_InnocentKiiza-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=293338</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Community Development, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Degraded Lands, Ecological Restoration, Ecosystems, food security, Forests, Landscape Restoration, Reforestation, Restoration, and Women in conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[- Changing rainfall patterns have led to increasingly frequent flooding in western Uganda’s Kasese district, destroying farmers’ homes and fields.<br />- The damage is exacerbated by the loss of tree cover, as many trees have been cut down by locals for firewood.<br />- Janet Nyakairu Abwoli from Kasese organizes workshops to teach women how to plant and care for trees, particularly Dracaena and Ficus species.<br />- These native species can help prevent erosion of slopes and riverbanks, retain soil moisture, and provide fodder for small livestock and ingredients for traditional medicine.<br />]]>
							</description>
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							<![CDATA[KASESE DISTRICT, Uganda — In western Uganda’s Kasese district, where the Rwenzori Mountains meet the sprawling plains of Queen Elizabeth National Park, Janet Nyakairu Abwoli is on a mission to rejuvenate her land and empower her community. Farmers here long enjoyed fertile soil and predictable weather, but over the past 20 years, rainfall has become increasingly erratic. Frequent flooding has caused the district’s principal river to flood, uprooting homes and washing away fields. Abwoli’s answer to this is to plant trees. Standing in the dappled shade of a grove of young Ficus, she smiles and gestures towards the hillside. “We don’t just plant trees,” she says. “We plant hope.” A mature Ficus tree towers over Janet Nyakiru Abwoli&#8217;s home in Kasese District, Uganda. Evelyn Mugume, the environment officer for Kasese municipality, says that rainfall patterns in the district have changed. “We used to expect rains by August 15, but now they start in mid-September. Floods have become a common phenomenon, even in areas without rivers, washing away crops, homes, and livelihoods,” she tells Mongabay. “The temperatures, seasons, and patterns of rainfall and drought have all shifted noticeably. In the past 10 to 20 years, we have seen prolonged droughts and intense, shorter rainfalls that are insufficient for crop yield and production.” In response to this new situation, the Ugandan government and civil society organizations have promoted planting trees as a solution. They are encouraging people in Kasese district to plant native species, which are more resistant to pests and diseases&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/in-uganda-a-women-led-reforestation-initiative-fights-flooding-erosion/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>In Uganda, local communities bear the brunt of militarized conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/01/in-uganda-local-communities-bear-the-brunt-of-militarized-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/01/in-uganda-local-communities-bear-the-brunt-of-militarized-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jan 2025 14:14:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/18084037/PAOPEN-3-1-768x512-1.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=293201</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conflict, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Green, Human-wildlife Conflict, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Peoples, Protected Areas, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, and Wildlife Rangers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
												<description>
								<![CDATA[At Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park, violent enforcement of wildlife laws leaves broken families behind and damages the relationship between conservation authorities and local communities, reports Mongabay’s Ashoka Mukpo. In October 2023, Mukpo visited the massive park, home to various wildlife including elephants, lions, hippos and leopards, to investigate human-wildlife conflicts and heard of accounts [&#8230;]]]>
							</description>
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							<![CDATA[At Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park, violent enforcement of wildlife laws leaves broken families behind and damages the relationship between conservation authorities and local communities, reports Mongabay’s Ashoka Mukpo. In October 2023, Mukpo visited the massive park, home to various wildlife including elephants, lions, hippos and leopards, to investigate human-wildlife conflicts and heard of accounts of rangers shooting and killing — rather than arresting — suspected subsistence poachers, even when the individuals were unarmed or ready to surrender. In one incident, Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) rangers reportedly shot at a group of men armed with spears who had entered the park illegally to hunt a hippo. The shooting killed 49-year-old Tadeo Bwambale, who had allegedly raised his hands and attempted to surrender. All hunting inside Queen Elizabeth is strictly prohibited. Despite this, some nearby communities regularly enter the park to hunt antelopes and hippos to consume and sell locally, largely driven by poverty and a tradition of hunting, Mukpo found. UWA rangers told Mongabay that when they see a suspected poacher in the park, they act to arrest him, investigate and take the matter to a court of law. However, interviews with residents of local communities, including widows in the town of Kitabu, suggest that UWA rangers have summarily killed or injured several suspected bushmeat poachers encountered in the park. In one town Mongabay visited, there were so many deaths that former poachers set up a school to help educate the surviving children of those who’d been killed in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/01/in-uganda-local-communities-bear-the-brunt-of-militarized-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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