https://news.mongabay.com/list/agriculture/ Environmental science and conservation news Fri, 17 Apr 2026 21:11:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png https://news.mongabay.com/list/agriculture/ 32 32 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/strait-of-hormuz-crisis-should-catalyze-african-biofertilizer-production-commentary/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/strait-of-hormuz-crisis-should-catalyze-african-biofertilizer-production-commentary/#respond 16 Apr 2026 00:44:17 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317598 - While Africa’s largest chemical fertilizer manufacturer ramps up production to meet the continent’s acute need, a key question becomes whether biologically derived fertilizers created by small to medium enterprises — and by farmers themselves — can help fill the gap.
- “For the farmer standing in her field at dawn, the question is immediate: will she have what she needs to plant? The answer must be equally immediate and rooted in the strength and potential of our own solutions and soils,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/strait-of-hormuz-crisis-should-catalyze-african-biofertilizer-production-commentary/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-reforestation-corridor-in-madagascar-offers-a-future-for-lemurs-and-locals/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-reforestation-corridor-in-madagascar-offers-a-future-for-lemurs-and-locals/#respond 14 Apr 2026 22:07:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317476 - Led by the Mad Dog Initiative in partnership with The Dr. Abigail Ross Foundation for Applied Conservation, Association Mitsinjo and Ecovision Village, the project represents a unique convergence of science, private investment and community action.
- The project has already planted more than 100 native tree species across 70 hectares, a portion of which were grown in soil inoculated with mycorrhiza, with seedlings showing high survival and growth rates. Even in its early stages, lemurs are using the corridor.
- To address local challenges and increase the chances of long-term restoration success, project partners are investing in ecotourism, health care and education, among other strategies.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-reforestation-corridor-in-madagascar-offers-a-future-for-lemurs-and-locals/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/second-progress-report-shows-little-action-on-world-bank-redress-plan-at-liberian-plantation/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/second-progress-report-shows-little-action-on-world-bank-redress-plan-at-liberian-plantation/#respond 09 Apr 2026 10:07:03 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317077 - A progress report published in February said the bank’s private sector arm would continue to engage key stakeholders, but affected communities say they have not been contacted.
- In 2023, the International Finance Corporation’s ombudsman found communities’ complaints about inadequate compensation and widespread sexual harassment were valid.
- The IFC and the former operator of the plantation, Socfin, committed to carrying out the action plan, but a year later the plantation was sold, creating uncertainty over who will see the process through.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/second-progress-report-shows-little-action-on-world-bank-redress-plan-at-liberian-plantation/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/as-eu-mercosur-agreement-goes-into-effect-environmentalists-raise-red-flags/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/as-eu-mercosur-agreement-goes-into-effect-environmentalists-raise-red-flags/#respond 08 Apr 2026 21:56:41 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317212 - But experts and environmental organizations are concerned about the risks that may arise across Latin America as the accord goes into effect.
- Indigenous organizations warn about the lack of consultation with potentially affected native peoples, and studies point to problems associated with increases in deforestation, mining, and the use of agrochemicals and pesticides.
- On the other hand, experts argue that some provisions, such as the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), could help reduce environmental damage in Latin America under existing trade dynamics.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/as-eu-mercosur-agreement-goes-into-effect-environmentalists-raise-red-flags/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/mennonites-from-belize-spark-deforestation-fears-with-new-settlement-plans-in-suriname/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/mennonites-from-belize-spark-deforestation-fears-with-new-settlement-plans-in-suriname/#respond 08 Apr 2026 15:55:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317187 - Community leaders from Shipyard and Indian Creek, Belize, have taken multiple trips to Suriname to analyze soil quality and learn about the country’s farming regulations. Members from Spanish Lookout, another Mennonite community, have also started looking into a Suriname relocation.
- The move is being facilitated by Braganza Marketing Group, run by Ruud Souverein, a Dutch national living in Suriname who was involved in a previously failed government program to bring Mennonites from Bolivia in 2023.
- Environmental groups have expressed concern about Mennonites’ tendencies to expand into forested areas, circumvent environmental regulations, and settle on land without proper titles.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/mennonites-from-belize-spark-deforestation-fears-with-new-settlement-plans-in-suriname/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/ethiopian-women-plant-trees-restoring-lands-livelihoods/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/ethiopian-women-plant-trees-restoring-lands-livelihoods/#respond 01 Apr 2026 20:37:03 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316752 - The Integrated Women’s Development Organization has planted fruit and other trees as well as grass for animal fodder to restore soil and tree cover and provide additional income for its members.
- IWDO recently became a member of the GLFx network, connecting it with similar independent, community-oriented groups to strengthen its work protecting and restoring healthy forests and other landscapes.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/ethiopian-women-plant-trees-restoring-lands-livelihoods/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/grasslands-and-wetlands-are-being-lost-to-agriculture-four-times-faster-than-forests/ https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/grasslands-and-wetlands-are-being-lost-to-agriculture-four-times-faster-than-forests/#respond 30 Mar 2026 11:29:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&p=316509 Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/grasslands-and-wetlands-are-being-lost-to-agriculture-four-times-faster-than-forests/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/4-months-after-drc-mine-spill-residents-remain-impacted/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/4-months-after-drc-mine-spill-residents-remain-impacted/#respond 26 Mar 2026 19:15:58 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316369 - Months later, Mongabay visited three neighborhoods affected by the spill to gather on-the-ground accounts of continued impacts to crops, water and health.
- The government announced health assistance measures, treatment, the launch of a compensation process for victims and a collective settlement of $6 million.
- According to a human rights organization, the amount is insufficient given the health damage, and residents who speak to Mongabay say they fear they will not be included in compensation and health plans.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/4-months-after-drc-mine-spill-residents-remain-impacted/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/five-more-community-led-african-groups-join-global-landscape-restoration-network/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/five-more-community-led-african-groups-join-global-landscape-restoration-network/#respond 25 Mar 2026 15:57:16 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316292 - The GLFx network connects independent, community-oriented groups worldwide to strengthen their work protecting and restoring healthy forests and other landscapes.
- 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.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/five-more-community-led-african-groups-join-global-landscape-restoration-network/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/new-farming-method-replaces-traditional-jhum-in-crowding-bangladesh-hills/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/new-farming-method-replaces-traditional-jhum-in-crowding-bangladesh-hills/#respond 25 Mar 2026 13:33:06 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316273 - However, due to growing demand for arable lands and reducing yields, farmers have started to give up the traditional jhum for profitable cash crops in recent years.
- Among the changes adopted, cultivating vegetables using the machan method — using bamboo trellises to grow vines — is growing in popularity as the method ensures enough profit as well as a reduction in soil erosion.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/new-farming-method-replaces-traditional-jhum-in-crowding-bangladesh-hills/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/shippings-biofuel-gamble-could-deepen-africas-land-squeeze-and-food-insecurity-commentary/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/shippings-biofuel-gamble-could-deepen-africas-land-squeeze-and-food-insecurity-commentary/#respond 20 Mar 2026 15:10:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316050 - Next month, leaders will gather at the UN’s International Maritime Organization meeting to lay down the rules for decarbonizing shipping, and African governments must ensure that crop-based biofuels are not a part of the solution, they say.
- “African states should demand that food-based biofuels are excluded from shipping’s decarbonization targets, and insist on robust sustainability criteria to prevent the conversion of forests, peatlands, and other high-biodiversity or community-managed areas into fuel plantations,” the authors say.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/shippings-biofuel-gamble-could-deepen-africas-land-squeeze-and-food-insecurity-commentary/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-brazil-regenerative-farming-advances-but-deforestation-still-pressures-ecosystems/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-brazil-regenerative-farming-advances-but-deforestation-still-pressures-ecosystems/#respond 17 Mar 2026 16:58:15 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315826 - Agricultural innovation transformed states like Mato Grosso from non-arable land into global farming hubs. Now, agribusinesses and researchers in Brazil are exploring whether similar innovation can boost regenerative farming to restore degraded pasturelands and reduce further deforestation caused by agriculture.
- REVERTE, one of Brazil’s largest agricultural regeneration projects, led by Swiss pesticide producer Syngenta, aims to restore 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of degraded pastureland by 2030. Over the next decade, Brazil aims to restore 40 million hectares (100 million acres) of degraded land.
- Restoring degraded pasturelands will not be enough to halt deforestation for agriculture in the Cerrado and Amazon, experts warn. They say that without robust land-use governance, enforcement of forest protections and binding private-sector commitments, productivity gains risk fueling further expansion rather than reducing pressure on Brazil’s ecosystems.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-brazil-regenerative-farming-advances-but-deforestation-still-pressures-ecosystems/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/war-exacerbates-long-standing-irrigation-crisis-for-sudan-farmers/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/war-exacerbates-long-standing-irrigation-crisis-for-sudan-farmers/#respond 17 Mar 2026 16:18:28 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315863 - Twenty years ago, the government moved to privatize and decentralize operation and maintenance of this and other irrigation infrastructure.
- The loss of resources and experienced state employees has seen the system of pumps and canals deteriorate, leaving tens of thousands of farmers to improvize solutions.
- Wealthier farmers have installed pumps — increasingly turning to solar-powered ones — but with civil war making fuel and spare parts unaffordable, many small-scale farmers have been unable to grow food.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/war-exacerbates-long-standing-irrigation-crisis-for-sudan-farmers/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/planters-stranded-by-degraded-forests-as-bangladesh-agarwood-scheme-falters/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/planters-stranded-by-degraded-forests-as-bangladesh-agarwood-scheme-falters/#respond 17 Mar 2026 14:11:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315835 - Agarwood trees take 6-8 years to mature. However, even the older trees from these plantations have not been auctioned since plantation.
- Agarwood and attar (agar perfume) exports from Bangladesh have seen unsteady profits over the last few years.
- Now, there are too many agar plantations in the country while the size of the local perfume industry remains small, and planters wait for buyers.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/planters-stranded-by-degraded-forests-as-bangladesh-agarwood-scheme-falters/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/03/the-dutch-nitrogen-crisis/ https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/03/the-dutch-nitrogen-crisis/#respond 16 Mar 2026 21:48:38 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=specials&p=315815 Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/03/the-dutch-nitrogen-crisis/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/glyphosate-found-in-south-african-baby-cereal-watchdog-group-calls-for-ban/ https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/glyphosate-found-in-south-african-baby-cereal-watchdog-group-calls-for-ban/#respond 16 Mar 2026 17:30:58 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&p=315799 Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/glyphosate-found-in-south-african-baby-cereal-watchdog-group-calls-for-ban/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/brazil-is-both-the-worlds-environmental-treasure-and-its-most-exposed-victim-commentary/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/brazil-is-both-the-worlds-environmental-treasure-and-its-most-exposed-victim-commentary/#respond 16 Mar 2026 12:22:13 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315758 - Brazil’s major biomes—the Amazon, Cerrado, and Pantanal—function as an interconnected system that regulates rainfall, water supplies, and agricultural productivity across the country. Degrading one part of that system destabilizes the others, creating cascading economic and environmental risks.
- Despite mounting evidence of climate vulnerability—from floods and droughts to energy and food price shocks—Brazil’s political and economic institutions have yet to integrate climate risk into national planning at the scale required, leaving the country increasingly exposed to systemic disruption.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/brazil-is-both-the-worlds-environmental-treasure-and-its-most-exposed-victim-commentary/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/are-government-subsidies-undermining-conservation-efforts-in-australia/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/are-government-subsidies-undermining-conservation-efforts-in-australia/#respond 16 Mar 2026 00:43:36 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315097 - Most of the identified support flows to fossil fuels, transport infrastructure, and resource-intensive sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, and forestry, shaping land and sea use in ways that degrade ecosystems.
- These incentives can lower the cost of activities that drive habitat loss, overexploitation, and climate pressures, potentially undermining environmental policies intended to protect species and landscapes.
- Reforming harmful subsidies is now a global commitment under the Kunming-Montreal framework, but doing so will require balancing ecological goals with economic realities for affected industries and communities.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/are-government-subsidies-undermining-conservation-efforts-in-australia/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/costa-ricas-head-start-may-mask-tougher-eudr-road-ahead/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/costa-ricas-head-start-may-mask-tougher-eudr-road-ahead/#respond 13 Mar 2026 17:49:20 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315717 - To prepare, Costa Rica developed a pilot program with the country’s largest coffee growers’ cooperative, and started shipping deforestation-free coffee to Europe in March 2024.
- Costa Rica has since provided the tools developed for this pilot to the entire coffee sector, with the aim of all coffee shipped from the country being certified deforestation-free.
- However, Costa Rica’s long-standing sustainability standards gave it a head start on meeting the new regulations, experts say, warning that other countries with lower standards and fewer resources may find it difficult to quickly emulate its success.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/costa-ricas-head-start-may-mask-tougher-eudr-road-ahead/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-malawi-farmers-rebuild-soil-and-livelihoods-through-agroecology/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-malawi-farmers-rebuild-soil-and-livelihoods-through-agroecology/#respond 09 Mar 2026 17:03:59 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315323 - But a gradual embrace of agroecology is boosting resilience, cutting fertilizer costs by more than 40% and improving yields.
- Local organizations like Small Producers Development and Transporters Association (SPRODETA) are leading farmer training and seed preservation efforts.
- Government support is increasing, but scaling up agroecology nationwide remains a challenge, proponents say.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-malawi-farmers-rebuild-soil-and-livelihoods-through-agroecology/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-cerrado-is-threatened-but-crucial-for-brazils-biodiversity-water-security-commentary/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-cerrado-is-threatened-but-crucial-for-brazils-biodiversity-water-security-commentary/#respond 09 Mar 2026 16:37:38 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315420 - Yet more than 55% of the Cerrado’s native vegetation has been lost since the 1970s, and less than 3% is under full protection, far below what is needed to maintain biodiversity and ecological processes.
- Biodiversity loss advances silently, with species disappearing before they are even formally described by science, as several co-authors of a new review article explain.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of Mongabay.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-cerrado-is-threatened-but-crucial-for-brazils-biodiversity-water-security-commentary/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/electrocution-conflict-poaching-mark-grim-start-to-year-for-sumatran-elephants/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/electrocution-conflict-poaching-mark-grim-start-to-year-for-sumatran-elephants/#respond 09 Mar 2026 10:17:49 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315409 - Local residents in Karang Ampar village told Mongabay that human-elephant encounters have become increasingly frequent. Police in the province of Riau announced they had made multiple arrests over the fatal shooting of an elephant on an industrial palm oil concession.
- One day after the discovery of the deceased female Sumatran elephant in Central Aceh, a farmer in neighboring Bener Meriah district died after being trampled by an elephant near a corn field.
- Indonesia’s state conservation agency in Aceh said the recent Cyclone Senyar may also be driving human-elephant conflict, after floods from the November storm that killed more than 1,000 people across Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra disrupted wildlife movement corridors.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/electrocution-conflict-poaching-mark-grim-start-to-year-for-sumatran-elephants/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/nations-not-on-track-to-meet-un-2030-pesticide-risk-reduction-targets-study/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/nations-not-on-track-to-meet-un-2030-pesticide-risk-reduction-targets-study/#respond 06 Mar 2026 16:46:39 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315348 - To determine global pesticide risk, researchers used data on pesticide use from 2013 to 2019 in 65 countries, along with data on the toxicity of 625 pesticides as related to eight different species groups.
- Researchers found that just one country, Chile, is on track to meet the U.N. target of reducing pesticide risk by 50% by 2030. The team noted that while overall ecological toxicity of pesticides is rising worldwide, just four nations — the U.S. Brazil, China and India — accounted for more than half of global total applied toxicity (TAT).
- The researchers also discovered that global pesticide risk is dominated by just a few highly toxic chemicals, and they suggest that if this finding is acted upon, targeted reductions in use of these particular chemicals could be one of the best opportunities for nations to get back on track to meet the 2030 pesticide risk reduction goal.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/nations-not-on-track-to-meet-un-2030-pesticide-risk-reduction-targets-study/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/colombias-coffee-industry-well-placed-but-wary-as-eu-deforestation-rule-looms/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/colombias-coffee-industry-well-placed-but-wary-as-eu-deforestation-rule-looms/#respond 04 Mar 2026 16:23:15 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315196 - Colombia’s Coffee Information System (SICA), a georeferenced database managed by the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia (FNC), contains detailed records on around 1.8 million coffee lots and socioeconomic data on nearly 500,000 coffee-growing families, most of them smallholders.
- This long-established system could help Colombian coffee growers demonstrate compliance with EUDR, placing them ahead of competitors in Africa and parts of Asia.
- Nevertheless, while many large companies say they’re prepared for the EUDR, small-scale farmers, including Indigenous coffee growers, often have limited knowledge about the requirements and are less prepared to comply.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/colombias-coffee-industry-well-placed-but-wary-as-eu-deforestation-rule-looms/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/indonesia-farmers-count-the-costs-as-rains-wash-out-java-durian-harvest/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/indonesia-farmers-count-the-costs-as-rains-wash-out-java-durian-harvest/#respond 04 Mar 2026 04:23:07 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315130 - Every year farmers around Plana village plant a type of durian known as the Kromo, named after a returning Islamic pilgrim whose durian trees produced unusually large fruit, which people here prize for its heightened flavor profile.
- Peer-reviewed research and official comment by Indonesia’s state meteorology agency, the BMKG, shows fruit growers in Java may face declining yields in the future amid increasingly erratic weather.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/indonesia-farmers-count-the-costs-as-rains-wash-out-java-durian-harvest/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/concern-among-indigenous-leaders-relief-for-a-few-as-amazon-soy-moratorium-falters/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/concern-among-indigenous-leaders-relief-for-a-few-as-amazon-soy-moratorium-falters/#respond 03 Mar 2026 18:33:45 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315066 - Most Indigenous leaders say a weakening or end to the moratorium will increase deforestation, pollution and invasions of their lands — as satellite imagery points to advancing forest loss near one territory — while a few leaders see this as an economic opportunity that will allow them to sell soy farmed on their lands without any penalties.
- As cracks form in the 20-year-old moratorium, the environment ministry says existing deforestation policies still stand and that given potential impacts on Indigenous lands, environmental enforcement and control mechanisms remain active and strengthened.
- The government of the state of Mato Grosso says the moratorium created an unfair legal framework, while soy industry association Abiove said Brazil can still maintain high socioenvironmental standards without it. Both did not address whether there are potential impacts on Indigenous lands.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/concern-among-indigenous-leaders-relief-for-a-few-as-amazon-soy-moratorium-falters/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/02/warming-and-farming-hasten-bird-losses-across-north-america-study-shows/ https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/02/warming-and-farming-hasten-bird-losses-across-north-america-study-shows/#respond 26 Feb 2026 20:01:23 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&p=314916 Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/02/warming-and-farming-hasten-bird-losses-across-north-america-study-shows/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/profitable-cash-crop-trend-in-bangladeshs-hills-affects-regional-ecology/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/profitable-cash-crop-trend-in-bangladeshs-hills-affects-regional-ecology/#respond 26 Feb 2026 09:44:07 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314840 - According to a study, a major portion of the 40,000 hectares (98,842 acres) of hills that were previously used for traditional agriculture have been transformed for cultivating different cash crops like ginger, turmeric, pineapple and banana.
- Though the transformation ensured economic gain for the farmers and investors, the ecology of the hill landscape has been affected by soil erosion, dried up streams, increased landslides and water scarcity for the locals.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/profitable-cash-crop-trend-in-bangladeshs-hills-affects-regional-ecology/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/agroforestry-offers-market-based-way-to-boost-amazon-rains-farmer-incomes-analysis/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/agroforestry-offers-market-based-way-to-boost-amazon-rains-farmer-incomes-analysis/#respond 25 Feb 2026 19:24:48 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314788 - Continued deforestation could push the system past a tipping point where the Amazon can no longer sustain its rainfall regime, threatening the continent’s productive capacity and the economic livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people.
- The economic opportunity that can change this is agroforestry systems that reforest areas to produce global commodities that can also comply with Brazil’s Forest Code, which requires private properties in the Amazonian region to maintain native vegetation on 80% of their landholdings.
- This article is an analysis. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/agroforestry-offers-market-based-way-to-boost-amazon-rains-farmer-incomes-analysis/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/the-cost-of-compliance-with-the-eudr-will-limit-its-impact-on-reducing-deforestation-commentary/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/the-cost-of-compliance-with-the-eudr-will-limit-its-impact-on-reducing-deforestation-commentary/#respond 23 Feb 2026 01:33:02 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314595 - The costs of implementing “zero deforestation” agri-commodity supply chain commitments requiring physical segregation are likely to cause positively engaged companies to avoid commodities grown in regions with active deforestation, leaving companies with no deforestation commitments in their place.
- Contrary to dominant beliefs in adding controls and costs, systemically linking markets and public policy in producer regions enables cheaper, more price-competitive and thus more effective forest-climate strategies; jurisdictional REDD+ is poised to provide such a bridge, argue Bjørn Rask Thomsen, Europe Director at Earth Innovation Institute and former food industry CEO and Daniel Nepstad, Executive Director and President at Earth Innovation Institute in this op-ed.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/the-cost-of-compliance-with-the-eudr-will-limit-its-impact-on-reducing-deforestation-commentary/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/02/how-seabird-poop-helped-fuel-ancient-civilizations-in-peru/ https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/02/how-seabird-poop-helped-fuel-ancient-civilizations-in-peru/#respond 19 Feb 2026 18:33:30 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&p=314506 Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/02/how-seabird-poop-helped-fuel-ancient-civilizations-in-peru/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/the-amazon-generates-20-billion-of-dollars-worth-of-rainfall-each-year-study-finds/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/the-amazon-generates-20-billion-of-dollars-worth-of-rainfall-each-year-study-finds/#respond 19 Feb 2026 00:40:28 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314446 - Much of the rain that falls far inland originates from forests through long-distance moisture transport known as “flying rivers,” meaning farms, cities, and reservoirs may depend on ecosystems located hundreds or thousands of kilometers away.
- Reduced rainfall from deforestation can undermine agriculture, river flows, and hydropower, revealing forests as a form of natural water infrastructure that supports food production, energy systems, and economic stability.
- By assigning a monetary value to forest-generated rainfall, researchers estimate the service in the Amazon alone is worth on the order of tens of billions of dollars annually, underscoring that forest loss threatens not only biodiversity and carbon storage but regional climate systems themselves.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/the-amazon-generates-20-billion-of-dollars-worth-of-rainfall-each-year-study-finds/feed/ 0