https://news.mongabay.com/list/archeology/ Environmental science and conservation news Thu, 02 Jul 2026 10:28:16 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png https://news.mongabay.com/list/archeology/ 32 32 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://doi.org/10.66709/news-314506 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/indigenous-myths-reveal-amazons-past-truths-interview-with-stephen-rostain/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/indigenous-myths-reveal-amazons-past-truths-interview-with-stephen-rostain/#respond 01 Oct 2025 14:14:03 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=306877 - In an interview with Mongabay, Rostain says the ancient Upano Valley culture in Ecuador collapsed due to severe drought, offering a stark warning for the Amazon’s current climate vulnerability.
- Rostain says he’s hopeful that a new archaeological understanding of the Amazon will challenge centuries of prejudice against Indigenous people and offer answers for the future.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/indigenous-myths-reveal-amazons-past-truths-interview-with-stephen-rostain/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-306877 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/an-ancient-indigenous-civilization-endures-beneath-an-amazon-urban-soy-hub/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/an-ancient-indigenous-civilization-endures-beneath-an-amazon-urban-soy-hub/#respond 16 Sep 2025 07:00:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305898 - Occasionally, Santarém’s rich Indigenous heritage surfaces through the cracks in the urban concrete, although archaeological sites have disappeared as a result of urban expansion, agriculture, and the construction of a soy terminal by commodities giant Cargill.
- Archaeological discoveries in the Santarém region challenge the long-held belief that the Amazon was too harsh to sustain large, complex human cultures, revealing a radically different urban paradigm.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/an-ancient-indigenous-civilization-endures-beneath-an-amazon-urban-soy-hub/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305898 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/soy-crops-squeeze-amazon-park-with-11000-year-old-rock-paintings-in-brazil/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/soy-crops-squeeze-amazon-park-with-11000-year-old-rock-paintings-in-brazil/#respond 04 Aug 2025 18:30:57 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=303448 - Boasting hundreds of ancient rock paintings, Monte Alegre State Park (PEMA) in northern Brazil is a natural and cultural marvel, yet it barely attracts 4,000 visitors a year.
- Deforestation is accelerating around Monte Alegre, with 11,000 hectares (27,180 acres) of forest lost in 2024, largely to soy farming.
- A new report revealed a worrying pattern: By 2023, more than half of Brazil’s archaeological sites were located close to recent human activity, largely due to the expansion of farming.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/soy-crops-squeeze-amazon-park-with-11000-year-old-rock-paintings-in-brazil/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-303448 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/07/kazakhstan-to-donate-1500-wild-saiga-to-china-after-75-years-of-local-extinction/ https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/07/kazakhstan-to-donate-1500-wild-saiga-to-china-after-75-years-of-local-extinction/#respond 02 Jul 2025 21:51:25 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&p=301841 Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/07/kazakhstan-to-donate-1500-wild-saiga-to-china-after-75-years-of-local-extinction/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301841 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/villagers-in-sumatra-bring-ancient-forest-flavors-back-to-the-table/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/villagers-in-sumatra-bring-ancient-forest-flavors-back-to-the-table/#respond 05 Jun 2025 08:13:52 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300043 - Their dishes are inspired by the plants and animals depicted on the bas-reliefs of another ancient Buddhist site: Borobudur in Java.
- The ancient menu has proved popular both among visitors and locals, who are rediscovering their agrobiodiverse heritage.
- The women have nurtured an ancient food forest and garden in Muaro Jambi to conserve the diverse wild plants and varieties in their menus.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/villagers-in-sumatra-bring-ancient-forest-flavors-back-to-the-table/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300043 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/meet-pedro-porras-the-priest-who-first-rediscovered-amazon-ancient-cities/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/meet-pedro-porras-the-priest-who-first-rediscovered-amazon-ancient-cities/#respond 26 May 2025 07:00:54 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299353 - He did archaeological research all across Ecuador, often facing extremely difficult situations.
- In January 2024, a Science article on the Upano Valley culture triggered a surge of media publications around the world, falsely claiming “a lost city” had been found, ignoring Porras’ discoveries.
- In 1964, Porras was appointed professor of archaeology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador (PUCE), where he established a center for archaeological research.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/meet-pedro-porras-the-priest-who-first-rediscovered-amazon-ancient-cities/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299353 https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/dna-testing-proves-that-cocoa-originated-in-the-amazon-and-reveals-robust-pre-columbian-trade/ https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/dna-testing-proves-that-cocoa-originated-in-the-amazon-and-reveals-robust-pre-columbian-trade/#respond 29 Jul 2024 11:46:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=285230 - Traces were found on ceramic pieces from 19 different pre-Columbian cultures and show genetic mixing between cacao species that were geographically far from each other.
- The discovery verifies the theory that ancient trade routes existed between the Amazon and other regions, like Central America, where cacao was previously thought to have originated from.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/dna-testing-proves-that-cocoa-originated-in-the-amazon-and-reveals-robust-pre-columbian-trade/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-285230 https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/secrets-from-the-rainforests-past-uncovered-in-amazonian-backyards/ https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/secrets-from-the-rainforests-past-uncovered-in-amazonian-backyards/#respond 08 May 2024 10:53:48 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=281827 - Preserved in household museums, pottery fragments compose a collective project drawing together scientists and communities seeking to understand Amazonia’s past.
- Ancestral soils known as Amazonian Dark Earths with remains of farming and food preparation are offering clues about how humans transformed the forest over time
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/secrets-from-the-rainforests-past-uncovered-in-amazonian-backyards/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-281827 https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/a-short-walk-through-amazon-time-interview-with-archaeologist-anna-roosevelt/ https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/a-short-walk-through-amazon-time-interview-with-archaeologist-anna-roosevelt/#respond 10 Apr 2024 19:06:36 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=280726 - In an interview with Mongabay, she explains how her research led to evidence of much older Amazon settlements than previously thought, challenging a decades-long scientific consensus about how Indigenous people related to the forest.
- “One reason I was able to make some great discoveries is because of how opinionated archaeologists in the mid-20th century were. I only benefited from their mistakes,” she said.
- Roosevelt said the recent hype regarding the “garden cities” in Ecuador is “annoying”, as it is not a new discovery and it ignores older research from Latin American archaeologists.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/a-short-walk-through-amazon-time-interview-with-archaeologist-anna-roosevelt/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-280726 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/ancient-ocean-water-found-in-himalayas-could-offer-insights-about-evolution/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/ancient-ocean-water-found-in-himalayas-could-offer-insights-about-evolution/#respond 22 Nov 2023 02:30:12 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275640 - The scientists say these droplets could aid our understanding of the Neoproterozoic Oxygenation Event and the Earth processes that fostered the evolution of complex life.
- The researchers say these droplets could offer insights about the makeup of ancient oceans and the environment at the time, and they could be helpful for future climate modeling.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/ancient-ocean-water-found-in-himalayas-could-offer-insights-about-evolution/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-275640 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/australia-crackdown-on-climate-protesters-grows-amid-fight-against-gas-project/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/australia-crackdown-on-climate-protesters-grows-amid-fight-against-gas-project/#respond 31 Oct 2023 14:43:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274832 - As the company argues more gas is needed, direct action tactics by protesters, like releasing non-toxic stench gas or painting on art, have erupted across the state, as well as crackdowns by the police who have begun imposing the strongest form of charges on activists — some facing up to 20 years in prison.
- This is on trend with a general increasing intolerance toward environmental protesters in Australia and an uptick in the use of direct action by protesters who feel the time is running out to meet climate targets and protect endangered species.
- Environmentalists and researchers worry the project will endanger marine life through seismic blasting and say studies show it is not necessary to meet the country’s energy needs.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/australia-crackdown-on-climate-protesters-grows-amid-fight-against-gas-project/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-274832 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/the-amazons-archaeology-of-hope-qa-with-anthropologist-michael-heckenberger/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/the-amazons-archaeology-of-hope-qa-with-anthropologist-michael-heckenberger/#respond 18 Oct 2023 07:00:50 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274170 - In this interview for Mongabay, he tells how he and his colleagues have been practicing an “archeology of hope” — helping the Indigenous peoples in the region to prepare for climate change, using ancestral knowledge pulled out from archaeological research.
- “It should be the default, not the exception, to assume that there were Indigenous people living or dwelling in some way on almost every inch of Brazilian land,” he says about the marco temporal thesis, which aims to limit new Indigenous territories, now being discussed in Brazilian Congress.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/the-amazons-archaeology-of-hope-qa-with-anthropologist-michael-heckenberger/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-274170 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/many-features-of-the-amazon-are-man-made-qa-with-archaeologist-eduardo-neves/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/many-features-of-the-amazon-are-man-made-qa-with-archaeologist-eduardo-neves/#respond 03 May 2023 18:44:18 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=268168 - Archeologist Eduardo Neves has studied human occupation of the Amazon for 30 years and found evidence of rice, manioc and palm tree cultivation dating back thousands of years.
- In an interview with Mongabay, Neves talks about the new understanding of the Amazon: “The diversity of the Amazon, the presence of many large nut trees and fruit-bearing palm trees, is a result of Indigenous practices.”
- The old paradigm about the agricultural limitations of the rainforest has been shelved, according to Neves. “The Amazon Rainforest is not only a natural heritage, but [also] a biocultural heritage.”
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/many-features-of-the-amazon-are-man-made-qa-with-archaeologist-eduardo-neves/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-268168 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/sri-lanka-aims-to-restore-ancient-irrigation-tanks-in-climate-change-plan/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/sri-lanka-aims-to-restore-ancient-irrigation-tanks-in-climate-change-plan/#respond 22 Apr 2023 15:00:36 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267775 - Some of the tank cascade systems are likely to have been built around 500 BCE and continue to function sustainably, though not at full capacity; experts are calling for their restoration with extreme care to ensure optimum functionality.
- Recognized as a globally important agricultural heritage system by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), most of these tanks are now neglected and under pressure from the changing climate, land use, population and agricultural intensification, despite their value as a unique climate adaptation plan.
- Sri Lanka’s dry zone has more than 14,000 small ancient village tanks with many still in good shape, supporting 246,000 hectares (608,000 acres) of paddy cultivation, about 39% of the total irrigable area, but poor maintenance has rendered many others dysfunctional.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/sri-lanka-aims-to-restore-ancient-irrigation-tanks-in-climate-change-plan/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-267775 https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/sulawesi-hydropower-dam-could-flood-important-archaeological-sites/ https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/sulawesi-hydropower-dam-could-flood-important-archaeological-sites/#respond 14 Dec 2022 08:17:05 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=262970 - An inundation map shows that the dam could raise the river’s water level to 62 meters (203 feet) above sea level, potentially damaging important archaeological sites in the Karama valley.
- In 2020, archaeologists announced they had found Indonesia’s oldest-known rice strain in the Karama valley, an important region in the Austronesian expansion, thought to be one of the most expansive prehistoric human migrations.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/sulawesi-hydropower-dam-could-flood-important-archaeological-sites/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-262970 https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/chimpanzee-nut-cracking-leaves-telltale-marks-on-stones-providing-clues-to-human-evolution/ https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/chimpanzee-nut-cracking-leaves-telltale-marks-on-stones-providing-clues-to-human-evolution/#respond 13 Dec 2022 07:02:00 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=263415 - Researchers used 3D scans to trace wear patterns on the tools, called “hammerstones” and “anvils.”
- The different tool uses may help archaeologists identify signs of early stone tool technology in human ancestors more than 3 million years ago.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/chimpanzee-nut-cracking-leaves-telltale-marks-on-stones-providing-clues-to-human-evolution/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-263415 https://news.mongabay.com/2022/07/giant-kangaroo-fossil-points-to-previously-unknown-species-in-new-guinea/ https://news.mongabay.com/2022/07/giant-kangaroo-fossil-points-to-previously-unknown-species-in-new-guinea/#respond 27 Jul 2022 18:42:51 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=258620 - The finding was a chance discovery as Ph.D. candidate Isaac Kerr was reexamining a jawbone bone found in the 1970s and originally believed to belong to the extinct genus Protemnodon, the cousin of the modern day eastern gray and red kangaroos that are found in Australia.
- There has only been limited archaeological research on the island of New Guinea to date, and the fossil record is patchy.
- The team say they hope further research will offer insights into how the island’s extraordinary modern-day biodiversity, much of which is endemic, evolved.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2022/07/giant-kangaroo-fossil-points-to-previously-unknown-species-in-new-guinea/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-258620 https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/the-controversial-hunt-for-a-multibillion-dollar-treasure-in-a-chilean-park/ https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/the-controversial-hunt-for-a-multibillion-dollar-treasure-in-a-chilean-park/#respond 12 Feb 2021 11:38:54 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=239538 - In 2020, crews searching for the treasure began to use backhoes, causing erosion in Archipiélago de Juan Fernández National Park in the Pacific Ocean west of Chile.
- The crews began using heavy machinery without an environmental impact evaluation because SEA, the government’s Environmental Evaluation Service, dismissed the need for one.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/the-controversial-hunt-for-a-multibillion-dollar-treasure-in-a-chilean-park/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-239538 https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/reviving-an-ancient-way-of-aquaculture-at-hawaiis-he%ca%bbeia-fishpond/ https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/reviving-an-ancient-way-of-aquaculture-at-hawaiis-he%ca%bbeia-fishpond/#respond 20 Apr 2020 16:03:35 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=229170 - The ponds are a model of sustainability: often built at the mouths of streams, they support fish that feed on algae and seaweed in the silty environment.
- Unlike contemporary aquaculture systems, they require no input of feed and are largely self-sustaining, needing minimal management and maintenance once established.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/reviving-an-ancient-way-of-aquaculture-at-hawaiis-he%ca%bbeia-fishpond/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-229170 https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/humans-have-been-transforming-earth-for-thousands-of-years-study-says/ https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/humans-have-been-transforming-earth-for-thousands-of-years-study-says/#respond 30 Aug 2019 10:42:46 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=222052 - This massive collaboration, termed the ArchaeGLOBE project, has helped build the first ever global picture of how human activities were altering the planet’s surface from 10,000 years ago right up to 1850.
- These estimates of the spread of agriculture and pastoralism suggest that humans were significantly transforming the planet earlier than what some recent studies and databases show, the researchers say.
- The ArchaeoGLOBE project dataset, however, has several data gaps and presents only part of our planet’s history.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/humans-have-been-transforming-earth-for-thousands-of-years-study-says/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-222052 https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/invaders-cattle-cocaine-deforestation-spikes-in-guatemalan-national-park/ https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/invaders-cattle-cocaine-deforestation-spikes-in-guatemalan-national-park/#respond 21 Jun 2019 14:59:58 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=219505 - Between 2001 and 2018, Laguna del Tigre lost nearly 30 percent of its tree cover, and preliminary data for 2019 indicate the rate of loss is set to rise dramatically this year. Fire is the dominant driver of deforestation in the park, and is used to clear the land of forest and make it more farmable. Satellite imagery shows vast swaths of recently burned land where old growth rainforest stood less than 20 years ago.
- Authorities blame residents within the park for much of the destruction, as well as industrial cattle operations and cocaine traffickers who set up airstrips on cleared land within the park. But community members have defended what they say is their right to live on the land and to use its resources, in some cases even resorting to violence.
- Wildlife Conservation Society, along with the National Council for Protected Areas, have begun working on peace-building initiatives for the area with international agencies and organizations in the hopes of bridging the gap between environmental protection and human rights. But a lot of work remains.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/invaders-cattle-cocaine-deforestation-spikes-in-guatemalan-national-park/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-219505 https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/new-ancient-giant-carnivore-described-from-bones-in-museum-drawer/ https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/new-ancient-giant-carnivore-described-from-bones-in-museum-drawer/#respond 19 Apr 2019 12:34:24 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=217634 - The extinct carnivore was larger than any big cat that lives today, with a skull the size of a rhinoceros’s and massive canine teeth, the researchers say.
- The meat-eating mammal has been dubbed Simbakubwa kutokaafrika, or “big lion from Africa” in Swahili.
- Despite the name, the animal wasn’t a big cat or related to one. Instead, it belonged to a now-extinct group of carnivores called hyaenodonts that were once the top predators across Africa.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/new-ancient-giant-carnivore-described-from-bones-in-museum-drawer/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-217634 https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/new-species-of-ancient-human-found-in-a-philippine-cave/ https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/new-species-of-ancient-human-found-in-a-philippine-cave/#respond 12 Apr 2019 11:01:18 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=217439 - H. luzonensis has a mix of ancient and modern traits: Most of its teeth are small and simple in shape, resembling those of modern humans, while its finger and toe bones have features similar to Australopithecus, ancestors of humans who are known to have last walked in Africa around 2 million years ago.
- The researchers involved in the current study are confident that H. luzonensis will hold up as a new species because its skeletal and dental elements “have no equivalents anywhere amongst the known Homo lineage.”
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/new-species-of-ancient-human-found-in-a-philippine-cave/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-217439 https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/honduras-aims-to-save-vital-wildlife-corridor-from-deforestation/ https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/honduras-aims-to-save-vital-wildlife-corridor-from-deforestation/#respond 13 Nov 2018 02:51:33 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=212164 - The reserve is found in the Moskitia region’s rainforests, around 30 percent of which have been cleared in the past 15 years, largely due to cattle and livestock ranching.
- Conservation groups hailed the move as one that would benefit both Honduras and the world because of the region’s biodiversity and carbon stocks.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/honduras-aims-to-save-vital-wildlife-corridor-from-deforestation/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-212164 https://news.mongabay.com/2018/09/a-brazilian-mourns-what-was-lost-in-the-national-museum-fire/ https://news.mongabay.com/2018/09/a-brazilian-mourns-what-was-lost-in-the-national-museum-fire/#respond 06 Sep 2018 12:49:28 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=210045 - The museum’s Paleontology collection housed practically all fossils of plants and animals, vertebrates and invertebrates, discovered in Brazil from 1800 into the 20th century. The fire consumed the accumulated fossil record of tens of millions of years of evolution in Brazil and South America.
- The Anthropology collection was also burned, a heartbreaking, irreplaceable loss of Brazil’s indigenous legacy. Gone is the entire Ethnology collection, which kept masks, weapons, utensils and other artifacts documenting the cultures of numerous Brazilian indigenous peoples, collected over two centuries.
- Saved were the collections of vertebrates, and the botany collection, all installed 30 years ago in an annex. While the scientific value of those collections preserved is immense, Peter Moon laments the loss of the vast natural history archive: “Scientific collections, once lost, are forever.”
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2018/09/a-brazilian-mourns-what-was-lost-in-the-national-museum-fire/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-210045 https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/researchers-are-looking-into-the-past-to-help-ensure-a-future-for-tropical-forests/ https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/researchers-are-looking-into-the-past-to-help-ensure-a-future-for-tropical-forests/#respond 30 Jul 2018 10:06:00 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=208779 - A study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution earlier this month found that, prior to the arrival of European colonists, indigenous peoples in the cloud forests of Ecuador cleared even more of the forests than we have cleared today.
- By studying this history, researchers hope to aid in the restoration of the forests that have once again been degraded for human purposes.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/researchers-are-looking-into-the-past-to-help-ensure-a-future-for-tropical-forests/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-208779 https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/conserving-the-worlds-remaining-intact-forests/ https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/conserving-the-worlds-remaining-intact-forests/#respond 25 Jul 2017 18:15:21 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=197623 - Some interpret “intact” to mean absent the influence of people, but people have lived within forests the world over for millennia and we are only beginning to understand how they have – and continue to – influence them.
- We cannot solve our most pressing environmental and development problems by compromising the few areas that remain whole.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/conserving-the-worlds-remaining-intact-forests/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-197623 https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/pre-columbian-amazon-settlement-primarily-ate-fish-more-sustainable/ https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/pre-columbian-amazon-settlement-primarily-ate-fish-more-sustainable/#respond 08 Jul 2016 14:59:00 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=187516 - Thirty-seven different fish taxa were identified in the Hatahara samples, indicating that the people of that time were exploiting a much more diverse spectrum of food species than today, perhaps making their fishing and dietary habits more sustainable.
- One mystery: just one river turtle genus (Podocnemis) dominated the reptile diet, even though a diversity of turtle taxa can be found in the region.
- While these results are intriguing, more study is needed at more locations (inland, interfluvial and wetland settlements) to arrive at a regional understanding of available animal resources and the diets of Pre-Columbian Amazon settlements over time.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/pre-columbian-amazon-settlement-primarily-ate-fish-more-sustainable/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-187516 https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/controversial-park-plans-in-guatemalas-maya-biosphere-reserve/ https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/controversial-park-plans-in-guatemalas-maya-biosphere-reserve/#respond 17 Jun 2016 07:00:10 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=187168 - A plan to increase tourism to the area and redraw the boundaries of the park and adjacent community forest concessions aims to prevent these threats from compromising the area’s rainforest and important archaeological sites.
- Yet the plan has drawn widespread opposition from local communities, environmental NGOs, and the government agency charged with managing the reserve. Opponents say the plan would threaten the region’s ecology, local livelihoods, and community forest concessions that have successfully protected the rainforest.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/controversial-park-plans-in-guatemalas-maya-biosphere-reserve/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-187168 https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/communities-lead-the-way-in-rainforest-conservation-in-guatemala/ https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/communities-lead-the-way-in-rainforest-conservation-in-guatemala/#respond 09 Jun 2016 16:44:29 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=186972 - The best way to protect the reserve’s rainforest—better than national parks—has turned out to be nine community concessions, forest allotments where locals earn a living from the carefully regulated extraction of timber and plants.
- However, the community concessions’ future remains unclear, with contracts set to expire in the coming years and powerful forces opposing them.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/communities-lead-the-way-in-rainforest-conservation-in-guatemala/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-186972 https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/successes-and-many-challenges-in-guatemalas-maya-biosphere-reserve/ https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/successes-and-many-challenges-in-guatemalas-maya-biosphere-reserve/#respond 02 Jun 2016 19:04:06 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=186792 - The reserve is a gem of biological and cultural heritage, with more than 500 species of birds, numerous endangered and iconic wildlife species, and dozens of ancient Mayan archaeological sites.
- The reserve’s multiple-use zone has generally succeeded at reducing deforestation and providing sustainable livelihoods for communities living there. But deforestation remains a huge problem in the reserve as a whole, pushed along by complex factors, including illegal settlement by landless migrants, oil development, and the presence of drug traffickers, cattle ranchers, and other armed groups.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/successes-and-many-challenges-in-guatemalas-maya-biosphere-reserve/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-186792