https://news.mongabay.com/list/biofuels/ Environmental science and conservation news Fri, 03 Jul 2026 15:19:35 +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/biofuels/ 32 32 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/south-africas-move-away-from-coal-marred-by-legacy-of-abandoned-mines-report/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/south-africas-move-away-from-coal-marred-by-legacy-of-abandoned-mines-report/#respond 08 Jun 2026 07:46:43 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320479 - Environmental groups warn that abandoned coal mines are leaving behind contaminated water, radioactive waste, and polluted landscapes that could harm communities for decades.
- The report says weak enforcement allows mining companies to walk away from environmental damage, leaving taxpayers and mining communities to carry the cost.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/south-africas-move-away-from-coal-marred-by-legacy-of-abandoned-mines-report/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320479 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://doi.org/10.66709/news-316752 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/oil-surge-sharpens-calls-for-indonesia-to-shift-away-from-fossil-fuels/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/oil-surge-sharpens-calls-for-indonesia-to-shift-away-from-fossil-fuels/#respond 01 Apr 2026 03:23:28 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316691 - Analysts say the crisis underscores the need to accelerate renewable energy development, which could reduce exposure to volatile global markets and improve long-term economic stability.
- Despite this, the government is also boosting coal output and exploring expanded biofuel use — moves that critics warn could undermine climate goals and create new environmental risks.
- Civil society groups are calling for windfall taxes on fossil fuel companies to fund a just energy transition, arguing current policies risk deepening inequality and dependence on extractive industries.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/oil-surge-sharpens-calls-for-indonesia-to-shift-away-from-fossil-fuels/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316691 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/brazil-is-uniquely-positioned-to-weather-rising-world-oil-prices/ https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/brazil-is-uniquely-positioned-to-weather-rising-world-oil-prices/#respond 31 Mar 2026 18:29:27 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&p=316655 Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/brazil-is-uniquely-positioned-to-weather-rising-world-oil-prices/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316655 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://doi.org/10.66709/news-316050 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://doi.org/10.66709/news-314788 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/cameroon-cookstove-project-looks-to-slow-forest-loss/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/cameroon-cookstove-project-looks-to-slow-forest-loss/#respond 30 Jan 2026 09:13:41 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313523 - Mongabay visited one of the villages where CIFOR’s project is taking place to talk to people who are involved in it.
- Long-term success rates for similar projects in Africa have often been low.
- CIFOR wants to break that trend by encouraging people to adopt the new cookstoves and keep using them.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/cameroon-cookstove-project-looks-to-slow-forest-loss/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313523 https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/indonesia-backs-away-from-coal-exit-test-case-amid-financial-and-political-pushback/ https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/indonesia-backs-away-from-coal-exit-test-case-amid-financial-and-political-pushback/#respond 15 Jan 2026 13:44:49 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312999 - Analysts say the decision reflects deeper structural resistance to moving away from coal, driven by long-term power contracts, coal subsidies, and policies that make early retirement costly while keeping coal artificially cheap.
- The reversal risks undermining Indonesia’s credibility with global partners and investors, particularly under initiatives like the JETP, and exposes inconsistencies between political pledges on renewables and binding policy action.
- Critics argue early coal retirement would benefit Indonesia overall if full costs were counted, including health and environmental impacts, but political ties between coal interests and policymakers, along with uncertainty in global climate finance, continue to stall progress.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/indonesia-backs-away-from-coal-exit-test-case-amid-financial-and-political-pushback/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312999 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/11/ethanol-plant-spills-harmful-wastewater-into-philippine-marine-reserve/ https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/11/ethanol-plant-spills-harmful-wastewater-into-philippine-marine-reserve/#respond 05 Nov 2025 07:20:20 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&p=308835 Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/11/ethanol-plant-spills-harmful-wastewater-into-philippine-marine-reserve/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308835 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/park-guardians-or-destroyers-study-dissects-2-narratives-of-drcs-indigenous-batwa/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/park-guardians-or-destroyers-study-dissects-2-narratives-of-drcs-indigenous-batwa/#respond 11 Sep 2025 19:05:49 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305766 - The two narratives are rooted in colonial perspectives on the Batwa people who had lived inside the park until they were evicted in the 20th century; today, some Batwa populations have returned in an effort to try to rebuild their lives.
- Tensions remain between Batwa members who say they have faced broken promises and insufficient support from park management, but the park management team says it prioritizes Indigenous rights and efforts to improve livelihoods; meanwhile, the situation on the ground is changing amid renewed M23 rebel violence.
- Researchers say the overall situation is much more nuanced than the two narratives of forest guardians vs. destroyers allow for.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/park-guardians-or-destroyers-study-dissects-2-narratives-of-drcs-indigenous-batwa/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305766 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/08/global-south-bears-growing-burden-of-health-threats-from-plastic-burning/ https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/08/global-south-bears-growing-burden-of-health-threats-from-plastic-burning/#respond 25 Aug 2025 15:30:41 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&p=304886 Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/08/global-south-bears-growing-burden-of-health-threats-from-plastic-burning/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304886 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/sustainable-biomass-certification-scheme-is-flawed-degrades-forests-report-finds/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/sustainable-biomass-certification-scheme-is-flawed-degrades-forests-report-finds/#respond 21 Aug 2025 15:58:05 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304702 - The NGO-commissioned report raises questions about SBP’s certification process, especially methods for verifying wood pellet producer and supply chain sustainability claims to safeguard against deforestation and forest degradation. SBP certification is used to justify green subsidies to the industry, mostly by European nations, but increasingly in Asia.
- SBP acknowledges the concerns raised by the report and said it is open to dialogue. The organization emphasized that its standards are designed to assess “the sustainability and legality of biomass sourcing at the level of the Biomass Producer, not at the forest management unit level” and that it does not “make overarching climate impact claims.”
- The nonprofit environmental groups that commissioned the report question how SBP can assure sustainability without assessing forest management and climate impacts.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/sustainable-biomass-certification-scheme-is-flawed-degrades-forests-report-finds/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304702 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/community-based-biofuels-offer-sensible-alternative-to-palm-oil-for-indonesia-analysis-shows/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/community-based-biofuels-offer-sensible-alternative-to-palm-oil-for-indonesia-analysis-shows/#respond 23 May 2025 10:11:48 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299547 - A proposed alternative scenario by the NGO Madani Berkelanjutan calls for boosting yields from existing plantations and promoting community-based biofuel production using diverse feedstocks like used cooking oil and non-palm crops.
- This alternative model avoids deforestation and social conflict, supports rural economies, and could generate a higher net economic benefit of $37.1 billion, compared to $31.36 billion under the business-as-usual scenario.
- Researchers warn the country is nearing its ecological cap for oil palm plantations, urging a shift to intensification and diversification to prevent irreversible environmental harm.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/community-based-biofuels-offer-sensible-alternative-to-palm-oil-for-indonesia-analysis-shows/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299547 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/brazil-bets-on-macauba-palm-to-make-renewable-diesel-and-aviation-biofuel/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/brazil-bets-on-macauba-palm-to-make-renewable-diesel-and-aviation-biofuel/#respond 21 May 2025 17:23:06 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299415 - Bolstered by hype and billions of dollars of investment, companies are planning to plant hundreds of thousands of hectares on reportedly degraded land across Brazil. Firms are also investing in major refining facilities. This macaúba gold rush was triggered by major financial incentives from the Brazilian government.
- Macaúba’s potential green attributes are similar to jatropha, a once promising biofuel feedstock that bombed a decade ago. Macaúba is widespread but currently undomesticated. Whether macaúba plantations can achieve the yield and scale needed to help satisfy the world’s sustainable energy needs remains unknown.
- Industry proponents state that it can be produced sustainably with no land-use change or deforestation. But other analysts say that very much depends on how the coming boom, in Brazil and elsewhere, pans out.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/brazil-bets-on-macauba-palm-to-make-renewable-diesel-and-aviation-biofuel/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299415 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/as-renewable-diesel-surges-sustainability-claims-are-deeply-questioned/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/as-renewable-diesel-surges-sustainability-claims-are-deeply-questioned/#respond 12 May 2025 14:02:05 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=298931 - Renewable diesel substitutes easily for fossil diesel, so is touted as a climate-friendly transition fuel. Its use, mostly in vehicles, grew slowly in the past. Now, thanks largely to government-offered green subsidies, production is surging as firms widely expand uses to marine shipping, power plants, heating oil, and data center backup fuel.
- But critics are skeptical about industry claims of RD life-cycle greenhouse gas emission cuts of up to 95% over fossil fuel-derived diesel. They warn RD carbon releases will surge if renewable diesel sourcing is scaled up, triggering tropical deforestation as producers convert forests to energy crops, such as oil palm and soy.
- As the renewable diesel industry expands beyond Europe and the U.S., analysts warn it will be a false climate solution unworkable at scale, so production and use should be constrained. Independent monitoring is also needed to track feedstock supply chains to assure crops don’t have high carbon intensities or cause deforestation.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/as-renewable-diesel-surges-sustainability-claims-are-deeply-questioned/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-298931 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/indonesia-defies-global-coal-retreat-with-captive-plant-boom/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/indonesia-defies-global-coal-retreat-with-captive-plant-boom/#respond 23 Apr 2025 13:33:42 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=298076 - Captive coal plants built for industry have tripled in capacity since 2019, exploiting a loophole in Indonesia’s coal moratorium and undermining its climate pledges under the Paris Agreement and Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).
- Indonesia now has the fifth-largest coal fleet in the world and plans to expand by another 26.7 GW by 2030, with serious concerns about economic viability, environmental damage, and public health in regions like Sulawesi and North Maluku.
- Government-backed alternatives like biomass cofiring and carbon capture are criticized as costly and ineffective, while experts urge Indonesia to shift meaningfully toward renewables to align with global energy and climate trends.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/indonesia-defies-global-coal-retreat-with-captive-plant-boom/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-298076 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/04/invasive-water-hyacinths-are-effective-at-removing-microplastics-study-finds/ https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/04/invasive-water-hyacinths-are-effective-at-removing-microplastics-study-finds/#respond 14 Apr 2025 14:24:51 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&p=297544 Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/04/invasive-water-hyacinths-are-effective-at-removing-microplastics-study-finds/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-297544 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/03/cameroonians-combat-deforestation-using-cheaper-charcoal-alternative/ https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/03/cameroonians-combat-deforestation-using-cheaper-charcoal-alternative/#respond 18 Mar 2025 08:23:30 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&p=295964 Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/03/cameroonians-combat-deforestation-using-cheaper-charcoal-alternative/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-295964 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/chauffeur-at-indonesia-energy-nonprofit-drives-uptake-of-biogas-by-java-farmers/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/chauffeur-at-indonesia-energy-nonprofit-drives-uptake-of-biogas-by-java-farmers/#respond 13 Mar 2025 07:55:29 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=295717 - A net zero roadmap published by the International Energy Agency requires the production of biogas to quadruple by the year 2050.
- Critics of biogas at the industrial dairy scale say it absorbs conservation funding that is better spent elsewhere.
- Local residents near Yogyakarta city say the installation of anaerobic digesters has improved household finances and that they no longer need to queue to buy propane cylinders.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/chauffeur-at-indonesia-energy-nonprofit-drives-uptake-of-biogas-by-java-farmers/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-295717 https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/in-nepal-a-eucalyptus-boom-became-an-ecological-cautionary-tale/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/in-nepal-a-eucalyptus-boom-became-an-ecological-cautionary-tale/#respond 25 Feb 2025 15:02:49 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=294957 - While eucalyptus initially thrived, it depleted soil moisture and negatively impacted nearby crops, leading to reduced yields and financial losses for the farmers who had replaced traditional crops like rice and mustard with large-scale eucalyptus plantations.
- Discontent over eucalyptus’s effects, and the lack of guidance by those who promoted the planting scheme, led to widespread removal of trees, legal disputes among farmers, and complaints to local governments.
- Experts say such large-scale exotic tree plantations are no longer permitted under national and international biodiversity laws, with the project’s failure highlighting the importance of considering ecological sustainability, soil health and informed decision-making in reforestation efforts.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/in-nepal-a-eucalyptus-boom-became-an-ecological-cautionary-tale/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-294957 https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/certified-ethanol-produced-in-brazil-for-global-airlines-linked-to-slave-labor/ https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/certified-ethanol-produced-in-brazil-for-global-airlines-linked-to-slave-labor/#respond 05 Dec 2024 11:00:39 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=291208 - But companies operating in this business have been linked to recent reports of labor abuses on sugarcane farms, a new report from Repórter Brasil shows. The rise in reports of labor abuses is partly attributed to the growing outsourcing of labor for planting.
- Workers hired via subcontractors lived in poor conditions without basic amenities, traveled long hours to reach the sugarcarne fields, and paid for their safety equipment.
- While certifications needed to access the fuel market are meant to protect workers, experts says certifiers are not doing enough to ensure fair working conditions and pay.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/certified-ethanol-produced-in-brazil-for-global-airlines-linked-to-slave-labor/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-291208 https://news.mongabay.com/video/2024/11/biochar-from-banana-peels-breaks-ground-in-cameroon/ https://news.mongabay.com/video/2024/11/biochar-from-banana-peels-breaks-ground-in-cameroon/#respond 21 Nov 2024 17:33:45 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=videos&p=290429 Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/video/2024/11/biochar-from-banana-peels-breaks-ground-in-cameroon/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-290429 https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/defending-the-hidden-forest-gems-of-zambias-copperbelt-province/ https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/defending-the-hidden-forest-gems-of-zambias-copperbelt-province/#respond 31 Oct 2024 20:25:57 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=289453 - Forest officers armed with smartphones are going up against the loggers while also enforcing community-driven prohibitions against overuse by locals.
- During times of severe drought, like this year, the forest is a lifeline to villages within the Ndubeni Chiefdom, whose members depend on it not just for water, but for food and medicine.
- The forest has enormous cultural and historical significance, and protecting it is key to protecting the community’s cultural history.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/defending-the-hidden-forest-gems-of-zambias-copperbelt-province/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-289453 https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/for-tanzanias-maasai-adapting-to-climate-change-may-mean-less-livestock-more-trees/ https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/for-tanzanias-maasai-adapting-to-climate-change-may-mean-less-livestock-more-trees/#respond 30 Oct 2024 09:18:33 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=289418 - TACCEI promotes tree planting and better management of water resources by community members, and helps local government officials integrate consideration of climate change into development policies and strategies.
- Tanzania’s Simanjiro district experienced a 20-year spell of poor rainfall starting in the early 2000s, during which the largely pastoralist population has seen its livestock herds shrink and die out.
- By helping community members to start cultivating vegetables and fruit trees and take up beekeeping and craft making, TACCEI aims to build up community resilience to the worst impacts of climate change.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/for-tanzanias-maasai-adapting-to-climate-change-may-mean-less-livestock-more-trees/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-289418 https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/action-against-forest-biomass-subsidies-gains-momentum-at-cop16/ https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/action-against-forest-biomass-subsidies-gains-momentum-at-cop16/#respond 29 Oct 2024 14:55:41 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=289353 - This week those arguments are finally being heard at the COP16 biodiversity summit in Cali, Colombia. Also being seriously considered are the “perverse subsidies” offered to the forestry industry by national governments to convert forests into wood pellets, and to biomass power plants that burn those pellets.
- These issues have not achieved such a high level of official notice before at a UN summit and could result in the question of forest biomass subsidies being raised at the COP29 climate meeting next month in Baku, Azerbaijan.
- The illogic of forest biomass burning was especially noted by Barry Gardiner, a UK member of Parliament who objects to huge taxpayer subsidies paid to Drax, a British biomass power plant operator. “That’s $9 billion in public money spent making our air pollution and our carbon emissions worse,” while razing forests.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/action-against-forest-biomass-subsidies-gains-momentum-at-cop16/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-289353 https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/local-ngo-rains-brings-relief-to-ghanas-semiarid-north-with-regenerative-farming/ https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/local-ngo-rains-brings-relief-to-ghanas-semiarid-north-with-regenerative-farming/#respond 16 Oct 2024 13:35:26 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=288824 - The Regional Advisory Information and Network Systems (RAINS) promotes regenerative agricultural practices to local farmers, including intercropping, the planting of cover crops, and the use of traditional seeds and compost and manure.
- It also engages typically marginalized groups such as women and youth in community land-use planning, and tackles gender inequality by improving women’s access to savings schemes and microcredit.
- Those working with the NGO say its efforts have had a material impact on improving food security and reducing incidents of fires, and express hope for its sustained support.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/local-ngo-rains-brings-relief-to-ghanas-semiarid-north-with-regenerative-farming/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-288824 https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/in-madagascar-taniala-regenerative-camp-aims-to-heal-deforestation-scars/ https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/in-madagascar-taniala-regenerative-camp-aims-to-heal-deforestation-scars/#respond 03 Oct 2024 16:57:57 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=288164 - The ongoing deforestation also threatens the livelihoods of communities.
- A local association, Taniala Regenerative Camp, uses resilient forest systems as a model to regenerate degraded soil by planting trees alongside crops.
- The association supports surrounding communities through training in agroecology and agroforestry, and through additional income earned from intercropping in agroforestry plots.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/in-madagascar-taniala-regenerative-camp-aims-to-heal-deforestation-scars/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-288164 https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/ever-smarter-consumer-electronics-push-world-toward-environmental-brink/ https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/ever-smarter-consumer-electronics-push-world-toward-environmental-brink/#respond 30 Sep 2024 15:15:21 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=287749 - As manufacturers compete to produce the ever-smaller, more powerful electronic devices consumers want, new state-of-the-art silicon chips must be designed to handle exponentially advancing computing challenges.
- But the sourcing and manufacture of these increasingly complex silicon chips is material-, energy- and water-intensive, doing major environmental harm — producing major carbon emissions and polluting with PFAS and other toxins.
- Also, the smaller and more integrated chips become, the harder they are to recycle, creating vast sums of e-waste. Experts say governments need to ensure companies embrace environmental stewardship and circular economy standards.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/ever-smarter-consumer-electronics-push-world-toward-environmental-brink/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-287749 https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/as-malawi-government-struggles-to-protect-a-forest-communities-show-the-way/ https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/as-malawi-government-struggles-to-protect-a-forest-communities-show-the-way/#respond 29 Aug 2024 16:44:16 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=286635 - The Department of Forestry, the lead government agency in forest protection in Malawi, is struggling to stem the tide of deforestation on its side of the reserve due to lack of resources.
- Malawi is suffering massive deforestation, with Global Forest Watch figures estimating that the country has lost quarter of a million hectares (617,000 acres) of forest cover between 2001 and 2023.
- Government officials and experts say engagement with communities offers opportunities for effective forest management.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/as-malawi-government-struggles-to-protect-a-forest-communities-show-the-way/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-286635 https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/birdsong-rings-out-once-again-in-togos-sacred-forest-of-titiyo/ https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/birdsong-rings-out-once-again-in-togos-sacred-forest-of-titiyo/#respond 07 Aug 2024 14:25:58 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=285822 - The degradation of the forest had a major impact on wildlife and the surrounding population.
- But since 2015, Sylvain Tchoou Akati, a native of the area, has led the restoration of this forest, and is today bringing his model of community-led conservation to other areas.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/birdsong-rings-out-once-again-in-togos-sacred-forest-of-titiyo/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-285822 https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/zambian-forest-reserve-rebounds-with-a-little-assistance/ https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/zambian-forest-reserve-rebounds-with-a-little-assistance/#respond 20 Jun 2024 09:49:12 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=283190 - The Katanino Forest Reserve had lost more than 58% of its forest cover by 2019, when dozens of families living inside it and cutting trees to make charcoal were finally evicted by state officials.
- A restoration project launched that same year by conservation group WeForest and local partners has used assisted natural regeneration, a light-touch forest restoration method, to grow back more than 500 hectares (1,240 acres) of the reserve’s tree cover.
- The success is tempered by continued tree losses on farms outside the reserve, though WeForest is working to promote alternative livelihoods there that encourage farmers to protect trees on their land.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/zambian-forest-reserve-rebounds-with-a-little-assistance/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-283190 https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/sugarcane-megaproject-poses-latest-threat-to-papuas-forests-communities/ https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/sugarcane-megaproject-poses-latest-threat-to-papuas-forests-communities/#respond 19 Jun 2024 15:56:10 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=283450 - The plan calls for deforesting an area six times the size of Jakarta, even as the government touts the green credentials of the project in the form of the bioethanol that it plans to produce from the sugar.
- Activists have also warned that the project risks becoming yet another land grab that deprives Indigenous Papuans of their customary lands and rights without fair compensation.
- They add the warning signs are all there, including close parallels to similarly ambitious projects that failed, the alleged involvement of palm oil firms, and government insistences that this richly forested region of Indonesia doesn’t have much forest left.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/sugarcane-megaproject-poses-latest-threat-to-papuas-forests-communities/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-283450