https://news.mongabay.com/list/colonization/ Environmental science and conservation news Sat, 27 Jun 2026 13:29:15 +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/colonization/ 32 32 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/2025/07/assisted-colonization-could-be-our-ally-in-adapting-to-climate-change-study-suggests/ https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/assisted-colonization-could-be-our-ally-in-adapting-to-climate-change-study-suggests/#respond 02 Jul 2025 13:21:17 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301786 - Islands, to which many species from elsewhere can’t disperse naturally, are particularly vulnerable to these threats.
- In a recent study, scientists argue that assisted colonization, where species from neighboring regions are introduced to better cope with the changing climate, could help the forests of Great Britain adapt to the rapidly changing climate.
- Some conservationists say that assisted colonization is a proactive way of thinking about conservation in a changing world, rather than more reactive approaches such as species reintroductions.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/assisted-colonization-could-be-our-ally-in-adapting-to-climate-change-study-suggests/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301786 https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/the-fuel-that-moves-people-the-ecuadorian-case/ https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/the-fuel-that-moves-people-the-ecuadorian-case/#respond 20 Dec 2024 20:50:14 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=292082 - Since the 1970s, populations in both areas have grown significantly. The Andean zone went from 160,000 inhabitants to more than 520,000 in 2017; in parallel, the population in the provinces of Sucumbíos and Orellana increased from less than 12,000 to more than 350,000.
- Colonization also led to the invasion of lands of the indigenous Shuar, which prompted an unusual effort on their part to protect their territory. Today, the area specializes in cattle production and seeks to establish a niche market for high-quality beef for the domestic market.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/the-fuel-that-moves-people-the-ecuadorian-case/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-292082 https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/bolivias-internal-colonization-and-its-march-to-the-east/ https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/bolivias-internal-colonization-and-its-march-to-the-east/#respond 05 Dec 2024 16:30:47 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=291144 - Since then, the need to occupy vast territories allowed for wide-scale deforestation, especially in the Chapare and the alluvial plain of Santa Cruz.
- In the department of Santa Cruz, population grew from about 300,000 in 1960 to more than three million in 2022. Although 70 % of this growth has been concentrated in the metropolitan area of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, the urban economy continues to rely heavily on agriculture.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/bolivias-internal-colonization-and-its-march-to-the-east/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-291144 https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2024/11/deforestation-around-mennonite-colonies-continues-in-peruvian-amazon-report/ https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2024/11/deforestation-around-mennonite-colonies-continues-in-peruvian-amazon-report/#respond 22 Nov 2024 19:34:23 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&p=290488 Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2024/11/deforestation-around-mennonite-colonies-continues-in-peruvian-amazon-report/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-290488 https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/communities-band-together-to-save-besieged-reserve-in-bolivia/ https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/communities-band-together-to-save-besieged-reserve-in-bolivia/#respond 20 Nov 2024 23:30:00 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=290383 - Now, mining, infrastructure development and land trafficking are adding to the pressure faced by the reserve.
- Residents of nearby communities have formed an association called Movement in Defense of the Tucabaca Valley.
- In June, a delegation from the Movement visited the Tucabaca reserve to assess the damage.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/communities-band-together-to-save-besieged-reserve-in-bolivia/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-290383 https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/the-calm-before-the-storm-the-first-half-of-the-20th-century-in-the-pan-amazon/ https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/the-calm-before-the-storm-the-first-half-of-the-20th-century-in-the-pan-amazon/#respond 14 Nov 2024 11:15:25 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=289832 - While in 1941, the Vargas administration maintained neutrality, selling Amazon rubber to Nazi Germany, once it became a US ally in 1942, Brazil guaranteed Americans the provision of rubber, in part by subsidizing the recruitment of rubber tappers and financing infrastructure, including both airfields and road networks.
- After Peru’s rubber boom had passed, successive governments promoted European migration. In Pasco, European settlers from Germany and Austria established the first coffee production landscapes in the country.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/the-calm-before-the-storm-the-first-half-of-the-20th-century-in-the-pan-amazon/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-289832 https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/impacts-and-legacies-of-migration-across-the-pan-amazon/ https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/impacts-and-legacies-of-migration-across-the-pan-amazon/#respond 24 Oct 2024 09:15:51 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=289119 - Jesuits settled in remote places and border areas after being invited by colonial authorities interested in taking advantage of the native population’s labor force. But their arrival triggered the collapse of the Indigenous populations of the Western Amazon. Only in the late 17th century, more than 140,000 people died because of diseases brought by the outsiders.
- The success of the Jesuits and the religious colonialism that characterized the Catholic Church in the 17th century motivated other religious orders to follow similar missionary programs.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/impacts-and-legacies-of-migration-across-the-pan-amazon/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-289119 https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2024/02/rewilding-ireland-undoing-the-damage-from-a-history-of-deforestation/ https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2024/02/rewilding-ireland-undoing-the-damage-from-a-history-of-deforestation/#respond 27 Feb 2024 21:23:59 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=279210 - Ireland is one of the most ecologically denuded countries in the world, only possessing about 11% forest cover but on this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, co-host Rachel Donald speaks with Daltun about how he came to accomplish his rewilding feat simply by letting nature take its course and erecting a good fence, which has rapidly led to the regeneration of native forest, wildflowers and fauna.
- They also discuss the historical drivers of ecological devastation that have led to the classic, tree-less Irish landscape, from ancient times to imperial colonization and the advent of modern farming, and what the potential of rewilding is to change that and boost biodiversity.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2024/02/rewilding-ireland-undoing-the-damage-from-a-history-of-deforestation/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-279210 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/how-a-160-year-old-pelt-piqued-new-findings-on-indigenous-woolly-dog-breed/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/how-a-160-year-old-pelt-piqued-new-findings-on-indigenous-woolly-dog-breed/#respond 22 Dec 2023 20:41:30 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=277007 - For the first time, the study sequenced the woolly dog’s genomes to analyze the species’ ancestry and genetics and the factors contributing to its sudden disappearance at the end of the 19th century.
- Based on the genetic data, they estimated that woolly dogs biologically evolved from other breeds about 5,000 years ago.
- Researchers say numerous socio-cultural factors are likely responsible for the species’ disappearance. Chief among them were the impacts of European colonization.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/how-a-160-year-old-pelt-piqued-new-findings-on-indigenous-woolly-dog-breed/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-277007 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/its-time-to-embrace-community-led-conservation-vs-the-colonial-kind-commentary/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/its-time-to-embrace-community-led-conservation-vs-the-colonial-kind-commentary/#respond 15 May 2023 19:54:29 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=268593 - More NGOs are embracing community-led conservation, though, and we must embrace this, a new op-ed by a former Peace Corps volunteer in Fiji argues.
- “Fiji does not need new ideas on how to protect their ‘iqoliqoli’ (marine areas). Instead, Fiji has a lot to teach the rest of the world,” the author writes.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/its-time-to-embrace-community-led-conservation-vs-the-colonial-kind-commentary/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-268593 https://news.mongabay.com/2022/09/debunking-the-colonial-myth-of-the-african-eden-qa-with-author-guillaume-blanc/ https://news.mongabay.com/2022/09/debunking-the-colonial-myth-of-the-african-eden-qa-with-author-guillaume-blanc/#respond 23 Sep 2022 08:00:01 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=260596 - “The more the destruction was happening in Northern [Hemisphere] countries, the more we wanted to save it in Africa,” he told Mongabay in an interview, describing how the campaign to preserve pristine wilderness in Africa has led to the casting of its inhabitants as destructive invaders.
- Blanc argues that the organizations that evolved out of colonial arrangements for colonial aims must acknowledge and apologize for the harm inflicted, dig deeper when seeking change, and cast a wider net for more meaningful solutions that treat citizens of African countries as collaborators not encroachers on their own lands.
- Organizations with a global presence must work with residents of places where they operate and focus on localized research and solutions to remain relevant, Blanc said.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2022/09/debunking-the-colonial-myth-of-the-african-eden-qa-with-author-guillaume-blanc/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-260596 https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/forests-for-sale-how-land-traffickers-profit-by-slicing-up-bolivias-protected-areas/ https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/forests-for-sale-how-land-traffickers-profit-by-slicing-up-bolivias-protected-areas/#respond 25 Nov 2021 02:49:11 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=249864 - Local sources say land traffickers are illegally buying up plots of protected land to resell, often repeatedly, to third parties.
- Mongabay spoke with one of these third parties, a man who said he purchased access to land in Bajo Paraguá from land traffickers before being evicted by the same traffickers so that they could sell the land to someone else.
- The man said traffickers have resorted to threats of violence to intimidate local communities from reporting incursions.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/forests-for-sale-how-land-traffickers-profit-by-slicing-up-bolivias-protected-areas/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-249864 https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/indigenous-groups-call-for-govt-intervention-as-land-grabbers-invade-bolivian-protected-area/ https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/indigenous-groups-call-for-govt-intervention-as-land-grabbers-invade-bolivian-protected-area/#respond 12 Nov 2021 19:24:20 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=249327 - But despite its new protected status, residents are reporting invasions and human settlements in Bajo Paraguá, claiming the colonizers were land traffickers.
- On-site investigation and satellite data and imagery show ongoing deforestation.
- Local leaders, including those of Indigenous groups that live in Bajo Paraguá, are calling for government intervention – while also alleging connections between land grabbers and government officials.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2021/11/indigenous-groups-call-for-govt-intervention-as-land-grabbers-invade-bolivian-protected-area/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-249327 https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/activists-in-malaysia-call-on-road-planners-to-learn-the-lessons-of-history/ https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/activists-in-malaysia-call-on-road-planners-to-learn-the-lessons-of-history/#respond 13 Nov 2020 05:43:27 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=236832 - But activists in Sabah say that poor planning and an emphasis on extracting resources mean that the highway could harm communities and ecosystems in Sabah’s forests and along its coastlines.
- A new film captures the perspectives of people living closest to the highway’s proposed path and reveals the struggles that some have faced as the road closed in on their homes.
- Meanwhile, an environmental historian argues that Pan Borneo Highway planners are repeating the same mistakes British colonists made in focusing on extraction, rather than trying to find ways to benefit Sabah’s communities.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/activists-in-malaysia-call-on-road-planners-to-learn-the-lessons-of-history/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-236832 https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/they-took-it-over-by-force-corruption-and-palm-oil-in-sierra-leone/ https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/they-took-it-over-by-force-corruption-and-palm-oil-in-sierra-leone/#respond 30 Jun 2020 19:54:36 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=231991 - Sources say that the country, eager to catch up, has been rushing into deals with foreign investors without first enacting legislation to protect the interests of local landowners. In 2011, Socfin entered into a 50-year land lease agreement with the Sierra Leonean government and local authorities, which was soon followed by two more agreements. In less than 10 years, the forest and farmland around the chiefdom of Sahn Malen was transformed into thousands of hectares of monoculture oil palm fields.
- Reception to the plantation has been divided. Some area residents say they welcome the jobs and income the company provides. But others allege the deal with Socfin was exploitative and corrupt.
- A leaked government report from 2019 found several irregularities surrounding Socfin’s Sahn Malen operations, including a concession area on the ground that’s larger than what is stipulated in the lease agreements and evidence of financial mismanagement by local authorities.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/they-took-it-over-by-force-corruption-and-palm-oil-in-sierra-leone/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-231991 https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/if-they-take-our-lands-well-be-dead-cameroon-village-battles-palm-oil-giant/ https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/if-they-take-our-lands-well-be-dead-cameroon-village-battles-palm-oil-giant/#respond 26 Jun 2020 19:54:11 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=231901 - In 2012, Socapalm attempted to expand the plantation into new areas. However, efforts to do so were met with opposition from the community, according to local residents who said they were living in the places the company wanted to take over.
- Socapalm ultimately withdrew from the area. But the fear that someday the company will return and try again to take their land persists in Mbonjo as issues surrounding the concession boundaries have remained unresolved. NGOs who have visited Mbonjo have documented several problems with the plantation operations, including unresolved issues surrounding land rights, poor housing conditions for workers and a low integration of the local population into the workforce.
- Socfin CEO Luc Boedt refutes claims that Socfin has harmed communities, saying instead that the company has helped them by training residents in modern agriculture practices, supplying nutrients to improve soil fertility, ensuring the availability of water and electricity, providing opportunities for education and jobs, and creating a market for smallholder crops.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/if-they-take-our-lands-well-be-dead-cameroon-village-battles-palm-oil-giant/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-231901 https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/how-the-legacy-of-colonialism-built-a-palm-oil-empire/ https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/how-the-legacy-of-colonialism-built-a-palm-oil-empire/#respond 26 Jun 2020 19:27:53 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=231889 - One of these is Société Financière des Caoutchoucs (Socfin), a Belgian holding company that operates palm oil and rubber plantations through dozens of subsidiaries across Africa and Southeast Asia.
- For years, Socfin has been rebuked by civil society organizations for alleged human rights violations at its plantations. Several lawsuits and complaints have been submitted over alleged misconduct including irregularities in land acquisition processes, poor working and housing conditions and the absence of the sustainable inclusion of local farmers.
- Socfin, meanwhile, refutes criticism of its operations, saying its aim is to further development in Africa and ensure that local communities and their workers are the beneficiaries of their operations.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/how-the-legacy-of-colonialism-built-a-palm-oil-empire/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-231889 https://news.mongabay.com/2019/02/making-amends-in-the-name-of-conservation/ https://news.mongabay.com/2019/02/making-amends-in-the-name-of-conservation/#respond 19 Feb 2019 09:00:17 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=215590 - But violent clashes in 1927 between the Kwaio and the colonial government created a rift between members of this tribe and the outside world.
- To heal those old wounds and continue with their conservation work, a trio of scientists joined the Kwaio in a sacred reconciliation ceremony in July 2018.
- Kwaio leaders say that the ceremony opened the door to a more peaceful future for their people.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2019/02/making-amends-in-the-name-of-conservation/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-215590 https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/i-cant-get-out-farmers-feel-the-pressure-as-ecuadors-palm-oil-sector-grows/ https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/i-cant-get-out-farmers-feel-the-pressure-as-ecuadors-palm-oil-sector-grows/#respond 08 Aug 2018 20:02:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=209119 - The region comprising the canton of La Concordia is one of the country’s primary centers of production. Here, oil palm plantations were cultivated on land already degraded as small farmers sought a more profitable crop.
- But a volatile market and a deadly disease are cutting deep into the pockets of oil palm farmers in La Concordia who, because of oil palm’s long harvest cycle, worry they’re locked into a doomed investment.
- Meanwhile, conservationists are racing to protect rainforest as oil palm plantations expand in other parts of Ecuador.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/i-cant-get-out-farmers-feel-the-pressure-as-ecuadors-palm-oil-sector-grows/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-209119 https://news.mongabay.com/2014/09/brazils-planned-tapajos-dams-would-increase-amazon-deforestation-by-1m-ha/ https://news.mongabay.com/2014/09/brazils-planned-tapajos-dams-would-increase-amazon-deforestation-by-1m-ha/#respond 14 Sep 2014 23:08:00 +0000 http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/09/brazils-planned-tapajos-dams-would-increase-amazon-deforestation-by-1m-ha/ Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2014/09/brazils-planned-tapajos-dams-would-increase-amazon-deforestation-by-1m-ha/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-24695 https://news.mongabay.com/2014/07/they-think-therefore-they-spread-plants-can-make-complex-conditional-decisions/ https://news.mongabay.com/2014/07/they-think-therefore-they-spread-plants-can-make-complex-conditional-decisions/#respond 07 Jul 2014 17:47:00 +0000 http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/07/they-think-therefore-they-spread-plants-can-make-complex-conditional-decisions/ Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2014/07/they-think-therefore-they-spread-plants-can-make-complex-conditional-decisions/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-24977 https://news.mongabay.com/2013/08/with-deforestation-rising-brazil-sends-more-police-to-the-amazon/ https://news.mongabay.com/2013/08/with-deforestation-rising-brazil-sends-more-police-to-the-amazon/#respond 19 Aug 2013 22:54:00 +0000 http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/08/with-deforestation-rising-brazil-sends-more-police-to-the-amazon/ Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2013/08/with-deforestation-rising-brazil-sends-more-police-to-the-amazon/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-26509 https://news.mongabay.com/2012/01/colonization-program-remains-important-driver-of-deforestation-in-brazil/ https://news.mongabay.com/2012/01/colonization-program-remains-important-driver-of-deforestation-in-brazil/#respond 10 Jan 2012 13:58:00 +0000 http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2012/01/colonization-program-remains-important-driver-of-deforestation-in-brazil/ Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2012/01/colonization-program-remains-important-driver-of-deforestation-in-brazil/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-31494 https://news.mongabay.com/2007/08/scientists-demand-brazil-cease-amazon-colonization-project/ https://news.mongabay.com/2007/08/scientists-demand-brazil-cease-amazon-colonization-project/#respond 27 Aug 2007 14:30:39 +0000 http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2008/12/scientists-demand-brazil-cease-amazon-colonization-project/ Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2007/08/scientists-demand-brazil-cease-amazon-colonization-project/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-39081 https://news.mongabay.com/2007/08/land-reform-agency-sanctions-logging-in-amazon-rainforest-park/ https://news.mongabay.com/2007/08/land-reform-agency-sanctions-logging-in-amazon-rainforest-park/#respond 21 Aug 2007 14:30:39 +0000 http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2008/12/land-reform-agency-sanctions-logging-in-amazon-rainforest-park/ Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2007/08/land-reform-agency-sanctions-logging-in-amazon-rainforest-park/feed/ 0 https://doi.org/10.66709/news-39052