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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/atlantic-forest/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Mon, 12 Oct 2026 06:42:17 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>Atlantic Forest environmental news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/atlantic-forest/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Tiago Karaí and Laudiceia Benites helped reclaim Guarani land. They died with their children in an accident last month.</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tiago-karai-and-laudiceia-benites-helped-reclaim-guarani-land-they-died-with-their-children-in-an-accident-last-month/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tiago-karai-and-laudiceia-benites-helped-reclaim-guarani-land-they-died-with-their-children-in-an-accident-last-month/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 17:45:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/01165317/20220223_fellipeabreu_guarani_122061-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328206</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Obituary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On August 14th, seven people from Tekoa Kalipety were traveling between Guarani communities with seeds. They had spent the week checking in on relatives, praying at Porto Lindo, and sharing traditional seeds harvested back home in southern São Paulo. They were on their way to another Indigenous territory when, on that evening, a semitrailer carrying [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On August 14th, seven people from Tekoa Kalipety were traveling between Guarani communities with seeds. They had spent the week checking in on relatives, praying at Porto Lindo, and sharing traditional seeds harvested back home in southern São Paulo. They were on their way to another Indigenous territory when, on that evening, a semitrailer carrying maize detached from a truck and struck their car. Tiago Honório dos Santos, known as Tiago Karaí, 34, died with his wife, Kerexu Laudiceia Benites, 31; their children, Tadeu, 14, and Luna, seven; Tiago’s sister, Kerexu Cleonice Honório dos Santos; and two other members of Kalipety, Ileo Benites and Genilson Euzébio Karay Mirim. The truck driver fled the scene. Karaí Tiago speaks at an event about community-based tourism based on his experience at TI Tenondé Porã, in 2019. Photo by Rafael Hupsel/ISA Tiago was born in a Guarani village near the coast of São Paulo state. His parents moved to the Tenondé Porã Indigenous Territory before he was two. At the Guarani Gwyra Pepó school, he wondered why children were taught so little about Guarani life. After finishing secondary school at 19, he returned to the school as a teacher. Known then as Karaí Tataendy, he taught Guarani language and culture to primary-school children. He believed they needed to know both Guarani and non-Indigenous ways of life. Teaching their own language gave them something he had found missing when he sat in the same classrooms. In 2013, Guarani families began reclaiming ancestral sections of Tenondé&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/tiago-karai-and-laudiceia-benites-helped-reclaim-guarani-land-they-died-with-their-children-in-an-accident-last-month/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328206</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazil&#8217;s mining agency under fire over corruption and omission probes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/brazils-mining-agency-under-fire-over-corruption-and-omission-probes/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/brazils-mining-agency-under-fire-over-corruption-and-omission-probes/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2026 07:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda Wenzel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/23142152/garimpo_tapajos_fernando_martinho-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325250</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Cerrado, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Crime, Gold Mining, Governance, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Mining, Natural Resources, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Criminal groups use small-scale mining permits as a front for gold laundering while federal oversight fails.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Federal prosecutors in Amazonas state are suing the Brazilian government’s mining agency (ANM) for an alleged failure to monitor gold mining exploration in the Amazon. The lawsuit was filed in early July. A few days later, on July 21, the federal justice ordered ANM to increase oversight over wildcat mine permissions, small-scale mines known as garimpos in Brazil, following a similar lawsuit filed in 2021 by federal prosecutors in neighboring Pará state. The legal push also follows corruption probes into the agency&#8217;s top executives, who are accused of favoring mining companies in Brazil&#8217;s largest industrial mining state, Minas Gerais. ANM is responsible for authorizing and monitoring mining activities in Brazil, including wildcat mining permissions (PLGs), which aren&#8217;t subject to the same rigorous environmental requirements as large-scale mines. According to the federal prosecutors, poor monitoring and unclear rules have turned PLGs into mechanisms to launder gold taken from Indigenous lands and strictly protected conservation areas, where the activity is forbidden. The case is based on irregularities found in reports from Greenpeace and the Federal Court of Auditors. &#8220;Mining permits no longer serve the interests of small-scale miners and, in many cases, have become a front for gold laundering carried out by criminal organizations,” the federal prosecutor André Porreca stated on the Amazonas Federal Public Ministry&#8217;s website. The municipality of Itaituba, in Pará state, is known as the capital of illegal gold mining in the Brazilian Amazon. Image by Fernando Martinho for Mongabay. ANM doesn&#8217;t require permit applicants to provide prior mineral&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/brazils-mining-agency-under-fire-over-corruption-and-omission-probes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325250</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Researchers find &#8216;priority zones&#8217; for yellow fever vaccination of golden lion tamarins</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/researchers-find-priority-zones-for-yellow-fever-vaccination-of-golden-lion-tamarins/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/researchers-find-priority-zones-for-yellow-fever-vaccination-of-golden-lion-tamarins/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jul 2026 16:35:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alex Megerle]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/29064450/2-B-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324739</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Diseases, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Forest Fragmentation, Forests, Fragmentation, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Health, Mammals, Monitoring, Monkeys, Nature-based climate solutions, Primates, Reforestation, Research, Solutions, Wildlife, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[After a two-hour drive from the airport in Rio de Janeiro, you reach a special park dedicated to a special animal in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. There, you can take a guided tour through the green and perhaps catch a glimpse of vibrant orange: The pelage or furry coat of one of this region’s most famous [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[After a two-hour drive from the airport in Rio de Janeiro, you reach a special park dedicated to a special animal in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. There, you can take a guided tour through the green and perhaps catch a glimpse of vibrant orange: The pelage or furry coat of one of this region’s most famous resident, the golden lion tamarin. Between 2017 and 2019, a yellow fever epidemic killed roughly 30% of the population, leaving only 2,500 alive. This small, endangered monkey, which nearly went extinct in the 1970s, is relegated to fragmented forests in the state of Rio de Janeiro, about 2% of their original territory, according to conservation nonprofit Save the Golden Lion Tamarin. But the tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia) have made a significant recovery, rebounding to roughly 4,800 individuals according to a 2023 census. To better prepare for a possible outbreak in the future, a group of researchers wanted to find out how different environmental factors affected yellow fever transmission between tamarins. Their research identified high-risk areas, which could guide conservationists aiming to vaccinate the population against future epidemics. The golden lion tamarin, an endangered species, is found exclusively in Brazil&#8217;s Atlantic Forest, a seriously threatened biodiversity hotspot: only 7%-12% remains. Image by Themium via Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0). Mapping an outbreak Researchers compared mortality data from 2014-2016, before yellow fever struck, with more than 1,000 deaths that occurred during the outbreak in 2017-2019, information that was gathered by the nonprofit Golden Lion Tamarin Association (known in Brazil&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/researchers-find-priority-zones-for-yellow-fever-vaccination-of-golden-lion-tamarins/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324739</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Renato Moraes de Jesus was a pioneer of Atlantic Forest restoration in Brazil</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/renato-moraes-de-jesus-obituary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/renato-moraes-de-jesus-obituary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jul 2026 00:41:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/19024914/renato-moraes-de-jesus-bw-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323955</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Forests, Landscape Restoration, Nature-based climate solutions, Obituary, Reforestation, Restoration, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 1977 a young forest engineer arrived at a neglected tract of Atlantic Forest in northern Espírito Santo. A mining company had acquired the property as a source of hardwood for railway sleepers. Two hundred hectares had already been cut. Some specialists proposed harvesting more of the forest or replacing it with eucalyptus. The new [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 1977 a young forest engineer arrived at a neglected tract of Atlantic Forest in northern Espírito Santo. A mining company had acquired the property as a source of hardwood for railway sleepers. Two hundred hectares had already been cut. Some specialists proposed harvesting more of the forest or replacing it with eucalyptus. The new arrival found little infrastructure and no settled plan for the land. He moved alone into a deteriorating house inside the forest. At night he heard animals moving through the roof. The supposed ghosts proved to be opossums. One of his first ambitions was to obtain a working telephone. Renato Moraes de Jesus, who died on May 23rd, aged 74, stayed for more than three decades. The property at Linhares became the Vale Natural Reserve, a major center for Atlantic Forest research and restoration. He helped protect almost 23,000 hectares, established biological collections and laboratories, brought scientists into the reserve, and developed methods for returning native trees to land damaged by mines, roads, farms, and industry.  Vale gave him no precise instructions. He decided that the first tasks were to prevent fires and hunting, document the forest’s species, and apply what was learned there to damaged land elsewhere. He later joked that the company had forgotten him at Linhares. Its limited attention gave him considerable freedom.  The early years could be dangerous. The region was violent, and he dismissed many workers during a reorganization. He carried a revolver for a time and later recalled receiving death&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/renato-moraes-de-jesus-obituary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323955</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Dark earth: Ancient Amazonian soil can boost forest restoration, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/dark-earth-ancient-amazonian-soil-can-boost-forest-restoration-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/dark-earth-ancient-amazonian-soil-can-boost-forest-restoration-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jul 2026 18:18:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Evanildo da Silveira]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/08100220/20260708_044730-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322832</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Culture, Earth Science, Ecosystems, Environment, Forest Recovery, Forest Regeneration, Forests, Fungi, Indigenous Peoples, Microorganisms, Rainforests, Research, Restoration, Science, Solutions, Sustainability, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Pink ipê trees grow taller and faster thanks to a microscopic boost from an ancestral formula.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Soil created centuries ago by Indigenous peoples in the Amazon could help speed up recovery of degraded lands, changing the way ecological restoration is approached in Brazil. A study conducted by researchers from the University of São Paulo’s Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture (CENA-USP), Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) Western Amazon, and the National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA) found that small amounts of Amazonian dark earth (ADE) significantly increased native tree growth under real field conditions. The results, published in January 2026 in the academic journal Springer Nature, caught experts’ attention especially regarding Handroanthus avellanedae, locally known as pink ipê, a species found in both the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest. After just 180 days, seedlings grown with modest amounts of ADE were up to 55% taller and 88% larger in stem diameter than those grown without the anthropogenic soil — that is, soil resulting from human action, the study found. Findings were also notable for paricá (Schizolobium amazonicum), another Amazonian species widely used in reforestation and also in the timber industry due to its fast growth. On average, they grew 20% more and had stems that were 15% larger in diameter. Professor Tsai Siu Mui, one of the study’s co-authors, stands between trees cultivated with Amazonian dark earth (left) and without that dark soil (right) after six months of experimentation. Image courtesy of Tsai Siu Mui. The study underscores the scientific potential of Amazonian dark earth, also known as “Indigenous dark earth.” It is an extremely fertile, organic-rich dark&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/dark-earth-ancient-amazonian-soil-can-boost-forest-restoration-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322832</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As human Ebola cases climb in DRC, critically endangered gorillas are at risk</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/as-human-ebola-cases-climb-in-drc-critically-endangered-gorillas-are-at-risk/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/as-human-ebola-cases-climb-in-drc-critically-endangered-gorillas-are-at-risk/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Jun 2026 13:30:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kayleigh Long]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/10154839/1-Virunga_Mountain_Gorilla_1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320921</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Atlantic Forest, Central Africa, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Conservation, Diseases, Endangered Species, Environment, Gorillas, Great Apes, Health, Mammals, Planetary Health, Primates, Wildlife, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As human cases continue to climb in the latest outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, concern is growing for the gorilla population, which have been devastated by the virus during previous outbreaks. On May 15, the Congolese Health Ministry announced a new outbreak of the lethal virus, which [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As human cases continue to climb in the latest outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, concern is growing for the gorilla population, which have been devastated by the virus during previous outbreaks. On May 15, the Congolese Health Ministry announced a new outbreak of the lethal virus, which has struck the country at least 17 times over the past half-century; the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 676 Ebola cases in the eastern DRC and 136 deaths as of June 10 — and continue to rise. In neighboring Uganda,  19 cases and two deaths have been reported, with no new cases in the last days. So far, the outbreak seems to be largely contained within the region. The Bundibugyo virus is the culprit, one of five Ebola viruses within the family Filoviridae that spark illness in people. It has no approved treatment or vaccine. As cases mount, virologists — as well as ecologists and primatologists — are warily monitoring its spread. First discovered in humans in 1976 along the Ebola River (where it got its name), Ebola is highly contagious, and this virus can also sicken and kill gorillas and other nonhuman primates. While some symptoms are flu-like — fever, vomiting and diarrhea — the disease can progress to a gruesome, often-fatal hemorrhagic fever, causing both internal and external bleeding. Previous outbreaks have exacted vast human death&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/as-human-ebola-cases-climb-in-drc-critically-endangered-gorillas-are-at-risk/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320921</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Genetic study reveals extinction risk for unique mangrove-adapted pampas cat</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/genetic-study-reveals-extinction-risk-for-unique-mangrove-adapted-pampas-cat/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/genetic-study-reveals-extinction-risk-for-unique-mangrove-adapted-pampas-cat/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2026 16:09:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/05134141/1-desert-pampas-cat-Leopardus-garleppi-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320650</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Deserts, Dry Forests, Environment, Extinction, Genetics, Habitat, Mammals, Mangroves, Research, Science, Small Cats, Wildlife, Wildlife Corridors, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[More than a decade ago, conservationists began working to preserve a unique population of desert pampas cats that has adapted to the mangroves of Peru’s northern coast. This small, isolated population roams the San Pedro de Vice dry mangroves, a Ramsar Site and South America’s southernmost mangrove ecosystem. “This is a very unique population, because [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[More than a decade ago, conservationists began working to preserve a unique population of desert pampas cats that has adapted to the mangroves of Peru’s northern coast. This small, isolated population roams the San Pedro de Vice dry mangroves, a Ramsar Site and South America’s southernmost mangrove ecosystem. “This is a very unique population, because as far as we know, [it] is the only Pampas cat population that lives in a mangrove [habitat],” Alvaro Garcia, co-coordinator of the Pampas Cat Working Group and the Peruvian Desert Cat Project, told Mongabay in an email. The desert pampas cat (Leopardus garleppi), distinctive for its broad face, ranges along a relatively thin band snaking southward from Colombia through Peru and Bolivia, to northern Chile and Argentina. The species is acclimated to dry conditions, so inhabits deserts, grasslands and dry forests, and isn’t found living in mangroves anywhere else aside from this region of Peru. Dry mangrove forests, also called scrub or dwarf mangrove forests, grow in highly saline soils in upper intertidal zones, so lack regular daily flushing by ocean tides. At first, it was thought the dry mangrove-acclimated cats were faring well: “[I]n the mangrove [habitat], we put cameras out for a week, and we got tons of photos,” whereas in other parts of the felid’s range, conservationists barely capture one desert pampas cat image per month, said Cindy Hurtado, co-coordinator of the Pampas Cat Working Group and the Peruvian Desert Cat Project. Based on the photos, the research team assumed the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/genetic-study-reveals-extinction-risk-for-unique-mangrove-adapted-pampas-cat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320650</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The global trafficking ring preying on a rare golden monkey from Brazil</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/the-global-trafficking-ring-preying-on-a-rare-golden-monkey-from-brazil/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/the-global-trafficking-ring-preying-on-a-rare-golden-monkey-from-brazil/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Jun 2026 10:15:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda WenzelMarco Mantovani]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/01150425/1.-photo_togo_traffic_CREDIT_EAGLE-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320300</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Atlantic Forest, Brazil, India, Latin America, South America, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Birds, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Illegal Trade, Law, Mammals, Monkeys, Primates, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, Wildlife Trafficking, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Smuggled in cars, aboard airplanes, or on sailboats crossing the Atlantic Ocean, tiny golden-furred monkeys are being wrenched from their Brazilian forest homes and trafficked overseas by sophisticated criminal networks. These golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia) are moved through Latin America and Africa, with strong indications that they are bound for the Asian black market. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Smuggled in cars, aboard airplanes, or on sailboats crossing the Atlantic Ocean, tiny golden-furred monkeys are being wrenched from their Brazilian forest homes and trafficked overseas by sophisticated criminal networks. These golden lion tamarins (Leontopithecus rosalia) are moved through Latin America and Africa, with strong indications that they are bound for the Asian black market. Collectors are willing to pay as much as $100,000 for this friendly animal, which is one of Brazil’s conservation symbols. Some of the tamarins die before reaching their destination. Those that survive may end their journey emaciated, sick and sometimes, mutilated. “It is frightening in the sense that [tamarin trafficking] is a threat we believed was relatively under control,” said Luis Paulo Ferraz, executive secretary of the Golden Lion Tamarin Association (AMLD), which has led an international effort to preserve the species since the 1990s. In recent years, his team has increasingly encountered people venturing deep into the forests of Rio de Janeiro state to capture these animals. “Our field team started coming face to face with these guys, to the point that I became deeply concerned about having my staff working in areas where criminals were operating.” The golden lion tamarin, featured on Brazil’s 20-real banknote, drew the attention of the Brazilian Federal Police in 2023 after seven of these monkeys and 29 Lear’s macaws (Anodorhynchus leari), another species native to Brazil, were seized at a captive facility in neighboring Suriname. In February 2024, authorities in Togo were startled to find the same two&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/the-global-trafficking-ring-preying-on-a-rare-golden-monkey-from-brazil/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320300</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>What Indigenous youth filmmaking reveals about environmental communication (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/what-indigenous-youth-filmmaking-reveals-about-environmental-communication-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/what-indigenous-youth-filmmaking-reveals-about-environmental-communication-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 May 2026 16:38:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jamille Pinheiro Dias]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/07162429/DSC_1829-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318951</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Arts, Commentary, Communication, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Film, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Peoples, Rainforests, and Traditional Knowledge]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A machete is typically an instrument for clearing dense brush or, in a certain kind of movie, for fending off a terrifying monster. Yet, deep in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil’s Bahia state, I learned that a machete is also used for a much friendlier purpose: slicing green mangoes to eat with salt. That simple, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A machete is typically an instrument for clearing dense brush or, in a certain kind of movie, for fending off a terrifying monster. Yet, deep in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil’s Bahia state, I learned that a machete is also used for a much friendlier purpose: slicing green mangoes to eat with salt. That simple, unexpected twist — where anticipated horror dissolves into communal joy — captures exactly what happened when we asked the students in the Indigenous Tupinambá villages of Serra do Padeiro and Tukum what kind of movies they liked. The room immediately buzzed with a rapid-fire list: K-dramas, slapstick comedies, high-speed action, or blood-chilling horror. Before anyone had even picked up a camera, the space was already overflowing with a multiplicity of cinematic worlds and different ideas about what a story could be. I had traveled to southern Bahia in March 2026 with Indigenous filmmaker Olinda Tupinambá and a group of creatives. As a researcher at the University of London’s School of Advanced Study, I am co-developing our project titled “Environmental Education and Film in the Atlantic Forest: Eco-Activism Through Indigenous Perspectives” with support from the British Academy. Our goal was simple: to demystify filmmaking by using everyday smartphones as creative tools, and to challenge what audiences often assume about Indigenous cinema. Students, project leads, and facilitators during the workshop in the Serra do Padeiro village, Tupinambá de Olivença Territory (Bahia, Brazil), part of the British Academy–funded Environmental Education and Film in the Atlantic Forest: Eco-Activism Through&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/what-indigenous-youth-filmmaking-reveals-about-environmental-communication-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/what-indigenous-youth-filmmaking-reveals-about-environmental-communication-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318951</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazil police seize devices from bird expert in trafficking probe linked to Vantara zoo</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/brazil-police-seize-devices-from-bird-expert-in-trafficking-probe-linked-to-vantara-zoo/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/brazil-police-seize-devices-from-bird-expert-in-trafficking-probe-linked-to-vantara-zoo/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 May 2026 12:30:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda Wenzel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/14084006/lears-macaw-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318620</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Brazil, India, Latin America, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Birds, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Illegal Trade, Law, Monkeys, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, Wildlife Trafficking, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The famous bird specialist Tony Silva had cell phones and a computer seized by Brazil’s Federal Police at Guarulhos Airport, in São Paulo, according to a source.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A U.S. citizen suspected of international wildlife trafficking had three cell phones and a computer seized on May 1 as he arrived at Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo, Brazil. According to a statement released by the Federal Police, the action is a development in an investigation &#8220;probing the international trafficking of golden lion tamarins and other endangered species of Brazilian fauna.&#8221; The statement doesn’t mention the target&#8217;s name, but a source familiar with the investigations involving golden lion tamarins who asked to remain anonymous identified the man as Tony Silva, a renowned bird expert who was convicted of smuggling exotic birds into the U.S. from South America in 1996. According to the source, Silva is suspected of coordinating the purchase of illegally traded animals for Vantara, a private mega zoo in the state of Gujarat, India, run by billionaire Anant Ambani, son of India’s richest man. In an email to Mongabay, a Vantara spokesperson stated that the zoo “has no connection with the buying of illegal animals” and that “any attempt to link Mr. Silva’s personal affairs to Vantara, directly or by implication, would be factually incorrect and legally untenable.” According to the organization, Silva is not and has never been its employee. “Vantara understands that he [Tony Silva] has been engaged by an independent contractor for limited consultancy relating to enclosure curation, husbandry and nutrition, considering his published work and experience in that field. He does not speak for, act for, or represent Vantara,” the spokesperson wrote. (See&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/brazil-police-seize-devices-from-bird-expert-in-trafficking-probe-linked-to-vantara-zoo/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/brazil-police-seize-devices-from-bird-expert-in-trafficking-probe-linked-to-vantara-zoo/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318620</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Chimp ‘civil war’ follows rare community split in a Ugandan national park</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/chimp-civil-war-follows-rare-community-split-in-a-ugandan-national-park/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/chimp-civil-war-follows-rare-community-split-in-a-ugandan-national-park/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Apr 2026 13:27:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/17012030/4.-Old-male-BF-was-the-last-male-to-go-between-groups-photo-by-Aaron-Sandel-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317688</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Atlantic Forest, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Apes, Chimpanzees, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Great Apes, Primates, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A chimpanzee community in Uganda’s Kibale National Park that split into rival factions later attacked former allies in what researchers are describing as a rare chimpanzee “civil war.” The new study, published in the journal Science, draws on nearly three decades of observations at the Ngogo chimpanzee research site, led by primatologist Aaron A. Sandel [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A chimpanzee community in Uganda’s Kibale National Park that split into rival factions later attacked former allies in what researchers are describing as a rare chimpanzee “civil war.” The new study, published in the journal Science, draws on nearly three decades of observations at the Ngogo chimpanzee research site, led by primatologist Aaron A. Sandel of the University of Texas at Austin, in the U.S. He and his colleagues say this is a rare event that may occur only once every 500 years. It’s only been observed once before by humans. Before the split, the Ngogo community was unusually large, with roughly 150 to 200 chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), making it one of the largest chimp groups ever recorded in the wild. After the rupture, the community divided into two factions, which researchers call the Central and Western groups — named after the areas of forest they occupied. Before the Ngogo chimps divided into two groups, it was one of the largest groups ever recorded: between 150 &#8211;  200 animals. Image by Aaron Sandel. Between 2018 and 2024, the Western group carried out 24 attacks on the Central group, killing at least seven adult males and 17 infants. Sandel told Mongabay the conflict is still unfolding and may have lasting consequences for the population. “The Central group is at risk — they have had a dramatic increase in mortality,” Sandel said. “A key question is: How are they going to fight back?” Unlike most primate group fissions, the Ngogo split involved&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/chimp-civil-war-follows-rare-community-split-in-a-ugandan-national-park/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317688</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nearly a million birds shipped from Africa to Asia in 15 years; canaries top the list</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/nearly-a-million-birds-shipped-from-africa-to-asia-in-15-years-canaries-top-the-list/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/nearly-a-million-birds-shipped-from-africa-to-asia-in-15-years-canaries-top-the-list/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Apr 2026 15:04:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/15120913/Photo-5-yfc-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317571</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Atlantic Forest, Guinea, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Mali, Mozambique, North America, Senegal, Singapore, Southeast Asia, Tanzania, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Health, Invasive Species, Parrots, Pet Trade, Planetary Health, Public Health, Regulations, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, Wildlife Trafficking, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Worldwide, people buy and hunt nearly half of the 11,000 bird species in existence. In Asia, Europe, and North and South America, songbirds and parrots are highly desired pets. Collectors pay exorbitant sums for rare species or melodious birds to compete in high-stakes singing competitions. Falconers and sport hunters capture or kill raptors. Belief-based rituals [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Worldwide, people buy and hunt nearly half of the 11,000 bird species in existence. In Asia, Europe, and North and South America, songbirds and parrots are highly desired pets. Collectors pay exorbitant sums for rare species or melodious birds to compete in high-stakes singing competitions. Falconers and sport hunters capture or kill raptors. Belief-based rituals in West Africa incorporate vulture parts. Buyers in North America seek dead hornbills and hummingbirds as home décor. The list goes on. This massive commerce threatens more than 200 avian species with extinction. Now, as online marketplaces proliferate, customers can order a bird with a swipe on their phone from anywhere on the planet. Moving birds around the world also spreads deadly diseases, from avian influenza to circovirus, and when non-native birds get loose, they may proliferate, outcompeting residents. “There&#8217;s a lack of awareness and appreciation for the scale of this trade, and little attention on the impacts that this could be having on wild populations or the risks for the spread of invasive species and infectious diseases,” said Rowan Martin, director of bird trade at the nonprofit World Parrot Trust. “If people are not aware that this is even happening, then how are we going to be able to mitigate the risks associated with it?” In an attempt to understand the scale of the live bird trade, Martin and his colleagues used records from U.N. Comtrade, a database that aggregates information on all commodities traded between countries. The team analyzed live bird imports into&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/nearly-a-million-birds-shipped-from-africa-to-asia-in-15-years-canaries-top-the-list/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317571</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Loss of prey could drive Atlantic Forest jaguars to extinction</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/loss-of-prey-could-drive-atlantic-forest-jaguars-to-extinction/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/loss-of-prey-could-drive-atlantic-forest-jaguars-to-extinction/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Apr 2026 18:27:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/06084548/Image_1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316990</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Cats, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Forests, Fragmentation, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Hunting, Jaguars, Mammals, Predators, Rewilding, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Conserving the dwindling jaguar population in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest won’t be possible without protecting its prey. That’s the conclusion of a new study, which found that the absence of deer, peccaries and other animals that sustain these big cats is driving it toward local extinction. Jaguars (Panthera onca) once ranged from the southwestern U.S. to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Conserving the dwindling jaguar population in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest won’t be possible without protecting its prey. That’s the conclusion of a new study, which found that the absence of deer, peccaries and other animals that sustain these big cats is driving it toward local extinction. Jaguars (Panthera onca) once ranged from the southwestern U.S. to Argentina and is the Western Hemisphere&#8217;s largest cat. Today it&#8217;s locally extinct or imperiled across much of its former territory, including the Atlantic Forest biome where it’s critically endangered. In this region, the study notes, some 85 % of jaguar habitat is gone and only small fragments remain within what’s considered one of the world’s most degraded tropical forests. As a result, jaguars have declined dramatically here, especially over the past two decades. The new study highlights one reason why: There’s not much for them to eat. Medium and large prey have diminished greatly, including white-lipped peccaries (Tayassu pecari), collared peccaries (Dicotyles tajacu), brocket deer (Mazama spp.) and tapirs (Tapirus terrestris). “We are facing a silent extinction of prey species in the Atlantic Forest,” says study lead author Katia Ferraz, a wildlife biologist at the University of São Paulo. “We talk a lot about jaguar extinction, but we talk little about the extinction of peccaries and deer, for example, that are important prey.” Ferraz and her colleagues assessed jaguar prey species in nine protected areas in the Atlantic Forest. To do so, they carried out the most extensive camera-trap survey ever conducted in this biome. They&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/loss-of-prey-could-drive-atlantic-forest-jaguars-to-extinction/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316990</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Avian bird flu surges in New York urban wildlife, increasing disease concerns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/avian-bird-flu-surges-in-new-york-urban-wildlife-increasing-disease-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/avian-bird-flu-surges-in-new-york-urban-wildlife-increasing-disease-concerns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Apr 2026 14:42:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Cate Twining-Ward]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/07134524/chicken-chicken-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317086</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Diseases, Environment, Health, Monitoring, One Health, Planetary Boundaries, Planetary Health, Public Health, Research, Wildlife, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NEW YORK — Catherine Quayle has been caring for sick and injured wild animals in New York City for the past 12 years, first as a volunteer at the Wild Bird Fund, the city’s only wildlife rehabilitation center, and now as that NGO’s communications director and a licensed rehabber. Despite all her experience, she is [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NEW YORK — Catherine Quayle has been caring for sick and injured wild animals in New York City for the past 12 years, first as a volunteer at the Wild Bird Fund, the city’s only wildlife rehabilitation center, and now as that NGO’s communications director and a licensed rehabber. Despite all her experience, she is stunned by what she’s seen at the clinic lately. “We certainly deal with viruses on a day-to-day basis, but nothing like this,” Quayle said, speaking from the nonprofit’s clinic on the Upper West Side. For the past four years, the fund has been dealing with a rising tide of suspected highly pathogenic avian influenza cases and operating in “triage mode” — setting up isolation areas, adopting new H5N1 virus protocols and relying on protective gear and regular testing. “People call us every day,” about sick and dying birds, Quayle said. “About Canada geese, especially.” Geese are just the tip of the iceberg. In New York state, the H5N1 virus has killed bald eagles, red-tailed hawks, great horned and snowy owls; swans and geese in Central Park; ducks and wild birds at the Queens and Bronx zoos; shorebirds on Long Island; small mammals including raccoons, skunks, opossums, red foxes, bobcats, gray squirrels, muskrats and feral cats. Nationwide, more than 130 domestic cats have been infected since 2022. “At this point, it’s pretty safe to assume that highly pathogenic avian influenza could appear anywhere in New York state at any time,” said Kevin Hynes, wildlife program leader&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/avian-bird-flu-surges-in-new-york-urban-wildlife-increasing-disease-concerns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/avian-bird-flu-surges-in-new-york-urban-wildlife-increasing-disease-concerns/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317086</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Canadian muskoxen hit by double punch of novel diseases and climate change</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/canadian-muskoxen-hit-by-double-punch-of-novel-diseases-and-climate-change/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/canadian-muskoxen-hit-by-double-punch-of-novel-diseases-and-climate-change/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Apr 2026 15:24:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/02214119/1-Edit-35-BANNER-IMAGE-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316879</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arctic, Atlantic Forest, Canada, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bacteria, Climate, Climate Change, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Diseases, Environment, Health, Hunting, Indigenous Peoples, Mammals, Planetary Health, Public Health, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As winter comes to the Canadian Arctic, muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) abandon the valleys and head to higher ground, where winds sweep away the snow. That’s where we go to find them, Allen Niptanatiak, chairman of the Kugluktuk Hunters and Trappers Organization, tells Mongabay in a video call. The Inuit harvesters focus on culling the younger [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As winter comes to the Canadian Arctic, muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) abandon the valleys and head to higher ground, where winds sweep away the snow. That’s where we go to find them, Allen Niptanatiak, chairman of the Kugluktuk Hunters and Trappers Organization, tells Mongabay in a video call. The Inuit harvesters focus on culling the younger cows and bulls, leaving the breeding animals alone. It takes a couple hours to skin, butcher and load up the sleds, the older and younger generations working together in -30° Celsius to -35°C (-22° Fahrenheit to -35°F), weather that is “just perfect,” says Niptanatiak, an Inuk hunter and trapper from Nunavut, who is also a retired conservation officer. “Then we eat and have a big meal and just enjoy it and talk and say, ‘Oh, this is a blessing,’” he says. Muskoxen are an integral part of Arctic ecology and, with their thick shaggy coats, are synonymous with the Far North. Nearly driven to extinction by commercial hunting in the early 1900s, surviving in just a few pockets in Canada, they began to recover following a 1917 hunting ban. By the 1990s, the Canadian population was estimated at 108,600. About 70% of the Canadian population was on Victoria and Banks islands, in Canada’s Arctic Archipelago — large islands with a combined area of nearly 290,000 square kilometers (12,000 square miles), about the size of Italy. Niptanatiak lives in Kugluktuk, a small hamlet on the mainland, just across from Victoria Island. Diets vary there, but for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/canadian-muskoxen-hit-by-double-punch-of-novel-diseases-and-climate-change/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316879</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazilian settlers turn to reforestation in ambitious land recovery plan</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/brazilian-settlers-turn-to-reforestation-in-ambitious-land-recovery-plan/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/brazilian-settlers-turn-to-reforestation-in-ambitious-land-recovery-plan/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Mar 2026 14:49:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sibélia Zanon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/23144738/RAE04Cullen_20db_031-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316126</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest and Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agroecology, Community Development, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Reforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PONTAL DO PARANAPANEMA, Brazil — Sugarcane fields undulate across the landscape as a line of water stretches to the horizon. We travel along a dirt road in western São Paulo, on the banks of the Paraná River — the watery border between the states of São Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul. Here, monoculture overwhelms [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PONTAL DO PARANAPANEMA, Brazil — Sugarcane fields undulate across the landscape as a line of water stretches to the horizon. We travel along a dirt road in western São Paulo, on the banks of the Paraná River — the watery border between the states of São Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul. Here, monoculture overwhelms a landscape once covered by semideciduous seasonal forest, known as the Inland Atlantic Forest, where trees shed their leaves during the dry season. In his pickup truck, biologist Haroldo Gomes, who holds a master’s degree in agronomy, carries a small forest: ipês (Handroanthus spp.), aroeiras (Myracrodruon urundeuva) and guarantãs (Esenbeckia leiocarpa) are some of the nearly 70 native Atlantic Forest species looking for a place to take root. There was a time when Haroldo’s family, too, had no land. “When we arrived at the encampment, I was 11,” said Gomes, the son of land reform settlers. “During the conflicts, we lived for six years in a makeshift tent. I’ve run from gunfire during land occupations.” Today, Haroldo serves as field coordinator for the Corridors of Life project at the Institute for Ecological Research (IPÊ). Through the initiative, both he and a diversity of native plant and animal species have found a place to call home. Since 2002, the project — driven by land reform families — has restored more than 6,000 hectares (14,800 acres), with 10 million trees planted. The ambitions ahead are even greater: By 2041, the group aims to restore 75,000 hectares (185,000&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/brazilian-settlers-turn-to-reforestation-in-ambitious-land-recovery-plan/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/brazilian-settlers-turn-to-reforestation-in-ambitious-land-recovery-plan/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316126</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Open-air markets: hotspots for a lethal virus infecting macaws and parrots</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/open-air-markets-hotspots-for-a-lethal-virus-infecting-macaws-and-parrots/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/open-air-markets-hotspots-for-a-lethal-virus-infecting-macaws-and-parrots/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Mar 2026 18:05:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda Wenzel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/27001508/1.-Daiane_cortes_ibama-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316394</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Birds, Conservation, Crime, Diseases, Environment, Health, Parrots, Wildlife, Wildlife Rehabilitation, Wildlife Rescues, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In October 2025, environmental officers arrived unannounced at the Parangaba Fair that takes place every Sunday in Fortaleza, in northeastern Brazil. The market, also known as the Bird Fair, had a reputation for illegally selling small birds, parrots and macaws. During that Sunday’s operation, agents seized 271 birds and transported them in groups to the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In October 2025, environmental officers arrived unannounced at the Parangaba Fair that takes place every Sunday in Fortaleza, in northeastern Brazil. The market, also known as the Bird Fair, had a reputation for illegally selling small birds, parrots and macaws. During that Sunday’s operation, agents seized 271 birds and transported them in groups to the Wildlife Screening Center (CETAS) in Fortaleza. There, confiscated wildlife is rehabilitated for possible reintroduction to the wild. These rescue and rehab centers are managed by Brazil&#8217;s federal environmental agency, IBAMA. Within days, some small, multicolored African lovebirds, from the genus Agapornis began to sicken — and die. Targeted by the pet trade, these parrots sometimes carry circovirus, a genus of viruses that afflict a wide range of birds. It was a growing crisis.“The [seized] birds kept arriving and tests were being conducted, and then they started coming back positive,” said Fernanda Gaia, IBAMA&#8217;s environmental analyst at the center. The diagnosis triggered a red alert: the hundreds of birds housed at CETAS were at risk. Staff isolated the sick birds. IBAMA agents seize birds sold illegally at the Parangaba Fair in Fortaleza. Image courtesy of Daiane Cortes/IBAMA. Then, in January 2026, there was another scare. Two turquoise-fronted Amazon parrots (Amazona aestiva) were diagnosed with avian polyomavirus. This disease, first discovered in Canada and the U.S. in the 1980s, acts much like circovirus. To prevent further infections, IBAMA closed the Fortaleza CETAS to new bird arrivals for 90 days. “With the detection in more species, both with&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/open-air-markets-hotspots-for-a-lethal-virus-infecting-macaws-and-parrots/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/open-air-markets-hotspots-for-a-lethal-virus-infecting-macaws-and-parrots/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316394</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Restoration of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest may hinge on market for native plants</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/restoration-of-brazils-atlantic-forest-may-hinge-on-market-for-native-plants/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/restoration-of-brazils-atlantic-forest-may-hinge-on-market-for-native-plants/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Mar 2026 18:18:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sarah Derouin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/06163307/Araucaria-angustifolia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315372</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conservation, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Plants, Rainforests, Reforestation, Restoration, Saving Rainforests, Solutions, Trees, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The forests of the world are teeming with life, from the towering trees down to the microscopic organisms that quietly recycle and refuel the soil. That’s why clearing forests leads to biodiversity loss, problems with water and soil quality, and less carbon storage. In Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, restoration projects have been underway for decades to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The forests of the world are teeming with life, from the towering trees down to the microscopic organisms that quietly recycle and refuel the soil. That’s why clearing forests leads to biodiversity loss, problems with water and soil quality, and less carbon storage. In Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, restoration projects have been underway for decades to combat clearing. While some successes have been noted, there are still barriers to starting — and sustaining — restoration efforts in the region. This is especially the case for privately owned land. Now, new research in the journal Ambio digs in to how to better balance reforestation efforts with economic benefits for landowners in the Atlantic Forest. “We wanted to go beyond the classic, cliché narrative that says biodiversity has an invaluable market value and many active principles … we wanted to answer which ones,” says study lead author Pedro Medrado Krainovic, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of São Paulo. The researchers were curious if they could find the reforestation sweet spot of increasing biodiversity, creating economic incentives and providing social support — a combination known as bioeconomics. In particular, they wanted to know if native plant species in restored patches of the Atlantic Forest could help bridge the gap between forest restoration goals and economic opportunities, by measuring how many of these species could be economically exploited. The team surveyed vegetation in areas undergoing forest restoration, noting the variety and abundance of native plants. Using patent records for plants in medical, cosmetic and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/restoration-of-brazils-atlantic-forest-may-hinge-on-market-for-native-plants/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/restoration-of-brazils-atlantic-forest-may-hinge-on-market-for-native-plants/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315372</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Avian flu strikes California’s northern elephant seals; area quarantined</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/avian-flu-strikes-californias-northern-elephant-seals-area-quarantined/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/avian-flu-strikes-californias-northern-elephant-seals-area-quarantined/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Feb 2026 05:04:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Christine Heinrichs]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/26221349/SwabFar__AnoNuevo_Feb242026_Frans-Lanting-for-Beltran-Lab-UC-Santa-Cruz-NMFS-permit-28742-1-e1772144471819-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314922</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, California, North America, South America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Diseases, Ecosystems, Environment, Marine, Marine Animals, Oceans, Wildlife, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Ever since a deadly strain of avian influenza, H5N1, killed some 17,000 southern elephant seal pups on South American coastlines in 2023 and 2024, researchers and public officials have kept an extra-close eye on California’s northern elephant seals. Fears of infection have now become reality: Lab tests just proved the virus has breached this colony. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Ever since a deadly strain of avian influenza, H5N1, killed some 17,000 southern elephant seal pups on South American coastlines in 2023 and 2024, researchers and public officials have kept an extra-close eye on California’s northern elephant seals. Fears of infection have now become reality: Lab tests just proved the virus has breached this colony. In mid-February, six young, newly weaned seals on Año Nuevo State Park beaches fell ill. They had obvious respiratory problems and also suffered from neurological symptoms, including weakness, tremors and seizures — all of which pointed to H5N1. The research team collected samples from sick and dead elephant seals, which were analyzed at the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System. Initial screening revealed that the samples were positive for avian influenza; it was then confirmed to be the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain. A mother northern elephant seal and her pup rest on a beach at the Piedras Blancas viewing area in California, south of Año Nuevo, where seven young seals have been infected with a deadly strain of avian influenza. Image by Christine Heinrichs. As of Feb. 24, seven pups had tested positive for the virus, according to the USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory. At time of publication, 30 seals had died, 29 of them weaned pups, but the cause has not yet been confirmed for all the victims. The outbreak marks the first cases of H5N1 in marine mammals in California and the first time it’s been found in northern elephant seals&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/avian-flu-strikes-californias-northern-elephant-seals-area-quarantined/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314922</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Researchers eye jaguar conservation wins under Brazil Indigenous stewardship project</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/researchers-eye-jaguar-conservation-wins-under-brazil-indigenous-stewardship-project/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/researchers-eye-jaguar-conservation-wins-under-brazil-indigenous-stewardship-project/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Feb 2026 16:20:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[James HallKarla Mendes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/08181934/Onca_do_Pantanal-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314428</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous-led conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Caatinga, Cerrado, Latin America, Pantanal, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Jaguars, Mammals, Predators, Rainforests, Top Predators, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PAU BRASIL, Brazil — Indigenous leader Fábio Titiah recalls the night he walked the trail to the village of Água Vermelha, in the Caramuru-Paraguassu Indigenous Territory. At around 10 p.m., a shadow burst from the undergrowth and sprang across the road. He says he saw, startled, its glistening, pitch-black pelt and recognized it as one [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PAU BRASIL, Brazil — Indigenous leader Fábio Titiah recalls the night he walked the trail to the village of Água Vermelha, in the Caramuru-Paraguassu Indigenous Territory. At around 10 p.m., a shadow burst from the undergrowth and sprang across the road. He says he saw, startled, its glistening, pitch-black pelt and recognized it as one of the rarest animals of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest: a black jaguar (Panthera onca). For Titiah, one of the 21 caciques (chiefs) of the Caramuru-Paraguassu territory in Brazil’s northeastern state of Bahia, the fleeting sighting of the big cat was a spiritual encounter and a sign of changes afoot in Indigenous lands. “There was a time when we started the reclamation process, when we [re]occupied our territories, and found a large part of our land transformed into cattle pasture,” Titiah tells Mongabay at his house in the municipality of Pau Brasil, adjacent to the Caramuru-Paraguassu territory, where he’s a city councilor. “Then our people left a good part of these areas to regenerate. Some animals that hadn’t been seen here before started appearing. The jaguar started to return.” The transformation of the Caramuru-Paraguassu territory has been enabled in part by Ywy Ipuranguete (“beautiful lands” in the Tupi-Guarani language), a nationwide project to strengthen and support Indigenous stewardship across 15 Indigenous territories. Building on the recognition of Indigenous lands as vital for wildlife and ecosystems, Brazil’s Ministry of Indigenous Peoples launched the initiative to safeguard about 6 million hectares (15 million acres) of some of Brazil’s most&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/researchers-eye-jaguar-conservation-wins-under-brazil-indigenous-stewardship-project/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314428</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New study points to private land as key to Atlantic Forest recovery</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/new-study-points-to-private-land-as-key-to-atlantic-forest-recovery/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/new-study-points-to-private-land-as-key-to-atlantic-forest-recovery/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Dec 2025 18:08:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sibélia Zanon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/16162824/a.-016_Ocelot_in_Encontro_das_Aguas_State_Park_Photo_by_Giles_Laurent-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311482</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Landscape Restoration, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Reforestation, Research, Restoration, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Restoration in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest is finding success on private lands, according to a newly published study. Researchers evaluated the Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact, a collaborative initiative launched in 2009 to accelerate reforestation, and found a 20% increase in vegetation cover on studied private lands from 2000-2018 compared to areas without intervention. The pact works [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Restoration in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest is finding success on private lands, according to a newly published study. Researchers evaluated the Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact, a collaborative initiative launched in 2009 to accelerate reforestation, and found a 20% increase in vegetation cover on studied private lands from 2000-2018 compared to areas without intervention. The pact works across 17 Brazilian states and brings together governments, NGOs, companies and landowners to identify priority areas for restoration, support implementation, and monitor environmental, social and economic outcomes. The end goal is to restore 15 million hectares (37 million acres) of forest by 2050. “Landowners report that after starting restoration planting, springs returned, streams filled, and the land cooled,” says biologist Ludmila Pugliese de Siqueira, co-author of the new study and director of the landscape and forest restoration program at Conservation International Brazil. “For them, the result is very tangible — something that directly affects their daily lives.” The study examined 158,000 hectares (about 390,000 acres) of land, half of it restored and the rest unrestored. In all, they found a net increase in vegetation cover of 4,600 hectares (about 11,400 acres) in the form of restored forest, an area roughly 80% the size of Manhattan or 13.5 times the size of Central Park. Still, restoring forest on privately owned land in the Atlantic Forest remains a major challenge. About 75% of the biome is private property, and nearly 90% of its original vegetation, around 110 million hectares (272 million acres), has been lost to agriculture,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/new-study-points-to-private-land-as-key-to-atlantic-forest-recovery/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/new-study-points-to-private-land-as-key-to-atlantic-forest-recovery/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311482</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New financial tools boost traditional bioeconomy projects in the Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/new-financial-tools-boost-traditional-bioeconomy-projects-in-the-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/new-financial-tools-boost-traditional-bioeconomy-projects-in-the-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Dec 2025 13:48:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sarah Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/31113242/Cerrado-Brazil-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308629</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Caatinga, Cerrado, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agroecology, Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Bioeconomy, Climate, climate finance, Climate Justice, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Culture, Deforestation, Environment, Finance, Food, Forests, Funding, Indigenous Peoples, Rainforests, Sustainability, Traditional Knowledge, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When rigid loans fail to reach forest communities, they work in favor of invaders.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[From the Amazon Rainforest to the Cerrado savanna, enterprises led by Indigenous and traditional communities play a vital role in protecting forests and restoring degraded Brazilian landscapes. At the same time, they provide an important source of income for marginalized groups, strengthening Brazil’s bioeconomy environment. Sustainable forest-based businesses include the harvesting of açaí berries (Euterpe oleracea) and Brazil nuts (Bertholletia excelsa), and the production of andiroba oil (Carapa guianensis). They also cover agroecological and agroforestry farming, community-based ecotourism, restoration and reforestation services, and the production of cultural goods such as artisanal crafts. Some of these projects even create community-level financial mechanisms, like cooperative banks. Yet many setbacks prevent them from scaling up. Problems range from initiatives not being formally recognized as businesses by conventional financial institutions, to barriers to accessing Brazilian administrative and regulatory infrastructure — such as registration systems, licensing and operational support, all needed to establish and run a business. “One of the main challenges faced by Indigenous peoples and traditional communities lies in how most financing mechanisms are structured,” Rose Apurinã, deputy director of Podáali, an Indigenous-run fund for the Brazilian Amazon, told Mongabay. “They are based on external, colonial and centralized logics that disregard these peoples’ own forms of social organization.” She added, “The majority of grant opportunities and funding sources impose technical, bureaucratic and institutional barriers that make it difficult — or even impossible — for people in the territories to access resources directly.” Açaí extraction provides income for local communities while helping to keep&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/new-financial-tools-boost-traditional-bioeconomy-projects-in-the-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308629</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Protecting pangolins IRL, not just on paper: Interview with conservationist Kumar Paudel</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/protecting-pangolins-irl-not-just-on-paper-interview-with-conservationist-kumar-paudel/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/protecting-pangolins-irl-not-just-on-paper-interview-with-conservationist-kumar-paudel/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Nov 2025 06:43:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/24062048/0d2e956a-6a28-4b8a-82ca-1e2141a82816-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=309998</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Atlantic Forest, India, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Indigenous Peoples, Mammals, Pangolins, Poaching, Traditional Medicine, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Of the eight known species of pangolins found in Asia and Africa, three are listed as critically endangered on the Red List that’s maintained by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. Two of those three species of scaly anteaters are found in Nepal, where they’re officially accorded the highest level of protection [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Of the eight known species of pangolins found in Asia and Africa, three are listed as critically endangered on the Red List that’s maintained by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. Two of those three species of scaly anteaters are found in Nepal, where they’re officially accorded the highest level of protection for wildlife. “It’s on a par with tigers and rhinos, but this legal status hasn&#8217;t translated into conservation investment or priority,” says Kumar Paudel, a pangolin researcher and founder of Greenhood Nepal, a conservation NGO. That’s left Nepal’s pangolins, and indeed pangolins everywhere, highly threatened by the illegal trade for their meat and, in particular, their scales — prized in East Asia for their purported medicinal properties. Today, pangolins are known as the most trafficked wild mammals in the world. More than a million of the animals may have been “snatched from the wild” in the past decade, according to the IUCN’s Pangolin Specialist Group. Paudel, the group’s vice chair for Asia, says a significant proportion of that poaching and trafficking may have taken place in South Asia. This could be attributed to the region’s proximity to East and Southeast Asia, where demand is highest, he says. Conservationist and researcher Kumar Paudel (seated in the middle, extreme right) talks to community members about pangolins. Image courtesy of Kumar Paudel In 2016, the Pangolin Specialist Group came up with a global action plan focused on boosting knowledge of the species, curbing the illegal trade, identifying and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/protecting-pangolins-irl-not-just-on-paper-interview-with-conservationist-kumar-paudel/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-309998</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rare parrots return to Atlantic Forest fragment after decades of silence</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/rare-parrots-return-to-atlantic-forest-fragment-after-decades-of-silence/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/rare-parrots-return-to-atlantic-forest-fragment-after-decades-of-silence/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Nov 2025 22:07:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/08155643/PHOTO-2025-11-06-14-55-39-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=309150</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Forests, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Twenty brilliantly colored red-browed amazons took flight over a reserve holding one of the few remaining intact swaths of Atlantic Forest in Brazil. The green-and-red parrots had been missing from Alagoas state for generations. In January 2025, the birds returned home. Researchers say releasing the red-browed amazons (Amazona rhodocorytha) will help the species rebound and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Twenty brilliantly colored red-browed amazons took flight over a reserve holding one of the few remaining intact swaths of Atlantic Forest in Brazil. The green-and-red parrots had been missing from Alagoas state for generations. In January 2025, the birds returned home. Researchers say releasing the red-browed amazons (Amazona rhodocorytha) will help the species rebound and restore a dying ecosystem. Only 3% of the Atlantic Forest remains in Alagoas, according to Luiz Fábio Silveira, deputy director of the University of São Paulo’s Museum of Zoology, making it one of the most threatened ecosystems on Earth. The Atlantic Forest fragments in Alagoas are failing because the animals that spread seeds have disappeared. According to Silveira, without these creatures, trees that depend on animals to spread their seeds are dying and being replaced by trees whose seeds travel on the wind. The release into a thousand-hectare forest reserve in Coruripe, outside of the state capital, Maceió, is part of the Project for the Evaluation, Recovery and Conservation of Endangered Birds (ARCA), which Silveira leads. Red-browed amazons (Amazona rhodocorytha) before their release in to the Atlantic Forest fragment in Alagoas. Photo courtesy of Luiz Fábio Silveira. &#8220;It&#8217;s not just the animals, but their sounds that are returning to the forest,&#8221; Silveira told Mongabay, describing videos sent by community monitors showing flocks of red-browed amazons flying through the reserve. Resembling large lovebirds, red-browed amazons were once common enough to be among the first birds recorded when the first Europeans made landfall in what is today&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/rare-parrots-return-to-atlantic-forest-fragment-after-decades-of-silence/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/rare-parrots-return-to-atlantic-forest-fragment-after-decades-of-silence/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-309150</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>AI system eavesdrops on elephants to prevent deadly encounters in India</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/ai-system-eavesdrops-on-elephants-to-prevent-deadly-encounters-in-india/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/ai-system-eavesdrops-on-elephants-to-prevent-deadly-encounters-in-india/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Oct 2025 15:35:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/23082431/F-1-Elephant_Calf_and_Bar_Headed_Geese_-_Kaziranga_National_Park_Assam-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308169</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Atlantic Forest, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Crops, Development, Drought, Ecology, Elephants, Environment, Farming, Food, Forests, Habitat Loss, Human-wildlife Conflict, Infrastructure, Technology, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When elephant biologist Seema Lokhandwala, with the Elephants Acoustic Project, visited a village near Balipara in India’s Assam state, as part of her fieldwork in December 2015, she witnessed firsthand what it takes to live alongside elephants. After night fell, a herd of 150 elephants — “I counted them,” she says — devoured all of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When elephant biologist Seema Lokhandwala, with the Elephants Acoustic Project, visited a village near Balipara in India’s Assam state, as part of her fieldwork in December 2015, she witnessed firsthand what it takes to live alongside elephants. After night fell, a herd of 150 elephants — “I counted them,” she says — devoured all of the freshly harvested rice stacked outside a woman’s house. Her entire year’s harvest, gone in minutes. Then, the giants ravaged her kitchen looking for salt, a mineral they need to survive, while the residents hid under the bed fearing for their lives. Just the previous night, elephants had mauled and killed a woman with three young children just across the street. That night left Lokhandwala shattered, but also resolved. That’s when she began thinking of ways to address the increasing human-elephant conflict that often leaves behind a trail of deaths. Assam, in India’s northeast, is one of the few remaining strongholds for Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in the country, with a stable population of nearly 6,000 individuals. It’s also the most populous state in the region, with more than 31 million people. Not surprisingly, Assam has one of the highest incidences of human-elephant conflicts. “Space is a constraint, and humans and elephants both need space,” says Kaushik Barua, a wildlife conservationist and founder of the NGO Assam Elephant Foundation. “It&#8217;s basically a land war between humans and elephants, unfortunately.” Expanding farmlands and increasing human settlements have encroached on what used to be elephant corridors. Linear&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/ai-system-eavesdrops-on-elephants-to-prevent-deadly-encounters-in-india/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308169</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Panama, poison dart frog move brings hope amid amphibians’ fight with fungus</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/in-panama-poison-dart-frog-move-brings-hope-amid-amphibians-fight-with-fungus/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/in-panama-poison-dart-frog-move-brings-hope-amid-amphibians-fight-with-fungus/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Oct 2025 22:14:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sam Meadows]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/08220528/Pratts-poison-dart-frog-Colostethus-pratti-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307262</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Central America, Latin America, and Panama]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Bioacoustics, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Conservation Technology, Diseases, Endangered Species, Global Environmental Crisis, Habitat Loss, Protected Areas, Research, Solutions, Threatened species, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Measuring a bit more than 20 millimeters (0.8 inches), Pratt’s poison frog (Colostethus pratti) is not the kind of frog that would get attention. Although part of the Dendrobatidae family, known for its bright colors and high toxicity that keep predators away, it can only boast a brown, stripy skin and low poison levels. It’s not [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Measuring a bit more than 20 millimeters (0.8 inches), Pratt’s poison frog (Colostethus pratti) is not the kind of frog that would get attention. Although part of the Dendrobatidae family, known for its bright colors and high toxicity that keep predators away, it can only boast a brown, stripy skin and low poison levels. It’s not even endangered. But in Panama, a recent move of a dozen pairs of these tiny frogs may offer researchers new insights into how to help amphibians worldwide in a decades-long fight against a deadly disease. Pratt’s poison frog has been one of at least 500 amphibian species affected by the chytrid fungal disease, a pathogen that over the last 50 years, is estimated to have wiped out 90 species of amphibians and caused a 90% decline in population abundance in other 124, according to a 2019 study. The disease, caused by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, was only discovered in 1998 but is known to have peaked in mortality in the 1980s and early 2000s. Pratt’s poison frogs have been hit by chytrid too. Although their populations are not at risk, they have been declining, as the fungus, urban development and agriculture have been encroaching on them. The species can be found in several locations within its range in Panama, but it is believed to have been wiped by chytrid from Altos de Campana National Park, the country’s oldest national park, at least 19 years ago, according to Brian Gratwicke, a conservation biologist at the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/in-panama-poison-dart-frog-move-brings-hope-amid-amphibians-fight-with-fungus/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307262</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazil&#8217;s market-based forest fund gets new endorsers ahead of COP30 debut</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/brazils-market-based-forest-fund-gets-new-endorsers-ahead-of-cop30-debut/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/brazils-market-based-forest-fund-gets-new-endorsers-ahead-of-cop30-debut/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2025 14:50:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lucas Berti]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/05130245/3.-visita_presidente_chines_Ricardo-Stuckert-_-PR.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305705</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate, Climate Change, climate finance, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Deforestation, Ecosystem Services, Ecosystems, Environment, Finance, forest degradation, Forest Destruction, Forest Regeneration, Forests, Funding, Indigenous Peoples, Payments For Ecosystem Services, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Brazil is betting big on future rewards to save tropical forest, but critics fear nature will receive a “price tag.”]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Since 2023, Brazil has been pushing a new idea to finance the conservation of global tropical forests: Instead of directly donating money to Indigenous and conservation groups, nations and investors would add billions of dollars to a fund, the profits of which would revert to the countries that are doing a good job of keeping forests standing. The initiative — initially called the Tropical Forest Funds Forever and now rebranded as Tropical Forest Finance Facility (TFFF either way) — was presented at the COP28 climate summit, held in Dubai in 2023, with the goal of turning it into reality at COP30, to be held in Belém, Brazil, this November. Even though it received positive feedback overall, doubts remained about whether TFFF could lock in the initial required amount of $25 billion needed for its launch and reach the $125 billion to operate as designed. In recent months, however, Brazilian diplomats have been making progress. In late August, nations of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) endorsed TFFF during a meeting in Colombia’s capital, Bogotá. The joint statement presented a chapter supporting and welcoming the initiative. It also encouraged “potential investor countries, multilateral organizations, development banks, climate funds, international cooperation agencies, philanthropy, and the private sector to announce ambitious and concrete contributions to the capitalization of the TFFF, in order to ensure its prompt operationalization.” Brazil had already secured support from Norway, the U.K., Germany, the U.S., the UAE and France, as well as several nations with tropical forests, such as&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/brazils-market-based-forest-fund-gets-new-endorsers-ahead-of-cop30-debut/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305705</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazil&#8217;s Atlantic Forest still losing ‘large amounts’ of mature forest, despite legal protection</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/brazils-atlantic-forest-still-losing-large-amounts-of-mature-forest-despite-legal-protection/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/brazils-atlantic-forest-still-losing-large-amounts-of-mature-forest-despite-legal-protection/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Aug 2025 19:15:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/28183305/1438px-Tangara_fastuosa_-_Seven_colored_Tanager_Maceio_Alagoas_Brazil-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305085</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cattle, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forests, Governance, Green, Indigenous Peoples, Mammals, Primates, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Soy, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[By 1970, scientists had spent 65 years thinking the black lion tamarin, a small monkey with a spectacular mane, was extinct. That year, locals found a small population of the species (Leontopithecus chrysopygus) clinging to survival in a patch of Brazil&#8217;s Atlantic Forest. After decades of efforts, around 1,800 of these football-sized primates now swing [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[By 1970, scientists had spent 65 years thinking the black lion tamarin, a small monkey with a spectacular mane, was extinct. That year, locals found a small population of the species (Leontopithecus chrysopygus) clinging to survival in a patch of Brazil&#8217;s Atlantic Forest. After decades of efforts, around 1,800 of these football-sized primates now swing through restored forest corridors, a rare success story in one of the world&#8217;s most threatened ecosystems. But despite conservation wins like this, recent research reveals a sobering reality: Brazil&#8217;s Atlantic Forest continues to lose thousands of hectares of mature forest each year, even though it’s supposed to be protected under federal law. The law allows deforestation only in exceptional circumstances, which means that most of this deforestation is illegal. View of Atlantic Forest fragments in Brazil as seen from a helicopter. Agriculture is the primary cause of continued deforestation. Image courtesy of Saving Nature (2023). “It&#8217;s really alarming to find that we are still losing large amounts of area of mature forests,&#8221; Luis Fernando Guedes Pinto, executive director of the SOS Mata Atlântica Foundation, a Brazil-based NGO, told Mongabay. It’s especially concerning, he said, “considering that the Atlantic Forest is a biodiversity hotspot, the most devastated tropical forest in Brazil, one of the most devastated tropical forests in the world, and it&#8217;s protected by a specific law.” New research published in the journal Nature Sustainability analyzed more than 10,000 deforestation events across Brazil’s Atlantic Forest between 2010 and 2020. They found that the pace of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/brazils-atlantic-forest-still-losing-large-amounts-of-mature-forest-despite-legal-protection/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/brazils-atlantic-forest-still-losing-large-amounts-of-mature-forest-despite-legal-protection/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305085</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>There&#8217;s hope for sunflower sea stars, with their killer unmasked and reintroductions pending</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/theres-hope-for-sunflower-sea-stars-with-their-killer-unmasked-and-reintroductions-pending/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/theres-hope-for-sunflower-sea-stars-with-their-killer-unmasked-and-reintroductions-pending/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Aug 2025 14:19:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Darren IncorvaiaSharon Guynup]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/18145341/4.-Pycnopodia-and-vase-tunicates-in-Rivers-Inlet_Photo-courtesy-of-Bennett-Whitnell_Hakai-Institute-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304445</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bacteria, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Coral Reefs, Diseases, Ecosystems, Fish, Fisheries, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Research, Saltwater Fish, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[There&#8217;s hope for an iconic ocean predator that has mostly disappeared from California’s coastlines: the sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides). The population began to plummet in 2013, following an outbreak of sea star wasting disease, a deadly ailment that pocks starfish bodies with lesions and then dissolves their flesh. It affects roughly 20 species, and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[There&#8217;s hope for an iconic ocean predator that has mostly disappeared from California’s coastlines: the sunflower sea star (Pycnopodia helianthoides). The population began to plummet in 2013, following an outbreak of sea star wasting disease, a deadly ailment that pocks starfish bodies with lesions and then dissolves their flesh. It affects roughly 20 species, and has killed a staggering 5.75 billion sea stars. But it’s been particularly catastrophic for sunflower sea stars. About 99% of the population along its southern range is gone, from Washington state to Mexico. It’s the largest epidemic ever to occur in the ocean. Though the disease peaked between 2013 and 2017, localized outbreaks still occur, and the population hasn’t recovered. Now, more than a decade after the epidemic began, the mysterious killer has finally been unmasked. Researchers at the University of British Columbia and the Hakai Institute in Canada just published their discovery, identifying a strain of the bacterium Vibrio pectenicida as a culprit. Increasing sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, driven by anthropogenic climate change, are believed to have triggered or exacerbated the disease, according to the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. Sea stars are voracious predators that feed on sea urchins and other prey. In their absence, urchins have proliferated and laid waste to the kelp forests that historically lined the California coast, which are homes and nurseries to innumerable marine species, from fish and seabirds to otters and sea lions. A sunflower sea star clings to life in Knight Inlet,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/theres-hope-for-sunflower-sea-stars-with-their-killer-unmasked-and-reintroductions-pending/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304445</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Illegal pet trade in Nepal now shifting online, research suggests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/illegal-pet-trade-in-nepal-now-shifting-online-research-suggests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/illegal-pet-trade-in-nepal-now-shifting-online-research-suggests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jul 2025 11:20:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/31095945/IMG_1852-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=303497</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Atlantic Forest, China, India, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Herps, Illegal Trade, Mammals, Pet Trade, Turtles And Tortoises, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Wildlife trafficking for the illegal pet trade in Nepal has made a significant shift online, according to recent research that attributes the trend to the rapid penetration of smartphones, social media and online payment systems across Nepali society. The findings, based on year-long research led by Reshu Bashyal from environmental NGO Greenhood Nepal, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Wildlife trafficking for the illegal pet trade in Nepal has made a significant shift online, according to recent research that attributes the trend to the rapid penetration of smartphones, social media and online payment systems across Nepali society. The findings, based on year-long research led by Reshu Bashyal from environmental NGO Greenhood Nepal, also suggests the country, previously seen as a source and transit point for wildlife trafficking, could soon emerge as a destination country. “We see that with the advent of mobile phones and social media, illegal trade in wild animals as pets has gone digital,” Bashyal said at a session to share the preliminary findings of the research into the illegal pet trade in the region. “Our initial findings suggest that economic growth in South Asia, including Nepal, in recent years is leading to increased connectivity and movement of goods, including wildlife,” she said. Pigeons being sold at a temple in Nepal. Image by Abhaya Raj Joshi/ Mongabay. The objective of the research, conducted between October 2022 and June 2023 (continued til December 2025) , was to identify emerging trends and drivers and assess governance gaps. It also looked at the species traded and mapped key trafficking routes, said researcher Ashmita Shrestha, also from Greenhood Nepal. Nearly three in four Nepali adults uses a smartphone, according to the 2020 census, and about half the population is on Facebook, the country’s most popular social media site, according to analytics firm NapoleonCat. Messaging apps such as WhatsApp and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/illegal-pet-trade-in-nepal-now-shifting-online-research-suggests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-303497</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Endangered Andean cat is imperiled by climate change and its solutions</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/endangered-andean-cat-is-imperiled-by-climate-change-and-its-solutions/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/endangered-andean-cat-is-imperiled-by-climate-change-and-its-solutions/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jul 2025 14:58:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/10042617/Image_1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=302156</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Animals]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Andes, Argentina, Atlantic Forest, Bolivia, Chile, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Camera Trapping, Cats, Climate Change, Conservation, DNA, Endangered Species, Environment, Extreme Weather, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Hunting, Lithium, Mammals, Mining, Monitoring, Mountains, Natural Resources, Research, Small Cats, Species, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Many conservationists dedicated to protecting the endangered Andean cat have never seen one in the wild, with the species known to science by just a few photos until the late 1990s. And it took Juan Reppucci, leader of the Andean Cat Alliance’s In the Field 24/7 program, nine years to spot one of these elusive [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Many conservationists dedicated to protecting the endangered Andean cat have never seen one in the wild, with the species known to science by just a few photos until the late 1990s. And it took Juan Reppucci, leader of the Andean Cat Alliance’s In the Field 24/7 program, nine years to spot one of these elusive cats in its natural habitat. The Andean cat (Leopardus jacobita) is one of South America’s most endangered small cat species, roaming the high Andes of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. About the size of a domestic cat, it resembles a miniature snow leopard. Thick fur and an elongated tail make it well adapted to the harsh alpine environment it calls home and for chasing its favorite prey — vizcacha, a rabbit-resembling rodent — across rocky landscapes. Reppucci’s sighting happened on a very “weird” day, he recalls. While out looking for a radio collar that had fallen from a Pampas cat (L. colocolo) in Jujuy province, Argentina, the researcher’s dog Monty (an ever-present companion and guide on field trips) got spooked by a herd of llamas and went missing. Juan Reppucci and his dog Monty, who acts as both field trip companion and guide for AGA research teams. “If it&#8217;s dark, I follow the dog because he knows the way,” Reppucci says. Image courtesy of AGA. Reppucci walked for hours searching for both the collar and Monty. Eventually he reached a cliff edge and paused to catch his breath. “I was super tired, because I was&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/endangered-andean-cat-is-imperiled-by-climate-change-and-its-solutions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-302156</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Restoration, protection aim to save Belize’s coral reef from extreme heat and disease</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/restoration-protection-aim-to-save-belizes-coral-reef-from-extreme-heat-and-disease/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/restoration-protection-aim-to-save-belizes-coral-reef-from-extreme-heat-and-disease/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jul 2025 04:48:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Marco Lopez]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/08101002/fish-belize-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=302027</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Belize, Caribbean, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Coral Bleaching, Coral Reefs, Diseases, Ecosystems, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Invertebrates, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Temperatures, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PLACENCIA, Belize — After Hurricane Iris decimated the coral reef at Laughing Bird Caye National Park in 2001, many wrote off the UNESCO World Heritage site as a coral graveyard. But a small group from the coastal village of Placencia, Belize, about 18 kilometers (11 miles) from the island, saw hope. In 2006, the park [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PLACENCIA, Belize — After Hurricane Iris decimated the coral reef at Laughing Bird Caye National Park in 2001, many wrote off the UNESCO World Heritage site as a coral graveyard. But a small group from the coastal village of Placencia, Belize, about 18 kilometers (11 miles) from the island, saw hope. In 2006, the park had just 6% live coral cover. By 2023, it had reached approximately 60% — the result of the group planting more than 92,000 fragments of coral within the 1-hectare (2.5-acre) shallow fringing reef. The group, Fragments of Hope (FOH), is a Belize-based nonprofit organization focused on restoring coral reef habitats. Their work at Laughing Bird Caye is widely regarded as the best example of reef restoration in the Caribbean. But while the park stands as a beacon of hope for coral restoration, it has not been immune to the onslaught of record-breaking temperatures occurring globally. “2024 was the worst bleaching event since we’ve been recording around 2008,” Lisa Carne, FOH’s founder, said during an interview with Mongabay. Many of the corals planted at Laughing Bird have succumbed to extreme heat stress and disease. At Moho Caye, another restoration site, live coral cover dropped from more than 50% to less than 5%, “likely reflecting similar declines at Laughing Bird,” Carne said. It’s not just Laughing Bird and Moho. Unprecedented coral bleaching, a relatively new illness called stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD), and other threats to corals are negatively impacting reef health across Belize, and it&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/restoration-protection-aim-to-save-belizes-coral-reef-from-extreme-heat-and-disease/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-302027</doi>				</item>
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