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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?location=benin&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/benin/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 16:59:34 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
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<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Benin environmental news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/benin/</link>
	<width>32</width>
	<height>32</height>
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				<item>
					<title>West Africa’s plan to save its vultures struggles to take flight</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/west-africas-plan-to-save-its-vultures-struggles-to-take-flight/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/west-africas-plan-to-save-its-vultures-struggles-to-take-flight/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 07:58:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/03074809/HoodedVultureNecrosyrtes.monachus_JoshVanDerMeulenINaturalistCCBYNCND4.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328452</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Illegal Wildlife Trade]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Chad, Nigeria, Togo, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Birds, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Poaching, Poisoning, Raptors, Scavengers, Vultures, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Togo’s vulture population is in crisis. Amid intense persecution for belief-based use and ongoing loss of habitat, surveys between 2021 and 2025 tracked a sharp decline in the numbers of critically endangered hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) around abattoirs — counting only a few hundred in total across the country. Palm-nut vultures (Gypohierax angolensis) are known [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Togo’s vulture population is in crisis. Amid intense persecution for belief-based use and ongoing loss of habitat, surveys between 2021 and 2025 tracked a sharp decline in the numbers of critically endangered hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) around abattoirs — counting only a few hundred in total across the country. Palm-nut vultures (Gypohierax angolensis) are known from only one protected area, and white-backed vultures (Gyps africanus) are now presumed to be locally extinct, with the last bird in the country seen in 2019. “We’re now in a situation where it’s much harder to find vultures,” Nico Arcilla, president of the International Bird Conservation Partnership (IBCP), said in an interview. “But if you go to the markets you’ll see them, and you know people are finding them.” In neighboring Benin, a major hub for the trade and use of vulture parts, unpublished market data collected by Abiola Chaffra, a research associate with the IBCP, counted 883 vultures for sale in nine markets surveyed in 2023. Surveys conducted between 2025 and 2026 found 535 for sale in 24 markets. “The fact that vultures continue to be sold, including in southern Benin where their numbers have declined sharply or they have even disappeared from the wild, shows that there is still significant pressure on these species,” Chaffra said. Following the surveys in Togo, the IBCP conducted awareness campaigns around slaughterhouses and worked with local authorities and site managers to protect vultures in 2024 and 2025. “During our awareness-raising activities, many people were unaware of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/west-africas-plan-to-save-its-vultures-struggles-to-take-flight/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/west-africas-plan-to-save-its-vultures-struggles-to-take-flight/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328452</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Belief-based use increasing threat to yellow-billed kite, an important African scavenger</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/belief-based-use-increasing-threat-to-yellow-billed-kite-an-important-african-scavenger/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/belief-based-use-increasing-threat-to-yellow-billed-kite-an-important-african-scavenger/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Jul 2026 14:52:29 +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/20/2026/07/07085501/Yellow-billed_Kite_Milvus_aegyptius_parasitus_--768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322723</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Togo, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Crime, Culture, Hunting, Over-hunting, Poaching, Predators, Raptors, Scavengers, Traditional People, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With West Africa’s vulture populations dwindling, poachers are increasingly turning to yellow-billed kites, a medium-sized, extremely adaptable raptor found in nearly every landscape across much of sub-Saharan Africa. And though they are listed as a “least concern” species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, they face a growing threat: They’re more frequently hunted [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With West Africa’s vulture populations dwindling, poachers are increasingly turning to yellow-billed kites, a medium-sized, extremely adaptable raptor found in nearly every landscape across much of sub-Saharan Africa. And though they are listed as a “least concern” species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, they face a growing threat: They’re more frequently hunted for use as fetishes and for food. Like vultures, kites — both alive and dead — and their parts are used in rituals and as charms. They’re caught as bushmeat, supply fetish markets and are used as ingredients in local traditional medicine. A study by Abiola Chaffra, a research fellow at the International Bird Conservation Partnership, found that during November-to-March hunting seasons in 2022 and 2023, hunters killed 20,200 yellow-billed kites (Milvus aegyptius) in southern Benin. They flock from across Africa to nest and breed in southern Benin each year, and as soon as they arrive, they’re in danger. “[These hunts occur] every year because the kites always come back,” Chaffra told Mongabay. The research will be published in the bulletin of the African Bird Club. Their loss could have broad impact: Yellow-billed kites are opportunistic predators that eat a wide range of small mammals, amphibians and insects that are considered pests. They play a key role in cleansing landscapes of disease and scavenging carcasses. Yellow-billed kites at a fetish market in Benin. Image by Abiola Chaffra. Belief-based demand Raptors have long been used in rituals in Benin, but it appears to be increasing, Chaffra&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/belief-based-use-increasing-threat-to-yellow-billed-kite-an-important-african-scavenger/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/belief-based-use-increasing-threat-to-yellow-billed-kite-an-important-african-scavenger/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322723</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Endangered West African leopards show signs of recovery, despite odds. &#8216;It&#8217;s a win&#8217;</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/endangered-west-african-leopards-show-signs-of-recovery-despite-odds-its-a-win/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/endangered-west-african-leopards-show-signs-of-recovery-despite-odds-its-a-win/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jul 2026 13:13:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/02112035/Image-2-e1782991483626-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322381</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Endangered Species, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Leopards, Mammals, National Parks, Predators, Protected Areas, Top Predators, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It’s been difficult to monitor West African leopards in Benin’s Pendjari National Park: It’s a large wilderness area, situated within a hotspot of armed conflict. The park is among the last strongholds for this geographically distinct leopard population — but a recent study shared hopeful news. Leopard density in the park increased over a six-year [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It’s been difficult to monitor West African leopards in Benin’s Pendjari National Park: It’s a large wilderness area, situated within a hotspot of armed conflict. The park is among the last strongholds for this geographically distinct leopard population — but a recent study shared hopeful news. Leopard density in the park increased over a six-year period, according to a study published in the journal Global Ecology and Conservation. The park has been managed by the nonprofit African Parks since 2017 in partnership with the government — and this conservation effort seems to be working. “It’s a win,” said study lead author Marine Drouilly, a biologist with Panthera, the global wild cat conservation non-profit. West African leopards are geographically separated from other African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus) populations. In 2025, they were listed as regionally endangered on the IUCN Red List, after suffering a 50% decline over the past two decades. Numbers are estimated at just 354 across West Africa. In addition to Pendjari, important strongholds include the Niokolo-Koba–Badiar landscape in Senegal and the Guinea, Taï and Comoé National Parks in Côte d’Ivoire and Mole National Park in Ghana. A rapidly growing human population across West Africa means wildlife habitat is disappearing and becoming more fragmented, isolating already small leopard populations, Drouilly said, while widespread bushmeat hunting leaves leopards without enough prey. There’s a growing threat from poachers continent-wide, as leopards are targeted for their spotted skins, canine teeth, bones and other body parts,  killed to supply the illegal wildlife trade&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/endangered-west-african-leopards-show-signs-of-recovery-despite-odds-its-a-win/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/endangered-west-african-leopards-show-signs-of-recovery-despite-odds-its-a-win/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322381</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Staggering’ trade for belief-based use drives hooded vultures to near-extinction in Benin</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/staggering-trade-for-belief-based-use-drives-hooded-vultures-to-near-extinction-in-benin/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/staggering-trade-for-belief-based-use-drives-hooded-vultures-to-near-extinction-in-benin/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Mar 2026 16:38:24 +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/20/2026/03/24130527/1-Vautours_charognards_au_repos-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316180</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Guinea-Bissau, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Birds, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Environment, Habitat Loss, Illegal Trade, Poisoning, Raptors, Religions, Trade, Vultures, Wildlife, Wildlife consumption, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The hooded vulture, a small, scruffy-looking raptor native to sub-Saharan Africa, gets its name from a patch of beige feathers on its head: It appears to be wearing a hood. Unlike other vulture species, hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) love human hubbub more than forests. They’re often seen around villages, scavenging for meat and garbage near [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The hooded vulture, a small, scruffy-looking raptor native to sub-Saharan Africa, gets its name from a patch of beige feathers on its head: It appears to be wearing a hood. Unlike other vulture species, hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) love human hubbub more than forests. They’re often seen around villages, scavenging for meat and garbage near abattoirs and landfills. “They&#8217;ve always been close to people &#8230; they&#8217;re kind of like the pigeons of West Africa,” said Nico Arcilla, president and research director at the International Bird Conservation Partnership (IBCP). Arcilla has studied many West African bird species, including hooded vultures. But that proximity to people has cost the birds a great deal. Since they don’t shy away from humans, they’re easily caught — often with poisoned or tobacco-laced bait on a fishhook — and sold. In parts of Nigeria, people eat hooded vultures. But the greatest demand comes from belief-based users such as practitioners of Vodún, a traditional religion that gave rise in the Western Hemisphere to voodoo. Many believers hold that vultures have magical superpowers that can influence luck, act as harbingers of rain, or signify misfortune. They use powdered vulture parts to make soaps to wash, and some display dried vulture carcasses or heads in their homes to bring good fortune, wealth and protection against witchcraft. Others say the birds have medicinal properties. There’s no recent estimate on the demand, but somewhere between 5,800 and 8,700 birds were traded illegally between 2008 and 2013 across West and Central Africa.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/staggering-trade-for-belief-based-use-drives-hooded-vultures-to-near-extinction-in-benin/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/staggering-trade-for-belief-based-use-drives-hooded-vultures-to-near-extinction-in-benin/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316180</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Big cats get the press, but small wildcats are being poached and trafficked in silence</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/big-cats-get-the-press-but-small-wildcats-are-being-poached-and-trafficked-in-silence/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/big-cats-get-the-press-but-small-wildcats-are-being-poached-and-trafficked-in-silence/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Feb 2026 15:13:46 +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/20/2026/02/25042015/Image-7-2-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314723</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Bangladesh, Benin, Colombia, Latin America, Myanmar, Niger, Pakistan, Peru, South America, South Asia, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cats, Conservation, Environment, Illegal Trade, Jaguars, Pet Trade, Poaching, Small Cats, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Jaguars are increasingly targeted across Latin America for their roseate-patterned pelts and canine teeth, following decades of relatively little poaching. When researchers in Colombia investigated the jaguar trade within the country, they made a troubling discovery: Colombia&#8217;s small wildcats are also in the crosshairs. Official records revealed that between 2015 and 2021, more than 700 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Jaguars are increasingly targeted across Latin America for their roseate-patterned pelts and canine teeth, following decades of relatively little poaching. When researchers in Colombia investigated the jaguar trade within the country, they made a troubling discovery: Colombia&#8217;s small wildcats are also in the crosshairs. Official records revealed that between 2015 and 2021, more than 700 small wildcats were seized or surrendered to authorities. The vast majority of these cats were found alive, including more than 400 ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) as well as oncillas (Leopardus pardinoides), also known as the clouded tiger cat, jaguarundis (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) and margays (Leopardus wiedii). Between 2015 and 2021, more than 400 ocelots were seized by or surrendered to Colombian authorities. Image by Robin Gwen Agarwal via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0). Skins, teeth and other parts were also confiscated. The research, which was published in the journal Biological Conservation, suggests an established demand for small wildcats as exotic pets in Colombia. “Until now, the trade in small cats in Latin America had always seemed [to be at] a very low scale — opportunistic activity,” says Melissa Arias, a wildlife trade specialist at the Zoological Society of London and a co-author of the study. “But what we saw with the numbers is that it is actually quite significant.” Their findings are both unsurprising and worrisome, as the true scale of trade is likely to be higher, says Pauline Verheij, a wildlife crime specialist with the NGO EcoJust, who wasn’t involved in the research. “It&#8217;s a given that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/big-cats-get-the-press-but-small-wildcats-are-being-poached-and-trafficked-in-silence/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/big-cats-get-the-press-but-small-wildcats-are-being-poached-and-trafficked-in-silence/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314723</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A &#8216;new baseline&#8217;: Study captures accelerating sea-level rise in Africa</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/a-new-baseline-study-captures-accelerating-sea-level-rise-in-africa/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/a-new-baseline-study-captures-accelerating-sea-level-rise-in-africa/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jan 2026 20:35:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/30190306/5-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313548</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Cameroon, Central Africa, Cote D'Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, data, El Nino, Environment, Erosion, Flooding, Freshwater, Global Warming, Ice Shelves, Oceans, Sea Levels, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Sea-level rise has accelerated across Africa in recent decades, thanks to global warming and, in particular, to the melting of ice sheets and glaciers, according to a recent study. The study, published Dec. 15 in the journal Communications Earth &#38; Environment, found that sea levels across the continent have risen four times faster since 2010, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Sea-level rise has accelerated across Africa in recent decades, thanks to global warming and, in particular, to the melting of ice sheets and glaciers, according to a recent study. The study, published Dec. 15 in the journal Communications Earth &amp; Environment, found that sea levels across the continent have risen four times faster since 2010, on average, than they had in the 1990s. The primary reason was additional water mass from polar melt, rather than other phenomena that can cause sea-level rise, the authors found. “When you have ice-free summer [at high latitudes], it means that the water went somewhere,” Franck Ghomsi, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Manitoba in Canada and lead author of the study, told Mongabay. “The glacier moved from ice to water, and it [water] started migrating. And it is the tropics [that] are now … getting this outflow of water.” The impacts include flooding, erosion of coastal land, displacement of coastal communities and intrusion of salty seawater into freshwater drinking sources. People in Africa are responsible for only a tiny proportion of human-caused global warming and yet face severe effects from the resulting sea-level rise, said Ghomsi, who is from Cameroon, calling this a “climate injustice.” He said that emissions from countries in the Global North are having a “huge impact” on countries in the Global South, including in Africa. Monthly sea level for Africa from 1993-2023. Annual means are shown in red. Sea-level rise accelerated over the 31-year period, with the rate during&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/a-new-baseline-study-captures-accelerating-sea-level-rise-in-africa/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/a-new-baseline-study-captures-accelerating-sea-level-rise-in-africa/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313548</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>West and Central Africa tackle coastal erosion</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/west-and-central-africa-tackle-coastal-erosion/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/west-and-central-africa-tackle-coastal-erosion/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Dec 2025 12:22:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Adrienne EngonoCarolle AhodekonCharles KolouChristophe AssogbaRoland KlohiRosie Pioth]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Christophe Assogba]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/16121252/image8__Une-maison-progressivement-engloutie-par-la-Mer-a-Avepozo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311461</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Cameroon, Central Africa, Congo Basin, Cote D'Ivoire, Togo, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Economics, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Oceans, Politics, Pollution, Solutions, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Across many parts of Africa’s Atlantic coastline, the sea is advancing several metres inland each year, destroying homes, infrastructure, farmland and heritage sites. Many coastal communities have already been erased from the map. Several factors combine to explain the threatening loss of land along the West and Central African coast. The effects of global climate [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Across many parts of Africa’s Atlantic coastline, the sea is advancing several metres inland each year, destroying homes, infrastructure, farmland and heritage sites. Many coastal communities have already been erased from the map. Several factors combine to explain the threatening loss of land along the West and Central African coast. The effects of global climate change, with rising sea levels and warmer waters causing more extreme weather, are multiplied by large and small infrastructure projects that have disrupted coastal ecosystems’ natural resilience to the power of ocean waves and currents. The Ivorian village of Lahou-Kpanda, standing on a peninsula in a lagoon fed by the Bandama River, has become a dramatic symbol of coastal erosion along Cote d’Ivoire’s 570 kilometers (355 miles) of coastline. Powerful waves, exacerbated by rising sea levels linked to climate change, are undermining the coastline, causing it to erode by more than 2 meters (6.5 feet) per year. &#8220;Our village used to stretch over 2 kilometers [1.2 miles]. Today, it&#8217;s only 200 m [650 ft] wide,&#8221; reports Emmanuel Idi, a young local guide in his 20s. The construction of the Kossou Dam in the 1970s altered the flow of the Bandama River and disrupted the natural balance that protected the coast, exacerbating erosion. Several notable colonial-era buildings here, including the district office, the hospital and the prison, have already disappeared. Only the church, built in 1933, with its stone walls and orange-tiled roof, still stands firm against the waves’ onslaught. The most harrowing aspect is the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/west-and-central-africa-tackle-coastal-erosion/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311461</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Benin puts solar power at the heart of its energy policy</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/benin-puts-solar-power-at-the-heart-of-its-energy-policy/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/benin-puts-solar-power-at-the-heart-of-its-energy-policy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Oct 2025 11:03:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Didier Hubert Madafimè]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Christophe Assogba]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/16093648/DSC06379-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307515</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Climate Change, Development, Economics, Energy, Environment, Environmental Policy, Renewable Energy, Solar Power, Sustainability, and Sustainable Development]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The government of Benin is focusing on building solar power plants as part of a policy to make renewable energy the main source of the country’s energy supply by 2030. When it met in July, the Council of Ministers approved an updated National Renewable Energy Development Policy (PONADER) for 2020-2030. The policy renews the government’s [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The government of Benin is focusing on building solar power plants as part of a policy to make renewable energy the main source of the country’s energy supply by 2030. When it met in July, the Council of Ministers approved an updated National Renewable Energy Development Policy (PONADER) for 2020-2030. The policy renews the government’s commitment to solar energy to reduce the country’s economic dependence on fossil fuels, while also broadening access to electricity and helping Benin meet its sustainable development goals and climate commitments it made at the 2015 Paris climate conference. At present, Benin’s domestic power generation capacity comes principally from thermal sources (69%) — which includes natural gas, coal and oil — with hydroelectricity (16%) and solar energy (15%) making up the rest. However, the country is overwhelmingly reliant on imported power. In 2022, Benin imported nearly 95% of the electricity it used. A solar power plant under construction in Bohicon, Benin, financed by the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA). Image by Hyacinthe Goueti via Didier Hubert Madafimè. Photovoltaic energy in Benin Expanding access to electricity is a priority for Benin’s government. As of 2024, electricity access in urban areas of Benin stood at 42.6%, with rural areas trailing far behind at just 13%, according to Krystel Dossou, an independent consultant specializing in climate change vulnerability and adaptation. In 2018-2019, through the Benin Rural Electrification Project (PERU), the government built solar mini-grids with capacities of 30-40 kilowatt-hours and installed solar kits in several localities in Couffo and Plateau&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/benin-puts-solar-power-at-the-heart-of-its-energy-policy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/benin-puts-solar-power-at-the-heart-of-its-energy-policy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307515</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Agroecological market gardening: Benin’s climate-resilient farming solution</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/agroecological-market-gardening-benins-climate-resilient-farming-solution/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/agroecological-market-gardening-benins-climate-resilient-farming-solution/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Aug 2025 12:55:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ange Banouwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Christophe Assogba]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/04085252/image4Image-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301901</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Crops, Farming, Fertilizers, Food, food security, and Sustainability]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[OUÈDO AHOUANSSODJA, Benin — It was a cool, quiet morning in March 2025 when we visited the lush green Agro-Eco farm, and a dozen young people were already hard at work. Their voices carried across the fields as they called out to one another. Surrounded by groves of palms and other trees and rows of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[OUÈDO AHOUANSSODJA, Benin — It was a cool, quiet morning in March 2025 when we visited the lush green Agro-Eco farm, and a dozen young people were already hard at work. Their voices carried across the fields as they called out to one another. Surrounded by groves of palms and other trees and rows of pineapple, the Agro-Eco Farm covers 2.5 hectares (6.2 acres), in the village of Ouèdo Ahouanssodja, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the administrative capital, Cotonou. Launched in December 2022, Agro-Eco’s farmers mostly grow traditional vegetables such as African eggplant (Solanum macrocarpon), bitter leaf (Vernonia amygdalina) and crincrin (Corchorus olitorius). In response to growing demand, they have also added crops like lettuce, cucumbers and carrots. “We’re a youth cooperative. We grow leafy greens, fruit and root vegetables using organic methods — no chemical inputs or pesticides,” says Carole Alimagnidokpo, an agronomist and president of the Agro-Eco Cooperative. “We use natural treatments — some we buy, others we make ourselves from things like neem, garlic, and papaya leaves.” Access to water is vital for a successful market garden. The Agro-Eco Cooperative has a borehole with a solar-powered pump and hopes to have a second well drilled soon. Image by Ange Banouwin for Mongabay. That morning, the dozen or so young farmers were busy watering and weeding their garden’s beds. One was spraying basil plants, while another was placing a mixture of ash and manure around the base of tomato plants. “Ash isn’t just a fertilizer — it&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/agroecological-market-gardening-benins-climate-resilient-farming-solution/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301901</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In West Africa, hooded vultures vanish as abattoirs modernize</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/in-west-africa-hooded-vultures-vanish-as-abattoirs-modernize/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/in-west-africa-hooded-vultures-vanish-as-abattoirs-modernize/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Apr 2025 06:49:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ryan Truscott]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/23105351/HoodedVulture.Necrosyrtus.monachus_Gambia2017_PeteRichmanFlickrBY2.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=298043</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Birds, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Poaching, Poisoning, Predators, Raptors, Scavengers, Vultures, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Critically endangered hooded vultures in Nigeria that once fed on the carcasses of wild animals are now largely dependent on scraps discarded by people. But changes in the way waste is disposed of at slaughterhouses has left them desperately short of food, researchers say. In the 1970s, hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) were among at least [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Critically endangered hooded vultures in Nigeria that once fed on the carcasses of wild animals are now largely dependent on scraps discarded by people. But changes in the way waste is disposed of at slaughterhouses has left them desperately short of food, researchers say. In the 1970s, hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) were among at least seven different vulture species that soared across Nigerian skies, according to historical records; now only they and palm-nut vultures (Gypohierax angolensis) persist, and numbers of both are dropping drastically. Food scarcity is playing a significant role in driving this decline, says ornithologist Michael Manja Williams, a Ph.D. candidate at Nigeria’s Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University. In the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, vultures could find carcasses in the wild to feed on, he says. But overhunting of wild mammals depleted that vital food source, leaving the birds increasingly reliant on humans. A hooded vulture in The Gambia: Across West Africa, hooded and palm-nut vultures have a long association with human communities’ waste. Changes in abattoir practices are now depriving these species of a vital source of food. Image by Pete Richman via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0) “In the early ’80s and ’90s, abattoirs were the central places that you could find [hooded] vultures,” Williams says, while noting that the birds face fierce competition at these sites from feral dogs and people. “The vultures fear the dogs; they won’t come where there are canines. So, you see the vultures hovering around.” The implications for the vultures are stark.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/in-west-africa-hooded-vultures-vanish-as-abattoirs-modernize/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/in-west-africa-hooded-vultures-vanish-as-abattoirs-modernize/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-298043</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>West Africa’s forgotten felines endangered by conflict and research gaps</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/west-africas-forgotten-felines-endangered-by-conflict-and-research-gaps/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/west-africas-forgotten-felines-endangered-by-conflict-and-research-gaps/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Oct 2024 12:00:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/10/10104857/African_Wildcat_Felis_lybica_51659798835-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=288509</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cats, Conservation, Forests, Human-wildlife Conflict, National Parks, Predators, Research, Small Cats, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the border region between Benin, Niger and Burkina Faso lies a network of protected areas that form one of the largest intact wildernesses in West Africa. The W-Arly-Pendjari (WAP) Complex is a mosaic of gallery forests, savannas and riparian habitats, and the last refuge for many of the region&#8217;s most iconic species, including West [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the border region between Benin, Niger and Burkina Faso lies a network of protected areas that form one of the largest intact wildernesses in West Africa. The W-Arly-Pendjari (WAP) Complex is a mosaic of gallery forests, savannas and riparian habitats, and the last refuge for many of the region&#8217;s most iconic species, including West African lions (Panthera leo leo), savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) and cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus). With conservation focused on these threatened and beloved species, it’s easy for the small cats to get lost. There are three species of small cats — servals (Leptailurus serval), caracals (Caracal caracal) and African wildcats (Felis lybica) — in the WAP complex. Though all three have a conservation status of least concern on the IUCN Red List, there are few hard facts about their numbers in the WAP Complex or West Africa. With continuing insecurity plaguing the region, and little money for small cat research, these species risk falling even further into obscurity. “If I had to summarize in a sentence the situation of small cats in the WAP (and in West Africa in general), I would say that we barely know anything about them and the threats they are facing,” Marine Drouilly, regional carnivore monitoring coordinator for West and Central Africa at the cat-focused NGO Panthera, tells Mongabay in an email. “There is a very big lack of research on all aspects of their ecology, from their distribution to their population dynamics, their biology and their relations with people.” A serval&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/west-africas-forgotten-felines-endangered-by-conflict-and-research-gaps/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-288509</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Trained to stop poaching, Benin park rangers instead face jihadists</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/trained-to-stop-poaching-benin-park-rangers-instead-face-jihadists/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/trained-to-stop-poaching-benin-park-rangers-instead-face-jihadists/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Aug 2024 10:41:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/08/22092032/Screenshot-2024-08-22-at-11.19.56%E2%80%AFAM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=286414</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Governance, Law Enforcement, Politics, Protected Areas, Terrorism, War, Wildlife, and Wildlife Rangers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Northern Benin is fast becoming one of the most dangerous areas in the world for wildlife rangers: In late July, five rangers working for the conservation NGO African Parks were killed in an attack by militants along with seven Beninese soldiers in W National Park, which borders Burkina Faso and Niger. The incident comes just [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Northern Benin is fast becoming one of the most dangerous areas in the world for wildlife rangers: In late July, five rangers working for the conservation NGO African Parks were killed in an attack by militants along with seven Beninese soldiers in W National Park, which borders Burkina Faso and Niger. The incident comes just over two years after a roadside bomb ambush claimed the lives of five African Parks rangers and a French anti-poaching trainer. That attack also took place inside W, which is now a crucial front in West Africa’s struggle to contain jihadist insurgencies that began expanding across the Sahel region in 2011. W is part of the W-Arly-Pendjari Complex, a 34,000-square-kilometer (13,100-square-mile) landscape that contains some of the region’s last remaining elephants, cheetahs and lions. A sprawling mix of wooded savanna, swampy estuaries and gallery forests, W-Arly-Pendjari is one of the few remaining habitats capable of carrying sizeable populations of major fauna in West Africa. The complex lies across the borders of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger. Beginning in the late 2010s, militant groups began to entrench themselves in the latter two, drawn by a governance vacuum, the landscape’s dense forests and its lucrative trade and smuggling routes. “The jihadists are able to navigate through the park quite easily, particularly on the Burkina and Niger side,” said Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim, deputy director of the International Crisis Group’s Sahel Project, and the author of a 2023 report about activity of armed groups inside W. “The Benin authorities&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/trained-to-stop-poaching-benin-park-rangers-instead-face-jihadists/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-286414</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Action plan to save West African vultures targets threat from belief-based use</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/action-plan-to-save-west-african-vultures-targets-threat-from-belief-based-use/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/action-plan-to-save-west-african-vultures-targets-threat-from-belief-based-use/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jun 2024 11:41:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/06/13115356/White-headedVulture.TrigonocepsOccipitalis_MoleNPGhana_NikBorrowFlickrBYNC2.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=283192</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Birds, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Poaching, Poisoning, Raptors, Scavengers, Vultures, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Conservation organizations and international bodies have launched a 20-year action plan to save vultures in West Africa, specifically targeting the threat of belief-based use. The West African Vulture Conservation Action Plan (WAVCAP) spans 16 countries, with the aim to bring trade of the scavengers, identified as the primary driver of a rapid decline, to a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Conservation organizations and international bodies have launched a 20-year action plan to save vultures in West Africa, specifically targeting the threat of belief-based use. The West African Vulture Conservation Action Plan (WAVCAP) spans 16 countries, with the aim to bring trade of the scavengers, identified as the primary driver of a rapid decline, to a halt. Raptors and vultures are in decline across the whole continent due to habitat loss, electrocution, loss of food sources, intentional and unintentional poisoning, human-wildlife conflict, and more. A paper published earlier this year underlined a precipitous collapse in vulture numbers, finding that most vulture species are increasingly holed up in protected areas. The decline is particularly severe in West Africa, says study co-author Umberto Gallo-Orsi, who coordinates raptor conservation for the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS). In 2020, more than 2,000 critically endangered hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) were found poisoned at several sites in Guinea-Bissau over a two-week period. “Because birds were found without their heads and other parts, it is obvious that the reason behind the incident was the trade, and probably international trade, of vulture parts for belief-based use,” Gallo-Orsi says. The mass killings prompted conservationists to investigate the threat and laid the groundwork for the multiyear action plan for West Africa to save dwindling vulture populations, he adds. “Belief-based use” is a catchall term that includes demand for a wide range of traditional medicine practices, “fetish” beliefs, and cultural practices. Raptor experts have long been aware of the hunting of vultures&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/action-plan-to-save-west-african-vultures-targets-threat-from-belief-based-use/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-283192</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Forests &#038; finance: Setbacks for a rare bat, and progress for an oil pipeline</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/forests-finance-setbacks-for-a-rare-bat-and-progress-for-an-oil-pipeline/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/forests-finance-setbacks-for-a-rare-bat-and-progress-for-an-oil-pipeline/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Feb 2023 13:38:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/02/08130733/mount-namuli-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=265318</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Mozambique, and Niger]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bats, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crops, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Governance, Habitat Loss, Oil, Politics, and Species Discovery]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Newly described bat from Mozambique mountain under threat, researchers say A forest that harbors Mozambique’s most recently identified species of mammal could disappear within the next two years as small-scale farmers fell trees to grow potatoes and other crops. The Namuli horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus namuli) is named after Mount Namuli, a granite mountain, or inselberg, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Newly described bat from Mozambique mountain under threat, researchers say A forest that harbors Mozambique’s most recently identified species of mammal could disappear within the next two years as small-scale farmers fell trees to grow potatoes and other crops. The Namuli horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus namuli) is named after Mount Namuli, a granite mountain, or inselberg, in the country’s northern Zambezia province. At more than 2,400 meters (7,900 feet), it’s the country’s second-highest peak. But only fragments of the moist evergreen forest growing on its flanks remain, and the bats, which were collected by a research team more than a decade ago in forests higher than 1,200 m (3,900 ft), may soon be without a home. “Mount Namuli is severely threatened, and the natural forests have been heavily degraded, even since we first went there in around 2006,” said Julian Bayliss, the co-author of a recent paper in Acta Chiropterologica describing the new species. “Since that time a lot of the forest, maybe 75%, has been destroyed.” Farmers clear-cut small patches of forest to access the rich loamy soils beneath it that are perfect for growing so-called Irish potatoes. But the soil’s fertility only lasts for three to four years, after which the farmers move on to another patch. Bayliss and his co-authors estimate that at current rates of loss, the forest could disappear entirely by 2025. Namuli horseshoe bats belong to a group known for the horseshoe-shaped structures on their faces that send out soundwaves to help them navigate and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/forests-finance-setbacks-for-a-rare-bat-and-progress-for-an-oil-pipeline/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-265318</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Benin, the line between conservation and counterinsurgency blurs</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/in-benin-a-thin-line-between-conservation-and-counterinsurgency/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/in-benin-a-thin-line-between-conservation-and-counterinsurgency/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Mar 2022 12:45:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/03/29105836/Beninese_Army_soldiers_taking_part_in_live_fire_exercise_at_Bembereke-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=253419</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Burkina Faso, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Fragmentation, Forests, Governance, Law Enforcement, National Parks, NGOs, Poaching, Politics, Protected Areas, Social Conflict, Social Justice, Terrorism, Violence, Wildlife, and Wildlife Rangers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In early February, wildlife rangers in the remote northern forests of West Africa’s Republic of Benin became some of the most recent victims of the Sahel’s long-running Islamist insurgency when a series of roadside bombs was set off next to one of their patrols. After a rescue team in four vehicles arrived to evacuate the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In early February, wildlife rangers in the remote northern forests of West Africa’s Republic of Benin became some of the most recent victims of the Sahel’s long-running Islamist insurgency when a series of roadside bombs was set off next to one of their patrols. After a rescue team in four vehicles arrived to evacuate the wounded and dying rangers, more bombs were detonated. The attack was devastating. In tandem with another IED ambush just two days later, it left four rangers dead along with two drivers and a French anti-poaching trainer. Twelve more people were hospitalized. All were employees of African Parks, a South African conservation group that manages two national parks in northern Benin, including W National Park, the site of the bombings. In a statement, African Parks called the ambush “extremely complex,” saying it had been planned to cause as many casualties as possible. The bombings were the worst in a series of cross-border terrorist attacks in northern Benin that began last year and which have escalated in the first months of 2022, as militant Islamist groups operating out of Burkina Faso make ever more brazen incursions into the coastal nation. In the days after the attack, France launched retaliatory air strikes in Burkina Faso, killing what a spokesperson for the French military told Mongabay were 40 members of an “armed terrorist group.” According to the Wall Street Journal, they are thought to have been connected to Ansarul Islam, a group active in Burkina Faso that has ties&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/in-benin-a-thin-line-between-conservation-and-counterinsurgency/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-253419</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Protecting African wildlife: A defense of conservation territories (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/protecting-african-wildlife-a-defense-of-conservation-territories-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/protecting-african-wildlife-a-defense-of-conservation-territories-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Aug 2020 18:05:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Leif Brottem]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/08/27173600/west_african_giraffe_herd_3_cgcf-768x400.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=234334</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Central Africa, Central African Republic, Chad, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Commentary, Conservation, Elephants, Giraffes, Parks, Poaching, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[African Parks Network (APN) recently announced it would formally take over the management of the Benin side of W National Park, which comprises a major portion of the largest intact ecosystem in West Africa. Such transfers are often criticized as de facto privatization by critics of territorial conservation strategies but I have seen first hand the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[African Parks Network (APN) recently announced it would formally take over the management of the Benin side of W National Park, which comprises a major portion of the largest intact ecosystem in West Africa. Such transfers are often criticized as de facto privatization by critics of territorial conservation strategies but I have seen first hand the benefits that professional managers can bring and the damage caused by negligent or under-funded public agencies. The most important question remains: will wildlife be protected and will local people be able to pursue their livelihoods at the same time? W National Park, which spans Benin, Niger, and Burkina Faso, was once a “paper park” that had essentially been abandoned by the conservation community. Yet now it, along with the adjacent Pendjari National Park, represents one of the last hopes for wildlife in western Africa. Nearly 20 years ago, I served as a Peace Corps volunteer in a community adjacent to W National Park  and was fortunate enough to work closely with the ECOPAS Project, which played a major role in getting the protected area back on its feet from 2001 to 2008. One of its major initiatives was to establish a buffer zone for sustainable resource use by local communities along the boundary of the park.  During my two years of service, I worked closely with the farmers and livestock herdsmen in the zone and felt a great deal of optimism that I was seeing a “win-win” for parks and people. But it was not to be, as the European Union-funded project&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/protecting-african-wildlife-a-defense-of-conservation-territories-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/protecting-african-wildlife-a-defense-of-conservation-territories-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-234334</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Prized as pets, are ball pythons being traded out of wild existence?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/prized-as-pets-are-ball-pythons-being-traded-out-of-wild-existence/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/prized-as-pets-are-ball-pythons-being-traded-out-of-wild-existence/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 May 2020 16:34:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/29161554/40730551783_90c3917d1a_o-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=230826</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Canada, Ghana, Togo, United Kingdom, United States, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Captive Breeding, Conservation, Hunting, Pet Trade, Pets, Reptiles, Snakes, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a video, a group of young Ghanian men stride out into the bush, carrying long sticks over their shoulders. Dogs trail alongside them. When they come across a burrow, a man kneels and loosens some dirt with his stick. Then he glides his hand into the hollow, and pulls out a long black snake [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In a video, a group of young Ghanian men stride out into the bush, carrying long sticks over their shoulders. Dogs trail alongside them. When they come across a burrow, a man kneels and loosens some dirt with his stick. Then he glides his hand into the hollow, and pulls out a long black snake mottled with brown and tan patches.  The snake is a ball python (Python regius), a species named after its habit of coiling up into a ball-like shape when distressed. True to its name, the python twists up as the man lifts the snake into the air, and deposits him into a cloth bag. While the footage doesn’t show what happens next, the men will probably sell the snake to a trader, who will either keep the python for breeding purposes, or export the animal for sale overseas.  Python hunters in Ghana displaying their latest catch. Image by Aaron Gekoski. Red flags for ‘red listed’ pythons Ball pythons are the most commonly, and legally, traded live African animal under CITES, an international treaty aimed to protect endangered and threatened species. More than 3 million of these reptiles have been exported from Africa since 1975, with the majority coming from Togo, Ghana and Benin, according to a recent report by World Animal Protection (WAP). While some of these snakes are captured directly from the wild, others are “farmed” at local breeding facilities or “ranches,” then exported to countries like the U.S., Canada, U.K., Europe and China. Ball&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/prized-as-pets-are-ball-pythons-being-traded-out-of-wild-existence/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/prized-as-pets-are-ball-pythons-being-traded-out-of-wild-existence/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-230826</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Half a ton of pangolin scales seized on the way to Asia from Benin</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/half-a-ton-of-pangolin-scales-seized-on-the-way-to-asia-from-benin/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/half-a-ton-of-pangolin-scales-seized-on-the-way-to-asia-from-benin/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Apr 2018 14:58:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/04/19090508/Phataginus-tricuspis_Tim-Wacher_ZSL-768x451.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=205911</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, China, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Forests, Hunting, Mammals, Pangolins, Poaching, Savannas, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Traditional Medicine, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Anti-trafficking authorities have seized 513 kilograms (1,131 pounds) of pangolin scales at Cotonou airport in the West African country of Benin, the Beninese newspaper La Nouvelle Tribune reports. The paper reported that three people were arrested on March 19 on their way to Vietnam with 23 bags of scales, likely destined for use in traditional medicines. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Anti-trafficking authorities have seized 513 kilograms (1,131 pounds) of pangolin scales at Cotonou airport in the West African country of Benin, the Beninese newspaper La Nouvelle Tribune reports. The paper reported that three people were arrested on March 19 on their way to Vietnam with 23 bags of scales, likely destined for use in traditional medicines. Hunters also go after these anteater-like animals for their meat. The eight species of pangolin are today the most trafficked mammals on the planet, according to the IUCN Pangolin Specialist Group. Confiscated pangolin scales in Cameroon. Image by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0). The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) has been working with the team responsible for the seizure to stop wildlife trafficking in their country. They had experience looking for drug traffickers, but the ZSL said its program gave the squad a new set of tools. “Successes like this underscore the vital importance of the training and mentoring ZSL offers to in-country law enforcement teams, as part of our wider commitment to building conservation capacity in the regions where we operate,” Chris Ransom, who leads the ZSL’s conservation efforts in Africa, said in a statement. “The fact our local partners also appear to have uncovered a previously unrecognised smuggling route out of West Africa during this operation gives double cause for celebration.” Four species of pangolin live in the forests, savannas and deserts of Africa, and the IUCN categorizes them all as vulnerable. Four others, listed as&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/04/half-a-ton-of-pangolin-scales-seized-on-the-way-to-asia-from-benin/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-205911</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>$23.5 million funding pledge aims to protect critical West African national park</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/02/23-5-million-funding-pledge-aims-to-protect-critical-west-african-national-park/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/02/23-5-million-funding-pledge-aims-to-protect-critical-west-african-national-park/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Feb 2018 04:18:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/02/01020335/Pendjari-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=203418</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environment, Funding, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Lions, Mammals, Protected Areas, Savannas, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Benin’s Pendjari National Park, one of West Africa’s largest remaining strongholds for the elephant and the critically endangered West African lion, has now received a major funding boost. Four groups — the U.S.-based National Geographic Society and Wyss Foundation, South Africa-based African Parks, and the government of Benin — announced on Jan. 31 a combined [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Benin’s Pendjari National Park, one of West Africa’s largest remaining strongholds for the elephant and the critically endangered West African lion, has now received a major funding boost. Four groups — the U.S.-based National Geographic Society and Wyss Foundation, South Africa-based African Parks, and the government of Benin — announced on Jan. 31 a combined commitment of more than $23 million to secure and restore the Pendjari National Park. This partnership hopes to “revitalize Pendjari’s extraordinary landscape through increased operational effectiveness, scientific research, innovative technology and visually compelling storytelling,” according to a press release from African Parks. “Today’s announcement is a testament to the power of partnerships,” Gary E. Knell, president and CEO of the National Geographic Society, said in the statement. “Combining forces with African Parks, the Wyss Foundation and the government of Benin, we are capitalizing on the unique capabilities of each organization — including on-the-ground management, cutting-edge science and exploration and storytelling prowess — to create an unprecedented model for conservation.” Pendjari National Park in Benin is one of the largest remaining strongholds for elephants in West Africa. Photo by Jonas Vande Voorde/African Parks/National Geographic Society. The Pendjari National Park, covering an area of 2,755 square kilometers (1,063 square miles), is part of the WAP complex (comprising the W, Arly and Pendjari national parks), a large expanse of relatively intact savanna that straddles Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger. The park is home to some of Africa’s rarest mammals, including the critically endangered West African lion (Panthera leo senegalensis) and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/02/23-5-million-funding-pledge-aims-to-protect-critical-west-african-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-203418</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Western Chimpanzee numbers declined by more than 80 percent over the past quarter century</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/western-chimpanzee-numbers-declined-by-more-than-80-percent-over-the-past-quarter-century/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/western-chimpanzee-numbers-declined-by-more-than-80-percent-over-the-past-quarter-century/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jul 2017 17:09:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/07/31164934/9671891923_9cde91482c_h-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=197928</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Great Apes]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote D'Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Bushmeat, Chimpanzees, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Fragmentation, Global Environmental Crisis, Great Apes, Habitat Loss, Hunting, Industrial Agriculture, Logging, Mining, Pet Trade, Poaching, Primates, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Research published in the American Journal of Primatology earlier this month finds that the overall Western Chimpanzee population has declined by more than 80 percent over the past quarter century. In order to arrive at an estimate of the chimp’s population numbers, an international team of scientists led by Hjalmar Kühl of the Max Planck [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Research published in the American Journal of Primatology earlier this month finds that the overall Western Chimpanzee population has declined by more than 80 percent over the past quarter century. In order to arrive at an estimate of the chimp’s population numbers, an international team of scientists led by Hjalmar Kühl of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany used transect count data from 20 different sites that encompassed the nesting grounds for some 25,000 of the estimated 35,000 Western Chimpanzees remaining in the wild. The team writes that they “detected a significant negative trend” at 12 of the 20 sites. “The estimated change in the subspecies abundance, as approximated by nest encounter rate, yielded a 6% annual decline and a total decline of 80.2% over the study period from 1990 to 2014,” the researchers write. “This also resulted in a reduced geographic range of 20% (657,600 vs. 524,100 km2).” Western Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are one of four commonly recognized subspecies of the great ape, the others being the Nigeria-Cameroon Chimpanzee (P. t. ellioti), the Central Chimpanzee (P. t. troglodytes), and the Eastern Chimpanzee (P. t. schweinfurthii). Each population faces different threats, thus a regional approach to the conservation of each subspecies is considered crucial. The main threats to the Western Chimpanzee are almost all man-made. Habitat loss and fragmentation driven by slash-and-burn agriculture, industrial agriculture (including deforestation for oil palm plantations as well as eucalyptus, rubber, and sugar cane developments), and extractive industries like logging, mining,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/western-chimpanzee-numbers-declined-by-more-than-80-percent-over-the-past-quarter-century/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-197928</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Conservation group African Parks to look after West African wildlife</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/06/conservation-group-african-parks-to-look-after-west-african-wildlife/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/06/conservation-group-african-parks-to-look-after-west-african-wildlife/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2017 09:39:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/06/05091223/20160303-083013-e1496668578128-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=196342</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Dry Forests, Ecosystems, Ecotourism, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Fragmentation, Grasslands, Hunting, Ivory, Mammals, Poaching, Protected Areas, Restoration, Top Predators, Wildlife, Wildlife Rangers, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The conservation NGO African Parks has signed an agreement with the government of Benin to rejuvenate a little-known park in the West African country of Benin. The organization will help manage Pendjari National Park, part of the W-Arly-Pendjari – or WAP – complex connected with reserves and parks in two adjacent countries. “It’s a critical [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The conservation NGO African Parks has signed an agreement with the government of Benin to rejuvenate a little-known park in the West African country of Benin. The organization will help manage Pendjari National Park, part of the W-Arly-Pendjari – or WAP – complex connected with reserves and parks in two adjacent countries. “It’s a critical and progressive moment for conservation and the entire region,” said Peter Fearnhead, the CEO of African Parks, in a statement from the organization. “Pendjari along with the WAP complex is arguably the most important wildlife area and largest intact and functioning ecosystem left in all of West Africa.” Data from the World Database on Protected Areas accessed through Global Forest Watch shows the location of Pendjari National Park, as well as adjacent protected areas in Burkina Faso and Niger. At 4,800 square kilometers (1,853 square miles) according to African Parks, Pendjari is home to some of the continent’s best-known species, such as elephants (Loxodonta africana), leopards (Panthera pardus), and lions (Panthera leo), along with lesser-known animals such as waterbucks (Kobus ellipsiprymnus defassa). The mix of woodland and savanna stretches into the neighboring countries of Burkina Faso and Niger. But the local human population is growing around Pendjari, and poaching has become a problem for the park’s wildlife. To address those issues, African Parks and leaders in Benin have secured $26 million in funding for the next 10 years to train guards, expand ecotourism in the park, and provide regular counts of resident animal populations. “Pendjari National Park&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/06/conservation-group-african-parks-to-look-after-west-african-wildlife/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-196342</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Vanishing vultures: Africa’s fetish and bushmeat trade is driving its scavengers to extinction</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/11/vanishing-vultures-africas-fetish-and-bushmeat-trade-is-driving-its-scavengers-to-extinction/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/11/vanishing-vultures-africas-fetish-and-bushmeat-trade-is-driving-its-scavengers-to-extinction/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Nov 2015 18:54:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Brendan Bane]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2015/11/03131336/1119-Gerhard-Nikolaus-1200-440x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, and Nigeria]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Birds, Bushmeat, Conservation, Environment, Hunting, Poaching, Vultures, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Ask anyone dangling a rabbit’s foot from their keychain what the severed appendage is for, and they’ll tell you it brings good fortune. Ask a traditional healer in West or Central Africa how to boost your luck, and they may offer a different prescription: to smoke or snort dried vulture brains. Rabbits survived the trend, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Ask anyone dangling a rabbit’s foot from their keychain what the severed appendage is for, and they’ll tell you it brings good fortune. Ask a traditional healer in West or Central Africa how to boost your luck, and they may offer a different prescription: to smoke or snort dried vulture brains. Rabbits survived the trend, but African vultures are not faring as well. A recent study, published in the journal Oryx, suggests the trade of vulture carcasses and their body parts in West and Central Africa, driven largely by superstition, is pushing the birds toward extinction. “This is not a single species decline. It’s an unprecedented decline of an entire functional group,” said lead author Ralph Buij at the Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands. Vultures are iconic birds, known globally for their bald heads and massive, sweeping wingspans. Photo by Ralph Buij. Buij and his coauthors counted 2,646 carcasses from hundreds of market stands throughout West and Central Africa over 23 years. More than one-quarter of the bodies belonged to species the IUCN considers Endangered, Vulnerable, or Near-threatened. Poachers targeted common scavenging birds more often than rare or non-scavenging ones. Because vultures appear mere moments after creatures die, many Africans believe the birds are clairvoyant. People can assume those abilities by ingesting a bird’s brain, eyes, or tongue, according to widespread tradition. Others believe sprinkling minced body parts around the house or burying vulture heads beneath doorways drives away evil spirits, Buij told Mongabay. Headless carcasses, like&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/11/vanishing-vultures-africas-fetish-and-bushmeat-trade-is-driving-its-scavengers-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-161701</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Picture of the day: African costume you can&#8217;t miss</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/08/picture-of-the-day-african-costume-you-cant-miss/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/08/picture-of-the-day-african-costume-you-cant-miss/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Aug 2011 18:33:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2011/08/picture-of-the-day-african-costume-you-cant-miss/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Green, and Picture Of The Day]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Where&#8217;s the dancer? A well-covered dancer in a traditional costume in Benin. Photo by: Nancy Butler. Benin is a small country on the west coast of Africa. It achieved independence from France in 1960 and democracy in 1989. Rapid population growth has put considerable pressures on Benin&#8217;s natural resources, including forests. Between 1990 and 2005, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Where&#8217;s the dancer? A well-covered dancer in a traditional costume in Benin. Photo by: Nancy Butler. Benin is a small country on the west coast of Africa. It achieved independence from France in 1960 and democracy in 1989. Rapid population growth has put considerable pressures on Benin&#8217;s natural resources, including forests. Between 1990 and 2005, 29 percent of Benin&#8217;s forests were cut. Poaching is also a major issue. To date, 755 species have been cataloged in the country, including well-known animals like lions, hippos, cheetah, leopard, African buffalo, and some of the last populations of wild African elephants in the western part of the continent. For more photos of Benin.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2011/08/picture-of-the-day-african-costume-you-cant-miss/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-32136</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photos: the top ten new species discovered in 2010</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/05/photos-the-top-ten-new-species-discovered-in-2010/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/05/photos-the-top-ten-new-species-discovered-in-2010/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 May 2011 16:14:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2011/05/photos-the-top-ten-new-species-discovered-in-2010/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Atlantic Forest, Benin, Brazil, Madagascar, Nigeria, North America, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, South America, Southern Africa, Togo, United States, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bacteria, Biodiversity, Bushmeat, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Fungi, Green, Herps, Hunting, Insects, Islands, Lizards, Mammals, Marine, Oceans, Poaching, Rainforests, Reptiles, Species Discovery, Spiders, Strange, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The biggest species from this year&#8217;s Top 10 New Species List is the six-foot long new monitor lizard, known as the, Sierra Madre Forest monitor, from the Philippine island of Luzon. This is an adult male. Photo by: Joseph Brown. If we had to characterize our understanding of life on Earth as either ignorant or [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The biggest species from this year&#8217;s Top 10 New Species List is the six-foot long new monitor lizard, known as the, Sierra Madre Forest monitor, from the Philippine island of Luzon. This is an adult male. Photo by: Joseph Brown. If we had to characterize our understanding of life on Earth as either ignorant or knowledgeable, the former would be most correct. In 250 years of rigorous taxonomic work researchers have cataloged nearly two million species, however scientists estimate the total number of species on Earth is at least five million and perhaps up to a hundred million. This means every year thousands of new species are discovered by researchers, and from these thousands, the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University selects ten especially notable new species. This years Top 10 New Species includes bacteria that feed on the Titanic wreck, a human-sized lizard, a small antelope that was discovered in a bushmeat market in West Africa, a leech named after the king of dinosaurs, and a glowing fungi among others [see photos and further descriptions below]. &#8220;Charting the species of the world and their unique attributes are essential parts of understanding the history of life. It is in our own self-interest as we face the challenges of living on a rapidly changing planet that we understand the origin and 3.8 billion year history of evolution,&#8221; explains Quentin Wheeler, Director of the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University and an entomologist himself. He adds:&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2011/05/photos-the-top-ten-new-species-discovered-in-2010/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-32511</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photos: Rarest cheetah photographed for the first time</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2009/02/photos-rarest-cheetah-photographed-for-the-first-time/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2009/02/photos-rarest-cheetah-photographed-for-the-first-time/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Feb 2009 23:01:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2009/02/photos-rarest-cheetah-photographed-for-the-first-time/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Togo, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Cats, Conservation, Deserts, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Green, Mammals, Saving Species From Extinction, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On the edge of extinction, desert-dwelling cheetah photographed for first time by camera traps]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On the edge of extinction, desert-dwelling cheetah photographed for first time by camera trapsThis article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2009/02/photos-rarest-cheetah-photographed-for-the-first-time/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-36958</doi>				</item>
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