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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/global/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2026 20:39:48 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>Global environmental news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/global/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Peru’s drive for critical minerals threatens a disappearing glacier</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/perus-drive-for-critical-minerals-threatens-a-disappearing-glacier/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/perus-drive-for-critical-minerals-threatens-a-disappearing-glacier/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2026 18:21:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Euan Wallace]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/06181811/IMG_7140-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334959</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Critical Minerals, Ecosystems, Energy Transition, Freshwater, Glaciers, Governance, Health, Lithium, Mining, Natural Resources, Regulations, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Like many in the community of Phinaya, in southeastern Peru, Donato Bermúdez makes his living from alpacas. His flock of 500 roams the slopes beneath the vast Quelccaya glacier, the site of the second-largest tropical ice cap in the world. Reaching 5,600 meters (18,400 feet), its white peak is home to centuries of tradition. “We [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Like many in the community of Phinaya, in southeastern Peru, Donato Bermúdez makes his living from alpacas. His flock of 500 roams the slopes beneath the vast Quelccaya glacier, the site of the second-largest tropical ice cap in the world. Reaching 5,600 meters (18,400 feet), its white peak is home to centuries of tradition. “We believe the glacier is essentially alive,” Bermúdez, a lifelong resident and former community president of Phinaya, told Mongabay by phone. “We say it gives us the water, the lifeblood that flows to the community.” But he and other Phinaya locals now fear that a threat may be looming from the other side of the mountain. In the shadow of Quelccaya, long-delayed lithium and uranium mining projects are gaining fresh momentum under President Keiko Fujimori, who is determined to put transition minerals firmly on Peru’s economic agenda. “Lithium and uranium mining would be catastrophic for the Quelccaya glacier,” said Yolanda Quispe, 44, a community leader and park ranger from Phinaya, who has spent a lifetime beneath the glacier. “The fauna and flora that exist around it, the people — all of this would be destroyed,” she told Mongabay over the phone. Through Peruvian subsidiary Macusani Yellowcake, Canadian firm American Lithium controls major deposits of lithium and uranium — two minerals the Peruvian government describes as critical to the clean energy transition — across at least 174 concessions covering more than 1,090 square kilometers (421 square miles) in the department of Puno, beneath the Quelccaya glacier. The&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/perus-drive-for-critical-minerals-threatens-a-disappearing-glacier/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/perus-drive-for-critical-minerals-threatens-a-disappearing-glacier/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334959</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As loggerhead turtles spread west, Mediterranean beach resorts learn to share the sand</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/as-loggerhead-turtles-spread-west-mediterranean-beach-resorts-learn-to-share-the-sand/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/as-loggerhead-turtles-spread-west-mediterranean-beach-resorts-learn-to-share-the-sand/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2026 17:05:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anna NapolitanoManuela Callari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/06133823/OceanImageBank_LewisBurnett_10-loggerhead-turtle-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=335169</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe and Mediterranean Sea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Hope and optimism, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Reptiles, Sea Turtles, Solutions, Turtles, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ASCEA and CASTEL VOLTURNO, Italy, and BARCELONA, Spain — In the early hours of a warm July day, regular rows of still-folded sun umbrellas stand along the shores of Castel Volturno, a coastal town in the Italian region of Campania, located about 35 kilometers (22 miles) northwest of Naples. A small group gathers around a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ASCEA and CASTEL VOLTURNO, Italy, and BARCELONA, Spain — In the early hours of a warm July day, regular rows of still-folded sun umbrellas stand along the shores of Castel Volturno, a coastal town in the Italian region of Campania, located about 35 kilometers (22 miles) northwest of Naples. A small group gathers around a control screen while a drone flies along the coast, searching for tractor-like tracks emerging from the waves. At the slightest sign, group members will quickly reach the location and fence off the area. Summer is the nesting season for the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta). Loggerheads inhabit warm portions of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea. However, despite its broad range, the species is listed as vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN. These large marine reptiles spend roughly two decades maturing at sea before the females return to land — usually to the same beaches where they hatched — to lay their own eggs. Historically, loggerhead nesting in the Mediterranean has been concentrated in the warm sands of the sea’s eastern and central basins — primarily in Greece, Türkiye, and Cyprus — while the western basin has served mainly as a foraging ground by juvenile turtles. But over the past five decades, increasing numbers of nests have begun to appear in the western basin, including on the shores of Italy, France, and Spain. Researcher Fulvio Maffucci pilots a drone use to find loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) nesting sites.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/as-loggerhead-turtles-spread-west-mediterranean-beach-resorts-learn-to-share-the-sand/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/as-loggerhead-turtles-spread-west-mediterranean-beach-resorts-learn-to-share-the-sand/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-335169</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Drought driven by climate change is redefining how disease spreads, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/drought-driven-by-climate-change-is-redefining-how-disease-spreads-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/drought-driven-by-climate-change-is-redefining-how-disease-spreads-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2026 16:16:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Adam Litchkofski]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/06153125/3-forest-dwelling-mosquitoes--768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=335194</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Global, and Senegal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Disasters, Diseases, Drought, El Nino, Environment, Extreme Weather, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Planetary Boundaries, Planetary Health, Public Health, Research, and Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As climate change intensifies, drought is widening globally, causing alterations in water-dependent pathogen patterns, leaving scientists scrambling to understand how infectious disease transmission is evolving. They’ll need to act quickly to predict and prepare for future outbreaks: In 2025, annual drought affected approximately 30% of the globe’s land surface, a near doubling of area since [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As climate change intensifies, drought is widening globally, causing alterations in water-dependent pathogen patterns, leaving scientists scrambling to understand how infectious disease transmission is evolving. They’ll need to act quickly to predict and prepare for future outbreaks: In 2025, annual drought affected approximately 30% of the globe’s land surface, a near doubling of area since 2000. Currently, one child dies every 90 seconds from a waterborne disease. Many species of microorganisms are known to infect humans via waterborne illnesses or via hosts like mosquitoes that need water to reproduce. So, it was long thought that when drought shrank or dried up water sources, infectious disease would decrease. Scientists now know this isn’t true, and a recent paper sheds light on the ecological processes defining this drought-disease paradox. “When people think about drought, they think about water shortage, wildfire, loss of agriculture, et cetera,” study co-author Pieter Johnson, a disease ecologist at the University of Colorado Boulder in the U.S. told Mongabay in a phone interview. “But drought is also influencing how plants and animals interact, including how they interact with parasites,” and also which among those pathogens might be winners or losers as drought spreads. A typical river during drought: As a waterbody shrinks, proximity of animals and microorganisms is increased, aiding the transmission of infectious disease — an effect defined by the drought-disease paradox. Image by Arushdeep Singh via Unsplash. The review paper published in the journal Trends in Ecology &amp; Evolution examined 100 previous studies focusing solely on&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/drought-driven-by-climate-change-is-redefining-how-disease-spreads-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/drought-driven-by-climate-change-is-redefining-how-disease-spreads-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-335194</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>&#8216;Stringing me along&#8217;: After 7 years, trial in Indigenous forest guardian killing delayed again</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/stringing-me-along-after-7-years-trial-in-indigenous-forest-guardian-killing-delayed-again/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/stringing-me-along-after-7-years-trial-in-indigenous-forest-guardian-killing-delayed-again/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2026 15:41:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Karla Mendes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Nandithachandraprakash]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/06154106/Paulo-2_Screenshot-2026-11-06-123923-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=335132</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Conflict, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Law, Law Enforcement, Murdered Activists, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Why hasn&#8217;t the trial for the 2019 killing of forest guardian Paulo Paulino Guajajara and the attempted killing of fellow guardian Láercio Guajajara, in the Brazilian Amazon, taken place yet? &#8220;[T]here are no available slots on the court’s hearing calendar,&#8221; the advisory staff to the judge in the case told Mongabay in an emailed statement, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Why hasn&#8217;t the trial for the 2019 killing of forest guardian Paulo Paulino Guajajara and the attempted killing of fellow guardian Láercio Guajajara, in the Brazilian Amazon, taken place yet? &#8220;[T]here are no available slots on the court’s hearing calendar,&#8221; the advisory staff to the judge in the case told Mongabay in an emailed statement, one year after claiming lack of time for it to be held in 2025, sparking outrage among Guajajara Indigenous, activists and authorities. &#8220;They’re just stringing me along. Because if they actually intended to resolve this, they would have done it by now,&#8221; Paulo Guajajara’s father, José Maria Paulino Guajajara, told Mongabay by phone. &#8220;This is taking way too long — it’s been seven years already! That’s exactly why I’m here, feeling pretty fed up, to say the least.&#8221; &#8220;It’s as if we aren’t seen as human beings, right? When someone kills an Indigenous person, it’s as if it’s nothing at all — just the same as killing any animal,&#8221; Laércio Guajajara told Mongabay by phone. &#8220;We have a lot of negative thoughts about the justice system regarding this case.&#8221; On Nov. 1, 2019, Paulo Guajajara and Laércio Guajajara were fired upon in an alleged ambush by illegal loggers in the Arariboia Indigenous Territory, in northeastern Maranhão state. In August 2025, a long-awaited anthropological report of the collective damages to the Indigenous community as a result of the crimes was concluded and attached to the court case, bringing hope to the Guajajara people, activists and the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/stringing-me-along-after-7-years-trial-in-indigenous-forest-guardian-killing-delayed-again/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/stringing-me-along-after-7-years-trial-in-indigenous-forest-guardian-killing-delayed-again/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-335132</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mediterranean fisheries commission adopts species management plans but punts on deep-sea protections</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/mediterranean-fisheries-commission-adopts-species-management-plans-but-punts-on-deep-sea-protections/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/mediterranean-fisheries-commission-adopts-species-management-plans-but-punts-on-deep-sea-protections/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2026 14:43:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Francesco De Augustinis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/06074209/Fishmonger-Malaga-53236699475_c008cee0f3_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=335146</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, Greece, Italy, Mediterranean Sea, Morocco, and Spain]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Law, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Regulations, Saltwater Fish, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The international organization responsible for regulating fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black seas concluded its annual meeting with the adoption of new management plans for some iconic species. However, it declined to pass expected fishing restrictions to protect certain ecologically important habitats. Half of all assessed species in the region are overexploited. The 49th session [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The international organization responsible for regulating fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black seas concluded its annual meeting with the adoption of new management plans for some iconic species. However, it declined to pass expected fishing restrictions to protect certain ecologically important habitats. Half of all assessed species in the region are overexploited. The 49th session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), a body of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), took place in Rome Oct. 26-30, bringing together 23 member countries and the European Union. The meeting achieved some milestones, including establishing long-term harvest strategies for European hake (Merluccius merluccius) and deep-water rose shrimp (Parapenaeus longirostris) in the Strait of Sicily, and for giant red shrimp (Aristaeomorpha foliacea) in the Strait of Sicily, the Ionian Sea between Greece and southern Italy, and the Levantine Sea in the easternmost Mediterranean. However, the commission postponed making a decision on the establishment of two Fisheries Restricted Areas: One covering a cold-water coral reef between Spain and Morocco, and another expanding protection for deep-sea areas. Both proposals had broad agreement just a few months earlier, observers said. “It is disappointing that, despite multiple proposals to restrict fishing to protect sensitive habitats, countries could not reach agreement and instead delayed adoption,” Esther Wozniak, senior policy officer for sustainable fisheries at the U.S.-based NGO The Pew Charitable Trusts, who took part in the meeting as an observer, said in a press release. “There was, however, important progress on improving fisheries management that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/mediterranean-fisheries-commission-adopts-species-management-plans-but-punts-on-deep-sea-protections/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-335146</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Kenya launches $160 million conservation initiative to support communities and biodiversity</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/kenya-launches-160-million-conservation-initiative-to-support-communities-and-biodiversity/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/kenya-launches-160-million-conservation-initiative-to-support-communities-and-biodiversity/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2026 10:52:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lynet Otieno]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/05164636/Rebecca-M-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=335064</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Conservation Solutions, Ecotourism, Finance, Governance, Plants, Science, Solutions, Tourism, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The government of Kenya has launched a 10-year, $160 million conservation program that will target 17.3 million hectares (43 million acres) of existing conservation areas and community-managed land across 31 counties. The government projects that the initiative, which also aims to establish 2.7 million hectares of new conserved areas, will benefit 1.6 million people and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The government of Kenya has launched a 10-year, $160 million conservation program that will target 17.3 million hectares (43 million acres) of existing conservation areas and community-managed land across 31 counties. The government projects that the initiative, which also aims to establish 2.7 million hectares of new conserved areas, will benefit 1.6 million people and create nearly 22,800 jobs. Dubbed Thamani Asili (which means “value of nature” in Swahili) the program, announced on Oct. 21, aims to secure long-term financing for protecting biodiversity while improving livelihoods, water security and climate resilience through an $80 million contribution from the government, which philanthropic partners are expected to match. Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano presided over the launch of the program at the Tsavo West National Park, southern Kenya, on behalf of Kenya’s President William Ruto. The 10-year initiative brings together the Kenyan government, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), NGO The Nature Conservancy (TNC), conservation initiative Enduring Earth and other conservation partners. “Using the Project Finance for Permanence (PFP) model, Thamani Asili establishes a long-term financing framework designed to move conservation beyond short-term funding cycles towards predictable investment, institutional accountability and measurable results,” a KWS press release about the initiative says. Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Tourism, Rebecca Miano, met with officials from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and other conservation partners ahead of presiding over the launch of a $160 million conservation-focused fund, Image courtesy of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). There are four initial priority landscapes for this project:&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/kenya-launches-160-million-conservation-initiative-to-support-communities-and-biodiversity/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-335064</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Singapore sand imports threaten an already sinking Cambodian fishing community, again</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/singapore-sand-imports-threaten-an-already-sinking-cambodian-fishing-community-again/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/singapore-sand-imports-threaten-an-already-sinking-cambodian-fishing-community-again/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2026 00:15:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andy Ball]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/05234928/DSC09394-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=335113</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Ecosystems, Environment, extractives, Fish, Fisheries, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Governance, Mining, Natural Resources, Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Editor’s note: *Cambodian fishers who spoke to Mongabay asked that pseudonyms be used, fearing reprisals. BANGKOK, Thailand — Sand mining vessels were once a familiar sight to residents of Koh Sralao, a fishing village in Cambodia’s Koh Kong province. But it had been a decade since anyone had seen them. That changed in June. “I [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Editor’s note: *Cambodian fishers who spoke to Mongabay asked that pseudonyms be used, fearing reprisals. BANGKOK, Thailand — Sand mining vessels were once a familiar sight to residents of Koh Sralao, a fishing village in Cambodia’s Koh Kong province. But it had been a decade since anyone had seen them. That changed in June. “I started seeing lots of sand-mining barges lined up, probably around 10, when I go out to fish,” said Rithy,* who spotted them in a nearby waterway. The barges are part of a mining operation 10 kilometers (6 miles) upstream of Koh Sralao on the Trapeang Rung River, which provincial authorities say they’ve approved to extract sand for export to Singapore. Official data show that since June, sand exports have been underway to the city-state, where a Mongabay investigation found it is likely being used in a government-backed reclamation project. It comes a decade after the Cambodian government banned the trade in 2017, following dredging by politically connected companies that stripped hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of sand from the surrounding estuaries, damaging ecosystems and livelihoods in the process. Now, communities, conservationists and activists are warning it could happen again. A sand mining operation runs along the Trapeang Rung River in Koh Kong Knong village, Koh Kong province, Cambodia, in September 2026. For Rithy, the operation has already blocked his access to a stretch of river where he used to fish. “It’s impossible to go now because they will destroy my nets,” he said. “Since&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/singapore-sand-imports-threaten-an-already-sinking-cambodian-fishing-community-again/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/singapore-sand-imports-threaten-an-already-sinking-cambodian-fishing-community-again/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-335113</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nigeria’s shifting rainfall wreaks havoc with a beloved edible green, the waterleaf plant</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/nigerias-shifting-rainfall-wreaks-havoc-with-a-beloved-edible-green-the-waterleaf-plant/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/nigerias-shifting-rainfall-wreaks-havoc-with-a-beloved-edible-green-the-waterleaf-plant/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Nov 2026 21:40:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kingsley Charles]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/03094424/52639416165_391e83e150_6k-waterleaf-plant-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334731</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fellows, Food, food security, Impact Of Climate Change, Natural Resources, Nutrition, Plants, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is Part 1 in a two-part series on Nigerian waterleaf. Part 2 will be published soon. “These are the ones that survived the rain,” Enono Koka said, gesturing at a patch of short, spindly waterleaf plants across her large farm in downtown Calabar, in southern Nigeria’s Cross River. It was an unseasonably sunny morning [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is Part 1 in a two-part series on Nigerian waterleaf. Part 2 will be published soon. “These are the ones that survived the rain,” Enono Koka said, gesturing at a patch of short, spindly waterleaf plants across her large farm in downtown Calabar, in southern Nigeria’s Cross River. It was an unseasonably sunny morning in early October, and the 33-year-old was harvesting some of the vegetables for breakfast the next day. Most of the crops, she explained, had perished following days of relentless rainfall between August and September. “So I&#8217;m only left with these and I&#8217;m keeping them to eat with my family in the house,” she said. Much like Koka&#8217;s experience, the months since July have been painfully rough for Joy David Okon&#8217;s nearby waterleaf farm in Calabar. Before leaving town in September to visit her son, the sexagenarian farmer had sprayed some manure around her farmland to help enrich the freshly planted stems. Then came the disappointment. Her once-flourishing vegetable garden had turned into a marshland thick with weeds by the time she returned. “See the batch I planted in August. See how they keep looking scanty because of the plenty of rains this year,” she said, pointing at a sunken bed of shriveled waterleaf. Taken together, these events hint at the mounting strain on Nigeria&#8217;s waterleaf growing cycle brought on by shifts in rainfall patterns. Despite declining annual rainfall in recent years, persistent downpours in coastal cities like Lagos and Calabar have resulted in frequent episodes&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/nigerias-shifting-rainfall-wreaks-havoc-with-a-beloved-edible-green-the-waterleaf-plant/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/nigerias-shifting-rainfall-wreaks-havoc-with-a-beloved-edible-green-the-waterleaf-plant/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334731</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Amazon mapping shows cacao expansion without deforestation in Brazil</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/amazon-mapping-shows-cacao-expansion-without-deforestation-in-brazil/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/amazon-mapping-shows-cacao-expansion-without-deforestation-in-brazil/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Nov 2026 21:28:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rafael Spuldar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/05082501/1_Cacao_expansion_Para_degraded_land_Embrapa-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=335029</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Business, Cacao, Conservation, Crops, data, Ecosystems, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Industrial Agriculture, Monocultures, Natural Resources, Plants, Rainforests, Remote Sensing, Satellite Imagery, Sustainable Forest Management, Technology, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[While West Africa clears rainforest for chocolate, Brazilian farmers are reviving degraded pastures.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As record cocoa prices drive farmers in West Africa to clear native forest, a new study suggests the crop is following a different path in the Brazilian Amazon: It&#8217;s spreading onto land that was cleared long ago. Mapping by Embrapa, Brazil&#8217;s state-run agricultural research agency, found that the area on which cacao was growing in Pará, the country&#8217;s top-producing state, grew by a third between 2022 and 2024 to 116,436 hectares (287,700 acres). Nearly all of the cacao was found on old pastures and other previously cleared land, with 96% of the cacao that was mapped in Pará and 98% of it in Rondônia state located in areas deforested before 2020. This is fully compliant with the European Union’s sustainability regulations, strengthening Brazil’s position as a potential cocoa exporter. The study also found a new pattern in how the crop is grown. Until Embrapa’s 2022 mapping, all the cacao it had identified in Pará grew in agroforestry systems. Now almost two-thirds of new plantings are full-sun monocultures, where a single crop is grown in a large area without shade. This type of monoculture yields more beans per tree but is more vulnerable to pests and disease and leaves farmers dependent on a single crop. Cacao mapping in the Amazon traces back to TerraClass, a program run with Brazil’s space agency, INPE, that maps how deforested land in the Brazilian Amazon is used. Adriano Venturieri, a remote sensing specialist at Embrapa Amazônia Oriental in the city of Belém in Pará, led&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/amazon-mapping-shows-cacao-expansion-without-deforestation-in-brazil/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/amazon-mapping-shows-cacao-expansion-without-deforestation-in-brazil/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-335029</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How Ghana’s new license to sell sustainable timber improves institutions &#038; cooperation (analysis) </title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/how-ghanas-new-license-to-sell-sustainable-timber-improves-institutions-collaboration-analysis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/how-ghanas-new-license-to-sell-sustainable-timber-improves-institutions-collaboration-analysis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Nov 2026 14:16:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Chris Beeko]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/04171852/Ghanaian-Forestry-Commission-officials-demonstrate-Wood-Tracking-System-to-European-trade-representatives-in-Sefwi-Wiawso-November-2016.-Photo-%40EFI-Flickr-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334994</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, European Union, Ghana, Global, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Analysis, Business, Certification, Commentary, Conservation, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Governance, International Trade, Sustainable Forest Management, timber trade, Trade, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Ghana began its Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) process with the European Union, the attraction was clear. Europe is an important market for Ghanaian timber, international expectations around its legality were changing, and the VPA offered both market access and support for strengthening national forest governance. After a 16-year journey, last year Ghana became the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When Ghana began its Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) process with the European Union, the attraction was clear. Europe is an important market for Ghanaian timber, international expectations around its legality were changing, and the VPA offered both market access and support for strengthening national forest governance. After a 16-year journey, last year Ghana became the first African country to earn a Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) license. In a Mongabay commentary published last year, Fred Pearce welcomed that achievement while posing an uncomfortable question: Could Ghana also be the last? With the future direction of FLEGT and the VPA model uncertain, he asked whether the long and difficult process that produced significant change in Ghana might fail to provide a pathway for others. Having been involved in this VPA process from negotiation through implementation, I believe Ghana’s experience suggests a broader way of considering that question. A forestry commission official demonstrates the nation&#8217;s timber tracking system in Ghana&#8217;s Sefwi Wiawso region. Image courtesy of European Forest Institute via Flickr. Whether or not other nations follow Ghana’s lead to their own FLEGT licenses, the process changed the way the nation’s forest sector makes policy, regulates timber, verifies legality and brings government, industry and civil society into the same governance system. Those changes now exist within Ghana’s national institutions, and in my view, this represents the most important legacy of the process. International framework  becomes national process One of the first lessons from Ghana is that externally designed frameworks cannot&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/how-ghanas-new-license-to-sell-sustainable-timber-improves-institutions-collaboration-analysis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/how-ghanas-new-license-to-sell-sustainable-timber-improves-institutions-collaboration-analysis/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334994</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesian company seeks CITES approval to breed and sell rare Asian golden cats</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/indonesian-company-seeks-cites-approval-to-breed-and-sell-rare-asian-golden-cats/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/indonesian-company-seeks-cites-approval-to-breed-and-sell-rare-asian-golden-cats/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Nov 2026 14:03:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda WenzelSpoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/05121758/1.-Allwetter-Zoo_banner-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=335038</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Business, Captive Breeding, Cats, Conservation, Controversial, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Law, Mammals, Pet Trade, Pets, Wildlife, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With their shiny golden or reddish-brown fur, round ears, and white and black facial markings, Asian golden cats are cute. But don’t let their looks fool you: these cats, native to China and South and Southeast Asia, are fiercely territorial, elusive, and highly solitary animals. Because of this, Asian golden cats (Catopuma temminckii) don’t reproduce [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With their shiny golden or reddish-brown fur, round ears, and white and black facial markings, Asian golden cats are cute. But don’t let their looks fool you: these cats, native to China and South and Southeast Asia, are fiercely territorial, elusive, and highly solitary animals. Because of this, Asian golden cats (Catopuma temminckii) don’t reproduce well in captivity, and only a handful of zoos have bred them successfully, always for conservation purposes. Now, a private Indonesian company, PT Alam Nusantara Jayatama, wants to become the first in the world to commercially breed them in captivity, selling their offspring to exotic pet owners across the globe. The company is owned and run by Danny Gunalen, who owns several zoos and animal-breeding facilities in Indonesia. The Indonesian government plans to certify the facility as a legal breeder of Asian golden cats. In August, it sent a public notification to the Secretariat of CITES, the global wildlife trade treaty, which includes 184 nations and the European Union. The signatories to CITES have until Nov. 10, 2026, to object to the registration, otherwise the company will be authorized to export the cats. Only a handful of zoos around the world breed and display Asian golden cats. Image courtesy of @Zoo Heidelberg. The Asian golden cat is listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List and is a protected species in most of the countries where it lives. Only about 7,000 are thought to remain in the wild, their numbers decreasing as forests&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/indonesian-company-seeks-cites-approval-to-breed-and-sell-rare-asian-golden-cats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/indonesian-company-seeks-cites-approval-to-breed-and-sell-rare-asian-golden-cats/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-335038</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Water rationing in Recife, Brazil, falls along racial lines</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/water-rationing-in-recife-brazil-falls-along-racial-lines/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/water-rationing-in-recife-brazil-falls-along-racial-lines/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Nov 2026 19:26:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Adriana AmâncioÁthila GalindoYamini Benites]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/04061448/Water_tap_Cacique_Chicao_settlement_Recife_Ibura_neighborhood_Yamini_Benites_B-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334914</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Science, Conflict, Conservation, Culture, Development, Disasters, Drinking Water, Earth Science, Environment, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Gender, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Infrastructure, Landslides, Natural Resources, Public Health, Racism, Research, Science, Social Conflict, Water, Water Scarcity, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[RECIFE, Brazil — In Ibura de Baixo, a neighborhood tucked into the South Zone region of Recife, Northeast Brazil, 27-year-old Jeyne Araújo’s day begins well before dawn. At 4 a.m., while the Pernambuco state capital sleeps, she scrapes buckets and drums across the floor outside her home. The sound marks the start of a daily [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[RECIFE, Brazil — In Ibura de Baixo, a neighborhood tucked into the South Zone region of Recife, Northeast Brazil, 27-year-old Jeyne Araújo’s day begins well before dawn. At 4 a.m., while the Pernambuco state capital sleeps, she scrapes buckets and drums across the floor outside her home. The sound marks the start of a daily scramble against scarcity: With running water flowing for only six hours a day, she must stockpile every drop before the taps run dry. The water Araújo manages to collect is far from the clean supply one would expect from a public utility. It smells strongly of chemicals and is too unpleasant to drink or cook with immediately. It froths into a thick, soapy white foam as it splashes into the bucket. “It arrives so full of chlorine that you can’t do anything with it,” she tells Mongabay. The poor quality of the tap water has taken a serious toll on her family’s health, says Araújo. For six months, her 9-year-old son, Wesley, suffered constant bouts of vomiting and stomach pain. Doctors at Recife’s Areias Hospital traced the intestinal infection back to porridge prepared with tap water. To keep her son safe, Araújo now uses part of her monthly Bolsa Família, a government social welfare program benefit of 950 reais (around $180), to buy jugs of bottled water at 6 reais ($1.12) each — an expense that further strains her already meager budget. Inside the house, stacks of dirty dishes fill the sink, a visible measure&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/water-rationing-in-recife-brazil-falls-along-racial-lines/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/water-rationing-in-recife-brazil-falls-along-racial-lines/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334914</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mapping the ‘lines of life’ of South Sudan’s vast antelope migration</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/mapping-the-lines-of-life-of-south-sudans-vast-antelope-migration/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/mapping-the-lines-of-life-of-south-sudans-vast-antelope-migration/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Nov 2026 19:23:09 +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/20/2026/11/04192222/TiangDamaliscus.lunatus.tiang_BadingiloNPSouthSudan_IngeVanDenMeirackerINaturalistBYNC4.0-CROP-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334927</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, and South Sudan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Migration, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The lines on the map resemble the gossamer threads of dense spiders’ webs. Conservationists in South Sudan call them the “lines of life.” The map was made by joining up millions of points of data recorded by GPS collars attached to 262 migratory antelopes since 2023. The different colors denote four different migratory species: white-eared [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The lines on the map resemble the gossamer threads of dense spiders’ webs. Conservationists in South Sudan call them the “lines of life.” The map was made by joining up millions of points of data recorded by GPS collars attached to 262 migratory antelopes since 2023. The different colors denote four different migratory species: white-eared kob (Kobus kob leucotis), tiang (Damaliscus lunatus tiang), Mongalla gazelle (Eudorcas albonotata), and bohor reedbuck (Redunca redunca). Their seasonal movements across South Sudan’s Great Nile Migration Landscape collectively represent the largest mammal migration on the planet, totaling around 6 million animals. The “lines of life” map denotes years of GPS data collected for four different species of migratory antelope living across the Great Nile Migration Landscape: yellow for the tiang; red for the bohor reedbuck; blue for the white-eared kob and white for the Mongalla gazelle. Image courtesy of African Parks. Most of these movements occur outside the boundaries of Boma and Badingilo national parks, a landscape shared with an estimated 1 million people, their cattle, and growing numbers of new towns, roads, and mines. The “lines of life” are helping conservationists to figure out where to concentrate their efforts to ensure the wildlife can keep on moving. “There are some [wildlife] corridors that come out of this, like the high-use areas, which we do now have a better handle on,” says Megan Claase, conservation manager for African Parks, the South Africa-based NGO that co-manages Boma and Badingilo with the South Sudanese government. The patterns&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/mapping-the-lines-of-life-of-south-sudans-vast-antelope-migration/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/mapping-the-lines-of-life-of-south-sudans-vast-antelope-migration/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334927</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists call on Ecuador to stop the rising trafficking of Galápagos iguanas</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/scientists-call-on-ecuador-to-stop-the-rising-trafficking-of-galapagos-iguanas/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/scientists-call-on-ecuador-to-stop-the-rising-trafficking-of-galapagos-iguanas/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Nov 2026 12:04:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/04115037/Marine-iguana-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334877</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador, Galapagos, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environmental Law, Governance, Law, Reptiles, Trade, trafficking, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Ecuadorian authorities said they caught a Russian woman at the airport in Quito, the capital city, trying to smuggle 32 live marine iguanas, endemic to the Galápagos Islands. The iguanas — bound and stuffed in eight plastic boxes — were headed to Iceland. The dehydrated lizards were transferred to a conservation center in Pichincha for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Ecuadorian authorities said they caught a Russian woman at the airport in Quito, the capital city, trying to smuggle 32 live marine iguanas, endemic to the Galápagos Islands. The iguanas — bound and stuffed in eight plastic boxes — were headed to Iceland. The dehydrated lizards were transferred to a conservation center in Pichincha for specialized care after being found in August, authorities said. About a month later, 24 of the surviving iguanas were released back on Galápagos — where they are believed to be stolen from. In May, authorities arrested three Thai nationals with 12 young marine iguanas destined for Asian markets. A week earlier, four separate cases of these lizards mysteriously appearing on sidewalks in Guayaquil on the mainland were reported. The marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus), a threatened species, is the only lizard in the world that swims in the ocean and eats sea algae. About 11 subspecies of these colorful lizards are known to science. Under Ecuadorian laws, it&#8217;s illegal to remove any wildlife from the Galápagos. In 2025, the lizards were added to Appendix I of the CITES global wildlife trade treaty, which means they cannot be commercially traded internationally. Yet, they continue being smuggled as collectors in Europe and Asia want them as exotic pets. So far this year, authorities have confiscated nearly 50 marine iguanas. The global commerce is so lucrative that international wildlife traffickers are involved in smuggling them, experts say. Marine iguanas confiscated by authorities from a Russian woman in August 2026.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/scientists-call-on-ecuador-to-stop-the-rising-trafficking-of-galapagos-iguanas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/scientists-call-on-ecuador-to-stop-the-rising-trafficking-of-galapagos-iguanas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334877</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Microplastics pollute nearly two-thirds of corals in Malaysia’s marine protected area, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/microplastics-pollute-nearly-two-thirds-of-corals-in-malaysias-marine-protected-area-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/microplastics-pollute-nearly-two-thirds-of-corals-in-malaysias-marine-protected-area-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Nov 2026 09:33:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashley Yeong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Yenni Kwok]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/04090518/coral-sampling-by-SCUBA-diving-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334938</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Environment, Fellows, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Microplastics, Oceans, Plastic, Pollution, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KUALA LUMPUR — Microplastics, tiny plastic particles about 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) or smaller, have settled into the skeletons of corals in a marine protected area in Malaysia, according to a recent study. The study, published in the journal Regional Studies in Marine Science, focused on Pulau Redang Marine Park, in the southern South China [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KUALA LUMPUR — Microplastics, tiny plastic particles about 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) or smaller, have settled into the skeletons of corals in a marine protected area in Malaysia, according to a recent study. The study, published in the journal Regional Studies in Marine Science, focused on Pulau Redang Marine Park, in the southern South China Sea. Known for its turquoise blue waters and rich coral reefs, Pulau Redang has been designated as a marine protected area since 1985. Researchers from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) collected 200 coral fragments from five reef sites around the marine park, off the eastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia, and found that 64% of the fragments contained microplastics. Microplastics come from intentionally manufactured particles like industrial pellets and microbeads in personal care products, as well as the breakdown of larger plastic items such as plastic bottles and fishing gear. These tiny particles can be found everywhere, from mountaintops to seabeds. Once they enter the ocean, they can travel far and wide. “I was a bit surprised that I could find microplastics in the corals so easily,” lead author Ong Chai Kee told Mongabay in a video call. “The ocean is so big, and I was thinking, ‘What are the chances that these little plastics could enter so many corals?’” Malaysian marine biologist Ong Chai Kee wraps the sample containers in foil to prevent airborne contamination and prepare them for analysis. Image courtesy of Ong Chai Kee. The team sampled from two dominant hard corals: the branching&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/microplastics-pollute-nearly-two-thirds-of-corals-in-malaysias-marine-protected-area-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/microplastics-pollute-nearly-two-thirds-of-corals-in-malaysias-marine-protected-area-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334938</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How a ‘living breakwater’ in Hawai‘i aims to create coral habitat and protect coastline</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/how-a-living-breakwater-in-hawaii-aims-to-create-coral-habitat-and-protect-coastline/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/how-a-living-breakwater-in-hawaii-aims-to-create-coral-habitat-and-protect-coastline/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Nov 2026 09:19:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jules Struck]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/04123831/a-hybrid-reef-system--768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334947</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Hawaii, North America, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Polynesia, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Environment, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Impact Of Climate Change, Islands, Marine, Nature-based climate solutions, Oceans, Research, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On Sept. 8, Hurricane Lowell ripped across the Pacific Ocean and around Hawai‘i, sloshing huge waves onto O‘ahu’s west flank and spitting baseball-sized chunks of coral through the window of at least one home. Hawai‘i and its coastal highways, which loop several of the U.S. state’s seven inhabited islands, have been bruised by increasingly intense [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On Sept. 8, Hurricane Lowell ripped across the Pacific Ocean and around Hawai‘i, sloshing huge waves onto O‘ahu’s west flank and spitting baseball-sized chunks of coral through the window of at least one home. Hawai‘i and its coastal highways, which loop several of the U.S. state’s seven inhabited islands, have been bruised by increasingly intense storms fueled by warming seas due to human-caused climate change and the current “super” El Niño. But a project in a western harbor on the island of O‘ahu is testing an unusual method for calming the ocean to shield communities and infrastructure. “It’s the first artificial, call it a hybrid, reef designed to protect coastlines, so to reduce coastal erosion from wave energy,” Ben Jones, the project’s lead coordinator and director of ocean science and technology at the University of Hawai‘i’s Applied Research Laboratory, told Mongabay by phone. On Sept. 18, while the island was still wringing itself out from Lowell, the project team sank the first of 60 huge concrete structures 64 meters (210 feet) off Kalaeloa Harbor, an industrial port on West O‘ahu. Eight of the structures, which each weigh 4 metric tons, had been placed as of Oct. 20, Jones said, a feat of engineering that required a special shallow-water catamaran to float the pieces out to their final resting places. A large wave caused by Hurricane Lowell crashes on the west side of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i on Sept. 8, 2026. Image by AP Photos/Craig Fujii/Honolulu Civil Beat. The project was funded with&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/how-a-living-breakwater-in-hawaii-aims-to-create-coral-habitat-and-protect-coastline/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/how-a-living-breakwater-in-hawaii-aims-to-create-coral-habitat-and-protect-coastline/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334947</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>High expectations but no agreement on Antarctic marine protection, krill fishing</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/high-expectations-but-no-agreement-on-antarctic-marine-protection-krill-fishing/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/high-expectations-but-no-agreement-on-antarctic-marine-protection-krill-fishing/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Nov 2026 18:02:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Francesco De Augustinis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/03115956/Penguin_in_Antarctica_jumping_out_of_the_water-edit-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334852</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Law, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Politics, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The multilateral body charged with regulating fishing and protecting ecosystems in the Southern Ocean reached no agreements on establishing new marine protected areas or adopting new krill-fishing management measures at its recent annual meeting. The 45th meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) took place Oct. 19-30 in Hobart, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The multilateral body charged with regulating fishing and protecting ecosystems in the Southern Ocean reached no agreements on establishing new marine protected areas or adopting new krill-fishing management measures at its recent annual meeting. The 45th meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) took place Oct. 19-30 in Hobart, Australia, bringing together the body&#8217;s 27 members: 26 countries and the EU. Months of press conferences, boycott campaigns, lobbying activities and bilateral meetings preceded the event. Attention focused particularly on the potential adoption of a new fisheries management system for Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) and the establishment of a marine protected area in a large swathe of sea, known as Domain 1, between the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Orkney Islands. Domain 1 is where krill fishing is concentrated and also contains important feeding grounds for wildlife populations that rely primarily on the small shrimp-like crustaceans for food. “CCAMLR Members did not reach consensus on either,” Javier Arata, spokesperson for the industry Association of Responsible Krill harvesting companies (ARK), told Mongabay by email, minutes after the meeting closed. “CCAMLR adopted no new measures for the krill fishery this year,” Arata said, adding that members “were closer this year than many expected.” He said his group will keep working with all CCAMLR members, scientists and other interested parties to get both measures adopted in 2027. In response to the lack of progress, several conservation organizations, including the U.S.-based Antarctic Wildlife Alliance, the Our Antarctica campaign and the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/high-expectations-but-no-agreement-on-antarctic-marine-protection-krill-fishing/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/high-expectations-but-no-agreement-on-antarctic-marine-protection-krill-fishing/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334852</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Governments must include small-scale fishers in their plans to protect the oceans: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/governments-must-include-small-scale-fishers-in-their-plans-to-protect-the-oceans-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/governments-must-include-small-scale-fishers-in-their-plans-to-protect-the-oceans-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Nov 2026 16:03:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mark Hillsdon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/03151848/WhatsApp-Image-2026-10-22-at-12.16.33-4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334870</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Law, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new report finds that countries around the world have committed to supporting sustainable fishing as a way to counter marine biodiversity loss, but urges them to strengthen accountability measures and do more to support small-scale fishers. The report, jointly published by the U.K.-based nonprofit the Marine Stewardship Council and the U.S.-based global research organization [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new report finds that countries around the world have committed to supporting sustainable fishing as a way to counter marine biodiversity loss, but urges them to strengthen accountability measures and do more to support small-scale fishers. The report, jointly published by the U.K.-based nonprofit the Marine Stewardship Council and the U.S.-based global research organization World Resources Institute (WRI), was released at the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity summit (COP 17) held Oct. 19-30 in Yerevan, Armenia, and analyzes government pledges made under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). Launched at COP 15 in 2022, the GBF was heralded as a major breakthrough, establishing 23 targets aimed at reversing biodiversity loss by 2030. Now, at the framework’s halfway point, the new report takes stock of progress toward meeting those targets in relation to ocean biodiversity. It analyzed 812 fisheries-related commitments across the 74 National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) from coastal and island state countries and the European Union that had met the deadline to submit their plans. NBSAPs are pathways countries are developing in pursuit of the GBF targets. The most cited commitments focused on fisheries management, stronger governance, and science and data collection. The analysis found that while all national plans included at least one fisheries-related pledge, and 60% contained a measurable metric or deadline, just 27% directly referenced an existing policy, and only 13% included both. So, while fisheries and aquaculture are broadly recognized across NBSAPs, the report says, most biodiversity pledges are only “weakly anchored”&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/governments-must-include-small-scale-fishers-in-their-plans-to-protect-the-oceans-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/governments-must-include-small-scale-fishers-in-their-plans-to-protect-the-oceans-report/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334870</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>UN recognizes ongoing restoration work inside Ethiopia’s Desa’a forest amid conflict</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/un-recognizes-ongoing-restoration-work-inside-ethiopias-desaa-forest-amid-conflict/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/un-recognizes-ongoing-restoration-work-inside-ethiopias-desaa-forest-amid-conflict/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Nov 2026 15:28:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/03094624/1_20260509_UNEP-Decade-on-Ecosystem-Restoration_Ethiopias-Great-Rift-Valley_Sosina-Mengistu_13-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334820</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Ethiopia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Governance, Land Conflict, Plants, Rainforests, Solutions, Trees, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On Oct. 29, 2026, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and FAO recognized the Desa’a project, an initiative to restore Ethiopia’s forests in the Great Rift Valley, as a World Restoration Flagship during the U.N. Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia. “It is to inspire others to take action and revive nature,” Doreen Lynn [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On Oct. 29, 2026, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and FAO recognized the Desa’a project, an initiative to restore Ethiopia’s forests in the Great Rift Valley, as a World Restoration Flagship during the U.N. Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia. “It is to inspire others to take action and revive nature,” Doreen Lynn Robinson, deputy director of the Ecosystems Division at UNEP, told Mongabay by phone. “Restoration, when it’s done well, brings stakeholders together because they’re working together to find solutions to common problems. We believe that by giving recognition to our flagships, they also receive some support. They’ll get technical support, monitoring support, and communication and advocacy support,” she continued. The initiative, officially called the “Restoring Desa&#8217;a landscape: Bringing the Great Rift Valley Back to Life,” is based in the Tigray region of northeastern Ethiopia, in what is known as the Afromontane forests. The Afromontane ecosystem extends across Africa, from the Arabian Peninsula south along the Rift Valley to the Drakensberg Mountains in the east, and consists of dryland forests located at elevations above 1,500 meters (4,900 feet). It is home to the endangered Ethiopian wolf (canis simensis), gelada monkey (theropithecus gelada) and giant lobelia (lobelia rhynchopetalum). This forest is also important for carbon storage, but it is on the verge of disappearing. At the beginning of the project in 2016, an estimated 74% of Ethiopia’s Desa’a Forest had “already disappeared.” Today, an estimated 70% of the remaining forest is considered degraded. Forest cover degradation can affect&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/un-recognizes-ongoing-restoration-work-inside-ethiopias-desaa-forest-amid-conflict/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/un-recognizes-ongoing-restoration-work-inside-ethiopias-desaa-forest-amid-conflict/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334820</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The RSPO closed the case on First Resources. Indonesian forests kept falling for palm oil (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/the-rspo-closed-the-case-on-first-resources-indonesian-forests-kept-falling-for-palm-oil-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/the-rspo-closed-the-case-on-first-resources-indonesian-forests-kept-falling-for-palm-oil-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Nov 2026 10:27:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tom Johnson]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/03102619/First-Resources-RSPO-Commentary-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334809</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Anonymous Companies, Business, Commentary, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Crops, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Food Industry, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Industrial Agriculture, Industry, Law, Media, Palm Oil, Plantations, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) — as the name suggests — sets itself up as the arbiter of what is sustainable in the palm oil industry. For that to work, it has to do two things. First, it has to make sensible rules about what is and isn’t sustainable. Second, it has to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) — as the name suggests — sets itself up as the arbiter of what is sustainable in the palm oil industry. For that to work, it has to do two things. First, it has to make sensible rules about what is and isn’t sustainable. Second, it has to enforce those rules, to ensure that companies whose actions fall outside them do not get to market their products as sustainable. If it does not police the rules, the rules don’t really mean all that much. Evidence from a new investigation — and newly unearthed court records — shows that it has failed on that second task. In December 2025, the RSPO Complaints Panel issued its final ruling on a case that had dragged on for more than four years. In a succession of NGO reports dating back to 2017, allegations had piled up connecting Singapore-listed, Indonesian-owned First Resources, an RSPO member and major palm oil producer, to a string of other groups that were still clearing rainforests. First Resources had first committed to “zero deforestation” in 2015 and was able to access markets closed to unsustainable palm oil through its RSPO membership. But through its apparent control of so-called “shadow companies,” the theory went, the Fangiono family that owned First Resources was simultaneously able to keep expanding into rainforests. A complaint alleging that the Fangionos controlled two other groups — Ciliandry Angki Abadi and FAP Agri — was first taken up by the RSPO&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/the-rspo-closed-the-case-on-first-resources-indonesian-forests-kept-falling-for-palm-oil-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/the-rspo-closed-the-case-on-first-resources-indonesian-forests-kept-falling-for-palm-oil-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334809</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Uncertainty surrounds controversial resort in Zanzibar forest reserve as work stalls</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/uncertainty-surrounds-controversial-resort-in-zanzibar-forest-reserve-as-work-stalls/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/uncertainty-surrounds-controversial-resort-in-zanzibar-forest-reserve-as-work-stalls/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Nov 2026 06:48:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/02181729/Banner-image-Copy-of-3_2-Hyperolius-watsonae_DG-1-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334746</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Business, Economics, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Governance, Land Rights, Science, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In March 2026, contractors built a wall along the edge of the Ngezi-Vumawimbi Forest Reserve on Pemba Island, Zanzibar, marking the boundary of what appears to be the site of the planned Mantuli luxury resort within the reserve. According to sources Mongabay spoke to, no further work has taken place since the wall was completed [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In March 2026, contractors built a wall along the edge of the Ngezi-Vumawimbi Forest Reserve on Pemba Island, Zanzibar, marking the boundary of what appears to be the site of the planned Mantuli luxury resort within the reserve. According to sources Mongabay spoke to, no further work has taken place since the wall was completed in the first half of 2026. It stands in the very northwest of the island, between a former rubber plantation and land used by local communities for homes and fields of crops like cassava and sweet potatoes. The forest reserve boundary lies just beyond the community land. Ngezi-Vumawimbi is surrounded by 10 villages, with a combined population of more than 20,000 people, according to Tanzania’s 2022 census. Members of surrounding communities enter the reserve to collect firewood and wild fruit, as well as to tend their ancestors&#8217; graves and perform other spiritual practices. Research has established that rural communities across Pemba Island derive around a third of their annual income from forest resources; around Ngezi, the forest notably provides residents with income from the bungo fruit (Saba comorensis), which locals harvest for sale between July and late September. The moist forests of Ngezi host unique species of animals and plants. Image courtesy of Emily Tanganelli. Risk to biodiversity In September 2025, a number of conservationists and researchers published an open letter opposing the Mantuli project in the journal Science. They said the project risked damaging the 1,500-hectare (3,700-acre) Ngezi-Vumavimbi forest reserve, one of East Africa’s most&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/uncertainty-surrounds-controversial-resort-in-zanzibar-forest-reserve-as-work-stalls/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334746</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Do not ‘engage formally’: UK officials advised against billionaire-run zoo ahead of CITES meeting</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/do-not-engage-formally-uk-officials-advised-against-billionaire-run-zoo-ahead-of-cites-meeting/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/do-not-engage-formally-uk-officials-advised-against-billionaire-run-zoo-ahead-of-cites-meeting/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Nov 2026 06:00:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elisângela MendonçaSpoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/02032118/77_UKZookInvestigation_05-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334634</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, India, Switzerland, and United Kingdom]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Birds, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Governance, Mongabay investigation, Politics, Raptors, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LONDON — British officials explicitly advised government ministers to not engage formally with Vantara, the controversial zoo founded and led by Indian billionaire Anant Ambani, according to documents obtained by Mongabay and The Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act. Ambani is the son of one of India’s richest men, Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LONDON — British officials explicitly advised government ministers to not engage formally with Vantara, the controversial zoo founded and led by Indian billionaire Anant Ambani, according to documents obtained by Mongabay and The Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act. Ambani is the son of one of India’s richest men, Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, a multinational petrochemical and telecommunications conglomerate. Internal British government communications at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) show civil servants strongly cautioning against ministerial interactions with Vantara. A central reason why the officials warned colleagues is the U.K. role chairing a committee at CITES, the global treaty regulating trade in endangered wildlife. “Given the ongoing compliance proceedings and continued scrutiny, we do not advise ministers to engage formally with Vantara at this stage,” an unnamed DEFRA official wrote in an email on July 14. The government redacts names of many civil servants, reflecting a policy of withholding junior officials’ personal information unless they are public-facing or already considered public. In a separate internal briefing document obtained by Mongabay and The Guardian and sent later in July, U.K. officials also raised concerns about how the zoo has sought to acquire rare and endangered species. DEFRA’s headquarters in London. Image by Elisangela Mendonça. The zoo describes itself as a “wildlife rescue, rehabilitation and conservation centre” with more than 150,000 animals. In 2025, the organization drew official scrutiny after reports alleging it acquired endangered species illegally. The facility is not open&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/do-not-engage-formally-uk-officials-advised-against-billionaire-run-zoo-ahead-of-cites-meeting/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334634</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Diverse forests can better withstand extreme weather events, study finds. Here&#8217;s why</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/diverse-forests-can-better-withstand-extreme-weather-events-study-finds-heres-why/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/diverse-forests-can-better-withstand-extreme-weather-events-study-finds-heres-why/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Nov 2026 21:04:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claudia Geib]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/02164751/andy-holmes-TxkisEuUs7w-unsplash-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334712</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Earth Science, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Nature-based climate solutions, Plants, Research, Science, Solutions, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Forests around the world face mounting pressures as the climate changes.  In order to understand how they will fare, new research suggests looking at the forest for the trees — more specifically, the different types of trees within. The study, published in July in Nature Communications, examined thousands of acres of U.S. woodlands. It found [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Forests around the world face mounting pressures as the climate changes.  In order to understand how they will fare, new research suggests looking at the forest for the trees — more specifically, the different types of trees within. The study, published in July in Nature Communications, examined thousands of acres of U.S. woodlands. It found that the higher diversity of tree species in a forest, the better equipped it will be to handle the compound climate extremes that result from global warming, such as when extreme heat occurs at the same time as drought or unusually high rainfall. Previous research had already shown that diversity among tree species, broadly, made forests stronger. But most of this research had been smaller in scale, or on human-planted experimental plots. Confirming that diversity does indeed have a positive effect on the vast, complicated systems of natural forests somewhat surprised the paper’s lead author, Xuetao Qiao. “Before completing the analyses, we were genuinely uncertain whether we would be able to detect this relationship in real forests,” wrote Qiao, a postdoctoral researcher in ecology at Peking University in China, in an email to Mongabay. A mixture of five tree species at the Sardinilla plot in Panama, planted as part of the Tree Diversity Network. The plot reached 25 years in 2026, making it the oldest tropical tree diversity experiment, according to researchers. Image by Florian Schnabel. Additionally, most research into forests’ climate resilience has focused on how they weather single events, such as heat waves.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/diverse-forests-can-better-withstand-extreme-weather-events-study-finds-heres-why/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334712</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Extreme heat no longer confined to summer, extending health risks, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/extreme-heat-no-longer-confined-to-summer-extending-health-risks-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/extreme-heat-no-longer-confined-to-summer-extending-health-risks-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Nov 2026 20:16:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nick Ruggia]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/02155236/1-A_hot_day_in_Paris-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334688</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Heatwave, Impact Of Climate Change, Planetary Boundaries, Planetary Health, Public Health, Research, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[There was a time when, across large swathes of the world, the seasons fed into each other in a relatively predictable cycle of warmer and colder weather. In temperate nations, frigid winter thawed into spring. Spring bloomed into summer, where extreme heat beat down until cooler weather provided autumn’s relief. No longer. A recent study [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[There was a time when, across large swathes of the world, the seasons fed into each other in a relatively predictable cycle of warmer and colder weather. In temperate nations, frigid winter thawed into spring. Spring bloomed into summer, where extreme heat beat down until cooler weather provided autumn’s relief. No longer. A recent study of four-plus decades of global weather records found that these seasonal norms have been replaced by an expanded summertime with a dangerous surge in seasonally inappropriate extreme heat days, extending into spring and fall. “We already know that [heat] extremes are becoming more frequent. They’re becoming more intense. They’re lasting longer,” said lead author Casey Ivanovich, a climatologist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in the U.S. “We find that over the last 45 years, both extreme dry and extreme humid heat have expanded in their seasons over about half the globe.” Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., is experiencing an earlier wet heat season and a later dry heat season, which can’t be explained by the current research. While extreme heat days are increasing in both spring and fall globally, researchers note that these shifts vary across regions. Image by Amine Abassir via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). The team, including Ivanovich, Benjamin Cook of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and Sonali Shukla McDermid of New York University in the U.S., isolated the hottest 5% of days occurring around the globe using data from both NASA and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather forecasts. They&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/extreme-heat-no-longer-confined-to-summer-extending-health-risks-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334688</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ranchers in Brazil ordered to leave home of Indigenous people living in voluntary isolation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/ranchers-in-brazil-ordered-to-leave-home-of-indigenous-people-living-in-voluntary-isolation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/ranchers-in-brazil-ordered-to-leave-home-of-indigenous-people-living-in-voluntary-isolation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Nov 2026 18:25:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/02141949/cattle-rancher-mato-grosso-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334652</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Cattle, Conservation, Culture, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Law, Law Enforcement, Protected Areas, Tropical Deforestation, and Uncontacted Tribes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A federal judge in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state has ordered individuals, along with their employees, animals, machinery, equipment and movable property, to leave the Piripkura Indigenous Territory within 120 days. The Oct. 7 ruling reverses an earlier, contentious decision that allowed certain people to remain in the territory until the conclusion of the demarcation process. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A federal judge in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state has ordered individuals, along with their employees, animals, machinery, equipment and movable property, to leave the Piripkura Indigenous Territory within 120 days. The Oct. 7 ruling reverses an earlier, contentious decision that allowed certain people to remain in the territory until the conclusion of the demarcation process. The new ruling comes after Funai, Brazil&#8217;s Indigenous affairs agency, and Brazil’s environmental protection agency (IBAMA) discovered clandestine airstrips for drug trafficking and new deforestation associated with cattle ranching inside the territory. A judge has set a daily fine of 500 Brazilian reais (about $93) for those who remain after 120 days. Since 2008, the area has been under a special protection regime to prevent outsiders from entering the land, though a 2025 court decision provisionally allowed some ranchers to remain. This decision was based on a provision of the contentious Marco Temporal law which stated that, until an Indigenous territory’s demarcation is completed and compensation for improvements made in good faith has been paid, non-Indigenous occupants retain certain rights to possess and use the land. In Dec. 2025, Brazil’s Supreme Court struck down the Marco Temporal Law, declaring it unconstitutional. The territory is home to at least two Indigenous Piripkura people who live in voluntary isolation. Funai has not yet ruled out the possibility that more isolated people live there. The new ruling “represents a very important step forward for the protection of the Piripkura, both for its practical effects and for the recognition&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/ranchers-in-brazil-ordered-to-leave-home-of-indigenous-people-living-in-voluntary-isolation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334652</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New index tracks countries’ vulnerability to conflict between large and small-scale fishers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/new-index-tracks-countries-vulnerability-to-conflict-between-large-and-small-scale-fishers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/new-index-tracks-countries-vulnerability-to-conflict-between-large-and-small-scale-fishers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Nov 2026 17:19:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/02153353/3-coast-of-Gambia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334678</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Conflict, Conservation, Environment, Fisheries, Fishing, Food, Food Industry, food security, Governance, Industrial Agriculture, Industry, Marine, Marine Conservation, Natural Resources, Oceans, and Resource Conflict]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Competition between small-scale fishers and industrial vessels can threaten food security and livelihoods in coastal communities, especially in the Global South. A new study looks at which countries are most vulnerable to this competition and other forms of conflict between the two sectors, such as disputes over fishing grounds or damage to gear. The study, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Competition between small-scale fishers and industrial vessels can threaten food security and livelihoods in coastal communities, especially in the Global South. A new study looks at which countries are most vulnerable to this competition and other forms of conflict between the two sectors, such as disputes over fishing grounds or damage to gear. The study, published Oct. 22 in the journal Nature Food, introduces an index that scores 126 countries on their vulnerability to such conflicts. The scores are based on factors such as how much industrial activity occurs near shore, how reliant countries are on small-scale fishing for food and income, and how weak their governance systems are. Africa ranked as the most vulnerable region, followed by Oceania, Asia and Central and South America. West Africa and South Asia are the most vulnerable subregions, according to the index. At the country level, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Mozambique received the highest conflict vulnerability scores worldwide. “There are lots of diverse ways that industrial fisheries can impact small-scale fisheries,” Melissa Cronin, an assistant professor of fisheries oceanography at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in the U.S. and lead author of the study, told Mongabay. One of the most straightforward ways is via competition for the “exact same target fish species,” she said. “Because industrial vessels or large-scale vessels are so efficient technologically, they can fish much more quickly and … be this kind of bigger predator in the system and outcompete those small-scale fishers. Cronin said she’d become interested in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/new-index-tracks-countries-vulnerability-to-conflict-between-large-and-small-scale-fishers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334678</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Zanzibar&#8217;s seaweed farmers seek better future through science and partnership (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/zanzibars-seaweed-farmers-see-better-future-through-science-and-partnership-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/zanzibars-seaweed-farmers-see-better-future-through-science-and-partnership-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Nov 2026 17:13:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jenny KrusoeLisa KurbielMariam Mwinyi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/02164416/IMG_7179-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334703</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Global, Indian Ocean, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[algae, Aquaculture, Business, Commentary, Community Development, Conservation, Developing Countries, Development, Environment, Gender, Marine Conservation, Natural Resources, Oceans, Sustainable Development, Trade, and Traditional Knowledge]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Along Zanzibar&#8217;s coastline, thousands of women rise with the tides to cultivate one of our islands&#8217; most important natural resources. Day after day, they wade into the ocean, tending lines of seaweed that support households, strengthen communities, and contribute to a sector that has long been a source of livelihoods and opportunity. Their work reflects [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Along Zanzibar&#8217;s coastline, thousands of women rise with the tides to cultivate one of our islands&#8217; most important natural resources. Day after day, they wade into the ocean, tending lines of seaweed that support households, strengthen communities, and contribute to a sector that has long been a source of livelihoods and opportunity. Their work reflects a remarkable combination of skill, perseverance, and adaptation. For decades, these women have sustained an industry that has connected Zanzibar to global markets while providing income in coastal communities. As climate change reshapes marine ecosystems and global demand evolves, the resilience of these farmers offers an important foundation on which to build the next chapter of the seaweed economy. Each of us is directly connected to this work: Mwinyi serves as First Lady of Zanzibar, Kurbiel leads the U.N. Joint SDG Fund, which supports Zanzibar’s seaweed sector, and Krusoe founded AltaSea, which has participated in international efforts to advance research and investment in the sector. Seaweed farmers in Zanzibar tend their crops using traditional methods. Image courtesy of Kevin Gaines/Kelp Ark. We come to this issue from different backgrounds, but we share a common conviction: Zanzibar&#8217;s seaweed farmers are not the challenge facing the industry. They are its greatest asset. The opportunity before us is to ensure that research, innovation, infrastructure, and investment evolve alongside their commitment and expertise. Across the world, agricultural and marine industries are increasingly turning to science to address the pressures created by climate change, disease, and changing environmental conditions. Zanzibar&#8217;s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/zanzibars-seaweed-farmers-see-better-future-through-science-and-partnership-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334703</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ecotourism may deter hunters, but also keeps wildlife away, Laos study suggests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/ecotourism-may-deter-hunters-but-also-keeps-wildlife-away-laos-study-suggests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/ecotourism-may-deter-hunters-but-also-keeps-wildlife-away-laos-study-suggests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Nov 2026 14:32:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/02142348/Asian_Black_Bear_cubs_Ursus_thibetanus_in_Khao_Yai_national_park_24405284880-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334667</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Laos, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Camera Trapping, Conservation, Ecosystems, Ecotourism, Environment, Forests, Governance, Hunting, Mammals, Monitoring, Over-hunting, Rainforests, Research, Tourism, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Clouded leopards, sun bears, and other medium to large mammals living in a protected but intensively hunted landscape in northern Laos might be selecting their forest hangouts based on the chatter of hikers and splashes of kayakers, according to new research. The study, published in Global Ecology and Conservation, used camera-trap data from between 2013 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Clouded leopards, sun bears, and other medium to large mammals living in a protected but intensively hunted landscape in northern Laos might be selecting their forest hangouts based on the chatter of hikers and splashes of kayakers, according to new research. The study, published in Global Ecology and Conservation, used camera-trap data from between 2013 and 2019 to investigate whether an award-winning community-based ecotourism initiative that has operated tours in Nam Ha National Protected Area since 1999 brings any benefits to local wildlife populations by creating a safe haven from hunting pressure. “Hunting is a really integral part of the local culture, some of it legal, some of it illegal,” William Bleisch, lead author of the study and former program director at the Hong Kong-based China Exploration and Research Society, told Mongabay in an interview. Bleisch said he and his colleagues were curious to find out whether tourism created “a kind of refuge” where people would forgo hunting either because they could see the economic and social benefits of wildlife tourism or because they were afraid of being reported by guides or tourists. To test their theory, the team set up camera traps at 59 sites across the landscape, both within tourism hotspots and at more remote locations in the forest reserve. They recorded a total 45 species of medium to large mammals across the whole landscape, including 15 globally threatened species. They found an average 4.58 species at sites close to trekking trails and kayaking routes, and almost twice&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/ecotourism-may-deter-hunters-but-also-keeps-wildlife-away-laos-study-suggests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/ecotourism-may-deter-hunters-but-also-keeps-wildlife-away-laos-study-suggests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334667</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cyanide ponds from illegal mining threaten Amazon Indigenous territory</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/cyanide-ponds-from-illegal-mining-threaten-amazon-indigenous-territory/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/cyanide-ponds-from-illegal-mining-threaten-amazon-indigenous-territory/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Nov 2026 14:12:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Oliveira]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/20111822/Ibama-2026_03_25_Op_Xapiri_capa-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333213</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Chemicals, Conflict, Conservation, Crime, Culture, Degraded Lands, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, extractives, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Gold Mining, Governance, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Health, Human Rights, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Land Grabbing, Law, Law Enforcement, Mercury, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, Protected Areas, Public Health, Rainforests, Resource Conflict, Water, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With mercury increasingly hard to get, illegal gold miners have turned to a cheaper, deadlier alternative.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Cyanide use in illegal gold mining in the Brazilian Amazon is posing a new threat to people and animals in the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Territory. The territory, in the state of Roraima, has been invaded by illegal miners who use cyanide to dissolve gold out of crushed ore, leaving behind ponds of cyanide-contaminated water. In July, the Federal Police arrested two men and seized from them approximately 375 kilograms (827 pounds) of a “chemical compound with characteristics consistent with cyanide,” as well as 1,250 kg (2,756 lb) of activated charcoal — another substance used in gold processing in Roraima. According to the police, the seizures are linked to illegal gold mining in the Indigenous territory. A year earlier, in July 2025, the Federal Police closed down an illegal laboratory in Boa Vista, the state capital, where rocks thought to have come from gold mining and areas of water contaminated with cyanide were found. According to the G1 news outlet, the rocks reportedly came from Raposa Serra do Sol, with miners sending them to the capital for the gold-washing and separation process. Traditionally, illegal miners extract gold from ore using mercury — a toxic substance whose trade is illegal in Brazil. With intensified environmental raids, mercury availability on the informal market has fallen dramatically, according to Brazil’s environmental agency, IBAMA. Because no companies are authorized to legally sell mercury in the country, the product has become significantly more expensive on the black market, where a 1.5-liter (50-ounce) bottle can&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/cyanide-ponds-from-illegal-mining-threaten-amazon-indigenous-territory/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/cyanide-ponds-from-illegal-mining-threaten-amazon-indigenous-territory/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333213</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Experts warn of long-term health risks as Indonesia’s wildfire haze takes a growing toll</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/experts-warn-of-long-term-health-risks-as-indonesias-wildfire-haze-takes-a-growing-toll/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/experts-warn-of-long-term-health-risks-as-indonesias-wildfire-haze-takes-a-growing-toll/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Nov 2026 08:31:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Yenni Kwok]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/10131647/warga-Kalsel-saat-kabut-asap-1200x800-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334640</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Kalimantan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Climate, Disasters, El Nino, Extreme Weather, Fires, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, One Health, Peatlands, Planetary Health, Pollution, and Public Health]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Michael’s 20-month-old daughter began coughing and had shortness of breath in early October, as thick haze from wildfires blanketed Balikpapan, the capital of Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province. He and his wife took the toddler to a private hospital, where she was diagnosed with pneumonia. An X-ray showed an infiltrate in the upper part [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Michael’s 20-month-old daughter began coughing and had shortness of breath in early October, as thick haze from wildfires blanketed Balikpapan, the capital of Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province. He and his wife took the toddler to a private hospital, where she was diagnosed with pneumonia. An X-ray showed an infiltrate in the upper part of the girl’s left lung. “We were told that one factor that could have contributed to the illness was the smoke, which has also been getting thicker in Balikpapan,” Michael told Mongabay Indonesia on Oct. 14, 2026. With the air quality index reaching “unhealthy” levels in the city, the couple limited their daughter’s time outdoors. A day later, more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) away, in the East Kalimantan city of Samarinda, a 14-month-old baby died after suddenly experiencing shortness of breath. The family of the toddler, Yazlyn Syanindita, suspects she died because of the thick smog enveloping the city. “Her shortness of breath was so sudden,” Yazlyn’s grandfather, Sarno, told Mongabay Indonesia. “She had no previous illnesses.” Her mother Cindy, 25, said what happened to her daughter shouldn&#8217;t happen to other children and urged the government not to downplay the impact of fires. “The government must not turn a blind eye,” she said, as quoted by BBC Indonesia. “Don’t say the haze isn’t severe. Many people are suffering from acute respiratory infections. Yesterday, in the inpatient ward, I saw three toddlers struggling to breathe.” Health risks also extend to those fighting the fires. At&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/experts-warn-of-long-term-health-risks-as-indonesias-wildfire-haze-takes-a-growing-toll/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/experts-warn-of-long-term-health-risks-as-indonesias-wildfire-haze-takes-a-growing-toll/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334640</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Environmental defenders testify about attacks in Latin America linked to Canadian mining companies</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/environmental-defenders-testify-about-attacks-in-latin-america-linked-to-canadian-mining-companies/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/environmental-defenders-testify-about-attacks-in-latin-america-linked-to-canadian-mining-companies/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Oct 2026 18:16:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Annie Burns-Pieper]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/31174758/a.-Photo-3-Earthworks-Mayerly-IACHR-Hearing-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334622</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada, Colombia, and Panama]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples, Mining, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights heard testimony Oct. 27 from representatives of six countries alleging harm linked to Canadian mining companies&#8217; operations, including four alleged attacks on environmental defenders. The regional agency gathered in Panama to examine Canada’s obligations with respect to its extractive companies and their impact overseas on human rights and the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights heard testimony Oct. 27 from representatives of six countries alleging harm linked to Canadian mining companies&#8217; operations, including four alleged attacks on environmental defenders. The regional agency gathered in Panama to examine Canada’s obligations with respect to its extractive companies and their impact overseas on human rights and the environment. Canada is home to about half of the world’s publicly listed mining and mineral exploration companies with operations both in Canada and abroad. The latest revelations add to long-standing concerns about the conduct of Canadian mining companies overseas. Marco Manobanda, an Indigenous fish-farmer from Las Naves, Ecuador, testified that the El Domo copper and gold mine, owned by two Vancouver-based companies, Silvercorp Metals Inc. and Salazar Resources Ltd., is causing deforestation and water contamination where he lives, impacting the ecosystem and his livelihood. “If this mining continues, they&#8217;re going to keep polluting our water, and we&#8217;ll run out of resources. And since we make our living from that land and its resources, where are we supposed to go?” Manobanda said. The hearing comes about four months after the government eliminated the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE), which was created to investigate complaints about human rights abuses and environmental harm linked to Canadian companies in the garment, mining and oil and gas sectors operating outside of Canada. In the wake of this decision, advocates say they have been left with limited options to seek meaningful redress. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is an&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/environmental-defenders-testify-about-attacks-in-latin-america-linked-to-canadian-mining-companies/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/environmental-defenders-testify-about-attacks-in-latin-america-linked-to-canadian-mining-companies/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334622</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Leaders grapple with finance and harmful subsidies at UN’s COP17 biodiversity conference</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/leaders-grapple-with-finance-and-harmful-subsidies-at-uns-cop17-biodiversity-conference/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/leaders-grapple-with-finance-and-harmful-subsidies-at-uns-cop17-biodiversity-conference/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Oct 2026 07:07:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/31062001/DSC_9185-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334599</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Finance, and Finance]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[YEREVAN, Armenia — Visitors entering the main hallway of the 2026 U.N. biodiversity conference (COP17) encounter a mural of a herd of elephants. The installation, led by the NGO Friends of the Earth International, doesn’t celebrate the gains that some elephant populations have made in recent decades. Instead, it uses the &#8220;elephants in the room&#8221; [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[YEREVAN, Armenia — Visitors entering the main hallway of the 2026 U.N. biodiversity conference (COP17) encounter a mural of a herd of elephants. The installation, led by the NGO Friends of the Earth International, doesn’t celebrate the gains that some elephant populations have made in recent decades. Instead, it uses the &#8220;elephants in the room&#8221; metaphor for the entrenched, but often-ignored financial systems that lead to widespread biodiversity destruction. &#8220;It is astounding that the global economy is spending only $1 on nature protection for each $30 that it spends on nature destruction,&#8221; said An Lambrechts, a biodiversity politics expert with Greenpeace International, at a COP17 press conference. Lambrechts was referring to a key finding from the State of Finance for Nature 2026 report from the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP). WWF International&#8217;s recent Living Planet report found that populations of wild vertebrates fell by an average of 73% between 1970 and 2022. The authors tagged climate change, agriculture and — notably — the flow of money toward nature-averse industries and practices. Industrial logging in Papua New Guinea’s New Ireland province. Image by John Cannon/Mongabay. The 196 parties that adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) in 2022 laid out the ambition in its Target 18 of slashing $500 billion annually from subsidies and other financial support for activities that harm biodiversity. Unsustainable fishing and industrial agriculture, for example, contribute directly to the dwindling of plant, animal and fungal life. But financial support for such “nature-negative” activities remains high — at $7.3&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/leaders-grapple-with-finance-and-harmful-subsidies-at-uns-cop17-biodiversity-conference/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334599</doi>				</item>
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