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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/nigeria/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Sat, 08 Aug 2026 14:23:17 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Nigeria environmental news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/nigeria/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Before giant meat producer JBS expands to Nigeria, people deserve answers (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/before-giant-meat-producer-jbs-expands-to-nigeria-people-deserve-answers-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/before-giant-meat-producer-jbs-expands-to-nigeria-people-deserve-answers-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jul 2026 00:17:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Felix Horne]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/02/01174203/Foto-3-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324939</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Global, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Business, Cattle, Climate, Climate Change, Commentary, Deforestation, Environment, Food, Food Industry, food security, Governance, Natural Resources, and Nutrition]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nigeria may soon become the site of one of the largest livestock investments in its history. JBS, the world&#8217;s largest meat company, is pursuing a reported $2.5 billion investment that could reshape parts of the country&#8217;s agricultural sector. The proposal has been welcomed by many for its potential economic benefits, but before it moves forward, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nigeria may soon become the site of one of the largest livestock investments in its history. JBS, the world&#8217;s largest meat company, is pursuing a reported $2.5 billion investment that could reshape parts of the country&#8217;s agricultural sector. The proposal has been welcomed by many for its potential economic benefits, but before it moves forward, Nigerians deserve clear answers about what it could mean for communities, land, water, and the climate. Much of the discussion around the project has focused on jobs, agricultural development, food security, and economic opportunity. Those are important goals. But there is another dimension that deserves far greater scrutiny: Methane. JBS is not simply the world&#8217;s largest meat producer. It is also responsible for more methane emissions than ExxonMobil and Shell combined, according to estimates published by Greenpeace in 2024. JBS undoubtedly disputes these figures, but the broader point is difficult to ignore: When measured by climate impact, the world&#8217;s largest livestock companies increasingly belong in the same conversation as the world&#8217;s largest fossil fuel companies. Methane rarely attracts the same public attention as carbon dioxide, yet it is responsible for roughly a third of the warming the world is experiencing today. Because it traps far more heat than carbon dioxide over the short term, cutting methane emissions is widely seen as one of the fastest ways to slow near-term climate change. Much of the public debate focuses on oil and gas. But industrial livestock production is also a major source, accounting for much of the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/before-giant-meat-producer-jbs-expands-to-nigeria-people-deserve-answers-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/before-giant-meat-producer-jbs-expands-to-nigeria-people-deserve-answers-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324939</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Confronting culture to protect vultures: Interview with Nigeria’s Michael Williams</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/confronting-culture-to-protect-vultures-interview-with-nigerias-michael-williams/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/confronting-culture-to-protect-vultures-interview-with-nigerias-michael-williams/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jul 2026 15:09:45 +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/20/2026/07/07181032/Hooded_vulture_landing_on_its_roost-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322791</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Culture, Endangered Species, Environment, Fellows, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Mongabay.org, Vultures, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Known for their unique ability to polish off animal carcasses and minimize the potential for disease outbreaks, vultures are one of the most endangered bird groups on the planet today.  Around many parts of West Africa, especially Nigeria, their populations have plummeted, thanks largely to commercial poaching and traditional beliefs that prize vulture parts as [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Known for their unique ability to polish off animal carcasses and minimize the potential for disease outbreaks, vultures are one of the most endangered bird groups on the planet today.  Around many parts of West Africa, especially Nigeria, their populations have plummeted, thanks largely to commercial poaching and traditional beliefs that prize vulture parts as vital ingredients for traditional medicine. Most of the historic resident species have been locally extirpated — and those remaining are declining sharply too. Ornithologist Michael Manja Williams is no stranger to this decline in Nigeria’s wild vulture population. Growing up in Plateau State, Middle Belt Nigeria, Williams typically saw committees of vultures perched on rooftops in his community. “All of a sudden, we no longer saw them again,” he said. This disappearance would pique his curiosity, leading him on to many different research surveys across Nigerian states and eventually inspiring a lifelong career in vulture conservation. A Ph.D. student at Nigeria’s Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Williams is currently the coordinator for endangered species conservation at Biota Conservation Hub Foundation, a nonprofit where he leads research on endangered bird species and wildlife animals. In a recent Zoom interview with Mongabay, Williams shared insights from his countrywide field studies, the present shift in the perception of vultures among younger generations, and why policy reforms and community-based conservation are essential in offsetting Nigeria’s diminished vulture numbers. Michael Manja Williams looking through his camera on a field trip. Image courtesy of Michael Manja Williams. This interview has been lightly&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/confronting-culture-to-protect-vultures-interview-with-nigerias-michael-williams/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/confronting-culture-to-protect-vultures-interview-with-nigerias-michael-williams/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322791</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The women leading a quiet conservation revolution in a Nigerian gorilla sanctuary</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-women-leading-a-quiet-conservation-revolution-in-a-nigerian-gorilla-sanctuary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-women-leading-a-quiet-conservation-revolution-in-a-nigerian-gorilla-sanctuary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jul 2026 19:06:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Orji Sunday]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/06183609/IMG_5299_UlomWomen-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322651</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Crime, Culture, Ecosystems, Environment, Freshwater, Gender, Gorillas, Governance, Great Apes, Illegal Logging, Mammals, Primates, Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BOKI, Nigeria — The morning light fills Ulom with warmth and radiance. A dome of mountains, their green vegetation spread out like giant green walls, is visible at the edge of this serene village in Nigeria’s southeast. In the king’s palace, a women&#8217;s group kicks off its monthly meeting with prayers and choruses. Today’s meeting [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BOKI, Nigeria — The morning light fills Ulom with warmth and radiance. A dome of mountains, their green vegetation spread out like giant green walls, is visible at the edge of this serene village in Nigeria’s southeast. In the king’s palace, a women&#8217;s group kicks off its monthly meeting with prayers and choruses. Today’s meeting centers on river pollution, a significant issue being addressed as part of a broader initiative to save Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary (AMWS), a 100-square-kilometer (39-square-mile) wildlife hotspot situated near Ulom. Gazetted in 2000, the sanctuary is inhabited by the critically endangered Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli), endangered Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes ellioti) and drills (Mandrillus leucophaeus); porcupines; duikers; and dozens of bird, bat, and butterfly species. Afi is the shared heritage of 16 villages, including Ulom, broadly known as the sanctuary’s landlords. Together, these communities have set up initiatives and bylaws aimed at protecting the hotspot, often in collaboration with nonprofits and other stakeholders. The women&#8217;s collective meeting here today is one signal of a growing surge of women’s conservation leadership across the host communities. Asu Margaret, the group secretary, reads aloud from a notebook. &#8220;In our previous meeting we discussed how to prevent wildfires in the Afi Mountains,” she says. “We rejected the felling of trees. We maintain the ban on timber dealers.” Only about 300 Cross River gorillas are estimated to survive in the wild; roughly 100 of them live in a patchwork of interconnected protected areas that includes Afi, Mbe Mountains,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-women-leading-a-quiet-conservation-revolution-in-a-nigerian-gorilla-sanctuary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-women-leading-a-quiet-conservation-revolution-in-a-nigerian-gorilla-sanctuary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322651</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Despite oil spills in Nigeria&#8217;s mangrove forests, Shell continued operations, documents show</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/despite-oil-spills-in-nigerias-mangrove-forests-shell-continued-operations-documents-show/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/despite-oil-spills-in-nigerias-mangrove-forests-shell-continued-operations-documents-show/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jun 2026 14:28:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David AkanaVictoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/05232017/AP788278067772-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320681</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Forest Loss, Forests, Industry, Law, Mangroves, Marine, Oil, Oil Spills, Pollution, Water, Water Pollution, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Global oil giant Shell continued operating a compromised pipeline in Nigeria’s Niger Delta despite knowing it posed a pollution risk in the surrounding coastal wetland environment, newly disclosed internal company communications reveal. The emails and memos, reviewed by Mongabay, show senior leadership knew of the poor conditions of the 97-kilometer (60-mile) Nembe Creek Trunk Line [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Global oil giant Shell continued operating a compromised pipeline in Nigeria’s Niger Delta despite knowing it posed a pollution risk in the surrounding coastal wetland environment, newly disclosed internal company communications reveal. The emails and memos, reviewed by Mongabay, show senior leadership knew of the poor conditions of the 97-kilometer (60-mile) Nembe Creek Trunk Line as early as 2008. Despite concerns it was operating outside technical integrity standards and proposals to shut it down, a top executive decided to keep pumping oil through the line. Carrying 150,000 barrels of oil per day to the export terminal at Bonny Island Rivers state, the Nembe Creek Trunk Line is a critical oil artery in Nigeria. Throughout the years, theft from the pipeline using illegal connections caused spills into the vast mangrove ecosystem of true (Rhizophora sp.) and flowering black (Avicennia sp.) tree species. An internal 2013 Shell document coded such tampered lines as “red,” requiring either their immediate shutdown or immediate action to remove all illegal connections. Locals from the nearby riverine Bille community said the oil spills killed about 2,000 hectares (4,900 acres) of mangrove swamps around the village while impacting an area of 13,200 hectares (32,600 acres). The contaminated waterways and degraded ecosystem, they told Mongabay, killed fish and other aquatic life. Satellite imagery surrounding the village shows massive degradation of the mangroves. &#8220;The aquatic life is gone. Our people can no longer go to the river and catch reasonable fish — they can&#8217;t even find the fish in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/despite-oil-spills-in-nigerias-mangrove-forests-shell-continued-operations-documents-show/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320681</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A Nigerian teen is turning agricultural waste into biodegradable sanitary pads</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/a-nigerian-teen-is-turning-agricultural-waste-into-biodegradable-sanitary-pads/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/a-nigerian-teen-is-turning-agricultural-waste-into-biodegradable-sanitary-pads/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 May 2026 07:36:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimable Twahirwa]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/28073436/665830-PantiPads-8f54a6-original-1775732022-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320234</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Circular Economy, Innovation, Prizes, Waste, and Women In Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For many Nigerian women, access to sanitary pads remains a challenge. Even those who can obtain them, the prevalence of single-use menstrual products creates problems of its own. They contain plastics and chemicals and are not eco-friendly generating large amounts of waste. After learning that many traditional sanitary pads used contain up to 90% plastic [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For many Nigerian women, access to sanitary pads remains a challenge. Even those who can obtain them, the prevalence of single-use menstrual products creates problems of its own. They contain plastics and chemicals and are not eco-friendly generating large amounts of waste. After learning that many traditional sanitary pads used contain up to 90% plastic and can take hundreds of years to decompose, Nigerian teenager Raheema Auwal-Panti saw an opportunity to support women while helping the environment. The 15-year-old decided to use low-grade agricultural waste to make sanitary pads. She was motivated by a desire “to sweep up plastic pollution” in Nigeria. “[Even] if no one does something about it, I could do something about it,” said Auwal-Panti, who hails from Minna, the capital of Niger state in Nigeria. She founded ‘PantiPads’ in 2025. Auwal-Panti’s project was selected in a shortlist of 35 global teams for the 2026 Earth Prize, organized by the Earth Foundation, a Switzerland-based nonprofit that empowers, educates and inspires young people to tackle environmental challenges. In northern Nigeria, cassava processing generates significant agricultural waste, which poses environmental risks, particularly to soil quality. The waste includes solid and liquid components, such as cassava peelings, dried with non-dried banana leaves and corn husks. The biomass-rich waste, if poorly managed, can lead to environmental degradation, including organic pollution of water bodies and soil contamination. “Using these wastes to develop eco-friendly pads is currently helping to address menstrual stigma which remains a significant public health challenge that affects girls&#8217; education and overall well-being&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/a-nigerian-teen-is-turning-agricultural-waste-into-biodegradable-sanitary-pads/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/a-nigerian-teen-is-turning-agricultural-waste-into-biodegradable-sanitary-pads/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320234</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nigeria aims for stronger wildlife protections with sweeping new law</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nigeria-aims-for-stronger-wildlife-protections-with-sweeping-new-law/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nigeria-aims-for-stronger-wildlife-protections-with-sweeping-new-law/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 May 2026 10:52:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Valentine Benjamin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/13141332/WhiteBelliedPangolin.Phataginus-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319185</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Crime, Forests, Illegal Trade, Ivory, Mammals, Pangolins, Poaching, Trade, Wildlife Rangers, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In recent years, spectacular seizures of illegally trafficked wildlife products, including consignments of ivory and pangolin scales weighing several tons, have provided plenty of evidence of Nigeria’s position as a hub for international trafficking rings operating across Africa, Europe and Asia. In October 2025, the country’s Senate passed a new bill to strengthen the country’s [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In recent years, spectacular seizures of illegally trafficked wildlife products, including consignments of ivory and pangolin scales weighing several tons, have provided plenty of evidence of Nigeria’s position as a hub for international trafficking rings operating across Africa, Europe and Asia. In October 2025, the country’s Senate passed a new bill to strengthen the country’s wildlife legislation. As the bill awaits the president’s signature, its supporters say the country now has the basis for stronger wildlife protection on paper, but the government will need to provide agencies with the resources, coordination and political backing to enforce the law. “This new bill addresses long-existing gaps in our legal framework,” the bill’s sponsor and vice chair of the environment committee in the House of Representatives, Terseer Ugbor, told Mongabay in September 2025. “The old law was riddled with ambiguities. It failed to specify whether its provisions applied only to international wildlife trade or also to domestic transactions.” Despite many headline seizures of illegally trafficked wildlife, including pangolin scales and ivory, these busts rarely result in prosecution of traffickers. Mongabay previously examined official records covering the decade from 2012-21 and found just 11 cases had gone to court — just three convictions were secured. In each case, those found guilty paid a fine equivalent to $240 to avoid a three-year jail sentence. In interviews with prosecutors, enforcement officials, campaigners and traders at wildlife markets at the time, Mongabay heard that in most cases, seizures of contraband were not followed by investigation; the same&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/nigeria-aims-for-stronger-wildlife-protections-with-sweeping-new-law/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319185</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nigerian bat specialist wins Goldman Prize for community conservation work</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/nigerian-bat-specialist-wins-goldman-prize-for-community-conservation-work/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/nigerian-bat-specialist-wins-goldman-prize-for-community-conservation-work/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2026 18:59:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ini Ekott]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/20162403/TanshiEtAlDataCollection_OdukpaniNigeria_EtinosaYvonneGoldmanEnvironmentalPrize-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317806</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the forested highlands of southern Nigeria’s Cross River state, plumes of smoke signal the annual fire season from January to April, when farmers routinely use fire to clear new land for planting cacao, maize and cassava. In five villages near the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, the period is also marked by another signal: the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the forested highlands of southern Nigeria’s Cross River state, plumes of smoke signal the annual fire season from January to April, when farmers routinely use fire to clear new land for planting cacao, maize and cassava. In five villages near the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, the period is also marked by another signal: the sound of metal gongs announcing weather conditions too risky to set fires. In Buanchor and four other villages, on days when dangerously dry conditions prevail, town criers fan out with gongs to warn residents not to burn the bush. Since 2022, weather stations set up in each of the communities track temperature, humidity and wind. The data are used to produce a daily alert that’s displayed on a signboard in each village, color-coded green for safe, yellow — when there’s been no rain for two weeks — for caution, and red for high danger. On high-risk days, 50 trained forest guardians patrol danger zones equipped with water backpacks, GPS, radios, fire boots and motorcycles. Anyone caught setting a fire on a “no-burn” day faces a fine equivalent to between $4 and $14 under a community bylaw. These fire prevention efforts stem from an unlikely source: In 2016, ecologist and bat specialist Iroro Tanshi witnessed a wildfire that swept from farmland into the 100-square-kilometer (38.6-square-mile) Afi sanctuary, where she was exploring caves that provide roosts for several bat species. She and her team had just discovered the caves harbored the short-tailed roundleaf bat (Hipposideros curtus), last&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/nigerian-bat-specialist-wins-goldman-prize-for-community-conservation-work/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/nigerian-bat-specialist-wins-goldman-prize-for-community-conservation-work/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317806</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Strait of Hormuz crisis should catalyze African biofertilizer production (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/strait-of-hormuz-crisis-should-catalyze-african-biofertilizer-production-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/strait-of-hormuz-crisis-should-catalyze-african-biofertilizer-production-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Apr 2026 00:44:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Susan Chomba]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/23081210/44366384701_940bc33dc5_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317598</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Agroecology, Biochar, Business, Conflict, Fertilizers, Food, food security, International Trade, Subsistence Agriculture, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Trade, and War]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In early mornings across rural Kenya, as the long rains approach, farmers are already at work. Fields are being cleared, seeds checked, and planting plans quietly rehearsed. But this year, alongside the usual uncertainties about soil quality, rain and pests, there is a more pressing question: will there be enough fertilizer, and will it be [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In early mornings across rural Kenya, as the long rains approach, farmers are already at work. Fields are being cleared, seeds checked, and planting plans quietly rehearsed. But this year, alongside the usual uncertainties about soil quality, rain and pests, there is a more pressing question: will there be enough fertilizer, and will it be affordable? Reports from the Middle East echo through their favorite radio stations as they wonder about the war’s effect on their lives. As tensions disrupt food, fuel and fertilizer flows through the Strait of Hormuz — a key artery for global exports and imports into Iran — Africa’s dependence on imported synthetic inputs is once again exposed. For many countries, from 20% to more than 50% of fertilizer supplies originate from Persian Gulf nations. Besides the production of fertilizer, fossil fuels are also crucial for driving farming machinery such as tractors, irrigation pumps, and of course vehicles that transport food from farms to markets. Africa is aware of her vulnerability as a result of the war in Iran and the previous disruptions from COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, which have triggered policy and economic consequences. Frameworks such as the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan 2024-2034 aim to reduce reliance on imports by fostering local production. Currently, the Dangote Group, which operates Africa&#8217;s largest chemical fertilizer manufacturing complex, based in Nigeria, plans to triple its production to 9 million metric tons per annum. The group is also starting the construction of a $2&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/strait-of-hormuz-crisis-should-catalyze-african-biofertilizer-production-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/strait-of-hormuz-crisis-should-catalyze-african-biofertilizer-production-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317598</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cameroon’s decade of conflict leaves apes and conservationists in peril</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cameroons-decade-of-conflict-leaves-apes-and-conservationists-in-peril/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cameroons-decade-of-conflict-leaves-apes-and-conservationists-in-peril/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 21:19:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Orji Sunday]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/03202651/c.-%C2%A9WCS-Nigeria-Chimp-RCNX1088-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315157</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Cameroon, Central Africa, and Nigeria]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Chimpanzees, Conflict, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Gorillas, Human Rights, Mammals, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In August 2025, Louis Nkembi, founder of conservation NGO ERuDeF, was abducted by militia fighters in Cameroon’s Lebialem Highlands. He was held for two weeks, hidden in a secret location inside a forest. “It was a traumatic experience,” he recalls. “I can’t go back to that area until everything is resolved.” Though Nkembi was eventually [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In August 2025, Louis Nkembi, founder of conservation NGO ERuDeF, was abducted by militia fighters in Cameroon’s Lebialem Highlands. He was held for two weeks, hidden in a secret location inside a forest. “It was a traumatic experience,” he recalls. “I can’t go back to that area until everything is resolved.” Though Nkembi was eventually freed, his ordeal sheds light on the risks facing scientists, researchers, eco-guards and conservation workers protecting apes in Cameroon’s conflict hotspots, including the Lebialem Highlands. Lebialem is a global biodiversity hotspot in Cameroon’s southwest, host to dozens of endemic and threatened species, including critically endangered Cross River gorillas (Gorilla gorilla diehli), Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes ellioti), African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis), leopards (Panthera pardus), dwarf galagos (Galagoides demidovii) and white-bellied pangolins (Phataginus tricuspis). Camera trap photo of a Cross River gorillas(Gorilla gorilla deihli). Fewer than 300 are believed to survive, making them the rarest great ape subspecies. Image by ©WCS Nigeria. This irresistible richness is the root of Nkembi’s love for Lebialem. He’s spent nearly three decades documenting, surveying and conserving the area through ERuDeF (the Environmental and Rural Development Foundation), which he founded in 1999. In late 2016, Lebialem, like dozens of other parks, reserves and sanctuaries in the region, was swept up in armed conflict that continues to wrack Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions. “It was something that took all of us by surprise,” Ndimuh Bertrand, executive director of Voice of Nature (VoNat), a conservation organization based in the Southwest capital Buea, tells&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cameroons-decade-of-conflict-leaves-apes-and-conservationists-in-peril/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cameroons-decade-of-conflict-leaves-apes-and-conservationists-in-peril/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315157</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Recycling startups test limits of private solutions to deluge of waste in Lagos</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/recycling-startups-test-limits-of-private-solutions-to-deluge-of-waste-in-lagos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/recycling-startups-test-limits-of-private-solutions-to-deluge-of-waste-in-lagos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Feb 2026 14:26:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abdulwaheed Sofiullahi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/20142553/HawkerWithDrinks2017_LagosNigeria_RobinUtrechtUNSGFlickrBYNCND2.0-BANNER.2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314521</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Governance, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Human Rights, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Plastic, Pollution, Recycling, Trade, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[OJUELEGBA, Nigeria — On the bustling streets of this central Lagos neighborhood, it’s easy to buy a drink. Hawkers weave between buses and motorcycles with wheelbarrows of bottled water and canned beverages. Finding a bin for the empty container is much harder. Many end up on the ground. Glass, cardboard, aluminum and — most commonly [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[OJUELEGBA, Nigeria — On the bustling streets of this central Lagos neighborhood, it’s easy to buy a drink. Hawkers weave between buses and motorcycles with wheelbarrows of bottled water and canned beverages. Finding a bin for the empty container is much harder. Many end up on the ground. Glass, cardboard, aluminum and — most commonly — plastic collect in piles at busy junctions and in open gutters, mixed with food waste and refuse from nearby shops and homes. Drains clog, and stagnant water lingers. Bayo Adeolu, proud holder of a degree in plant biology from the University of Lagos, spent months tramping these same streets in search of work. He endured rejection after rejection, then tried selling used phones with a friend, but competition in this saturated market beat them back. One afternoon, scrolling through social media, a post caught his eye. &#8220;Earn-As-You-Waste,&#8221; it read, advertising an information session for Pakam, a company promoting recycling as a source of income. At the session, Pakam’s staff explained how participants could earn money by collecting recyclable waste from the company’s clients. Registered collectors, they said, would be trained to sort and weigh the waste, record this shabby bounty digitally, and transport the recovered materials to aggregation points. The state of Lagos state generates nearly 5.5 million metric tons of solid waste every year, according to the state waste management authority — or roughly 15,000 metric tons a day. A 2024 World Bank study estimated that nearly 40% of this rubbish is recyclable&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/recycling-startups-test-limits-of-private-solutions-to-deluge-of-waste-in-lagos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/recycling-startups-test-limits-of-private-solutions-to-deluge-of-waste-in-lagos/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314521</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Baby gorilla seized from traffickers languishes in Turkish zoo</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/baby-gorilla-seized-from-traffickers-languishes-in-turkish-zoo/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/baby-gorilla-seized-from-traffickers-languishes-in-turkish-zoo/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Feb 2026 15:58:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/11222802/1-4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314164</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Central Africa, Democratic Republic Of Congo, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Southeast Asia, Thailand, Turkey, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Gorillas, Great Apes, Poaching, Primates, trafficking, Wildlife, Wildlife Trafficking, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In December 2024, Turkish customs officers were flummoxed when they discovered a malnourished baby gorilla in the cargo hold of an airplane flying from Nigeria to Bangkok, transiting via Istanbul. Wearing a soiled T-shirt, the 5-month-old infant was shoved inside a wooden crate falsely declared to contain 50 rabbits. After a social media campaign, he [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In December 2024, Turkish customs officers were flummoxed when they discovered a malnourished baby gorilla in the cargo hold of an airplane flying from Nigeria to Bangkok, transiting via Istanbul. Wearing a soiled T-shirt, the 5-month-old infant was shoved inside a wooden crate falsely declared to contain 50 rabbits. After a social media campaign, he was named Zeytin, which means “olive” in Turkish. This critically endangered western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) was being smuggled to an animal farm in Bangkok without any export permits or paperwork. All great apes, including gorillas, are afforded the highest protection under CITES, an international treaty regulating wildlife trade, making commercial transnational trade illegal. They can be transferred between zoos or exported for scientific research but require official paperwork. After the seizure made global headlines, Turkish authorities sent Zeytin to Polonezköy Zoo in Istanbul. Meanwhile, they said they were working to imminently dispatch him to a sanctuary in Africa, where he could possibly be released into the wild. But one year on, those plans seem to have bitten the dust. As of September 2025, Zeytin was seen languishing in the same zoo, living a lonely life in a cage — the very life many thought he had escaped. “At present, Türkiye does not have adequate facilities to meet the long-term physical, social and psychological needs of a gorilla,” said primate expert Aslıhan Niksarlı at the Jane Goodall Institute who directs Roots &amp; Shoots Türkiye. “There are also no other gorillas in the country, which&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/baby-gorilla-seized-from-traffickers-languishes-in-turkish-zoo/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/baby-gorilla-seized-from-traffickers-languishes-in-turkish-zoo/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314164</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A &#8216;new baseline&#8217;: Study captures accelerating sea-level rise in Africa</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/a-new-baseline-study-captures-accelerating-sea-level-rise-in-africa/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/a-new-baseline-study-captures-accelerating-sea-level-rise-in-africa/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jan 2026 20:35:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/30190306/5-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313548</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Cameroon, Central Africa, Cote D'Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, data, El Nino, Environment, Erosion, Flooding, Freshwater, Global Warming, Ice Shelves, Oceans, Sea Levels, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Sea-level rise has accelerated across Africa in recent decades, thanks to global warming and, in particular, to the melting of ice sheets and glaciers, according to a recent study. The study, published Dec. 15 in the journal Communications Earth &#38; Environment, found that sea levels across the continent have risen four times faster since 2010, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Sea-level rise has accelerated across Africa in recent decades, thanks to global warming and, in particular, to the melting of ice sheets and glaciers, according to a recent study. The study, published Dec. 15 in the journal Communications Earth &amp; Environment, found that sea levels across the continent have risen four times faster since 2010, on average, than they had in the 1990s. The primary reason was additional water mass from polar melt, rather than other phenomena that can cause sea-level rise, the authors found. “When you have ice-free summer [at high latitudes], it means that the water went somewhere,” Franck Ghomsi, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Manitoba in Canada and lead author of the study, told Mongabay. “The glacier moved from ice to water, and it [water] started migrating. And it is the tropics [that] are now … getting this outflow of water.” The impacts include flooding, erosion of coastal land, displacement of coastal communities and intrusion of salty seawater into freshwater drinking sources. People in Africa are responsible for only a tiny proportion of human-caused global warming and yet face severe effects from the resulting sea-level rise, said Ghomsi, who is from Cameroon, calling this a “climate injustice.” He said that emissions from countries in the Global North are having a “huge impact” on countries in the Global South, including in Africa. Monthly sea level for Africa from 1993-2023. Annual means are shown in red. Sea-level rise accelerated over the 31-year period, with the rate during&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/a-new-baseline-study-captures-accelerating-sea-level-rise-in-africa/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313548</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>For two of the world’s most at-risk primates, threats abound and the future looks grim</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/for-two-of-the-worlds-most-at-risk-primates-threats-abound-and-the-future-looks-grim/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/for-two-of-the-worlds-most-at-risk-primates-threats-abound-and-the-future-looks-grim/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Jan 2026 10:54:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mino Rakotovao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/20142839/original-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313105</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Cameroon, Central Africa, Indonesia, Nigeria, Southeast Asia, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Extinction, Forests, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Hunting, Monkeys, Primates, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Between Nigeria’s Cross River and Cameroon’s Sanaga River lies one of West Africa’s largest remaining blocks of intact rainforest. Noisy groups of Preuss’s red colobus monkeys (Piliocolobus preussi) move through this forest’s canopy in bands 20-to-60-strong, feeding mainly on the young leaves of just a few tree species, including Lecomtedoxa klaineana (known locally as oguomo) [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Between Nigeria’s Cross River and Cameroon’s Sanaga River lies one of West Africa’s largest remaining blocks of intact rainforest. Noisy groups of Preuss’s red colobus monkeys (Piliocolobus preussi) move through this forest’s canopy in bands 20-to-60-strong, feeding mainly on the young leaves of just a few tree species, including Lecomtedoxa klaineana (known locally as oguomo) and Xylopia aethiopica (“grains of Selim”). The leaf-heavy diet of these social monkeys helps shape forest structure, and declines in their numbers often foreshadow wider losses of wildlife across the forest. Half a world away, a very different primate lurks in the trees on the small, relatively isolated Indonesian island of Bangka. Readily identified by its pale facial mask, the Bangka slow loris (Nycticebus bancanus) is arboreal, nocturnal, and venomous, with large eyes and deliberate movements. Not much formal scientific knowledge has been gathered about this species since it was first described in 1937, but local conservationists have rehabilitated and released several dozen of the animals over the past decade. Both species feature on the &#8220;Primates in Peril&#8221;, a roll call of the world’s 25 most endangered primates, a call  for careful, focused conservation action. The future prospects for either primate illustrates how a threatened species’ survival may depend on very specific conditions: the health and protection of a single small island, or a particular forest type, or a few key plant species within that forest can make the difference between persistence and disappearance. Korup National Park, Cameroon. Image by Pleauthon Pierre via Flickr (CC&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/for-two-of-the-worlds-most-at-risk-primates-threats-abound-and-the-future-looks-grim/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/for-two-of-the-worlds-most-at-risk-primates-threats-abound-and-the-future-looks-grim/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313105</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Banned for years, dangerous pesticides persist in Nigerian farming</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/banned-for-years-dangerous-pesticides-persist-in-nigerian-farming/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/banned-for-years-dangerous-pesticides-persist-in-nigerian-farming/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Dec 2025 20:15:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Samuel Ogunsona]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/12115728/Nigeria-women-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311227</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Chemicals, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Farming, Health, Pesticides, Pollution, Public Health, and Soil Carbon]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The sun rises over lush farm fields of on the outskirts of Lagos. For more than 20 years, a farmer named Joe has tilled the land, coaxing life from the earth and reaping bountiful harvests. But here, beneath the surface of this idyllic scene, lies a complex web of challenges — chief among them, the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The sun rises over lush farm fields of on the outskirts of Lagos. For more than 20 years, a farmer named Joe has tilled the land, coaxing life from the earth and reaping bountiful harvests. But here, beneath the surface of this idyllic scene, lies a complex web of challenges — chief among them, the relentless threat of pests. Joe’s story is one of trial and error, of desperation and loss, and of the unintended consequences of relying on chemical pesticides. “I planted scent leaf [African basil] on my farmland, it started germinating … that was the beginning and first time planting such seedlings, so I didn’t know how tough it could be,” Joe recalls, his voice laced with a mix of frustration and resignation while speaking to Mongabay. He notes an abundance of aphids and caterpillars on his plants, which present a constant challenge. “I came to my farmland one fateful morning and I saw a lot of insects flying around my farm,” he says. “They have taken over my scent leaf. That incident resulted in total loss of my investment because no one could buy that produce.” That experience marked a turning point in his farming career. Desperate to protect his livelihood, Joe turned to chemical pesticides, convinced they held the key to safeguarding his crops. But the pesticides that promised to save Joe’s crops have become a double-edged sword for him. The substances he used are called organochlorine pesticides, which have been linked to soil degradation, the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/banned-for-years-dangerous-pesticides-persist-in-nigerian-farming/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/banned-for-years-dangerous-pesticides-persist-in-nigerian-farming/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311227</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>At COP30, Africa can lead the way to a sustainable future — but will it? (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/at-cop30-africa-can-lead-the-way-to-a-sustainable-future-but-will-it-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/at-cop30-africa-can-lead-the-way-to-a-sustainable-future-but-will-it-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Nov 2025 15:36:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Samuel Ogunsona]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/31124007/South-Africa-solar-scaled-e1761915691180-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308637</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Letters to the Future and Negotiating Africa's Energy Future]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Impact Of Climate Change, Politics, Solar Power, and Sustainable Development]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#160; When the rivers rise and the skies grow dark, Africa&#8217;s resilience will light the way to a sustainable future. Africa, the continent that contributes the least to climate change, is paradoxically among the most vulnerable to its devastating impacts. Rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and increased frequency of extreme weather events are all taking [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In this series, Our Letters to the Future, the sixth cohort of Mongabay’s Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellows share their views on environmental journalism, conservation and the future for their generation, amid multiple planetary crises. Each commentary is a personal reflection, based on individual fellows’ experiences in their home communities and the insights gained through the past six months of the fellowship. The series spans the Global South — Malaysia, India, Colombia, Brazil, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo — showcasing a broad diversity of ideas and the common ground these young environmental journalists share as they embark on their careers. &nbsp; When the rivers rise and the skies grow dark, Africa&#8217;s resilience will light the way to a sustainable future. Africa, the continent that contributes the least to climate change, is paradoxically among the most vulnerable to its devastating impacts. Rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and increased frequency of extreme weather events are all taking a toll on the continent&#8217;s economy, infrastructure and human settlements. Yet, in the face of this existential threat, Africa has the potential to lead the way to a sustainable future. As the world grapples with climate change, the recent submissions of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) by countries ahead of COP30 in Belém, Brazil, have brought to the forefront critical gaps in global climate action. What are NDCs and why do they matter? The NDCs are countries&#8217; commitments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change. They are&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/at-cop30-africa-can-lead-the-way-to-a-sustainable-future-but-will-it-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/at-cop30-africa-can-lead-the-way-to-a-sustainable-future-but-will-it-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308637</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In southeast Nigeria, pangolins hunted for meat, not scales, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/in-southeast-nigeria-pangolins-hunted-for-meat-not-scales-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/in-southeast-nigeria-pangolins-hunted-for-meat-not-scales-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2025 18:18:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/10145805/White-bellied-pangolin-Edited-e1757522289509.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305728</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Forests, Illegal Trade, Mammals, Pangolins, Poaching, Traditional Medicine, trafficking, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When headline after headline highlights tons of pangolin scale seizures in Nigeria, it’s easy to presume that most pangolin poaching in the country is driven by the international demand for the scales. A recently published research, however, finds that in Nigeria’s Cross River state, pangolins are hunted for their meat — much-prized locally — rather [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When headline after headline highlights tons of pangolin scale seizures in Nigeria, it’s easy to presume that most pangolin poaching in the country is driven by the international demand for the scales. A recently published research, however, finds that in Nigeria’s Cross River state, pangolins are hunted for their meat — much-prized locally — rather than for scales, with implications for conservation actions to protect the world’s most trafficked mammal. When Charles Emogor, who hails from southeast Nigeria, started his Ph.D. research at the University of Cambridge, U.K., he expected to find that the demand for scales for traditional medicine in East Asia is a leading driver for hunting pangolins, as has been documented elsewhere. Nigeria is a pangolin trade hub with nearly 190 tons of scales seized in the country between 2010 and 2021, estimated to have come from around 800,000 African pangolins, according to a 2021 study co-authored by Emogor. The Cross River forest landscape lies in a biodiversity hotspot and is home to three species of pangolins: the vulnerable black-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tetradactyla), the endangered white-bellied pangolin (P. tricuspis) and the endangered giant pangolin (Smutsia gigantea). Study co-author Charles Emogor holding a white-bellied pangolin retrieved from a hunter who participated in the study. Prior to starting his research in Cross River, Emogor expected to find that demand for scales for traditional medicine in Southeast Asia is a leading driver for hunting pangolins, as has been documented elsewhere. Image courtesy of Alex Moore. While hunting pangolins — for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/in-southeast-nigeria-pangolins-hunted-for-meat-not-scales-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/in-southeast-nigeria-pangolins-hunted-for-meat-not-scales-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305728</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fear &#038; uncertainty grip Nigerian community after fatal elephant attack</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/fear-uncertainty-grip-nigerian-community-after-fatal-elephant-attack/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/fear-uncertainty-grip-nigerian-community-after-fatal-elephant-attack/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Sep 2025 16:48:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Samuel Ogunsona]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/09085800/Loxodonta_cyclotis_forest-elephants-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305631</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Forests, Human Rights, Human-wildlife Conflict, Indigenous Peoples, Mammals, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When the going gets tough, the tough get going — but for people in the Itasin-Imobi community, the going has been tough for far too long. Situated in the midst of Ogun state, Nigeria, this quiet fishing and agrarian community has been facing challenges that have tested its resilience to the limit. On Monday, July [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When the going gets tough, the tough get going — but for people in the Itasin-Imobi community, the going has been tough for far too long. Situated in the midst of Ogun state, Nigeria, this quiet fishing and agrarian community has been facing challenges that have tested its resilience to the limit. On Monday, July 28, 2025, a tragedy shattered the peace and tranquility that residents were accustomed to. A 50-year-old farmer, Yaya Musa, popularly known as Kala, whose life was intricately woven with the land and the rhythms of nature, met a gruesome death at the hands — or rather, the tusks — of elephants that had strayed from their natural habitat nearby. As one approaches Itasin-Imobi, the landscape unfolds into a vast expanse of mixed farmland, dominated by thriving banana and cassava plantations that stretch as far as the eye can see, with a narrow, rugged road meandering through the midst, flanked by tracts of cultivated land. The air is alive with the sweet scent of ripening crops and the gentle hum of insects, a symphony that has served as the soundtrack to villagers&#8217; lives for generations. However, the journey to this idyllic setting is a test of endurance. The roads that lead to the community, marred by potholes and construction delays, wind through the landscape like a serpent, slowing down the pace of life and making every trip a calculated risk. The 66.5-kilometer (41-mile) stretch from Ijebu Ode, a popular town in the region, normally takes about&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/fear-uncertainty-grip-nigerian-community-after-fatal-elephant-attack/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/fear-uncertainty-grip-nigerian-community-after-fatal-elephant-attack/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305631</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As climate change burdens grow, community mental health alarm bells ring</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/as-climate-change-burdens-grow-community-mental-health-alarm-bells-ring/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/as-climate-change-burdens-grow-community-mental-health-alarm-bells-ring/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Aug 2025 18:32:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Petro Kotzé]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/18085510/ce563a5a-1757-4f90-99e7-46c44f84c15e-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304298</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Bhutan, Global, Nigeria, Solomon Islands, and South Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate Change, Climate Change Denial, Climate Justice, Conservation, Environment, Extinction, Extreme Weather, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Planetary Boundaries, Planetary Health, Public Health, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“We are not causing climate change, yet we are the ones heavily affected,” says 26-year-old Solomon Islands health worker Matthew Bibao Paikea, as he expresses ongoing frustration over failing crops, rising disease and an island home slowly succumbing to the sea. “I can’t do anything to change this,” he notes, with resignation and recognition of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“We are not causing climate change, yet we are the ones heavily affected,” says 26-year-old Solomon Islands health worker Matthew Bibao Paikea, as he expresses ongoing frustration over failing crops, rising disease and an island home slowly succumbing to the sea. “I can’t do anything to change this,” he notes, with resignation and recognition of the crisis. In communities worldwide, people like Paikea are grappling with far more than the physical and economic impacts of climate change. Intensifying climate stressors are also eroding mental health and psychosocial well-being. According to the 2023 U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report, threats to mental health and well-being are on the upswing as the world warms, while support to deal with these invisible mental and emotional impacts is lagging. While most research so far has focused on the mental health impacts of acute disasters — think: floods, wildfires and hurricanes — fewer studies have examined the long-term grinding day-to-day impacts of the slow-moving climate crisis, as ever rising sea levels, extreme heat, extended drought, severe storms and drastic climate variability negatively impact economies, food security, freshwater availability, health care and sanitation, emergency response and quality of life. Mental health risks are especially intense in the world’s most vulnerable under-served communities, as at-risk groups and individuals (especially the poor, disabled, very young and very old, and those already suffering mental illness) are battered by the wearing toll. Climate change has begun impacting key industries in the Himalayan nation of Bhutan, including agriculture&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/as-climate-change-burdens-grow-community-mental-health-alarm-bells-ring/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/as-climate-change-burdens-grow-community-mental-health-alarm-bells-ring/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304298</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How will fisheries change in a hotter world? Experts share</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/how-will-fisheries-change-in-a-hotter-world-experts-share/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/how-will-fisheries-change-in-a-hotter-world-experts-share/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Aug 2025 20:40:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claudia Geib]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/13104006/Banc_de_thons_albacores_Thunnus_albacares_Ifremer_00568-68027_-_25195-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304197</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Cameroon, Central Africa, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Pacific Islands, and Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquaculture, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Hunger, Marine Protected Areas, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Overfishing, Poverty, Saltwater Fish, Tuna, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Lake Chad is nearly 1,130 kilometers (700 miles) from the ocean, but Nwamaka Okeke-Ogbuafor fears it is a preview of what’s ahead for African and other tropical fisheries. Straddling four countries on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, Lake Chad began drying up dramatically during a series of droughts in the 1970s and ‘80s. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Lake Chad is nearly 1,130 kilometers (700 miles) from the ocean, but Nwamaka Okeke-Ogbuafor fears it is a preview of what’s ahead for African and other tropical fisheries. Straddling four countries on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, Lake Chad began drying up dramatically during a series of droughts in the 1970s and ‘80s. While the lake stopped shrinking in the 1990s — and it appears to be stable or even growing over the last 20 years — many fishing communities on the lake never recovered. Facing poverty and starvation, some former fishers and their families live in U.N.-funded camps for displaced people, which are running out of aid. Some struck out for a new life in other countries. Others joined Boko Haram, an Islamic insurgency organization, in a final act of desperation. “Communities are no longer cohesive — it’s a total disaster,” says Okeke-Ogbuafor, a marine social scientist focusing on tropical African fisheries. “It’s not just about food poverty, it’s the erosion of community and cultural knowledge.” Fish provide essential protein for an estimated 3.2 billion people across the world. In some developing tropical countries, fish can make up some 70% of the diet. But over the next 50 years, warming waters are certain to upend fishing communities — and rewrite the rules of ecosystems and industries worldwide. Mongabay asked five experts how fisheries will change by 2075, and what solutions could help prevent the worst outcomes. Women in Sierra Leone selling fish at the market in Mama&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/how-will-fisheries-change-in-a-hotter-world-experts-share/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/how-will-fisheries-change-in-a-hotter-world-experts-share/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304197</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pandemic-era slump in ivory and pangolin scale trafficking persists, report finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/pandemic-era-slump-in-ivory-and-pangolin-scale-trafficking-persists-report-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/pandemic-era-slump-in-ivory-and-pangolin-scale-trafficking-persists-report-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jun 2025 08:31:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/17082738/White-belliedPangolin_Gabon_BureaubenjaminINaturalistBYNC4.0-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300838</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Angola, Asia, Cameroon, Central Africa, China, Democratic Republic Of Congo, East Asia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Bushmeat, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Ecology, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Hunting, Ivory, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Over-hunting, Pangolins, Poaching, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A recent report surveying seizures of pangolin scales and elephant ivory over the past decade has found a sharp decline following the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data from media reports, public documents, and criminal intelligence and investigations, analysts at the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) found authorities seized more than 370 metric tons of pangolin scales and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A recent report surveying seizures of pangolin scales and elephant ivory over the past decade has found a sharp decline following the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data from media reports, public documents, and criminal intelligence and investigations, analysts at the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) found authorities seized more than 370 metric tons of pangolin scales and 193 metric tons of elephant ivory between 2015 and 2024. Seizures began to ramp up in 2015, peaked in 2019, and then declined sharply in 2020. The report found that the pandemic disruption to trade and travel, coinciding with increased enforcement based on intelligence, prompted these declines. Post-pandemic, the decline in trade has continued to hold as countries intensify law enforcement and intelligence gathering. “The report was motivated by a need to present up-to-date findings and offer a current assessment of the evolving criminal dynamics surrounding ivory and pangolin scale trafficking,” Olivia Swaak-Goldman, WJC’s executive director, told Mongabay by email. “From our investigations, we knew there had been some major changes since our last reports … so it was timely to publish updated analysis and highlight these shifts.” Pangolin scales act as armor to protect their body. The WJC report estimates that the 370 tons of pangolin scales seized over the past decade would have come from anywhere between 100,000 and a million pangolins. Image by flowcomm via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0). Pangolin scales, used in traditional medicine, are in high demand in East Asia. Over the past decade, as Asian pangolin numbers plummeted,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/pandemic-era-slump-in-ivory-and-pangolin-scale-trafficking-persists-report-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/pandemic-era-slump-in-ivory-and-pangolin-scale-trafficking-persists-report-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300838</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How trafficking &#038; misconceptions threaten Nigeria&#8217;s wildlife: Q&#038;A with Dr. Mark Ofua</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/how-trafficking-misconceptions-threaten-nigerias-wildlife-qa-with-dr-mark-ofua/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/how-trafficking-misconceptions-threaten-nigerias-wildlife-qa-with-dr-mark-ofua/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jun 2025 17:17:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Samuel Ogunsona]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/06155148/1000025286-e1749226419735-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300336</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Fellows, Pangolins, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a significant blow to wildlife trafficking, Nigerian authorities recently seized 2 metric tons of pangolin scales, worth tens of thousands of dollars on the black market, and arrested a suspect believed to be a key broker, according to a recent Mongabay report. This operation, carried out by the Nigeria Customs Service with intelligence from [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In a significant blow to wildlife trafficking, Nigerian authorities recently seized 2 metric tons of pangolin scales, worth tens of thousands of dollars on the black market, and arrested a suspect believed to be a key broker, according to a recent Mongabay report. This operation, carried out by the Nigeria Customs Service with intelligence from the Wildlife Justice Commission, highlights the country&#8217;s efforts to combat transnational wildlife trafficking networks, a growing concern in Nigeria, with many endangered species being hunted and traded for bushmeat or sold on the black market. Pangolins are listed as threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, with all eight species facing significant conservation challenges due to habitat loss, poaching and trade. In Nigeria, pangolins are protected under Schedule 1 of the Endangered Species (Control of International Trade and Traffic) Decree No. 11 (1985). Current population numbers are not readily available, though reports suggest their numbers are declining. Unfortunately, misconceptions and a lack of awareness about the importance of conservation have exacerbated the problem, contributing to the decline of not just pangolins, but many species in Nigeria. In this interview, Mongabay spoke with Dr. Mark Ofua, a dedicated Nigerian wildlife conservationist, popularly known as the “Snake Man of Lagos.” Interestingly, Ofua&#8217;s choice to study veterinary medicine defies Nigeria&#8217;s societal norms, in which parents often prioritize human medicine, engineering or nursing and students studying in unconventional fields could be made to feel shameful for their pursuits. Ofua shares his insights on these issues and his efforts&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/how-trafficking-misconceptions-threaten-nigerias-wildlife-qa-with-dr-mark-ofua/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/how-trafficking-misconceptions-threaten-nigerias-wildlife-qa-with-dr-mark-ofua/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300336</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In West Africa, hooded vultures vanish as abattoirs modernize</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/in-west-africa-hooded-vultures-vanish-as-abattoirs-modernize/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/in-west-africa-hooded-vultures-vanish-as-abattoirs-modernize/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Apr 2025 06:49:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ryan Truscott]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/23105351/HoodedVulture.Necrosyrtus.monachus_Gambia2017_PeteRichmanFlickrBY2.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=298043</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Birds, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Poaching, Poisoning, Predators, Raptors, Scavengers, Vultures, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Critically endangered hooded vultures in Nigeria that once fed on the carcasses of wild animals are now largely dependent on scraps discarded by people. But changes in the way waste is disposed of at slaughterhouses has left them desperately short of food, researchers say. In the 1970s, hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) were among at least [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Critically endangered hooded vultures in Nigeria that once fed on the carcasses of wild animals are now largely dependent on scraps discarded by people. But changes in the way waste is disposed of at slaughterhouses has left them desperately short of food, researchers say. In the 1970s, hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) were among at least seven different vulture species that soared across Nigerian skies, according to historical records; now only they and palm-nut vultures (Gypohierax angolensis) persist, and numbers of both are dropping drastically. Food scarcity is playing a significant role in driving this decline, says ornithologist Michael Manja Williams, a Ph.D. candidate at Nigeria’s Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University. In the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, vultures could find carcasses in the wild to feed on, he says. But overhunting of wild mammals depleted that vital food source, leaving the birds increasingly reliant on humans. A hooded vulture in The Gambia: Across West Africa, hooded and palm-nut vultures have a long association with human communities’ waste. Changes in abattoir practices are now depriving these species of a vital source of food. Image by Pete Richman via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0) “In the early ’80s and ’90s, abattoirs were the central places that you could find [hooded] vultures,” Williams says, while noting that the birds face fierce competition at these sites from feral dogs and people. “The vultures fear the dogs; they won’t come where there are canines. So, you see the vultures hovering around.” The implications for the vultures are stark.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/in-west-africa-hooded-vultures-vanish-as-abattoirs-modernize/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/in-west-africa-hooded-vultures-vanish-as-abattoirs-modernize/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-298043</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Africa’s growing cities are endangering birdlife (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/africas-growing-cities-are-pushing-birdlife-to-the-brink-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/africas-growing-cities-are-pushing-birdlife-to-the-brink-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Apr 2025 18:32:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bello Adamu Danmallam]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/08/07134921/Red-throated-bee-eaters-Merops-bulocki-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=297734</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Cities, Citizen Science, Commentary, Conservation, Development, Global Environmental Crisis, Invasive Species, Research, Sustainable Development, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As urbanization reshapes global landscapes, ecological balance is increasingly at risk, especially in Africa. The primary drivers are rapid development and expanding human settlements, often without proper environmental considerations, posing a serious threat to birds and biodiversity and weakening ecological resilience. These changes create opportunities for invasive species to thrive, further threatening native bird populations [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As urbanization reshapes global landscapes, ecological balance is increasingly at risk, especially in Africa. The primary drivers are rapid development and expanding human settlements, often without proper environmental considerations, posing a serious threat to birds and biodiversity and weakening ecological resilience. These changes create opportunities for invasive species to thrive, further threatening native bird populations and the essential roles they play in ecosystems. Without strategic environmental planning, urban expansion will continue to erode biodiversity, altering species interactions, ecosystem functions, and threatening species survival. I recently co-led a study published in Frontiers in Conservation Science revealing how urban growth in Kenya and Nigeria degrades bird communities, undermining both species diversity and their ecological roles. With more than half of the global population already in urban areas — a figure projected to reach about 70% by 2050 — the pressures on biodiversity are mounting. In Africa, urban land cover is expected to triple by 2030, and the potential impact on birds and biodiversity is particularly alarming. Birds are key indicators of environmental health, making them crucial for assessing human impacts on ecosystems. Although urbanization contributes to habitat loss, fragmentation, and the spread of invasive species, its effects on birds’ ecological roles in Africa remain understudied, despite the region’s rich but vulnerable ecosystems. &#8220;Urbanization is fundamentally reshaping African landscapes, and its impacts on avian biodiversity are often overlooked,&#8221; said one of my co-authors, Peggy Ngila. &#8220;Our research sheds light on how this process is changing the composition of bird communities and their vital ecosystem services, such as seed&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/africas-growing-cities-are-pushing-birdlife-to-the-brink-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/africas-growing-cities-are-pushing-birdlife-to-the-brink-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-297734</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How communities in sacrifice zones suffer environmental injustices in Mexico, Chile, Nigeria and Indonesia (analysis)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/how-communities-in-sacrifice-zones-suffer-environmental-injustices-in-mexico-chile-nigeria-and-indonesia-analysis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/how-communities-in-sacrifice-zones-suffer-environmental-injustices-in-mexico-chile-nigeria-and-indonesia-analysis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Apr 2025 20:01:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Angélica ArellanoDaniela Sepulveda]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/09190714/Odimodi-4-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=297301</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Chile, Global, Indonesia, Mexico, and Nigeria]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Air Pollution, Analysis, Business, Climate Justice, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Development, Environment, Pollution, Social Justice, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Across continents, “sacrifice zones” resemble wounds carved deep into the fabric of our planet. These are regions where ecosystems and livelihoods have been ravaged by fossil fuel and other industries that promise progress but leave devastation in their wake. These are places where big business and transnational corporations are contaminating the rivers, darkening the skies, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Across continents, “sacrifice zones” resemble wounds carved deep into the fabric of our planet. These are regions where ecosystems and livelihoods have been ravaged by fossil fuel and other industries that promise progress but leave devastation in their wake. These are places where big business and transnational corporations are contaminating the rivers, darkening the skies, and making the soil barren; where the toll of development is paid in human suffering and ecological destruction. What unites these “sacrifice zones” is the shared story of areas where prosperity for the few is built on the suffering of many, and where communities fight to mend the fractures inflicted upon their land, health and dignity. Here are four case studies highlighting the experiences of communities and civil society organizations collaborating with us in the Coalition for Human Rights in Development’s Community Resource Exchange. Protectors of the Tula River. Image via the Coalition for Human Rights in Development. Tula, Mexico In the Tula-Tepeji-Apaxco region, where the Toltec plains once supported rich biodiversity and cultural heritage, the water and air are now saturated with pollution. This devastated landscape was declared both in 1975 and again in 2005 by the U.N. as one of the most polluted places on Earth, marking it as an environmental disaster zone. Since the early 20th century, the arrival of cement plants, refineries, chemical factories, a coal-fired power plant and lime kilns has transformed the region. Backed by all levels of government, these industries have destroyed the area’s ecological balance and ruined&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/how-communities-in-sacrifice-zones-suffer-environmental-injustices-in-mexico-chile-nigeria-and-indonesia-analysis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/how-communities-in-sacrifice-zones-suffer-environmental-injustices-in-mexico-chile-nigeria-and-indonesia-analysis/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-297301</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Farmers turn to living ‘yam sticks’ to grow their crop and spare the forest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/farmers-turn-to-living-yam-sticks-to-grow-their-crop-and-spare-the-forest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/farmers-turn-to-living-yam-sticks-to-grow-their-crop-and-spare-the-forest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Apr 2025 22:27:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mark Hillsdon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/03210813/Q1dJK-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=297055</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Caribbean, Ghana, Jamaica, and Nigeria]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Agriculture, Agroforestry, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Crops, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Global Warming, Green, Habitat Loss, Rainforests, Solutions, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Yams are considered one of the world’s most important crops. A starchy, nutrient-rich root vegetable of the genus Dioscorea, the yam thrives in a tropical belt across West Africa, with outliers in the Caribbean and some Asian countries such as Japan. In 2023, nearly 90 million metric tons of yam were produced globally, according to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Yams are considered one of the world’s most important crops. A starchy, nutrient-rich root vegetable of the genus Dioscorea, the yam thrives in a tropical belt across West Africa, with outliers in the Caribbean and some Asian countries such as Japan. In 2023, nearly 90 million metric tons of yam were produced globally, according to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. But the way in which they’re grown, using traditional “yam sticks,” is now seen as a major cause of deforestation. “The yam is a climber,” says Eric Owusu Danquah, a research scientist at Ghana’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), “it has to climb to expose its leaves to the sunlight.” To do this, it depends on “yam sticks,” staves around 2 meters (6.5 feet) long that are often cut from the nearby forests — a practice that conservationists such as Danquah say prevents trees from developing and forests from regenerating. Each stick only lasts two growing seasons at most. As a result, yam breeders, scientists and local forestry groups are looking at alternatives for the vines to climb. A yam farm in northern Ghana, with wooden stakes used to support the yam plants as they grow. These &#8220;yam sticks&#8221; are often harvested from surrounding forest. Image by Attah Mohammed via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). The yam grows as a tuber, with Ghana and Nigeria producing more than 80% of the world’s output, according to Danquah. It’s a demanding crop. As well&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/farmers-turn-to-living-yam-sticks-to-grow-their-crop-and-spare-the-forest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/farmers-turn-to-living-yam-sticks-to-grow-their-crop-and-spare-the-forest/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-297055</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Lake Chad isn’t shrinking — but climate change is causing other problems</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/lake-chad-isnt-shrinking-but-climate-change-is-causing-other-problems/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/lake-chad-isnt-shrinking-but-climate-change-is-causing-other-problems/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Feb 2025 22:51:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/28223327/woman-flood-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=295179</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Regenerative landscapes]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Cameroon, Central Africa, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Agriculture, Climate, Climate Change, Conflict, Desertification, Deserts, Drought, Environment, Fishing, Flooding, Forest Regeneration, Forests, Gender, Global Warming, Grasslands, Green, Lakes, Land Conflict, Reforestation, Social Conflict, Trees, Tropical Forests, Water, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The communities around Lake Chad have always lived by its water rhythms. Now, as climate change impacts intensify, they must find new ways to adapt. The Lake Chad Basin lies in the Sahel, on the southern edge of the Sahara. The basin is enormous, covering 2.5 million square kilometers (965,255 square miles), or 8% of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The communities around Lake Chad have always lived by its water rhythms. Now, as climate change impacts intensify, they must find new ways to adapt. The Lake Chad Basin lies in the Sahel, on the southern edge of the Sahara. The basin is enormous, covering 2.5 million square kilometers (965,255 square miles), or 8% of the African continent, straddling eight countries. Lake Chad sits at the end point of this drainage basin, an unexpected bounty of water in a dry land. An estimated 3 million people live near the lake, and 49 million more live in the basin and depend on its resources. The amount of water in Lake Chad is closely linked to climate as it’s in a closed drainage system, with rivers leading into, but not out of, the lake. The volume of water going into the lake — via the Chari, Logone and other rivers — largely depends on the amount of rain in the catchment area. As the lake is wide and shallow, currently averaging less than 3 meters (9.8 feet) in depth, changes in rainfall have a dramatic effect on its size. The lake swells and recedes seasonally and between years. But the most dramatic changes happen over decades. Lake Chad straddles four countries: Chad, Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon. Image captured Dec. 2024 by Planet Labs. In the 1960s, Lake Chad’s waters covered 25,000 km2 (9,653 mi2), making it the sixth-largest lake in the world. Then, in the 1970s and ‘80s, as drought gripped the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/lake-chad-isnt-shrinking-but-climate-change-is-causing-other-problems/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/lake-chad-isnt-shrinking-but-climate-change-is-causing-other-problems/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-295179</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Some people will die’: Conversations with Nigeria’s gorilla hunters</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/some-people-will-die-conversations-with-nigerias-gorilla-hunters/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/some-people-will-die-conversations-with-nigerias-gorilla-hunters/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Feb 2025 00:34:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Orji Sunday]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/27001945/western-lowland-gorilla-R-Butler-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=295078</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Bushmeat, Chimpanzees, Endangered Species, Environment, Gorillas, Great Apes, Hunting, Mammals, Traditional Medicine, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On a night in 1997, Benjamin Dauda killed a gorilla for the first time. Shrouding his lanky frame in dark fog, he stalked a foraging troop, finally dispatching his bullet on his mark. It was a giant male, he says, struck in the chest. “When I came close to the dead body, it was exactly [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On a night in 1997, Benjamin Dauda killed a gorilla for the first time. Shrouding his lanky frame in dark fog, he stalked a foraging troop, finally dispatching his bullet on his mark. It was a giant male, he says, struck in the chest. “When I came close to the dead body, it was exactly like a human being. The only difference is that we humans dress in clothes but gorillas wear fur,” Dauda tells Mongabay. “I was scared to touch it. I was shivering.” Dauda, 52, hails from Sunkuru, a community of clans settled in the northeastern Nigerian state of Taraba. He apprenticed under his father, who was himself a renowned hunter in his time. For Dauda and many of his peers, hunting was a path to both survival and fame, passed on as a heritage between generations. But an uneasy hurdle lay on his path to heroism and heritage: centuries-old totems and taboos forbidding the killing of apes. Months after the death of his father and sponsor, when unpaid tuition put him on the verge of dropping out of high school, he took up his father’s gun and turned to the forbidden act. “I had to kill it [the gorilla] because of money,” Dauda tells Mongabay. “It is a terrible thing to do, but I had to do it because there was no option.” Yet, once Dauda ’s appetite for gorilla money was kindled, there was no going back. He says he killed more than 10 gorillas until&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/some-people-will-die-conversations-with-nigerias-gorilla-hunters/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/some-people-will-die-conversations-with-nigerias-gorilla-hunters/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-295078</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nigeria’s new coastal highway runs over communities &#038; biodiversity hotspots</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/nigerias-new-coastal-highway-runs-over-communities-biodiversity-hotspots/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/nigerias-new-coastal-highway-runs-over-communities-biodiversity-hotspots/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jan 2025 05:31:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ini Ekott]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/28203615/Photo2-SikiruSulaimon_LagosNigeria_KemiAdelagun-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=293541</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Law, Mammals, Monkeys, Primates, Rainforests, Roads, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On Apr. 30, 2024, as the sun rose over Lagos, bulldozers rolled in to the Oniru waterfront, a popular leisure hub, where they cleared kiosks, restaurants and other beachside businesses. The demolitions signaled the start of Nigeria&#8217;s most ambitious road project in decades. By December, 750 structures in densely populated stretches of this coastal state [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On Apr. 30, 2024, as the sun rose over Lagos, bulldozers rolled in to the Oniru waterfront, a popular leisure hub, where they cleared kiosks, restaurants and other beachside businesses. The demolitions signaled the start of Nigeria&#8217;s most ambitious road project in decades. By December, 750 structures in densely populated stretches of this coastal state had been cleared as the project advanced 100 kilometers (62 miles) east toward its destination in the Niger Delta city of Calabar, 700 km (435 mi) away. First proposed in the late 1970s, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is intended to link coastal communities and commercial hubs across Nigeria’s southern regions. The project stalled for several decades due to funding problems and changes of government. “It was a vision of many years ago,” said Orji Uchenna Orji, an adviser to Nigeria’s public works minister, David Umahi. “The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will be one of the greatest omens that will happen in the political and economic trajectory of this nation. It’s going to be a road with the biggest economic corridor in Africa and will stimulate economic development and transportation ecosystem.” Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, elected in 2023, has positioned the project as a defining legacy of his administration. According to Umahi, the works minister, it will reportedly cost $12 billion — 30% funded by the government, with the contractor, Hitech Construction Company Ltd., providing the rest. Construction is expected to take eight years. Hitech will collect tolls on the highway for 15 years to recover costs.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/nigerias-new-coastal-highway-runs-over-communities-biodiversity-hotspots/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/nigerias-new-coastal-highway-runs-over-communities-biodiversity-hotspots/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-293541</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ogoni women restore mangroves and livelihoods in oil-rich Niger Delta</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/ogoni-women-restore-mangroves-and-livelihoods-in-oil-rich-niger-delta/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/ogoni-women-restore-mangroves-and-livelihoods-in-oil-rich-niger-delta/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jan 2025 15:50:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/16114017/7-Lokiaka-Community-Development-Centre-volunteers-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=293014</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Community Development, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fishing, Forests, Gender, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Peoples, Invasive Species, Landscape Restoration, Mangroves, Oceans, Oil Spills, Reforestation, Restoration, and Women In Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A women-led reforestation effort has planted millions of mangrove trees with a high survival rate across swamps in Nigeria’s oil-rich and severely degraded Niger Delta. For decades, the Ogoni people of the delta’s Ogoniland region have faced the impacts of numerous oil spills, logging, and the spread of invasive nipa palms that destroyed thousands of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A women-led reforestation effort has planted millions of mangrove trees with a high survival rate across swamps in Nigeria’s oil-rich and severely degraded Niger Delta. For decades, the Ogoni people of the delta’s Ogoniland region have faced the impacts of numerous oil spills, logging, and the spread of invasive nipa palms that destroyed thousands of mangroves they rely on for their livelihoods. As a result of the reforestation initiative’s reported successes so far, the government has hired some Ogoni women to share their technical knowledge and plant mangroves for its rehabilitation project of contaminated sites (Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project — HYPREP). While independent studies on the impacts of this reforestation effort are yet to be published, sources say anecdotal evidence suggests that fish stocks are beginning to bounce back and some conservationists say they’re hopeful. “I am glad to see this women’s group so effective and active in attempting to restore their mangroves,” said Alfredo Quarto, program and policy director and co-founder of the Mangrove Action Project, a U.S.-based NGO, told Mongabay by email. The Niger Delta hosts Africa’s biggest mangrove forest ecosystem and is also home to some of the continent’s largest oil and gas reserves. This vast wetland stretches across more than 100,000 square kilometers (39,000 square miles) and nine Nigerian states. The mangrove forests, which often store more carbon than other forest types, contain several species of mangrove trees, such as red (Rhizophora racemosa), white (Laguncularia racemosa) and black (Avicennia germinans). They’re home to a rich diversity&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/ogoni-women-restore-mangroves-and-livelihoods-in-oil-rich-niger-delta/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/ogoni-women-restore-mangroves-and-livelihoods-in-oil-rich-niger-delta/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-293014</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>World’s record heat is worsening air pollution and health in Global South</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/worlds-record-heat-is-worsening-air-pollution-and-health-in-global-south/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/worlds-record-heat-is-worsening-air-pollution-and-health-in-global-south/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jan 2025 15:05:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Karla MendesOrji SundaySimrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/10151456/firefighter-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=292838</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Amazon, Asia, Brazil, Global, India, Nigeria, South America, South Asia, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Environment, Environmental Law, Extreme Weather, Fires, Forests, Governance, Health, Heatwave, Impact Of Climate Change, Industry, Planetary Health, Pollution, Public Health, Temperatures, Transportation, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Humanity achieved a fateful milestone last year. The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service has officially declared 2024 the hottest year on record, and the first year in history with an average global temperature rising 1.5° Celsius (2.7° Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial period — significantly increasing dangerous climate risks. In fact, 2023 and 2024 may [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Humanity achieved a fateful milestone last year. The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service has officially declared 2024 the hottest year on record, and the first year in history with an average global temperature rising 1.5° Celsius (2.7° Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial period — significantly increasing dangerous climate risks. In fact, 2023 and 2024 may well be the hottest years in 100,000 years, with all indicators pointing to it getting hotter, bringing ever-worsening global impacts. “The temperature-related extreme events witnessed [last Norther Hemisphere] summer will only become more intense,” warned Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service. In 2024, extreme heat enveloped whole regions of the world for weeks on end, with severe unprecedented consequences. A deadly heat wave killed at least 1,300 people during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, while the worst drought in a century gripped Southern Africa, leaving 21 million children malnourished. Record drought also devastated South America, reducing Amazon rivers to their lowest levels ever recorded. North America wasn’t spared either. Heat domes — stalled high pressure systems that retain and intensify temperatures — blanketed vast parts of the U.S. and killed more than 100 people in Mexico. But less noticed, and harder to track, is the way in which oppressive heat helps degrade air quality, making people sick. While air pollution sources are typically local or regional, the invisible hand of climate change is further deteriorating air quality around the planet. Stubbornly persistent heat waves, record wildfires, and drastically changing&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/worlds-record-heat-is-worsening-air-pollution-and-health-in-global-south/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/worlds-record-heat-is-worsening-air-pollution-and-health-in-global-south/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-292838</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How the Sahel junta is responding to climate change amid political isolation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/how-the-sahel-junta-is-responding-to-climate-change-amid-political-isolation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/how-the-sahel-junta-is-responding-to-climate-change-amid-political-isolation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Dec 2024 09:00:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Robert Bociaga]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/26095743/nigeria-202409-taina-0060-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=292340</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Burkina Faso, Central Africa, Chad, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sahel, Sudan, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environment, Flooding, Governance, Human Migration, Impact Of Climate Change, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As the first light pierced through storm clouds, swollen rivers spilled over their banks, sweeping through villages across the Sahel. In countries ranging from Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso to Nigeria, Chad and Sudan, families scrambled to salvage belongings as muddy water filled their homes. Along the riverbanks, farmers waded through flooded fields, trying desperately [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As the first light pierced through storm clouds, swollen rivers spilled over their banks, sweeping through villages across the Sahel. In countries ranging from Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso to Nigeria, Chad and Sudan, families scrambled to salvage belongings as muddy water filled their homes. Along the riverbanks, farmers waded through flooded fields, trying desperately to rescue their crops and animals. This year’s rainy season in the Sahel, from July to September, turned roads into rivers and villages into islands, as the relentless rains showed no sign of easing. These scenes, as surreal as they are tragic, are a stark reminder of the Sahel&#8217;s growing vulnerability to climate change. Lying just south of the Sahara Desert, the Sahel region has long grappled with extreme weather, but recent changes in rainfall patterns have pushed communities to the brink. This year, rainfall in parts of the region has surged to levels many times exceeding the historical average, transforming the landscape into a vast, inundated expanse. Satellite images reveal the devastating toll: tens of thousands of hectares of cropland across the region submerged, and millions displaced. Flooding aftermath which includes damages facilities and submegerd houses. area. On September 10, 2024, Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, in Nigeria, experienced devastating flooding due to the overflow of the Alau Dam, which connects to the river flowing from Cameroon. Thousands of residents were displaced, and many lives were lost in this tragic event. Image courtesy of Mercy Corps. In Mali, the Niger River recently burst&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/how-the-sahel-junta-is-responding-to-climate-change-amid-political-isolation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/how-the-sahel-junta-is-responding-to-climate-change-amid-political-isolation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-292340</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Across continents, Mongabay fellows share insights from reporting in the field</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/across-continents-mongabay-fellows-share-insights-from-reporting-in-the-field/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/across-continents-mongabay-fellows-share-insights-from-reporting-in-the-field/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Dec 2024 02:30:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Michael EsquerSwati ThapaTarinipre Francis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/19220131/In_the_mud-e1766773466835-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=292047</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Brazil, India, Nigeria, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Change, Development, Drinking Water, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Heatwave, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Sustainable Development, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This year marks the second full year of Mongabay’s Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellowships. Participants, selected from a pool of hundreds of applicants around the world, spend six months in a deep dive into environmental journalism. The program includes an array of trainings in climate science, video and information design, the interpretation of scientific [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This year marks the second full year of Mongabay’s Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellowships. Participants, selected from a pool of hundreds of applicants around the world, spend six months in a deep dive into environmental journalism. The program includes an array of trainings in climate science, video and information design, the interpretation of scientific studies, story structure, writing techniques and more; there’s a lot to learn — and teach — as fellows bring their own sets of experiences and knowledge to share with the group. The most rigorous component of the fellowship is often hands-on reporting. Each fellow works closely with editors to plan and report a wide range of stories that involve complex interviews, layers of research and follow-up questions and a lengthy editing and fact-checking process. The insights gained are often surprising — to us at Mongabay, to readers and to the fellows themselves. As fellow Swati Thapa writes, the need for environmental journalism grows bigger every day, with ever more stories of extreme weather and climate change around the globe. “The effects are being felt everywhere, including in the most developed and urban parts of the world,” Swati writes. “Environmental journalism hence highlights the relationship between humans and nature and keeps the dialogue alive, of how we are nature as well.” Here, we invite Swati and two of her fellow Mongabay colleagues to share some of their biggest lessons learned on the job — in Brazil, India and Nigeria. BRAZIL Michael Esquer on the connection between&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/across-continents-mongabay-fellows-share-insights-from-reporting-in-the-field/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-292047</doi>				</item>
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