<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" >

	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?location=togo&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/togo/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Sun, 27 Sep 2026 06:01:21 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
		<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
		<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
		<generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.5</generator>

<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Togo environmental news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/togo/</link>
	<width>32</width>
	<height>32</height>
</image> 
				<item>
					<title>West Africa’s plan to save its vultures struggles to take flight</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/west-africas-plan-to-save-its-vultures-struggles-to-take-flight/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/west-africas-plan-to-save-its-vultures-struggles-to-take-flight/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 07:58:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/03074809/HoodedVultureNecrosyrtes.monachus_JoshVanDerMeulenINaturalistCCBYNCND4.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328452</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Illegal Wildlife Trade]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Chad, Nigeria, Togo, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Birds, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Poaching, Poisoning, Raptors, Scavengers, Vultures, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Togo’s vulture population is in crisis. Amid intense persecution for belief-based use and ongoing loss of habitat, surveys between 2021 and 2025 tracked a sharp decline in the numbers of critically endangered hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) around abattoirs — counting only a few hundred in total across the country. Palm-nut vultures (Gypohierax angolensis) are known [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Togo’s vulture population is in crisis. Amid intense persecution for belief-based use and ongoing loss of habitat, surveys between 2021 and 2025 tracked a sharp decline in the numbers of critically endangered hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) around abattoirs — counting only a few hundred in total across the country. Palm-nut vultures (Gypohierax angolensis) are known from only one protected area, and white-backed vultures (Gyps africanus) are now presumed to be locally extinct, with the last bird in the country seen in 2019. “We’re now in a situation where it’s much harder to find vultures,” Nico Arcilla, president of the International Bird Conservation Partnership (IBCP), said in an interview. “But if you go to the markets you’ll see them, and you know people are finding them.” In neighboring Benin, a major hub for the trade and use of vulture parts, unpublished market data collected by Abiola Chaffra, a research associate with the IBCP, counted 883 vultures for sale in nine markets surveyed in 2023. Surveys conducted between 2025 and 2026 found 535 for sale in 24 markets. “The fact that vultures continue to be sold, including in southern Benin where their numbers have declined sharply or they have even disappeared from the wild, shows that there is still significant pressure on these species,” Chaffra said. Following the surveys in Togo, the IBCP conducted awareness campaigns around slaughterhouses and worked with local authorities and site managers to protect vultures in 2024 and 2025. “During our awareness-raising activities, many people were unaware of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/west-africas-plan-to-save-its-vultures-struggles-to-take-flight/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/west-africas-plan-to-save-its-vultures-struggles-to-take-flight/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328452</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Belief-based use increasing threat to yellow-billed kite, an important African scavenger</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/belief-based-use-increasing-threat-to-yellow-billed-kite-an-important-african-scavenger/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/belief-based-use-increasing-threat-to-yellow-billed-kite-an-important-african-scavenger/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Jul 2026 14:52:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/07085501/Yellow-billed_Kite_Milvus_aegyptius_parasitus_--768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322723</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Togo, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Crime, Culture, Hunting, Over-hunting, Poaching, Predators, Raptors, Scavengers, Traditional People, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With West Africa’s vulture populations dwindling, poachers are increasingly turning to yellow-billed kites, a medium-sized, extremely adaptable raptor found in nearly every landscape across much of sub-Saharan Africa. And though they are listed as a “least concern” species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, they face a growing threat: They’re more frequently hunted [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With West Africa’s vulture populations dwindling, poachers are increasingly turning to yellow-billed kites, a medium-sized, extremely adaptable raptor found in nearly every landscape across much of sub-Saharan Africa. And though they are listed as a “least concern” species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, they face a growing threat: They’re more frequently hunted for use as fetishes and for food. Like vultures, kites — both alive and dead — and their parts are used in rituals and as charms. They’re caught as bushmeat, supply fetish markets and are used as ingredients in local traditional medicine. A study by Abiola Chaffra, a research fellow at the International Bird Conservation Partnership, found that during November-to-March hunting seasons in 2022 and 2023, hunters killed 20,200 yellow-billed kites (Milvus aegyptius) in southern Benin. They flock from across Africa to nest and breed in southern Benin each year, and as soon as they arrive, they’re in danger. “[These hunts occur] every year because the kites always come back,” Chaffra told Mongabay. The research will be published in the bulletin of the African Bird Club. Their loss could have broad impact: Yellow-billed kites are opportunistic predators that eat a wide range of small mammals, amphibians and insects that are considered pests. They play a key role in cleansing landscapes of disease and scavenging carcasses. Yellow-billed kites at a fetish market in Benin. Image by Abiola Chaffra. Belief-based demand Raptors have long been used in rituals in Benin, but it appears to be increasing, Chaffra&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/belief-based-use-increasing-threat-to-yellow-billed-kite-an-important-african-scavenger/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/belief-based-use-increasing-threat-to-yellow-billed-kite-an-important-african-scavenger/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322723</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>West and Central Africa tackle coastal erosion</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/west-and-central-africa-tackle-coastal-erosion/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/west-and-central-africa-tackle-coastal-erosion/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Dec 2025 12:22:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Adrienne EngonoCarolle AhodekonCharles KolouChristophe AssogbaRoland KlohiRosie Pioth]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Christophe Assogba]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/16121252/image8__Une-maison-progressivement-engloutie-par-la-Mer-a-Avepozo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311461</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Cameroon, Central Africa, Congo Basin, Cote D'Ivoire, Togo, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Economics, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Oceans, Politics, Pollution, Solutions, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Across many parts of Africa’s Atlantic coastline, the sea is advancing several metres inland each year, destroying homes, infrastructure, farmland and heritage sites. Many coastal communities have already been erased from the map. Several factors combine to explain the threatening loss of land along the West and Central African coast. The effects of global climate [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Across many parts of Africa’s Atlantic coastline, the sea is advancing several metres inland each year, destroying homes, infrastructure, farmland and heritage sites. Many coastal communities have already been erased from the map. Several factors combine to explain the threatening loss of land along the West and Central African coast. The effects of global climate change, with rising sea levels and warmer waters causing more extreme weather, are multiplied by large and small infrastructure projects that have disrupted coastal ecosystems’ natural resilience to the power of ocean waves and currents. The Ivorian village of Lahou-Kpanda, standing on a peninsula in a lagoon fed by the Bandama River, has become a dramatic symbol of coastal erosion along Cote d’Ivoire’s 570 kilometers (355 miles) of coastline. Powerful waves, exacerbated by rising sea levels linked to climate change, are undermining the coastline, causing it to erode by more than 2 meters (6.5 feet) per year. &#8220;Our village used to stretch over 2 kilometers [1.2 miles]. Today, it&#8217;s only 200 m [650 ft] wide,&#8221; reports Emmanuel Idi, a young local guide in his 20s. The construction of the Kossou Dam in the 1970s altered the flow of the Bandama River and disrupted the natural balance that protected the coast, exacerbating erosion. Several notable colonial-era buildings here, including the district office, the hospital and the prison, have already disappeared. Only the church, built in 1933, with its stone walls and orange-tiled roof, still stands firm against the waves’ onslaught. The most harrowing aspect is the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/west-and-central-africa-tackle-coastal-erosion/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/west-and-central-africa-tackle-coastal-erosion/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311461</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Birdsong rings out once again in Togo’s sacred forest of Titiyo</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/birdsong-rings-out-once-again-in-togos-sacred-forest-of-titiyo/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/birdsong-rings-out-once-again-in-togos-sacred-forest-of-titiyo/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Aug 2024 14:25:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Charles Kolou]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Christophe Assogba]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></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=285822</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Togo, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, charcoal, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Deforestation, Degraded Lands, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Policy, forest degradation, Forestry, Forests, Landscape Restoration, Reforestation, Research, Restoration, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KARÈ, Togo — Under the hot sun of an April afternoon in northern Togo, we made our way by motorcycle across the impoverished prefecture of Kozah. It wasn’t a long journey, about 30 minutes, but threading between trucks and cars on National Highway No. 1, it was a treacherous one. When we arrived, we were [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KARÈ, Togo — Under the hot sun of an April afternoon in northern Togo, we made our way by motorcycle across the impoverished prefecture of Kozah. It wasn’t a long journey, about 30 minutes, but threading between trucks and cars on National Highway No. 1, it was a treacherous one. When we arrived, we were greeted with a smile by “Dadja” Pékémassim Ali, the 57-year-old chief of the canton of Kouméa, where the village of Karè is located. “We’re glad you’ve come to talk about this forest, whose restoration we’re delighted to see,” he told us. “Out of ignorance, and in a desire to satisfy our needs, our people set fire to the forest and cut down all the trees. And for years, we suffered from scarce rainfall, no timber, and even hotter temperatures. Our children no longer knew of the area’s birds and other animal species.” Ali gave us his approval to climb Karè’s mountain and visit the sacred forest known as Titiyo forest. As we entered the forest, we were greeted by a cool breeze and the sound of birdsong. Koudjabalo Ayouguele, the Kara regional representative for the NGO AJEDI, holds a sign pointing to the sacred forest of Titiyo in northern Togo. Image by Charles Kolou for Mongabay. Since the 1800s, the sacred forest of Titiyo has been the site of annual rituals that involve traditional dances and the celebration of various deities. People come from throughout the canton of Kouméa and the entire Kozah prefecture. It’s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/birdsong-rings-out-once-again-in-togos-sacred-forest-of-titiyo/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/birdsong-rings-out-once-again-in-togos-sacred-forest-of-titiyo/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-285822</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Togo monkey seizure turns spotlight on illicit wildlife trafficking from DR Congo</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/togo-monkey-seizure-turns-spotlight-on-illicit-wildlife-trafficking-from-dr-congo/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/togo-monkey-seizure-turns-spotlight-on-illicit-wildlife-trafficking-from-dr-congo/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jan 2024 10:53:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Didier Makal]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/01/02181450/BlackMangabeyLophocebus.aterrimus_NathanRupertFlickrBYNCND2.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=277443</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Congo Basin, Democratic Republic Of Congo, Togo, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Illegal Trade, Monkeys, Poaching, Primates, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LUBUMBASHI, Democratic Republic of the Congo — On Dec. 2, Togolese authorities intercepted 38 monkeys at the airport. They were being sent from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to Thailand and included at least two species classified as vulnerable by the IUCN. Thirty of these animals had not been [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LUBUMBASHI, Democratic Republic of the Congo — On Dec. 2, Togolese authorities intercepted 38 monkeys at the airport. They were being sent from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to Thailand and included at least two species classified as vulnerable by the IUCN. Thirty of these animals had not been declared upon leaving the DRC. On Dec. 7, Togo repatriated the severely distressed animals to Kinshasa, according to a press release from the ICCN, the Congolese wildlife authority, on Dec. 19. Fourteen of them died at the Kinshasa zoo before the remaining 24 were transferred to an animal sanctuary in the southeastern city of Lubumbashi. &#8220;The surviving animals were entrusted to us for rehabilitation so that they can one day return to the wild as we partner with the ICCN,&#8221; said Franck Chantereau, president of the J.A.C.K. Primate Rehabilitation Centre in Lubumbashi. He told Mongabay that the high mortality rate was due to the poor conditions in which the traffickers transported the monkeys. The seizure illustrates weaknesses in inspection at the DRC’s borders. The live cargo departed from Kinshasa’s N’djili Airport and was transiting through Togo to Thailand. Among the animals intercepted were lesula (Cercopithecus lomamiensis), a species of guenon found only in the forests of the Lomami Basin which was not identified and formally described until 2012, and black crested mangabey (Lophocebus aterrimus). Both species have been classified as vulnerable by the IUCN. Listed in CITES Appendix II, they can be exported from the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/togo-monkey-seizure-turns-spotlight-on-illicit-wildlife-trafficking-from-dr-congo/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/togo-monkey-seizure-turns-spotlight-on-illicit-wildlife-trafficking-from-dr-congo/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-277443</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Prized as pets, are ball pythons being traded out of wild existence?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/prized-as-pets-are-ball-pythons-being-traded-out-of-wild-existence/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/prized-as-pets-are-ball-pythons-being-traded-out-of-wild-existence/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 May 2020 16:34:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/29161554/40730551783_90c3917d1a_o-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=230826</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Canada, Ghana, Togo, United Kingdom, United States, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Captive Breeding, Conservation, Hunting, Pet Trade, Pets, Reptiles, Snakes, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a video, a group of young Ghanian men stride out into the bush, carrying long sticks over their shoulders. Dogs trail alongside them. When they come across a burrow, a man kneels and loosens some dirt with his stick. Then he glides his hand into the hollow, and pulls out a long black snake [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In a video, a group of young Ghanian men stride out into the bush, carrying long sticks over their shoulders. Dogs trail alongside them. When they come across a burrow, a man kneels and loosens some dirt with his stick. Then he glides his hand into the hollow, and pulls out a long black snake mottled with brown and tan patches.  The snake is a ball python (Python regius), a species named after its habit of coiling up into a ball-like shape when distressed. True to its name, the python twists up as the man lifts the snake into the air, and deposits him into a cloth bag. While the footage doesn’t show what happens next, the men will probably sell the snake to a trader, who will either keep the python for breeding purposes, or export the animal for sale overseas.  Python hunters in Ghana displaying their latest catch. Image by Aaron Gekoski. Red flags for ‘red listed’ pythons Ball pythons are the most commonly, and legally, traded live African animal under CITES, an international treaty aimed to protect endangered and threatened species. More than 3 million of these reptiles have been exported from Africa since 1975, with the majority coming from Togo, Ghana and Benin, according to a recent report by World Animal Protection (WAP). While some of these snakes are captured directly from the wild, others are “farmed” at local breeding facilities or “ranches,” then exported to countries like the U.S., Canada, U.K., Europe and China. Ball&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/prized-as-pets-are-ball-pythons-being-traded-out-of-wild-existence/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/prized-as-pets-are-ball-pythons-being-traded-out-of-wild-existence/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-230826</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Western Chimpanzee numbers declined by more than 80 percent over the past quarter century</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/western-chimpanzee-numbers-declined-by-more-than-80-percent-over-the-past-quarter-century/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/western-chimpanzee-numbers-declined-by-more-than-80-percent-over-the-past-quarter-century/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jul 2017 17:09:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/07/31164934/9671891923_9cde91482c_h-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=197928</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Great Apes]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote D'Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Bushmeat, Chimpanzees, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Fragmentation, Global Environmental Crisis, Great Apes, Habitat Loss, Hunting, Industrial Agriculture, Logging, Mining, Pet Trade, Poaching, Primates, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Research published in the American Journal of Primatology earlier this month finds that the overall Western Chimpanzee population has declined by more than 80 percent over the past quarter century. In order to arrive at an estimate of the chimp’s population numbers, an international team of scientists led by Hjalmar Kühl of the Max Planck [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Research published in the American Journal of Primatology earlier this month finds that the overall Western Chimpanzee population has declined by more than 80 percent over the past quarter century. In order to arrive at an estimate of the chimp’s population numbers, an international team of scientists led by Hjalmar Kühl of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany used transect count data from 20 different sites that encompassed the nesting grounds for some 25,000 of the estimated 35,000 Western Chimpanzees remaining in the wild. The team writes that they “detected a significant negative trend” at 12 of the 20 sites. “The estimated change in the subspecies abundance, as approximated by nest encounter rate, yielded a 6% annual decline and a total decline of 80.2% over the study period from 1990 to 2014,” the researchers write. “This also resulted in a reduced geographic range of 20% (657,600 vs. 524,100 km2).” Western Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) are one of four commonly recognized subspecies of the great ape, the others being the Nigeria-Cameroon Chimpanzee (P. t. ellioti), the Central Chimpanzee (P. t. troglodytes), and the Eastern Chimpanzee (P. t. schweinfurthii). Each population faces different threats, thus a regional approach to the conservation of each subspecies is considered crucial. The main threats to the Western Chimpanzee are almost all man-made. Habitat loss and fragmentation driven by slash-and-burn agriculture, industrial agriculture (including deforestation for oil palm plantations as well as eucalyptus, rubber, and sugar cane developments), and extractive industries like logging, mining,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/western-chimpanzee-numbers-declined-by-more-than-80-percent-over-the-past-quarter-century/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/western-chimpanzee-numbers-declined-by-more-than-80-percent-over-the-past-quarter-century/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-197928</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>West African countries come together to stop the illegal rosewood trade</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/04/west-african-countries-band-together-stop-illegal-rosewood-trade/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/04/west-african-countries-band-together-stop-illegal-rosewood-trade/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Apr 2016 17:33:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/04/01215331/IMG_0665-440x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=185692</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Burkina Faso, Cote D'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Drivers Of Deforestation, Dry Forests, Environment, Forests, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, Logging, Rosewood, Savannas, timber trade, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Eleven West African countries have come together and agreed to take collective action to curb illegal rosewood logging and trade in response to a quickly developing crisis. Several species of rosewood, belonging to the genera Dalbergia and Pterocarpus and collectively known as hongmu, are highly sought after by Chinese furniture manufacturers, who use them to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Eleven West African countries have come together and agreed to take collective action to curb illegal rosewood logging and trade in response to a quickly developing crisis. Several species of rosewood, belonging to the genera Dalbergia and Pterocarpus and collectively known as hongmu, are highly sought after by Chinese furniture manufacturers, who use them to make products that are coveted status symbols. The majority of rosewood imports into China have traditionally come from Southeast Asian countries like Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam, but West Africa has become one of the largest exporting regions feeding China’s growing demand for rosewood in the past few years. In 2014, when Chinese imports were at an all-time high, according to a Forest Trends report that came out last December, nearly half came from Nigeria, Ghana, and other African countries, which supplied just 10 percent of Chinese rosewood imports a decade ago. Most West African countries have banned the cutting and export of rosewood trees, but weak trade controls and lax enforcement in China have left the chief destination country unprepared to help stop the illegal hongmu trade. Some West African rosewood species have been listed by the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in order to provide more tools for China to combat the illicit trade. Photo by Naomi Basik Treanor. But West African officials looking for more ways to tackle the problem themselves set up an international conference held at the end of March in Guinea-Bissau and attended by representatives from Economic&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/04/west-african-countries-band-together-stop-illegal-rosewood-trade/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/04/west-african-countries-band-together-stop-illegal-rosewood-trade/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-185692</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photos: the top ten new species discovered in 2010</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/05/photos-the-top-ten-new-species-discovered-in-2010/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/05/photos-the-top-ten-new-species-discovered-in-2010/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 May 2011 16:14:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2011/05/photos-the-top-ten-new-species-discovered-in-2010/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Atlantic Forest, Benin, Brazil, Madagascar, Nigeria, North America, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, South America, Southern Africa, Togo, United States, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bacteria, Biodiversity, Bushmeat, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Fungi, Green, Herps, Hunting, Insects, Islands, Lizards, Mammals, Marine, Oceans, Poaching, Rainforests, Reptiles, Species Discovery, Spiders, Strange, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The biggest species from this year&#8217;s Top 10 New Species List is the six-foot long new monitor lizard, known as the, Sierra Madre Forest monitor, from the Philippine island of Luzon. This is an adult male. Photo by: Joseph Brown. If we had to characterize our understanding of life on Earth as either ignorant or [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The biggest species from this year&#8217;s Top 10 New Species List is the six-foot long new monitor lizard, known as the, Sierra Madre Forest monitor, from the Philippine island of Luzon. This is an adult male. Photo by: Joseph Brown. If we had to characterize our understanding of life on Earth as either ignorant or knowledgeable, the former would be most correct. In 250 years of rigorous taxonomic work researchers have cataloged nearly two million species, however scientists estimate the total number of species on Earth is at least five million and perhaps up to a hundred million. This means every year thousands of new species are discovered by researchers, and from these thousands, the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University selects ten especially notable new species. This years Top 10 New Species includes bacteria that feed on the Titanic wreck, a human-sized lizard, a small antelope that was discovered in a bushmeat market in West Africa, a leech named after the king of dinosaurs, and a glowing fungi among others [see photos and further descriptions below]. &#8220;Charting the species of the world and their unique attributes are essential parts of understanding the history of life. It is in our own self-interest as we face the challenges of living on a rapidly changing planet that we understand the origin and 3.8 billion year history of evolution,&#8221; explains Quentin Wheeler, Director of the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University and an entomologist himself. He adds:&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2011/05/photos-the-top-ten-new-species-discovered-in-2010/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2011/05/photos-the-top-ten-new-species-discovered-in-2010/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-32511</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photos: Rarest cheetah photographed for the first time</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2009/02/photos-rarest-cheetah-photographed-for-the-first-time/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2009/02/photos-rarest-cheetah-photographed-for-the-first-time/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Feb 2009 23:01:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2009/02/photos-rarest-cheetah-photographed-for-the-first-time/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Togo, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Cats, Conservation, Deserts, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Green, Mammals, Saving Species From Extinction, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On the edge of extinction, desert-dwelling cheetah photographed for first time by camera traps]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On the edge of extinction, desert-dwelling cheetah photographed for first time by camera trapsThis article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2009/02/photos-rarest-cheetah-photographed-for-the-first-time/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2009/02/photos-rarest-cheetah-photographed-for-the-first-time/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-36958</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Goodbye to West Africa&#8217;s Rainforests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2006/01/goodbye-to-west-africas-rainforests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2006/01/goodbye-to-west-africas-rainforests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Jan 2006 15:19:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2006/01/goodbye-to-west-africas-rainforests/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Cameroon, Cote D'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation, Forests, Green, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Rainforests, and Threats To Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Goodbye to West Africa&#8217;s Rainforests Goodbye to West Africa&#8217;s Rainforests Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com January 22, 2006 The state of West Africa&#8217;s rainforests West Africa&#8217;s once verdant and extensive rainforests are now a historical footnote. Gone to build ships and furniture, feed hungry mouths, and supply minerals and gems to the West, the band of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Goodbye to West Africa&#8217;s Rainforests Goodbye to West Africa&#8217;s Rainforests Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com January 22, 2006 The state of West Africa&#8217;s rainforests West Africa&#8217;s once verdant and extensive rainforests are now a historical footnote. Gone to build ships and furniture, feed hungry mouths, and supply minerals and gems to the West, the band of tropical forests that once extended from Guinea to Cameroon are virtually a memory. The loss of West Africa&#8217;s rainforests have triggered a number of environmental problems that have contributed to social unrest and exacerbated poverty across the region. Disappearing forests According to data provided by the United Nations, today about 1.5% of West Africa has primary forest cover. In the past 15 years, more than 5400 square miles (1.4 million hectares), or 26 percent, of primary&#8212;or old growth&#8212;forest has disappeared from the region, leaving West Africa with somewhere between 11,600 and 15,400 square miles (3 and 4 million hectares) of such forest. West Africa&#8217;s impoverishment of old-growth forest is a relatively new development. One hundred years ago, West Africa had some 193,000 square miles (50 million hectares) of coastal rainforest, but decades of relentless logging combined with road-building, mining, and subsistence activities including the collection of fuel wood and agricultural clearing for subsistence has left the region with precious little forest. High population growth rates have only worsened the loss&#8212;deforestation rates of primary forest have increased by more than 20% since the close of the 1990s. Civil strife Forest loss has made life more difficult&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2006/01/goodbye-to-west-africas-rainforests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2006/01/goodbye-to-west-africas-rainforests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-61613</doi>				</item>
			</channel>
</rss>