<?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/?post_type=post&#038;byline=ed-warner" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/ed-warner/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2026 23:56:47 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
		<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
		<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
		<generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.1</generator>

<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Ed Warner Archives</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/ed-warner/</link>
	<width>32</width>
	<height>32</height>
</image> 
				<item>
					<title>Antarctic krill sustainability label questioned</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/antarctic-krill-sustainability-label-questioned/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/antarctic-krill-sustainability-label-questioned/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Mar 2026 22:46:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bobby Bascomb]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/05224303/Gentoo_Life_204386763-1-e1772750731654-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315314</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Fish, Fisheries, Marine Mammals, Ocean, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) recently released a draft report for its fourth recertification of krill fishing in Antarctica by Aker QRILL Company. The certification would allow Aker to put an MSC label on its products that tells consumers the krill came from a sustainable well-managed fishery. However, the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC), [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) recently released a draft report for its fourth recertification of krill fishing in Antarctica by Aker QRILL Company. The certification would allow Aker to put an MSC label on its products that tells consumers the krill came from a sustainable well-managed fishery. However, the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC), a U.S.-based advocacy group, issued a formal objection to that determination, citing concerns about overfishing of a critical resource in a sensitive ecosystem. “Everything that lives in Antarctica either eats krill or eats something that eats krill,” Holly Parker Curry, ASOC’s marine protected areas campaign director, told Mongabay in a video call. It’s the base of the food chain but krill biomass has . That’s roughly when people started harvesting the tiny crustaceans for aquaculture fish food and dietary supplements for people. Climate change and shrunken sea ice are also contributing the dramatic drop in krill populations; krill depend on sea ice for part of their life cycle. In its said, “Antarctic krill is one of the best managed species in the world … [and] the total catch is limited to below 1% of the total biomass.” Curry said that assessment is strictly accurate, but the devil is in the details. “It&#8217;s not just about how much is caught, that&#8217;s important too, but it&#8217;s really where it&#8217;s caught,” Curry said. “A lot of the fishing for krill in the Southern Ocean, it all happens essentially in the Antarctic Peninsula, and in the past two years, it&#8217;s become increasingly&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/antarctic-krill-sustainability-label-questioned/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/antarctic-krill-sustainability-label-questioned/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Satellite images identify vulture breeding colonies by their droppings</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/satellite-images-identify-vulture-breeding-colonies-by-their-droppings/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/satellite-images-identify-vulture-breeding-colonies-by-their-droppings/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Mar 2026 19:21:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ryan Truscott]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/05140548/Vulture_11.NestingColony_BomaPlateauSouthSudan_MeganClaase-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315248</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Chad, East Africa, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Birds, Birds Of Prey, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Poaching, Poisoning, Predators, Raptors, Scavengers, Vultures, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Populations of Rüppell’s vultures have fallen by more than 90% over the past four decades. Knowing exactly where these critically endangered birds breed can allow conservationists to put protective measures in place. But Rüppell’s historically occupied a vast swathe of West, Central and East Africa; finding their remaining colonies is a daunting task. A team [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Populations of Rüppell’s vultures have fallen by more than 90% over the past four decades. Knowing exactly where these critically endangered birds breed can allow conservationists to put protective measures in place. But Rüppell’s historically occupied a vast swathe of West, Central and East Africa; finding their remaining colonies is a daunting task. A team of researchers says it has successfully tested a way to find vulture colonies remotely, pinpointing dozens of potential sites across seven countries using open-access satellite imagery. The vultures helped. Like other cliff-nesting birds, their droppings lavishly daub cliff faces below their nests with whitewash. Bulgarian ornithologist Ivaylo Angelov, zoomed in on satellite images of mountainous areas across more than 6 million square kilometers (2.3 million square miles), seeking out cliffs over 20 meters (65 feet) high as well as sites documented in old bird atlases of the region. Ivaylo Angelov studies a Rüppell’s vulture nesting colony in Ethiopia in 2009. Image courtesy of Nikolay Terziev. Angelov and his colleagues pinpointed 232 previously undocumented nesting sites. Most of these were in Sudan, South Sudan and Chad, but they found others in the Central African Republic, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. The work took weeks but was “immensely satisfying.” “I love geography, I love travel, and it was an absolute joy for me to zoom in and check all these incredible mountains,” Angelov says. “I had the feeling that I’m there.” In the region surrounding Sudan’s Jebel Marra mountains, in the southwest of the country, the team located&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/satellite-images-identify-vulture-breeding-colonies-by-their-droppings/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/satellite-images-identify-vulture-breeding-colonies-by-their-droppings/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>25 years after ‘disaster’ declaration, major U.S. fishery makes a comeback</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/25-years-after-disaster-declaration-major-u-s-fishery-makes-a-comeback/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/25-years-after-disaster-declaration-major-u-s-fishery-makes-a-comeback/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Mar 2026 19:01:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jules Struck]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/05173540/53012320328_74d1dd9457_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315179</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America, Pacific, Pacific Northwest, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bycatch, Conservation, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Marine Animals, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Conservation, Marine Crisis, Marine Ecosystems, Mrn-oceans, Oceans, Overfishing, Regulations, Saltwater Fish, Sustainability, Water, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PORT ORFORD, Oregon, U.S. — Aaron Longton reached down into the rinsing sink in his garage-turned-fish-processing facility on the Oregon coast and hoisted a redbanded rockfish by its fat bottom lip. The homely fish was next in line for the dressing table, where Brian Morrissey, Longton’s “cutter-in-chief,” would deftly slice it into neat fillets, setting [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PORT ORFORD, Oregon, U.S. — Aaron Longton reached down into the rinsing sink in his garage-turned-fish-processing facility on the Oregon coast and hoisted a redbanded rockfish by its fat bottom lip. The homely fish was next in line for the dressing table, where Brian Morrissey, Longton’s “cutter-in-chief,” would deftly slice it into neat fillets, setting aside its guts and bones for crabbing chum. Morrisey had about 250 kilograms (550 pounds) of the rockfish (Sebastes babcocki) to get through that day, and 90 kg (200 lbs) of lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus), he said, his knife unzipping yet another fish. An unthinkable abundance only 20 years ago. “These fish were really severely limited to us,” said Longton, founder of Port Orford Sustainable Seafood, a company that sells fish via a subscription program. “Now, we have huge quotas.” Redbanded rockfish (Sebastes babcocki), one of the groundfish species whose stock has been rebuilt on the U.S. West Coast, being processed at Port Orford Sustainable Seafood. Image by Jules Struck for Mongabay. The groundfish Longton hauls to his processing room from the pier down the street are the spoils of a painstakingly rebuilt industry. Twenty-six years ago, the West Coast groundfish industry, which encompasses more than 90 species of bottom-dwelling fish off Washington, Oregon and California, had overfished itself to near devastation. In response, fisheries authorities closed vast tracts of the ocean to trawling and slashed fishing quotas, throwing many fishers into painful retirement. But in the aftermath, an unlikely corps materialized of fishers, scientists, conservationists&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/25-years-after-disaster-declaration-major-u-s-fishery-makes-a-comeback/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/25-years-after-disaster-declaration-major-u-s-fishery-makes-a-comeback/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bringing storytelling to science: John Cannon’s approach to reporting on nature</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/bringing-storytelling-to-science-john-cannons-approach-to-reporting-on-nature/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/bringing-storytelling-to-science-john-cannons-approach-to-reporting-on-nature/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Mar 2026 17:40:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alejandro Prescott-Cornejo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/05173144/PCT-SEKI-2024-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315287</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environmental Journalism, Interviews With Environmental Journalists, Journalism, and Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For John Cannon, reporting on nature begins with a story grounded in the truth. “Evidence-based reporting [is] at the heart of what we do at Mongabay,” he says. “I believe it’s perhaps the most profound way we can contribute to making things better.” With a biology degree from Ohio State University and a graduate degree [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For John Cannon, reporting on nature begins with a story grounded in the truth. “Evidence-based reporting [is] at the heart of what we do at Mongabay,” he says. “I believe it’s perhaps the most profound way we can contribute to making things better.” With a biology degree from Ohio State University and a graduate degree in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz, Cannon has dedicated himself to this belief, reporting from around the world, including several countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. He also was a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger. That background fuels Cannon’s curiosity as a journalist. “I find science’s disentangling of life’s mysteries on Earth incredibly inspiring, especially as we try to find our way out of the crises of climate change and biodiversity loss,” he says. Ultimately, his time is spent “connecting conservation science with the daily lives of people affected by the problems that face us today” as well as “finding ways to illustrate how interconnected we all are.” Cannon hiking through Dogon country in Mali, 2011. Image courtesy of Anne-Claire Benoit. Today, based in California with his wife and two cats adopted while living in Gaza, Cannon balances his work at Mongabay with a love of mountain biking, skiing and hiking, including taking on Spain’s Camino de Santiago and the Pacific Crest Trail across the U.S. and Canada. Cannon began writing for Mongabay as a correspondent in 2014, joined full-time in 2016, and is now a staff features writer. His&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/bringing-storytelling-to-science-john-cannons-approach-to-reporting-on-nature/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/bringing-storytelling-to-science-john-cannons-approach-to-reporting-on-nature/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Climate change is messing with tropical plants’ flowering times, study shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/climate-change-is-messing-with-tropical-plants-flowering-times-study-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/climate-change-is-messing-with-tropical-plants-flowering-times-study-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Mar 2026 17:39:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/05173452/brazil_154853-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315290</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The flowering times for many plant species have shifted due to climate change, with most of the change occurring in temperate zones. Researchers assumed the tropics, which are largely the same temperature year-round, would be insulated from such climate change-driven changes to flowering times. However, a new study challenges that assumption. Researchers examined more than [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The flowering times for many plant species have shifted due to climate change, with most of the change occurring in temperate zones. Researchers assumed the tropics, which are largely the same temperature year-round, would be insulated from such climate change-driven changes to flowering times. However, a new study challenges that assumption. Researchers examined more than 200 years of flowering plant data from herbarium collections of tropical plants across Africa, Asia and South America. They identified 33 plant species with distinct annual flowering times, and recorded data from 8,000 individual plant specimens collected between 1794 and 2024. They found that the flowering times shifted by an average of two days per decade; approximately one-third of the species flowered earlier and two-thirds shifted later. However, there were some anomalies. Brazilian amaranth trees (Peltogyne recifensis), for example, now flower 80 days later than they did in the 1950s. By 1995, the Ghanaian rattlepod shrub (Crotalaria mortonii) flowered 17 days earlier than it did in the 1950s. Study lead author Skylar Graves, from the University of Colorado Boulder in the U.S., said the findings show that herbarium specimens can be used to examine the climate impacts on plants over time. “Herbarium specimens are functionally a global and multigenerational dataset of plants,” she told Mongabay by email. “These specimens can be used for countless purposes, and with enough collections taken … you can use them to compare anything you want at any scale.” The shifts observed in tropical plant flowering times is comparable to those&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/climate-change-is-messing-with-tropical-plants-flowering-times-study-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/climate-change-is-messing-with-tropical-plants-flowering-times-study-shows/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Seafood fraud is rampant, imperiling fish populations, report finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/seafood-fraud-is-rampant-imperiling-fish-populations-report-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/seafood-fraud-is-rampant-imperiling-fish-populations-report-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Mar 2026 17:36:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/05142725/1-wholesale-seafood-market-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315255</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Environmental Crime, Environmental Law, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Food, Food Industry, Illegal Fishing, Law, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Overfishing, Saltwater Fish, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, and Wildlife Crime]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The global fisheries and aquaculture sector produces more than 150 million metric tons of food per year, valued at nearly $200 billion. Yet it’s plagued with fraud, according to a new report. The report, published Feb. 10 by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency, both United Nations bodies, says [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The global fisheries and aquaculture sector produces more than 150 million metric tons of food per year, valued at nearly $200 billion. Yet it’s plagued with fraud, according to a new report. The report, published Feb. 10 by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency, both United Nations bodies, says that up to roughly 20% of aquatic products are intentionally mislabeled as the wrong species or otherwise fraudulent, posing environmental and health risks. “A global 20% seafood fraud rate isn’t just a statistic; it’s a dire warning,” Max Valentine, a campaign director at U.S.-based marine conservation NGO Oceana, said in a statement. (An Oceana policy adviser to the NGO’s Europe branch contributed to the FAO report, but Valentine wasn’t involved with it.) “Consumers are falling victim to a bait and switch, and the fishers who play by the rules are paying the price. This is a global problem that every nation must work together to combat at its source.” The report, presented at the World Seafood Congress held Feb. 9-11 in Chennai, India, calls for governments and industry stakeholders to establish better traceability systems, use advanced detection methods, and educate the public. “Tools of great relevance are national legislation and national and international standards, which are vital in defining acceptable products and practices,” the report says. A tuna on board a fishing vessel in Indian waters in 2012. The vessel was operating outside of Indian regulations on registration and ownership, according to the international NGO&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/seafood-fraud-is-rampant-imperiling-fish-populations-report-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/seafood-fraud-is-rampant-imperiling-fish-populations-report-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>A sanctuary&#8230; for glacier ice?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/a-sanctuary-for-glacier-ice/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/a-sanctuary-for-glacier-ice/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Mar 2026 16:37:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/05163434/Svalbard-2023-%C2%A9-Riccardo-Selvatico-_-Ice-Memory-Foundation-CNR_ICR2616-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315282</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Science, Earth Science, Environment, Glaciers, and Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Scientists in Antarctica have just inaugurated the first global repository of mountain ice cores. As the climate crisis melts glaciers all around the world, this frozen vault aims to preserve the history of the Earth&#8217;s atmosphere for future generations to study.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Scientists in Antarctica have just inaugurated the first global repository of mountain ice cores. As the climate crisis melts glaciers all around the world, this frozen vault aims to preserve the history of the Earth&#8217;s atmosphere for future generations to study.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/a-sanctuary-for-glacier-ice/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/a-sanctuary-for-glacier-ice/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Beetle known for ravaging mango trees now killing baobabs, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/beetle-known-for-ravaging-mango-trees-now-killing-baobabs-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/beetle-known-for-ravaging-mango-trees-now-killing-baobabs-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Mar 2026 14:18:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Charles Mpaka]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/05133804/baobab-in-oman-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315242</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Madagascar, Middle East, Oman, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Change And Biodiversity, Climate Change And Forests, Conservation, Dry Forests, Ecology, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Forestry, Forests, Plants, Research, Trees, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A couple of years ago, Sarah Venter wrote an article gently picking apart alarm over the specter of Africa&#8217;s iconic baobabs dying off due to climate change. Her review found that while a number of famously large and ancient trees had indeed collapsed in worsening conditions, Adansonia digitata were generally proving resilient. When she heard [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A couple of years ago, Sarah Venter wrote an article gently picking apart alarm over the specter of Africa&#8217;s iconic baobabs dying off due to climate change. Her review found that while a number of famously large and ancient trees had indeed collapsed in worsening conditions, Adansonia digitata were generally proving resilient. When she heard about fears that a new pest was killing worrying numbers of baobabs in Oman, she set off to investigate, at the invitation of Oman’s Environmental Authority. There are eight species of baobab, members of the genus Adansonia. A. digitata is widely distributed across East, West and Southern Africa; one species is restricted to northwestern Australia; and the other six are found only in Madagascar, believed to be the center of origin for this striking family of trees that stand majestically on barrel-like trunks and can live for well over a thousand years. Three of Madagascar’s baobab species are threatened — A. grandidieri and A. suarezensis are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List, and A. perrieri is critically endangered — by logging, charcoal production, wildfires, and mining of the forests they’re found in. Historical records and genetic research suggest baobabs reached Oman, on the Arabian Peninsula, centuries ago as part of the circulation of valuable plants between northeastern Africa, the Persian Gulf and South Asia by nomadic and fishing communities on the Indian Ocean. Batocera rufomaculata adult (a) and larvae (b). Images courtesy of Sarah Venter. It was the health of about 100 baobabs&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/beetle-known-for-ravaging-mango-trees-now-killing-baobabs-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/beetle-known-for-ravaging-mango-trees-now-killing-baobabs-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>DNA fingerprinting convicts Zimbabwe lion poachers in landmark case</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/dna-fingerprinting-convicts-zimbabwe-lion-poachers-in-landmark-case/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/dna-fingerprinting-convicts-zimbabwe-lion-poachers-in-landmark-case/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Mar 2026 13:55:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/05091917/lions-feasting-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315236</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Southern Africa, and Zimbabwe]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Anti-poaching, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Crime, DNA, Environment, Environmental Crime, Environmental Law, Lions, Mammals, Poaching, Technology, Technology And Conservation, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Crime, Wildlife Trade, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A CSI-style investigation in Zimbabwe helped to successfully prosecute two people for killing a lion and trafficking its teeth, flesh and other body parts in February. Forensic specialists analyzed DNA collected from parts seized by authorities and matched it with a radio-collared lion that was killed two years ago. This conviction was historic: It’s the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A CSI-style investigation in Zimbabwe helped to successfully prosecute two people for killing a lion and trafficking its teeth, flesh and other body parts in February. Forensic specialists analyzed DNA collected from parts seized by authorities and matched it with a radio-collared lion that was killed two years ago. This conviction was historic: It’s the world’s first case to use a lion’s genetic material and trace it back to an individual to pin down wildlife criminals. The two defendants were sentenced to two years in prison for their crimes. The conviction is tied to a 2024 case in which poachers snared and killed a male lion near Hwange National Park, close to the world-famous Victoria Falls. Researchers knew this particular lion, as they’d tracked its movements as part of a study. When they captured and anesthetized the cat to fit it with a radio collar some years ago, biologists took blood samples and logged its genetic and health information into their database. Investigators used that DNA data to trace the origins of seized lion parts, which included three bags of meat, 16 claws and four teeth that were to be sold on the black market. Parts from captive-bred lions can be traded internationally and in Zimbabwe with the appropriate paperwork, but the sellers didn’t have permits, and proving these seized parts came from a wild lion and not a captive-bred one was key to this case. That would mean poaching, which is  illegal. African lions are the most-traded wildcats in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/dna-fingerprinting-convicts-zimbabwe-lion-poachers-in-landmark-case/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/dna-fingerprinting-convicts-zimbabwe-lion-poachers-in-landmark-case/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Archived camera-trap images bring Thailand&#8217;s tapirs into focus</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/archived-camera-trap-images-bring-thailands-tapirs-into-focus/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/archived-camera-trap-images-bring-thailands-tapirs-into-focus/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Mar 2026 04:47:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naira Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/05043547/9424281107_7253851ccd_o-scaled-e1772685430760-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315228</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Camera Trapping, Endangered, Endangered Species, and Mammals]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Archived camera-trapping images have revealed a new stronghold for Asian tapirs in Khlong Seang–Khao Sok Forest Complex, in southern Thailand. Mongabay’s Carolyn Cowan reports that a recent study found camera-trap “bycatch” data — images of species that researchers hadn’t intended to photograph — can be used to monitor Asian tapirs (Tapirus indicus). The camera traps [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Archived camera-trapping images have revealed a new stronghold for Asian tapirs in Khlong Seang–Khao Sok Forest Complex, in southern Thailand. Mongabay’s Carolyn Cowan reports that a recent study found camera-trap “bycatch” data — images of species that researchers hadn’t intended to photograph — can be used to monitor Asian tapirs (Tapirus indicus). The camera traps were originally set up in Khlong Seang–Khao Sok between 2016 and 2017 to monitor Asian black bears (Ursus thibetanus), and sun bears (Helarctos malayanus). Tapirs weren’t a target because, historically, they’ve mostly been surveyed visually, with researchers walking a path through the forest and recording any tapirs they spot along the way. Modeling based on images from the Thai forest complex suggests it could hold up to 436 tapirs, significantly more than the previous estimate of fewer than 250 individuals for all of Thailand and Myanmar combined. But researchers urge caution in interpreting this number, as tapirs may be unevenly distributed across the forest complex, suggesting a smaller actual number. Globally, the species is endangered, with fewer than 2,500 mature individuals remaining, according to a 2014 assessment. Adult Asian tapirs can weigh up to 350 kilograms (772 pounds), making them the largest of the four tapir species and the only one found outside of Latin America. In addition to being nocturnal and shy, said ecologist Naparat Suttidate from Walailak University in Thailand, Asian tapirs “are [a] large, slow-reproducing species requiring large areas of specific habitat [and] play a vital role as seed dispersers, helping to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/archived-camera-trap-images-bring-thailands-tapirs-into-focus/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/archived-camera-trap-images-bring-thailands-tapirs-into-focus/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Emotional and psychological stresses beleaguer conservation professionals (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/emotional-and-psychological-stresses-beleaguer-conservation-professionals-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/emotional-and-psychological-stresses-beleaguer-conservation-professionals-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2026 19:22:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nerissa ChaoVik Mohan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/27125153/c.-USFWS-Pacific-Greater_sage-grouse_surveys_in_southwestern_Idaho_52848937361-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315223</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Commentary, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Activism, Gender and Conservation, Health, Psychology, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nested within the current biodiversity crisis sits an equally complex and concerning human crisis, but one that receives even less attention: the poor mental health and well-being of the conservation workforce. The scale of this problem is clearly set out in a recent Mongabay article. In a sector that has always relied on the passion [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nested within the current biodiversity crisis sits an equally complex and concerning human crisis, but one that receives even less attention: the poor mental health and well-being of the conservation workforce. The scale of this problem is clearly set out in a recent Mongabay article. In a sector that has always relied on the passion and commitment of individuals, where one’s value is measured by selfless dedication to the cause — which can manifest as an expectation to prioritize work above all else, take on unpaid or poorly paid work, accept poor working conditions, or compromise on personal safety — staff well-being has never been a priority. This unhealthy culture of self-sacrifice provides the context within which sector-wide stressors are impacting the well-being of the workforce. The growing ecological crisis in itself is having a significant impact on well-being, and this is set out powerfully in the Mongabay article. In addition to this, the changing funding and geopolitical landscape, which is deprioritizing conservation and climate action, further increases instability and uncertainty, putting further pressure on the conservation sector. Working in conservation isn&#8217;t all rainbows. Photo illustration of a rainforest rainbow in Malaysian Borneo by Rhett Butler/Mongabay. The impact of all of these chronic stressors are emotional and psychological distress, poor mental health and burnout, increasing the risk that conservation professionals will give up on their aspirations and leave the profession. Recent research found 27% of conservationists are suffering from moderate or severe distress, and women face particular challenges as conservationists,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/emotional-and-psychological-stresses-beleaguer-conservation-professionals-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/emotional-and-psychological-stresses-beleaguer-conservation-professionals-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Across South America, canopy bridges evolve as a lifeline for tree-dwelling wildlife</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/across-south-america-canopy-bridges-evolve-as-a-lifeline-for-tree-dwelling-wildlife/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/across-south-america-canopy-bridges-evolve-as-a-lifeline-for-tree-dwelling-wildlife/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2026 18:23:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Luís Patriani]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/04181943/05020156-1-1-e1770214683835-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315216</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Monkeys, Primates, Sloths, Wildilfe, Wildlife Conservation, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Throughout the Amazon Rainforest, forest fragmentation represents an escalating and existential threat to the preservation of fauna. Driven by intensive economic development, the expansion of agribusiness and large-scale infrastructure projects — such as highways, railways, power transmission lines and gas pipelines — continues carrying profound environmental risks. Foremost among these ecological pressures are the geographic [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Throughout the Amazon Rainforest, forest fragmentation represents an escalating and existential threat to the preservation of fauna. Driven by intensive economic development, the expansion of agribusiness and large-scale infrastructure projects — such as highways, railways, power transmission lines and gas pipelines — continues carrying profound environmental risks. Foremost among these ecological pressures are the geographic isolation of animal populations and high mortality rates resulting from roadkill and other related accidents. Arboreal mammal species, including primates, sloths and porcupines, are among the most affected by this confinement, as their survival is strictly dependent on canopy connectivity. Paradoxically, these specialized tree-dwelling animals often benefit the least from standard environmental mitigation measures, such as the implementation of artificial crossings. To address critical gaps in understanding animal behavior and habitat use, biologists Justin Santiago and Lindsey Swierk from the State University of New York at Binghamton, U.S., conducted pioneering research in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon. The study site was located at the Amazon Conservatory for Tropical Studies (ACTS) Field Station within Napo-Sucusari Biological Reserve, a 1,674-hectare (4,137-acre) protected area near the city of Iquitos, in the northern region of Loreto. The researchers deployed a sophisticated system of canopy bridges that used a combination of nets, thick ropes and platforms situated at varying heights. These elements were integrated to form extensive suspended corridors designed to facilitate safe movement for wildlife from one treetop to another. A specialist installs a camera on a tree connected to the canopy bridge system in the Peruvian Amazon.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/across-south-america-canopy-bridges-evolve-as-a-lifeline-for-tree-dwelling-wildlife/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/across-south-america-canopy-bridges-evolve-as-a-lifeline-for-tree-dwelling-wildlife/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Attention is scarce. Storytelling strategy matters more than ever</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/attention-is-scarce-storytelling-strategy-matters-more-than-ever/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/attention-is-scarce-storytelling-strategy-matters-more-than-ever/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2026 16:46:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/23172451/1E282981-DD74-427D-B44C-0F0CD6609E38_1_102_o-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315215</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Environmental Journalism, Interviews With Environmental Journalists, and Journalism]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Environmental journalism has long struggled with a practical problem: how to make distant ecological change feel relevant to people whose daily lives are shaped by more immediate concerns. Scientific reports document trends in temperature, biodiversity and land use with increasing precision, yet such findings often fail to travel far beyond specialist audiences. Video, once expensive [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Environmental journalism has long struggled with a practical problem: how to make distant ecological change feel relevant to people whose daily lives are shaped by more immediate concerns. Scientific reports document trends in temperature, biodiversity and land use with increasing precision, yet such findings often fail to travel far beyond specialist audiences. Video, once expensive and difficult to distribute, is now ubiquitous. Today the constraint is attention. Content that reaches large audiences usually foregrounds human experience rather than abstract risk. One response has been to anchor environmental reporting in lived realities. Instead of beginning with emissions curves or species counts, journalists start with households, workers or communities navigating change. This approach repositions the science so climate change becomes visible as relocation, lost income, altered routines and disrupted schooling. The method carries risks, including the temptation to substitute anecdote for evidence. Used carefully, however, it can broaden understanding without sacrificing accuracy. Lucía Torres, who leads video production at Mongabay, has built much of her work around this premise. In reporting on a Mexican coastal town forced to move inland after years of storms and encroaching seas, she focused on residents’ relationships with place and each other. The aim was to document gradual disruption rather than stage dramatic suffering. Time spent off camera proved as important as filming itself. Conversations, shared meals and repeated visits helped establish trust, yielding testimony that felt less performative and more reflective of ordinary life under strain. Her broader advice to younger journalists is pragmatic. Technical skill&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/attention-is-scarce-storytelling-strategy-matters-more-than-ever/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/attention-is-scarce-storytelling-strategy-matters-more-than-ever/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Colombia’s coffee industry well placed but wary as EU deforestation rule looms</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/colombias-coffee-industry-well-placed-but-wary-as-eu-deforestation-rule-looms/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/colombias-coffee-industry-well-placed-but-wary-as-eu-deforestation-rule-looms/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2026 16:23:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mie Hoejris Dahl]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandrapopescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[EUDR]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[European Union]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forest clearing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forest Loss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Global Trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law Enforcement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rainforest Deforestation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/04114305/Juan-Nieves5-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315196</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Coffee, Commodity agriculture, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Farming, Global Trade, Law Enforcement, Organic Farming, Rainforest Deforestation, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CIÉNAGA, Colombia — A handful of men swarm around a coffee collection center in the city of Ciénaga, shouldering burlap sacks of coffee as they move in and out of the mill. Ciénaga is a port town in the foothills of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the world’s highest coastal mountain range, and is [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CIÉNAGA, Colombia — A handful of men swarm around a coffee collection center in the city of Ciénaga, shouldering burlap sacks of coffee as they move in and out of the mill. Ciénaga is a port town in the foothills of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the world’s highest coastal mountain range, and is known locally as the coffee capital of the Sierra Nevada region. “We hope EUDR will be to our benefit,” says Silver Polo Palomino, a coffee grower and representative of the Asociación de Agricultores Orgánicos de La Secreta (AGROSEC), a local organic coffee growers’ association in Ciénaga, speaking over the roar of the mill. Polo is one of many producers in Colombia who say they’re uncertain — and increasingly nervous — about what the implementation of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) will mean for their livelihoods. The regulation, set to go into force at the end of this year, will ban the import into the EU market of seven key commodities linked to deforestation. Coffee is among them. But Colombia, the world’s No. 3 coffee producer, is well prepared for the EUDR and better positioned than coffee exporters in many parts of Africa and Asia, several experts told Mongabay. Despite a fragmented sector dominated by small-scale farmers, Colombia’s coffee industry is highly organized, largely through the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia (FNC), which represents more than 500,000 coffee-growing families. The FNC has developed a centralized georeferenced database, the Coffee Information System (SICA), designed to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/colombias-coffee-industry-well-placed-but-wary-as-eu-deforestation-rule-looms/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/colombias-coffee-industry-well-placed-but-wary-as-eu-deforestation-rule-looms/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Proposed shark net near Club Med resort in South Africa sparks conservation clash</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/proposed-shark-net-near-club-med-resort-in-south-africa-sparks-conservation-clash/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/proposed-shark-net-near-club-med-resort-in-south-africa-sparks-conservation-clash/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2026 15:18:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/04140820/image-de-banniere-2-23-2026-shark-nets_dead-shark-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315207</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and South Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Environment, Governance, Government, Ocean, Whale Sharks, Whales, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On Feb. 13, a juvenile humpback dolphin was caught and killed in one of the many nets strung up off the coast of South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province to protect beachgoers from sharks. The incident, near the city of Richards Bay on the country&#8217;s eastern coast, was a blow for South Africa’s population of Indian ocean [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On Feb. 13, a juvenile humpback dolphin was caught and killed in one of the many nets strung up off the coast of South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province to protect beachgoers from sharks. The incident, near the city of Richards Bay on the country&#8217;s eastern coast, was a blow for South Africa’s population of Indian ocean humpback dolphins, which has dropped to fewer than 500 in recent decades. Shark nets, installed together with baited hooks called drum lines, aim to reduce the number of sharks that could come into contact with, and possibly harm, humans. Once entangled in these nets, which can run hundreds of meters wide, sharks have little chance of survival — nor do other species like humpback dolphins (Sousa plumbea). In the wake of the February incident, scientists working to conserve humpback dolphins issued a letter of opposition to a proposal to install another such net at a popular beach farther down the coast. Tinley Manor is a one-and-a-half-hour drive from Richards Bay, and has emerged as a flashpoint in the debate about shark nets. Municipal authorities there are proposing installing a shark net at the public beach, in view of the new Club Med luxury resort being built right next to it. The KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board (KZNSB), as the authority responsible for bather safety in the province, says it’s acting to safeguard beachgoers, whose numbers are expected to rise significantly with the opening of the resort later this year. Indian Ocean humpback dolphins. Image courtesy of Bridget&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/proposed-shark-net-near-club-med-resort-in-south-africa-sparks-conservation-clash/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/proposed-shark-net-near-club-med-resort-in-south-africa-sparks-conservation-clash/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Falling Amazon river flows trigger reality check at Belo Monte power plant</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/falling-amazon-river-flows-trigger-reality-check-at-belo-monte-power-plant/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/falling-amazon-river-flows-trigger-reality-check-at-belo-monte-power-plant/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2026 12:16:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rafael Spuldar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/04115252/AP24255823406395-scaled-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315146</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Conservation, Amazon Drought, Amazon Rainforest, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Drought, Ecology, Energy, Environment, Hydroelectric Power, Hydropower, Indigenous Groups, Indigenous Peoples, Rivers, Water, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Brazil bet big on a mega river dam using old data, but climate change is leaving its massive turbines high and dry.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Brazil’s largest Amazon hydropower plants are becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate change, and Belo Monte may be the clearest warning sign yet. Built on the Xingu River after years of debate over its environmental impacts and the reliability of its energy output, the mega-dam is facing a problem its planners could not solve with engineering: less water. This reality is reflected in two major studies published in late 2025 — one led by Brazil’s water and sanitation agency, ANA, and the other by the federal energy research office, EPE. From different angles, both reports conclude that climate change is fundamentally reshaping the country’s water and energy systems, requiring urgent adaptation — 43.7% of Brazil’s energy comes from hydropower plants. ANA’s report warns that hydropower plants across the Amazon region could lose up to 40% of their generation capacity over the next 20-30 years if planning continues to rely on historical water flow data rather than climate-adjusted projections. The Xingu River Basin in particular will face significantly longer and more intense dry seasons over the coming decades. Maximum river flows could decline by up to 50%, according to the study published in November 2025, while consecutive dry periods — historically around 20 days — may extend to as many as 40 days by the end of the century, with some dry spells lasting up to 150 days. Those numbers look into the future, but the severity of droughts and their impact on Amazon dams are today’s reality. In 2024, during the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/falling-amazon-river-flows-trigger-reality-check-at-belo-monte-power-plant/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/falling-amazon-river-flows-trigger-reality-check-at-belo-monte-power-plant/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Counting bats in the dark</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/counting-bats-in-the-dark/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/counting-bats-in-the-dark/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2026 08:29:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/04082745/flying_grey_long_eared_bat-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315194</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[cameras, Conservation Technology, Technology, Technology And Conservation, Wildilfe, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[How do you count and keep track of bats? Advances in videography, including thermal cameras, have made it easier to spot bats. But these animals move fast, travel in big groups and are often found in the dark — making analysis of the data a tough task. Scientists have developed a new software called Thrutracker [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[How do you count and keep track of bats? Advances in videography, including thermal cameras, have made it easier to spot bats. But these animals move fast, travel in big groups and are often found in the dark — making analysis of the data a tough task. Scientists have developed a new software called Thrutracker Analytics that uses traditional computer vision and artificial intelligence to count bats. Watch the latest episode of Then vs Now to learnThis article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/counting-bats-in-the-dark/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/counting-bats-in-the-dark/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia farmers count the costs as rains wash out Java durian harvest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/indonesia-farmers-count-the-costs-as-rains-wash-out-java-durian-harvest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/indonesia-farmers-count-the-costs-as-rains-wash-out-java-durian-harvest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2026 04:23:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[L. Darmawan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/03145626/ganjar6_durian-kromo-banyumas-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315130</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Java, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Agriculture, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Change And Conservation, Climate Change And Extreme Weather, Climate Change And Food, Conservation, Environment, Farming, Food, food security, Impact Of Climate Change, Plants, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANYUMAS, Indonesia — The first two months of the year would ordinarily see Ganjar Budi Setiaji hurrying around Plana village’s durian orchard, here in the hilly Javanese district of Banyumas. But on the last Tuesday of January, the 53-year-old father instead appeared restless. “In 2024, I harvested 3,500 durians from 300 trees,” Ganjar told Mongabay [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANYUMAS, Indonesia — The first two months of the year would ordinarily see Ganjar Budi Setiaji hurrying around Plana village’s durian orchard, here in the hilly Javanese district of Banyumas. But on the last Tuesday of January, the 53-year-old father instead appeared restless. “In 2024, I harvested 3,500 durians from 300 trees,” Ganjar told Mongabay Indonesia, a little ruefully. “I’ve had only 500 this year.” The durian fruit farmed by Ganjar is a mainstay in much of Southeast Asia, where its unusual texture and intense flavor profile splits opinion. Last year, Indonesia’s food minister rushed out trade data showing the archipelago’s superior production volume after Malaysia announced the durian as the kingdom’s national fruit, the latest bout of cultural fencing between the neighbors. Here in the Banyumas hills, farmers have propagated their own durian heritage since a hajj pilgrim known locally as Mbah Kromo planted an unusual durian tree in 1985 at his home in Karangsalam village. Ganjar shows drums used in the fermentation process to produce natural fertilizer. Image by L Darmawan/Mongabay Indonesia. A few years later, Mbah Kromo began offering seeds from the parent tree to his neighbors. Appreciation for the Kromo durian grew as the trees flourished across the district. Ganjar slices through a thorny Kromo durian, revealing a sweet fruit with the texture of thick cheesecake, an acquired taste to many. The Kromo durian is also unusual for producing a heavyweight fruit than can, people here say, grow up to 10 kilograms (22 pounds), with a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/indonesia-farmers-count-the-costs-as-rains-wash-out-java-durian-harvest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/indonesia-farmers-count-the-costs-as-rains-wash-out-java-durian-harvest/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Paul Brainerd turned computers into printing presses and fortune into conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/paul-brainerd-turned-computers-into-printing-presses-and-fortune-into-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/paul-brainerd-turned-computers-into-printing-presses-and-fortune-into-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2026 01:34:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/04012848/Paul-Brainerd-Aldus-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315173</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Obituary, and philanthropy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Paul Brainerd did two things that rarely sit comfortably together. He helped make publishing cheaper and easier, then spent much of what he earned trying to protect the landscapes that were being consumed by growth. He died on February 15th 2026, aged 78, at his home on Bainbridge Island, Washington. In the 1980s, when most [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Paul Brainerd did two things that rarely sit comfortably together. He helped make publishing cheaper and easier, then spent much of what he earned trying to protect the landscapes that were being consumed by growth. He died on February 15th 2026, aged 78, at his home on Bainbridge Island, Washington. In the 1980s, when most people still thought of computers as glorified typewriters, he helped turn them into printing presses. In the 1990s and after, as the Pacific Northwest’s wealth compounded, he tried to steer some of it into civic capacity: organizations that could win fights, not merely stage them. His money came from software. His method was closer to editing. Brainerd was born in Medford, Oregon, in 1947. He studied at the University of Oregon and later earned a master’s degree in journalism at the University of Minnesota. He worked in newspapers, but not in the romantic way. He was drawn to production, workflow, the awkward interface between an idea and a printed page. That interest took him to Atex, a company that built newsroom systems. When Kodak bought Atex and closed a research center in the early 1980s, Brainerd and several engineers found themselves unemployed and restless. In 1984 they founded Aldus in Seattle. Within a year they shipped PageMaker, software that, paired with Apple’s Macintosh and Adobe’s PostScript, let ordinary users design pages that printed as they appeared on screen. Brainerd coined the phrase “desktop publishing,” a neat bit of compression that made a technical shift feel&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/paul-brainerd-turned-computers-into-printing-presses-and-fortune-into-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/paul-brainerd-turned-computers-into-printing-presses-and-fortune-into-conservation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>How the ‘wrong story’ ends up harming nature, and how we can change it</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/03/how-the-wrong-story-ends-up-harming-nature-and-how-we-can-change-it/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/03/how-the-wrong-story-ends-up-harming-nature-and-how-we-can-change-it/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 22:17:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike DiGirolamo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mikedigirolamo]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/22080836/mt_taranaki_new_zealand_20220316_212734_09_242b_3B_Visual_clip-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=podcasts&#038;p=314727</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Book Reviews, Books, Economics, Environment, Environmental Politics, Featured, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Culture, Indigenous Cultures, Indigenous Peoples, Interviews, Podcast, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous scholar Tyson Yunkaporta (Apalech clan (Wik) Lostmob Nungar) joins the Mongabay Newscast to detail the Aboriginal perspectives behind his latest book, Right Story, Wrong Story: Adventures in Indigenous Thinking. The book explains how stories shape society, how they can harm us and the environment, and how they may save our species and the natural [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous scholar Tyson Yunkaporta (Apalech clan (Wik) Lostmob Nungar) joins the Mongabay Newscast to detail the Aboriginal perspectives behind his latest book, Right Story, Wrong Story: Adventures in Indigenous Thinking. The book explains how stories shape society, how they can harm us and the environment, and how they may save our species and the natural world. Yunkaporta explains how Indigenous laws, systems and lore can help us improve modern society, specifically in how humans relate first to the land, then to each other, and why this shapes how we exploit nature and care for it. Identifying the “wrong story” is critical, Yunkaporta explains, to correcting harmful behaviors or ways of governing. Ultimately, it’s a lie, he says. Personified by what he characterizes as narcissistic or selfish behavior, it’s generally seen by those who exploit the natural world at the expense of community well-being. “It&#8217;s a terrible thing to … misrepresent things, make false claims, bear false witness in a way that is bending story, the story that everybody follows. The narratives that people tell that weave together to make a community and to hold a community on the right path that&#8217;s sustainable for thousands of years.” This concept can be seen in the folk tale of Tidalik, the giant frog, who drank up all the water and hoarded it for himself. The animal kingdom came together and made Tidalik laugh. By entertaining him, it forced Tidalik to spit the water back out. Yunkaporta compares this story with the current global&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/03/how-the-wrong-story-ends-up-harming-nature-and-how-we-can-change-it/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/03/how-the-wrong-story-ends-up-harming-nature-and-how-we-can-change-it/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</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, Featured, 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>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>No grid, no problem: How Amazon communities built their own power systems</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/no-grid-no-problem-how-amazon-communities-built-their-own-power-systems/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/no-grid-no-problem-how-amazon-communities-built-their-own-power-systems/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 20:38:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/03203628/5.-Embarcando-em-Santarem.-Abril-de-2023.-Credito-Karina-Ninni-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315156</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon and Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Communities, Renewable Energy, and Solar Power]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Near Brazil’s Belo Monte dam, one of the world’s largest hydropower projects, the promise of abundant electricity has proved uneven. A household survey of 500 families in Altamira found that 86.8% experienced higher electricity costs after the plant began operating in 2016. Many riverside residents still endure outages, pay steep tariffs or rely on diesel [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Near Brazil’s Belo Monte dam, one of the world’s largest hydropower projects, the promise of abundant electricity has proved uneven. A household survey of 500 families in Altamira found that 86.8% experienced higher electricity costs after the plant began operating in 2016. Many riverside residents still endure outages, pay steep tariffs or rely on diesel generators. As Emilio Moran, a social anthropologist at Michigan State University, observed, “People are right under the transmission line, but the energy doesn’t come from that hydroelectric plant.” For some communities deeper in the Amazon, waiting for grid expansion has yielded little. In the Tapajós-Arapiuns Reserve near Santarém, researchers and residents have instead built small, independent energy networks, reports Mongabay contributor Jorge C. Carrasco. Launched in 2023, the pilot combines solar panels with hydrokinetic turbines placed in river currents. The aim, said project coordinator Lázaro Santos, is straightforward: “that we bring energy to contribute to improving the quality of life of these communities.” For villages long dependent on diesel, the shift has been tangible. One resident recalled that fuel deliveries required multiday boat trips, and electricity was rationed to a few evening hours. Today, a communal freezer runs around the clock, enabling food storage and modest commerce. Internet access and emergency communications have also improved. Crucially, the project trained local technicians to operate and repair the equipment. Three residents in one village can now maintain the system themselves, which builds technical confidence while lowering long-term costs. Instead of relying on distant technicians, communities can resolve&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/no-grid-no-problem-how-amazon-communities-built-their-own-power-systems/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/no-grid-no-problem-how-amazon-communities-built-their-own-power-systems/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Malaysia renews Lynas Rare Earths&#8217; license for 10 years, orders end to radioactive waste by 2031</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/malaysia-renews-lynas-rare-earths-license-for-10-years-orders-end-to-radioactive-waste-by-2031/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/malaysia-renews-lynas-rare-earths-license-for-10-years-orders-end-to-radioactive-waste-by-2031/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 19:52:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/03195059/AP26061383737428-scaled-e1772567546796-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315153</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Malaysia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Chemicals, Critical Minerals, mine, Mining, Pollution, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s government renewed Australian miner Lynas Rare Earths&#8217; operating license for 10 years but will require it to stop producing radioactive waste by 2031. The Lynas refinery in Malaysia, its first outside China producing minerals that are crucial for high-tech manufacturing, has been operating in central Pahang state since 2012. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s government renewed Australian miner Lynas Rare Earths&#8217; operating license for 10 years but will require it to stop producing radioactive waste by 2031. The Lynas refinery in Malaysia, its first outside China producing minerals that are crucial for high-tech manufacturing, has been operating in central Pahang state since 2012. The company has been e mbroiled in a dispute over radiation from waste that has accumulated at the plant. Science Minister Chang Lih Kang said Monday that any radioactive waste generated within the next five years must be treated and neutralized by extracting thorium or other methods. No new permanent disposal facility will be allowed, he said. The license runs until March 3, 2036, and will be reviewed after five years. It can be revoked if Lynas violates its conditions, Chang said. Environmental groups have long campaigned against the Lynas refinery, demanding that the company export its radioactive waste. They contend that the radioactive elements, which include thorium and uranium among others, were more hazardous after going through mechanical and chemical processes. Lynas was allowed five years to retrofit its facilities and ramp up operations under Chang described as a firm but accelerated timeline. He said lab tests have shown promising results in neutralizing radiation in waste through thorium extraction but scaling the technology to industrial levels typically takes seven to 10 years. “We have not gone against our promise to prevent the accumulation of radioactive waste in Malaysia. We remain committed to that position, and through&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/malaysia-renews-lynas-rare-earths-license-for-10-years-orders-end-to-radioactive-waste-by-2031/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/malaysia-renews-lynas-rare-earths-license-for-10-years-orders-end-to-radioactive-waste-by-2031/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Concern among Indigenous leaders, relief for a few, as Amazon Soy Moratorium falters</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/concern-among-indigenous-leaders-relief-for-a-few-as-amazon-soy-moratorium-falters/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/concern-among-indigenous-leaders-relief-for-a-few-as-amazon-soy-moratorium-falters/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 18:33:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rubens Valente]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/03170640/AP23126774484902-scaled-e1772557745837-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315066</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Agribusiness, Indigenous Peoples and Conservation, and Latin America]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Amazon Agriculture, Amazon Destruction, Amazon People, Amazon Soy, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Governance, Indigenous Groups, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Politics, Rainforest Deforestation, Soy, Threats To Rainforests, Threats To The Amazon, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BRASÍLIA — Indigenous leaders and researchers in Brazil say an end to a key zero-deforestation agreement, the Amazon Soy Moratorium, will increase deforestation around Indigenous lands and encourage the invasion of their territories for soy farming. Already, some are pointing to forest loss advancing near one Indigenous land following efforts to curtail the agreement. Meanwhile, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BRASÍLIA — Indigenous leaders and researchers in Brazil say an end to a key zero-deforestation agreement, the Amazon Soy Moratorium, will increase deforestation around Indigenous lands and encourage the invasion of their territories for soy farming. Already, some are pointing to forest loss advancing near one Indigenous land following efforts to curtail the agreement. Meanwhile, a few Indigenous leaders are seeing an economic opportunity as companies pull out of the agreement. Members in communities that sell soy farmed on their lands say they already do so sustainably and that the agreement unfairly penalizes their product. Mongabay spoke with stakeholders across various sectors, from Indigenous leaders and corporate entities, to conservationists and government officials — people across Brazil’s political spectrum — to get their take on what the possible dissolution of the moratorium may mean for Indigenous peoples and their lands in the Amazon. A section of the Amazon rainforest stands next to soy fields in Belterra, Para state, Brazil, on Nov. 30, 2019. Image by AP Photo/Leo Correa. The moratorium is a voluntary pact between companies, public agencies and NGOs to reduce deforestation in the Amazon. Participants agree to ban from their supply chains any soy produced in areas of the Amazon deforested after July 2008. While the expansion of soy farms grew by 361% from 2006 to 2023 as farmers prioritized converting already cleared lands, fresh deforestation in the Amazon for soy farms dramatically dropped to 1% in the first 10 years after the agreement came into force in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/concern-among-indigenous-leaders-relief-for-a-few-as-amazon-soy-moratorium-falters/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/concern-among-indigenous-leaders-relief-for-a-few-as-amazon-soy-moratorium-falters/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>New mapping approach predicts habitat availability for species conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/new-mapping-approach-predicts-habitat-availability-for-species-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/new-mapping-approach-predicts-habitat-availability-for-species-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 16:40:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhishyant Kidangoor]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhishyantkidangoor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/03163902/e.-Rhett-Butler-india_165187-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315137</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation Technology, data, Environment, Habitat, Mapping, Technology, Technology And Conservation, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Where are habitats available for threatened species? Are they improving or deteriorating? What landscapes could potentially be used for rewilding animals? A new modeling framework has combined years of remote sensing, field data and inputs from experts to map habitat availability for four species and find answers to these questions. The Act Green project, led [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Where are habitats available for threatened species? Are they improving or deteriorating? What landscapes could potentially be used for rewilding animals? A new modeling framework has combined years of remote sensing, field data and inputs from experts to map habitat availability for four species and find answers to these questions. The Act Green project, led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and funded by NASA, has used these distinct data sources to visualize not only where species exist at present, but also to predict potential habitats to be considered for restoration and rewilding efforts. The updateable maps can help conservationists and ecologists identify areas that require urgent conservation attention while also pointing them in the direction of intact landscapes where species could be introduced. “We are trying to integrate the richness of expert opinion with remote sensing and modern computational technology to get dynamic maps at very large spatial scales,” Gautam Surya, conservation planning scientist at WCS and co-principal investigator of the project, told Mongabay in a video interview. Mapping a species’ range of habitats is crucial to understand its distribution and assessing where to direct funding for targeted conservation and species reintroduction efforts. It’s even more crucial against the backdrop of the Global Biodiversity Framework, which aims to protect 30% of the world’s ecosystems by 2030, a mission that requires nuanced data on available habitats around the world. “Decision-makers need to figure out how to spend their very scarce resources most effectively and in real time,” Rachel Neugarten, executive&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/new-mapping-approach-predicts-habitat-availability-for-species-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/new-mapping-approach-predicts-habitat-availability-for-species-conservation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>China’s Pacific squid fishery rife with labor, fishing abuses: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/chinas-pacific-squid-fishery-rife-with-labor-fishing-abuses-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/chinas-pacific-squid-fishery-rife-with-labor-fishing-abuses-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 15:47:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Francesco De Augustinis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/03141824/39-with-seabird-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315118</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Chile, China, East Asia, Ecuador, Global, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Cruelty, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Environmental Crime, Environmental Law, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Forced labor, Illegal Fishing, Law, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Overfishing, Saltwater Fish, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, and Wildlife Crime]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Labor abuses including violence, debt bondage and withheld wages and medical care, overfishing, shark finning, marine mammal killings: A new report exposes bad practices and a weak regulatory framework governing the jumbo flying squid fishery in the Southeast Pacific Ocean. The report was launched on Feb. 19, just days before the annual meeting of the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Labor abuses including violence, debt bondage and withheld wages and medical care, overfishing, shark finning, marine mammal killings: A new report exposes bad practices and a weak regulatory framework governing the jumbo flying squid fishery in the Southeast Pacific Ocean. The report was launched on Feb. 19, just days before the annual meeting of the commission of the South Pacific Regional Fishery Management Organisation (SPRFMO), the intergovernmental body that manages the fishery. The report drew on interviews with 81 fishers, mainly Indonesian sailors who worked between 2021 and 2025 on 60 Chinese vessels targeting jumbo flying squid (Dosidicus gigas) in the region. “Our interviews revealed that these vessels are engaged in widespread fisheries abuses and labor abuses,” Dominic Thomson, head of the investigation for U.K.-based NGO the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), told Mongabay. Jumbo flying squid, also known as Humboldt squid, are large-bodied animals averaging 50 to 80 centimeters (20 to 31 inches) in length. They concentrate in the South Pacific Ocean, off the coast of South America, where they play a key mid-trophic role in the marine ecosystem, serving both as a predator of smaller species and as prey for sharks, swordfish, sperm whales, dolphins and other marine life. The species is among the most commercially important squid species, accounting for about 30% of global squid landings. The fishery involves South American countries fishing mainly within their exclusive economic zones (EEZs): Ecuador, Chile and Peru. The latter has for decades been the world&#8217;s leading producer. In the last decade,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/chinas-pacific-squid-fishery-rife-with-labor-fishing-abuses-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/chinas-pacific-squid-fishery-rife-with-labor-fishing-abuses-report/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Birds are changing — and Indigenous memory is the longest record we have</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/birds-are-changing-and-indigenous-memory-is-the-longest-record-we-have/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/birds-are-changing-and-indigenous-memory-is-the-longest-record-we-have/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 15:37:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/02034439/Royal-Flycatcher-16x9-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315034</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Anthropology, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Green, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Cultures, Indigenous Peoples, Monitoring, Rainforests, Research, Traditional Knowledge, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Conservation has long depended on measurement. Populations are counted, habitats mapped, trends plotted against baselines that often extend back only a few decades. Yet many ecosystems began changing long before systematic monitoring began. In much of the world, the longest continuous records of environmental change reside not in databases but in memory, language, and daily [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Conservation has long depended on measurement. Populations are counted, habitats mapped, trends plotted against baselines that often extend back only a few decades. Yet many ecosystems began changing long before systematic monitoring began. In much of the world, the longest continuous records of environmental change reside not in databases but in memory, language, and daily practice. A growing body of research suggests that these forms of knowledge are not merely anecdotal supplements to science; they can reveal patterns otherwise invisible, including shifts in species composition, behavior, and condition. A recent global study illustrates the point with clearly. Researchers worked with ten Indigenous and local communities across three continents, asking adults to recall the most common birds around their territories today and during their childhoods. The survey produced nearly 7,000 reports covering 283 species over roughly eighty years. When matched with scientific data on body size, the responses indicated a consistent shift toward smaller-bodied birds, amounting to an estimated 72% reduction in average body mass across sites. Locations of the 10 study sites. Figure from Fernández-Llamazares, Á. et al. (2025) This finding echoes scientific literature documenting widespread avian decline. Long-term studies in tropical forests, for example, have recorded large drops in abundance even in areas with little direct disturbance, with capture rates in some Amazonian sites falling by about half over two decades. What is striking in the new work is not only the pattern itself but the method. The signal emerges from lived experience accumulated across generations, a type of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/birds-are-changing-and-indigenous-memory-is-the-longest-record-we-have/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/birds-are-changing-and-indigenous-memory-is-the-longest-record-we-have/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazilian police seize more than 1.5 metric tons of shark fins</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/brazilian-police-seize-more-than-1-5-metric-tons-of-shark-fins/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/brazilian-police-seize-more-than-1-5-metric-tons-of-shark-fins/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 07:14:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Karla MendesShanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/03071001/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-19-at-09.25.20-3-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315111</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean and Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Brazilian authorities seized more than 1.5 metric tons of shark fins in Rodelas, Bahia state, on Feb. 12, uncovering what they allege is a Chinese run syndicate. They arrested seven people, including three Chinese nationals, in the raid at a rural processing site. Shark species such as the vulnerable Atlantic nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Brazilian authorities seized more than 1.5 metric tons of shark fins in Rodelas, Bahia state, on Feb. 12, uncovering what they allege is a Chinese run syndicate. They arrested seven people, including three Chinese nationals, in the raid at a rural processing site. Shark species such as the vulnerable Atlantic nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) and the near-threatened blue shark (Prionace glauca) are likely among the target species, IBAMA, the federal environment agency, told Mongabay. Genetic tests to confirm that are underway. “[Shark finning] is extremely cruel, because the fins are torn off, the animals are mutilated alive and thrown back into the sea so they don’t take up space on the vessel, since these criminals are interested only in the fins,” federal police agent Micael Andrade, told national TV station Globo. “The animal is discarded and agonizes and dies. Because it cannot move, it sinks. It cannot feed itself. It really is an extremely cruel practice.” Authorities said the suspects, including a teenager, will face charges including crimes against wildlife, receiving stolen goods and corruption of a minor. Shark fins and suspects during the raid at a rural processing site. Image courtesy of Brazilian Federal Police. Andrade said the three Chinese suspects were likely coordinating the scheme. “It became clear that only the Chinese men were in fact part of the international shark fin trading network,” he said. “They [the four Brazilian suspects] were poor workers earning daily wages to make some money. They did not even know how the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/brazilian-police-seize-more-than-1-5-metric-tons-of-shark-fins/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/brazilian-police-seize-more-than-1-5-metric-tons-of-shark-fins/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Local communities are conservation’s most undervalued asset (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/local-communities-are-conservations-most-undervalued-asset-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/local-communities-are-conservations-most-undervalued-asset-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 00:08:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Damian BellJosé MonteiroMonicah MbibaMoreangels Mbizah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/07210434/restoration-workers-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315067</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Environment, Finance, Governance, and philanthropy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[African conservation stakeholders will soon gather for the 5th Business of Conservation Congress in Nairobi, led by African Leadership University. As they build the case for investing in nature-based business, the focus is on markets, enterprise models and blended finance. However, a crucial question remains: what actually makes conservation investable, resilient and scalable? Conservation has [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[African conservation stakeholders will soon gather for the 5th Business of Conservation Congress in Nairobi, led by African Leadership University. As they build the case for investing in nature-based business, the focus is on markets, enterprise models and blended finance. However, a crucial question remains: what actually makes conservation investable, resilient and scalable? Conservation has attracted significant funding, and yet biodiversity loss and climate change continue to accelerate. As new financial tools are discussed and refined, it is also worth reflecting — as a network of conservation funders and doers — on whether the money poured in through the last 30 years has worked; whether we have solved the problems; and whether the current operating model will carry us through the next 30. The problem is not a lack of commitment or capital; it is a misreading of how conservation works in practice. In our experience, community-led conservation is more efficient and resilient than traditional top-down models because it places authority closer to those who depend directly on the land. By embedding rules within locally legitimate institutions, it reduces enforcement and transaction costs and strengthens compliance through social trust. A recent analysis of wildlife management areas (WMAs) is a good example. Pastoral communities in Tanzania’s Tarangire ecosystem use WMAs to defend their land and livelihoods, even without full devolution of management rights, showing how conservation can serve local interests while protecting wildlife habitat. If community-led models are genuinely more efficient, that advantage should be visible in how conservation is delivered&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/local-communities-are-conservations-most-undervalued-asset-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/local-communities-are-conservations-most-undervalued-asset-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>World’s smallest possum may live beyond its known range in Australia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/worlds-smallest-possum-may-live-beyond-its-known-range-in-australia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/worlds-smallest-possum-may-live-beyond-its-known-range-in-australia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Mar 2026 21:43:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Megan Strauss]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/04035645/possum-aus-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315106</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Endangered Species and Marsupials]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[New evidence of the world’s smallest possum has emerged hundreds of kilometers from where it&#8217;s known to occur in southern Australia — a finding that potentially extends the range of this locally threatened species. Pygmy possums are a group of tiny, mouse-sized marsupials that live in open woodlands, heathlands and scrub. They feed on nectar, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[New evidence of the world’s smallest possum has emerged hundreds of kilometers from where it&#8217;s known to occur in southern Australia — a finding that potentially extends the range of this locally threatened species. Pygmy possums are a group of tiny, mouse-sized marsupials that live in open woodlands, heathlands and scrub. They feed on nectar, pollen and insects, and play a crucial ecological role as pollinators. Yorke Peninsula in the state of South Australia is the traditional land of the Narungga people and was a known habitat for the western pygmy possum (Cercartetus concinnus). Now, a new study published in the journal Australian Zoologist suggests the rare and cryptic little pygmy possum (Cercartetus lepidus) may live there too. Researchers revisited photographic data from wildlife surveys conducted between 2004 and 2011 in Dhilba Guuranda–Innes National Park, an important remnant patch of native vegetation at the tip of the peninsula. Among observations of more than 250 pygmy possums, two photographed in 2006 stood out: these possums were smaller, with distinctive gray belly fur. They were initially labeled as juvenile western pygmy possums because there were no existing records of other pygmy possum species in the area; the closest known population of little pygmy possums is on Kangaroo Island, which has been isolated from the Yorke Peninsula for 10,000 years. However, the researchers hypothesized that the two observations were misidentified, so they compared the photos with specimens kept at the South Australian Museum. They concluded that these were indeed little pygmy possums. “About&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/worlds-smallest-possum-may-live-beyond-its-known-range-in-australia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/worlds-smallest-possum-may-live-beyond-its-known-range-in-australia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Deadly landfill collapse exposes risks faced by Philippines’ waste pickers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/deadly-landfill-collapse-exposes-risks-faced-by-philippines-waste-pickers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/deadly-landfill-collapse-exposes-risks-faced-by-philippines-waste-pickers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Mar 2026 18:22:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Michael Beltran]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/02180015/Scavengers-dressed-in-typical-work-clothes-unprotected-from-checmicals-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315087</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Health, Human Rights, Public Health, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[RODRIGUEZ, Philippines — Lenny* recalled freezing when he saw the first heap of garbage collapse underneath the feet of his fellow scavengers on the afternoon of Feb. 20, at a landfill in the town of Rodriguez, in the Philippines’ Rizal province. Moments later, a larger perimeter caved. In an instant, a crater of trash had [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[RODRIGUEZ, Philippines — Lenny* recalled freezing when he saw the first heap of garbage collapse underneath the feet of his fellow scavengers on the afternoon of Feb. 20, at a landfill in the town of Rodriguez, in the Philippines’ Rizal province. Moments later, a larger perimeter caved. In an instant, a crater of trash had swallowed up hundreds of people. Scavengers aren’t technically employed by the landfill and are charged 50 pesos (about $1) as a weekly entrance fee. Armed with nothing more than T-shirts wrapped around their faces, they sift through the trash collected from nearby Metro Manila, looking for plastic and metal items they can sell to local junk shops by the kilo for recycling. According to Lenny (who asked not to use his real name for fear of reprisal) and other eyewitnesses, after the collapse, the landfill management ordered the dumping of more garbage and the bulldozing the surrounding debris to create a path downward. That ended up trapping dozens of scavengers under the trash. Mark Delos Reyes, spokesman for International Solid Waste Integrated Management Specialist (ISWIMS), the private company operating the landfill, denied that additional waste was dumped immediately after the trash slide. “All dumping was immediately halted. Any truck or equipment movement they saw in the area was strictly for our emergency search and retrieval operations, not waste disposal.” When Lenny spoke to Mongabay, more than 48 hours after the incident, his cousin was still missing. He said he was unaware there was any search&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/deadly-landfill-collapse-exposes-risks-faced-by-philippines-waste-pickers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/deadly-landfill-collapse-exposes-risks-faced-by-philippines-waste-pickers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>America’s national parks face an uncertain future as climate risks mount</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/americas-national-parks-face-an-uncertain-future-as-climate-risks-mount/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/americas-national-parks-face-an-uncertain-future-as-climate-risks-mount/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Mar 2026 17:21:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/28172224/yosemite_141024-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315008</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Drought, Environment, Fires, Forest Fires, Fragmentation, Green, Impact Of Climate Change, Megafires, National Parks, Parks, Protected Areas, and wildfires]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#160; America’s national parks were conceived as sanctuaries from the forces remaking the rest of the continent. Climate change is now breaching that boundary. A recent assessment of park vulnerability suggests that many of these landscapes are not simply warming or drying in familiar ways. They are being pushed toward ecological states that may be [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[&nbsp; America’s national parks were conceived as sanctuaries from the forces remaking the rest of the continent. Climate change is now breaching that boundary. A recent assessment of park vulnerability suggests that many of these landscapes are not simply warming or drying in familiar ways. They are being pushed toward ecological states that may be fundamentally different from those they were created to preserve. The study, published in Conservation Letters, evaluates 259 park units across the contiguous United States using a framework common in climate science: exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. Exposure measures the scale of climatic change; sensitivity captures how strongly ecosystems respond; adaptive capacity reflects the ability of landscapes and species to adjust. Taken together, these dimensions describe not just how much parks will change, but how likely they are to experience transformation. By that measure, vulnerability is widespread. Two-thirds of parks were identified as highly exposed to at least one potentially transformative threat, including wildfire, drought, forest pests, or sea-level rise. In total, 77% ranked as highly vulnerable either overall or to a specific high-impact hazard. The implication is not that all parks face catastrophe, but that few can expect stability. Priority parks at the national scale, which were identified as those ranking at or above the 75th percentile in total cumulative vulnerability scores. Caption and image from Michalak et al (2026). Geography matters. Parks in the Midwest and eastern United States tend to have the highest cumulative vulnerability. These landscapes are often embedded within heavily modified&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/americas-national-parks-face-an-uncertain-future-as-climate-risks-mount/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/americas-national-parks-face-an-uncertain-future-as-climate-risks-mount/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
			</channel>
</rss>