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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/giannella-m-garrett/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Thu, 12 Mar 2026 02:03:04 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>Giannella M. Garrett Archives</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/giannella-m-garrett/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>‘We do not have time’: Interview with MEP Delara Burkhardt on the EUDR’s second delay</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/we-do-not-have-time-interview-with-mep-delara-burkhardt-on-the-eudrs-second-delay/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/we-do-not-have-time-interview-with-mep-delara-burkhardt-on-the-eudrs-second-delay/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2026 22:01:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandrapopescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environmental Law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environmental Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[EUDR]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Illegal Logging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Palm Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rainforest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tropical Deforestation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/11214717/Still-2026-03-01-174516_2.3.1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315607</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Soy, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Forest Destruction, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Logging, Palm Oil, Rainforest Deforestation, and Rainforest Destruction]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2023, when the European Parliament passed a law meant to keep products linked to deforestation out of the EU single market, environmentalists were riding high. The landmark piece of legislation, called the European Union Deforestation-free Regulation, or EUDR, had won the support of an overwhelming majority of lawmakers as part of the EU’s Green [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2023, when the European Parliament passed a law meant to keep products linked to deforestation out of the EU single market, environmentalists were riding high. The landmark piece of legislation, called the European Union Deforestation-free Regulation, or EUDR, had won the support of an overwhelming majority of lawmakers as part of the EU’s Green Deal. Opposition from commodity-producing countries like Brazil and Malaysia hadn’t derailed the law, which looked like it would promptly cruise into force. And then the winds changed. The 2024 EU elections sent parliament into a sharp rightward turn, partly caused by a “greenlash” against the cost of bold environmental and climate policies. Afterward, the new parliament amended the EUDR to weaken its requirements and decided to delay its implementation for a year, with a spokesperson for the ascendant center-right voting bloc calling it a “bureaucratic monster.” Late last year, the law was delayed for a second time — raising concerns over whether it will now be implemented at all. To get a better understanding of the politics behind the repeated delays and what they say about the EU’s environmental agenda, Mongabay’s Ashoka Mukpo caught up with Germany’s Delara Burkhardt at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. One of the youngest members of parliament, Burkhardt has been the lead negotiator on the EUDR for the Socialists and Democrats Group. The following interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Mongabay: I wanted to start by asking you: what is the EUDR and why is it&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/we-do-not-have-time-interview-with-mep-delara-burkhardt-on-the-eudrs-second-delay/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Rights violations prompt world’s largest sovereign wealth fund to divest from Bolloré</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/rights-violations-prompt-worlds-largest-sovereign-wealth-fund-to-divest-from-bollore/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/rights-violations-prompt-worlds-largest-sovereign-wealth-fund-to-divest-from-bollore/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2026 21:53:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/11214924/IMG_99-e1773265787461-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315605</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Norway]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Divestment, Human Rights, Oil Palm, Plantations, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund has decided to divest from French conglomerate Bolloré, the target of long-running allegations of human rights violations, sexual violence and labor rights abuses at plantations in Africa and Southeast Asia. The decision followed a recommendation issued in 2024 by the ethics council of Norway’s $2.2 trillion Government Pension Fund [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund has decided to divest from French conglomerate Bolloré, the target of long-running allegations of human rights violations, sexual violence and labor rights abuses at plantations in Africa and Southeast Asia. The decision followed a recommendation issued in 2024 by the ethics council of Norway’s $2.2 trillion Government Pension Fund Global, which advised divesting from Bolloré-affiliated companies based on documentation of poor working conditions, gender-based violence and harassment at oil palm plantations in Cameroon. The allegations were against the Socfin Group, a Luxembourg-based holding company in which Bolloré has significant shares. The pension fund had engaged with Bolloré for two years before divesting. In its recently published 2025 responsible investment report, Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages the fund, said that “after [attempts] at engagement, the Executive Board decided in 2025 to exclude the companies based on the recommendation of the Council on Ethics from 2024.”  The Government Pension Fund Global held a 0.4% stake in Bolloré, worth about $70 million, as of June 30, 2025. Bloomberg reports that, by the end of 2025, it no longer owned any shares. “The world&#8217;s biggest pension fund is basically saying that whatever Socfin is doing on their plantations, whatever the governments try doing with their due diligence laws — it is not good enough,” Silva Lieberherr from HEKS, a Swiss NGO that works on land rights, climate justice and humanitarian disasters, told Mongabay, adding that such action highlights “how problematic the plantation economy is. Bolloré has come&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/rights-violations-prompt-worlds-largest-sovereign-wealth-fund-to-divest-from-bollore/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Growing number of Indigenous Twa forced out of DRC’s forests and into towns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/growing-number-of-indigenous-twa-forced-out-of-drcs-forests-and-into-towns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/growing-number-of-indigenous-twa-forced-out-of-drcs-forests-and-into-towns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2026 21:13:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jackson Muhindo SivulyamwengeJérémie Kyaswekera]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/11210132/Untitled-design-e1773263427861-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315597</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Congo, Congo Basin, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Economics, Forests, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Peoples, Land Conflict, Politics, Poverty, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NORTH KIVU, Democratic Republic of Congo — Over the last decade, towns in the north of North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have seen the increasing migration of Indigenous Batwa people, according to censuses seen by Mongabay. Traditionally living by hunting and gathering in the Congo Basin forests, many Twa people (also [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NORTH KIVU, Democratic Republic of Congo — Over the last decade, towns in the north of North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have seen the increasing migration of Indigenous Batwa people, according to censuses seen by Mongabay. Traditionally living by hunting and gathering in the Congo Basin forests, many Twa people (also known as Batwa) have now abandoned their forest-based livelihoods to settle in towns, far from ecosystems their ancestors relied on and developed deep knowledge about. According to Batwa people who spoke to Mongabay, the reasons are various. Some have long been expelled from protected areas, while others are fleeing the growing insecurity in the region. Other groups of Batwa are seeking to escape land conflicts with neighboring Bantu communities, or to find alternative livelihoods in the face of difficulties accessing forest resources, thus severing their ties with the forest. Filipo Anania, one of the Twa community leaders we met in Mavivi, at the Ngite camp, says the outmigration from the forest began with the expulsion of his community from Virunga National Park around 1994. He says they hadn’t initially planned to live in the city and that this move to an urban environment was by no means a conscious choice, but a decision linked to a series of events that forced them to relocate several times. “At first, we were asked to leave the area around the park. We went to settle in Kubeti, near PK25 [in the middle of the forest in outside the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/growing-number-of-indigenous-twa-forced-out-of-drcs-forests-and-into-towns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/growing-number-of-indigenous-twa-forced-out-of-drcs-forests-and-into-towns/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Belugas facing euthanasia at shuttered Canada theme park may find new homes in US</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/belugas-facing-euthanasia-at-shuttered-canada-theme-park-may-find-new-homes-in-us/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/belugas-facing-euthanasia-at-shuttered-canada-theme-park-may-find-new-homes-in-us/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2026 20:45:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/10173303/Marinland09_2412085592-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315512</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Dolphins, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Whales, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For about three decades, beluga whales and bottlenose dolphins greeted more than a million annual visitors to Marineland of Canada. In the sprawling 162-hectare (400-acre) theme park, located a stone’s throw from the world-famous Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada, dozens of cetaceans enthralled visitors — splashing, spyhopping and leaping in their concrete-lined tanks. Marineland’s peppy [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For about three decades, beluga whales and bottlenose dolphins greeted more than a million annual visitors to Marineland of Canada. In the sprawling 162-hectare (400-acre) theme park, located a stone’s throw from the world-famous Niagara Falls in Ontario, Canada, dozens of cetaceans enthralled visitors — splashing, spyhopping and leaping in their concrete-lined tanks. Marineland’s peppy jingle, “Everyone loves Marineland,” evoked a happy place where love transcended species, and people and marine mammals shared joy. But what the cameras didn’t show was their lives after showtime. Twenty whales — 19 belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) and one killer whale (Orcinus orca) — died between 2019 and 2025. Multiple charges of animal abuse surfaced in the 2010s, though some were later withdrawn. And a 2021 animal welfare inspection found marine animals in distress due to poor water quality in their tanks. In late 2024, Ontario’s animal welfare inspectors said they had visited the park more than 200 times since 2020 for inspections and investigations. In 2018, Marineland’s owner died, and a year later, Canada passed the landmark Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act, which banned the keeping, breeding and trading of cetaceans for entertainment. By then, movies such as Blackfish and Free Willy had changed the public perception of captive dolphins and whales. The lively jingle had turned sour in many people’s minds. In 2021, Marineland became Canada’s last remaining entertainment park with cetaceans. A beluga whale at SeaWorld in San Diego, California, in 2009. The species is native to the Arctic&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/belugas-facing-euthanasia-at-shuttered-canada-theme-park-may-find-new-homes-in-us/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Rush to put AI data centers in space poses poorly understood dangers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/rush-to-put-ai-data-centers-in-space-poses-poorly-understood-dangers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/rush-to-put-ai-data-centers-in-space-poses-poorly-understood-dangers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2026 19:26:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/11174825/Image_5_NHQ202602130016orig-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315584</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Artificial Intelligence, Chemicals, Climate Change, Conservation, data, electricity, Energy, Energy Efficiency, Energy Politics, Environment, Environmental Politics, Governance, Ozone Layer, Pollution, Research, satellite data, Space, Technology, and technology development]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Plans are afoot to launch large mega-constellations of AI data centers into Earth orbit. That ambition, pursued by multiple space industry leaders, coincides with a warning from scientists of potentially “catastrophic outcomes,” as the likelihood of satellite collisions in orbit increases. If all the satellites currently in low Earth orbit were suddenly unable to maneuver [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Plans are afoot to launch large mega-constellations of AI data centers into Earth orbit. That ambition, pursued by multiple space industry leaders, coincides with a warning from scientists of potentially “catastrophic outcomes,” as the likelihood of satellite collisions in orbit increases. If all the satellites currently in low Earth orbit were suddenly unable to maneuver to avoid each other — a problem that could be triggered by a massive solar storm — then a potentially catastrophic collision would likely occur in just under four days, researchers say. That’s the latest finding from the CRASH Clock, a tool developed to monitor the timeframe during which a low Earth orbit satellite collision is likely to happen during a major solar event. Such events are difficult to predict and come with limited warning; solar activity peaks roughly every 11 years. The CRASH Clock assesses the sustainability of space operations, explains Sarah Thiele, first author on the paper and a Ph.D. student at Princeton University. “The paper demonstrates how reliant we are on the continuous successful active management of satellites in orbit, and how the margin for error in these operations is decreasing over time,” she writes in an email to Mongabay. In 2018, the CRASH estimate stood at a comfortable 164 days. But that margin of safety shrank rapidly as the proliferation of satellites surged, and was shortened to 5.5 days by June 2025, while a calculation using orbital data from January 2026 cut it to 3.8 days. “This just shows how reliant&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/rush-to-put-ai-data-centers-in-space-poses-poorly-understood-dangers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Scientists use rapid 3D scanning to create a digital library of 800 ant species</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/scientists-use-rapid-3d-scanning-to-create-a-digital-library-of-800-ant-species/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/scientists-use-rapid-3d-scanning-to-create-a-digital-library-of-800-ant-species/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2026 18:10:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/11174053/Antscan-header-e1773250959963-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315582</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Ants, Evolution, Insects, Research, Science, Technology, and Wildilfe]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Scientists have designed a new technique using robotics to rapidly generate high-resolution, three-dimensional images of ants. Antscan is the world’s first digitized library of nearly 800 ant species belonging to 212 genera from around the globe. They used microtomography, a technique akin to human CT scans, to capture images of internal ant organs with X-rays. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Scientists have designed a new technique using robotics to rapidly generate high-resolution, three-dimensional images of ants. Antscan is the world’s first digitized library of nearly 800 ant species belonging to 212 genera from around the globe. They used microtomography, a technique akin to human CT scans, to capture images of internal ant organs with X-rays. Human scans take just a few minutes, but tiny ants require a higher resolution that takes much longer. “To do a scan of one insect, it may take 10-15 hours for something the size of an ant,” study author Evan Economo from the University of Maryland, told Mongabay in an interview. The researchers scanned thousands of ant specimens collected from museums, individual collections and institutions worldwide, a task that “would take years and years,” Economo said, but with the new technique, it took just a week. The scanning facility was at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany. “This study is transformative as it is the first to do such a huge volume of scans,” Jessica Ware, curator and division chair of invertebrate zoology at the American Museum of Natural History, not involved with this study, told Mongabay in an email. Researchers say a library of 3D ant images can help expand our knowledge of one of the most widespread and successful groups of organisms on Earth. Ants live in nearly every habitat, come in all shapes and sizes and live in complex hierarchical societies. Researchers say a 3D library of their bodies, both inside and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/scientists-use-rapid-3d-scanning-to-create-a-digital-library-of-800-ant-species/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Brazil Supreme Court opens path to mining in Indigenous land for first time</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/brazil-supreme-court-opens-path-to-mining-in-indigenous-land-for-first-time/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/brazil-supreme-court-opens-path-to-mining-in-indigenous-land-for-first-time/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2026 18:05:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/11172342/Cinta-Larga-men-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315573</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Conservation, Amazon Mining, Amazon People, Conflict, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Governance, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Cultures, Indigenous Groups, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Rights, and Mining]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On Feb. 3, at the request of an association of the Indigenous Cinta Larga people in the Amazon, the Brazilian Supreme Court authorized the possibility of mining exploration and exploitation inside an Indigenous territory for the first time. While the decision does not automatically authorize mining in the Cinta Larga Indigenous territory, it has set [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[On Feb. 3, at the request of an association of the Indigenous Cinta Larga people in the Amazon, the Brazilian Supreme Court authorized the possibility of mining exploration and exploitation inside an Indigenous territory for the first time. While the decision does not automatically authorize mining in the Cinta Larga Indigenous territory, it has set a deadline for Congress to regulate mining in all Indigenous lands, and has established provisional rules in case mining is approved. The absence of such mining laws has meant that many Cinta Larga people have been unable to benefit economically from mining within their Indigenous territory in southwestern Brazilian Amazon, where some of the world’s largest diamond deposits are thought to exist and are being mined illegally. Unregulated illegal mining has caused river contamination, deforestation, violent conflicts and social problems in some communities. The court decision also framed lack of regulation as an Indigenous autonomy issue. If approved, this will allow Indigenous peoples to mine in their territories, as well as any company if they receive permission — subject to social and environmental checks. In this case, a portion of the profits must be shared with Indigenous communities for matters of collective interest. “The main motivation was to seek economic autonomy and better living conditions for the community,” Gilmar Cinta Larga, a Cinta Larga leader and coordinator of the Patjamaaj Association, which is one of several associations that act as a representative body for the Cinta Larga people, told Mongabay via WhatsApp. “The Cinta Larga&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/brazil-supreme-court-opens-path-to-mining-in-indigenous-land-for-first-time/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Towering lava fountains of Hawaii&#8217;s Kilauea volcano trigger park and highway closures</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/towering-lava-fountains-of-hawaiis-kilauea-volcano-trigger-park-and-highway-closures/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/towering-lava-fountains-of-hawaiis-kilauea-volcano-trigger-park-and-highway-closures/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2026 17:57:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/11175408/AP26069835799307-e1773251777864-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315587</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Hawaii, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution and Volcanoes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[HONOLULU (AP) — The latest lava fountaining episode of an erupting Hawaii volcano reached 1,000 feet (300 meters) high Tuesday, prompting temporary closures at a national park and part of an important highway because of falling glassy volcanic fragments, including ash. Kilauea, on Hawaii&#8217;s Big Island, has been dazzling residents and visitors for more than year with [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[HONOLULU (AP) — The latest lava fountaining episode of an erupting Hawaii volcano reached 1,000 feet (300 meters) high Tuesday, prompting temporary closures at a national park and part of an important highway because of falling glassy volcanic fragments, including ash. Kilauea, on Hawaii&#8217;s Big Island, has been dazzling residents and visitors for more than year with an on-and-off eruption that periodically sends fountains of lava soaring into the sky. The fountaining that began Tuesday morning marked the eruption&#8217;s 43rd episode since it began in December 2024. A livestream showed two fountains of bright-red lava and smoke. It&#8217;s unclear how long the fountaining will last. Some episodes have lasted a few days and others a few hours. Like other times, the molten rock was confined within Kilauea&#8217;s summit crater inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and hasn’t threatened homes or buildings. But the lava fountains were creating trouble for neighboring communities and a highway where the volcanic fragments and ash, known as tephra, was falling. The tephra prompted temporary closures at the national park around the summit and a partial closure of Highway 11, an important route around the island, on either side of the park. Hawaii County officials also opened a shelter at a district gymnasium for residents and tourists impacted by the road closure or falling tephra. There were no people using the shelter soon after it opened, said Tom Callis, a county spokesperson. The National Weather Service issued an ashfall warning. Volcanic tephra can irritate eyes, skin and the respiratory system, according to county&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/towering-lava-fountains-of-hawaiis-kilauea-volcano-trigger-park-and-highway-closures/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Plastic, from home and abroad, spills into Türkiye’s waters</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/plastic-from-home-and-abroad-spills-into-turkiyes-waters/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/plastic-from-home-and-abroad-spills-into-turkiyes-waters/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2026 16:59:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Guia BaggiUtku Kuran]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/11152022/4377-compressed-plastic-waste-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315550</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Europe, Mediterranean Sea, Middle East, and Turkey]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Economy, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Industry, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Crisis, Microplastics, Oceans, Plastic, Pollution, Recycling, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ADANA, Türkiye — Along the final stretch of the Seyhan River, in southern Türkiye, plastic bits in various colors dot the water and sediment. When the river bends, shredded plastic, degraded by the elements, forms large gray patches. Downstream, where the Seyhan flows into Mersin Bay, debris large enough to display clues to its origin [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ADANA, Türkiye — Along the final stretch of the Seyhan River, in southern Türkiye, plastic bits in various colors dot the water and sediment. When the river bends, shredded plastic, degraded by the elements, forms large gray patches. Downstream, where the Seyhan flows into Mersin Bay, debris large enough to display clues to its origin lies scattered across the wetland: wrinkled German-labeled packages of Thai-style chicken noodles, unopened single-use cutlery from the U.K., an empty margarine box from Spain, among many others. Between the small village of Baharlı and the sea, fishing barracks stand at the juncture of a large canal and the river. A fisher uses a wooden oar to lift the anoxic black sediments and show how plastic fragments have become ubiquitous across the riverbed. They are everywhere, his colleague Halil Balıkçıoğlu told Mongabay, along with sewage and chemical waste from big factories. “It wasn&#8217;t like this 30 years ago,” Balıkçıoğlu said. “We used to make tea with this water.” Fishing barracks at the juncture of a large canal and the Seyhan River. Image by Utku Kuran for Mongabay. In recent years, there’s been a rapid evolution in the local recycling industry largely fed by imports of foreign waste. According to U.N. Comtrade data, 677,663 metric tons of plastic scraps traveled to Türkiye in 2024 alone, 77% of it from the U.K. and the EU combined. Since China closed its doors to plastic waste imports in 2018, Türkiye has become a major destination. Most of this scrap heads&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/plastic-from-home-and-abroad-spills-into-turkiyes-waters/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Thai data center boom sparks fears of water shortage, air pollution</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/thai-data-center-boom-sparks-fears-of-water-shortage-air-pollution/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/thai-data-center-boom-sparks-fears-of-water-shortage-air-pollution/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2026 03:54:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Air Pollution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Air Quality]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[data]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economic benefits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Transition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Freshwater]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Freshwater Ecosystems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Freshwater Fish]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Local communities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[planetary health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rainwater collection]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Renewable Energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Resource Conflict]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[riverine communities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water extraction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water Pollution]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/10054228/20251216__DATA-CENTER_THAILAND_ANDY-BALL-5-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315482</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, data, Economy, Energy, Freshwater, Freshwater Ecosystems, Governance, Infrastructure, Natural Resources, Planetary Health, Renewable Energy, Resource Conflict, Technology, Waste, Water Crisis, Water Pollution, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This story was produced in collaboration with the Environmental Reporting Collective (ERC). Read the ERC’s story on the impacts of data centers globally here. CHONBURI, Thailand — The sun had yet to rise at 6 a.m., but Sarayuth Sonlacksa was already crouched on his wooden jetty, hoisting up plastic crates of crabs from his pond [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story was produced in collaboration with the Environmental Reporting Collective (ERC). Read the ERC’s story on the impacts of data centers globally here. CHONBURI, Thailand — The sun had yet to rise at 6 a.m., but Sarayuth Sonlacksa was already crouched on his wooden jetty, hoisting up plastic crates of crabs from his pond to see if any had reached the size needed to sell to restaurants in Bangkok. He’s able to farm crabs this far inland, said Sarayuth, a former biochemist, thanks to the unique ecosystem provided by the mix of seawater, brackish water and freshwater that flows through the Bang Pakong River into the creeks near his home on the border between Chachoengsao and Chonburi provinces in eastern Thailand. But that delicate balance, he fears, may be upended by a new data center being built in Chonburi’s Khlong Tamru subdistrict, 10 kilometers (6 miles) from his crab farm in Chachoengsao province. The facility is one of at least 19 data centers reportedly planned or under construction in Chonburi and neighboring Rayong province. With the data centers springing up in an already heavily industrialized area that has struggled with water shortages and pollution, local residents say they fear the new sector could make the situation worse. “For me, data centers are better than normal factories,” Sarayuth said. “But for sure they will result in more water conflict, with more competition for resources, and more wastewater.” Sarayuth Sonlacksa inspects his crab farm, some 10 km from the construction site&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/thai-data-center-boom-sparks-fears-of-water-shortage-air-pollution/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>The Wild League aims to turn sports mascots into conservation champions</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-wild-league-aims-to-turn-sports-mascots-into-conservation-champions/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-wild-league-aims-to-turn-sports-mascots-into-conservation-champions/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2026 01:15:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Lizkimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[green]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Happy-upbeat Environmental]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wildlife Conservation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/09120840/Indochinese-tiger_RAB-768x512-1.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315542</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, India, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mammals, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Lions, tigers and bears aren&#8217;t just among the world&#8217;s most iconic wildlife. They&#8217;re also among the most popular mascots in professional sports. A new study published in BioScience finds that across 50 countries and 10 team sports, 727 professional organizations use wild animals in their names, logos or fan nicknames. The most frequently represented species [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Lions, tigers and bears aren&#8217;t just among the world&#8217;s most iconic wildlife. They&#8217;re also among the most popular mascots in professional sports. A new study published in BioScience finds that across 50 countries and 10 team sports, 727 professional organizations use wild animals in their names, logos or fan nicknames. The most frequently represented species — lions, tigers, grey wolves, leopards and brown bears — are all  threatened in the wild. The research, led by Ugo Arbieu, a postdoctoral researcher at Paris-Saclay University in France, identified 161 distinct animal taxa represented across those teams, spanning mammals, birds, insects, sharks and more. Threatened species and those with declining populations were selected as mascots significantly more than other animals or symbols. Mascots for rival teams Auburn University (tiger) and University of Alabama (elephant). Photo by Adam Brasher&#8217;s via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0). With these clubs social media followers totaling more than a billion combined, the authors argue that there&#8217;s an enormous untapped opportunity to channel the emotional bond between fans and mascots into real conservation action. &#8220;Animal imagery is everywhere,&#8221; Arbieu told Mongabay. &#8220;Across the five continents and across all sports, and both for men and women teams.&#8221; Beyond the big cats and wolves, he said, there is a long tail of unique species represented. &#8220;There is so much potential to communicate, educate about biodiversity and what it is, but also to engage people in a different way of looking at nature.&#8221; The idea came to Arbieu while playing the video game&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-wild-league-aims-to-turn-sports-mascots-into-conservation-champions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>How elephants experience time, and what this tells us about protecting them</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/03/how-elephants-experience-time-and-what-this-tells-us-about-protecting-them/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/03/how-elephants-experience-time-and-what-this-tells-us-about-protecting-them/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 21:31:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike DiGirolamo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mikedigirolamo]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/03/04222726/Botswana-Elephants-Linyanti-Muddy-Upfront-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=podcasts&#038;p=315235</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation Philosophy, Elephants, Environment, Featured, human-elephant conflict, Human-wildlife Conflict, Interviews, Interviews With Young Scientists, Philosophy, Podcast, Science, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Khatijah Rahmat, a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Germany, says she’s trying to build legitimacy around the concept of animal temporality — the ability to experience time — specifically in elephants. Doing so could have implications for conservation and beyond. “How we envision an animal’s relationship to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Khatijah Rahmat, a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Germany, says she’s trying to build legitimacy around the concept of animal temporality — the ability to experience time — specifically in elephants. Doing so could have implications for conservation and beyond. “How we envision an animal’s relationship to time influences whether we see them as feeling, remembering beings. My aim is to encourage a more dynamic view of their place in the world when we recognize them as equally temporal beings.” This week on the Mongabay Newscast, Rahmat explains three key areas of evidence for interpreting elephant temporal experience and how this knowledge could be folded into how we think about protecting elephants or animals in general. “I think it increases the depth of empathy we can have for animals,” she says. “It can really push the concepts of policy … but it also can really challenge some of our current, basic assumptions about how we think about logic and evidence.” Interpretations of how animals experience time are not objective, and can’t be replicated in typical lab conditions, making Rahmat’s study heavily reliant on indirect observation, which she outlines in her thesis. “What I’m talking about when I say elephant temporality is the interpretation of duration … how they translate it. And this is not something that we can easily provide in the lab,” she explains. “But the results or the effects that I’m talking about … are quite real and the phenomena&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/03/how-elephants-experience-time-and-what-this-tells-us-about-protecting-them/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>US development bank left without oversight after watchdog let go</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/us-development-bank-left-without-oversight-after-watchdog-let-go/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/us-development-bank-left-without-oversight-after-watchdog-let-go/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 19:04:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/10185827/dfc_ceo_ben_black_with_president_trump_oval_office-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315534</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Development, Finance, Human Rights, Mining, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the lending and investment arm of the U.S. government and a key foreign policy tool, has abruptly terminated the director of its Independent Accountability Mechanism (IAM), which handles complaints about environmental and social harm. The unexpected move leaves no staff in the congressionally mandated IAM office. Mehrdad Nazari was [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[The International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the lending and investment arm of the U.S. government and a key foreign policy tool, has abruptly terminated the director of its Independent Accountability Mechanism (IAM), which handles complaints about environmental and social harm. The unexpected move leaves no staff in the congressionally mandated IAM office. Mehrdad Nazari was the IAM’s first director and had been in the position since 2024. He was informed by DFC lawyers in January that his term would not be extended past the end of February, though he was eligible for a five-year extension. Under Nazari, the IAM assessed complaints against DFC funding that included ExxonMobil’s multibillion-dollar Rovuma natural gas project in Mozambique. The DFC was created with bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress through 2018’s BUILD Act. Meant to counter the influence of Chinese state-issued debt, it invests in private sector projects that advance U.S. foreign policy goals, such as critical mineral extraction in the DRC. Its current portfolio is worth more than $40 billion, with an investment cap that was extended to $200 billion by Congress last year. The IAM assesses environmental, labor and human rights complaints against DFC-funded projects. In an interview with Mongabay, Nazari said senior lawyers at the DFC told him that his term would not be renewed because “every administration deserves to bring in their own guy.” Stephanie Amoako, policy director at the Washington, D.C.-based Accountability Council, said she was concerned the decision is a sign the DFC is pulling back on oversight&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/us-development-bank-left-without-oversight-after-watchdog-let-go/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Human rights commission calls on Peru to protect isolated Kakataibo people</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/human-rights-commission-calls-on-peru-to-protect-isolated-kakataibo-people/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/human-rights-commission-calls-on-peru-to-protect-isolated-kakataibo-people/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 16:57:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/10165628/AP19004110783798-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315524</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Peru]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amazon People, Amazon Rainforest, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, and Indigenous Rights]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has requested that the Peruvian government take action to protect the isolated Kakataibo Indigenous people in the Amazonian departments of Ucayali, Huánuco and Loreto. The group lives in voluntary isolation in the Kakataibo North and South Indigenous Reserve, where it’s under threat from illegal loggers and other invaders who [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has requested that the Peruvian government take action to protect the isolated Kakataibo Indigenous people in the Amazonian departments of Ucayali, Huánuco and Loreto. The group lives in voluntary isolation in the Kakataibo North and South Indigenous Reserve, where it’s under threat from illegal loggers and other invaders who deforest, establish illegal settlements, construct clandestine airstrips for transporting drugs, and carry out other illegal activities, according to an IACHR press release. Such unwanted encroachment from outsiders has profound impacts on the area’s isolated people, said Julio Cusurichi, an Indigenous Shipibo-Conibo leader and member of the Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (AIDESEP). Uncontacted communities are more vulnerable to disease and violent conflict. Cusurichi told Mongabay that there have been reports of violent clashes between isolated people and illegal loggers, which have resulted in deaths. “These communities are highly vulnerable,” he said. “Any contact could lead to the death of all these people. That&#8217;s why there&#8217;s concern that action be taken, that the government take action, and it isn&#8217;t doing so.” According to the IACHR decision, the Peruvian state has failed to adopt effective and sufficient measures to mitigate the dangers that the isolated Kakataibo people face, thereby affecting their right to life, personal integrity and health. The commission requested that the state implement safeguarding actions that adhere to the principle of no contact, to prevent invaders from entering the territory, and to evaluate, monitor and guarantee water quality in the impacted&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/human-rights-commission-calls-on-peru-to-protect-isolated-kakataibo-people/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Beyond the Potomac River, sewage spills threaten cities with old infrastructure and little funds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/beyond-the-potomac-river-sewage-spills-threaten-cities-with-old-infrastructure-and-little-funds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/beyond-the-potomac-river-sewage-spills-threaten-cities-with-old-infrastructure-and-little-funds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 16:43:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/10163827/AP26068739604521-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315522</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Freshwater, Infrastructure, Pollution, Rivers, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[WASHINGTON (AP) — A major sewer pipe collapse has dumped hundreds of millions of gallons of sewage into the Potomac River, highlighting a nationwide problem involving failing infrastructure. The Potomac spill was a huge, but rare event that led to an emergency declaration and federal help. But across the country, sewer overflows happen tens of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[WASHINGTON (AP) — A major sewer pipe collapse has dumped hundreds of millions of gallons of sewage into the Potomac River, highlighting a nationwide problem involving failing infrastructure. The Potomac spill was a huge, but rare event that led to an emergency declaration and federal help. But across the country, sewer overflows happen tens of thousands of times each year. Baltimore shows how bad persistent problems can be. People regularly experience sewage backups into their homes, ruining property and bringing in harmful bacteria. The EPA says there is more than $600 billion is needed for flooding and clean water needs over the next two decades. The Trump administration has cut some funding for the work. By Michael Phillis and M.K. Wildeman, Associated Press   Banner image: Workers build a cofferdam to stop the flow of raw sewage into the Potomac River after a massive sewage pipe rupture in Glen Echo, Md., Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/beyond-the-potomac-river-sewage-spills-threaten-cities-with-old-infrastructure-and-little-funds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/beyond-the-potomac-river-sewage-spills-threaten-cities-with-old-infrastructure-and-little-funds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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					<title>Works on planned luxury resort on Pemba island go ahead despite concerns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/works-on-planned-luxury-resort-on-pemba-island-go-ahead-despite-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/works-on-planned-luxury-resort-on-pemba-island-go-ahead-despite-concerns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 16:39:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/10163217/9B-Road-building-VC-scaled-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315515</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Corporate Responsibility, Corporate Social Responsibility, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Green, Insects, Islands, Mammals, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Earlier this year, workers built a concrete perimeter wall for a planned resort on Pemba Island off the coast of Tanzania. There’s scant public information about the Mantuli development, but the wall is just a few hundred meters west of the 1,440-hectare (3,558-acre) Ngezi-Vumawimbi Nature Forest Reserve, where scientists have identified more than 80 new [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Earlier this year, workers built a concrete perimeter wall for a planned resort on Pemba Island off the coast of Tanzania. There’s scant public information about the Mantuli development, but the wall is just a few hundred meters west of the 1,440-hectare (3,558-acre) Ngezi-Vumawimbi Nature Forest Reserve, where scientists have identified more than 80 new species of plants in recent years — some of which they fear would be driven to extinction by the development. According to a noticeboard near the forest and plans previously published on the website of South Africa-based Acoarch Architects, the luxury resort’s chalets, pools, fitness center and coffee lounge will stretch along 3 kilometers (nearly 2 miles) of Vumawimbi Beach, denying residents of nearby Makangale village access to the sea. Some of the online content has since been removed, and the architecture firm didn’t respond to Mongabay’s inquiries. Tim Caro is an evolutionary ecologist who has conducted research in the area and is a member of U.K.-registered charity Friends of Ngezi, which works with communities and promotes conservation of the forest. He said around a third of Makangale residents are involved in fishing, launching their boats from Vumawimbi Beach, which is also a popular recreational spot for island residents. &#8220;According to weekly reports we receive from members of the community, the perimeter wall blocks Makangale villagers&#8217; access to their fishing sites, to the graves of their ancestors, to their football field, and to paths to other villages,&#8221; a representative of Friends of Ngezi told Mongabay&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/works-on-planned-luxury-resort-on-pemba-island-go-ahead-despite-concerns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>From forest to flatpack, IKEA faces timber traceability test under EUDR</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/from-forest-to-flatpack-ikea-faces-timber-traceability-test-under-eudr/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/from-forest-to-flatpack-ikea-faces-timber-traceability-test-under-eudr/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 15:59:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Annelise Giseburt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/06113832/k.-PH_204034_e2202bf1c8-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315346</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, China, Eastern Europe, Europe, European Union, Global, Poland, Romania, Southeast Asia, Sweden, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Business, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, forest degradation, Forests, Industry, Natural Resources, Regulations, Supply Chain, Sustainability, Timber, and wood]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Furniture giant IKEA is famous for its wood products, but it may soon need to tighten oversight of its supply chains due to the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation that comes into force at the end of this year. The Swedish company sources timber from both inside and outside the EU, with major source markets including [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Furniture giant IKEA is famous for its wood products, but it may soon need to tighten oversight of its supply chains due to the European Union’s Deforestation Regulation that comes into force at the end of this year. The Swedish company sources timber from both inside and outside the EU, with major source markets including Poland, Lithuania, Sweden and China. It processed nearly 15 million cubic meters (530 million cubic feet) of wood in the fiscal year 2025. IKEA already emphasizes its commitment to sustainable forestry practices, which include ensuring that close to 100% of its timber has acquired voluntary sustainability certification or is recycled. However, investigations in 2024 revealed issues among some of IKEA’s suppliers in Romania, suggesting that even companies committed to sustainable forestry may benefit from the more rigorous traceability requirements under the upcoming EU Deforestation Regulation, or EUDR. To comply with the EUDR, companies must report geolocation data that proves a relevant commodity, whether domestic or imported, was not produced on land deforested after December 2020. “The IKEA business remains committed to responsible sourcing practices that ensure our products and operations do not contribute to deforestation or forest degradation,” IKEA wrote in a statement to Mongabay. IKEA flatpack. Image by IKEA.com. However, the company also highlighted ongoing uncertainties regarding the EUDR requirements and implementation timeline. Adopted in 2023, the EUDR aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect global biodiversity by monitoring the supply chains of seven key deforestation-linked commodities entering the EU market: wood, cattle,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/from-forest-to-flatpack-ikea-faces-timber-traceability-test-under-eudr/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Sumatra officials stress environment checks continue in wake of deadly cyclone</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/sumatra-officials-stress-environment-checks-continue-in-wake-of-deadly-cyclone/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/sumatra-officials-stress-environment-checks-continue-in-wake-of-deadly-cyclone/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 14:15:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jaka Hendra Baittri]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/19081613/Nelayan-Pantai-Patenggangan-Kota-Padang-yang-terdampak-secara-ekonomi-karena-galodoh-dari-Hulu_Foto-Jaka-HB_P1200196-1536x1024-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315507</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and West Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Conservation, Disaster, Disasters, Environment, Flooding, Governance, Industry, Mining, Storms, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PADANG, Indonesia — Environmental inspectors in Indonesia say they’re continuing to monitor compliance by mining and other companies on the island of Sumatra amid ongoing public outcry three months after Cyclone Senyar struck the island, killing more than 1,000 people. Tasliatul Fuadi, the head of the environmental department in West Sumatra province, pointed to recent [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PADANG, Indonesia — Environmental inspectors in Indonesia say they’re continuing to monitor compliance by mining and other companies on the island of Sumatra amid ongoing public outcry three months after Cyclone Senyar struck the island, killing more than 1,000 people. Tasliatul Fuadi, the head of the environmental department in West Sumatra province, pointed to recent spot inspections on the slopes of Mount Sariak, a short distance from the provincial capital, Padang, as well as new signage displaying public information to report allegations of misconduct. “Should there be any further suspected cases of violations, please make an official report,” Tasliatul said. At least 267 people were killed in West Sumatra late last year — with 70 people still missing at the time of writing — after Cyclone Senyar made landfall over the north of Sumatra Island on Nov. 26 and 27. The Sariak area is located on the outskirts of Padang, where 11 people were killed following the cyclone. At least 197 people were killed in the district of Agam, several hours west of the city. Conducting comprehensive field checks on land-use change and environmental compliance in West Sumatra requires traveling long distances on a poor road network through a mountainous province larger than Switzerland. Many areas take at least a day to reach. The flash floods unleashed by the cyclone, for many the worst in memory, also killed hundreds in the neighboring provinces of North Sumatra and Aceh, the latter a semiautonomous region and Indonesia’s westernmost point. In the aftermath,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/sumatra-officials-stress-environment-checks-continue-in-wake-of-deadly-cyclone/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Promising breakthrough creates plastics that self-deconstruct on cue: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/promising-breakthrough-creates-plastics-that-self-deconstruct-on-cue-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/promising-breakthrough-creates-plastics-that-self-deconstruct-on-cue-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 13:45:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claire Asher]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/10065130/1-BANNER-IMAGE-engin-akyurt-10CKgHbX15A-unsplash-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315490</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Chemicals, Circular Economy, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Innovation In Conservation, Microplastics, Plastic, Pollution, Research, Solutions, Sustainability, Waste, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Plastics have a gigantic built-in problem: They’re tenacious, which is very good for a milk jug or a car bumper. But they don’t easily break down, which is bad for the environment. From the 1950s, when plastics were first produced in significant amounts, through 2017, the petrochemical industry churned out more than 8.3 billion metric [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Plastics have a gigantic built-in problem: They’re tenacious, which is very good for a milk jug or a car bumper. But they don’t easily break down, which is bad for the environment. From the 1950s, when plastics were first produced in significant amounts, through 2017, the petrochemical industry churned out more than 8.3 billion metric tons of the nearly indestructible stuff, the vast majority of which is still with us today, polluting the natural world, contaminating wildlife and ourselves. Add to this an estimated 25 billion metric tons of plastic expected to be produced by 2050, and the agonizingly intractable nature of this mega-pollution crisis becomes clear. Humanity’s take-make-waste linear manufacturing economic model for plastics stands in stark contrast to natural systems. Over billions of years of evolution, living organisms developed strong, durable materials (think bone, shell and silk) that self-deconstruct back into harmless components after use. Inspired by the circularity of natural materials, chemists at Rutgers University in the U.S. set out to design plastics that could do the same. And they think they have found a breakthrough solution to the circularity problem, or at least may have taken a big step toward a solution. In a paper published last November, they report that they’ve developed a new molecular structure for plastic, inspired by nature, that allows it to self-deconstruct at the end of a product’s lifespan. In fact, researchers say that a timely programmable breakdown date can even be built into future plastic products. Chemist Yuwei Gu (left)&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/promising-breakthrough-creates-plastics-that-self-deconstruct-on-cue-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>The promise and perils of the 1995 Mekong River Agreement (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-promise-and-perils-of-the-1995-mekong-river-agreement-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-promise-and-perils-of-the-1995-mekong-river-agreement-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 09:52:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Long Pham]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/03/30141735/communities-tonle-sap-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315485</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, China, Laos, Mekong Basin, Mekong River, Southeast Asia, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Conservation, Dams, electricity, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Environmental Politics, Fish, Freshwater, Governance, Hydroelectric Power, Hydropower, Law, Mekong Dams, and Rivers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The 1995 Mekong Agreement was meant to be a cornerstone of cooperation for Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam — promising equitable use, no significant harm, and joint management of the river. The Mekong River Commission was its steward, tasked with data sharing, project consultations, and protecting the basin’s health. Three decades on, the MRC’s 30-year [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The 1995 Mekong Agreement was meant to be a cornerstone of cooperation for Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam — promising equitable use, no significant harm, and joint management of the river. The Mekong River Commission was its steward, tasked with data sharing, project consultations, and protecting the basin’s health. Three decades on, the MRC’s 30-year milestone in November 2025 painted a picture of “shared prosperity.” Officials highlighted flood warnings, environmental studies, and even China’s data-sharing nods. Despite the MRC’s claim that “working together is the only way forward” with “new solutions” to keep the Mekong a “river of life, not conflict,” this optimistic rhetoric has echoed for 30 years. In reality, the river faces “a death by a thousand cuts” — cumulative degradation from dams, sediment loss, sand mining, altered flows, and Lake Tonle Sap’s natural regulating role severely undermined — all of which the MRC’s 30-year approach has failed to stop. The 1995 Mekong Agreement and the disasters of dam-building spree Before 1995, the lower Mekong mainstream had zero large dams. The 1995 Agreement altered that. Laos built Xayaburi, operational since 2019, and Don Sahong, running since 2020. Those two alone sparked outrage from Cambodia and Vietnam over blocked fish routes and lost sediment. The PNPCA process, for prior notification and consultation, was supposed to lead to agreement. Instead, Laos treated objections as background noise and pushed ahead. Vietnam’s own tributary dams number 81; Laos, 75. Together, the basin’s total planned hydropower capacity is 23 gigawatts, drawing $50 billion&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-promise-and-perils-of-the-1995-mekong-river-agreement-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Middle East conflict exposes Africa’s fossil fuel risks &#038; the case for clean energy</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/middle-east-conflict-exposes-africas-fossil-fuel-risks-the-case-for-clean-energy/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/middle-east-conflict-exposes-africas-fossil-fuel-risks-the-case-for-clean-energy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 04:43:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/10110222/UNDP-Sudan-Muhanad-Sameer-51014288750_befa1b7ee9_o-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315480</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Energy, Renewable Energy, Solar Power, and War]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A deepening crisis in the Middle East could send economic shockwaves across sub-Saharan Africa, raising fuel costs, food prices and inflation across the region, according to a new analysis by energy consultancy Zero Carbon Analytics. Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows through the Strait of Hormuz between Iran, Oman and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A deepening crisis in the Middle East could send economic shockwaves across sub-Saharan Africa, raising fuel costs, food prices and inflation across the region, according to a new analysis by energy consultancy Zero Carbon Analytics. Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows through the Strait of Hormuz between Iran, Oman and the UAE. If the ongoing conflict continues, energy prices could spike, driving up costs across African economies, which heavily rely on imported oil and gas. “As a net importer of oil products, sub-Saharan Africa will not be immune from the fallout,” the analysis notes, warning that higher energy prices could increase the cost of imports and put pressure on national currencies and foreign reserves. The report analyzed import data and cash reserves across 29 African countries and found Senegal, Benin, Eritrea, Burkina Faso and Zambia are among the most vulnerable if oil prices remain elevated. These countries combine high dependence on imported fuel with limited foreign currency reserves, meaning they will quickly run out of money to pay for more expensive fuel. “The countries that are most exposed rely entirely on oil imports and already have low levels of international reserves,” Nick Hedley, who authored the analysis, told Mongabay. “This means when oil prices rise, these countries risk further depleting their holdings of U.S. dollars, gold and other reserves. This further weakens their currencies, making imports of all goods more expensive, which pushes up inflation.” The ripple effects could extend beyond fuel. Rising oil and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/middle-east-conflict-exposes-africas-fossil-fuel-risks-the-case-for-clean-energy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Can Singapore rewild its lost reptiles?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/can-singapore-rewild-its-lost-reptiles/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/can-singapore-rewild-its-lost-reptiles/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 02:06:34 +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/20/2026/03/04171924/Gimlett-s-reed-snake-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315032</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecological Restoration, Green, Herps, Lizards, Reintroductions, Reptiles, Snakes, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the older quarters of Singapore, fragments of forest persist like memories that refuse to fade. Within them live creatures that few residents ever see, and some that no longer exist there at all. The disappearance of species on an island is not always dramatic. Often it happens quietly, in decades of thinning habitat and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the older quarters of Singapore, fragments of forest persist like memories that refuse to fade. Within them live creatures that few residents ever see, and some that no longer exist there at all. The disappearance of species on an island is not always dramatic. Often it happens quietly, in decades of thinning habitat and interrupted life cycles, until absence becomes normal. A snake not recorded since 1904 leaves no trace in the soil, only a line in an archive. Selangor mud snake (Raclitia indica), which was rediscovered in Singapore in 2020 after an absence of 106 years. Photo credit: the Law Brothers Singapore’s ecological history is one of compression. Since the 19th century, most primary forest has been cleared for plantations, industry, and housing. Today only a sliver of original forest remains, surrounded by a landscape remade for human needs. Such transformation has exacted a toll on wildlife, especially terrestrial vertebrates. Estimates suggest that roughly a third of species across several groups have disappeared locally over two centuries. Snakes and lizards, however, tell a more complicated story. A recent analysis of Singapore’s squamates, the group that includes snakes and lizards, reconstructs a timeline of loss using historical records and statistical modeling. The pattern resembles two pulses of erosion. The first, in the early 1900s, coincides with the near-total conversion of primary forest. A second, smaller wave arrives late in the 20th century, as remaining secondary forests give way to rapid urbanization. Primary-forest specialists suffered most. Species able to tolerate&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/can-singapore-rewild-its-lost-reptiles/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cambodian market survey a snapshot of a resilient — but stressed — Mekong</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cambodian-market-survey-a-snapshot-of-a-resilient-but-stressed-mekong/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cambodian-market-survey-a-snapshot-of-a-resilient-but-stressed-mekong/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 01:59:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Stefan Lovgren]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/09230405/DSC00753-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315459</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Mekong Basin, Mekong River, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquaculture, Biodiversity, Conservation, Dams, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Fish Farming, Freshwater Fish, Green, Mekong Dams, Rivers, Tropical Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[STUNG TRENG, Cambodia — Sunrise is still a long way off when the first fishing boats slip into the landing site at this provincial town along the Mekong River in northern Cambodia. The night’s catch is hauled ashore and moved in tubs and woven baskets to a nearby side street off the town’s main boulevard. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[STUNG TRENG, Cambodia — Sunrise is still a long way off when the first fishing boats slip into the landing site at this provincial town along the Mekong River in northern Cambodia. The night’s catch is hauled ashore and moved in tubs and woven baskets to a nearby side street off the town’s main boulevard. By daylight, vendors have arranged the fish across tarps and reed mats laid directly on the street. Snakeheads, catfish, barbs and loaches lie in dense, gleaming rows as the market swells into a blur of motion and sound. Motorcycles crowd the edges while buyers weave through narrow passageways. Vendors weigh, sort and pack fish for kitchens, restaurants and traders heading off to Phnom Penh. On this morning in early February, a team of Cambodian and international researchers also converged on the fish markets here and in Kratie, a town about 140 kilometers (87 miles) downstream, to begin a two-week survey documenting the aquatic wealth of the world’s most productive river system. More than 2 million tons of fish are harvested from the Mekong each year. Biologist and survey member Sudeep Chandra observes Chitala ornata for sale at the Stung Treng market. Image © Chhut Chheana/Wonders of the Mekong. The survey builds on a rare historical benchmark. In 1994, the late ichthyologist Tyson Roberts conducted a detailed inventory of fish species appearing in the main Stung Treng market. Three decades later, researchers are replicating that work, returning in the same seasons, to enable a direct comparison&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cambodian-market-survey-a-snapshot-of-a-resilient-but-stressed-mekong/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous knowledge helps guide conservation of Australia’s endangered northern quoll</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/indigenous-knowledge-helps-guide-conservation-of-australias-endangered-northern-quoll/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/indigenous-knowledge-helps-guide-conservation-of-australias-endangered-northern-quoll/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 21:36:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nick Rodway]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/09172923/northern-quoll-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315444</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Carnivores, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Cultures, Indigenous Peoples, Mammals, Marsupials, Research, Traditional Knowledge, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Despite its widespread biodiversity, Australia holds an unenviable record when it comes to wildlife: the highest mammalian extinction rate in the world. Since the arrival of Europeans and colonial expansion, at least 40 terrestrial mammal species have been lost, and others are facing serious threats. Notable among these is the northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus), a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Despite its widespread biodiversity, Australia holds an unenviable record when it comes to wildlife: the highest mammalian extinction rate in the world. Since the arrival of Europeans and colonial expansion, at least 40 terrestrial mammal species have been lost, and others are facing serious threats. Notable among these is the northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus), a small, carnivorous marsupial that ranges through tropical areas of the continent and is considered endangered on the IUCN Red List due to threats posed by introduced animals gone feral, habitat change, and landscape degradation. The loss of mammalian biodiversity has coincided with widespread threats to the preservation of First Nations cultural knowledge in Australia. Over the past two centuries, Indigenous people have been forcibly removed from their lands and resettled in other parts of the continent. During this time, traditional land management practices and cultural knowledge of local biodiversity have largely not been considered by the scientific establishment. Now, however, a recent study has used Indigenous cultural and ecological knowledge (ICEK) alongside Western scientific methods as way to help conserve northern quolls, and potentially other species, into the future. The study, published in January in the journal Wildlife Research, was led by members of the Martu people, whose traditional lands span portions of the western desert region in Western Australia, the country’s largest state. Northern quolls, known in the Martu language as wiminyji, were only identified by modern science in this part of the country in 2012, despite Martu elders knowing of the species’ presence&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/indigenous-knowledge-helps-guide-conservation-of-australias-endangered-northern-quoll/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ecuador’s new ecological corridor connects Andes and Amazon ecosystems</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/ecuadors-new-ecological-corridor-connects-andes-and-amazon-ecosystems/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/ecuadors-new-ecological-corridor-connects-andes-and-amazon-ecosystems/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 19:54:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandrapopescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biodiversity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environmental Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Protected Areas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tropical Forests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wildlife Corridors]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/09194846/WCS_Llanganates-RBY_-%C2%A9-Victor-Utreras-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315451</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Corridors, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Protected Areas, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador has announced the creation of a new biological corridor designed to connect the eastern ranges of the Andes with the Amazon Rainforest, part of a larger initiative to strengthen ecological connectivity and protect biodiversity. The Llanganates–Yasuní Connectivity Corridor, officially announced this month, spans 2,159 square kilometers (834 square miles) across two provinces, connecting Llanganates [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador has announced the creation of a new biological corridor designed to connect the eastern ranges of the Andes with the Amazon Rainforest, part of a larger initiative to strengthen ecological connectivity and protect biodiversity. The Llanganates–Yasuní Connectivity Corridor, officially announced this month, spans 2,159 square kilometers (834 square miles) across two provinces, connecting Llanganates National Park with Yasuní Biosphere Reserve. It’s one of several projects in the country aiming to preserve ecological connectivity between the Andes and Amazon, a transition zone vital for species adaptation as climate change and human pressure reshape habitats. “By securing ecological connectivity between the Andes and the Amazon, we are helping safeguard biodiversity, strengthen climate resilience, and support local communities whose livelihoods depend on healthy ecosystems,” WCS Ecuador country director Sebastian Valdivieso said in a press release. “This corridor reflects the power of collaboration between national authorities, local governments, civil society and international partners.” Yasuní Biosphere Reserve covers 27,564 km2 (10,643 mi2) of Amazon Rainforest, while Llanganates National Park covers 2,197 km2 (848 mi2) of high-elevation ecosystems in the Andes. The two protected areas appear close on a map but are actually separated by significant elevation differences, with parts of Llanganates reaching around 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) above sea level. Now, the corridor allows “altitudinal connectivity” between the two protected areas, according to WCS Ecuador, one of the organizations overseeing the project. The corridor will help protect species that need to migrate between different elevations, such as the black-and-chestnut eagle (Spizaetus isidori). It could&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/ecuadors-new-ecological-corridor-connects-andes-and-amazon-ecosystems/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mining rush for critical minerals threatens Amazon land reform settlements</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/mining-rush-for-critical-minerals-threatens-amazon-land-reform-settlements/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/mining-rush-for-critical-minerals-threatens-amazon-land-reform-settlements/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 18:49:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Cícero Pedrosa NetoIsabel HarariSam Cowie]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/09165555/para-mining-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315432</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Conservation, Amazon Mining, Amazon Rainforest, Biodiversity, Conservation, Copper, Critical Minerals, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Politics, Forests, Industry, Land Conflict, Mining, Politics, Pollution, Urbanization, Water, Water Crisis, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Families awaiting land reform in the Amazon now face a surge in mining that can destroy their chance at a decent life.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Leia em português. &nbsp; PARAUAPEBAS, Brazil — On a dirt road that cuts through the Rio Novo settlement in the southeast of Pará state, battered motorcycles carry small loads of organic food to sell in the city, while passing trucks loaded with minerals for export. Parauapebas, Brazil’s so-called “mining capital,” hosts numerous rural worker communities, including the 5,000 families of Terra e Liberdade, the largest landless encampment in Brazil. The city is also home to the largest open-pit iron ore mine in the world, in addition to other valuable deposits. The scene of historical land conflicts, such as the Eldorado dos Carajás massacre, in which 21 people died after being shot by military police during a protest in 1996, southeastern Pará is now witnessing a new front of dispute. Driven by the energy transition, mining companies are eyeing land in already established agrarian reform settlements, seeking deposits of three minerals essential to the arms and high-tech industries: copper, manganese and nickel. These elements are used in equipment such as chips, wind turbines, electric cars, military jets and warships. An exclusive survey by Repórter Brasil in partnership with Mongabay, based on data from the National Mining Agency (ANM), identified 676 mining processes for copper, manganese and nickel in Carajás since 1969. A quarter of them (166) were filed in the last five years (2021–25). Illegal copper mining area in the Carajás region, southeastern Pará. Image courtesy of Cícero Pedrosa/Repórter Brasil. Of the total number of requests, 292 (43%) relate to 82&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/mining-rush-for-critical-minerals-threatens-amazon-land-reform-settlements/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Malawi, farmers rebuild soil and livelihoods through agroecology</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-malawi-farmers-rebuild-soil-and-livelihoods-through-agroecology/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-malawi-farmers-rebuild-soil-and-livelihoods-through-agroecology/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 17:03:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kelvin Tembo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/06113706/5B-A-maize-field-cultivated-using-agroecology-concepts-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315323</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Agroecology]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Malawi, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Farming, Food, Food Crisis, and food security]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MZIMBA, Malawi – For years, life was defined by hardship for Grena Banda and her husband, Daniel Mwafulirwa, in Malawi’s northern district of Rumphi. Their small farm was their only reliable source of livelihood, yet it rarely produced enough. Climate change brought erratic rainfall, sometimes drought and sometimes heavy downpours that washed away fragile topsoil. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MZIMBA, Malawi – For years, life was defined by hardship for Grena Banda and her husband, Daniel Mwafulirwa, in Malawi’s northern district of Rumphi. Their small farm was their only reliable source of livelihood, yet it rarely produced enough. Climate change brought erratic rainfall, sometimes drought and sometimes heavy downpours that washed away fragile topsoil. At the same time, the cost of fertilizer kept rising beyond their reach. Each farming season began with hope but ended with anxiety, as yields rarely matched expectations. Feeding their children, paying school fees and meeting basic household needs felt like an ongoing uphill battle. “Year in, year out we were facing food shortages. We depended on fertilizer, but we could not afford enough of it,” Banda tells Mongabay. “Sometimes, we harvested so little that we did not know how we would manage until the next season.” As food insecurity deepened, Banda’s husband resorted to risky survival strategies. When crops failed and hunger loomed, he began entering the nearby Vwaza Game Reserve to hunt illegally. It was a decision driven by desperation. Mwafulirwa knew the risks — patrols, arrests and fines — but he also knew his children needed food. “I had no choice at the time. When you see your children hungry, you do things you never imagined you would do. Look at these scars,” he says, rolling up his sleeves and showing his wrists. “They are from handcuffs as I was arrested multiple times.” But today, Mwafulirwa no longer takes those risks, as&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-malawi-farmers-rebuild-soil-and-livelihoods-through-agroecology/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Study maps tree-planting risks and rewards for climate and biodiversity</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/study-maps-tree-planting-risks-and-rewards-for-climate-and-biodiversity/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/study-maps-tree-planting-risks-and-rewards-for-climate-and-biodiversity/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 16:46:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/09161006/Indonesia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315415</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Afforestation, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Ecological Restoration, Ecosystem Restoration, Ecosystems, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Landscape Restoration, Mapping, Reforestation, Research, Restoration, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Establishing forests can capture carbon and boost biodiversity — but some biomes are a better bet than others, a recent study finds. Forest restoration has emerged as a top nature-based solution to mitigate climate change, with numerous high-profile initiatives launched over the past few decades. And while there’s enthusiasm for replanting degraded forest areas, or [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Establishing forests can capture carbon and boost biodiversity — but some biomes are a better bet than others, a recent study finds. Forest restoration has emerged as a top nature-based solution to mitigate climate change, with numerous high-profile initiatives launched over the past few decades. And while there’s enthusiasm for replanting degraded forest areas, or reforestation, there’s also a growing unease that establishing forests in ecosystems that historically had little of them, or afforestation, could harm biodiversity. The question is, how can we pinpoint the best places for afforestation and reforestation, or AR, on a global scale? A number of studies have tackled this challenge. For example, a 2025 Nature Communications study found that 195 million hectares (482 million acres) of land is suitable for reforestation when climate goals, nature, and people were taken into account. Though this represents an area the size of Mexico, it’s far smaller than previous estimates. Now, a recent study in Environmental Research Letters describes a different way of gauging the potential of AR across 13 biomes. The study finds that overall, many areas within the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest biome offer the highest compatibility with biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration goals. However, there’s significant variation between areas, even within the same biome. In contrast, the study finds that all grasslands, shrublands and savanna biomes are poorly suited to AR. (a) Bivariate map of the spatial overlap between the habitat suitability index and carbon sequestration potential. Dark red areas have a high habitat&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/study-maps-tree-planting-risks-and-rewards-for-climate-and-biodiversity/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>The Cerrado is threatened but crucial for Brazil’s biodiversity &#038; water security (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-cerrado-is-threatened-but-crucial-for-brazils-biodiversity-water-security-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-cerrado-is-threatened-but-crucial-for-brazils-biodiversity-water-security-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 16:37:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Cássio Cardoso PereiraDomingos de Jesus RodriguesPhilip M. FearnsideRodolfo SalmWalisson Kenedy-Siqueira]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/17221415/Cerrado-Correntina-Bahia-Brazil-June-2023-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315420</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Cerrado, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Commentary, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Freshwater, Research, Savannas, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Brazilian Cerrado, recognized as one of the world’s most species-diverse and threatened ecodomains on the planet, faces increasing pressure from large-scale agriculture and land conversion. “Ecodomains” are large areas where the predominant native vegetation is of a given general type, such as the Cerrado. These areas, officially termed “biomes” in Brazil since 2004 (a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Brazilian Cerrado, recognized as one of the world’s most species-diverse and threatened ecodomains on the planet, faces increasing pressure from large-scale agriculture and land conversion. “Ecodomains” are large areas where the predominant native vegetation is of a given general type, such as the Cerrado. These areas, officially termed “biomes” in Brazil since 2004 (a use of this term different from that in the ecological sciences), include both enclaves of native vegetation other than the predominant one and large areas that have been converted to agriculture and other uses. Although the Cerrado ecodomain sustains many of Brazil’s main river basins and occupies 24% of the national territory, our group’s review article in Nature Conservation shows that more than 55% of its native vegetation has already been lost, mostly over the last five decades. Often overshadowed by the Amazon in international debates, the Cerrado has lost more than 1 million square kilometers (more than 386,000 square miles) of its original vegetation, an area larger than France and Germany combined. Even when there are small fluctuations in annual rates of clearing, the historical trend continues to be one of increasing conversion driven by agricultural expansion, urban growth, mining and land speculation. The result is an increasingly fragmented and ecologically fragile landscape. Graphic showing carbon distribution in the Cerrado, revealing it as an “inverted forest” due to the predominance of biomass stored below ground, courtesy of Walisson Kenedy-Siqueira. The Cerrado’s inverted forest One of the most striking characteristics of the Cerrado is its&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-cerrado-is-threatened-but-crucial-for-brazils-biodiversity-water-security-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>David Chivers, student of the singing apes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/david-chivers-student-of-the-singing-apes/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/david-chivers-student-of-the-singing-apes/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 14:26:48 +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/20/2026/03/08163951/David-Chivers-Selwyn-College-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315401</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Indonesia, Kalimantan, Malaysia, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Mammals, Obituary, Primates, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#160; Field primatology expanded rapidly in the late 20th century as biologists began to study apes and monkeys where they lived rather than only in museums or laboratories. Southeast Asia’s rainforests became an important setting for that shift. Among the researchers who helped shape the discipline there was David Chivers, a British primatologist whose work [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[&nbsp; Field primatology expanded rapidly in the late 20th century as biologists began to study apes and monkeys where they lived rather than only in museums or laboratories. Southeast Asia’s rainforests became an important setting for that shift. Among the researchers who helped shape the discipline there was David Chivers, a British primatologist whose work on gibbons and other forest apes combined long stretches of field observation with a commitment to conservation. He died on March 5th, aged 81. Chivers arrived at the University of Cambridge in 1963 and, in practice, remained there for the rest of his career. After studying medical sciences and physical anthropology, he turned away from clinical veterinary training to pursue research on primates. His doctoral work, completed in 1972, was based on field studies of siamangs in Peninsular Malaysia. At the time such projects demanded patience: weeks spent tracking animals through dense forest and learning their habits by steady observation. That work produced The Siamang in Malaya, a monograph published in 1974 that became a reference point for later studies of primate ecology. Chivers was interested both in behavior and in how primates fit into forest systems. Feeding patterns, fruit availability, and the role of animals in dispersing seeds all became part of the picture. David Chivers in 1970. His later research extended across Southeast Asia and beyond. In the mid-1980s he helped establish Project Barito Ulu in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, examining how fruit-eating wildlife contributed to forest regeneration. The project brought together international researchers&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/david-chivers-student-of-the-singing-apes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Critically endangered kākāpō parrot has standout breeding season</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/critically-endangered-kakapo-parrot-has-standout-breeding-season/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/critically-endangered-kakapo-parrot-has-standout-breeding-season/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 13:57:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/09124416/Alice-and-chick-Rupi-by-Jake-Osborne-hi-res1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315416</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[New Zealand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Governance, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A total of 59 healthy kākāpō chicks have hatched over the last few weeks, according to the latest tally by Aotearoa New Zealand’s Department of Conservation. This marks one of the most successful recent breeding seasons for this critically endangered bird, whose last breeding season was four years ago. The kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus), a flightless bird [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A total of 59 healthy kākāpō chicks have hatched over the last few weeks, according to the latest tally by Aotearoa New Zealand’s Department of Conservation. This marks one of the most successful recent breeding seasons for this critically endangered bird, whose last breeding season was four years ago. The kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus), a flightless bird in the parrot family endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand, has a total population of 236 adults, up from a low of just 51 individuals in the 1990s. Around the same period, the surviving birds were relocated to three predator-free Aotearoa New Zealand islands — Whenua Hou, Pukenui and Te Kākahu-o-Tamatea — but they’ve still struggled with low reproduction rates. “Every new chick brings the species further from the brink of extinction,” Deidre Vercoe, the Department of Conservation’s operations manager for kākāpō, told Mongabay by email. “There’s always a sense of hope and optimism for the future.” Kākāpō only breed in years when the native rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum) tree produces a heavy crop of fruits, which happens every 2-4 years. A chick named Tīwhiri-A1-2026, born on Feb. 14, was the first kākāpō to hatch in four years. Image courtesy of Lydia Uddstrom/New Zealand Department of Conservation. So far this year, 140 fertile eggs have been identified and 52 healthy chicks were born, with an extra seven chicks assumed via remote technology. The data are shared with the public every Friday, with an uploaded photo of the tally written in marker on the department’s refrigerator. Though more&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/critically-endangered-kakapo-parrot-has-standout-breeding-season/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>U.S.&#8217; hunger for Halloween trinkets is killing Vietnam&#8217;s painted woolly bats</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/u-s-hunger-for-halloween-trinkets-is-killing-vietnams-painted-woolly-bats/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/u-s-hunger-for-halloween-trinkets-is-killing-vietnams-painted-woolly-bats/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 13:31:04 +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/20/2026/03/06154617/original-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315361</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, North America, Southeast Asia, United States, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bats, Biodiversity, Cites, Conservation, Ecosystem Services, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Hunting, Illegal Trade, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Poaching, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With hues of orange and black on its wings and a furry, fluffy face, the painted woolly bat is a stunner. But its beauty has become a deadly liability. People want to hang the bats — dead and stuffed — on their walls, display them as collectibles and even set them in jewelry. In recent [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With hues of orange and black on its wings and a furry, fluffy face, the painted woolly bat is a stunner. But its beauty has become a deadly liability. People want to hang the bats — dead and stuffed — on their walls, display them as collectibles and even set them in jewelry. In recent years, taxidermied and framed bats have become popular as Halloween décor and, oddly, as Christmas tree decorations, sold to customers in the U.S., as well as Europe and Canada. This macabre trade first came to light in 2015 when scientists found dead bats, including painted woolly bats, for sale in Vietnam’s largest metropolis, Ho Chi Minh City. Then, nearly a decade later, scientists realized that it wasn’t just a few stores selling bats: There’s also a huge online market. In 2024, researchers from the Bat Specialist Group at the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, documented nearly 800 bats for sale on Amazon.com, eBay and Etsy over a three-month period. Their “Dying for décor” study, published in the European Journal of Wildlife Research, suggests that the trade is global. A quarter of the bats sold online were from a single species: painted woolly bats (Kerivoula picta). After a successful awareness campaign by conservation organizations, eBay and Etsy banned the sale of bat products on their sites in 2025. Painted woolly bats are nocturnal and sparsely distributed in the landscape, roosting in small groups. Image by faridmuzaki via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0). Now, a new study&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/u-s-hunger-for-halloween-trinkets-is-killing-vietnams-painted-woolly-bats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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