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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/glenn-hurowitz/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Tue, 06 Oct 2026 12:05:23 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>Stories by Glenn Hurowitz -</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/glenn-hurowitz/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>16 new fungal species found hiding in Thailand&#8217;s flowers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/16-new-fungal-species-found-hiding-in-thailands-flowers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/16-new-fungal-species-found-hiding-in-thailands-flowers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Oct 2026 11:02:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/06110219/Melampodium-divaricatum-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331712</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Earth Science, Environment, Flowers, New Discovery, Plants, Research, Science, Tropical Conservation Science, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Researchers surveying garden and wild flowers across northern Thailand have uncovered 16 previously unknown species of black, yeast-like fungi living inside the flowers, according to a recent study. The newly described fungi belong to the Aureobasidium genus, a commonly occurring group of yeast that can be found almost everywhere, from air and human skin, to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Researchers surveying garden and wild flowers across northern Thailand have uncovered 16 previously unknown species of black, yeast-like fungi living inside the flowers, according to a recent study. The newly described fungi belong to the Aureobasidium genus, a commonly occurring group of yeast that can be found almost everywhere, from air and human skin, to water, rocks, soils and wood. A research team from Chiang Mai University and Kasetsart University, both in Thailand, found the 16 new-to-science species growing in 31 different flowering plants, including bougainvillea, vinca, and butter daisy, according to the study. Many of the newly described fungi take their names from their host flowers, such as A. bougainvilleae, or A. catharanthi, referring to its host, the Catharanthus genus of periwinkles. Others were named after their collection sites, such as A. chiangmaiense, referring to the province, and A. kwanphayaoense, referring to Kwan Phayao (Phayao Lake). Two species were named in honor of prominent Thai mycologists, or fungi experts: A. saisamorniae recognizes Saisamorn Lumyong, a professor at Chiang Mai University, while A. savitreeae honors Savitree Limtong, a professor at Kasetsart. “We wanted the names to tell a story, either about where these fungi came from or about the people who have helped advance mycological research in Thailand,” Nakarin Suwannarach, study co-author and professor at Chiang Mai University, said in a news release. Alongside the 16 species, the researchers also recorded four species of fungi that had previously never been documented in Thailand before. “Our team was motivated to study&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/16-new-fungal-species-found-hiding-in-thailands-flowers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331712</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Far-right election results in Brazil &#8216;bleak&#8217; for Indigenous peoples, says Indigenous leader</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/far-right-election-results-in-brazil-bleak-for-indigenous-peoples-says-indigenous-leader/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/far-right-election-results-in-brazil-bleak-for-indigenous-peoples-says-indigenous-leader/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Oct 2026 10:59:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/10035129/54929781835_62d2201585_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331709</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Law, Politics, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Right-wing candidates made big gains in both houses of Congress in Brazil’s Oct. 4 general election. Brazil’s main Indigenous organization, the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil APIB, told Mongabay that the result will drive new attempts to strip constitutional protections from Indigenous peoples. &#8220;Unfortunately, what we saw today is, let&#8217;s say, a bleak moment,&#8221; [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Right-wing candidates made big gains in both houses of Congress in Brazil’s Oct. 4 general election. Brazil’s main Indigenous organization, the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil APIB, told Mongabay that the result will drive new attempts to strip constitutional protections from Indigenous peoples. &#8220;Unfortunately, what we saw today is, let&#8217;s say, a bleak moment,&#8221; Dinamam Tuxá, an executive coordinator with APIB, told Mongabay in an audio message. &#8220;We did not expect this result.&#8221; The far-right Liberal Party, affiliated with presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, won 19 of the 54 Senate seats up for election, bringing its total seats to 28 of the chamber&#8217;s 81, or 35%, starting from 2027. This is nearly double its current number and the largest bloc in the house. Other right-wing parties, namely the Progressistas (PP), Republicanos and Novo, secured 8 seats, bringing their total representation to 15 seats. This gives the four parties a majority in the Senate. Center-right parties now occupy 9 seats, and centrist parties, 13. Left and center-left hold 15 seats. The Liberal Party consistently cast votes against Indigenous rights between 2019 and 2026, according to an analysis of Congress&#8217;s voting records by the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI), a Catholic Church-affiliated advocacy organization. According to CIMI’s analysis, 95.9% of the party’s votes were against Indigenous rights. The other right-wing parties voted similarly: Republicanos at 90.5% and Progressistas (PP) at 85.6%. Novo cast anti-Indigenous votes 100% of the time. On Oct. 25, Flávio Bolsonaro will face off against incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/far-right-election-results-in-brazil-bleak-for-indigenous-peoples-says-indigenous-leader/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/far-right-election-results-in-brazil-bleak-for-indigenous-peoples-says-indigenous-leader/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331709</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Helping 100,000 amphibians safely cross the road</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/helping-100000-amphibians-safely-cross-the-road/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/helping-100000-amphibians-safely-cross-the-road/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Oct 2026 09:08:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jonathan Vit]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/06090715/Mongabay_Thumbnail_DangerousJourney_Featured.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331704</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Every year, thousands of salamanders and frogs try to cross from their wooded winter homes in the U.S. state of New Hampshire to the swamps they breed in. But the road is a dangerous place — unless you have the help of New Hampshire’s Salamander Brigades.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Every year, thousands of salamanders and frogs try to cross from their wooded winter homes in the U.S. state of New Hampshire to the swamps they breed in. But the road is a dangerous place — unless you have the help of New Hampshire’s Salamander Brigades.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/helping-100000-amphibians-safely-cross-the-road/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331704</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia threatens prison time for unauthorized downloads of forest data</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesia-threatens-prison-time-for-unauthorized-downloads-of-forest-data/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesia-threatens-prison-time-for-unauthorized-downloads-of-forest-data/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Oct 2026 02:59:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Dyna RochmyaningsihPhilip Jacobson]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/05121818/orangutan-indonesia-maps-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331637</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Communication, Conservation Technology, Controversial, data, Environmental Law, Freedom of Information, Governance, Law, Law Enforcement, Mapping, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia’s government is imposing new restrictions on access to geospatial data, raising concerns among researchers and activists that it will suppress environmental science and advocacy work in one of the world’s most biodiverse countries. For around a month, visitors to an interactive mapping platform maintained by the Ministry of Forestry have been greeted with a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia’s government is imposing new restrictions on access to geospatial data, raising concerns among researchers and activists that it will suppress environmental science and advocacy work in one of the world’s most biodiverse countries. For around a month, visitors to an interactive mapping platform maintained by the Ministry of Forestry have been greeted with a pop-up legal notice warning that the information is “view-only” and that anyone who “downloads” or “extracts” it without the ministry’s written permission “will be prosecuted” under the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions, or ITE, Law. Anyone who wants to use the once freely accessible platform, known as SIGAP, must first agree to “terms and conditions” stating that the relevant articles in the ITE Law “carry penalties of up to 9 years in prison and/or a fine of up to Rp 3 billion [$170,000],” the notice says. On Sept. 21, the ministry’s Directorate General of Forestry Planning posted a video to Instagram outlining a new application process that requires prospective users to disclose their research aims and submit supporting documents. Doni Prabowo, the department’s head of forest monitoring and geospatial information, told Mongabay that restrictions were needed because geospatial data had been uncontrolled for a long time, creating opportunities for manipulation and illegal trading of the country’s precious information. “What if somebody manipulates the data and says certain areas are not protected forest [when they really are]? It could be dangerous,” Doni said by phone. He said he’d heard of the ministry’s geospatial data being listed&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesia-threatens-prison-time-for-unauthorized-downloads-of-forest-data/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331637</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sabine Schoppe who built a refuge for Palawan’s forest turtles has died</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/sabine-schoppe-who-built-a-refuge-for-palawans-forest-turtles-has-died/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/sabine-schoppe-who-built-a-refuge-for-palawans-forest-turtles-has-died/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Oct 2026 22:14:56 +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/20/2026/10/05214242/sabine-schoppe-katala-foundation-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331676</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Philippines]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation leadership, Culture, Herps, In-situ Conservation, Obituary, Reptiles, trafficking, Turtles, Turtles And Tortoises, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On June 17, 2015, Philippine officials confiscated thousands of turtles in cement tanks from a warehouse in Palawan, an island province in the Philippines. More than 3,800 of them were endangered Palawan forest turtles (Siebenrockiella leytensis), piled as many as a dozen deep, awaiting export. Some had ulcers on the undersides of their shells or [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On June 17, 2015, Philippine officials confiscated thousands of turtles in cement tanks from a warehouse in Palawan, an island province in the Philippines. More than 3,800 of them were endangered Palawan forest turtles (Siebenrockiella leytensis), piled as many as a dozen deep, awaiting export. Some had ulcers on the undersides of their shells or open wounds on their feet; others had been bitten by turtles crowded in alongside them. Sabine Schoppe organized the response. No facility was equipped to deal with thousands of turtles so students built shade and shelters. A former crocodile enclosure was turned into an emergency pond. Schoppe and her colleagues worked around the clock, joined by veterinarians and turtle specialists who came from abroad. “Yesterday by sadness and work, now by hope,” she wrote after help began arriving. Schoppe had arrived in the Philippines from Germany in 1995 after completing a doctorate in biology. She began with bird surveys and coastal resource management in the Visayas before moving to the State Polytechnic College of Palawan, now Western Philippines University, where she was a guest professor of aquatic and marine biology. She also became an associate editor of The Palawan Scientist. The bakoko, as the Palawan forest turtle is known locally, was first described scientifically from specimens said to have come from the Philippine island of Leyte. Those specimens were later destroyed during the bombing of Manila in World War II. For decades scientists didn’t know where the turtles lived until they were eventually found in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/sabine-schoppe-who-built-a-refuge-for-palawans-forest-turtles-has-died/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331676</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazil far-right presidential candidate wins most votes in deforestation hotspots</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/brazil-far-right-presidential-candidate-wins-most-votes-in-deforestation-hotspots/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/brazil-far-right-presidential-candidate-wins-most-votes-in-deforestation-hotspots/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Oct 2026 21:48:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/05214443/Screenshot-2026-10-05-164835-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331677</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Governance, Politics, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Brazil’s general election on Oct. 4, incumbent leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva finished second to far-right Flávio Bolsonaro, a senator and son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who was barred from public office after being convicted of planning a coup d’état. The two candidates will face each other in a second-round vote [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Brazil’s general election on Oct. 4, incumbent leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva finished second to far-right Flávio Bolsonaro, a senator and son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who was barred from public office after being convicted of planning a coup d’état. The two candidates will face each other in a second-round vote on Oct. 25 as neither candidate won more than 50% of the vote needed for a first-round victory. Flávio Bolsonaro won the majority of votes in eight of the 10 Amazon municipalities that cleared the most rainforest over the last decade, according to an analysis by Sumaúma, an Amazon-based publication. Sumaúma compared official results from the first-round votes with satellite deforestation data from Brazil&#8217;s National Institute for Space Research. Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency coincided with a historic spike in deforestation. Lula took office in 2023. Starting in August 2025, Amazon deforestation fell to the lowest level in more than a decade. Novo Progresso in Pará state was the site of the 2019 “Day of Fire” when local residents, many Jair Bolsonaro supporters, purposely set hundreds of forest fires. Flávio Bolsonaro won 84% of the vote in Novo Progresso. In the municipality of Altamira, where the Lula administration blacklisted more than 500 farms for illegal deforestation last year, Flávio Bolsonaro won 63% of the vote. Nestled between Altamira and Novo Progresso is the site of the largest land grab in Brazilian Amazon history. Lula won the vote in two of the 10 most deforested municipalities. He won&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/brazil-far-right-presidential-candidate-wins-most-votes-in-deforestation-hotspots/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331677</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Uncertainty mounts as Suriname struggles to evict illegal settlers in the Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/uncertainty-mounts-as-suriname-struggles-to-evict-illegal-settlers-in-the-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/uncertainty-mounts-as-suriname-struggles-to-evict-illegal-settlers-in-the-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Oct 2026 19:03:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/05183543/FEATURE-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331665</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, Latin America, South America, and Suriname]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Business, Conservation, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Farming, Forestry, Governance, Law, Law Enforcement, Natural Resources, Protected Areas, Sustainable Forest Management, and Timber Laws]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The government in Suriname this year said it planned to evict illegal settlers in the Amazon Rainforest, and possibly send many of them back to their home countries. But eviction has proven much more complicated than it first appeared, with settlers allegedly ignoring court orders and officials expressing confusion about which people are breaking what [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The government in Suriname this year said it planned to evict illegal settlers in the Amazon Rainforest, and possibly send many of them back to their home countries. But eviction has proven much more complicated than it first appeared, with settlers allegedly ignoring court orders and officials expressing confusion about which people are breaking what laws. Suriname President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons created a task force to investigate illegal settlements destroying the rainforest, many of them Mennonites moving from other countries. Officials delivered eviction notices to some of the settlers as recently as July, yet some deny receiving the notices and continue to develop the area. Lawmakers said they’re confused about the location of the new Mennonite communities, the legal process for removing them, and how they entered the country in the first place. “We got bits and pieces of information that more and more families were coming,” Rabindre Parmessar, leader of the National Democratic Party in the National Assembly, told Mongabay over the phone. “We don’t know whether immigration rules were taken into consideration, and the other rules and procedures we have here in Suriname.” Since at least 2022, agribusiness investors in the country have been trying to relocate Mennonite farming families from Bolivia, Belize and other parts of the Americas. The conservative Christian group has a track record of rapid farming growth, and would have helped develop hundreds of thousands of hectares of mostly primary rainforest. Geerlings-Simons during the press briefing Aug 4. Image courtesy of Key tv 8.2 In&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/uncertainty-mounts-as-suriname-struggles-to-evict-illegal-settlers-in-the-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331665</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Thailand braces for more rain as death toll from recent flooding hits 31</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/thailand-braces-for-more-rain-as-death-toll-from-recent-flooding-hits-31/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/thailand-braces-for-more-rain-as-death-toll-from-recent-flooding-hits-31/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Oct 2026 16:45:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/05164022/AP26271261973605-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331655</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Global Environmental Crisis, and Impact Of Climate Change]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK (AP) — Thai authorities on Monday warned of more rain and flash flooding as the death toll from floods across the country since mid-September rose to 31. Thunderstorms, strong winds and heavy rain are expected across much of upper Thailand from Monday through Wednesday, increasing the risk of flash flooding, particularly in low-lying areas, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK (AP) — Thai authorities on Monday warned of more rain and flash flooding as the death toll from floods across the country since mid-September rose to 31. Thunderstorms, strong winds and heavy rain are expected across much of upper Thailand from Monday through Wednesday, increasing the risk of flash flooding, particularly in low-lying areas, the Thailand Meteorological Department said. Very heavy to heavy rains are also forecast in some areas in the central, eastern and southern regions, including the capital, Bangkok, over the weekend. Many areas in Bangkok were inundated last week after days of torrential rain, forcing thousands to evacuate and causing severe disruptions. The city’s conditions have largely improved, although floodwaters remain in some lower-lying areas. Bangkok authorities said they were taking measures to reduce the risk of further flooding, including draining more water from the city’s main canals to increase their capacity to absorb rain and deploying more water pumps in high-risk areas. More than 3.5 million people remained affected by flooding nationwide as of Monday, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. The 31 deaths were reported across eight provinces, including four in Bangkok. The extensive damage from flooding prompted the Thai government to approve emergency funds of more than 4.1 billion baht (about $122 million) last week for flood recovery. By Associated Press Banner image: People wade through a flooded street after heavy rain in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. Image courtesy of Sakchai Lalit, Associated PressThis article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/thailand-braces-for-more-rain-as-death-toll-from-recent-flooding-hits-31/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/thailand-braces-for-more-rain-as-death-toll-from-recent-flooding-hits-31/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331655</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘There could be local extinction’: The fight to protect Indonesia’s orangutans as El Niño fuels fires</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/there-could-be-local-extinction-the-fight-to-protect-indonesias-orangutans-as-el-nino-fuels-fires/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/there-could-be-local-extinction-the-fight-to-protect-indonesias-orangutans-as-el-nino-fuels-fires/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Oct 2026 11:08:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/09065841/Orangutan-Sampurna1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331642</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, Kalimantan, Southeast Asia, and West Kalimantan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Critically Endangered Species, Disasters, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Extreme Weather, Fires, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Great Apes, Landscape Restoration, Mammals, Orangutans, Peatlands, Primates, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Restoration, Solutions, Threats To Rainforests, Wetlands, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Fires burning within rainforests that contain more than half of the world’s critically endangered Bornean orangutan population have prompted scientists and experts to call for urgent action in response to the escalating fires across Indonesia. The warning comes as Indonesia faces a severe fire season fueled by strong El Niño conditions, with conservationists [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Fires burning within rainforests that contain more than half of the world’s critically endangered Bornean orangutan population have prompted scientists and experts to call for urgent action in response to the escalating fires across Indonesia. The warning comes as Indonesia faces a severe fire season fueled by strong El Niño conditions, with conservationists scrambling to rescue wildlife trapped in burning landscapes. Fires are burning in rainforests that contain 13 of the 20 largest remaining populations of Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus). Shaded and outlined areas show current IUCN Extant (resident) orangutan range in Kalimantan. Image courtesy of the Orangutan Conservation Initiative. Red circles show individual satellite detections overlapping current IUCN Extant (resident) orangutan range. As of Sept. 22, the Ministry of Forestry reported that 100 wildlife, including 53 Bornean orangutans, had been rescued. Rescuers have found some orangutans suffering severe physical injuries after escaping the fires. In Central Kalimantan, an approximately 4-year-old orangutan named Novita was found trapped in a burning area near Sebangau National Park in Central Kalimantan province with serious burns on all four hands and feet, according to local news Betahita. She was later taken to a rehabilitation center for treatment. In locations where orangutans are surrounded by fire and have nowhere to go, they can “literally burn alive,” said Borneo Nature Foundation (BNF) CEO Anton Nurcahyo. The risk may be particularly high for females with young, Anton told Mongabay. Their tendency to remain in established home ranges can be a disadvantage during fires, while females&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/there-could-be-local-extinction-the-fight-to-protect-indonesias-orangutans-as-el-nino-fuels-fires/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/there-could-be-local-extinction-the-fight-to-protect-indonesias-orangutans-as-el-nino-fuels-fires/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331642</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rare Southern African succulent listed as critically endangered amid mining threat</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/rare-southern-african-succulent-listed-as-critically-endangered-amid-mining-threat/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/rare-southern-african-succulent-listed-as-critically-endangered-amid-mining-threat/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Oct 2026 08:53:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/05084838/brown-clockfig-SA.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331640</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Namibia, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Energy, Environment, Impact Of Climate Change, Mining, Natural Resources, Plants, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The brown clockfig, an extremely rare succulent growing in the hot, arid border region of Namibia and South Africa, was recently assessed as critically endangered by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. The western Gariep Valley is a vast landscape spanning the southern part of Tsau ǁKhaeb National Park in Namibia and the Richtersveld [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The brown clockfig, an extremely rare succulent growing in the hot, arid border region of Namibia and South Africa, was recently assessed as critically endangered by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. The western Gariep Valley is a vast landscape spanning the southern part of Tsau ǁKhaeb National Park in Namibia and the Richtersveld region of Northern Cape province in South Africa. It’s in this harsh environment, shaped by extreme heat and dryness, that the brown clockfig (Cheiridopsis brownii) grows on quartz ridges, shale, gravel, and sandy soils, and in cracks and fissures in desert mountains. The IUCN estimates the species, with thick leaves and daisy-like yellow flowers, has a total range of 424 square kilometers (164 square miles) in the valley, but occupies only around 60 km2 (23 mi2) of this area. Habitat loss due to overgrazing is among its major threats. Another is the demand for mineral resources such as diamonds, with mining permits being issued across the region. That’s placed more of the species’ already limited habitat under pressure in both South Africa and Namibia. “The vast desertification of the Aniesvlakte [plain in South Africa&#8217;s Richtersveld region] as a direct result of severe overgrazing, as well as the mass desertification caused by sand moving from the coast due to unrehabilitated mines, are threatening to swallow most of the remaining population in South Africa,” Pieter van Wyk, a botanist with South African National Parks (SANParks), who carried out the most recent assessment, told Mongabay via email. Another&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/rare-southern-african-succulent-listed-as-critically-endangered-amid-mining-threat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/rare-southern-african-succulent-listed-as-critically-endangered-amid-mining-threat/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331640</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>More Latin American species are surfacing at a Bangkok wildlife market</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/more-latin-american-species-are-surfacing-at-a-bangkok-wildlife-market/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/more-latin-american-species-are-surfacing-at-a-bangkok-wildlife-market/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Oct 2026 06:43:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/07111056/6.-IMG_0081-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331638</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Latin America, South America, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Rights, Animals, Biodiversity, Business, Crime, Environmental Law, Ethics, Governance, Health, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Law, Pet Trade, Pets, Trade, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[More Amazonian species, in larger numbers, are appearing for sale on the other side of the planet in Southeast Asia’s exotic pet trade, reports contributor Gloria Dickie for Mongabay. Over the past two years, Scott Roberton, who leads the countertrafficking program for U.S.-based nonprofit Wildlife Conservation Society, has observed a rise in Latin American species, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[More Amazonian species, in larger numbers, are appearing for sale on the other side of the planet in Southeast Asia’s exotic pet trade, reports contributor Gloria Dickie for Mongabay. Over the past two years, Scott Roberton, who leads the countertrafficking program for U.S.-based nonprofit Wildlife Conservation Society, has observed a rise in Latin American species, including marmosets, capuchin monkeys, tamarins, capybaras, matamata turtles, and rare Amazonian fish, crammed into small enclosures alongside domestic pets in Thai markets. “It’s changed a lot in the past two years. The volume is greater. The diversity of species is great,” said Roberton. “Every time we come, there is a new species here.” The supply chain can originate deep in the rainforest, often centered around hubs like Iquitos in Peru, Dickie reports. Animals poached from Colombia, Brazil, and neighboring nations are ferried along Amazonian rivers into Peru, where corruption and illegal trafficking, including fraudulent documentation, allow wild-caught specimens to be laundered as captive-bred stock that can be legally traded. “Iquitos is a city where a lot of illegal commodities move freely within the Amazon,” said Renata Cao, Latin America project lead with the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC. “A lot of products from different countries get to Iquitos, and then in Peru it’s easier to launder.” From South America, the animals endure stressful multi-leg flights lasting more than 25 hours to reach Asian markets. The trade is further fueled by social media platforms that connect buyers and sellers globally, according to Neil D’Cruze, a wildlife&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/more-latin-american-species-are-surfacing-at-a-bangkok-wildlife-market/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/more-latin-american-species-are-surfacing-at-a-bangkok-wildlife-market/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331638</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Weak prosecution leaves Southeast Asia&#8217;s tigers vulnerable to trafficking: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/weak-prosecution-leaves-southeast-asias-tigers-vulnerable-to-trafficking-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/weak-prosecution-leaves-southeast-asias-tigers-vulnerable-to-trafficking-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Oct 2026 05:17:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/09/15172626/CE_Sumatran-tiger_RAB-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331636</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Business, Cats, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Health, Law, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Medicine, Organized Crime, Poaching, Threatened species, Tigers, Trade, Traditional Medicine, trafficking, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Fewer than half of tiger poaching and trafficking arrests in Southeast Asia result in convictions or legal penalties, providing little deterrent to an illegal black market that is driving wild tigers towards extinction, reports contributor Sean Mowbray for Mongabay. Researchers analyzed 259 tiger seizure cases recorded between 2019 and 2024 across seven range countries: Indonesia, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Fewer than half of tiger poaching and trafficking arrests in Southeast Asia result in convictions or legal penalties, providing little deterrent to an illegal black market that is driving wild tigers towards extinction, reports contributor Sean Mowbray for Mongabay. Researchers analyzed 259 tiger seizure cases recorded between 2019 and 2024 across seven range countries: Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos. Of those 259 cases, only 110 resulted in prison sentences or fines, according to the report published by Canadian conservation think tank the GuArdean Centre for Conservation Research, wildlife trade watchdog TRAFFIC, and WWF International. Another 35 cases ended in suspended sentences, while 63 arrests lacked a clear outcome and 48 had no available public data. The report reveals that law enforcement efforts overwhelmingly target low and mid-level poachers, couriers and local traders, rather than the high-level organizers financing transnational syndicates. “We’re talking about serious organized crime,” Heather Sohl, tiger trade lead at WWF and report co-author, told Mongabay. “These are criminal networks that are involved in other organized crime, such as human trafficking and money laundering.” Sohl added that arrests alone are insufficient, “Investigation and case-building is needed to build support for strong prosecutions, and only by looking across the whole criminal justice response can we look to really disrupt these wildlife trafficking networks.” Vietnam and Indonesia logged the highest conviction numbers, with 51 cases in each country carrying jail time or fines. However, Vietnam also accounted for 33 of the region’s 35 suspended sentences. Thailand recorded&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/weak-prosecution-leaves-southeast-asias-tigers-vulnerable-to-trafficking-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/weak-prosecution-leaves-southeast-asias-tigers-vulnerable-to-trafficking-report/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331636</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Hunters reportedly kill hundreds of migratory birds stranded by thunderstorm in Malta</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/hunters-reportedly-kill-hundreds-of-migratory-birds-stranded-by-thunderstorm-in-malta/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/hunters-reportedly-kill-hundreds-of-migratory-birds-stranded-by-thunderstorm-in-malta/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Oct 2026 04:23:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/05031317/2026.09.15_EuropeanRoller_Marsaskala-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331633</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe and Malta]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Environment, Extreme Weather, Hunting, Over-hunting, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A multi-day thunderstorm over the Mediterranean Sea struck Malta, stranding hundreds of passing migratory birds on Sept. 14, 2026. Hunters in the country then shot hundreds of those birds, including protected species, shows evidence gathered by the conservation NGO Birdlife Malta. Malta sits on the Central European-Mediterranean flyway that millions of migratory birds use annually [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A multi-day thunderstorm over the Mediterranean Sea struck Malta, stranding hundreds of passing migratory birds on Sept. 14, 2026. Hunters in the country then shot hundreds of those birds, including protected species, shows evidence gathered by the conservation NGO Birdlife Malta. Malta sits on the Central European-Mediterranean flyway that millions of migratory birds use annually as they fly from their breeding grounds in Europe to overwinter in Africa. Strong weather systems can interrupt these journeys, causing a “bird fall” — a phenomenon where hundreds of birds seek shelter on land. “This can result in unusually large concentrations of exhausted migratory birds in particular locations,” Antonia Micallef, public engagement executive at BirdLife Malta, told Mongabay by email. “This concentration makes birds much easier to detect and target [by hunters].” Malta has the highest density of hunters in all of Europe. “Over 10,000 hunters [are] active at any one time,” Micallef said. According to BirdLife Malta, hunters shot more than 500 European turtle doves (Streptopelia turtur), a threatened species whose numbers have plummeted, after the storm. Malta allows a quota of 500 European turtle doves to be hunted in autumn, which runs through the end of September, but Micallef said that number was reached soon after the storm, and the season was closed on Sept. 14. “Despite the official closure, BirdLife Malta documented ongoing hunting of Turtle-doves in the hours and days that followed,” Micallef said. Volunteers also reported hunters shooting at a flock of more than 150 little egrets (Egretta garzetta)&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/hunters-reportedly-kill-hundreds-of-migratory-birds-stranded-by-thunderstorm-in-malta/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/hunters-reportedly-kill-hundreds-of-migratory-birds-stranded-by-thunderstorm-in-malta/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331633</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Myanmar&#8217;s mines pollute Thai rivers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/myanmars-mines-pollute-thai-rivers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/myanmars-mines-pollute-thai-rivers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Oct 2026 15:16:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Juan Maza]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/04151601/Mongabay_Thumbnail_GerryMyanmar_Featured.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331629</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Myanmar, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Environment, Mining, Pollution, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Vast tracts of Thai farmland have been poisoned by chemicals linked to mining in Myanmar, With toxins carried into Thailand by at least six transboundary rivers. A Mongabay investigation has found more than 50 companies in Thailand importing minerals from Myanmar’s polluting mines. Antimony, copper, lead, manganese, tin, tungsten and other critical minerals worth millions [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Vast tracts of Thai farmland have been poisoned by chemicals linked to mining in Myanmar, With toxins carried into Thailand by at least six transboundary rivers. A Mongabay investigation has found more than 50 companies in Thailand importing minerals from Myanmar’s polluting mines. Antimony, copper, lead, manganese, tin, tungsten and other critical minerals worth millions of dollars are imported from Myanmar to Thailand And mostly sold on to China. Few Thai companies know where in Myanmar the minerals come from, If the mines are legal, whether they’ve contributed to river pollution or if the minerals imported are even what’s listed on paper. Thai, Burmese and Chinese companies are all profiting from mines that have contaminated rivers, leaving downstream communities with no clean water, food security or livelihoods as a public health crisis unfolds. Read the full story.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/myanmars-mines-pollute-thai-rivers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/myanmars-mines-pollute-thai-rivers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331629</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Satellite data reveal massive scale of routine oil pollution in oceans. See the map</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/satellite-data-reveal-massive-scale-of-routine-oil-pollution-in-oceans-see-the-map/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/satellite-data-reveal-massive-scale-of-routine-oil-pollution-in-oceans-see-the-map/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 23:11:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/02230440/GP0SU1R1Q-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331619</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Conservation, Ecosystems, Energy, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Global Environmental Crisis, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Oil, Oil Spills, Pollution, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Oil slicks from ships and offshore oil platforms cover nearly 1.6 million square kilometers (618,000 square miles) of the ocean surface each year, an area slightly larger than the nation of Mongolia. The estimate comes from a recent report by Skytruth, a U.S.-based nonprofit that used satellite imagery, machine learning and vessel tracking data to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Oil slicks from ships and offshore oil platforms cover nearly 1.6 million square kilometers (618,000 square miles) of the ocean surface each year, an area slightly larger than the nation of Mongolia. The estimate comes from a recent report by Skytruth, a U.S.-based nonprofit that used satellite imagery, machine learning and vessel tracking data to trace global oil pollution in the oceans between 2023 and 2025. According to John Amos, CEO of Skytruth, this kind of pollution was largely invisible before satellite imagery made it possible to track. “Any vessel operator could be pretty confident that nobody was going to notice what they were doing out in the middle of the ocean,” Amos told Mongabay by phone. “So that&#8217;s changed. We can see it now.” Map courtesy of SkyTruth. Much of the vessel oil slicks come from bilge waste, a mix of oil and water that collects in the bottom of a ship’s hull during operation. Tankers sometimes also wash out their cargo holds and flush crude oil residue into the sea. “It&#8217;s nasty oily dirty gunk that you just want to get rid of,” Amos said. “And the easiest thing to do with it is just pump it out into the ocean while you&#8217;re at sea.” According to the report, most of these discharges are illegal under MARPOL, the international treaty on pollution from ships. A MARPOL treaty adopted in 1973 allows vessels to discharge bilge water containing no more than 15 parts of oil per million parts of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/satellite-data-reveal-massive-scale-of-routine-oil-pollution-in-oceans-see-the-map/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/satellite-data-reveal-massive-scale-of-routine-oil-pollution-in-oceans-see-the-map/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331619</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Future of Amazon rainforest policies at stake in Brazilian presidential election</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/future-of-amazon-rainforest-policies-at-stake-in-brazilian-presidential-election/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/future-of-amazon-rainforest-policies-at-stake-in-brazilian-presidential-election/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 21:25:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/02211726/AP26275500643426-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331615</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Monitoring, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s upcoming presidential election could reshape the Amazon&#8217;s future. Control of the country, which contains about 60% of the rainforest, could pass to Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Experts warn a Bolsonaro victory could reverse deforestation-control policies restored by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. During Jair [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s upcoming presidential election could reshape the Amazon&#8217;s future. Control of the country, which contains about 60% of the rainforest, could pass to Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Experts warn a Bolsonaro victory could reverse deforestation-control policies restored by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. During Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency, Amazon deforestation surged by about 60%. Lula reinstated an anti-deforestation plan in 2023, reducing deforestation by 45%. Flávio Bolsonaro pledges to end illegal deforestation by 2029 but has not detailed how. Concerns remain about potential weakening of environmental protections. By Gabriela Sá Pessoa, Associated Press Banner image: A forest burns in the Amazon, in the municipality of Manaquiri in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. Image courtesy of Edmar Barros, Associated Press. This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/future-of-amazon-rainforest-policies-at-stake-in-brazilian-presidential-election/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331615</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Vietnam’s fishers face rising costs, declining catches and a contested sea</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/vietnams-fishers-face-rising-costs-declining-catches-and-a-contested-sea/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/vietnams-fishers-face-rising-costs-declining-catches-and-a-contested-sea/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 18:01:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Minh L Tran]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/02130412/vietnamese-fishers-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331508</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Culture, Economics, Environment, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Marine, Oceans, Resource Conflict, and War]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[QUANG NGAI, Vietnam — When diesel prices in Vietnam hit an all-time high in March, Vo Huu Viet, a fisherman with more than 30 years at sea in Quang Ngai province in Central Vietnam, did something he rarely does. He stayed on shore. “The catch is simply not enough to make up for the labor of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[QUANG NGAI, Vietnam — When diesel prices in Vietnam hit an all-time high in March, Vo Huu Viet, a fisherman with more than 30 years at sea in Quang Ngai province in Central Vietnam, did something he rarely does. He stayed on shore. “The catch is simply not enough to make up for the labor of four men,” Viet said. Docking the aging wooden boat he inherited from his father means he, his wife, his crew and their families had to do other work, such as hauling heavy goods for other people, to make ends meet. Viet was hardly alone. In fishing ports around Vietnam, thousands of boats stayed docked for months as the fuel crisis made sea-bound trips unprofitable. The hike in fuel prices, fishers told Mongabay, didn’t just raise the cost of diesel — it raised the cost of everything else that supports a fishing boat, from ice to food. From March 1 to April 21 of this year, fishing activities around Vietnam fell 18.9% compared with the same time last year, from the nonprofit vessel-tracking platform Global Fishing Watch. For energy-intensive trawlers, the drop was 31%. As fuel prices spiked in Vietnam, fishing boats spent fewer hours on the water. Graphic by Andrés Alegria/Mongabay. Fuel is not the only pressure. Declining fish stocks — the result of years of unsustainable and illegal fishing, compounded by climate change — along with international pressures to tighten fishing enforcement and the growing presence of Chinese vessels add to the strain. The&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/vietnams-fishers-face-rising-costs-declining-catches-and-a-contested-sea/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331508</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Probiotics prevented coral bleaching during a Red Sea heat wave: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/probiotics-prevented-coral-bleaching-during-a-red-sea-heat-wave-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/probiotics-prevented-coral-bleaching-during-a-red-sea-heat-wave-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 15:06:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Allessandra DiCorato]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/02132528/Researcher-Raquel-Peixoto-inoculating-probiotics-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331533</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Middle East and Saudi Arabia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Coral Bleaching, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Environment, Extreme Weather, Heatwave, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Research, Science, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As a heat wave settled on the Red Sea in 2022, a patch of corals in a reef 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) off the coast of Saudi Arabia reacted differently than other corals. They’d been treated with probiotics, beneficial bacteria isolated from healthy corals, and those treatments prevented the corals from bleaching, scientists now report. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As a heat wave settled on the Red Sea in 2022, a patch of corals in a reef 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) off the coast of Saudi Arabia reacted differently than other corals. They’d been treated with probiotics, beneficial bacteria isolated from healthy corals, and those treatments prevented the corals from bleaching, scientists now report. Corals provide habitat for about one-third of marine species but are declining at an unprecedented rate, according to the latest report from the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network. Rising temperatures lead to coral bleaching, a breakdown of the beneficial symbiosis between corals and algae that can result in coral death. Scientists estimate that if global temperatures rise by 1.5°Celsius (2.7°Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, 70-90% of corals will be at risk of severe degradation worldwide by 2100. “Corals can acclimate and adapt, but only if they are alive,” principal investigator of the new study Raquel Peixoto, a microbial ecologist at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia, told Mongabay in a video call. She and other researchers around the world are investigating how manipulating the microscopic bacteria that live on corals can help them respond to threats ranging from oil spills to infectious disease. Though Peixoto previously showed that probiotics could stave off bleaching and keep corals alive in tanks, the new results, published Sept. 3 in Cell Reports, are the first to indicate that probiotics may help protect corals in the wild from marine heat waves. “It’s one thing to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/probiotics-prevented-coral-bleaching-during-a-red-sea-heat-wave-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/probiotics-prevented-coral-bleaching-during-a-red-sea-heat-wave-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331533</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Permafrost, wetland, wildfire and freshwater emissions could amplify climate change by up to 30%, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/permafrost-wetland-wildfire-and-freshwater-emissions-could-amplify-climate-change-by-up-to-30-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/permafrost-wetland-wildfire-and-freshwater-emissions-could-amplify-climate-change-by-up-to-30-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 14:05:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/20070720/7-The-Kutuk-River-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331476</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, and Green]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As frozen ground thaws in the Arctic, dead plants and animals locked in soils for thousands of years start to decay, releasing methane and carbon dioxide. Those gases trap heat from the sun and warm the planet. And the more the planet warms, the more Arctic permafrost thaws. This is just one feedback loop among [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As frozen ground thaws in the Arctic, dead plants and animals locked in soils for thousands of years start to decay, releasing methane and carbon dioxide. Those gases trap heat from the sun and warm the planet. And the more the planet warms, the more Arctic permafrost thaws. This is just one feedback loop among many that most climate modeling has largely overlooked. A recent study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters examined four sources of greenhouse gases from natural systems: permafrost, wetlands, freshwater, and wildfires. The authors estimate that greenhouse gases released by these natural systems could add another 0.2°-0.4° Celsius (0.4°-0.7° Fahrenheit) of warming by 2100. That would amplify human-caused warming since 2020 by 20-30%. Methane accounts for roughly half that warming. Natural systems such as wetlands, permafrost, and forests have always released some greenhouse gases. This study tracks only the extra emissions released after 2020, as humanity keeps heating the planet by burning fossil fuels, clearing forests, and other activities. As this increased heat revs up these natural systems, thawing permafrost exposes additional ancient organic matter to decay. Warmer wetlands and freshwater lakes speed up the growth of the microbes that make methane. Drier forests burn more often, releasing planet-warming gases. The study was the first to pull all four sources together and “quantify this amplification of anthropogenic global warming,” lead author Sam Abernethy, a climate scientist at U.S.-based nonprofit Spark Climate Solutions, told Mongabay. Degraded permafrost in northern Alaska. Permafrost thaw is considered a climate&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/permafrost-wetland-wildfire-and-freshwater-emissions-could-amplify-climate-change-by-up-to-30-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/permafrost-wetland-wildfire-and-freshwater-emissions-could-amplify-climate-change-by-up-to-30-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331476</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How to grow $25K into community-led conservation: Interview with Tanzania’s Mwambao</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/how-to-grow-25k-into-community-led-conservation-interview-with-tanzanias-mwambao/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/how-to-grow-25k-into-community-led-conservation-interview-with-tanzanias-mwambao/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 13:58:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/02134417/70739416_1145382202323166_5232273015621812224_n-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331539</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Interviews with conservation players, and Marine]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[UNGUJA, Tanzania — Decades before they would partner to build a marine conservation organization together, Ali Thani and Lorna Slade crossed paths in Tanzania. Years later, Slade returned to the East African country researching tourism for her master’s degree when she became involved in an initiative aimed at strengthening the knowledge and rights of local [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[UNGUJA, Tanzania — Decades before they would partner to build a marine conservation organization together, Ali Thani and Lorna Slade crossed paths in Tanzania. Years later, Slade returned to the East African country researching tourism for her master’s degree when she became involved in an initiative aimed at strengthening the knowledge and rights of local resource stewards. Then came the 2008 global financial crisis. The organization backing the initiative withdrew from Tanzania, providing only a fraction of the funds it had earlier promised — $25,000 — and an idea worth pursuing. “So they said, ‘OK, well, it’s a good idea. We have $25,000, so here you are,’” Slade recalls. That modest beginning would eventually become the Mwambao Coastal Community Network, a locally rooted organization now working with coastal communities across Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania, with an annual budget of around $3.5 million. For Thani, a coastal Tanzanian who had worked in government and with larger conservation organizations, Mwambao grew from a conviction that conservation could not simply be designed elsewhere and brought to communities. People who depend on natural resources, he says, should have the knowledge, capacity, and authority to help manage them. That idea has wider resonance as countries pursue the global goal of conserving 30% of the world’s land and oceans by 2030. Local organizations and communities are expected to shoulder much of that work, even as many struggle to secure the long-term funding available to larger international organizations and intermediaries. Mwambao’s work includes supporting community fisheries management,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/how-to-grow-25k-into-community-led-conservation-interview-with-tanzanias-mwambao/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331539</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Uganda and NGO to co-manage sector of national park home to tree-climbing lions</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/uganda-and-ngo-to-co-manage-sector-of-national-park-home-to-tree-climbing-lions/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/uganda-and-ngo-to-co-manage-sector-of-national-park-home-to-tree-climbing-lions/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 12:49:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/10105224/QENP23-71-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331522</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conflict, Conservation, Governance, Human Rights, Human-wildlife Conflict, Law, Lions, Mammals, Protected Areas, Resource Conflict, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have signed a 10-year agreement to co-manage a portion of Queen Elizabeth National Park, famous for its tree-climbing lions. WCS will take over some day-to-day roles for the Ishasha Sector in the south of the park, including those covering biodiversity management, community engagement and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have signed a 10-year agreement to co-manage a portion of Queen Elizabeth National Park, famous for its tree-climbing lions. WCS will take over some day-to-day roles for the Ishasha Sector in the south of the park, including those covering biodiversity management, community engagement and the development of tourist enterprises, according to WCS Uganda country director Simon Nampindo. UWA will retain responsibility for law enforcement and wildlife protection in Ishasha, he added. The agreement follows a wider trend of “public-private” partnerships between African governments and conservation organizations to manage parks. “Across all pillars, WCS and UWA will work closely in the co-development and implementation of all activity workplans and budgets,” Nampindo told Mongabay by email. Queen Elizabeth’s Ishasha Sector covers around 500 square kilometers (193 square miles) of the park’s 1,978 km2 (764 mi2) area. Historically, Ishasha’s lions have been a magnet for tourists, but the animals are becoming rare. According to UWA’s figures, the overall lion population in Queen Elizabeth declined by more than 90% between the late 1970s and 2022, falling from 400 to 39 individuals. Nampindo said there are now fewer than five lions in Ishasha. Unless that population is supplemented — likely through translocation from elsewhere — it will not be able to recover naturally. Queen Elizabeth’s lions have faced several overlapping threats, including conflict between the predators and local herders, habitat loss and snares set by poachers in the park. Nampindo said these causes of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/uganda-and-ngo-to-co-manage-sector-of-national-park-home-to-tree-climbing-lions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331522</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As Hong Kong heats up, calls grow for tougher rules to protect outdoor workers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-hong-kong-heats-up-calls-grow-for-tougher-rules-to-protect-outdoor-workers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-hong-kong-heats-up-calls-grow-for-tougher-rules-to-protect-outdoor-workers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 12:07:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[June Wong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Yenni Kwok]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/02090849/apartment-demolition-and-remodeling-worker-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331482</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, China, East Asia, and Hong Kong]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities, Climate, El Nino, Environment, Environmental Law, Extreme Weather, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Heatwave, Human Rights, Law, Temperatures, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[HONG KONG — On a mid-September day, Wong Ping-kuong, 74, and his colleagues worked quickly to spray clean an outdoor staircase and elevator landing. It was only mid-morning, but already hot. The temperature later rose to 31°Celsius (87.8°Fahrenheit). Wong has felt the impact of climate change in the half-century that he has worked as a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[HONG KONG — On a mid-September day, Wong Ping-kuong, 74, and his colleagues worked quickly to spray clean an outdoor staircase and elevator landing. It was only mid-morning, but already hot. The temperature later rose to 31°Celsius (87.8°Fahrenheit). Wong has felt the impact of climate change in the half-century that he has worked as a construction worker and later an outdoor cleaner. “It’s gotten hotter. Before, I didn’t sweat; now my back is often covered with sweat,” he told Mongabay. Wong and his colleagues consider themselves lucky. They say when temperatures are high, they can go inside their truck, turn on the AC, and cool down a little. However, heatstroke can occur quickly, setting in within 10-15 minutes. Outdoor workers like Wong are exposed to increasing risks of heat-stress-related health problems, such as dizziness, headache, nausea, heatstroke, or acutely worsening pre-existing chronic conditions such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Like many places around the world, Hong Kong is suffering from extreme temperatures. Official figures show it is warming by nearly half a degree Celsius per decade. The city also experiences longer and hotter summer months, with the number of “very hot days” quadrupling since the 2000s, data from the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) shows. On Aug. 9, HKO logged 36.9°C (98.4°F), the highest temperature at its main monitoring station since record-keeping began in 1884. In the outskirts of Hong Kong, the weather service measured even higher temperatures that day: 39.8°C (103.6°F) — another record. Unlike other developed economies, Hong Kong&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-hong-kong-heats-up-calls-grow-for-tougher-rules-to-protect-outdoor-workers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-hong-kong-heats-up-calls-grow-for-tougher-rules-to-protect-outdoor-workers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331482</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Wildlife traffickers are now targeting Indonesia’s critically endangered maleo birds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/wildlife-traffickers-are-now-targeting-indonesias-critically-endangered-maleo-birds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/wildlife-traffickers-are-now-targeting-indonesias-critically-endangered-maleo-birds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 11:33:44 +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/20/2026/09/30140203/Maleo-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331261</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, Indonesia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Sulawesi]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Governance, Illegal Trade, Research, Trade, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Maleos, black-and-white birds that stand 60 centimeters (2 feet) tall with a distinctive splash of blue, orange and yellow on their faces, roam Sulawesi’s thick tropical jungles. But when it&#8217;s time to lay their eggs, they arrive at communal nesting grounds: Sandy beaches heated by the sun or the earth’s geothermal energy. There, they dig [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Maleos, black-and-white birds that stand 60 centimeters (2 feet) tall with a distinctive splash of blue, orange and yellow on their faces, roam Sulawesi’s thick tropical jungles. But when it&#8217;s time to lay their eggs, they arrive at communal nesting grounds: Sandy beaches heated by the sun or the earth’s geothermal energy. There, they dig burrows with their webbed blue feet, lay their eggs and disappear. After a couple of months, the younglings hatch and, miraculously, are ready to fly within a few hours. This is an iconic bird on Sulawesi, serving as the official faunal mascot of Central Sulawesi province and of the Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park. Once considered widespread on Sulawesi, maleos (Macrocephalon maleo) are now on the brink of extinction, classified as critically endangered. Their numbers have dwindled to just 4,000-7,000 breeding pairs, mainly because their forest habitat is disappearing and they are targeted by poachers. Since 1983, the birds have lost more than two-thirds of their 149 nesting grounds as residential and commercial development takes over sandy riverbanks and beaches, and habitat is ravaged by mines and sliced by roadways. Maleo eggs are considered a delicacy, so people raid nests, and fewer chicks are born to replenish the population. But now, illegal trade in live maleos is emerging as a new and serious threat to their survival, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Asian Ornithology. These birds are trafficked to serve the booming demand for exotic pets. Researchers documented three seizures&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/wildlife-traffickers-are-now-targeting-indonesias-critically-endangered-maleo-birds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/wildlife-traffickers-are-now-targeting-indonesias-critically-endangered-maleo-birds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331261</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As fires spread, Indonesia’s rubber growers draw on traditional ways to fight back</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-fires-spread-indonesias-rubber-growers-draw-on-traditional-ways-to-fight-back/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-fires-spread-indonesias-rubber-growers-draw-on-traditional-ways-to-fight-back/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 11:13:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Taufik Wijaya]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/02110440/Seorang-warga-tengah-memadamkan-api-di-Talang-Turunan-Gajah-dengan-menggunakan-peralatan-sederhana.-Foto-Muha-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331495</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, South Sumatra, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate, Culture, Disasters, El Nino, Environment, Extreme Weather, Farming, Fires, Global Environmental Crisis, Industrial Agriculture, Plantations, Traditional Knowledge, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PENUKAL ABAB LEMATANG ILIR, Indonesia — Sumanti raced her motorcycle past the rubber trees as flames spread through the dry brush. No one had picked up the phone as the wildfire continued to grow out of control on Sept. 5. “The fire is already approaching our land,” Sumanti, 30, cried out as she drove past [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PENUKAL ABAB LEMATANG ILIR, Indonesia — Sumanti raced her motorcycle past the rubber trees as flames spread through the dry brush. No one had picked up the phone as the wildfire continued to grow out of control on Sept. 5. “The fire is already approaching our land,” Sumanti, 30, cried out as she drove past a bystander, her voice cracking as she pressed on to find her family. Within half an hour, Sumanti’s relatives had encircled the fire with 35-liter (9-gallon) canisters of water and a sprayer, the kind the family ordinarily used to disperse fertilizer over the soil. The family of four worked together, scrambling back and forth for hours to haul water from the partially dried-out swamp among the rubber trees. For two hours, they battled to hold back the flames, but the fire kept cracking through the bamboo and brush. A paye in Tanjung Era, PALI Regency, has dried up. A paye is a source of clean water located amidst forests and plantations. Image by Muhammad Akbar/Mongabay Indonesia. Economic damage Sumanti belongs to one of six families who depend on rubber trees and latex production in Talang Turunan Gajah, a hamlet in the village of Tempirai here in South Sumatra province. As in much of Sumatra and Borneo, the six families here find themselves on the frontline of a wildfire crisis intensified by the El Niño weather phenomenon, as fires spread across the region. Smoke from Indonesia’s wildfires has crossed borders into Malaysia and Singapore, leading to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-fires-spread-indonesias-rubber-growers-draw-on-traditional-ways-to-fight-back/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-fires-spread-indonesias-rubber-growers-draw-on-traditional-ways-to-fight-back/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331495</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Women shoulder the burden of expanding wildfires in rural India</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/women-shoulder-the-burden-of-expanding-wildfires-in-rural-india/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/women-shoulder-the-burden-of-expanding-wildfires-in-rural-india/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2026 09:40:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/02093911/kamla-and-lila-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331487</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Disasters, Ecosystems, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fires, Forestry, Forests, Gender, Governance, and Mountains]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the Indian Western Himalayas, women are the primary first responders to escalating forest fires. They risk their physical safety to protect homes and livelihoods despite receiving little formal support or equipment and no pay, reports contributor Swati Thapa for Mongabay. Uttarakhand is the most fire-prone state in India’s Western Himalayas. High-elevation warming exceeds global [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the Indian Western Himalayas, women are the primary first responders to escalating forest fires. They risk their physical safety to protect homes and livelihoods despite receiving little formal support or equipment and no pay, reports contributor Swati Thapa for Mongabay. Uttarakhand is the most fire-prone state in India’s Western Himalayas. High-elevation warming exceeds global rates there, extending the wildfire season into the winter and hinting at bigger ecosystem-level changes. More than 71% of the state is forested, supplying the region with essential drinking water, firewood, and fodder for cattle. Climate change is both increasing fire risk and impacting local agriculture, such that men are migrating to cities for work, leaving rural women behind to manage farming, livestock, and fire defense. Kavya Pandey, a researcher at the Centre for Wildlife Studies in Bengaluru, has studied extensively the relationship between women in Uttarakhand and forest fires. Pandey notes that a traditional gender role for women is collecting firewood, so they’re often in the forest for hours and, by default, on the frontlines when forest fires start. Men are occasionally hired as paid seasonal fire watchers, and while authorities also call on women to help, they’re rarely paid for the work and don’t receive protective gear. “If a woman sees fire anywhere, and she does not have a phone, she calls out to others by ululating or whistling, and all the women go together to snuff the fire,” said Kamla Devi, head of the Marhmanley village van panchayat, a community-managed forest council.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/women-shoulder-the-burden-of-expanding-wildfires-in-rural-india/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/women-shoulder-the-burden-of-expanding-wildfires-in-rural-india/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331487</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mangroves keep waves at bay. A new study helps scientists predict how</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/mangroves-keep-waves-at-bay-a-new-study-helps-scientists-predict-how/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/mangroves-keep-waves-at-bay-a-new-study-helps-scientists-predict-how/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 23:29:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Isabel Gil]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/01133108/OceanImageBank_MPA25_AlexPike-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331416</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Disasters, Ecosystems, Environment, Extreme Weather, Forests, Mangroves, Marine, Oceans, Research, Sea Levels, and Storms]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Existing at the junction of land and sea, mangrove forests have long been heralded for their ecosystem services, including their ability to buffer coastal areas against storm surges and rising seas. Now, new research has found a way to predict just how much mangroves can diminish waves associated with severe storms. When a wave hits [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Existing at the junction of land and sea, mangrove forests have long been heralded for their ecosystem services, including their ability to buffer coastal areas against storm surges and rising seas. Now, new research has found a way to predict just how much mangroves can diminish waves associated with severe storms. When a wave hits an outcrop of mangroves, its energy is absorbed by the plants’ dense network of twisted roots. When the wave comes out on the other side, its intensity is often decreased, acting as a natural buffer for shorelines — sometimes even shielding shoreside communities from water damage or severe floods. This ability for mangroves to curb wave intensity — a property called attenuation — is well known among scientists. However, much of the data supporting this was collected by measuring mangrove attenuation during mild, calm periods of weather. Quantifying mangrove attenuation during storms or typhoons is trickier — it’s harder to gather data, and there are more factors dominating wave motion, like turbulence. Because of this, “existing models do not always perform so well to predict the wave attenuation by mangroves during storms,” Stijn Temmerman, a professor at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, told Mongabay by video call. This is especially important, researchers told Mongabay, as climate change is linked to severe weather systems. More than 87 million people were impacted by climate-related disasters in 2025, including flooding events and severe storms. Because of this, the development of new methods to model worst-case scenario climate and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/mangroves-keep-waves-at-bay-a-new-study-helps-scientists-predict-how/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331416</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>India’s isolated island tribes need autonomy to survive rising threats, says scholar</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/indias-isolated-island-tribes-need-autonomy-to-survive-rising-threats-says-scholar/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/indias-isolated-island-tribes-need-autonomy-to-survive-rising-threats-says-scholar/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 20:55:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/14173728/m.-2-Gillnetting-fishers-off-North-Sentinel-wreck-coast-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331466</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Culture, Governance, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Law, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Isolated and contacted Indigenous tribes in India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands face threats from illegal fishing, mega-development projects and misinformed government welfare policies that undermine their self-sufficiency, says Manish Chandi, a former research scholar who has spent decades working with tribal communities in the region. Chandi worked with the communities while he was with the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Isolated and contacted Indigenous tribes in India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands face threats from illegal fishing, mega-development projects and misinformed government welfare policies that undermine their self-sufficiency, says Manish Chandi, a former research scholar who has spent decades working with tribal communities in the region. Chandi worked with the communities while he was with the Andaman Nicobar Environment Team and the Nature Conservation Foundation. He is also a former advisory board member of the Tribal Research Institute under the Andaman and Nicobar Administration. In an interview with Mongabay&#8217;s Latoya Abulu, Chandi says that protecting Indigenous autonomy is vital for both tribal survival and environmental conservation in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which lie southeast of mainland India. The archipelago’s tribal reserves — home to Indigenous groups that live in voluntary isolation, such as the Sentinelese of North Sentinel Island and the Shompen of Great Nicobar Island — contain some of the region’s richest biodiversity, outperforming the roughly 100 official national parks and wildlife sanctuaries across the islands, Chandi says. This is because the tribal reserved areas are both large and “have not been used for timber extraction and settlement and therefore retain the biodiversity of both various habitats and also species,” Chandi tells Mongabay. However, several escalating pressures threaten these communities. Chandi notes that commercial trawlers and poachers frequently infiltrate coastal buffer zones, harvesting sharks, lobsters and turtles that island communities depend on for subsistence. On Great Nicobar Island, a government-proposed development project directly overlaps with ancestral foraging grounds and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/indias-isolated-island-tribes-need-autonomy-to-survive-rising-threats-says-scholar/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331466</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A first in Brazil: Black-faced lion tamarins vaccinated</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-first-in-brazil-black-faced-lion-tamarins-vaccinated/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-first-in-brazil-black-faced-lion-tamarins-vaccinated/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 18:46:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Euan Marshall]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/01135354/Mico-caicara_PorGabrielMarchi_9-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331427</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Diseases, Health, Mammals, Monkeys, Primates, Research, Wildlife, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On a Wednesday in July, deep in a coastal restinga area of Brazil’s Paraná state, muffled footsteps broke through the chirping of manakins. Three field researchers from the conservation NGO Society for Wildlife Research and Environmental Education (SPVS) moved carefully along a trail, each carrying a small cage covered in a dark cloth. Each cage [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On a Wednesday in July, deep in a coastal restinga area of Brazil’s Paraná state, muffled footsteps broke through the chirping of manakins. Three field researchers from the conservation NGO Society for Wildlife Research and Environmental Education (SPVS) moved carefully along a trail, each carrying a small cage covered in a dark cloth. Each cage held a black-faced lion tamarin, known locally as the caissara lion tamarin (Leontopithecus caissara). Captured safely from the canopy, the three small primates — two males and one female — were carried to a makeshift tent in a forest clearing, where they would make history. Within hours, they would become the first of their species to be vaccinated against yellow fever. A team of researchers and veterinarians was waiting, quickly transferring each tamarin into a cotton bag to be weighed, starting a race against the clock to protect one of Brazil’s most threatened mammals. L. caissara is one of four lion tamarin species endemic to the Atlantic Forest; it ranks among the world’s rarest primates. First found and described by science in 1990, its wild population was estimated at just 392 individuals in a 2011 study. Most tamarins are confined to coastal restinga areas along the São Paulo-Paraná state border. A Society for Wildlife Research and Environmental Education veterinarian examines a sedated black-faced lion tamarin. Image by Gabriel Marchi. The species’ already restricted range has also been fragmented for decades. Part of the problems started with the Varadouro Canal, a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile)-long, 50-meter (164-feet)-wide artificial&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-first-in-brazil-black-faced-lion-tamarins-vaccinated/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331427</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Wind turbine taller than the Eiffel Tower aims to boost German electricity production</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/wind-turbine-taller-than-the-eiffel-tower-aims-to-boost-german-electricity-production/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/wind-turbine-taller-than-the-eiffel-tower-aims-to-boost-german-electricity-production/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 18:18:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/01163644/AP26274383798058-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331463</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Germany]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Clean Energy, Climate Change, Conservation Solutions, Energy, Energy Efficiency, Energy Transition, Environment, Natural Resources, Renewable Energy, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SCHIPKAU, Germany (AP) — A wind turbine described by its developer as the world’s tallest now rises 365 meters (1,197 feet) above the sparsely populated landscape of eastern Germany, surpassing the height of the Eiffel Tower. The colossal turbine has been built at an existing wind farm in Lusatia, southeast of Berlin. Once a major [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SCHIPKAU, Germany (AP) — A wind turbine described by its developer as the world’s tallest now rises 365 meters (1,197 feet) above the sparsely populated landscape of eastern Germany, surpassing the height of the Eiffel Tower. The colossal turbine has been built at an existing wind farm in Lusatia, southeast of Berlin. Once a major center of lignite mining, the region has increasingly turned to renewable energy in recent years. The prototype reached its full height this week and is due to be inaugurated in mid-November. Jochen Grossmann, chief executive of Gicon, the Dresden-based engineering company that built the tower, said the structure would harness the stronger, more reliable winds found at greater heights. Conventional wind turbines typically have a hub height — the distance from the ground to the center of the rotor — of well below 200 meters (656 feet). “At 300 meters, we have such constant and strong wind that we can produce more than twice as much electrical energy as with the same facility at today&#8217;s heights,” Grossmann said on Thursday. He added that it would also be possible to produce electricity for much more of the year than with existing turbines. The turbine has a hub height of 300 meters (984 feet), and its rotor blades bring its total height to 365 meters. That makes it taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris, at 330 meters (1,083 feet), and leaves it just short of Berlin&#8217;s television tower, Germany &#8216;s tallest building at 368 meters (1,207&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/wind-turbine-taller-than-the-eiffel-tower-aims-to-boost-german-electricity-production/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331463</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>US-Argentina initiative aims to boost critical mineral, oil and gas exports</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/us-argentina-initiative-aims-to-boost-critical-mineral-oil-and-gas-exports/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/us-argentina-initiative-aims-to-boost-critical-mineral-oil-and-gas-exports/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 16:58:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/01165242/AP24062652958789-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
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											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Argentina, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new initiative between the U.S. and Argentina is meant to bolster investment opportunities and strengthen supply chains for critical minerals that could be used in the clean energy transition, such as copper and lithium. The Andes-Atlantic Corridor, announced Sept. 23, will make it easier to funnel U.S. investment into Argentina’s mining sector and to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[A new initiative between the U.S. and Argentina is meant to bolster investment opportunities and strengthen supply chains for critical minerals that could be used in the clean energy transition, such as copper and lithium. The Andes-Atlantic Corridor, announced Sept. 23, will make it easier to funnel U.S. investment into Argentina’s mining sector and to export critical minerals. At the same time, the initiative will help continue to develop the Vaca Muerta region, home to Argentina’s largest oil and gas reserves. “Working together, the United States and Argentina seek to continue to build on our robust relationship through increased U.S. investment, close security cooperation, and aligned values,” the two countries said in a joint statement. Argentina has about 117.91 million metric tons of copper reserves and 216.32 million metric tons of lithium carbonate equivalent, the chemical used in lithium-ion batteries. Many of the country’s minerals are needed for building the cables and transformers in power grids, wind turbines and solar panels, among other things. The country is also part of the “Lithium Triangle,” alongside Chile and Bolivia, an approximately 400,000-square-kilometer (154,400-square-mile) stretch of salt flats where 40-60% of the world’s lithium is located. Historically, exporting minerals has been a challenge for Argentina. The closure of a major copper mine and a lack of foreign investment, among other economic troubles in the country, saw copper exports drop between 2012 and 2019, according to an analysis by the Payne Institute for Public Policy, a U.S.-based think tank studying energy, natural resources, and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/us-argentina-initiative-aims-to-boost-critical-mineral-oil-and-gas-exports/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331465</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Renewable energy companies fuel Brazilian data center boom, investigation finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/renewable-energy-companies-fuel-brazilian-data-center-boom-investigation-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/renewable-energy-companies-fuel-brazilian-data-center-boom-investigation-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 15:27:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/21135641/Wind-farm-complex-in-Gentio-do-Ouro-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=331457</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Data centers, Energy, Environment, Natural Resources, Renewable Energy, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Renewable energy companies are driving most of Brazil’s plans for new data centers, according to a recent joint analysis by The Intercept Brasil and Mongabay. As of December 2025 there were 68 requests to connect data centers to Brazil’s national power grid with 65% registered by renewable energy companies, including wind and solar power plants, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Renewable energy companies are driving most of Brazil’s plans for new data centers, according to a recent joint analysis by The Intercept Brasil and Mongabay. As of December 2025 there were 68 requests to connect data centers to Brazil’s national power grid with 65% registered by renewable energy companies, including wind and solar power plants, the investigation found. Brazil produces more renewable energy than it can distribute across its territory, and the national power grid cannot always absorb all the power generated by renewable energy plants. Doing so would cause disruptions in provision, and potentially even blackouts. To avoid this, the national grid operator frequently orders plants to halt production. In the first half of 2025 such measures cost power generators an estimated 3.2 billion reais ($617 million). One solar plant was forced to cut production by nearly 40% in 2025. Renewable energy companies argue that data centers, which constantly demand large amounts of energy, can provide more stability and income for the renewable energy sector. The Brazilian government has been actively seeking deals with big tech companies, advertising Brazil as an environmentally friendly host for data centers. On Sept. 15, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a law exempting data centers from several taxes on equipment purchases if they meet water efficiency criteria and use renewable or low-emission energy. In April 2026, Brazil’s foreign trade agency, Apex, organized a roundtable in the U.S. to attract foreign investment for sustainable data centers. “Renewable energy companies are able to sign&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/10/renewable-energy-companies-fuel-brazilian-data-center-boom-investigation-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331457</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Gabon, home to the medicinal plant behind ibogaine, wants a fairer share of its global boom</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/gabon-home-to-the-medicinal-plant-behind-ibogaine-wants-a-fairer-share-of-its-global-boom/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/gabon-home-to-the-medicinal-plant-behind-ibogaine-wants-a-fairer-share-of-its-global-boom/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 15:21:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Molly Helfend]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/01131032/DSC01601-djeje-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331394</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Gabon]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Education, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Health, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Industry, Law, Medicinal Plants, Medicine, Natural Resources, Planetary Health, Plants, Research, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Medicine, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LIBREVILLE — In the traditional-medicine corner of La Peyrie Market in Libreville, iboga comes in a repurposed clear rum bottle packed to the neck with pale bark powder, set among tinctures in old plastic bottles. Two men appeared within a minute on this day in July, and once they heard they were talking to a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[LIBREVILLE — In the traditional-medicine corner of La Peyrie Market in Libreville, iboga comes in a repurposed clear rum bottle packed to the neck with pale bark powder, set among tinctures in old plastic bottles. Two men appeared within a minute on this day in July, and once they heard they were talking to a journalist, went half-giddy. They were happy to say where the root goes: overseas, to clinics, some of it ground into capsules. “Do the buyers pay well?” “They pay well,” one said. And all of it, he insisted, was legal. Iboga, Tabernanthe iboga, is a plant native to the wet forests of West-Central Africa. And here in Gabon, its root bark plays a central role in several Bwiti (or Bwété) traditions. It is also the original source of ibogaine, an alkaloid extracted from the root, now drawing intense interest as an experimental treatment for addiction and other mental-health conditions. The sellers at the market called the money good. But, further down the value chain, ibogaine treatment can cost thousands of dollars per patient. That gap, Gabonese practitioners and officials say, is at the heart of the dispute: the plant and the knowledge are theirs — and are threatened with overexploitation — while a lot of the money is made abroad. A 2023 Interpol analysis also found much of the trade was illicit, identifying that online resellers nearly quadrupled between 2021 and 2023. And the market for the plant may only get bigger, officials speculate. An unidentified&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/gabon-home-to-the-medicinal-plant-behind-ibogaine-wants-a-fairer-share-of-its-global-boom/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331394</doi>				</item>
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