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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?post_type=post&#038;byline=kate-massarella" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/kate-massarella/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Wed, 22 Apr 2026 02:14:37 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Kate Massarella Archives</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/kate-massarella/</link>
	<width>32</width>
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				<item>
					<title>Why forest conservation is also public health</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/why-forest-conservation-is-also-public-health/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/why-forest-conservation-is-also-public-health/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Apr 2026 02:14:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/20194949/Eliurus-Credit-ElisePaietta-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317742</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Featured, Health, Invasive Species, Mammals, Nature And Health, One Health, Public Health, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a lowland forest in southeastern Madagascar, what was missing proved as telling as what was found. Researchers trapping small mammals in the Manombo Special Reserve caught tuft-tailed rats in the intact interior forest. In the nearby littoral forest, despite repeated efforts, they found none. The traps held black rats instead. The observation appears in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[In a lowland forest in southeastern Madagascar, what was missing proved as telling as what was found. Researchers trapping small mammals in the Manombo Special Reserve caught tuft-tailed rats in the intact interior forest. In the nearby littoral forest, despite repeated efforts, they found none. The traps held black rats instead. The observation appears in a recent paper describing the first complete mitochondrial genomes for two endemic species, Eliurus webbi and Eliurus minor. The study, published in Mitochondrial DNA Part B by Elise Paietta and an international team of researchers, itself is technical. It assembles genetic sequences, places them within a sparse phylogeny, and notes gaps in what is known about these animals. Yet the fieldwork offers an important ecological finding: native rodents were confined to intact forest; degraded habitat was occupied by an introduced species. The pattern is not unusual. In many tropical systems, disturbance tends to favor generalists. Species with narrower ecological requirements recede as habitat fragments or is altered. What is less often spelled out is what this shift means beyond the change in species lists. The Malagasy study offers a way to examine that more closely. Eliurus tanala rat in Ranomafana.. Photo by Nina Finley / Health in Harmony Its immediate contribution is genetic. Until now, no complete mitochondrial genomes existed for the Nesomyinae, a subfamily of rodents found only in Madagascar. Earlier work relied on shorter sequences, often from a single gene. These can indicate broad relationships but leave much unresolved. Whole mitochondrial genomes offer greater&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/why-forest-conservation-is-also-public-health/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>How marine flyways could help save the world’s declining seabird population</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/04/how-marine-flyways-could-help-save-the-worlds-declining-seabird-population/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/04/how-marine-flyways-could-help-save-the-worlds-declining-seabird-population/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2026 23:39:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike DiGirolamo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mikedigirolamo]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/17031359/Antipodean_albatross_1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=podcasts&#038;p=317744</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Birds, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Featured, Interviews, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Birds, Marine Conservation, Marine Ecosystems, Podcast, and Seabirds]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The routes taken by migratory birds, known as flyways, often cross vast expanses of ocean. Six of these marine flyways have now been formally recognized by the U.N.’s Convention on Migratory Species, at the suggestion of scientists who published their findings on these flyways in the British Ecological Society&#8217;s Journal of Applied Ecology. Tammy Davies, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[The routes taken by migratory birds, known as flyways, often cross vast expanses of ocean. Six of these marine flyways have now been formally recognized by the U.N.’s Convention on Migratory Species, at the suggestion of scientists who published their findings on these flyways in the British Ecological Society&#8217;s Journal of Applied Ecology. Tammy Davies, a co-author of the paper and marine science coordinator at BirdLife International, joins the Mongabay Newscast this week to discuss the conservation potential of the six flyways, and what the formal recognition by CMS does and doesn’t do. “It’s a fantastic communication tool for highlighting these amazing journeys that the seabirds undertake and the fact that multiple people, stakeholders, and countries need to come together and everyone can do their bit,” Davies says. She notes that 151 bird species rely on these migratory routes, which connect 1,300 key biodiversity areas that the birds regularly use. Having nations focus on protecting these areas, and reducing bycatch from fishing, are just some of the ways countries can coordinate conservation efforts along these routes. But this effort requires shared responsibility across the 54 nations that these flyways bisect. The flyways provide a formal mechanism for nations to do this, Davies says. “They&#8217;re facing threats throughout their life cycle,” she says. “You really need like a coordinated approach to address all of these threats when the seabirds are either breeding on land or when they&#8217;re out at sea.” Conservation goals and even some of the tools used to protect&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/04/how-marine-flyways-could-help-save-the-worlds-declining-seabird-population/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Appeals court keeps &#8216;Alligator Alcatraz&#8217; open, rejecting need for federal environmental review</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/appeals-court-keeps-alligator-alcatraz-open-rejecting-need-for-federal-environmental-review/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/appeals-court-keeps-alligator-alcatraz-open-rejecting-need-for-federal-environmental-review/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2026 23:25:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/21232336/AP26086803756784-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=317901</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environmental Law, Human Rights, Law, Regulations, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — An immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz” will remain open, an appeals court decided Tuesday, upholding its earlier decision to block a judge&#8217;s order for the facility to wind down operations because it didn&#8217;t comply with federal environmental law. A majority on the three-judge panel from the Eleventh [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — An immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz” will remain open, an appeals court decided Tuesday, upholding its earlier decision to block a judge&#8217;s order for the facility to wind down operations because it didn&#8217;t comply with federal environmental law. A majority on the three-judge panel from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals said the Florida-run facility wasn&#8217;t under federal control and didn&#8217;t need to comply with federal law requiring an environmental impact review. “Florida, not federal, officials constructed the facility,” a majority of the judges wrote. “They control the land and ‘entirely’ built the facility at state expense.” At the time of U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams’ preliminary injunction, Florida had received no federal reimbursement, the appellate majority wrote. Williams concluded that a reimbursement decision already had been made. The appeals court paused Williams&#8217; order just days after she issued it last August, pending a hearing. The hearing was held earlier this month in Miami. Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, two of the environmental groups that had brought the lawsuit, said they would continue fighting as the case returns to the district court for further litigation. “This fight is far from over,&#8221; said Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades. “Alligator Alcatraz was hastily erected in one of the most fragile ecosystems in the country without the most basic environmental review, at immense human and ecological cost.” State officials opened the Everglades detention center last summer to support President&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/appeals-court-keeps-alligator-alcatraz-open-rejecting-need-for-federal-environmental-review/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/appeals-court-keeps-alligator-alcatraz-open-rejecting-need-for-federal-environmental-review/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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					<title>New treaty to end the fossil fuel era is needed more than ever (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/new-treaty-to-end-the-fossil-fuel-era-is-needed-more-than-ever-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/new-treaty-to-end-the-fossil-fuel-era-is-needed-more-than-ever-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2026 23:17:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tzeporah Berman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/23065527/solar-panels-indonesia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317876</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Commentary, Conflict, Environment, environmental justice, Fossil Fuels, Governance, Government, International Trade, Mining, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The fog of war is pervasive, but one thing is clear as “Gulf War 3” escalates: governments around the world are counting the cost of their dependency on oil and gas. “The largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market” is the International Energy Agency’s take on the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[The fog of war is pervasive, but one thing is clear as “Gulf War 3” escalates: governments around the world are counting the cost of their dependency on oil and gas. “The largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market” is the International Energy Agency’s take on the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, which has seen oil and gas fields bombed and shipments through the Strait of Hormuz curtailed. Oil prices are beyond $100 a barrel and inflation is picking up — even in the oil-and-gas-rich U.S. — while in Asia, governments are curtailing working days, limiting petroleum exports, and rationing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders. Beyond economic disruption, this conflict has exacted a tragic human toll, with thousands of lives lost and countless families shattered. Growth goals, job targets, food supplies and the future hopes of citizens around the world are at the mercy of traders and huge corporations that stand to benefit as prices skyrocket. The environmental toll of this petro-fueled conflict extends far beyond human casualties, too. Oil infrastructure attacks have triggered massive ecological disasters, with crude oil spills contaminating marine ecosystems in the Persian Gulf, and refinery explosions releasing toxic pollutants that threaten migratory bird routes and coastal wetlands. The war has also accelerated deforestation as nations scramble for other energy sources, like Indonesia, which is reportedly fast-tracking palm oil expansion for biofuel production. These ecological scars will persist long after the last barrel of oil is extracted from bombed wells. The Fossil Fuel&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/new-treaty-to-end-the-fossil-fuel-era-is-needed-more-than-ever-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Vaupés River contamination identified near rapidly expanding Amazonian town</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/vaupes-river-contamination-identified-near-rapidly-expanding-amazonian-town/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/vaupes-river-contamination-identified-near-rapidly-expanding-amazonian-town/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2026 21:48:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/21211556/IMG_3726-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317894</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Colombia, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Destruction, Amazon Rainforest, Conservation, Environment, Freshwater Ecosystems, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Threats To The Amazon, Tropical Forests, Tropical Rivers, Urbanization, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[VAUPÉS, COLOMBIA — Traditionally, for members of the Indigenous Macaquiño community in the southeastern Colombian Amazon, the Vaupés River is not just a source of water, but a living being that must be respected. It supports all kinds of life, including fish, which have sustained the community for generations. Now, as a nearby Amazonian town [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[VAUPÉS, COLOMBIA — Traditionally, for members of the Indigenous Macaquiño community in the southeastern Colombian Amazon, the Vaupés River is not just a source of water, but a living being that must be respected. It supports all kinds of life, including fish, which have sustained the community for generations. Now, as a nearby Amazonian town upstream rapidly transforms into an expanding urban municipality and increasingly brings untreated wastewater from its poorly constructed treatment plant to the banks of Macaquiño, that same water is bringing them sickness and disease, residents say. During a visit to Macaquiño in September 2025, community members told Mongabay the Vaupés River is contaminated by untreated sewage dumped into it in the town of Mitú. “It’s like an atomic bomb coming out of the sewer,” said Julian de Jesus Madrid Correa, a member of the Macaquiño community. He said it causes rashes, itches and fevers, especially in children, and has begun to spread diseases, such as dengue and hepatitis. The Indigenous Macaquiño community on the banks of the Vaupés River in Colombia’s Vaupés region. Image by Aimee Gabay/Mongabay. To verify what the community told us, Mongabay obtained water quality studies from the Corporation for Sustainable Development of the Northern and Eastern Amazon. Its latest report, which contains results from water samples taken in 2025 across four sites in Mitú, confirms there is contamination above safe limits in the Vaupés River that could impact public health and the quality of the aquatic ecosystem. Fecal coliforms (fecal bacteria), which&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/vaupes-river-contamination-identified-near-rapidly-expanding-amazonian-town/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>At the U.N., Indigenous leaders tackle how to enforce global climate court rulings</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/at-the-u-n-indigenous-leaders-tackle-how-to-enforce-global-climate-court-rulings/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/at-the-u-n-indigenous-leaders-tackle-how-to-enforce-global-climate-court-rulings/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2026 21:44:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Joseph Lee]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/27173511/AP25238774459028-scaled-e1776807203450-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317893</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Change Policy, Climate Change Politics, climate policy, Indigenous Peoples, Law, Law Enforcement, and United Nations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This story is republished through the Indigenous News Alliance. NEW YORK CITY — Indigenous communities in the Pacific are facing increasingly devastating storms worsened by warming oceans. Mining operations continue expanding on Indigenous lands in the Amazon. Oil wells in Ecuador keep pumping despite court orders. And at the United Nations this week, Indigenous leaders [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[This story is republished through the Indigenous News Alliance. NEW YORK CITY — Indigenous communities in the Pacific are facing increasingly devastating storms worsened by warming oceans. Mining operations continue expanding on Indigenous lands in the Amazon. Oil wells in Ecuador keep pumping despite court orders. And at the United Nations this week, Indigenous leaders and advocates are asking: What will it take to force governments to comply with international court rulings that mandate climate action? Last year, the world’s highest court — the International Court of Justice — issued an advisory opinion saying state governments that contribute to climate change should be accountable for the harm they cause, particularly to small island states. The Inter-American Court on Human Rights issued a similarly sweeping decision last summer, calling on governments to reduce fossil fuel emissions and incorporate Indigenous knowledge into climate policies. But the rulings have collided with a harsh reality, say Indigenous delegates: Many U.N. member states would prefer to ignore their climate obligations, leaving open the question of whether these rulings can be implemented, enforced, and used to protect Indigenous land and rights. “This is a moment of opportunity. These advisory opinions are not symbolic, they are instruments of power,” Luisa Castañeda-Quintana, executive director of the advocacy group Land is Life, told hundreds of Indigenous advocates at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on Monday. “They can and must be used to strengthen Indigenous Peoples’ advocacy at every level. But to do so, Indigenous Peoples must claim them,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/at-the-u-n-indigenous-leaders-tackle-how-to-enforce-global-climate-court-rulings/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Chinese court cases reveal most trafficked rhino horns come from Southern Africa</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/chinese-court-cases-reveal-most-trafficked-rhino-horns-come-from-southern-africa/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/chinese-court-cases-reveal-most-trafficked-rhino-horns-come-from-southern-africa/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2026 19:22:05 +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/20/2026/04/21162400/black-rhinos-africa-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317875</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, China, East Asia, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, China wildlife trade, China’s Demand For Resources, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Illegal Trade, Poaching, Rhinos, Trade, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife consumption, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Rhinoceroses, one of the largest groups of animals on the planet, are fighting a battle for survival because of a prized body part: their horn, which they use to defend territories, assert dominance and protect their young. But people use this keratinous horn as medicine, adornment and decoration. In traditional Chinese medicine, it’s believed to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Rhinoceroses, one of the largest groups of animals on the planet, are fighting a battle for survival because of a prized body part: their horn, which they use to defend territories, assert dominance and protect their young. But people use this keratinous horn as medicine, adornment and decoration. In traditional Chinese medicine, it’s believed to have broad healing properties. The horns are also crafted into jewelry, and carved horns are displayed as luxury items. The unrelenting demand for their horns has decimated these mega-herbivores across their Asian and African ranges, and combating the trade is a tough fight: Rhino horns are extremely valuable. They’re worth an estimated $20,000 per kilogram (about $9,090 per pound) on the black market, often trafficked and sold by transnational organized crime syndicates. Poaching has pushed three of the five living rhino species to the brink. The International Rhino Foundation estimates that some 500,000 roamed the wild at the start of the 20th century; today, just under 27,000 remain, and a rhino is killed every 15 hours. China is the largest consumer, but data on trade within its borders is limited. A team from the U.S.-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) tried to bridge the information gap in a new report. It analyzed 258 court cases involving horn trafficking between 2013 and October 2025, posted on the China Judgments Online database. These court records revealed that authorities seized 700 kilograms (1,543 pounds) of rhino horns during that period, which means that perhaps 200 rhinos were killed to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/chinese-court-cases-reveal-most-trafficked-rhino-horns-come-from-southern-africa/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>We can navigate conservation’s ‘epidemic of suffering’ by building a culture of care (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/we-can-navigate-conservations-epidemic-of-suffering-by-building-a-culture-of-care-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/we-can-navigate-conservations-epidemic-of-suffering-by-building-a-culture-of-care-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2026 14:03:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jen MillerKelly Guilbeau]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/21133102/redwoods_YosemiteUSA_creditJenMiller-e1776778567738-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317870</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Commentary, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Environmental Activism, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, and Health]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Recent Mongabay articles by Jeremy Hance, Vik Mohan and Nerissa Chao, and Rhett Butler have laid bare a painful reality in conservation: the emotional price of witnessing biodiversity loss, the “epidemic of suffering” and burnout, and the psychological stresses assailing professionals on the frontlines. These articles document eco-grief, compassion fatigue, isolation, and moral injury with [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Recent Mongabay articles by Jeremy Hance, Vik Mohan and Nerissa Chao, and Rhett Butler have laid bare a painful reality in conservation: the emotional price of witnessing biodiversity loss, the “epidemic of suffering” and burnout, and the psychological stresses assailing professionals on the frontlines. These articles document eco-grief, compassion fatigue, isolation, and moral injury with clarity and urgency, giving voice to struggles that many conservationists have carried in silence. What these pieces don&#8217;t fully highlight is that conservationists are not standing idly by. Just as we dedicate ourselves to protecting ecosystems and species under pressure, we are simultaneously advocating for our own well-being by stepping up to support one another by building practical solutions from within the field itself. In early 2025, amid growing global instability for conservationists — job losses, funding shortfalls, and relentless ecological decline — we founded Revive, a global working group of the Society for Conservation Biology. Revive is a community of practice created by conservationists, for conservationists. Our approach is simple yet potent, and informed by more than 100 working group members in 30 countries as well as peer-reviewed evidence: equip individuals, teams, and organizations with evidence-based resilience tools to reshape the norms of our workforce. Together, we are building a culture of care that supports an inspired, emotionally resilient conservation community where well-being is valued and nourished as a foundational part of our work. Co-author Kelly Guilbeau with a graphic facilitator’s depiction of a keynote address on creating a culture of care for a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/we-can-navigate-conservations-epidemic-of-suffering-by-building-a-culture-of-care-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>A campaign to protect one of the planet’s only expanding kelp forests takes shape</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-campaign-to-protect-one-of-the-planets-only-expanding-kelp-forests-takes-shape/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-campaign-to-protect-one-of-the-planets-only-expanding-kelp-forests-takes-shape/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2026 12:32:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alexandra Talty]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/21084530/Photo-4-Jannes-Landschoff_credit-Jannes-Landschoff-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317850</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and South Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Environment, Governance, Government, Marine Animals, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Ecosystems, and Marine Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Diving in the Great African Seaforest, with its tightly packed towering kelp stipes that can rise up to 9 meters, or 30 feet, from the seabed, is a surreal experience, even for those who study this vast underwater habitat. “You see fish swimming as birds would do in the forest,” [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Diving in the Great African Seaforest, with its tightly packed towering kelp stipes that can rise up to 9 meters, or 30 feet, from the seabed, is a surreal experience, even for those who study this vast underwater habitat. “You see fish swimming as birds would do in the forest,” says marine biologist Loyiso Dunga. The Great African Seaforest is a biodiverse ecosystem, home to hundreds of species of seaweeds and thousands of species of marine organisms. Image courtesy of Jannes Landschoff. The popping sounds made by snapping shrimps (belonging to the family Alpheidae) can be heard throughout the Great African Seaforest. Image courtesy of Jannes Landschoff. The name describes a belt of marine vegetation around 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) long, stretching along South Africa’s Atlantic coast, around the Cape of Good Hope and extending into the Indian Ocean. It’s composed of hundreds of varieties of seaweed and hosts a kaleidoscope of marine species, from snapping shrimp (family Alpheidae) that fill the ocean with their popping sounds, to neon-colored mollusks called nudibranchs (order Nudibranchia), to the African penguin (Spheniscus demersus). It’s also home to a charismatic octopus, made famous by the Netflix documentary My Octopus Teacher. Dunga, executive director at the Seas of Good Hope initiative, is one the few people who understand the true expanse of this unique ecosystem: He helped map it through the use of satellite imagery. “You can’t really protect what you don’t know,” he says. For many years, resident scientists&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-campaign-to-protect-one-of-the-planets-only-expanding-kelp-forests-takes-shape/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Fossil fuel subsidies and high costs stall energy transition across rural Indonesia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/fossil-fuel-subsidies-and-high-costs-stall-energy-transition-across-rural-indonesia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/fossil-fuel-subsidies-and-high-costs-stall-energy-transition-across-rural-indonesia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2026 11:35:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Luh De Suriyani]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/21113035/DJI_0067-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317800</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Bioenergy, Clean Energy, Climate Change, Climate Change Policy, Emission Reduction, Energy, Energy Politics, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Governance, Government, Green Energy, Just Transition, Renewable Energy, and Solar Power]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[DENPASAR, Indonesia — Renewable energy uptake has yet to gather momentum across Indonesia’s more than 84,000 villages, a new report concludes, as the government of the world’s fourth-largest country pledges to achieve a radical energy transformation over the next decade. “Village street lighting has increased, while household use has declined due to high initial costs, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[DENPASAR, Indonesia — Renewable energy uptake has yet to gather momentum across Indonesia’s more than 84,000 villages, a new report concludes, as the government of the world’s fourth-largest country pledges to achieve a radical energy transformation over the next decade. “Village street lighting has increased, while household use has declined due to high initial costs, minimal incentives, and the dominance of fossil fuel subsidies,” according to the Village Energy Transition Readiness Index, a report published by Jakarta-based think tank the Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios) and Greenpeace. Indonesia’s statistics agency counted 84,291 villages across the world’s largest archipelagic nation as of 2025. Around 1.4 million people among Indonesia’s population of 270 million still lack all access to electricity, according to Eniya Listiani Dewi, the renewable energy lead at Indonesia’s mining and energy ministry. “Previously, many villages had clean energy initiatives, including solar power plants, micro-hydropower plants, and others, but the number of such initiatives has actually gone down,” said Wahyudi Askar at Celios. Despite technological progress and availability of cheaper solar hardware, the total number of villages and subdistricts reporting solar power use among households declined from 4,176 in 2021 to 3,076 in 2024, a reduction of 26.4%. However, the number of villages using street lighting powered by photovoltaics increased over the same period. Some 24,766 villages or neighborhood areas used solar to power streetlights in 2021, and this increased by 20.1% over the three-year period to 30,476 in total. For more than a decade, local governments and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/fossil-fuel-subsidies-and-high-costs-stall-energy-transition-across-rural-indonesia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Push for solar park in Sri Lanka’s elephant terrain raises concern</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/push-for-solar-park-in-sri-lankas-elephant-terrain-raises-concern/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/push-for-solar-park-in-sri-lankas-elephant-terrain-raises-concern/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2026 09:51:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/21082917/1AHER1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317847</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Animals, Biodiversity, Deforestation, Elephants, Environment, Environmental Activism, Environmental Policy, Forest Elephants, Forests, Governance, human-elephant conflict, Mammals, Protected Areas, Research, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#160; HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka — As a new wave of large-scale solar energy projects take shape along the fringes of Sri Lanka’s Managed Elephant Range, or MER, in the southern district of Hambantota, activists, farmers and wildlife conservationists are opposing the move. Those opposing the solar push — in a district that has significant ‘elephant [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[&nbsp; HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka — As a new wave of large-scale solar energy projects take shape along the fringes of Sri Lanka’s Managed Elephant Range, or MER, in the southern district of Hambantota, activists, farmers and wildlife conservationists are opposing the move. Those opposing the solar push — in a district that has significant ‘elephant terrain’ — warn that clearing forests in one of the most critical elephant landscapes on the island would escalate the existing human-elephant conflict (HEC) rather than reduce it. Sri Lanka holds one of the worst records for human-elephant conflict, an issue that continues to worsen as the island’s conservation efforts are no match for the escalating conflict. Every year, around 100 people and 400 elephants are killed in the country due to HEC. The Sri Lankan government has granted approval to set up multiple privately-owned solar power plants, forming a solar energy park bordering the Hambantota MER, with as much as 405 hectares (1,000 acres) of elephant habitat slated for clearance, according to Sajeewa Chamikara of the Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR),  a network of farmer organizations and community-based organizations. “Ground investigations by MONLAR confirm that forest clearing has already begun, with heavy machinery being used to clear the scrub forests and to burn them,” Chamikara tells Mongabay. “This will inevitably escalate human-elephant conflict in an area already among the worst affected by HEC.” Local communities echo these fears. “We are already struggling with elephants, and we simply cannot bear any further intensification&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/push-for-solar-park-in-sri-lankas-elephant-terrain-raises-concern/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Translucent microsnail discovered in Cambodia: Photo of the week</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/translucent-microsnail-discovered-in-cambodia-photo-of-the-week/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/translucent-microsnail-discovered-in-cambodia-photo-of-the-week/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2026 09:26:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/21092243/CBD-0020-SSK-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=317863</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cambodia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Governance, Molluscs, New Discovery, New Species, Research, Science, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2024, scientists found a tiny new-to-science translucent microsnail in a cave of Banan Hill, a limestone hill that is part of the karst ecosystem of Battambang province in western Cambodia. The snail is less than 2 millimeters (0.1 inches) wide and long including its shell, about the size of a pinhead. The scientists behind [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[In 2024, scientists found a tiny new-to-science translucent microsnail in a cave of Banan Hill, a limestone hill that is part of the karst ecosystem of Battambang province in western Cambodia. The snail is less than 2 millimeters (0.1 inches) wide and long including its shell, about the size of a pinhead. The scientists behind its discovery named it Clostophis udayaditinus, its species name referring to the 11th-century Angkor-era King Udayadityavarman II. The king ordered the building of Banan temple, which became the name of the only hill where the species is currently known. The team collected 28 individuals at the site by hand between July and August 2024. The snails have a colorless body except for dark eye spots at the tip of their upper tentacles. The shell is described as “pale whiteish” to which the snails add soil and dirt. “The snails tend to decorate their shells with soil and dirt in star-shaped patterns,” the authors wrote in the description of the species published in February 2025. “This encrustation presumably serves as a humidity reservoir or camouflage.” C. udayaditinus was discovered during a three-year biodiversity research mission in northern Cambodia’s karst hills, an underexplored limestone landscape teeming with endemic life. The surveys uncovered another 10 species new to science, including another microsnail, a pit viper and several gecko species. “Each one of these isolated karst areas act as their own little laboratory,” Lee Grismer, a biology professor at La Sierra University, U.S., said in a statement. “The results&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/translucent-microsnail-discovered-in-cambodia-photo-of-the-week/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>How do you write the life of someone who avoided the spotlight? Miriam Horn on her biography of George Schaller</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/how-do-you-write-the-life-of-someone-who-avoided-the-spotlight-miriam-horn-on-her-biography-of-george-schaller/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/how-do-you-write-the-life-of-someone-who-avoided-the-spotlight-miriam-horn-on-her-biography-of-george-schaller/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2026 05:38:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/15224710/george-schaller-alaska-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317455</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Books, Conservation, Environment, Interviews, Interviews With Environmental Journalists, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Some biographies are built around revelation. Others proceed by accumulation, assembling a life from fragments that resist easy interpretation. Miriam Horn’s Homesick for a World Unknown: The Life of George B. Schaller falls into the latter category. It takes as its subject George Schaller, a figure widely regarded as one of the most consequential field [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Some biographies are built around revelation. Others proceed by accumulation, assembling a life from fragments that resist easy interpretation. Miriam Horn’s Homesick for a World Unknown: The Life of George B. Schaller falls into the latter category. It takes as its subject George Schaller, a figure widely regarded as one of the most consequential field biologists of the twentieth century, yet one who spent much of his career deflecting attention from himself. Writing about such a person presents a structural problem: how to render a life whose central impulse was to look outward. Horn approaches this constraint directly. Her biography draws heavily on field journals, letters, and archival material, allowing Schaller’s habits of observation to shape the narrative without turning the book into a compilation of documents. It is neither a conventional intellectual history nor a purely personal account; instead, it tracks a method of seeing as much as the arc of a career, moving fluidly between landscapes and institutions. That balance reflects Horn’s own trajectory. Before turning to long-form writing, she spent years working within conservation institutions, including the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the United States Forest Service (USFS). Those experiences inform her treatment of Schaller’s work, which rarely fits neatly into disciplinary categories. He is presented both as a scientist and as a practitioner working within systems shaped by politics, funding, and local realities. The biography follows him across multiple regions, but its emphasis is less on cataloguing his achievements than on how knowledge is produced under&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/how-do-you-write-the-life-of-someone-who-avoided-the-spotlight-miriam-horn-on-her-biography-of-george-schaller/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Five &#8216;lost&#8217; bird species rediscovered in 2025</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/five-lost-bird-species-rediscovered-in-2025/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/five-lost-bird-species-rediscovered-in-2025/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2026 04:29:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/21042848/blue-flycatcher-e1776745762101-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=317845</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Birds, Endangered Species, Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2025, birders and scientists found five “lost” bird species that had gone undocumented for a decade or more. As Mongabay’s Spoorthy Raman reports, these findings have helped reduce the total number on the global “Lost Birds List” from 163 in 2022 to 120 today. To be classified as “lost,” a species must not have [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[In 2025, birders and scientists found five “lost” bird species that had gone undocumented for a decade or more. As Mongabay’s Spoorthy Raman reports, these findings have helped reduce the total number on the global “Lost Birds List” from 163 in 2022 to 120 today. To be classified as “lost,” a species must not have been recorded through photographs or audio or documented genetically in the wild for at least 10 years, as defined by a 2022 study. The list is maintained by the Search for Lost Birds project, a partnership between the NGOs American Bird Conservancy, Re:wild and BirdLife International. Project director John Mittermeier describes the list as an “early warning system” to identify at-risk species before they vanish forever. The five birds confirmed alive through photographs in 2025 are all endemic to islands in Southeast Asia and Oceania. These include the Bismarck kingfisher (Ceyx websteri) found in Papua New Guinea after 13 years, Biak myzomela (Myzomela rubrobrunnea) documented in Indonesian Papua for the first time in 20 years, Broad-billed fairywren (Chenorhamphus grayi) recorded in Indonesian Papua after 11 years, and the Sulu cuckooshrike (Coracina guillemardi) and rufous-breasted blue flycatcher (Cyornis camarinensis) found in the Philippines after 18 and 17 years, respectively. While these “rediscoveries” spark hope, six new species will join the Lost Birds list in 2026, including the Mindoro bleeding-heart (Gallicolumba platenae) and Mindoro imperial pigeon (Ducula mindorensis). And some birds on the list are never seen or heard again, reflecting the extinction crisis. In 2025, the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/five-lost-bird-species-rediscovered-in-2025/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Luis Yanza, campaigner who battled big oil in the Amazon rainforest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/luis-yanza-campaigner-who-battled-big-oil-in-the-amazon-rainforest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/luis-yanza-campaigner-who-battled-big-oil-in-the-amazon-rainforest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2026 01:37:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/21013032/Luis-Yanza-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317840</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Ecuador, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Environmental Law, extractives, Fossil Fuels, Indigenous Peoples, Obituary, Oil, Oil Drilling, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For much of the late 20th century, oil development in the Ecuadorian Amazon proceeded with little restraint. Wastewater and drilling residues were discharged into rivers or left in open pits. Forest was cleared. Communities downstream relied on contaminated water for drinking, cooking, and bathing. Over time, residents reported rising rates of illness, including cancers and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For much of the late 20th century, oil development in the Ecuadorian Amazon proceeded with little restraint. Wastewater and drilling residues were discharged into rivers or left in open pits. Forest was cleared. Communities downstream relied on contaminated water for drinking, cooking, and bathing. Over time, residents reported rising rates of illness, including cancers and respiratory disease. People might argue about the scale of the contamination, but no one could argue that it wasn&#8217;t visible. By the early 1990s, the region had become a test of whether affected communities could use the law to hold a multinational oil company to account. That effort took shape as a long legal battle against Texaco, later acquired by Chevron. It moved between jurisdictions, from New York to Ecuador, and drew in tens of thousands of plaintiffs from Indigenous and settler communities. The case would last decades. It required organizing across remote territories, gathering testimony and evidence, and sustaining attention in a legal process designed to exhaust both. Luis Yanza was central to that work. He died on March 27th 2026, from cancer, after years spent in the same landscapes where contamination was alleged to have taken hold. His role was not primarily in courtrooms. While lawyers argued motions and judges weighed jurisdiction, he traveled the back roads and rivers of the northern Amazon, meeting communities, explaining the case, and maintaining a coalition that spanned more than 80 villages and several Indigenous peoples. Luis Yanza in his youth. Yanza grew up in Lago Agrio,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/luis-yanza-campaigner-who-battled-big-oil-in-the-amazon-rainforest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Climate displacement in Africa: Court opinion could define states’ obligations   </title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/climate-displacement-in-africa-court-opinion-could-define-states-obligations/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/climate-displacement-in-africa-court-opinion-could-define-states-obligations/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2026 21:55:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/20215137/Screenshot-2026-04-20-at-3.50.55-PM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=317838</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Change And Extreme Weather, Climate Justice, Erosion, Flooding, and Human Rights]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights is expected to soon issue an advisory opinion on states’ obligations toward internally displaced persons affected by climate change. “Internally displaced people exist on every inhabited continent,” Erica Bower, a researcher on climate displacement with Human Rights Watch, said in a phone interview with Mongabay. “The advisory [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights is expected to soon issue an advisory opinion on states’ obligations toward internally displaced persons affected by climate change. “Internally displaced people exist on every inhabited continent,” Erica Bower, a researcher on climate displacement with Human Rights Watch, said in a phone interview with Mongabay. “The advisory opinion could make it very clear that states have obligations to provide durable solutions for people displaced by disasters.” In Africa, according to the Platform on Disaster Displacement data, in 2024 millions of people were displaced from roughly 20 African countries as a result of climate-related disasters including floods and coastal erosion. Senegal offers a prime example. Roughly a decade ago, a community along the Langue de Barbarie, in Saint-Louis, was forced to move following severe coastal erosion. “The sea destroyed our homes. There was no space left for us to live,” Khady Gueye, a former resident, told Mongabay in a phone call. “So, we left, and they settled us on a football field. We stayed there for nine months before moving here to Khar Yalla.” She has lived in Khar Yalla for 10 years, about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the land where she, her mother and her grandmother were born. She said Khar Yalla has no infrastructure for a long-term community. “There is nothing here. No health center, no school, no market, no sanitation, nothing,” she said. “We are 13 people living in a house with only two rooms, without electricity … and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/climate-displacement-in-africa-court-opinion-could-define-states-obligations/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Goldman Prize winner Alannah Hurley fights Pebble Mine “from a place of love”</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/goldman-prize-winner-alannah-hurley-fights-pebble-mine-from-a-place-of-love/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/goldman-prize-winner-alannah-hurley-fights-pebble-mine-from-a-place-of-love/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2026 21:41:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claudia Geib]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/20213426/Media-Room-Alannah_Credit-Goldman-Environmental-Prize_07-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317824</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous-led conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Alaska, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Conservation, Environmental Activism, extractives, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Marine, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Conservation, Marine Ecosystems, Marine Protected Areas, and Mining]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the early 2000s, Alannah Acaq Hurley began working over her college summer breaks to spread awareness among rural communities in Southeast Alaska about a project called Pebble Mine: a pit 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) wide and 180 meters (600 feet) deep proposed at the head of Bristol Bay — the largest sockeye salmon fishery [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the early 2000s, Alannah Acaq Hurley began working over her college summer breaks to spread awareness among rural communities in Southeast Alaska about a project called Pebble Mine: a pit 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) wide and 180 meters (600 feet) deep proposed at the head of Bristol Bay — the largest sockeye salmon fishery in the world, and the waters that Hurley and her family call home. In 2001, the Canadian company Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. obtained mineral leases to deposits in the area for what would have been the largest open-pit mine in North America. Decades later, Hurley is now the executive director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay (UTBB), and the work to stop Pebble continues. Hurley has received a 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize for her work in organizing an opposition that seems poised to bring the proposed copper and gold mine to a halt. After a 2023 veto of the project by the Environmental Protection Agency due to “unacceptable adverse effects” on the region’s salmon fishery and a surprising court filing by the Department of Justice under President Donald Trump’s administration supporting that veto earlier in 2026, more than two decades of work by local advocates seem to have turned the winds against the Pebble Mine project. Yet Hurley said the work to protect the region — home to the Yup&#8217;ik, Dena&#8217;ina, and Alutiiq tribal nations, and to eagles and moose, bears and whales — is far from over. “Our tribes have never changed their&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/goldman-prize-winner-alannah-hurley-fights-pebble-mine-from-a-place-of-love/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Bringing the world’s rewilders together: Interview with Alister Scott</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/bringing-the-worlds-rewilders-together-interview-with-alister-scott/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/bringing-the-worlds-rewilders-together-interview-with-alister-scott/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2026 21:34:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/20054500/American_Bison_AdF-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317737</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Ecological Restoration, Ecosystem Restoration, Ecosystems, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Restoration, Rewilding, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Rewilding — the process of letting nature take over — is having its moment across the world at every scale. From an 18th-century abandoned farm in the French Alps, to a volcanic lake in Indonesia, to primates being brought back into Brazil&#8217;s national parks, to restoring Kalahari’s savanna ecosystem in South Africa — conservationists are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Rewilding — the process of letting nature take over — is having its moment across the world at every scale. From an 18th-century abandoned farm in the French Alps, to a volcanic lake in Indonesia, to primates being brought back into Brazil&#8217;s national parks, to restoring Kalahari’s savanna ecosystem in South Africa — conservationists are tirelessly using nature’s landscape engineers to restore its wild ways. And, in many cases, it’s working: Birds are returning to their once-abandoned abodes, more carbon is getting into the ground, the earth is cooling down, animals once thought locally extinct are reappearing and ecosystems on the whole are getting healthier. This transformation is not limited to land. In marine protected areas — where industrial fishing and other extractive activities are banned — coral reefs are once again teeming with marine life, fish are thriving and whales are making a comeback. As the world slowly inches towards the ambitious 30&#215;30 goal, earmarking 30% of Earth’s land and oceans as protected areas by 2030, rewilding is poised to play a catalyst. In the last two decades, various rewilding projects aimed at bringing back species and restoring whole ecosystems have sprung. But most have been siloed, evolving separately from each other. In 2021, the Global Rewilding Alliance (GRA) was formed to bring together these efforts, strengthen collaboration and connect rewilders across continents. Today, the alliance connects nearly 300 organizations across six continents, which are together rewilding more than 2 million square kilometers (760,000 square miles) of land —&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/bringing-the-worlds-rewilders-together-interview-with-alister-scott/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>War, climate change, and AI on the agenda at this year&#8217;s U.N. Indigenous forum</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/war-climate-change-and-ai-on-the-agenda-at-this-years-u-n-indigenous-forum/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/war-climate-change-and-ai-on-the-agenda-at-this-years-u-n-indigenous-forum/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2026 19:23:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anita Hofschneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/20190504/unfpii-2026-v2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317813</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence, Climate Change, Conflict, Environment, Environmental Policy, Environmental Politics, Health, Human Rights, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Politics, and United Nations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This story is republished through the Indigenous News Alliance. Hundreds of delegates are arriving at the United Nations this week for the world’s largest gathering of Indigenous peoples. But they arrive against an increasingly challenging global backdrop, facing an artificial intelligence boom driving new extraction on ancestral lands, a U.S. administration that has made it [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story is republished through the Indigenous News Alliance. Hundreds of delegates are arriving at the United Nations this week for the world’s largest gathering of Indigenous peoples. But they arrive against an increasingly challenging global backdrop, facing an artificial intelligence boom driving new extraction on ancestral lands, a U.S. administration that has made it increasingly difficult for Global South delegates to secure visas to attend, and the twin challenges of climate change and green energy projects that have frequently run afoul of Indigenous land rights. This year’s United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is focused on the topic of survival in the midst of war, with its official theme &#8220;Ensuring Indigenous Peoples’ health, including in the context of conflict.” Experts emphasize that Indigenous peoples already face health inequities from colonialism and climate change, and these harms are compounded by armed conflicts and militarization that risk ecological degradation and further displacement of Indigenous peoples from their lands. Experts say that health for Indigenous peoples is directly tied to the environment, land, and sovereignty, and can’t be siloed into clinical discussions about medicine or public health. Warfare isn’t the only concern — advocates are seeing the extraction of critical minerals for the energy transition drive Indigenous rights violations, and are echoing a long-standing call to make climate financing directly available to their communities, instead of through state or foreign intermediaries. But before diplomatic conversations can begin, many delegates must confront the practical barrier of visa restrictions put in place by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/war-climate-change-and-ai-on-the-agenda-at-this-years-u-n-indigenous-forum/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Chernobyl&#8217;s radioactive landscape is a testament to nature’s resilience and survival spirit</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/chernobyls-radioactive-landscape-is-a-testament-to-natures-resilience-and-survival-spirit/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/chernobyls-radioactive-landscape-is-a-testament-to-natures-resilience-and-survival-spirit/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2026 19:21:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/20191807/AP26107515065733-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=317817</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ukraine]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Endangered Species, Habitat, Happy-upbeat Environmental, and Nuclear Power]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CHERNOBYL, Ukraine (AP) — Wildlife is thriving again four decades after the nuclear disaster at Ukraine’s Chernobyl power plant in what became the exclusion zone created by the forced mass evacuations of the population. Wolves, bears and lynx have rebounded in the radioactive landscape, along with a rare breed of horses native to Mongolia. Scientists [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CHERNOBYL, Ukraine (AP) — Wildlife is thriving again four decades after the nuclear disaster at Ukraine’s Chernobyl power plant in what became the exclusion zone created by the forced mass evacuations of the population. Wolves, bears and lynx have rebounded in the radioactive landscape, along with a rare breed of horses native to Mongolia. Scientists say it shows nature’s ability to recover when human activity is removed. Hidden cameras have revealed the animal population adapting by using abandoned buildings for shelter. Chernobyl remains too dangerous for people but has become an unexpected refuge — and research site — for resilient ecosystems shaped by disaster and war. By Derek Gatopoulos and Evgeniy Maloletka, Associated Press  Banner image: Wild Przewalski horses graze in a forest inside the Chernobyl exclusion zone, Ukraine, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. Chornobyl is the Ukrainian name for the city. Evgeniy Maloletka, Associated PressThis article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/chernobyls-radioactive-landscape-is-a-testament-to-natures-resilience-and-survival-spirit/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Nigerian bat specialist wins Goldman Prize for community conservation work</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/nigerian-bat-specialist-wins-goldman-prize-for-community-conservation-work/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/nigerian-bat-specialist-wins-goldman-prize-for-community-conservation-work/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2026 18:59:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ini Ekott]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/20162403/TanshiEtAlDataCollection_OdukpaniNigeria_EtinosaYvonneGoldmanEnvironmentalPrize-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317806</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the forested highlands of southern Nigeria’s Cross River state, plumes of smoke signal the annual fire season from January to April, when farmers routinely use fire to clear new land for planting cacao, maize and cassava. In five villages near the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, the period is also marked by another signal: the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the forested highlands of southern Nigeria’s Cross River state, plumes of smoke signal the annual fire season from January to April, when farmers routinely use fire to clear new land for planting cacao, maize and cassava. In five villages near the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, the period is also marked by another signal: the sound of metal gongs announcing weather conditions too risky to set fires. In Buanchor and four other villages, on days when dangerously dry conditions prevail, town criers fan out with gongs to warn residents not to burn the bush. Since 2022, weather stations set up in each of the communities track temperature, humidity and wind. The data are used to produce a daily alert that’s displayed on a signboard in each village, color-coded green for safe, yellow — when there’s been no rain for two weeks — for caution, and red for high danger. On high-risk days, 50 trained forest guardians patrol danger zones equipped with water backpacks, GPS, radios, fire boots and motorcycles. Anyone caught setting a fire on a “no-burn” day faces a fine equivalent to between $4 and $14 under a community bylaw. These fire prevention efforts stem from an unlikely source: In 2016, ecologist and bat specialist Iroro Tanshi witnessed a wildfire that swept from farmland into the 100-square-kilometer (38.6-square-mile) Afi sanctuary, where she was exploring caves that provide roosts for several bat species. She and her team had just discovered the caves harbored the short-tailed roundleaf bat (Hipposideros curtus), last&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/nigerian-bat-specialist-wins-goldman-prize-for-community-conservation-work/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>To tackle trafficking in gibbons, experts probe what drives demand</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/to-tackle-trafficking-in-gibbons-experts-probe-what-drives-demand/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/to-tackle-trafficking-in-gibbons-experts-probe-what-drives-demand/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2026 18:37:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ana Norman Bermúdez]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/17085412/gibbon-in-a-cage-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317705</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Malaysia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Gibbons, Illegal Trade, Mammals, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“When we first got Joy, we thought she was a monkey,” says Esther. A hunter had come to her village in the Malaysian state of Sabah, on the island of Borneo, to sell wild meat. He showed Esther (not her real name) and her husband a weeks-old primate with long arms, dark skin and large, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“When we first got Joy, we thought she was a monkey,” says Esther. A hunter had come to her village in the Malaysian state of Sabah, on the island of Borneo, to sell wild meat. He showed Esther (not her real name) and her husband a weeks-old primate with long arms, dark skin and large, round eyes. Worried the animal might otherwise be killed for food, she decided to take her home. It was only later that she realized Joy was not a monkey, but a gibbon. Gibbons are small apes, more closely related to chimpanzees and humans than to monkeys. Across their range in South and Southeast Asia, they are increasingly threatened by the exotic pet trade. Despite laws that prohibit their capture, sale and ownership, demand for pet gibbons continues to drive illegal trade in wild-caught animals, much of which now plays out online. In 2025, gibbon trafficking seizures reached an all-time high, with confiscations of 336 individual gibbons recorded between January and August alone, accounting for around 20% of all records since 2016, according to an analysis by wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC. Because gibbons are highly social animals and will defend their young to the death, the capture of an infant gibbon often represents the annihilation of an entire family group. Between 2016 and August 2025, more than 200 seizures were recorded, but “in reality, the trade is likely much bigger,” says Elizabeth John of TRAFFIC. While Indonesia and Vietnam have historically dominated the trade, India&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/to-tackle-trafficking-in-gibbons-experts-probe-what-drives-demand/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Conservation collects more data than ever. What is it for?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/conservation-collects-more-data-than-ever-what-is-it-for/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/conservation-collects-more-data-than-ever-what-is-it-for/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2026 16:35:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/18141901/cr_20260408_173738634-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317734</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Big Data, Biodiversity, Conservation, data, Environment, and Monitoring]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#160; Before launching a monitoring program, conservationists are often asked how data will be collected, which indicators will be used, and how results will be analyzed. Less often, they are asked a simpler question: what is the monitoring for? A recent paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, led by Kate J. Helmstedt, argues [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[&nbsp; Before launching a monitoring program, conservationists are often asked how data will be collected, which indicators will be used, and how results will be analyzed. Less often, they are asked a simpler question: what is the monitoring for? A recent paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, led by Kate J. Helmstedt, argues that this question should come first. Monitoring, the authors suggest, delivers impact when it is tied to a clear explanation of how the information collected will influence decisions, policy, or outcomes for biodiversity. This may sound self-evident, yet conservation has long treated data collection as a default activity. Over the past decade, that tendency has been reinforced by rapid advances in technology. Satellites track forest loss in near real time. Camera traps document passing animals. Acoustic sensors record entire ecosystems. Environmental DNA can detect species from traces in water or soil. The result is a steady expansion in what can be measured, often accompanied by an assumption that more information will improve outcomes. Topher White of Rainforest Connection installing a bioacoustic device in the forest canopy. Image by Ben Von Wong. Work on conservation effectiveness has complicated that assumption. Monitoring trends—like forest cover, species abundance, compliance rates, and habitat condition—can describe what is happening without explaining why. Establishing impact requires a counterfactual: an estimate of what would have happened without the intervention. Even where methods improve, the link to outcomes is not guaranteed. Time and funding directed toward data collection can reduce what is available&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/conservation-collects-more-data-than-ever-what-is-it-for/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Brazil taps legal loophole to issue bids for Amazon ‘tipping point’ road</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/brazil-taps-legal-loophole-to-issue-bids-for-amazon-tipping-point-road/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/brazil-taps-legal-loophole-to-issue-bids-for-amazon-tipping-point-road/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2026 15:37:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda Wenzel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/20152755/whatsapp-image-2025-07-04-at-162130-1600x728-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317801</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Destruction, Amazon People, Climate Change, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Groups, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Politics, Rainforest Deforestation, Threats To Rainforests, and Threats To The Amazon]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A strategic shift in law clears the way for a highway that scientists warn will push the Amazon to a tipping point.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Heavy machinery will soon be working on the road that may determine the future of the Amazon Rainforest: On April 13, the Brazilian government issued calls for four bids to pave the controversial BR-319 highway. Inaugurated in 1976 to connect two major Amazonian municipalities, Manaus and Porto Velho, the BR-319 runs 885 kilometers (550 miles) and crosses one of the best-preserved areas of the Brazilian Amazon, home to 69 Indigenous territories and 41 conservation units. The middle section of the highway was never fully paved, and after decades of abandonment, it became undrivable, especially during the rainy season. Paving this 339-km (211-mi) critical stretch has long been advocated by locals, politicians and businesspeople, who currently rely on plane or boat to travel. Paving the road to improve connectivity, however, would come at a high environmental cost. Scientists say upgrading BR-319 may push the rainforest to a tipping point, transforming it into a much drier, less biodiverse ecosystem. However, the administration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who came to office on a pro-environmental platform, is exploiting an environmental licensing loophole to announce it will start roadworks in the second half of this year. It has budgeted 1.3 billion reais ($260 million) for the project. “The idea is to get started quickly, with independent mobilizations, taking advantage of the Amazonian summer and making as much progress as possible,” Fabrício Galvão, general director of the National Department of Transportation Infrastructure (DNIT), said at the project announcement. In October, Lula will run&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/brazil-taps-legal-loophole-to-issue-bids-for-amazon-tipping-point-road/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Emmanuel de Merode, director of Virunga National Park: &#8220;If conservation creates hardships, it won&#8217;t work&#8221;</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/emmanuel-de-merode-director-of-virunga-national-park-if-conservation-creates-hardships-it-wont-work/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/emmanuel-de-merode-director-of-virunga-national-park-if-conservation-creates-hardships-it-wont-work/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2026 13:34:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Christophe Assogba]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/20115458/image1_649645552_1381072780725700_2134234773966713765_n-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317784</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Crisis, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Economics, Environment, Governance, Government, Hydroelectric Power, National Parks, Nature's resilience, and Parks]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SALONGA NATIONAL PARK, Democratic Republic of the Congo — For over two decades, Emmanuel de Merode has worked at the intersection of conservation, conflict, and development in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. As director of Virunga National Park, he has overseen one of Africa’s most ambitious—and controversial—conservation experiments: protecting biodiversity by improving the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SALONGA NATIONAL PARK, Democratic Republic of the Congo — For over two decades, Emmanuel de Merode has worked at the intersection of conservation, conflict, and development in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. As director of Virunga National Park, he has overseen one of Africa’s most ambitious—and controversial—conservation experiments: protecting biodiversity by improving the living conditions of the millions of people living around the park. His guiding principle, shaped by years of experience, rests on the idea that conservation must benefit local populations. &#8220;If conservation creates hardships, it won&#8217;t work,&#8221; he said during a recent visit by Mongabay to Salonga National Park. Established in 1925, Virunga National Park is Africa’s oldest national park and one of its most biodiverse. Stretching from the Rwenzori Mountains to the volcanic plains along the border between Rwanda and Uganda, it is home to mountain gorillas, forest elephants, and three species of great apes. Yet it has also been shaped by decades of conflict, the presence of armed groups, and the illegal exploitation of resources—making conservation far more complex than the mere protection of wildlife. Fabrice, a ranger at Virunga National Park since 2013 and now a Deputy Sector Warden, pauses during a patrol. Virunga has lost more rangers than any other protected area in Africa, illustrating the human cost of conservation and raising the question of whether new conservation models can better protect both biodiversity and those charged with defending it. Image courtesy of Virunga National Park. For de Merode, these realities profoundly&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/emmanuel-de-merode-director-of-virunga-national-park-if-conservation-creates-hardships-it-wont-work/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>DRC: Can the Kivu–Kinshasa Green Corridor turn a war economy into one of hope?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/drc-can-the-kivu-kinshasa-green-corridor-transform-a-war-economy-into-an-economy-of-hope/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/drc-can-the-kivu-kinshasa-green-corridor-transform-a-war-economy-into-an-economy-of-hope/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2026 13:33:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Christophe Assogba]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/20113123/image3__26337668410_35828ed6c6_k-1536x1024-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317778</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Conservation, Economics, Environment, Gas, Lakes, mine, Oil, Protected Areas, and Wildilfe]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of the Congo — Félix Tshisekedi is banking on one of Africa’s most ambitious conservation and development plans to transform the future of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He recently reiterated this vision in Bandundu during the annual Conference of Provincial Governors. “Through this Green Corridor, we are choosing to replace [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of the Congo — Félix Tshisekedi is banking on one of Africa’s most ambitious conservation and development plans to transform the future of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He recently reiterated this vision in Bandundu during the annual Conference of Provincial Governors. “Through this Green Corridor, we are choosing to replace a war economy with an economy of life, work, and hope,” Tshisekedi said. According to official documents and public statements, the Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor would stretch from eastern DRC all the way to Kinshasa in the west. If implemented as planned, it would cover more than 544,270 square kilometers (210144 sq miles) —an area comparable in size to France—and would integrate conservation, economic development, and community protection. The initiative was first announced during the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2025. An aerial view of the village of Lac Paku within the peatland forest near Mbandaka, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Green Corridor traverses the Équateur province. Image by Daniel Beltrá/Greenpeace. Conservation Spaces and Drivers of Economic Stability Individuals involved in the planning process told Mongabay that the initiative could create more than 500,000 jobs—particularly for youth and women—preserve over one million hectares of land, and transport food products from the East to the major consumer market in Kinshasa. For the Congolese government, the Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor goes beyond mere forest protection. &#8220;The objective is to protect our forests, restore ecosystems, create sustainable jobs, support responsible agriculture, stimulate local processing, and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/drc-can-the-kivu-kinshasa-green-corridor-transform-a-war-economy-into-an-economy-of-hope/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Malawi government suspends coal miner’s license over river pollution</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/malawi-government-suspends-coal-miners-license-over-river-pollution/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/malawi-government-suspends-coal-miners-license-over-river-pollution/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2026 11:20:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Charles Mpaka]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/20104353/3-2_Coal-mine-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317771</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Malawi, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Critical Minerals, Environment, environmental justice, Governance, Government, Health, mine, Nature And Health, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Malawi government has suspended the mining license of a coal company for dumping mining waste into two rivers that communities rely on for water. The suspension follows an uproar by one of the communities in Malawi’s coal mining heartland in the north of the country. Community members demanded the closure of the mine for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Malawi government has suspended the mining license of a coal company for dumping mining waste into two rivers that communities rely on for water. The suspension follows an uproar by one of the communities in Malawi’s coal mining heartland in the north of the country. Community members demanded the closure of the mine for contaminating the rivers that supply water for their domestic and agricultural needs. Preliminary investigations by government agencies responsible for water and the environment confirmed the pollution. The northern region, particularly the two districts of Karonga and Rumphi, has Malawi’s largest coal mines. The country depends on coal as a fuel for everything from tobacco curing to cement production. However, mines in the region have a track record of environmental destruction and labor violations, issues that both local rights bodies and global watchdog Human Rights Watch have exposed. In a letter dated April 8, 2026, Malawi’s Mining and Minerals Regulatory Authority (MMRA) announced the immediate suspension of the mining license for Coal &amp; Minerals Group Limited, the company operating the polluting mine. It cited the water contamination as “seriously threatening” the health and safety of the public and the environment. According to the MMRA, investigations by government regulatory agencies found evidence of coal-associated waste discharge into the two rivers, uncontrolled runoff from the mining pits and stockpiles, and poorly designed storage facilities to hold the mining waste, or tailings. The authority also noted that the company did not have critical plans such as a mining operations&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/malawi-government-suspends-coal-miners-license-over-river-pollution/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>A red flower found nowhere else loses ground as mining expands in Brazil’s Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/a-red-flower-found-nowhere-else-loses-ground-as-mining-expands-in-brazils-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/a-red-flower-found-nowhere-else-loses-ground-as-mining-expands-in-brazils-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2026 10:02:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/20095612/img-481-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=317756</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon and Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Mining, Biodiversity, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Flowers, Mining, Plants, Research, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Brazil’s eastern Amazon, a bright red flower found nowhere else on Earth is threatened with extinction from expanding iron ore mining, scientists warn. The flowering plant, Ipomoea cavalcantei, known locally as flor-de-Carajás, only grows in cangas, an island-like ecosystem of metal-rich rocky soils and shallow vegetation in the middle of dense rainforest. There are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Brazil’s eastern Amazon, a bright red flower found nowhere else on Earth is threatened with extinction from expanding iron ore mining, scientists warn. The flowering plant, Ipomoea cavalcantei, known locally as flor-de-Carajás, only grows in cangas, an island-like ecosystem of metal-rich rocky soils and shallow vegetation in the middle of dense rainforest. There are only five patches of this unique habitat in the world, all of them in Brazil. &#8220;You’re walking through a forest, and suddenly you step into this environment where the ground is basically iron, and you’re quite literally stepping on iron,&#8221; Rita Portela, a biologist who studies the biodiversity of the Carajás region of southern Pará state, told Mongabay by phone. “It’s a very beautiful flower … it really stands out, because there aren’t many flowers with such an intense color in the cangas.&#8221; The canga soils where the plant grows sit atop some of the highest-grade iron ore deposits in the world. The ore extracted here is so rich in iron that it’s blended with lower-grade ore from other parts of Brazil to meet industrial standards. Two of the five patches are protected as part of Carajás National Forest. Another two are mining sites for Brazilian mining giant Vale. In September 2025, Vale obtained the license to begin mining on the fifth patch of canga. The company, the world’s biggest iron ore producer, plans to begin operations in the second half of 2026, which means three of the world’s five cangas will be mining sites.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/a-red-flower-found-nowhere-else-loses-ground-as-mining-expands-in-brazils-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Meet the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize Winners</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/meet-the-2026-goldman-environmental-prize-winners/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/meet-the-2026-goldman-environmental-prize-winners/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2026 08:00:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Lizkimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/20070038/Goldman-Environmental-Prize-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317746</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Climate Activism, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Environment, Environmental Activism, Forests, Governance, and Happy-upbeat Environmental]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Six environmental activists from around the world will be awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize on April 20. Known as the &#8220;Green Nobel Prize,&#8221; the Goldman Prize honors activists from the six inhabited continental regions. In a historic first, all six winners are women. This year&#8217;s winners fought to protect a rare bat in Nigeria by [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Six environmental activists from around the world will be awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize on April 20. Known as the &#8220;Green Nobel Prize,&#8221; the Goldman Prize honors activists from the six inhabited continental regions. In a historic first, all six winners are women. This year&#8217;s winners fought to protect a rare bat in Nigeria by training community members to prevent wildfires; won a court ruling in South Korea forcing the government to set stronger climate targets; stopped an oil drilling project in the U.K. after a decade of legal battles; pressured a global mining giant to clean up a toxic abandoned mine in Papua New Guinea; blocked the largest proposed open-pit mine in North American history in Alaska; and helped prevent commercial fracking from taking hold in Colombia. &#8220;While we continue to fight uphill to protect the environment and implement lifesaving climate policies — in the US and globally — it is clear that true leaders can be found all around us,&#8221; said John Goldman, vice president of the Goldman Environmental Foundation. &#8220;I am especially thrilled to honor our first-ever cohort of six women, as this is a powerful reflection of the absolutely central role that women play in the environmental community globally.&#8221; The winners will be honored at a ceremony in San Francisco, in the U.S., on April 20, hosted by Telemundo anchor Vanessa Hauc, with musical guest Caminos Flamencos. The event will be livestreamed at 5:30 p.m. local time (00:30 a.m. UTC on April 21) on the Goldman&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/meet-the-2026-goldman-environmental-prize-winners/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Asia’s longest free-flowing river contaminated by arsenic linked to Myanmar mines</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/asias-longest-free-flowing-river-contaminated-by-arsenic-linked-to-myanmar-mines/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/asias-longest-free-flowing-river-contaminated-by-arsenic-linked-to-myanmar-mines/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2026 02:52:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[critical minerals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Energy Transition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[extractives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fisheries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Freshwater Ecosystems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Freshwater Fish]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Global Trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gold Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Illegal Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indigenous Communities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Resource Conflict]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[riverine communities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rivers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Water Pollution]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/14102130/IMG_0208-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317477</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Myanmar, Salween River, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Chemicals, Critical Minerals, Drinking Water, extractives, Freshwater Ecosystems, Freshwater Fish, Global Trade, Gold Mining, Governance, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Communities, Mining, Pollution, Public Health, Renewable Energy, Rivers, Tropical Rivers, Water Crisis, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
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							<![CDATA[MAE HONG SON, Thailand — Saw Si Paw Rak Salween guns the wooden fishing boat’s engine and steers along the river that inspired his family name. He is ethnic Karen — his parents migrated from Myanmar’s side of the Salween River to the Thai side. When he acquired Thai citizenship, Saw Si Paw had to [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[MAE HONG SON, Thailand — Saw Si Paw Rak Salween guns the wooden fishing boat’s engine and steers along the river that inspired his family name. He is ethnic Karen — his parents migrated from Myanmar’s side of the Salween River to the Thai side. When he acquired Thai citizenship, Saw Si Paw had to select his own family name, a convention not followed in much of Myanmar. He settled on Rak Salween, which translates to “Love the Salween River.” Saw Si Paw’s love for the wild, free-flowing waterway extends beyond his chosen name. Together with his father, he guides the boat to his family’s 8-meter (26-foot) fishing nets left overnight on the Myanmar side of the river. Fishing is all he’s ever known, having learned the trade from his father and plied it on the Salween his entire life. So, it was especially jarring for him to hear about toxic chemicals recently found in the Salween. Independent testing of the Salween River began in September 2025, when researchers from Thailand’s Institute of Health Sciences Research at Chiang Mai University found alarming levels of contamination detected in the nearby Kok, Sai and Ruak rivers in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai in Thailand, much of which has been linked to unregulated mining in Myanmar. In particular, rare earth mines exporting crucial minerals — needed for artificial intelligence, mobile phones, laptops, electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies, among other things — have been blamed. But the mining of gold and various critical&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/asias-longest-free-flowing-river-contaminated-by-arsenic-linked-to-myanmar-mines/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Studying the world’s largest gathering of forest elephants with sound and field observation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/studying-the-worlds-largest-gathering-of-forest-elephants-with-sound-and-field-observation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/studying-the-worlds-largest-gathering-of-forest-elephants-with-sound-and-field-observation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Apr 2026 14:46:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David AkanaRhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/19152433/ivonne-kienast-2026-16x9-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316782</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Central African Republic, Congo, Congo Basin, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Bioacoustics, Bioacoustics and conservation, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Education, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environment, Featured, Forest Elephants, Forest People, Forests, Gorillas, Great Apes, Indigenous Peoples, Interviews, Primates, Rainforests, Research, Technology And Conservation, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, Wildtech, Women in conservation, and Women In Science]]>
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							<![CDATA[In the far southwest of the Central African Republic, where dense forest gives way to a broad clearing, elephants gather in numbers rarely seen elsewhere. The place is known as Dzanga Bai. Forest elephants are among the least visible large mammals in Africa. In closed-canopy rainforest, they move in small groups, often at night, communicating [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[In the far southwest of the Central African Republic, where dense forest gives way to a broad clearing, elephants gather in numbers rarely seen elsewhere. The place is known as Dzanga Bai. Forest elephants are among the least visible large mammals in Africa. In closed-canopy rainforest, they move in small groups, often at night, communicating over long distances through low-frequency calls that travel beyond human hearing. Much of their social life unfolds out of sight. Dzanga Bai is one of the few places where that pattern breaks. Here, elephants emerge from the forest to feed on minerals in the soil. They linger. Families converge, separate, and return. Individuals can be recognized over years. Behaviors that are otherwise inferred—through tracks, fragments of sound, or brief encounters—can be followed more directly. Dzanga Bai in Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve, Central African Republic. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler For decades, the clearing has drawn researchers trying to understand a species that resists easy study. Long-term work here, including that of researchers such as Andrea Turkalo, has shaped much of what is known about forest elephants. Ivonne Kienast is part of that effort. She leads the Dzanga Forest Elephant Project, part of the Elephant Listening Project at Cornell University. Her work combines long-term behavioral observation with passive acoustic monitoring. The objective is to understand how forest elephants live and to detect early signs of change. In practice, this means continuous field presence, physically demanding work, and coordination across a network of relationships that extend well beyond&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/studying-the-worlds-largest-gathering-of-forest-elephants-with-sound-and-field-observation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>What the grim outlook for Alpine Ash forests tells us about forestry dogma (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/what-the-grim-outlook-for-alpine-ash-forests-tell-us-about-forestry-dogma-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/what-the-grim-outlook-for-alpine-ash-forests-tell-us-about-forestry-dogma-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Apr 2026 02:23:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Chris TaylorDavid LindenmayerPhil Zylstra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/16183627/1-header-Alpine-Ash-forest-Chris-Taylor-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317672</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Conservation, Editorials, Environment, Fire Management, Fires, Forest Fires, Forestry, Forests, Green, Logging, and wildfires]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In March, the Australian Government announced that the Alpine Ash forests of mainland Australia have been listed as an Endangered Ecological Community under national environmental law. The Australian Government made the decision based on the recommendations of the independent Threatened Species Scientific Committee, although it has been opposed by logging lobby interests such as the [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[In March, the Australian Government announced that the Alpine Ash forests of mainland Australia have been listed as an Endangered Ecological Community under national environmental law. The Australian Government made the decision based on the recommendations of the independent Threatened Species Scientific Committee, although it has been opposed by logging lobby interests such as the Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA). Australian Alpine Ash forests are extraordinary places; they support trees up to 60 meters tall and provide habitat for a range of threatened species such as the critically endangered Leadbeater’s possum. Alpine Ash forests have been listed as an Endangered Ecological Community for several key reasons, the primary ones being widespread logging, recurrent high-severity wildfire, and the fact that logged and regenerated forests are more flammable than intact forests. Importantly, young Alpine Ash trees have a prolonged juvenile period during which they do not produce viable seeds. As a result, repeated fires at short intervals have the potential to eliminate stands of Alpine Ash altogether. Clearfell logging in Alpine Ash forest March 2018, Royston Range, Victoria. Photo by Chris Taylor There is great urgency to protect Alpine Ash forests as an iconic and important ecosystem. Robust ecological science is needed to do this. An example that underscores this urgency is the Alpine Ash forests in the Central Highlands of Victoria, where only 0.47% of their extent remains as old-growth forest. Extensive logging practices have also resulted in the death of many Alpine Ash trees, which are becoming increasingly rare However,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/what-the-grim-outlook-for-alpine-ash-forests-tell-us-about-forestry-dogma-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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