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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?post_type=post&#038;byline=stefanie-lauchman" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/stefanie-lauchman/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Thu, 16 Apr 2026 09:53:20 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>Stefanie Lauchman Archives</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/stefanie-lauchman/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>From carp to hippos, 43% of large freshwater animal species spread far beyond native ranges</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/from-carp-to-hippos-43-of-large-freshwater-animal-species-spread-far-beyond-native-ranges/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/from-carp-to-hippos-43-of-large-freshwater-animal-species-spread-far-beyond-native-ranges/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Apr 2026 09:52:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/05/10042851/6-Nile-perch-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=317629</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquaculture, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Freshwater, Green, Research, Rivers, Turtles, Wetlands, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[From fish and turtles, to hippos and crocodiles, about 43% of all known large freshwater animal species have been deliberately introduced into ecosystems outside their native ranges, a recent study finds. Most species were introduced to boost fisheries, food security or tourism, but many have had unintended consequences for local wildlife, habitats and people. Fengzhi [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[From fish and turtles, to hippos and crocodiles, about 43% of all known large freshwater animal species have been deliberately introduced into ecosystems outside their native ranges, a recent study finds. Most species were introduced to boost fisheries, food security or tourism, but many have had unintended consequences for local wildlife, habitats and people. Fengzhi He, the study’s co-author, told Mongabay this research stemmed from his earlier work documenting where large freshwater animal species, weighing more than 30 kilograms (66 pounds), occur globally. He noticed many were present outside their native ranges. “I realized the complex interactions between alien freshwater megafauna and people and started this project together with our colleagues,” said He, a freshwater ecologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology. Of the 216 known large freshwater animal species, 93 have been introduced in rivers, wetlands and lakes outside their native ranges, the study found. These introductions span 142 countries and regions. Most introductions were to improve fisheries and aquaculture. For example, large fish like common carp (Cyprinus carpio) have been introduced to more than 100 countries, while African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) are now in more than 30 countries. “Their introductions have been documented for many years in some regions and have become an important part of local aquaculture,” He said. Species like the Siamese crocodile (Crocodylus siamensis), Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) and spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus) have been introduced in China for leather farming. Certain turtles, river stingrays, crocodilians and large fishes&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/from-carp-to-hippos-43-of-large-freshwater-animal-species-spread-far-beyond-native-ranges/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/from-carp-to-hippos-43-of-large-freshwater-animal-species-spread-far-beyond-native-ranges/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Australia declares mainland alpine ash forests endangered</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/australia-declares-mainland-alpine-ash-forests-endangered/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/australia-declares-mainland-alpine-ash-forests-endangered/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Apr 2026 05:45:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Megan Strauss]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/16053049/Aerial_panorama_of_Mount_Donna_Buang._Flurry_of_snow_in_early_spring_lowres-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=317623</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change And Biodiversity, Climate Change And Forests, Conservation, Ecosystems, Endangered, Environment, Fires, Forest Fires, Forests, Green, and Megafires]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Australian government recently listed the iconic alpine ash forests of mainland Australia as an endangered ecological community, citing ongoing threats from increasingly severe, frequent bushfires and climate change. While conservationists supported this decision, members of the timber and forestry industry questioned the move. Alpine ash forests occur on high country slopes in the states [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Australian government recently listed the iconic alpine ash forests of mainland Australia as an endangered ecological community, citing ongoing threats from increasingly severe, frequent bushfires and climate change. While conservationists supported this decision, members of the timber and forestry industry questioned the move. Alpine ash forests occur on high country slopes in the states of Victoria and New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, at elevations of 900-1,500 meters (about 3,000-5,000 feet). These culturally significant forests sit within the traditional lands of many First Nations peoples. Alpine ash (Eucalyptus delegatensis), a tall eucalypt with menthol-scented leaves, dominates these forests. Alpine ash forests also support a rich community of other plants and animals, including lyrebirds and spotted-tailed quolls. The hollows of old-growth trees are important habitat for the critically endangered Leadbeater’s possum (Gymnobelideus leadbeateri). A spokesperson for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) told Mongabay by email that the listing followed a “thorough assessment by the national Threatened Species Scientific Committee,” which “included a public consultation process and substantial input from many forest experts.” The spokesperson said proponents of activities that may significantly harm alpine ash forests will now need to fully avoid impacts on the forests or demonstrate “a net gain,” meaning environmental benefits outweigh the damage. This will lead to stricter assessments. The Victorian National Parks Association called the listing “an important step.” Forest and fire scientists writing in The Conversation said alpine ash is “facing an existential threat” and the listing&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/australia-declares-mainland-alpine-ash-forests-endangered/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/australia-declares-mainland-alpine-ash-forests-endangered/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>A chimpanzee’s rhythmic drumming with floorboards hints at origins of instruments</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-chimpanzees-rhythmic-drumming-with-floorboards-hints-at-origins-of-instruments/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-chimpanzees-rhythmic-drumming-with-floorboards-hints-at-origins-of-instruments/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Apr 2026 03:59:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Lizkimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[animal behavior]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Animals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Apes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Charismatic Animals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Happy-upbeat Environmental]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mammals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/16035215/Screenshot-2026-04-15-at-10.45.40-PM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317617</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Japan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animal Intelligence, Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mammals, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Drumming and singing at the same time is impressive, whether you’re Karen Carpenter, Ringo Starr or a chimpanzee. Japanese researchers report that Ayumu, a 26-year-old male chimpanzee and alpha of his group at Kyoto University&#8217;s Institute for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior (EHUB), has been spontaneously tearing floorboards from a walkway, fashioning them into [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Drumming and singing at the same time is impressive, whether you’re Karen Carpenter, Ringo Starr or a chimpanzee. Japanese researchers report that Ayumu, a 26-year-old male chimpanzee and alpha of his group at Kyoto University&#8217;s Institute for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior (EHUB), has been spontaneously tearing floorboards from a walkway, fashioning them into instruments and performing extended drumming displays while vocalizing. &#8220;I was surprised,&#8221; primatologist Yuko Hattori told Mongabay. &#8220;Chimpanzee drumming-like behavior has been reported before, for example when they throw stones or hit old tree trunks. However, behavior like this — using a stick in a way that closely resembled playing a drum — has not been reported before.&#8221; Over two years beginning in February 2023, Hattori and her team recorded 89 of Ayumu’s spontaneous performances across 37 days. Their study, published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, found that Ayumu&#8217;s drumming was rhythmically structured, not random, and bore a striking resemblance to the vocal calls chimpanzees use to communicate across long distances. Wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are known to drum on the buttress roots of trees, producing low-frequency booms that can be heard more than a kilometer away. A 2025 study in Current Biology analyzed more than 370 drumming bouts across 11 wild chimpanzee communities and found that this percussion is rhythmic and varies by subspecies. Western chimpanzees drum with evenly spaced beats, while eastern chimpanzees alternate between shorter and longer intervals. Ayumu didn&#8217;t just drum, he pried loose floorboards from his&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-chimpanzees-rhythmic-drumming-with-floorboards-hints-at-origins-of-instruments/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-chimpanzees-rhythmic-drumming-with-floorboards-hints-at-origins-of-instruments/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>10 forces that could reshape the future of the world’s forests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/10-forces-that-could-reshape-the-future-of-the-worlds-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/10-forces-that-could-reshape-the-future-of-the-worlds-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Apr 2026 00:59:21 +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/20/2025/12/18201846/brunei_251114145219_0263z-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316981</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence, Biodiversity, Carbon Finance, Carbon Market, Communities and conservation, Conservation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, extractives, Forest Carbon, Forestry, Governance, Illegal Logging, International Trade, Mining, Monitoring, Rainforests, real-time monitoring, Remote Sensing, Saving Rainforests, Technology, Technology And Conservation, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The forces shaping forests in the coming decade extend beyond any single driver. Shifts in politics, finance and technology are unfolding at once, often in ways that reinforce each other. The result is greater uncertainty for ecosystems and for those who depend on them. A new horizon scan, published in Forest Policy and Economics and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The forces shaping forests in the coming decade extend beyond any single driver. Shifts in politics, finance and technology are unfolding at once, often in ways that reinforce each other. The result is greater uncertainty for ecosystems and for those who depend on them. A new horizon scan, published in Forest Policy and Economics and led by Matilda Kabutey-Ongor, sets out to map these changes. The paper draws on structured consultation with researchers and practitioners and identifies ten emerging issues likely to matter between now and the early 2030s. They include the retreat of traditional aid, the spread of artificial intelligence, and a renewed push for mineral extraction. What stands out is how quickly these developments are unfolding. Institutions are not keeping up. Some of the most immediate changes are financial. For decades, conservation and forest governance have relied on public funding from wealthier countries. That support is weakening. Cuts to development assistance and research budgets threaten not only field projects but also the monitoring systems that underpin them. Philanthropy may offset part of the loss, though likely at a smaller scale and with less predictability. New forms of finance are emerging alongside this. Forest carbon markets continue to evolve, driven by regulation and corporate commitments, even as concerns remain over how credits are calculated and who benefits. At the same time, funds intended to channel money directly to Indigenous peoples and local communities are beginning to take shape. In some cases, they bypass governments and traditional intermediaries. Emerging issues&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/10-forces-that-could-reshape-the-future-of-the-worlds-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/10-forces-that-could-reshape-the-future-of-the-worlds-forests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Strait of Hormuz crisis should catalyze African biofertilizer production (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/strait-of-hormuz-crisis-should-catalyze-african-biofertilizer-production-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/strait-of-hormuz-crisis-should-catalyze-african-biofertilizer-production-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Apr 2026 00:44:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Susan Chomba]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/23081210/44366384701_940bc33dc5_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317598</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Agroecology, Biochar, Business, Conflict, Fertilizers, Food, food security, International Trade, Subsistence Agriculture, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Trade, and War]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In early mornings across rural Kenya, as the long rains approach, farmers are already at work. Fields are being cleared, seeds checked, and planting plans quietly rehearsed. But this year, alongside the usual uncertainties about soil quality, rain and pests, there is a more pressing question: will there be enough fertilizer, and will it be [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In early mornings across rural Kenya, as the long rains approach, farmers are already at work. Fields are being cleared, seeds checked, and planting plans quietly rehearsed. But this year, alongside the usual uncertainties about soil quality, rain and pests, there is a more pressing question: will there be enough fertilizer, and will it be affordable? Reports from the Middle East echo through their favorite radio stations as they wonder about the war’s effect on their lives. As tensions disrupt food, fuel and fertilizer flows through the Strait of Hormuz — a key artery for global exports and imports into Iran — Africa’s dependence on imported synthetic inputs is once again exposed. For many countries, from 20% to more than 50% of fertilizer supplies originate from Persian Gulf nations. Besides the production of fertilizer, fossil fuels are also crucial for driving farming machinery such as tractors, irrigation pumps, and of course vehicles that transport food from farms to markets. Africa is aware of her vulnerability as a result of the war in Iran and the previous disruptions from COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, which have triggered policy and economic consequences. Frameworks such as the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Action Plan 2024-2034 aim to reduce reliance on imports by fostering local production. Currently, the Dangote Group, which operates Africa&#8217;s largest chemical fertilizer manufacturing complex, based in Nigeria, plans to triple its production to 9 million metric tons per annum. The group is also starting the construction of a $2&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/strait-of-hormuz-crisis-should-catalyze-african-biofertilizer-production-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>San Francisco Bay emerges as high-risk area for migrating gray whales</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/san-francisco-bay-emerges-as-high-risk-area-for-migrating-gray-whales/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/san-francisco-bay-emerges-as-high-risk-area-for-migrating-gray-whales/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Apr 2026 23:47:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/15234615/Eschrichtius_robustus_01-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=317614</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Human-wildlife Conflict, Marine Animals, Marine Ecosystems, Marine Mammals, Oceans, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Gray whales have one of the longest known migrations of any mammal — from the Arctic near Alaska, to the lagoons of Baja Mexico, where they mate and give birth. This annual migration, longer than 19,000 kilometers (12,000 miles), has been altered by climate change, with profound consequences for the 15-meter (50-foot) mammals. Since 2016, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Gray whales have one of the longest known migrations of any mammal — from the Arctic near Alaska, to the lagoons of Baja Mexico, where they mate and give birth. This annual migration, longer than 19,000 kilometers (12,000 miles), has been altered by climate change, with profound consequences for the 15-meter (50-foot) mammals. Since 2016, the population has declined by more than 50%. Historically gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) were not known to enter San Francisco Bay on their migration. But using photo surveys, researchers recorded 114 individual whales in the area between 2018 and 2025. Researchers found 70 gray whale carcasses in the area and matched 21 of them to the individuals previously identified, meaning at least 18% of the identified whales were confirmed dead in the area. However, the true mortality could be higher, as some dead whales could have gone undetected. “The minimum mortality rate of 18% observed in San Francisco seems to be unique in terms of the intensity of mortality, though gray whales face threats and die across their entire migratory route,” Josephine Slaathaug, first author of a study documenting the findings and a gray whale researcher at Sonoma State University in the U.S., told Mongabay by email. Ship strikes are a major factor: 30 of the dead whales were hit by boats, illustrating the dangers of expanding their range into an urban area like San Francisco Bay. Other whales apparently died of malnutrition, potentially explaining why they entered the bay to begin with. Climate change is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/san-francisco-bay-emerges-as-high-risk-area-for-migrating-gray-whales/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>See an orangutan, take a photo, earn some money: A viable conservation model?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/see-an-orangutan-take-a-photo-earn-some-money-a-viable-conservation-model/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/see-an-orangutan-take-a-photo-earn-some-money-a-viable-conservation-model/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Apr 2026 22:54:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Linnea Hoover]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/11/10154758/orangutan-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317580</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Indonesia, Kalimantan, Southeast Asia, and West Kalimantan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Borneo Orangutan, Conservation, Environment, Great Apes, Mammals, Orangutans, Primates, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Kapuas Hulu district in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, a pilot program is attempting to change how people living in Borneo perceive and engage with wildlife and wildlife conservation. KehatiKu, a play on the Indonesian words for “my heart” or “biodiversity,” was the brainchild of Borneo Futures, a scientific consultancy company, says biologist Erik Meijaard, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Kapuas Hulu district in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan province, a pilot program is attempting to change how people living in Borneo perceive and engage with wildlife and wildlife conservation. KehatiKu, a play on the Indonesian words for “my heart” or “biodiversity,” was the brainchild of Borneo Futures, a scientific consultancy company, says biologist Erik Meijaard, the consultancy’s managing director. Under the program, citizen observers are offered small payments for recording and reporting wildlife sightings, collecting around 175,000 records in around a year of operations. In a video interview, Meijaard says the project came about because he was frustrated with inefficiency in conservation. In 2022, Meijaard worked on a study analyzing 20 years of efforts to save orangutans. The study found that from 2000-19, nearly $1 billion was spent on orangutan conservation worldwide, even as around 100,000 orangutans were lost. By offering small payments directly to residents, Meijaard says KehatiKu has shown concrete successes at a fraction of the cost of normal conservation. Photograph of a Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) submitted by a KehatiKu citizen observer. Participants can earn Rp. 100,000 (about $5.84) for finding and photographing orangutans. Image courtesy of Borneo Futures. He estimates the program is spending less than $1 per hectare (2.5 acres) per year across the 200,000 hectares (494,210 acres) they are studying. For that money, they are both building community engagement and getting real-time data on multiple species ranging from common birds to rare and endangered species such as the flat-headed cat (Prionailurus planiceps), Rhinoceros hornbill&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/see-an-orangutan-take-a-photo-earn-some-money-a-viable-conservation-model/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Aaron Longton, fisherman who tied sustainability to survival</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/aaron-longton-fisherman-who-tied-sustainability-to-survival/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/aaron-longton-fisherman-who-tied-sustainability-to-survival/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Apr 2026 20:16:31 +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/20/2026/04/15210656/aaron_longton_header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316984</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America, Oregon, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Fisheries, Fishing, Obituary, Oceans, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#160; Along a stretch of the Oregon coast where the Pacific meets an exposed working waterfront, fishing has long been shaped by constraint. Port Orford lacks the shelter of a bay. Boats are lifted in and out of the water by crane, and the fleet is limited to smaller vessels that work close to shore. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[&nbsp; Along a stretch of the Oregon coast where the Pacific meets an exposed working waterfront, fishing has long been shaped by constraint. Port Orford lacks the shelter of a bay. Boats are lifted in and out of the water by crane, and the fleet is limited to smaller vessels that work close to shore. Those limits have defined both the economics of fishing and the character of the community. The pressures facing such places have accumulated over time. Declines in some fisheries, shifting regulations, and rising costs have narrowed margins for small operators. Entry into the industry has become more difficult, as access to permits and quotas has tightened. In response, fishermen in Port Orford have experimented with ways to retain more control over their catch, linking how fish are harvested to how they are sold and understood by consumers. Aaron Longton was part of that response. He died in January aged 64. He came to commercial fishing later than many, having worked in other trades before buying a modest boat and a permit for a few thousand dollars. From that starting point, he built a career through persistence. Fishing, as he often noted, was not only physical labor but a form of applied observation: understanding currents, habitats, and behavior well enough to anticipate where fish might be found and how stocks might change over time. Longton worked out of Port Orford, a port whose constraints shaped its culture. Limited to small vessels and hook-and-line methods, its fleet operated&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/aaron-longton-fisherman-who-tied-sustainability-to-survival/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Brazil: Satellites expose rampant gold mining expansion on Indigenous Kayapó land</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/brazil-satellites-expose-rampant-gold-mining-expansion-on-indigenous-kayapo-land/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/brazil-satellites-expose-rampant-gold-mining-expansion-on-indigenous-kayapo-land/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Apr 2026 18:55:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/15185258/Bau-Overflight-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=317590</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon and Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Mining, Conservation, Deforestation, Deforestation Alert System, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Gold Mining, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Reserves, Mining, Rainforest Deforestation, Rainforest Mining, Rivers, Satellite Imagery, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Rivers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Kayapó Indigenous Territory has emerged as a major hotspot for illegal gold mining in the Brazilian Amazon’s Xingu River Basin, a major Amazon tributary. That’s according to a new report from the watchdog Monitoring of the Andes Amazon Program (MAAP). At least 7,940 hectares (19,620 acres) of forest on Kayapó land were cut down [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Kayapó Indigenous Territory has emerged as a major hotspot for illegal gold mining in the Brazilian Amazon’s Xingu River Basin, a major Amazon tributary. That’s according to a new report from the watchdog Monitoring of the Andes Amazon Program (MAAP). At least 7,940 hectares (19,620 acres) of forest on Kayapó land were cut down for mining since 2018, according to Amazon Mining Watch. Around 140 hectares (346 acres) were felled in 2025. The Xingu Basin, a 51-million-hectare river basin (126 million acres), roughly the size of Spain, cuts through Brazil’s Pará and Mato Grosso states and is home to some of the highest levels of deforestation from illegal gold mining in Brazil.   In May 2025, the Brazilian government carried out operations to remove illegal miners, destroying 25 large excavators, almost 1,000 tents and more than 400 engines. They seized 63 grams (2.2 ounces) of gold and almost 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of refined cocaine and cocaine base paste. A month later, in June 2025, just 2 hectares (5 acres) of land were illegally deforested. But by October 2025, mining activities began to encroach on the forest again, and an additional 15 hectares (37 acres) were deforested, MAAP’s satellite monitoring showed. Mining in the east of the Kayapó Indigenous Territory. Image courtesy of MAAP. Data from Planet/NICFI. Mining in the northeast of the Kayapó Indigenous Territory. Image courtesy of MAAP. Data from Planet/NICFI. Roughly 16,000 hectares (39,540 acres) of forest were destroyed between 2018 and 2024, according to Amazon&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/brazil-satellites-expose-rampant-gold-mining-expansion-on-indigenous-kayapo-land/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>The Amazon&#8217;s silent crime crisis (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/the-amazons-silent-crime-crisis-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/the-amazons-silent-crime-crisis-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Apr 2026 17:59:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carlos NobreIlona SzaboRobert Muggah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/15175627/peru_aerial_0166-2560px-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317585</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Mining, Commentary, Crime, Deforestation, Ecosystem Services, Editorials, Environment, Environmental Crime, Forests, Gold Mining, Illegal Logging, Illegal Mining, Illegal Trade, Mining, Organized Crime, Rainforest Ecological Services, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Amazon is approaching a dangerous threshold. Long understood as the world&#8217;s largest tropical forest and a critical regulator of the global climate, its future is increasingly shaped by the convergence of organized crime and environmental crime. This nexus is accelerating deforestation and degradation, worsening fire risk, undermining governance, and weakening the economic foundations needed to sustain [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Amazon is approaching a dangerous threshold. Long understood as the world&#8217;s largest tropical forest and a critical regulator of the global climate, its future is increasingly shaped by the convergence of organized crime and environmental crime. This nexus is accelerating deforestation and degradation, worsening fire risk, undermining governance, and weakening the economic foundations needed to sustain the region. Approaching a tipping point For decades, debate over the Amazon has centered on land-use change driven by agricultural expansion and cattle ranching. These pressures remain decisive. The advance of soy cultivation and pasture continues to fragment forests and disrupt rainfall cycles. When deforestation and degradation interact with climate change and fire, many scientists warn that parts of the Amazon—especially in the eastern and southern basin—could move toward an irreversible transition to a far more degraded, savannah-like state. A widely cited body of research suggests that such a tipping dynamic may emerge when deforestation reaches roughly 20 to 25 percent in some parts of the basin, especially when compounded by rising temperatures, drought, and recurrent fire. About 14–17% of the Amazon has been cleared, depending on definition and geography. The broader scientific message is clear: continued forest loss and degradation sharply increase the likelihood of large-scale ecological disruption. Many scientists warn that parts of the Amazon, especially the eastern and southern basin, are approaching dangerous thresholds once deforestation, degradation, fire and warming are considered together. Large-scale degraded areas scorched by fires, stripped by logging and desiccated by drought add a further layer of fragility that headline deforestation figures do not fully capture.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/the-amazons-silent-crime-crisis-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Nearly a million birds shipped from Africa to Asia in 15 years; canaries top the list</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/nearly-a-million-birds-shipped-from-africa-to-asia-in-15-years-canaries-top-the-list/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/nearly-a-million-birds-shipped-from-africa-to-asia-in-15-years-canaries-top-the-list/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Apr 2026 15:04:39 +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/20/2026/04/15120913/Photo-5-yfc-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317571</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Guinea, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Mali, Mozambique, North America, Senegal, Singapore, Southeast Asia, Tanzania, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Health, Infectious Wildlife Disease, Invasive Species, Nature And Health, Parrots, Pet Trade, Public Health, Regulations, Wildlife, Wildlife Crime, Wildlife Trade, Wildlife Trafficking, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Worldwide, people buy and hunt nearly half of the 11,000 bird species in existence. In Asia, Europe, and North and South America, songbirds and parrots are highly desired pets. Collectors pay exorbitant sums for rare species or melodious birds to compete in high-stakes singing competitions. Falconers and sport hunters capture or kill raptors. Belief-based rituals [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Worldwide, people buy and hunt nearly half of the 11,000 bird species in existence. In Asia, Europe, and North and South America, songbirds and parrots are highly desired pets. Collectors pay exorbitant sums for rare species or melodious birds to compete in high-stakes singing competitions. Falconers and sport hunters capture or kill raptors. Belief-based rituals in West Africa incorporate vulture parts. Buyers in North America seek dead hornbills and hummingbirds as home décor. The list goes on. This massive commerce threatens more than 200 avian species with extinction. Now, as online marketplaces proliferate, customers can order a bird with a swipe on their phone from anywhere on the planet. Moving birds around the world also spreads deadly diseases, from avian influenza to circovirus, and when non-native birds get loose, they may proliferate, outcompeting residents. “There&#8217;s a lack of awareness and appreciation for the scale of this trade, and little attention on the impacts that this could be having on wild populations or the risks for the spread of invasive species and infectious diseases,” said Rowan Martin, director of bird trade at the nonprofit World Parrot Trust. “If people are not aware that this is even happening, then how are we going to be able to mitigate the risks associated with it?” In an attempt to understand the scale of the live bird trade, Martin and his colleagues used records from U.N. Comtrade, a database that aggregates information on all commodities traded between countries. The team analyzed live bird imports into&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/nearly-a-million-birds-shipped-from-africa-to-asia-in-15-years-canaries-top-the-list/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Primate Planet</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/04/primate-planet/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/04/primate-planet/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Apr 2026 08:07:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alejandro Prescott-Cornejo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alejandroprescottcornejo]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/15080339/IMG_4699-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=specials&#038;p=317568</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Forests, Conservation, Deforestation, Forests, Primates, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Across the tropics, a growing movement is working to secure a future for primates in the face of disease, deforestation and wildlife trade. Reporting from across the planet, this video series highlights how scientists, conservationists and local communities are rebuilding populations and reconnecting fragmented forests. Along the way, it reveals the innovation, collaboration and resilience [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Across the tropics, a growing movement is working to secure a future for primates in the face of disease, deforestation and wildlife trade. Reporting from across the planet, this video series highlights how scientists, conservationists and local communities are rebuilding populations and reconnecting fragmented forests. Along the way, it reveals the innovation, collaboration and resilience shaping these efforts, offering a grounded yet hopeful look at what it takes to support primate survival in a rapidly changing world.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/04/primate-planet/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Invasive ferrets removed from an island in a world-first</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/invasive-ferrets-removed-from-an-island-in-a-world-first/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/invasive-ferrets-removed-from-an-island-in-a-world-first/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Apr 2026 04:14:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/15040305/Ferret_2008-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=317564</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe and United Kingdom]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Invasive Species, Islands, Marine Animals, Oceans, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Rathlin Island off the north of Northern Ireland is now free from feral ferrets that were harming its native seabirds. Conservationists say this is the first time these nonnative animals, which were domesticated from polecats some 2,000 years ago, have been completely eradicated from any island. Ferrets (Mustela furo) were introduced to Rathlin in the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Rathlin Island off the north of Northern Ireland is now free from feral ferrets that were harming its native seabirds. Conservationists say this is the first time these nonnative animals, which were domesticated from polecats some 2,000 years ago, have been completely eradicated from any island. Ferrets (Mustela furo) were introduced to Rathlin in the 1980s to control another invasive species, rabbits, which were considered agricultural pests. However, instead of targeting rabbits, the ferrets multiplied and feasted on seabirds, ground birds, and their eggs and chicks, said Erin McKeown, program manager of the Life Raft ferret-eradication project led by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Northern Ireland (RSPB NI). Rathlin Island is home to more than 250,000 seabirds like puffins, razorbills, guillemots and Manx shearwaters.  “On Rathlin, there has been over 70% of decline in puffin population,” McKeown told Mongabay by phone. “There are loads of different reasons for this decline, but one of the big ones is overpredation by ferrets. For example, a feral ferret got into our puffin colony in 2017 and in a two-day period had killed over 26 mature puffin birds. These are a species that will lay one egg a year.” In 2021, a five-year, 4.5-million-pound ($6.1 million) project, involving RSPB NI, government agencies, other charities and the local community, was launched to eradicate ferrets on Rathlin. There were an estimated 93 ferrets on the island at the time; all have now been removed by trappers, McKeown said. The project team also relied&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/invasive-ferrets-removed-from-an-island-in-a-world-first/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Indonesia braces for possible ‘Godzilla El Niño’ as fire season escalates early</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/indonesia-braces-for-possible-godzilla-el-nino-as-fire-season-escalates-early/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/indonesia-braces-for-possible-godzilla-el-nino-as-fire-season-escalates-early/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Apr 2026 04:12:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/05111107/student-in-haze-kalimantan-indonesia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317563</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Riau, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Climate Change, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, El Nino, fire, Forest Fires, Haze, Health, Palm Oil, Peatlands, Plantations, Pollution, Public Health, Rainforests, Southeast Asian Haze, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and wildfires]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia is entering the 2026 fire season with early signs of escalation, as burned area surges even before the dry season peak and forecasts raise the possibility of a so-called “Godzilla” El Niño later this year. Burned area reached 32,637 hectares (80,650 acres) by February — about three times the size of Paris, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia is entering the 2026 fire season with early signs of escalation, as burned area surges even before the dry season peak and forecasts raise the possibility of a so-called “Godzilla” El Niño later this year. Burned area reached 32,637 hectares (80,650 acres) by February — about three times the size of Paris, 20 times higher than the same period last year — even before the dry season has fully set in. Scientists say this early surge could signal the start of a more intense fire season, especially as climate forecasts point to the possible return of El Niño. Some global forecasts suggest the event could become one of the strongest in at least a decade, raising the risk of prolonged drought and widespread fires, although significant uncertainty remains over how intense it will ultimately be. A strong El Niño would also likely reshape global weather patterns and could push global temperatures to record levels in 2027, due to the lagged warming effect the phenomenon has on the climate system. El Niño refers to a warming of sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean that can disrupt weather patterns worldwide. In Indonesia, it is typically associated with drier conditions and heightened fire risk. Indonesian agencies have at times referred to the potential event as a Godzilla El Niño, a nonscientific term used to describe an unusually strong episode that could significantly intensify drought and fire risk. Indonesia’s meteorological agency, BMKG, says there is a 50-80% chance of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/indonesia-braces-for-possible-godzilla-el-nino-as-fire-season-escalates-early/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>‘Rediscovered’ species in Papua spotlight importance of Indigenous knowledge</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/rediscovered-species-in-papua-spotlights-importance-of-indigenous-knowledge/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/rediscovered-species-in-papua-spotlights-importance-of-indigenous-knowledge/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Apr 2026 02:22:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/14103750/20230611-BE4A9979-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317487</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Oceania, Papua, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Indigenous Cultures, Indigenous Peoples, Mammals, Marsupials, Rediscovered Species, Research, Traditional Knowledge, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It started with a set of photographs, taken of an animal captured in 2015 on the Bird’s Head Peninsula in Indonesian Papua, the western half of the island of New Guinea. The smallish animal with “large hands” looked a bit like a slow loris, a small primate that doesn’t live on the island, or perhaps [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It started with a set of photographs, taken of an animal captured in 2015 on the Bird’s Head Peninsula in Indonesian Papua, the western half of the island of New Guinea. The smallish animal with “large hands” looked a bit like a slow loris, a small primate that doesn’t live on the island, or perhaps a cuscus, which, like this specimen, is also a marsupial. Further inspection of the photos, however, suggested it might be something else altogether, a species long thought lost to extinction — by scientists, anyway. Interviews in local communities provided a breadcrumb trail suggesting that a forest-dwelling glider, known — again, to science — only from millennia-old fragments of teeth and bone, might yet live in the forests of Indonesian Papua. Several years later, Rika Korain was approached by her longtime friend and colleague, Australian mammalogist Tim Flannery, who asked if she might help him get a bead on whether the animal still existed. Korain, a human rights lawyer and Indigenous Maybrat woman, immediately thought of the elders from the Tambrauw people, a group that lives close to the Maybrat and with whom they share traditions in common. “I’m from the Bird’s Head area,” she says. “I told [Flannery], let’s find out from my clan, from my people’s side. Let’s try to talk with the elders or especially the hunters who always go to the jungle to find out whether they see this particular animal.” So in 2023, she and Flannery spoke with two Tambrauw elders,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/rediscovered-species-in-papua-spotlights-importance-of-indigenous-knowledge/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/rediscovered-species-in-papua-spotlights-importance-of-indigenous-knowledge/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Coexisting with America’s growing urban coyote population is easier than you think</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/04/coexisting-with-americas-growing-urban-coyote-population-is-easier-than-you-think/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/04/coexisting-with-americas-growing-urban-coyote-population-is-easier-than-you-think/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2026 23:01:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike DiGirolamo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mikedigirolamo]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/07/24194057/City-coyote-2-2048x1638-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=podcasts&#038;p=317069</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carnivores, Environment, Featured, Human-wildlife Conflict, Interviews, Podcast, Trapping, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Coyotes are now present in almost every major urban-metropolitan area in the United States, yet conflicts between the canines and humans are exceptionally low. Between 1960 and 2006, only 146 documented coyote attacks on humans occurred in the U.S. and Canada. Yet there are 4.5 million dog attacks on humans annually in the U.S. alone. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Coyotes are now present in almost every major urban-metropolitan area in the United States, yet conflicts between the canines and humans are exceptionally low. Between 1960 and 2006, only 146 documented coyote attacks on humans occurred in the U.S. and Canada. Yet there are 4.5 million dog attacks on humans annually in the U.S. alone. Despite the low number of conflicts with coyotes, nearly one coyote is killed every minute in the United States on average, according to the nonprofit organization Project Coyote. Camilla Fox, the group’s founder and executive director, joins this week&#8217;s podcast to discuss the myths and misconceptions around coyotes (Canis latrans), why they’re largely peaceful and critical for ecosystem health, and how humans can coexist better with the growing urban population of coyotes. “For a lot of people … who grow up in urban areas, a coyote is the first predator they&#8217;ve ever experienced in their lives,” she explains. “But … if you can arm yourself with knowledge and educate yourself about this animal, you&#8217;ll come to see not only their ecological role, but also what an amazing animal” it is. Coyotes mostly eat rodents and are critical for regulating rodent populations, Fox explains. Depending on location, they also help regulate the abundance of mesopredators such as raccoons and skunks. This, in turn, helps protect existing biodiversity, such as birds (which are declining across the U.S.). “By having the presence of a coyote in the landscape, they will help, through competitive exclusion, to keep these mesocarnivore&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/04/coexisting-with-americas-growing-urban-coyote-population-is-easier-than-you-think/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/04/coexisting-with-americas-growing-urban-coyote-population-is-easier-than-you-think/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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					<title>Exploring giraffe-human conflict in Kenya</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/exploring-giraffe-human-conflict-in-kenya/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/exploring-giraffe-human-conflict-in-kenya/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2026 22:08:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/14220234/Reticulated_giraffe_in_Kenya_national_park-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=317560</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Giraffes, Human-wildlife Conflict, Mammals, Wildilfe, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Reticulated giraffes are an endangered species across their primary range in Kenya, most commonly threatened by habitat loss and illegal hunting. Conflicts with people are also rising as giraffes sometimes eat crops like mangos and compete with local people for water. A group of researchers investigated emerging human-giraffe conflict (HGC) in northeastern Kenya found that, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Reticulated giraffes are an endangered species across their primary range in Kenya, most commonly threatened by habitat loss and illegal hunting. Conflicts with people are also rising as giraffes sometimes eat crops like mangos and compete with local people for water. A group of researchers investigated emerging human-giraffe conflict (HGC) in northeastern Kenya found that, despite tension, there is widespread local support for giraffes by local people, and opportunities to reduce conflict. Fewer than 20,000 reticulated giraffes (Giraffa reticulata) are estimated to remain in the wild, roughly a 56% population decline over the last 30 years, according to the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. The research team worked in the Bour-Algy Giraffe Sanctuary, which was created along the Tana River in northeastern Kenya to protect the local population of reticulated giraffes. The sanctuary was created by volunteers from Bour-Algy village in 1995, but before this study there was little formal understanding of how local people felt about the giraffes and what impact giraffes had on their lives. The researchers conducted 400 interviews with households around the sanctuary. Their goal was to learn about local attitudes toward giraffes — whether people perceived them as a risk, what caused conflicts with giraffes and determine local strategies for coexistence. The team found that there was a relatively high tolerance for giraffes in the community. “Most respondents viewed giraffes as low-risk and over half reported no damage to land or property,” Abdullahi Ali, first author of the study, told Mongabay in an email. “Importantly, the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/exploring-giraffe-human-conflict-in-kenya/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>A reforestation corridor in Madagascar offers a future for lemurs and locals</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-reforestation-corridor-in-madagascar-offers-a-future-for-lemurs-and-locals/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-reforestation-corridor-in-madagascar-offers-a-future-for-lemurs-and-locals/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2026 22:07:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Marina Martinez]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/14174849/1-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317476</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Corridors, Degraded Lands, Ecotourism, Education, Environment, forest degradation, Forest Fragmentation, Forests, Fragmentation, Fungi, Health, Lemurs, Mammals, Plants, Primates, Reforestation, Restoration, Trees, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In eastern Madagascar, Andasibe-Mantadia National Park and the Analamazoatra Special Reserve shelter around a dozen species of lemurs, alongside an extraordinary array of animals and plants, many of which are found nowhere else on Earth. Once connected by continuous rainforest, the landscape was fractured in the 1960s, when large stretches were cleared for agriculture and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In eastern Madagascar, Andasibe-Mantadia National Park and the Analamazoatra Special Reserve shelter around a dozen species of lemurs, alongside an extraordinary array of animals and plants, many of which are found nowhere else on Earth. Once connected by continuous rainforest, the landscape was fractured in the 1960s, when large stretches were cleared for agriculture and cattle pasture. What remained was a patchwork of forest fragments separated by degraded land, limiting wildlife movement and threatening biodiversity. Today, a coalition of researchers, conservationists and local communities is working to reverse that fragmentation by rebuilding a forest corridor from the ground up. The reforestation corridor connecting Andasibe-Mantadia and Analamazoatra, launched in 2023, aims to restore 150 hectares (370 acres) of native forest and reconnect these two critical habitats. Led by the Mad Dog Initiative (MDI), a Madagascar-based wildlife conservation NGO, in partnership with The Dr. Abigail Ross Foundation for Applied Conservation (TDARFAC, a nonprofit conservation organization focused on Madagascar), Association Mitsinjo and Ecovision Village, the project represents a unique convergence of science, private investment and community action. It began not with a grand plan, but with an exchange of ideas and a shared commitment. As Kim Valenta of MDI recalled, she first recognized the physical disconnect between these two protected areas in 2017, while leading sterilization and vaccination campaigns to limit the impacts of free-roaming pets on wildlife in the region. She then met others who were also committed to restoring the broken landscape. “We looked at some maps, and shortly after I&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-reforestation-corridor-in-madagascar-offers-a-future-for-lemurs-and-locals/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>In Brazil, unfinished water project leaves Indigenous villages without safe water</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-brazil-unfinished-water-project-leaves-indigenous-villages-without-safe-water/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-brazil-unfinished-water-project-leaves-indigenous-villages-without-safe-water/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2026 21:13:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Adriana AmâncioFelipe Medeiros]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/14211159/Caixa-d_agua-na-comunidade-Bem-Viver_Fotos-Felipe-Medeiros-7-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317557</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Drinking Water, Freshwater, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Culture, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Water, Water Crisis, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[RAPOSA SERRA DO SOL, Brazil — Turned upside down on the dirt floor, next to an artisanal flour mill, a huge water tank catches the eye of those passing through the Bem Viver community, in the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Territory, located 300 kilometers (186 miles) from Roraima’s state capital Boa Vista. Under the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[RAPOSA SERRA DO SOL, Brazil — Turned upside down on the dirt floor, next to an artisanal flour mill, a huge water tank catches the eye of those passing through the Bem Viver community, in the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Territory, located 300 kilometers (186 miles) from Roraima’s state capital Boa Vista. Under the sun and rain, in the open air, the dusty object conveys an urgent message: Instead of storing drinking water for the Bem Viver (an Indigenous concept of ‘living well’ lifestyle prevalent in Latin America) village population, the 5,000-liter (1,320-gallon) container has remained unused for almost two years. The reservoir was provided to the community by the East Roraima Special Indigenous Sanitation District (DSEI in Portuguese), the managing unit of the federal government’s Indigenous Health Care Subsystem (SASISUS). It has not received a single drop of water — because it has not even been installed yet. Unable to use it, local residents were forced to devise an alternative plan: The mission consists of collecting water from a nearby waterfall connected to the village through an improvised network of pipes approximately 700 meters (2,296 feet) long. While the connection provides some water, it is consumed without proper treatment. At the same time, the thin and fragile pipes suffer from daily obstructions, almost always caused by the accumulation of leaves and debris. Improvised piping system for collecting water from a waterfall at the Bem Viver community in Raposa Serra do Sol, Roraima. Image by Felipe Medeiros. According to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-brazil-unfinished-water-project-leaves-indigenous-villages-without-safe-water/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>EUDR is starting to steer company actions, despite slow progress: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/eudr-is-starting-to-steer-company-actions-despite-slow-progress-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/eudr-is-starting-to-steer-company-actions-despite-slow-progress-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2026 20:46:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Constance Malleret]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandrapopescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cattle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Commodity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forest Loss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Illegal Logging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law Enforcement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leather]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Palm Oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Soy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Supply Chain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tropical Deforestation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/11180020/AP23291581278710-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317553</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[European Union and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Beef, Cattle, Commodity agriculture, Corporate Responsibility, Corporate Role In Conservation, Corporate Social Responsibility, Deforestation, Forest Loss, Illegal Logging, Law, Palm Oil, Soy, Supply Chain, Sustainability, wood, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Some companies have made headway toward removing deforestation from their supply chains in the last year, in preparation for the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), according to a new report by the NGO Global Canopy. This shows that the upcoming regulation is driving some progress despite an unfavorable global climate for environmental commitments. The Forest [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Some companies have made headway toward removing deforestation from their supply chains in the last year, in preparation for the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), according to a new report by the NGO Global Canopy. This shows that the upcoming regulation is driving some progress despite an unfavorable global climate for environmental commitments. The Forest 500 Report 2026 examined the corporate commitments on deforestation, land conversion and human rights of the 500 companies with most influence over nine commodities linked to deforestation and covered by the EUDR: beef, cocoa, coffee, leather, palm, pulp and paper, rubber, soy and timber. It found that more than a quarter of companies reported new forms of implementation action in 2025, and 14% specifically mentioned the EUDR in documents about deforestation commitments. Forest 500 is based on public documents, and more companies could be making decisions based on the EUDR in private, the report notes. The EUDR is due to take effect Dec. 30 this year after several delays. “The EUDR is the main focus of this report. The key takeaway is that it’s working, it’s appearing in lots of company reporting, with 68 companies in our assessment citing it in regard to deforestation commitments, especially with traceability,” said Chloe Rollscane, a research associate at Global Canopy. “Even though [the EUDR] is not in place yet, it’s obvious that companies are getting ready for it.” These companies include producers and processors in source countries, as well as traders and retailers in the EU, Rollscane told&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/eudr-is-starting-to-steer-company-actions-despite-slow-progress-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Māori knowledge shows climate change domino effects on forest food chains</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/maori-knowledge-shows-climate-change-domino-effects-on-forest-food-chains/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/maori-knowledge-shows-climate-change-domino-effects-on-forest-food-chains/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2026 20:26:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Monica Evans]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/14200310/Phil-Lyver-second-from-left-and-Tuawhenua-kaumatua-elders.-Photo-by-Manaaki-Whenua-Landcare-Research-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317537</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[New Zealand and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Birds, Food, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Science, Traditional Knowledge, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[RAGLAN, Aotearoa New Zealand — Imagine a forest floor so thick with juicy, crunchy purple tawa (Beilschmiedia tawa) fruit in summertime that you can’t cross it without skidding and falling. Birds so fat with toromiro (Pectinopitys ferruginea) berries that they explode when you shoot them. Pigs that don’t bother to dig in the ground because [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[RAGLAN, Aotearoa New Zealand — Imagine a forest floor so thick with juicy, crunchy purple tawa (Beilschmiedia tawa) fruit in summertime that you can’t cross it without skidding and falling. Birds so fat with toromiro (Pectinopitys ferruginea) berries that they explode when you shoot them. Pigs that don’t bother to dig in the ground because there’s so much food on top of it for the taking. For elder Māori of the Tūhoe Tuawhenua and Ngāti Whare iwi (tribal groups) in Aotearoa New Zealand’s North Island, such phenomena used to be commonplace. But they’re now a distant memory. The fruits of the Te Urewera and Whirinaki forests used to set, ripen and drop with rhythmic regularity, and people who lived there were attuned to those beats and their impact across the food chain. In the past three decades, those patterns have started to falter. Over a decades-long engagement process, an Indigenous-led team of researchers has drawn on mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) to document and understand changes in these forests across the last 75 years. Their new study tracks, for the first time, fruiting changes in line with shifting climatic patterns in the country. Elders and scientists show how relatively subtle shifts like the timing of fruit ripening can cascade through such diverse issues as soil health, food systems and culture. Image by Jacqui Geux via iNaturalist (CC BY 4.0). The kererū, also known as the New Zealand pigeon (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae). Image courtesy of Phil Lyver. “The forest itself has signaled change,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/maori-knowledge-shows-climate-change-domino-effects-on-forest-food-chains/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Deep-sea wildernesses are more important than the promise of seafloor mining (analysis)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/deep-sea-wildernesses-are-more-important-than-the-promise-of-seafloor-mining-analysis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/deep-sea-wildernesses-are-more-important-than-the-promise-of-seafloor-mining-analysis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2026 18:23:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andrew D. Thaler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/21170043/FK210726-Dive443-BubblegumCoral-20210728-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317523</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Oceania, Pacific Islands, Pacific Ocean, and Papua New Guinea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Analysis, Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Business, Commentary, Critical Minerals, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Environment, Environmental Ethics, Ethics, Fisheries, Governance, Marine Animals, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Conservation, Marine Ecosystems, Mining, Oceans, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When I set sail on the MV NorSky in the summer of 2008 to probe the depths of Manus Basin off the coast of Papua New Guinea, I believed in the promise of deep-sea mining. As an early-career deep-sea ecologist, I was swayed by arguments in favor of this emerging industry. It offered a new [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When I set sail on the MV NorSky in the summer of 2008 to probe the depths of Manus Basin off the coast of Papua New Guinea, I believed in the promise of deep-sea mining. As an early-career deep-sea ecologist, I was swayed by arguments in favor of this emerging industry. It offered a new way to obtain the metals needed for the renewable energy revolution, one allegedly free of the human rights and environmental abuses of terrestrial mining. The company was Nautilus Minerals, and the plan was to mine an active hydrothermal vent field called Solwara I. What is a hydrothermal vent and why would anyone want to mine one? When seawater is drawn down into the earth and heated under enormous pressure, it rises through cracks in the crust, erupting from the seafloor in metal-rich plumes. Those metals are deposited on the walls of a growing chimney. Deep-sea miners call this structure a seafloor massive sulfide. They can be rich in gold and silver, as well as copper, zinc, lead and rare earth elements. By most estimates, Solwara I is among the most valuable seafloor massive sulfides ever discovered. And it is not only rich in metals, it is rich with life. The dumbo octopus is a species only found in the deep sea. Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research. The communities that grow around hydrothermal vents depend on the chemical energy of the vent plume. The geological process that deposits metals also&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/deep-sea-wildernesses-are-more-important-than-the-promise-of-seafloor-mining-analysis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Ghana declares its first marine protected area</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/ghana-declares-its-first-marine-protected-area/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/ghana-declares-its-first-marine-protected-area/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2026 17:57:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/14155017/b.-BANNER-15752919979_7aa311a1a4_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=317516</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ghana]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Conservation, Fish, Fisheries, food security, Governance, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Ocean, Overfishing, and Saltwater Fish]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Ghana has declared its first marine protected area after more than 15 years of efforts to bolster marine conservation and safeguard its depleting fish stocks. Vice President Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang announced the creation of the MPA on April 14. It marks a “historic moment,” according to Ghana’s fisheries commission, Benjamin Campion. The designated area covers [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Ghana has declared its first marine protected area after more than 15 years of efforts to bolster marine conservation and safeguard its depleting fish stocks. Vice President Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang announced the creation of the MPA on April 14. It marks a “historic moment,” according to Ghana’s fisheries commission, Benjamin Campion. The designated area covers 703 square kilometers (271 square miles) in the greater Cape Three Points area, at the southernmost tip of the country. A key spawning and nursery ground for small pelagic fisheries, targeting fish near the water’s surface, the area has been identified as having the potential to restore critical fish populations. The protected area will consist of a core zone where no fishing will be allowed and multiple-use zones where fishing and other activities will be still be permitted, but strictly regulated. “The MPA forms part of a broader national strategy to rebuild Ghana’s fisheries sector, complementing existing interventions,” Campion told Mongabay via email. Ghana’s small pelagic fishery is at risk of collapse due to years of overfishing by a growing artisanal sector, the use of destructive gear and fishing methods by industrial trawlers, and the effects of climate change. These pressures increasingly threaten the country’s food security, as a majority of the population’s animal protein intake comes from small pelagics. In response, Ghana has implemented multiple conservation measures to ease pressure on populations of sardinella (Sardinella spp.), anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) and mackerel (Scomber japonicus). These include seasonal fisheries closures, a three-year moratorium imposed in 2023 on&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/ghana-declares-its-first-marine-protected-area/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Afghanistan&#8217;s capital is in the grip of a water crisis</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/afghanistans-capital-is-in-the-grip-of-a-water-crisis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/afghanistans-capital-is-in-the-grip-of-a-water-crisis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2026 16:18:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/14161358/AP26104192408622-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=317520</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Afghanistan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Drinking Water, Freshwater, Infrastructure, Water Crisis, Water Pollution, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Nestled in a high-altitude valley in Afghanistan&#8217;s Hindu Kush mountain range, Kabul is rapidly running out of water. Experts say climate change has played its part, but so has massive population growth and resource mismanagement. Many people, particularly in the poorer areas of the Afghan capital, are left struggling to cope. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Nestled in a high-altitude valley in Afghanistan&#8217;s Hindu Kush mountain range, Kabul is rapidly running out of water. Experts say climate change has played its part, but so has massive population growth and resource mismanagement. Many people, particularly in the poorer areas of the Afghan capital, are left struggling to cope. They have to buy clean drinking water and collect brackish water from communal taps, carrying it to their homes. The Taliban government says it has implemented a series of measures to tackle the growing crisis. But two major projects that would significantly contribute to a solution have been delayed. By Elena Becatoros, Associated Press Banner image: A boy and a girl collect water from a hose connected to a well at a mosque in Deh Mazang, Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, April 2, 2026.  Image by Siddiqullah Alizai via Associated PressThis article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/afghanistans-capital-is-in-the-grip-of-a-water-crisis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>This ghost octopus is facing a new threat</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/this-ghost-octopus-is-facing-a-new-threat/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/this-ghost-octopus-is-facing-a-new-threat/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2026 14:48:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Juan Maza]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Lucia Torres]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/14144703/Scicam_Casper_Octopus-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=317514</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[China’s Demand For Resources, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Mining, and Wildilfe]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[China is one of the biggest players in the race to mine the deep sea — and a joint Mongabay-CNN investigation shows that over the past five years, eight Chinese research vessels have been busy exploring for minerals in zones designated to Chinese companies. These eight ships spent more than 800 days inside these deep-sea [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[China is one of the biggest players in the race to mine the deep sea — and a joint Mongabay-CNN investigation shows that over the past five years, eight Chinese research vessels have been busy exploring for minerals in zones designated to Chinese companies. These eight ships spent more than 800 days inside these deep-sea mining areas, traveling a distance more than twice the circumference of the Earth. But when we looked closer, we noticed something interesting. These vessels weren’t actually spending much of their sea time in these deep-sea mining areas. Instead, the ships were also operating in strategically important parts of the ocean — places where future military tensions with the United States might unfold. This raised an important question — are these ships just exploring for minerals? Or are they also gathering intelligence, such as scouting out the locations of U.S. submarines or undersea cables? Our findings suggest they are doing both. This raises important geopolitical concerns. And it matters for the environment : These ships use powerful echosounders that can harm whales and octopuses like Casper. And if deep-sea mining begins, it could cause irreversible damage to the marine environment. You can read the full investigation: https://news.mongabay.com/custom-story/2026/03/chinas-deep-sea-mining-fleet-may-also-track-us-submarines/This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/this-ghost-octopus-is-facing-a-new-threat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>George Schaller: The field biologist who helped redefine conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/george-schaller-the-field-biologist-who-helped-redefine-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/george-schaller-the-field-biologist-who-helped-redefine-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2026 12:08:19 +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/20/2026/04/13210433/Art31_52830005-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317452</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Brazil, China, Global, India, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Apes, Bears, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Book Reviews, Books, Cats, Conservation, Conservation Philosophy, Endangered Species, Environmental Heroes, Featured, Gorillas, Great Apes, Jaguars, Lions, Mammals, Pandas, Primates, Protected Areas, Research, Snow Leopards, Tigers, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Some lives seem to belong less to a nation or a profession than to a disposition. George B. Schaller’s was one of them. He belonged, above all, to animals—gorillas, lions, tigers, snow leopards, pandas—and to the landscapes that still made room for them. In Homesick for a World Unknown: The Life of George B. Schaller, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Some lives seem to belong less to a nation or a profession than to a disposition. George B. Schaller’s was one of them. He belonged, above all, to animals—gorillas, lions, tigers, snow leopards, pandas—and to the landscapes that still made room for them. In Homesick for a World Unknown: The Life of George B. Schaller, Miriam Horn attempts something both straightforward and unusually difficult: to write a full biography of a man who spent most of his life turning his attention away from himself. Schaller is not obscure. He is widely regarded as the most important field biologist of the twentieth century, a figure whose work reshaped zoology, conservation biology, and the way humans think about animal lives. Yet he remains oddly resistant to biography. He disliked introspection, avoided publicity, and wrote sparingly about his own emotions even when describing moments of extreme danger or revelation. Horn’s achievement is to take this reticence seriously rather than try to overcome it. The result is a book that is expansive without being intrusive, admiring without being reverential, and alert to ambiguity even when recounting an extraordinary career. The arc of Schaller’s life has the shape of an adventure story, though Horn is careful not to write one. Born in Berlin in 1933 to an American mother and a German diplomat father, Schaller’s early years were marked by displacement, war, and a persistent sense of not quite belonging. His childhood moved across Nazi Germany, occupied Europe, and eventually the United States. These experiences&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/george-schaller-the-field-biologist-who-helped-redefine-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>In northern Kenya, a shifting Lake Turkana reshapes traditional livelihoods</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-northern-kenya-a-shifting-lake-turkana-reshapes-traditional-livelihoods/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-northern-kenya-a-shifting-lake-turkana-reshapes-traditional-livelihoods/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2026 11:18:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Christopher Clark]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/14102303/Kute-Hero-right-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317473</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Climate Change And Food, Conservation, Drought, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Flooding, Food, Food Crisis, food security, Freshwater Ecosystems, Freshwater Fish, Hunger, Lakes, Overfishing, Poverty, and Regulations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KOMOTE, Kenya — At sunrise on Komote Island, 36-year-old James Lekubo walks his two children down a rocky hillside to the water’s edge, where they clamber into a small fishing boat with a couple of dozen others to journey across a stretch of lake that didn’t exist a few years ago. On the other side [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KOMOTE, Kenya — At sunrise on Komote Island, 36-year-old James Lekubo walks his two children down a rocky hillside to the water’s edge, where they clamber into a small fishing boat with a couple of dozen others to journey across a stretch of lake that didn’t exist a few years ago. On the other side lie their school and the nearest clinic — services that were previously within walking distance. Lekubo is a member of the El Molo, Kenya’s smallest and most marginalized ethnic group, who have lived here along the stark eastern shores of Lake Turkana for centuries. But in more recent years, the world’s largest desert lake has begun to turn against them, threatening not only their traditional livelihood but the very fabric of their cultural identity. According to a 2021 report by Kenya’s environment ministry, over the preceding decade, Turkana’s water levels rose by several meters, expanding the lake’s total surface area by around 10%, largely due to heavier rainfall in the Ethiopian highlands that feed it via the Omo River. Since then, the lake has continued to grow, submerging up to 1,000 square kilometers (about 390 square miles) of the surrounding landscape — an area half the size of London — including roads, grazing land, ancient burial sites, and even entire villages. Primary school children getting off the boat that now ferries them to school. Image by Christopher Clark for Mongabay. Lekubo watched helplessly as Komote was gradually cut off from the mainland. “Most people left&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-northern-kenya-a-shifting-lake-turkana-reshapes-traditional-livelihoods/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Landmark win for Thai villagers, but gold mine appeal delays justice</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/landmark-win-for-thai-villagers-but-gold-mine-appeal-delays-justice/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/landmark-win-for-thai-villagers-but-gold-mine-appeal-delays-justice/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2026 08:01:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/14080057/Work-in-Chatree-gold-mineMarch-282026-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=317461</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Gold Mining, Health, Indigenous Communities, Mining, and Public Health]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a landmark verdict, the Bangkok Civil Court last month held the operator of a gold mine liable for environmental and health damages, ordering it to compensate nearly 400 villagers. But the company is appealing against the ruling, which will likely delay payouts and prolong a decade-long legal fight, reports contributor Kannikar Petchkaew for Mongabay. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In a landmark verdict, the Bangkok Civil Court last month held the operator of a gold mine liable for environmental and health damages, ordering it to compensate nearly 400 villagers. But the company is appealing against the ruling, which will likely delay payouts and prolong a decade-long legal fight, reports contributor Kannikar Petchkaew for Mongabay. The case against Akara Resources Plc, operator of the Chatree gold mine, is Thailand’s first environmental class action lawsuit, enabled by a 2015 legal amendment. It was filed in 2016 by affected residents in Phichit and Phetchabun provinces, in central Thailand, where the Chatree mine, the country’s largest gold mine, is located. The court recognized that for more than 10 years, residents suffered from elevated levels of heavy metals such as manganese and cyanide in their blood, alongside chronic health issues like skin disease, linked to mining operations. The court further said that Akara Resources had failed to prove the contamination was unrelated to its mining operations, and ruled the company was liable for the environmental damage and health impacts. The court mandated direct compensation of $2,300 to $7,200 per person, plus small medical expenses. It also ruled that Akara Resources must shut down a leaking facility holding mining sludge, and bear the full cost of environmental rehabilitation. Both Akara Resources and its Australian parent company, Kingsgate Consolidated, are appealing the ruling, citing “inconclusive evidence.” This move effectively freezes any compensation for the foreseeable future. Advocacy groups like the Manushya Foundation argue the court-ordered amounts&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/landmark-win-for-thai-villagers-but-gold-mine-appeal-delays-justice/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Conservation efforts help an endangered dipterocarp spread roots in Bangladesh</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/conservation-efforts-help-an-endangered-dipterocarp-spread-roots-in-bangladesh/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/conservation-efforts-help-an-endangered-dipterocarp-spread-roots-in-bangladesh/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2026 07:53:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sadiqur Rahman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/14075155/boilam-in-bangladesh-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317462</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Endangered Species, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Saving Species From Extinction, Trees, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On Jan. 23, 2026, Mahbubul Islam Polash, a 34-year-old man from Bangladesh’s northern district of Sirajganj, traveled to Teknaf area in the southeastern coastal district of Cox’s Bazar, around 600 kilometers (373 miles) south of his hometown. Here, he planted a sapling of Anisoptera scaphula, a dipterocarp tree commonly known as boilam in Bangladesh. That [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On Jan. 23, 2026, Mahbubul Islam Polash, a 34-year-old man from Bangladesh’s northern district of Sirajganj, traveled to Teknaf area in the southeastern coastal district of Cox’s Bazar, around 600 kilometers (373 miles) south of his hometown. Here, he planted a sapling of Anisoptera scaphula, a dipterocarp tree commonly known as boilam in Bangladesh. That day marked the 64th planting of the endangered tree species, completing the plantation campaign in all the districts of the country. The campaign was launched on June 5, 2024, coinciding with World Environment Day, in the northwestern Rajshahi district. When Polash learned that the towering tree species was on the verge of extinction and birds like kites and vultures were losing nesting habitats, he pinned his focus on planting boilams. “Even if it was just one species, I wanted to spread it countrywide,” Polash tells Mongabay. In 2019, he says, he planned to collect its seeds or saplings from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) and distribute them across the country. But his initial attempts to germinate boilam seeds failed. Undeterred he continued to try and, in 2023, he succeeded in the germination of 74 seeds from the 2,000 sourced from mother trees in the hilly Bandarban and Khagrachhari districts. The saplings were nurtured on a piece of land adjacent to Polash’s home in Sirajganj for a year until they reached a height of about 30-45 centimeters (12-18 inches). Finally, the boilam saplings were planted in 64 districts of Bangladesh. Polash spent 597 days and self-financed&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/conservation-efforts-help-an-endangered-dipterocarp-spread-roots-in-bangladesh/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Two-month-old bear cubs rescued from Facebook sale in Laos</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/two-month-old-bear-cubs-rescued-from-facebook-sale-in-laos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/two-month-old-bear-cubs-rescued-from-facebook-sale-in-laos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2026 07:06:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Naina Rao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/14065214/MoonBearCubs-e1776149982947-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=317456</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bears, Conservation, Illegal Trade, Indonesia, Social Media, Wildlife, Wildlife Crime, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Two Asiatic black bear cubs posted for sale on Facebook have been rescued in Laos as part of an illegal wildlife trade sting. Free the Bears, an international conservation nonprofit, coordinated the operation with local authorities in Oudomxay province after discovering the Facebook post while monitoring online platforms for wildlife traders. The advertisement featured two [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Two Asiatic black bear cubs posted for sale on Facebook have been rescued in Laos as part of an illegal wildlife trade sting. Free the Bears, an international conservation nonprofit, coordinated the operation with local authorities in Oudomxay province after discovering the Facebook post while monitoring online platforms for wildlife traders. The advertisement featured two Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) sisters, roughly 2 months old and weighing less than 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) each. “They had been taken illegally from the wild, and sadly their mother was likely killed in the process,” Free the Bears said in a press release. Both cubs, found malnourished and cramped in a plastic washing basket, were rescued within 24 hours of the Facebook post being discovered. They’re now receiving specialist care at the Luang Prabang Wildlife Sanctuary, the nonprofit said. Matt Hunt, CEO of Free the Bears, told Mongabay by email that the case highlights a dangerous evolution in the illegal wildlife trade. “In the past, bear cubs would change hands several times before reaching cities or bear farms, from hunters to village middlemen and onto other traders,” Hunt said. “Each time cubs changed hands was an opportunity for law enforcement to intervene. Today, with the rise of social media, hunters in even the most remote forested provinces can directly reach urban buyers through chat groups on platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, or WeChat.” Hunt added that this digital shift makes the trade faster and harder to track: Once animals are listed online, they can&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/04/two-month-old-bear-cubs-rescued-from-facebook-sale-in-laos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Can nature outcompete war in Eastern Congo?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/can-nature-outcompete-war-in-eastern-congo/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/can-nature-outcompete-war-in-eastern-congo/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Apr 2026 23:26:11 +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/20/2026/04/10225923/drc_260324_103134432-EMMANUEL-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317207</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Congo, Congo Basin, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Featured, Forests, Governance, Green, Interviews, Landscape Restoration, Parks, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Sustainability, Tropical Forests, Violence, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, discussion of conservation often centers on loss: forests cleared, wildlife depleted, conflict spreading across landscapes that once supported some of the richest ecosystems on Earth. At Virunga National Park, those pressures are concentrated. The park, Africa’s oldest, contains glaciers, volcanoes, forests, and wetlands within a single protected area. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, discussion of conservation often centers on loss: forests cleared, wildlife depleted, conflict spreading across landscapes that once supported some of the richest ecosystems on Earth. At Virunga National Park, those pressures are concentrated. The park, Africa’s oldest, contains glaciers, volcanoes, forests, and wetlands within a single protected area. It also sits within a region shaped by decades of instability, where armed groups, informal economies, and weak governance are part of daily life. Virunga National Park. Image courtesy of Bitini Ndiyanabo Kanane. Emmanuel de Merode, who has led Virunga since 2008, does not begin with ecology. His training is in anthropology, and that shapes how he describes the park. The condition of wildlife, he suggests, follows from deeper forces. Forest loss, poaching, and insecurity are not simply environmental problems. They emerge from how people earn a living, how authority functions, and how money and resources circulate. In eastern Congo, conservation cannot be separated from the economy. For many communities around Virunga, the choices are immediate. Clearing forest for agriculture or producing charcoal can generate income that supports a household. The benefits of conservation are harder to see and often accrue far beyond the region. The imbalance shows up in daily decisions about fuel, food, and access to land. As de Merode describes it, the system asks some of the poorest populations to bear the cost of protecting assets valued globally. The pressure on the park is reinforced by conflict. Since the mid-1990s, eastern Congo&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/can-nature-outcompete-war-in-eastern-congo/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>30-year Himalayan project shows power of community-led forest restoration</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/30-year-himalayan-project-shows-power-of-community-led-forest-restoration/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/30-year-himalayan-project-shows-power-of-community-led-forest-restoration/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Apr 2026 19:41:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shradha Triveni]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/13185228/Kalij_pheasant_Prasanna_Mamidala-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317419</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Himalayas, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Community Forestry, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Ecological Restoration, Forest Destruction, Landscape Restoration, Mountains, Plantations, Reforestation, and Restoration]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A recent study in the journal Frontiers in Conservation Science shows why community engagement in forest restoration is a win-win game. The research documents a three-decade-long land restoration project on a 28-hectare (71-acre) slope of India’s Western Himalayas, in the state of Uttarakhand. The local communities in the surrounding villages cultivated a forest, with the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A recent study in the journal Frontiers in Conservation Science shows why community engagement in forest restoration is a win-win game. The research documents a three-decade-long land restoration project on a 28-hectare (71-acre) slope of India’s Western Himalayas, in the state of Uttarakhand. The local communities in the surrounding villages cultivated a forest, with the help of researchers, and are now reaping the fruits of their collective effort. Before rehabilitation, the slope was inhabited by shrub species, dotted with the occasional longleaf Indian pine (Pinus roxburghii), a native tree that spread through monoculture cropping for resin and timber during British colonial rule. This landscape was prone to wildfire, which led to degradation. A team of researchers from the G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment (GBP-NIHE), an arm of the environment ministry, launched the restoration project in 1992. Now, according to the study’s authors, the land supports rich biodiversity, including more than 160 bird species, more than 100 butterfly species, and many medicinal plants, providing livestock fodder, medicine and livelihoods for the residents of surrounding communities. The researchers named the site “Surya-Kunj,” or “Sun-Grove,” in a nod to the famous Katarmal Sun Temple, located about 12 kilometers (7 miles) away. A fire burns within a longleaf Indian pine (Pinus roxburghii) forest in Uttarakhand. Image by Ramwik via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). Indra D. Bhatt, co-author of the study and director of the GBP-NIHE, said the Surya-Kunj site acts as a framework for large-scale forest restoration efforts in the Himalayas&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/30-year-himalayan-project-shows-power-of-community-led-forest-restoration/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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