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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<title>Colombia environmental news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/colombia/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>The king of the Andes: How a village learned to coexist with condors</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/08/the-king-of-the-andes-how-a-village-learned-to-coexist-with-condors/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/08/the-king-of-the-andes-how-a-village-learned-to-coexist-with-condors/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Aug 2026 07:40:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Christina NoriegaJulia LimaMonica Wise Robles]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Lucia Torres]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/15075140/AndeanCondor3-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=videos&#038;p=326307</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Birds, Conservation, Human-wildlife Conflict, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PÁRAMO EL ALMORZADERO, Colombia — Doris Torres is a sheepherder who grew up seeing Andean condors as enemies. In this remote village high in the Colombian Andes, the birds were blamed for livestock losses and often killed through poisoning or shooting — persecution that helped push their population to the brink. But as Torres learned [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PÁRAMO EL ALMORZADERO, Colombia — Doris Torres is a sheepherder who grew up seeing Andean condors as enemies. In this remote village high in the Colombian Andes, the birds were blamed for livestock losses and often killed through poisoning or shooting — persecution that helped push their population to the brink. But as Torres learned more about the condor and its importance to the Andean ecosystem, her relationship with the species began to change. She became an unlikely conservationist and is now at the heart of a grassroots effort helping bring condors back to these mountains. Working with Fernando Castro, from the Parque Jaime Duque Foundation, Torres and other villagers have transformed a long-standing conflict into a model of coexistence. Former enemies of the condor have become its protectors, creating a rare safe haven for one of Colombia’s most threatened birds of prey. Today, condors are once again soaring over the páramo. And the community is preparing for the next step: welcoming young condors bred in captivity by Castro and his team in Bogotá. Using artificial incubation and condor-shaped hand puppets to raise the chicks without accustoming them to humans, the team hopes to release at least three juveniles into the wild by the end of 2027. Mongabay’s Video Team wants to cover questions and topics that matter to you. Are there any inspiring people, urgent issues, or local stories that you’d like us to cover? We want to hear from you. Be a part of our reporting process—get in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/video/2026/08/the-king-of-the-andes-how-a-village-learned-to-coexist-with-condors/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326307</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Among the sacred hills of Colombia’s Guainía</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/custom-story/2026/08/among-the-sacred-hills-of-colombias-guainia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/custom-story/2026/08/among-the-sacred-hills-of-colombias-guainia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Aug 2026 15:03:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Nandithachandraprakash]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/13112005/colombia_260721171023_0823z-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=custom-story&#038;p=326145</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Media, Mountains, Photos, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional People, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[I had been struck by photographs of the Cerros de Mavicure rising above the forest and the Inírida River in eastern Colombia. The dark rock, exposed against an almost unbroken expanse of green, seemed unlike anywhere else I had visited in the Amazon. Last month, ahead of Mongabay Latam’s PUMA FEST in Bogotá, I finally [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[I had been struck by photographs of the Cerros de Mavicure rising above the forest and the Inírida River in eastern Colombia. The dark rock, exposed against an almost unbroken expanse of green, seemed unlike anywhere else I had visited in the Amazon. Last month, ahead of Mongabay Latam’s PUMA FEST in Bogotá, I finally had the chance to visit. I traveled with Daniela Quintero Díaz, Mongabay Latam’s investigations editor, and Oilber Díaz, a member of the Puinave people who guided us through the region. The three main hills, Mavicure, Mono and Pajarito, are outcrops of the Guiana Shield. They span two Indigenous territories. Mavicure, the hill visitors climb, lies within El Venado, while Mono and Pajarito are within El Remanso. Each territory has a nearby community of the same name. The hills are regarded as sacred by Indigenous peoples in the region. In Puinave tradition, they are connected to stories of creation, animals, family, and the rules governing relations between people and the natural world.&nbsp; Cerros de Mavicure. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. Dreyk, a member of the Cubeo people from the Venado community, led us up Mavicure. The trail crossed steep granite, with forest growing in narrow seams and pockets of soil. From higher ground, the scale of the landscape became clearer. The hills rose abruptly from the canopy, while the Inírida curved around them. We reached a viewpoint in time for a beautiful sunset. On the descent after dark, frogs and geckos appeared along the trail. Cerros&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/custom-story/2026/08/among-the-sacred-hills-of-colombias-guainia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326145</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>PUMA FEST and the community Mongabay Latam has helped build</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/puma-fest-and-the-community-mongabay-latam-has-helped-build/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/puma-fest-and-the-community-mongabay-latam-has-helped-build/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2026 09:44:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/01123957/pumafest_262276-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325115</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Journalism and Media]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. When Mongabay Latam began publishing in 2016, the aim was to establish a sustained environmental news service for Spanish-speaking Latin America. The newsroom would be led by editors in the region, work with journalists who understood the places [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Founder&#8217;s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. When Mongabay Latam began publishing in 2016, the aim was to establish a sustained environmental news service for Spanish-speaking Latin America. The newsroom would be led by editors in the region, work with journalists who understood the places they covered, and develop its own editorial priorities in response to local conditions. Over the decade that followed, Mongabay Latam’s staff and contributors built that newsroom. They developed a daily news service covering forests, oceans, wildlife, science, Indigenous rights, environmental crime, and the people responding to ecological change. They formed more than 90 partnerships with national newspapers, regional publications, and independent media, allowing stories to reach audiences far beyond Mongabay’s own platforms. Photo by Mongabay Latam. Mongabay Latam team at Puma Fest. Photo by Mongabay Latam. The team also built the relationships and expertise required for more ambitious investigations. Working with organizations including CLIP, Animal Político, Rutas del Conflicto, Plaza Pública, and El Espectador, Mongabay Latam has investigated illegal mining, land grabbing, wildlife trafficking, deforestation, and the role of organized crime in some of the region’s most threatened landscapes. Last month in Bogotá, the strength of what the team has created was visible in another form. To mark its tenth anniversary, Mongabay Latam hosted PUMA FEST, a gathering organized with Fundación Gabo ahead of the 14th Gabo Festival. Around 700 people registered, and 400 attended in person. Journalists, editors, Indigenous communicators, students, scientists, and other&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/puma-fest-and-the-community-mongabay-latam-has-helped-build/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/puma-fest-and-the-community-mongabay-latam-has-helped-build/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325115</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The global gold rush consuming the Amazon (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-global-gold-rush-consuming-the-amazon-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-global-gold-rush-consuming-the-amazon-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jul 2026 02:47:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Robert Muggah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/07/04033926/peru_aerial_0148-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324710</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Colombia, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Conservation, Crime, Gold Mining, Illegal Mining, and Mining]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In November 2025, Brazilian authorities, supported by Interpol, disabled 277 dredges used for illegal gold mining along the Madeira River. The machinery was valued at about $6.8 million. The operation dealt a substantial blow to one of the Amazon&#8217;s busiest mining frontiers, yet its effect was likely temporary. After all, dredges can be replaced, miners [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In November 2025, Brazilian authorities, supported by Interpol, disabled 277 dredges used for illegal gold mining along the Madeira River. The machinery was valued at about $6.8 million. The operation dealt a substantial blow to one of the Amazon&#8217;s busiest mining frontiers, yet its effect was likely temporary. After all, dredges can be replaced, miners can relocate, and financiers can redirect their money. Satellite monitoring reveals how quickly the industry is spreading. A basin-wide monitoring initiative led by Amazon Mining Watch detected more than 37,000 hectares of new mining expansion across the Amazon in 2025. Of that total, more than 14,000 hectares lay within 222 protected areas and Indigenous territories. Since mining is generally restricted in such places, much of this activity was presumed to be illegal. The immediate drivers of illegal gold mining are familiar. Enforcement is thin across vast stretches of forest, and illicit gold passes too easily into lawful commerce. The broader economic incentive comes from a global market in which gold prices have risen sharply and legitimate demand has become unusually strong. Central banks are an important part of that story, though hardly the only one. Over the past four years, they have bought an average of roughly 1,000 metric tons of gold annually, twice the average of the preceding decade. A 2026 World Gold Council survey found that 89 percent of participating reserve managers expected official gold holdings worldwide to rise over the following year. Investors, jewelry buyers and manufacturers also contribute to demand. Central&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-global-gold-rush-consuming-the-amazon-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-global-gold-rush-consuming-the-amazon-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324710</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists call on countries to act on ‘forgotten’ sawfish teeth trade</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/scientists-call-on-countries-to-act-on-forgotten-sawfish-teeth-trade/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/scientists-call-on-countries-to-act-on-forgotten-sawfish-teeth-trade/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jul 2026 22:12:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/23215910/2018img-2266-credit-peter-kyne_orig-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324439</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Latin America, Mexico, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Critically Endangered Species, Fish, Illegal Fishing, Illegal Trade, Law Enforcement, Marine Conservation, Research, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Sawfish, a group of large marine rays, derive their name from a striking appendage: Their long, saw-like snout lined with teeth-like scales. Nature intended these fish to use their snout, also called a rostrum, to send out electric signals that shock unsuspecting prey, slice it like a sword to impale it, and devour the catch. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Sawfish, a group of large marine rays, derive their name from a striking appendage: Their long, saw-like snout lined with teeth-like scales. Nature intended these fish to use their snout, also called a rostrum, to send out electric signals that shock unsuspecting prey, slice it like a sword to impale it, and devour the catch. Humans, on the other hand, use these sharp teeth as cockfighting spurs — a spiky object strapped to a game cock’s legs so it can deliver lethal blows to its opponent and win the fight. For centuries, practitioners of the sport in Latin America have carved sawfish (fam.Pristidae) teeth into spurs. But in the 2000s, as sawfish became overfished for their fins, many cockfighting associations in the region officially banned using their teeth as spurs. In 2007, all sawfish species were added to CITES, the global wildlife trade agreement, and their commercial international trade was banned. A sawfish&#8217;s rostrum is lined with sharp teeth-like scales, which are carved into cockfighting spursCredits: Vassil &#8211; CC0. A recent study, published in the journal Conservation Letters, found that international commerce in sawfish rostra and teeth continues in Latin America despite bans. Talking to cockfighting practitioners and association representatives, the researchers found most rostral teeth entering the trade came from Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, Central America and Colombia. Peru topped the list as a destination. They call for stricter law enforcement and coordination in these countries, and urge CITES to take action to curb the “hidden” trade. Although the peak&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/scientists-call-on-countries-to-act-on-forgotten-sawfish-teeth-trade/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/scientists-call-on-countries-to-act-on-forgotten-sawfish-teeth-trade/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324439</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>An Indigenous take on Colombia’s new gov’t: Interview with a Putumayo Indigenous leader</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/an-indigenous-take-on-colombias-new-govt-interview-with-a-putumayo-indigenous-leader/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/an-indigenous-take-on-colombias-new-govt-interview-with-a-putumayo-indigenous-leader/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Jul 2026 14:12:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/22132247/Santa-Sofia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324278</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Controversial, Culture, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Interviews, Law, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In just a few weeks, Colombia will have a new leader. Right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella won Colombia’s runoff election on June 11 with 49.6% of the vote, securing a razor-thin victory over the left-wing candidate Ivan Cepeda, who received 48.7%. De la Espriella has promised to expand fossil fuel production and mining in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In just a few weeks, Colombia will have a new leader. Right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella won Colombia’s runoff election on June 11 with 49.6% of the vote, securing a razor-thin victory over the left-wing candidate Ivan Cepeda, who received 48.7%. De la Espriella has promised to expand fossil fuel production and mining in the country, leaving the future of conservation in the Colombian Amazon, the fossil fuel phaseout commitments made by current President Gustavo Petro’s administration and the rights of Indigenous peoples and other traditional communities open to question. Ahead of de la Espriella’s inauguration on Aug. 7, Mongabay interviewed Marino Peña, an Indigenous Inga leader and president of the Indigenous Zonal Organization of Putumayo (OZIP), to get his take on how the incoming president’s policies might impact communities in the department of Putumayo, in southwestern Colombia. De la Espriella has also promised to reduce the state budget to a minimum and tackle violence using greater force and militarization. For communities in Putumayo, the implications of these promises hold weight. Colombia’s Putumayo region, which has historically been a drug production and trafficking hotspot, is “one of the deadliest regions in Colombia for social leaders.” Illegal mining by armed groups has also grown exponentially in recent years, fueling conflicts, violence, mercury contamination and accelerated deforestation. Due to their critical role as vocal defenders of their territories and of environmental and Indigenous rights, social leaders have frequently found themselves in the crossfire between armed groups and the state. In addition,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/an-indigenous-take-on-colombias-new-govt-interview-with-a-putumayo-indigenous-leader/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/an-indigenous-take-on-colombias-new-govt-interview-with-a-putumayo-indigenous-leader/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324278</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Women Defenders of the Colombian Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/07/women-defenders-of-the-colombian-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/07/women-defenders-of-the-colombian-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jul 2026 21:38:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alejandro Prescott-Cornejo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alejandroprescottcornejo]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/15140431/IMG_6376-1200x800-1-e1760731721510-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=specials&#038;p=323303</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Culture, Gender, and Indigenous Peoples]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Colombia is among the most dangerous countries for environmental defenders. Yet here, women stand as frontline defenders of both nature and culture. Mongabay is documenting the women protecting forests, rivers and ancestral territories by strengthening traditional governance and reviving ancestral stewardship while confronting coca traffickers and illegal miners. In this Special Issue, meet the women [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Colombia is among the most dangerous countries for environmental defenders. Yet here, women stand as frontline defenders of both nature and culture. Mongabay is documenting the women protecting forests, rivers and ancestral territories by strengthening traditional governance and reviving ancestral stewardship while confronting coca traffickers and illegal miners. In this Special Issue, meet the women uniquely shaping new paths for Amazon conservation and community resilience.This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/specials/2026/07/women-defenders-of-the-colombian-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323303</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Santa Marta report by 57 nations defines rapid fossil fuel transition path</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/santa-marta-report-by-57-nations-defines-rapid-fossil-fuel-transition-path/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/santa-marta-report-by-57-nations-defines-rapid-fossil-fuel-transition-path/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jul 2026 16:17:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Julian Reingold]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/02091344/banner-Image-Report-presentation-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322332</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Global, and Netherlands]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Climate, Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Environmental Policy, Fossil Fuels, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, and Impact Of Climate Change]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[London Climate Action Week (LCAW) kicked off in June amid an unprecedented European heat wave and with a special statement by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warning, “We have just lived through the eleven hottest years ever recorded … with higher temperatures to come. London isn’t just calling — it’s cooking,” he said. &#8220;We cannot [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[London Climate Action Week (LCAW) kicked off in June amid an unprecedented European heat wave and with a special statement by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warning, “We have just lived through the eleven hottest years ever recorded … with higher temperatures to come. London isn’t just calling — it’s cooking,” he said. &#8220;We cannot double down on a system based on fossil fuels that is driving both the climate crisis and the energy crisis … These twin crises have once again exposed the limits of an outdated model of development,” the U.N. chief said. “This is our moment of choice. Our moment of truth. Our moment of opportunity. Let&#8217;s seize it.&#8221; Just such an opportunity came later at LCAW with the launch of the outcome report derived from the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, which was held in April in Santa Marta, Colombia. That landmark summit was co-hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands and convened 57 countries, a “Coalition of the Willing” accounting for roughly 30% of global energy demand and about 20% of global energy supply — a group committed to a rapid fossil fuel phaseout. The meeting was called to serve as a viable complement to the formal U.N. climate consensus negotiating process, which has been blocked from climate action for decades by large petrostates and lobbied against by the fossil fuel industry. The new report released June 23 presents a summary of Coalition of the Willing stakeholder-led dialogues and includes strategies for a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/santa-marta-report-by-57-nations-defines-rapid-fossil-fuel-transition-path/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/santa-marta-report-by-57-nations-defines-rapid-fossil-fuel-transition-path/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322332</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Death and exile: A war plagues Indigenous Jiw and Nukak in the Colombian Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/death-and-exile-a-war-plagues-indigenous-jiw-and-nukak-in-the-colombian-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/death-and-exile-a-war-plagues-indigenous-jiw-and-nukak-in-the-colombian-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Jun 2026 19:15:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Pilar Puentes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/19190508/banner-1-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321516</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Crime, Drug Trade, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Rainforests, and Threats To Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[By late May, at least 48 people were killed in rural areas of Colombia following clashes between the FARC guerrilla dissident groups controlled by the aliases “Calarcá” and “Iván Mordisco.”]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Since the end of May, rural areas of San José del Guaviare, the capital city of the Guaviare department in the Colombian Amazon, have once again been turned into a war zone. A series of clashes between dissident cells of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), demobilized in 2016, and commanded by Alexander Díaz Mendoza, alias “Calarcá,” and Néstor Gregorio Vera Fernández, alias “‘Iván Mordisco,” has resulted in the deaths of at least 48 people. The warfare between the two armed groups concentrates on a strategic area for illicit economies on the Guaviare River, a tributary of the Orinoco River. The rural community of Cumare, as well as the Nukak and Jiw Indigenous people of the Barranco Colorado Reserve (an ancestral territory in San José del Guaviare), started hearing gunshots and rushed to hide. Since that frightening day, May 26, they have avoided leaving their homes. “People are on maximum alert; no one moves because they fear being caught in the middle of the confrontation,” said a resident of Charras, another rural area of San José del Guaviare, who requested anonymity for safety reasons. “We knew something like this could happen. A bomb fell in the middle of a sports field here in the Siberia rural district,” said a woman who has witnessed the clashes since their very beginning; she also requested anonymity. Colombian Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez stated, “The criminal structures of alias ‘Mordisco’ and ‘Calarcá’ fought in the Barranco Colorado sector, jurisdiction of San José del Guaviare,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/death-and-exile-a-war-plagues-indigenous-jiw-and-nukak-in-the-colombian-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/death-and-exile-a-war-plagues-indigenous-jiw-and-nukak-in-the-colombian-amazon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321516</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>What’s at stake for the environment in Colombia’s upcoming election?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whats-at-stake-for-the-environment-in-colombias-upcoming-election/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whats-at-stake-for-the-environment-in-colombias-upcoming-election/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Jun 2026 15:55:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/06/21194943/colombia_1875-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321507</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity Hotspots, Conservation, Crime, Deforestation, Development, Drivers Of Deforestation, Ecosystems, Energy Transition, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forests, Governance, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Infrastructure, Land Conflict, Land Use Change, Organized Crime, Politics, Traditional People, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Colombia’s first round of presidential elections on May 31 saw right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella take the top spot with 43.7% of the vote, followed by left-wing candidate Iván Cepeda, with 40.9%. The future of the Colombian Amazon, the fossil fuel phaseout commitments made by current President Gustavo Petro and the rights of Indigenous [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Colombia’s first round of presidential elections on May 31 saw right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella take the top spot with 43.7% of the vote, followed by left-wing candidate Iván Cepeda, with 40.9%. The future of the Colombian Amazon, the fossil fuel phaseout commitments made by current President Gustavo Petro and the rights of Indigenous peoples and other traditional communities are all at stake during the runoff on June 21. Colombia has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030 and has a legally binding net-zero target for 2050. Analysts at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) say Petro’s government made some progress, but deep reductions in emissions are critical, in particular from deforestation and agriculture, as well as reforms to phase out fossil fuel subsidies. As a result, who Colombia elects next will have major implications for the country’s climate ambitions. When Petro took office in 2022, he made the fossil fuel phaseout and environmental protection central features of his government’s agenda. He promised to become a leader in the defense of life, which involved transforming the country’s relationship with nature and “Total Peace” (Paz Total) — his administration’s flagship peace policy aimed to end Colombia’s decades-long armed conflict. Petro opposed new oil and gas exploration contracts and has been vocal about environmental justice and the energy transition at the international level, including at the United Nations General Assembly, the World Economic Forum in Davos and the United Nations Climate Change Conferences (COPs). In April,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whats-at-stake-for-the-environment-in-colombias-upcoming-election/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321507</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Colombia passes landmark cattle traceability law to combat illegal deforestation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/colombia-passes-landmark-cattle-traceability-law-to-combat-illegal-deforestation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/colombia-passes-landmark-cattle-traceability-law-to-combat-illegal-deforestation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jun 2026 15:57:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/25154207/WhatsApp-Image-2022-11-28-at-1.33.36-AM-4-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=320841</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cattle, Commodity agriculture, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Governance, Pasture, Rainforests, Ranching, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Colombia passed a landmark law June 4 aimed at improving traceability of its cattle supply chain to ensure beef isn’t sourced from deforested land. The law hopes to enhance existing traceability systems and make it easier to identify when cattle have grazed in protected areas and forests that were illegally cleared for pasture. “This is [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Colombia passed a landmark law June 4 aimed at improving traceability of its cattle supply chain to ensure beef isn’t sourced from deforested land. The law hopes to enhance existing traceability systems and make it easier to identify when cattle have grazed in protected areas and forests that were illegally cleared for pasture. “This is the most powerful tool for determining whether the meat people consume comes from deforested areas,” said representative Juan Carlos Losada, one of the law’s sponsors, in a post on X. About 54% of Colombia’s total land area is covered by forest, that’s roughly 60 million hectares (148 million acres). Deforestation has ebbed and flowed in recent years, declining in 2023, spiking in 2024 and then declining again in 2025. Cattle are always one of the main drivers. The country has over 29.7 million heads of cattle, according to last year’s estimates from the Colombian Federation of Cattle Ranchers. To better regulate the industry, lawmakers tried to pass traceability legislation in 2021 and 2022 but failed to move it through Congress. Another version took too long to reach a final debate in the senate, and expired in 2024. The effort began around the same time that the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) was passed. Once implemented, the law will require that companies trading with the EU demonstrate their cattle and other commodities weren’t sourced from deforested land. The law allows officials to establish “high surveillance zones” in deforestation hotspots. It includes the ability to implement special&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/06/colombia-passes-landmark-cattle-traceability-law-to-combat-illegal-deforestation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320841</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Will my president save the Amazon? (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/will-my-president-save-the-amazon-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/will-my-president-save-the-amazon-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 May 2026 23:50:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Enrique Ortiz]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/23235534/amazon_241209144859raw-26-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320068</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Colombia, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forests, Governance, Politics, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the coming months, voters in Brazil, Peru, and Colombia will elect new presidents. Together, these three countries contain roughly 82% of the Amazon rainforest, making their elections consequential far beyond national borders. The future of the world’s largest tropical forest — and, by extension, global climate stability — will depend in large measure on [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the coming months, voters in Brazil, Peru, and Colombia will elect new presidents. Together, these three countries contain roughly 82% of the Amazon rainforest, making their elections consequential far beyond national borders. The future of the world’s largest tropical forest — and, by extension, global climate stability — will depend in large measure on the choices their citizens make at the ballot box. More than 35 million people living in the Amazon region of these countries also depend directly on those outcomes. Brazil, home to about 62% of the Amazon, offers a stark example of how presidential policies can shape the fate of the forest. The country has experienced dramatic swings in deforestation over the past two decades. While commodity prices, global markets, climate conditions, and geopolitics all play a role, government policy has often been the decisive factor. In 2004, for example, Brazil lost more than 10 million acres of Amazon forest. By 2012, stronger environmental measures had gradually reduced that loss to less than one-sixth of that level. Those efforts relied not only on stricter enforcement, but also on cooperation with agricultural and business sectors long associated with deforestation. More recent data suggest Brazil’s renewed environmental policies have again reduced forest loss by more than 30% from the previous year. Annual deforestation in the Legal Amazon (Amazonia) from 1988-2025, according to a preliminary estimate from Brazil&#8217;s national space research institute, INPE. Annual primary forest loss in the Colombian Amazon from 2002 to 2025 (hectares). Data from the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/will-my-president-save-the-amazon-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/will-my-president-save-the-amazon-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320068</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fossil fuel transition summit seeks progress beyond stalled COP talks</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/fossil-fuel-transition-summit-seeks-progress-beyond-stalled-cop-talks/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/fossil-fuel-transition-summit-seeks-progress-beyond-stalled-cop-talks/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 May 2026 16:13:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/11160224/AP26118020222261-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319140</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Emissions, Clean Energy, Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Energy Transition, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Fossil Fuels, Governance, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Impact Of Climate Change, Indigenous Peoples, Mining, Oil Drilling, Politics, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia, was viewed by many as a historic achievement and a momentous step toward ending fossil fuel dependency. After more than 30 years of U.N. Climate Change Conferences, or COPs, where the topic has been repeatedly blocked by states and lobbyists resistant to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia, was viewed by many as a historic achievement and a momentous step toward ending fossil fuel dependency. After more than 30 years of U.N. Climate Change Conferences, or COPs, where the topic has been repeatedly blocked by states and lobbyists resistant to any kind of phaseout, and many have struggled to get a seat on the table, such as Indigenous and Afro-descendent peoples, the Santa Marta conference has been hailed a success. “The conference was 100% positive,” Juan Carlos Jintiach, executive secretary of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities (GATC), a coalition of Indigenous advocacy groups, told Mongabay over WhatsApp voice message. “These new proposals coming from the territories are being heard. It&#8217;s a responsible agenda regarding the paradigm shift of the transition, and it&#8217;s an opportunity.” During the first days of the conference, which ran from April 24-29, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) released a new report that revealed the vast financial support fossil fuels continue to receive. According to its analysis, in 2024, fossil fuels globally received $1.2 trillion in subsidies and other forms of support, compared with $254 billion for clean energy. Florencia Ortúzar Greene, director of the climate program at the Inter-American Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA), told Mongabay over WhatsApp voice message that the conference’s free-flowing format, with ministers and stakeholders given equal opportunities to contribute, was a great relief. Attendees were unable to open their computers, meaning they could&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/fossil-fuel-transition-summit-seeks-progress-beyond-stalled-cop-talks/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319140</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As global 30&#215;30 goal lags, Colombia shows how progress can be made</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/as-global-30x30-goal-lags-colombia-shows-how-progress-can-be-made/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/as-global-30x30-goal-lags-colombia-shows-how-progress-can-be-made/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Apr 2026 20:52:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/27163906/5-brown-hairy-dwarf-porcupine-Coendou-vestitus-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318221</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Mammals, Marine Conservation, Protected Areas, Small Cats, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2022, at the U.N. Biodiversity Conference in Montreal, Canada, 196 nations pledged to conserve 30% of land and inland waters, and 30% of marine and coastal areas, by 2030. Popularly known as “30&#215;30,” and officially known as Target 3, the pledge was one of 23 targets detailed in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2022, at the U.N. Biodiversity Conference in Montreal, Canada, 196 nations pledged to conserve 30% of land and inland waters, and 30% of marine and coastal areas, by 2030. Popularly known as “30&#215;30,” and officially known as Target 3, the pledge was one of 23 targets detailed in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), and part of global efforts to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. According to the GBF, the 30% target can be achieved through protection, connection and conservation of areas that are representative of a range of ecosystems, as well as key sites for biodiversity and ecosystem services. The framework also requires implementation to recognize and respect Indigenous and community territories and rights. Two years later, the “Protected Planet Report 2024,” released to coincide with the most recent U.N. Biodiversity Conference, in Cali, Colombia, in 2024, provided the first evaluation of progress toward 30&#215;30. It found that 17.6% of land and inland waters, and 8.4% of marine and coastal areas were protected or conserved. In a speech at the conference, Iger Anderson, executive director of the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP), said the report offered “glimmers of promise” but showed there was still “hard work to be done.” Globally, those figures now stand at 18.43% and 9.97%, respectively. But progress is uneven. Colombia, the host of the 2024 conference, is one of the world’s most biodiverse countries. The landscape is extremely varied, from Amazonian rainforest to Andean peaks, the plains of the Orinoco, Caribbean reefs and the Pacific&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/as-global-30x30-goal-lags-colombia-shows-how-progress-can-be-made/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318221</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>AI tool tracks spread of illegal gold mining in Amazon protected areas</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/ai-tool-tracks-spread-of-illegal-gold-mining-in-amazon-protected-areas/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/ai-tool-tracks-spread-of-illegal-gold-mining-in-amazon-protected-areas/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Apr 2026 09:56:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Constance Malleret]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/06/11143403/foto_58-edit-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317945</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Latin America, Peru, South America, Suriname, and Venezuela]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence, Biodiversity, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Gold Mining, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Mining, Protected Areas, and Satellite Imagery]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In July 2025, the Indigenous Shuar people celebrated the end of a decade-long struggle when they received official titles for three communities — the Shuar Tunants, Kampan and Tsuntsuim –- within the Kutukú Shaimi Protected Forest, in the south of the Ecuadorean Amazon. But in one of those communities, satellite imagery shows that between August [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In July 2025, the Indigenous Shuar people celebrated the end of a decade-long struggle when they received official titles for three communities — the Shuar Tunants, Kampan and Tsuntsuim –- within the Kutukú Shaimi Protected Forest, in the south of the Ecuadorean Amazon. But in one of those communities, satellite imagery shows that between August and December 2025, a gaping hole appeared in the forest around a riverbend — a mining scar. Despite the Tunants territory’s newly formalized status, deforestation due to gold mining nearly tripled, reaching 2 hectares (5 acres) in size in the last three months of 2025, according to Amazon Mining Watch Panorama, a new quarterly report. The report shows that deforestation due to illegal gold mining continues to grow across the Amazon, threatening protected parts of the rainforest. In total, 6,000 hectares (more than 14,800 acres) — about seven times the size of Central Park in New York City — of new mining scars appeared across protected areas and Indigenous territories over the last three months of 2025. This mining is presumed to be illegal, as most Amazonian countries have legislation prohibiting mining in Indigenous territories and protected areas, with experts warning that greater law enforcement is needed. Most of the deforestation caused by mining during that period took place in Brazil, with roughly 2,000 hectares (about 5,000 acres) of forest being cleared. This was followed by Peru with 1,700 hectares (4,200 acres), and Guyana with 900 hectares (about 2,200 acres). New mining scars were also&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/ai-tool-tracks-spread-of-illegal-gold-mining-in-amazon-protected-areas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/ai-tool-tracks-spread-of-illegal-gold-mining-in-amazon-protected-areas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317945</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New treaty to end the fossil fuel era is needed more than ever (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/new-treaty-to-end-the-fossil-fuel-era-is-needed-more-than-ever-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/new-treaty-to-end-the-fossil-fuel-era-is-needed-more-than-ever-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2026 23:17:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tzeporah Berman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/23065527/solar-panels-indonesia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317876</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Commentary, Conflict, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Governance, International Trade, Mining, Social Justice, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The fog of war is pervasive, but one thing is clear as “Gulf War 3” escalates: governments around the world are counting the cost of their dependency on oil and gas. “The largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market” is the International Energy Agency’s take on the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The fog of war is pervasive, but one thing is clear as “Gulf War 3” escalates: governments around the world are counting the cost of their dependency on oil and gas. “The largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market” is the International Energy Agency’s take on the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, which has seen oil and gas fields bombed and shipments through the Strait of Hormuz curtailed. Oil prices are beyond $100 a barrel and inflation is picking up — even in the oil-and-gas-rich U.S. — while in Asia, governments are curtailing working days, limiting petroleum exports, and rationing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders. Beyond economic disruption, this conflict has exacted a tragic human toll, with thousands of lives lost and countless families shattered. Growth goals, job targets, food supplies and the future hopes of citizens around the world are at the mercy of traders and huge corporations that stand to benefit as prices skyrocket. The environmental toll of this petro-fueled conflict extends far beyond human casualties, too. Oil infrastructure attacks have triggered massive ecological disasters, with crude oil spills contaminating marine ecosystems in the Persian Gulf, and refinery explosions releasing toxic pollutants that threaten migratory bird routes and coastal wetlands. The war has also accelerated deforestation as nations scramble for other energy sources, like Indonesia, which is reportedly fast-tracking palm oil expansion for biofuel production. These ecological scars will persist long after the last barrel of oil is extracted from bombed wells. The Fossil Fuel&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/new-treaty-to-end-the-fossil-fuel-era-is-needed-more-than-ever-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/new-treaty-to-end-the-fossil-fuel-era-is-needed-more-than-ever-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317876</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Vaupés River contamination identified near rapidly expanding Amazonian town</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/vaupes-river-contamination-identified-near-rapidly-expanding-amazonian-town/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/vaupes-river-contamination-identified-near-rapidly-expanding-amazonian-town/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2026 21:48:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/21211556/IMG_3726-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317894</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Colombia, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Freshwater, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Rivers, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Forests, Tropics, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[VAUPÉS, COLOMBIA — Traditionally, for members of the Indigenous Macaquiño community in the southeastern Colombian Amazon, the Vaupés River is not just a source of water, but a living being that must be respected. It supports all kinds of life, including fish, which have sustained the community for generations. Now, as a nearby Amazonian town [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[VAUPÉS, COLOMBIA — Traditionally, for members of the Indigenous Macaquiño community in the southeastern Colombian Amazon, the Vaupés River is not just a source of water, but a living being that must be respected. It supports all kinds of life, including fish, which have sustained the community for generations. Now, as a nearby Amazonian town upstream rapidly transforms into an expanding urban municipality and increasingly brings untreated wastewater from its poorly constructed treatment plant to the banks of Macaquiño, that same water is bringing them sickness and disease, residents say. During a visit to Macaquiño in September 2025, community members told Mongabay the Vaupés River is contaminated by untreated sewage dumped into it in the town of Mitú. “It’s like an atomic bomb coming out of the sewer,” said Julian de Jesus Madrid Correa, a member of the Macaquiño community. He said it causes rashes, itches and fevers, especially in children, and has begun to spread diseases, such as dengue and hepatitis. The Indigenous Macaquiño community on the banks of the Vaupés River in Colombia’s Vaupés region. Image by Aimee Gabay/Mongabay. To verify what the community told us, Mongabay obtained water quality studies from the Corporation for Sustainable Development of the Northern and Eastern Amazon. Its latest report, which contains results from water samples taken in 2025 across four sites in Mitú, confirms there is contamination above safe limits in the Vaupés River that could impact public health and the quality of the aquatic ecosystem. Fecal coliforms (fecal bacteria), which&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/vaupes-river-contamination-identified-near-rapidly-expanding-amazonian-town/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/vaupes-river-contamination-identified-near-rapidly-expanding-amazonian-town/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317894</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Colombia’s main river redraws the map of little-known night monkeys</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/colombias-main-river-redraws-the-map-of-little-known-night-monkeys/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/colombias-main-river-redraws-the-map-of-little-known-night-monkeys/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Apr 2026 11:00:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manuel Fonseca]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/09111227/night-monkeys-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317266</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Cryptic Species, Deforestation, Habitat Loss, Monkeys, Protected Areas, Research, Rivers, Species, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[One night, 10-year-old Sebastián Montilla heard a creature moving over a tree branch on his father’s farm in Pijao, Quindío department, one of Colombia’s renowned coffee-growing regions. As he pointed a lantern up to the canopy, he saw a wild creature with big red eyes and a long tail watching him before moving away from [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[One night, 10-year-old Sebastián Montilla heard a creature moving over a tree branch on his father’s farm in Pijao, Quindío department, one of Colombia’s renowned coffee-growing regions. As he pointed a lantern up to the canopy, he saw a wild creature with big red eyes and a long tail watching him before moving away from the light. It was a night monkey, from the genus Aotus. This brief encounter would decide Montilla’s path. “I became very passionate about those animals, in fact, when I was in school, my favorite pastime was to go outside and lie down under their sleeping place, to watch them do nothing,” Montilla, now a doctoral student in biological sciences at the University of the Andes in Bogotá, told Mongabay in a video call. “I’m very surprised by the fact that [night monkeys] have gone unnoticed for so long, both in the scientific community and in the public sphere,” he added. “It’s astonishing because at midnight they are moving right past our houses and we don’t even notice.” Night monkeys, also known as owl monkeys, are the only primate group in the Americas that have adapted to be active at night. These monkeys have evolved enormous round eyes with retinas 50% bigger than those of daytime-active primates to better capture the scarce light available in their environments. Unlike other nocturnal primate species in Asia and Africa, such as lorises (family Lorisidae), tarsiers (Tarsiidae) and lemurs (Lemuroidae), which tend to be solitary, night monkeys form lifelong monogamous&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/colombias-main-river-redraws-the-map-of-little-known-night-monkeys/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/colombias-main-river-redraws-the-map-of-little-known-night-monkeys/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317266</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Working together, Indigenous peoples &#038; researchers describe new Amazonian palm</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/working-together-indigenous-peoples-researchers-describe-new-amazonian-palm/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/working-together-indigenous-peoples-researchers-describe-new-amazonian-palm/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Apr 2026 14:06:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sofia Moutinho]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/01135800/IMG_3106-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316712</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Biology, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Deforestation, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Plants, Research, Species, Species Discovery, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2025, botanists Rodrigo Cámara-Leret and Juan Carlos Copete embarked on a two-hour boat ride down the Vaupés River in the Colombian Amazon, followed by a two-hour hike to the village of Wacará, where about 140 Indigenous Cacua people live in relative isolation. They were aiming to study the medicinal plants used by this Indigenous [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2025, botanists Rodrigo Cámara-Leret and Juan Carlos Copete embarked on a two-hour boat ride down the Vaupés River in the Colombian Amazon, followed by a two-hour hike to the village of Wacará, where about 140 Indigenous Cacua people live in relative isolation. They were aiming to study the medicinal plants used by this Indigenous group, one of the smallest in the country. But their plans changed as soon as they had their first meal in the village of thatch-roofed houses, when some children offered them a yellowish-brown fruit the Cacau called táam. Although the duo had been studying tropical plants for more than a decade, they had never seen that drop-shaped fruit before. Initially, they thought the fruit might be from a palm tree introduced to the region from nearby Brazil. However, as they spent more time with the community, they realized it was likely an entirely new species of palm that had not yet been described by scientists. &#8220;We knew most of the plants we would encounter in the forest, so when we saw that fruit, we were extremely shocked and surprised,&#8221; Cámara-Leret, a professor in tropical plant diversity and ethnobotany at the University of Zürich, tells Mongabay. Discovering new palm species in the Amazon is rare, even more so one that is tall-stemmed and used in the human diet like the táam. Palms are among the most well-known species of the region and were extensively studied by European naturalists who explored the jungle between the 16th and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/working-together-indigenous-peoples-researchers-describe-new-amazonian-palm/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/working-together-indigenous-peoples-researchers-describe-new-amazonian-palm/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316712</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Disastrous floods in Colombia reignite debate over hydroelectric dam</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/disastrous-floods-in-colombia-reignite-debate-over-hydroelectric-dam/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/disastrous-floods-in-colombia-reignite-debate-over-hydroelectric-dam/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Mar 2026 17:12:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Euan Wallace]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/13164229/DSC08870-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315701</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Dams, Environment, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Governance, Health, Hydroelectric Power, Impact Of Climate Change, Indigenous Peoples, Planetary Health, Politics, Public Health, Renewable Energy, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MONTERÍA, Colombia — In the suburb of La Palma, in the city of Montería, Córdoba, two boys stand knee-deep in water. A shimmering film of dirt spreads across its opaque surface. The two are piling family possessions into an upturned refrigerator – a makeshift raft used to ferry their belongings toward dry land. Across the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MONTERÍA, Colombia — In the suburb of La Palma, in the city of Montería, Córdoba, two boys stand knee-deep in water. A shimmering film of dirt spreads across its opaque surface. The two are piling family possessions into an upturned refrigerator – a makeshift raft used to ferry their belongings toward dry land. Across the street, Ana Castillo, 33, watches them from her doorway. Her home sits just a few inches above the water. By her side, a dark stain rising 1 meter (3.3 feet) up the wall marks where the water line was just a few days earlier. “This took us by surprise,” Castillo says. Broom in hand, she tries to sweep the last of the water from her front room. “It’s sad to see your things half-submerged in water.” La Palma is one of the 27 neighborhoods in Montería affected by severe flooding during the region’s dry season. What began as torrential rain in early February turned into a regional disaster: 24 municipalities in Cordoba were affected, and seven people died. The causes are still under debate; while scientists have pointed to unstable weather patterns and the influence of climate change, locals, some experts and high-ranking politicians say high water levels in the Urra Dam, a hydroelectric project long contested by Indigenous communities, have aggravated the floods. In the neighbourhood of La Palma, Montería, two young men attempt to use a fridge as a makeshift canoe. Image by Euan Wallace. Amid the debate, authorities continue to grapple with&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/disastrous-floods-in-colombia-reignite-debate-over-hydroelectric-dam/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/disastrous-floods-in-colombia-reignite-debate-over-hydroelectric-dam/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315701</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Colombia’s coffee industry well placed but wary as EU deforestation rule looms</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/colombias-coffee-industry-well-placed-but-wary-as-eu-deforestation-rule-looms/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/colombias-coffee-industry-well-placed-but-wary-as-eu-deforestation-rule-looms/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2026 16:23:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mie Hoejris Dahl]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/04114305/Juan-Nieves5-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315196</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, European Union, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Coffee, Commodity agriculture, Conservation, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, EUDR, Farming, Forest Loss, International Trade, Law Enforcement, Rainforests, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CIÉNAGA, Colombia — A handful of men swarm around a coffee collection center in the city of Ciénaga, shouldering burlap sacks of coffee as they move in and out of the mill. Ciénaga is a port town in the foothills of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the world’s highest coastal mountain range, and is [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CIÉNAGA, Colombia — A handful of men swarm around a coffee collection center in the city of Ciénaga, shouldering burlap sacks of coffee as they move in and out of the mill. Ciénaga is a port town in the foothills of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the world’s highest coastal mountain range, and is known locally as the coffee capital of the Sierra Nevada region. “We hope EUDR will be to our benefit,” says Silver Polo Palomino, a coffee grower and representative of the Asociación de Agricultores Orgánicos de La Secreta (AGROSEC), a local organic coffee growers’ association in Ciénaga, speaking over the roar of the mill. Polo is one of many producers in Colombia who say they’re uncertain — and increasingly nervous — about what the implementation of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) will mean for their livelihoods. The regulation, set to go into force at the end of this year, will ban the import into the EU market of seven key commodities linked to deforestation. Coffee is among them. But Colombia, the world’s No. 3 coffee producer, is well prepared for the EUDR and better positioned than coffee exporters in many parts of Africa and Asia, several experts told Mongabay. Despite a fragmented sector dominated by small-scale farmers, Colombia’s coffee industry is highly organized, largely through the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia (FNC), which represents more than 500,000 coffee-growing families. The FNC has developed a centralized georeferenced database, the Coffee Information System (SICA), designed to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/colombias-coffee-industry-well-placed-but-wary-as-eu-deforestation-rule-looms/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315196</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photos: In the Colombian Amazon, fishing binds a community to river and forest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/photos-in-the-colombian-amazon-fishing-binds-a-community-to-river-and-forest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/photos-in-the-colombian-amazon-fishing-binds-a-community-to-river-and-forest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Feb 2026 16:09:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/26151320/Fishing-rod-2-e1772123553245-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314875</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Freshwater Fish, Indigenous Peoples, Photos, Rivers, Traditional Knowledge, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[VAUPÉS, Colombia — The Vaupés River and its extensive network of waterways and lagoons in the southeastern Colombian department of the same name are integral to the Indigenous Macaquiño community, who lives along its banks. It provides them with water for drinking, bathing and washing, and also serves as a migration route and breeding ground [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[VAUPÉS, Colombia — The Vaupés River and its extensive network of waterways and lagoons in the southeastern Colombian department of the same name are integral to the Indigenous Macaquiño community, who lives along its banks. It provides them with water for drinking, bathing and washing, and also serves as a migration route and breeding ground for an abundance of fish, which they depend on for food. But for the Macaquiño community, these waters are more than just a food pantry, they told Mongabay. It forms part of the deep cultural and spiritual connection they have with their waters and the species that inhabit them. Their traditional calendar responds to its natural cycles, marked by the rainy and dry seasons, each with their own traditional rules and rituals dictating when the community can harvest food, fish and hunt. Omar Salvador Fernández Chequemarca and Harold Ferreira Romero, two fishers from the Indigenous Macaquiño community in Vaupés, fish in the Vaupés River. Image by Aimee Gabay/Mongabay. A fish caught from the waters of a flooded forest near the Indigenous Macaquiño community in Vaupés. Image by Aimee Gabay/Mongabay. Manuel Claudio Fernández, the captain of Macaquiño, said the community doesn’t just care for the land; they coexist with it. “How do we coexist? By respecting the forest, the articulation of spirits, the water, the forest and us humans. We, the people, depend on water and the forest. And the forest and water also depend on us.” While Macaquiño fishers still use some of the traditional&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/photos-in-the-colombian-amazon-fishing-binds-a-community-to-river-and-forest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/photos-in-the-colombian-amazon-fishing-binds-a-community-to-river-and-forest/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314875</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Big cats get the press, but small wildcats are being poached and trafficked in silence</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/big-cats-get-the-press-but-small-wildcats-are-being-poached-and-trafficked-in-silence/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/big-cats-get-the-press-but-small-wildcats-are-being-poached-and-trafficked-in-silence/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Feb 2026 15:13:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/25042015/Image-7-2-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314723</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Bangladesh, Benin, Colombia, Latin America, Myanmar, Niger, Pakistan, Peru, South America, South Asia, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cats, Conservation, Environment, Illegal Trade, Jaguars, Pet Trade, Poaching, Small Cats, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Jaguars are increasingly targeted across Latin America for their roseate-patterned pelts and canine teeth, following decades of relatively little poaching. When researchers in Colombia investigated the jaguar trade within the country, they made a troubling discovery: Colombia&#8217;s small wildcats are also in the crosshairs. Official records revealed that between 2015 and 2021, more than 700 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Jaguars are increasingly targeted across Latin America for their roseate-patterned pelts and canine teeth, following decades of relatively little poaching. When researchers in Colombia investigated the jaguar trade within the country, they made a troubling discovery: Colombia&#8217;s small wildcats are also in the crosshairs. Official records revealed that between 2015 and 2021, more than 700 small wildcats were seized or surrendered to authorities. The vast majority of these cats were found alive, including more than 400 ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) as well as oncillas (Leopardus pardinoides), also known as the clouded tiger cat, jaguarundis (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) and margays (Leopardus wiedii). Between 2015 and 2021, more than 400 ocelots were seized by or surrendered to Colombian authorities. Image by Robin Gwen Agarwal via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0). Skins, teeth and other parts were also confiscated. The research, which was published in the journal Biological Conservation, suggests an established demand for small wildcats as exotic pets in Colombia. “Until now, the trade in small cats in Latin America had always seemed [to be at] a very low scale — opportunistic activity,” says Melissa Arias, a wildlife trade specialist at the Zoological Society of London and a co-author of the study. “But what we saw with the numbers is that it is actually quite significant.” Their findings are both unsurprising and worrisome, as the true scale of trade is likely to be higher, says Pauline Verheij, a wildlife crime specialist with the NGO EcoJust, who wasn’t involved in the research. “It&#8217;s a given that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/big-cats-get-the-press-but-small-wildcats-are-being-poached-and-trafficked-in-silence/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/big-cats-get-the-press-but-small-wildcats-are-being-poached-and-trafficked-in-silence/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314723</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous leader assassinated in Colombia’s Caldas department</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/02/indigenous-leader-assassinated-in-colombias-caldas-department/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/02/indigenous-leader-assassinated-in-colombias-caldas-department/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Feb 2026 21:15:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/24211104/Embera-3-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=314719</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Endangered Environmentalists, Indigenous Peoples, and Indigenous Reserves]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous leader José Albino Cañas Ramírez was recently shot and killed by two unknown individuals in Colombia’s Caldas department. Indigenous authorities suspect it was a targeted attack linked to his work in defense of one of the oldest Indigenous reserves in Colombia, the Resguardo of Colonial Origin Cañamomo Lomaprieta (RCMLP). It’s a 37.6-square-kilometer (14.5-square-mile) reserve [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous leader José Albino Cañas Ramírez was recently shot and killed by two unknown individuals in Colombia’s Caldas department. Indigenous authorities suspect it was a targeted attack linked to his work in defense of one of the oldest Indigenous reserves in Colombia, the Resguardo of Colonial Origin Cañamomo Lomaprieta (RCMLP). It’s a 37.6-square-kilometer (14.5-square-mile) reserve established in 1540 but has been threatened by illegal miners and armed groups for decades. According to a statement released by the RCMLP, the two individuals arrived at the shop attached to the home of Cañas Ramírez at approximately 8:50 p.m. on Feb. 16. As Ramírez prepared to attend to them, they shot him four times and fled along the community’s roads toward Supía, a neighboring municipality. Ramírez died several minutes later, the statement said. Ramírez was an active member of the resguardo&#8217;s governing council (cabildo) and an Indigenous authority from the community of Portachuelo, one of 32 Embera Chamí Indigenous communities in the reserve. Ramírez’s responsibilities included territorial protection, conflict resolution and the promotion of cultural preservation within the Portachuelo community. As part of his work, he encouraged young people to stay away from drugs, which has been a growing concern in the community, Hector Jaime Vinasco, a member of the resguardo&#8217;s governing council, told Mongabay over a phone call. Illegal mining and armed conflict have threatened the local communities for many years. In recognition of the threats and violence they face, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights granted the Embera people precautionary measures&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/02/indigenous-leader-assassinated-in-colombias-caldas-department/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/02/indigenous-leader-assassinated-in-colombias-caldas-department/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314719</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>José Albino Cañas Ramírez, a defender of Indigenous territories, aged 44</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/jose-albino-canas-ramirez-a-defender-of-indigenous-territories-44/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/jose-albino-canas-ramirez-a-defender-of-indigenous-territories-44/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Feb 2026 21:46:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/20214228/Jose-Albino-Canas-Ramirez-636721909_26491799580412673_5408253252520863944_n-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314593</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Endangered Environmentalists]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Environment, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Murdered Activists, Nonviolence, and Obituary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[José Albino Cañas Ramírez did not die in a war zone, though war had shaped the landscape where he lived. He was shot at his home in the community of Portachuelo, in Colombia’s Caldas department, on the evening of February 16. Two men came to the shop he ran from his house, opened fire, and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[José Albino Cañas Ramírez did not die in a war zone, though war had shaped the landscape where he lived. He was shot at his home in the community of Portachuelo, in Colombia’s Caldas department, on the evening of February 16. Two men came to the shop he ran from his house, opened fire, and fled along the footpaths that lace the Indigenous reserve. He was 44. His killing was treated not merely as a private tragedy, but as a public matter of governance. Cañas Ramírez was a cabildante—a member of the governing council—of the Resguardo of Colonial Origin Cañamomo Lomaprieta, an Emberá Chamí territory of more than 23,000 people spread across dozens of communities. His death, leaders said, struck at the very structure of Indigenous self-government. The community of Portachuelo, where Cañas Ramírez lived, lies at the base of a sacred hill called Carbunco. Photo by Héctor Jaime Vinasco, member of the Governing Council of the Cañamomo Lomaprieta Indigenous Reserve of Colonial Origin. The Emberá Chamí, whose name means “people of the mountains,” inhabit the central and western Andes. Their lands are biodiverse, steep, and contested. For decades, they have lived at the intersection of armed conflict and extractive ambition. Guerrilla groups, paramilitaries, criminal networks, miners, and state interests have all sought to control territory that the Emberá consider ancestral. The result has been what activists call a form of “double victimization”: pressure from illegal armed actors on one side, and development projects and resource exploitation on the other.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/jose-albino-canas-ramirez-a-defender-of-indigenous-territories-44/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/jose-albino-canas-ramirez-a-defender-of-indigenous-territories-44/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314593</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Ecuador’s Chocó, roads shape the fate of the rainforest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/in-ecuadors-choco-roads-shape-the-fate-of-the-rainforest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/in-ecuadors-choco-roads-shape-the-fate-of-the-rainforest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Feb 2026 19:05:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/06153811/DJI_20250923101309_0020_V-2-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313840</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Choco Forest, Ecuador, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Infrastructure, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Roads, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[HOJA BLANCO, Ecuador — Some parts of the rainforest in northwestern Ecuador used to be so dense and impenetrable that only a few hundred people were believed to live there. Even when loggers moved into the area in the 1980s and 1990s, setting up the first roads, it would take hours to travel only a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[HOJA BLANCO, Ecuador — Some parts of the rainforest in northwestern Ecuador used to be so dense and impenetrable that only a few hundred people were believed to live there. Even when loggers moved into the area in the 1980s and 1990s, setting up the first roads, it would take hours to travel only a few miles. It’s one of the rainiest regions on the planet, and the terrain rises sharply into the western Andes before dropping off into rivers and valleys. Because it was so inaccessible, the area remained one of the most biodiverse on the planet, with thousands of endemic plant species and hundreds of birds and amphibians. But in recent decades, much of that biodiversity has been lost. The region, known as the Chocó, has experienced historic deforestation, with only around 3% of its lower-elevation forest — below 900 meters (3,000 feet) — still remaining. In one area of the Chocó, in Esmeraldas province, the rise in deforestation coincided with the arrival of timber companies like Endesa-Botrosa, which built some of the first roads while logging the forest. Even when the companies reduced their work in the area a few years ago, deforestation continued to pose a major threat — largely because the companies left behind roads that people want to extend, conservation groups in the area say. Today, many of the roads that used to take hours to navigate are relatively clean and patched up, allowing people from other parts of the country to move in.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/in-ecuadors-choco-roads-shape-the-fate-of-the-rainforest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313840</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Colombia poised for another drop in deforestation in 2025, data show</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/colombia-poised-for-another-drop-in-deforestation-in-2025-data-show/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/colombia-poised-for-another-drop-in-deforestation-in-2025-data-show/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jan 2026 19:58:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/15211439/AP25339572345149-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313048</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forests, Logging, Mining, Organized Crime, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation in Colombia appears to have declined in 2025, with notable reductions in several departments that have historically struggled with forest loss. An estimated 36,280 hectares (89,650 acres) of forest were lost during the first three quarters of the year, a 25% drop from the 48,500 hectares (about 119,850 acres) recorded over the same period [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation in Colombia appears to have declined in 2025, with notable reductions in several departments that have historically struggled with forest loss. An estimated 36,280 hectares (89,650 acres) of forest were lost during the first three quarters of the year, a 25% drop from the 48,500 hectares (about 119,850 acres) recorded over the same period in 2024, according to the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM), a government agency. The figures only account for January to September, as data for the final quarter of the year are still being processed. Officials celebrated the results while stressing the need to continue improving forest conservation strategies. “The sustained reduction of deforestation in the Amazon is the result of collaboration between the national government and communities, through ecological restoration actions, voluntary conservation agreements, strengthening of sustainable production chains and forest management,” the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development said in a December statement. Colombia has around 60 million hectares (148 million acres) of forest cover, representing more than half of its total land area. This includes the Amazon Rainforest and savanna ecosystems like the Orinoquía. For decades, the country has struggled to slow the spread of cattle ranching and agriculture as well as illicit crops like coca, the primary ingredient in cocaine. In 2025, many of the worst-hit departments also saw the largest drops in forest loss, signaling progress in addressing some of these long-standing drivers. “When the figures are low, we should take advantage and strengthen actions to reduce threats,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/colombia-poised-for-another-drop-in-deforestation-in-2025-data-show/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313048</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Three Andean condor chicks hatch in Colombia as species nears local extinction</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/three-andean-condor-chicks-hatch-in-colombia-as-species-nears-local-extinction/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/three-andean-condor-chicks-hatch-in-colombia-as-species-nears-local-extinction/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jan 2026 02:18:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shanna Hanbury]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/14020739/National-Aviary_MarijoChick_Michael-Faix-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=312927</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Governance, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Since July 2024, three Andean condor chicks have hatched at an artificial incubation program located near Bogotá, Colombia’s capital city, contributor Christina Noriega reported for Mongabay. The artificial incubation program is run by the Jaime Duque Park Foundation, a Colombian conservation nonprofit that has worked since 2015 to counter the birds’ population decline. Globally, the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Since July 2024, three Andean condor chicks have hatched at an artificial incubation program located near Bogotá, Colombia’s capital city, contributor Christina Noriega reported for Mongabay. The artificial incubation program is run by the Jaime Duque Park Foundation, a Colombian conservation nonprofit that has worked since 2015 to counter the birds’ population decline. Globally, the Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) is classified as vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN Red List, with an estimated 6,700 mature individuals remaining across the species’ range, largely concentrated in Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. But in Colombia and Ecuador, the species is considered critically endangered, with fewer than 150 birds left in the wild. In Venezuela, the species is believed to have already gone locally extinct. The chicks, named Rafiki, Wayra and Ámbar, hatched in July 2024, September 2025 and October 2025, respectively. “They are the salvation of the species,” Fernando Castro, director of biodiversity at the foundation, told Mongabay. Rafiki and Wayra, the two older chicks, are expected to be released this year near Cerrito, a high-altitude town in northeastern Colombia where nearly half of the nation’s condor population survives today. To boost condor survival, wildlife caretakers at Jaime Duque Park place each egg collected from captive condor nests in an oven-like incubator to provide warmth and safety. Andean condors typically raise one chick every 2-3 years, and first-time parents have been observed accidentally cracking their eggs, Castro told Noriega. But removing the egg from their nest often stimulates the birds to lay again, increasing the number of eggs&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/three-andean-condor-chicks-hatch-in-colombia-as-species-nears-local-extinction/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/01/three-andean-condor-chicks-hatch-in-colombia-as-species-nears-local-extinction/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312927</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Urban sprawl and illegal mining reshape a fragile Amazon frontier</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/illegal-mining-and-urban-sprawl-reshape-a-fragile-amazon-frontier/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/illegal-mining-and-urban-sprawl-reshape-a-fragile-amazon-frontier/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jan 2026 17:15:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/06105654/Mitu-expansion-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312653</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Logging, Mining, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MITÚ, Colombia — Beneath the rising sun, people from nearby Indigenous communities navigate across the Vaupés River in traditional wooden canoes toward Mitú, a rapidly expanding town in the Colombian Amazon. The canoes are packed with fish, plucked from the river’s tea-colored waters hours before, and produce, harvested from their traditional gardens. To reach the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MITÚ, Colombia — Beneath the rising sun, people from nearby Indigenous communities navigate across the Vaupés River in traditional wooden canoes toward Mitú, a rapidly expanding town in the Colombian Amazon. The canoes are packed with fish, plucked from the river’s tea-colored waters hours before, and produce, harvested from their traditional gardens. To reach the town’s market, where merchants wait above a concrete slipway, the canoes stream past huge concrete sewage pipes and a statue of the Virgin Mary. As they navigate farther in, they’re no longer in the Great Vaupés Indigenous Reserve, an Indigenous territory whose borders surround Mitú and its connecting highway. They’re now in an urban frontier experiencing staggering changes in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest. Today, Mitú’s population has swelled to almost 30,000, from just over 4,000 five decades ago. This is due to an influx of Indigenous people who move between their traditional communities and the urban center, and non-Indigenous settlers who have established businesses or work for research centers or NGOs. The population boom is also due to illegal gold mining by organized crime groups and the illegal extraction of critical minerals in the wider region, including coltan, which is used in electronics and in electric vehicle batteries. Residents, NGOs and authorities have also reported an expansion in cattle farming and the illegal extraction and trafficking of timber, fish and animals. Members of the Indigenous Macaquiño community take Mongabay to visit their traditional forest garden, or chagra, in September 2025. Image by Aimee&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/illegal-mining-and-urban-sprawl-reshape-a-fragile-amazon-frontier/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/illegal-mining-and-urban-sprawl-reshape-a-fragile-amazon-frontier/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312653</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cultural changes shift an Indigenous community’s relationship with the Amazon forest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/cultural-changes-shift-an-indigenous-communitys-relationship-with-the-amazon-forest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/cultural-changes-shift-an-indigenous-communitys-relationship-with-the-amazon-forest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jan 2026 18:14:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/05142855/4-Indigenous-Macaquino-community-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312610</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Culture, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Rainforests, Traditional Knowledge, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[VAUPÉS, COLOMBIA – As a baby, Elisa Fernández Sánchez’ mother would place her into the bow of the canoe and glide across the murky waters of the Vaupés River in the thick Amazon rainforest. Their journey towards the traditional forest gardens was not easy, but they did it almost every day. Her mom would plunge [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[VAUPÉS, COLOMBIA – As a baby, Elisa Fernández Sánchez’ mother would place her into the bow of the canoe and glide across the murky waters of the Vaupés River in the thick Amazon rainforest. Their journey towards the traditional forest gardens was not easy, but they did it almost every day. Her mom would plunge the canoe into a series of small river channels, ducking to protect herself from the violent blizzard of branches, vines and leaves that threatened to gouge her eyes if she was not careful. Like most members of the mostly Cubeo Macaquiño community at the time, her mother respected nature and the spiritual beings that guard its sacred sites. It was dangerous to enter the forest unprotected. To enter sacred sites, the payé (an Indigenous authority responsible for maintaining the community’s cultural and spiritual well-being) had to pray to the spirits for permission. Failure to respect this rule could result in severe illness, they believed. Through rituals, prayers and their careful relationship with nature, the Macaquiño community has maintained a healthy territory. It is one of four Indigenous communities that form part of the Association of Traditional Indigenous Authorities Surrounding Mitú (AATIAM), a public entity with a state-recognized right to govern autonomously. Manuel Claudio Fernández, the captain of Macaquiño, said that the community does not care for the land; they co-exist with it. “How do we co-exist? By respecting the forest, the articulation of spirits, the water, the forest and us humans. We, the people, depend&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/cultural-changes-shift-an-indigenous-communitys-relationship-with-the-amazon-forest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312610</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The year in rainforests 2025: Deforestation fell; the risks did not</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/the-year-in-rainforests-2025-deforestation-fell-the-risks-did-not/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/the-year-in-rainforests-2025-deforestation-fell-the-risks-did-not/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Dec 2025 20:11:46 +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/20/2025/12/26174503/14-brunei_251114145042_0254z-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312083</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Amazon, Asia, Brazil, Central Africa, Colombia, Congo Basin, Democratic Republic Of Congo, Global, Indonesia, Latin America, Peru, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity credits, Carbon Credits, Carbon Market, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Deforestation, Environment, Fires, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Green, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, Indigenous Peoples, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Redd, Regulations, Remote Sensing, Satellite Imagery, Saving Rainforests, Solutions, Technology, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Year-end review]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The story of the world’s tropical forests in 2025 was not one of dramatic reversal, but one shaped by accumulated pressure. In several regions, deforestation slowed. In others, loss continued in less visible forms, shaped by fire, degradation, and political choices not limited to large-scale clearing alone. Governments continued to speak the language of protection, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The story of the world’s tropical forests in 2025 was not one of dramatic reversal, but one shaped by accumulated pressure. In several regions, deforestation slowed. In others, loss continued in less visible forms, shaped by fire, degradation, and political choices not limited to large-scale clearing alone. Governments continued to speak the language of protection, even as infrastructure, extraction, and energy projects advanced into forest landscapes. Progress was real, though uneven, and the distance between policy commitments and conditions on the ground remained substantial. What distinguished the year was the growing influence of indirect forces, rather than a single driver of loss. Heat, drought, and past damage increasingly shaped forest outcomes, even where new clearing slowed. Commodity markets rewarded persistence more than short-lived price spikes. Finance shifted away from individual projects toward broader fiscal tools. Enforcement mattered, alongside institutional credibility and the ability to operate consistently over time. At the global level, climate diplomacy continued, with limited appetite for binding decisions. COP30 avoided collapse and deferred the hardest choices. Forests remained prominent in rhetoric while enforceable outcomes remained limited. Market-based tools—carbon credits, trade regulation, and conservation finance—advanced unevenly, shaped as much by political confidence and capacity as by technical design. Taken together, 2025 underscored that tropical forests are now shaped more by interacting systems rather than single policies. Finance, science, enforcement, conflict, and climate stress increasingly operate together, often reinforcing one another. This review traces where those systems functioned, where they faltered, and what that means for the forests caught&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/the-year-in-rainforests-2025-deforestation-fell-the-risks-did-not/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312083</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Agroforestry grows in popularity among central Colombia&#8217;s coffee farmers (analysis)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/agroforestry-grows-in-popularity-among-central-colombias-coffee-farmers-analysis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/agroforestry-grows-in-popularity-among-central-colombias-coffee-farmers-analysis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Dec 2025 18:05:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Juliana Cajiao Raigosa]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/23171032/coffee-lady-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311971</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Agroforestry, Analysis, Coffee, Commentary, Commodity agriculture, Community Development, Conflict, Deforestation, Education, Forests, Social Conflict, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Colombia is the world&#8217;s third-largest coffee producer and the main producer of Arabica coffee, which is known worldwide for its quality. The nation began developing commercial production in 1870, which now accounts for 22% of the national gross domestic product (GDP). According to the National Federation of Coffee Growers, there are approximately 560,000 farms in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Colombia is the world&#8217;s third-largest coffee producer and the main producer of Arabica coffee, which is known worldwide for its quality. The nation began developing commercial production in 1870, which now accounts for 22% of the national gross domestic product (GDP). According to the National Federation of Coffee Growers, there are approximately 560,000 farms in the country dedicated to coffee production, most of them small scale and accounting for 15% of total production. Coffee in Colombia has become part of the national identity and is also considered part of its cultural heritage. Besides this, it has been of vital importance for the economy, representing up to 80% of total exports, and is undoubtedly partly responsible for the changes that took place between 1870 and 1930, which allowed for the integration of the country&#8217;s economy and generated positive political and social effects. However, only 5% of smallholder farmers are technically efficient (TE), reflecting poor agronomic management strategies such as inadequate uses of inputs, irrational uses of fertilizers and pesticides, low phytosanitary control and monitoring strategies, lack of labor and substandard production conditions, among other factors. Mr. Arlisson Neussa, an agricultural engineer, assisting with coffee berry borer monitoring on a coffee plantation. The agroforestry coffee system, in which the coffee is interplanted within a native forest, can be clearly seen. Image courtesy of Juliana Cajiao Raigosa. The main coffee-producing departments of the “cafetal zone” are Risalda, Caldas, Antioquia and Quindío. Coffee in these areas is considered a cultural heritage and is mainly&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/agroforestry-grows-in-popularity-among-central-colombias-coffee-farmers-analysis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311971</doi>				</item>
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