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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/nicaragua/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2026 16:11:36 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>Nicaragua environmental news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/nicaragua/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Nicaragua’s gold boom is now encroaching on protected areas and Indigenous land</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nicaraguas-gold-boom-is-now-encroaching-on-protected-areas-and-indigenous-land/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nicaraguas-gold-boom-is-now-encroaching-on-protected-areas-and-indigenous-land/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2026 15:30:25 +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/20/2026/07/31155858/4386-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325077</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Conservation, Culture, Deforestation, Environment, Gold Mining, Governance, Human Rights, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, International Trade, Law, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, Protected Areas, Trade, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Nicaragua, the mining sector has steadily grown over the last two decades, with gold becoming a top export and a pillar of the national economy. For most of that time, the growth was gradual. But in more recent years, there’s been an unprecedented boom, with the creation of dozens of mining concessions and a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Nicaragua, the mining sector has steadily grown over the last two decades, with gold becoming a top export and a pillar of the national economy. For most of that time, the growth was gradual. But in more recent years, there’s been an unprecedented boom, with the creation of dozens of mining concessions and a rush of new legislation to attract foreign companies. The boom coincides with Nicaragua’s increasing economic and political isolation. President Daniel Ortega has cracked down on dissent and cancelled elections, prompting countries like the U.S. and Canada to issue sanctions against numerous officials and institutions, making it difficult for them to trade and carry out other international business. With the price of gold on the rise, the government has turned to mining for economic stability. That decision has been disastrous for the environment and Indigenous communities, critics say. Mining concessions have started encroaching on protected areas and ancestral territory, threatening pollution, deforestation, and the displacement of residents, among other issues. “From 2022 and on, there’s been an incredible boom in the number of concessions granted,” said Carmen Corea-Sánchez, lead author of a new report from community-based Indigenous group Wangki and other researchers. A golden age of mining Ortega held office in the late 1980s and took power again in 2007, ushering in a massive investment in the mining sector, largely propelled by Chinese interest in the country and Latin America more broadly. In 2006, the year before he returned to office, Nicaragua exported 109,200 ounces of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nicaraguas-gold-boom-is-now-encroaching-on-protected-areas-and-indigenous-land/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325077</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brooklyn Rivera, defender of Nicaragua’s Indigenous lands, dies in detention</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/brooklyn-rivera-defender-of-nicaraguas-indigenous-lands-dies-in-detention/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/brooklyn-rivera-defender-of-nicaraguas-indigenous-lands-dies-in-detention/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Jun 2026 16:19:43 +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/20/2026/06/01190642/Brooklyn-Rivera-La-Prensa-1600x900-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320434</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, Mesoamerica, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation, Endangered Environmentalists, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, and Obituary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[La Moskitia, on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast, is often treated in Managua as a frontier: timber, gold, cattle, rivers, votes, and military concern. To the Miskitu, Sumu-Mayangna, Rama, Garífuna, and Creole peoples who live there, it is older than the Nicaraguan state. Its forests, savannas, rivers, and marine life are part of a political claim as [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[La Moskitia, on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast, is often treated in Managua as a frontier: timber, gold, cattle, rivers, votes, and military concern. To the Miskitu, Sumu-Mayangna, Rama, Garífuna, and Creole peoples who live there, it is older than the Nicaraguan state. Its forests, savannas, rivers, and marine life are part of a political claim as well as a homeland. The demand has long been plain enough: land, autonomy, and a say over what happens there. Brooklyn Rivera Bryan spent most of his life carrying that demand into war, negotiation, electoral politics, exile, and prison. Known in Miskitu communities as Taupla Brooklyn, he died on May 30th, aged 73, in the custody of Daniel Ortega’s government. He had been detained since September 2023. For months the government denied holding him. It later acknowledged his imprisonment. No public trial was held. His family was denied visits. His public life began after the Sandinista revolution of 1979, when the new government sought to draw the Atlantic Coast into a national project directed from the Pacific. The Miskitu experience of that project was marked by surveillance, arrests, violence, and forced displacement. In 1981 Rivera was arrested while leading Misurasata, an Indigenous organization whose name linked the Miskitu, Sumu, Rama, and Sandinistas. By 1982, thousands of Miskitu had been moved from villages along the Río Coco. Many fled to Honduras. Rivera’s cause was narrower and more durable than the Cold War frame around him: an autonomous Indigenous territory in Yapti Tasba, the aboriginal homeland. That&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/brooklyn-rivera-defender-of-nicaraguas-indigenous-lands-dies-in-detention/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/brooklyn-rivera-defender-of-nicaraguas-indigenous-lands-dies-in-detention/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320434</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Deforestation climbs in Central America’s largest biosphere reserve</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/deforestation-climbs-in-central-americas-largest-biosphere-reserve/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/deforestation-climbs-in-central-americas-largest-biosphere-reserve/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Dec 2025 20:09:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/31195758/2048px-Bairds_Tapir_Tapirus_bairdii_captive_specimen-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312462</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Cattle, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Fires, Forest Loss, Forests, Green, Herps, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Mammals, Pasture, Primary Forests, Rainforests, Ranching, Salamanders, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Encompassing some 7,400 square kilometers, or 2,860 square miles, along the Honduran border, Nicaragua’s Bosawás Biosphere Reserve is the largest biosphere reserve in Central America. It’s home to the Miskito and Mayanga Indigenous groups as well as countless species; endangered Geoffrey&#8217;s spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) and Baird&#8217;s tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) inhabit Bosawas, as do critically [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Encompassing some 7,400 square kilometers, or 2,860 square miles, along the Honduran border, Nicaragua’s Bosawás Biosphere Reserve is the largest biosphere reserve in Central America. It’s home to the Miskito and Mayanga Indigenous groups as well as countless species; endangered Geoffrey&#8217;s spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) and Baird&#8217;s tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) inhabit Bosawas, as do critically endangered Saslaya moss salamanders (Nototriton saslaya), that are found nowhere else in the world. But, increasingly over the past several decades, Bosawás has also become host to cattle ranches and gold mines, at the cost of its rainforest. Despite its designation as a UNESCO site, Bosawás Biosphere Reserve has lost more than 30% of its primary forest cover since the turn of the century, according to satellite data from the University of Maryland’s Global Land Analysis and Discovery lab and visualized on the monitoring platform Global Forest Watch. Deforestation surged to a record high in 2024, with 740 km2 (286 mi2) — 10% of the reserve’s land area — cleared in a single year. A satellite image captured April 2025 by Sentinel 2b shows recently deforested areas in Bosawás Biosphere Reserve. The data show fire activity in Bosawás also rose in 2024, with 35% of annual tree cover loss caused by fire, representing a 700% jump from 2023. Preliminary data for 2025 indicate forest loss has continued this year, with satellite imagery showing telltale patches of brown spreading ever deeper into Bosawás’s remaining old-growth rainforest. Cattle ranching is one of the main drivers of forest&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/deforestation-climbs-in-central-americas-largest-biosphere-reserve/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312462</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Forest loss, fires and invasions soar in Nicaraguan wildlife refuge, watchdog warns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/forest-loss-fires-and-invasions-soar-in-nicaraguan-wildlife-refuge-watchdog-warns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/forest-loss-fires-and-invasions-soar-in-nicaraguan-wildlife-refuge-watchdog-warns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Dec 2025 16:14:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gonzalo Ortuño López]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/03160803/nicaragua-bosque-humedo-rio-san-juan-centroamerica-8-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310541</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Forests, Illegal Mining, Land Conflict, Protected Areas, Rivers, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Río San Juan Wildlife Refuge, one of the most important protected areas in Nicaragua, is facing an unprecedented environmental crisis, according to a new report. Illegal deforestation, encroachment and mining in this area on Nicaragua’s southern border with Costa Rica are accelerating the degradation of a part of the best-preserved forest in Central America. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Río San Juan Wildlife Refuge, one of the most important protected areas in Nicaragua, is facing an unprecedented environmental crisis, according to a new report. Illegal deforestation, encroachment and mining in this area on Nicaragua’s southern border with Costa Rica are accelerating the degradation of a part of the best-preserved forest in Central America. A report by local NGO Fundación del Río says that nearly a third of the refuge’s tree cover, about 13,700 hectares (33,850 acres), has been lost in less than 10 years. The report points to various drivers of destruction inside the protected area that have resulted in, among others, a 290% increase in fires in just one year, and a 55% increase in illegal infrastructure, including housing. It also notes the detection of illegal mining and wildlife trafficking in one of the most biodiverse areas in the region. The refuge has been on the list of Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance since 2001 and is one of the core areas of the Río San Juan Biosphere Reserve, recognized by UNESCO. It’s also connected to the Indio Maíz Biological Reserve, an area of global importance due to its tropical forest, which partly overlaps with the territories of the Indigenous Rama people and the Afro-descendant Kriol people. The report cites two cases in which Nicaragua’s co-presidents, Daniel Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, as well as representatives from their ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front, are involved in the illegal occupation of parts of the refuge. Amaru Ruiz,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/forest-loss-fires-and-invasions-soar-in-nicaraguan-wildlife-refuge-watchdog-warns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310541</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Gold mining exposes Indigenous women in Nicaragua to high mercury levels</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/11/gold-mining-exposes-indigenous-women-in-nicaragua-to-high-mercury-levels/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/11/gold-mining-exposes-indigenous-women-in-nicaragua-to-high-mercury-levels/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Nov 2025 16:14:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/20151325/hair-sampling-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=309908</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Gold Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Mining, Pollution, and Public Health]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous women of childbearing age from Nicaragua’s Waspam municipality have been exposed to toxic levels of mercury, according to a new report by the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN). The researchers took hair samples from 50 women between 18 and 44 years old. The women live in the Indigenous communities of Li Auhbra and Li [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous women of childbearing age from Nicaragua’s Waspam municipality have been exposed to toxic levels of mercury, according to a new report by the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN). The researchers took hair samples from 50 women between 18 and 44 years old. The women live in the Indigenous communities of Li Auhbra and Li Lamn, located along the Wangki River, on the northern Caribbean coast. The area is home to many Indigenous communities and small-scale gold mining operations, which commonly use mercury to amalgamate gold. While no amount of mercury exposure is considered safe, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set a threshold of 1 part per million (ppm). Beyond that limit, negative impacts can be detected in the fetuses of pregnant women. Of the 50 participants, 80% had mercury levels above 1 ppm, and 98% had levels above the more health-protective proposed level of 0.58 ppm. Mercury exposure can impact a developing fetus months after the mother’s exposure and cause lifelong health problems, including neurological impairment, IQ loss, and kidney and cardiovascular damage, the report said. The report links mercury pollution in these women to small-scale gold mining. While most of the women of Li Auhbra and Li Lamni depend on agriculture, fishing and hunting for self-subsistence, some participants said they work as gold washers, a process that involves using mercury to extract gold from the surrounding ore. Researchers said participants who don’t engage directly in mining may be exposed through family members who do work with mercury&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/11/gold-mining-exposes-indigenous-women-in-nicaragua-to-high-mercury-levels/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-309908</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Deforestation and disease spread as Nicaragua ignores illegal cattle ranching</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/deforestation-and-disease-spread-as-nicaragua-ignores-illegal-cattle-ranching/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/deforestation-and-disease-spread-as-nicaragua-ignores-illegal-cattle-ranching/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Oct 2025 07:00:26 +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/20/2025/10/16200006/8-1-768x500.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307836</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Beef, Cattle, Conservation, Deforestation, Diseases, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forests, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, International Trade, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Meat, Politics, Protected Areas, Public Health, Rainforests, Ranching, Threats To Rainforests, Trade, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Illegal cattle ranching has torn through Nicaragua’s rainforests in recent years, supplying a growing international market for meat despite calls for better oversight of the industry. Now, the country is feeling the consequences, as disease spreads through the unchecked movement of livestock. Cases of New World screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax), or NWS, a fly that feeds [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Illegal cattle ranching has torn through Nicaragua’s rainforests in recent years, supplying a growing international market for meat despite calls for better oversight of the industry. Now, the country is feeling the consequences, as disease spreads through the unchecked movement of livestock. Cases of New World screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax), or NWS, a fly that feeds on warm-blooded animals, have exploded across the country. Experts have traced the outbreak to Nicaragua’s massive cattle ranching industry, which transports herds from grazeland to slaughterhouses without always following protocol. “Nicaraguan beef sold in the United States, Mexico and other global markets is fueling the destruction of the largest remaining tracts of rainforest in the country,” said a new report from environmental group Re:wild. “[It’s] facing one of the most aggressive outbreaks of [NWS] in its recent history.” Beef is one of Nicaragua’s top exports, and has continued to grow since President Daniel Ortega returned to power in 2007. Between January 2024 and June 2025, the country exported more than 60 million kilograms (132 million pounds) of beef to the U.S., valued at more than $390 million, according to U.S. maritime import data obtained by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). Cattle ranching helped exacerbate the spread of NWS, a parasite that first appeared in Panama in 2023 before reaching other parts of Central America and Mexico. Reported cases in Nicaragua rose from 11,930 at the start of 2025 to 19,700 in early July, according to the country’s Institute for Agricultural Protection and Health. Indio Maíz&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/deforestation-and-disease-spread-as-nicaragua-ignores-illegal-cattle-ranching/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307836</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nearly half of tree species in Mexico and Central America threatened with extinction</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/nearly-half-of-tree-species-in-mexico-and-central-america-threatened-with-extinction/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/nearly-half-of-tree-species-in-mexico-and-central-america-threatened-with-extinction/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jul 2025 13:48:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/08/30153330/costa_rica_osa_0077-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=302104</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Belize, Central America, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Extinction, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Green, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Trees, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Lions have been dubbed the king of the jungle, but one could argue the real royalty are the trees, the massive woody beasts that hold down the land and root the web of life that teems around them. In Mesoamerica (Mexico and Central America), which hosts 10% of all plant life on Earth despite covering [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Lions have been dubbed the king of the jungle, but one could argue the real royalty are the trees, the massive woody beasts that hold down the land and root the web of life that teems around them. In Mesoamerica (Mexico and Central America), which hosts 10% of all plant life on Earth despite covering only 0.5% of the planet’s land surface, nearly half of all tree species are in trouble. Of the 4,046 known tree species found only in Mesoamerica, 1,867, or 46%, are threatened with extinction, according to a new study published in the journal Plants, People, Planet. The research represents the first comprehensive assessment of Mesoamerican trees. The study was part of the Global Tree Assessment, a decade-long initiative to evaluate the conservation status of all the world&#8217;s tree species. Researchers used the standards of the IUCN Red List, which tracks how close species are to disappearing worldwide. The IUCN Red List categorizes species into nine groups, ranging from not evaluated to extinct, by considering factors such as population decline, habitat loss, and population size. Before this assessment, less than 20% (700) of the tree species of the region had been assessed on the IUCN Red List before 2019. Fungi in Costa Rica. Through their entire life cycle and beyond, tropical trees host an abundance of life. Photo by Rhett A. Butler for Mongabay.com. &#8220;It&#8217;s an important study — essentially a clarion call for conserving endangered tree species in Mesoamerica,&#8221; William Laurance, a tropical ecologist at James&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/nearly-half-of-tree-species-in-mexico-and-central-america-threatened-with-extinction/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/nearly-half-of-tree-species-in-mexico-and-central-america-threatened-with-extinction/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-302104</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nicaragua government tied to illegal land invasions in wildlife refuge, documents suggest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/nicaragua-government-tied-to-illegal-land-invasions-in-wildlife-refuge-documents-suggest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/nicaragua-government-tied-to-illegal-land-invasions-in-wildlife-refuge-documents-suggest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jun 2025 16:02:57 +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/20/2025/06/25203819/497471661_1323751673089453_597125191772006306_n-1-768x500.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301405</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Corruption, Deforestation, Dredging, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Mining, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Rivers, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A protected wildlife refuge in Nicaragua has suffered a wave of deforestation in recent years, fueled by controversial land deals allowing settlers to clear the rainforest for farming, mining and cattle ranching. Government officials and even some Indigenous community leaders have overseen the land deals in Río San Juan Wildlife Refuge, an ostensibly protected area [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A protected wildlife refuge in Nicaragua has suffered a wave of deforestation in recent years, fueled by controversial land deals allowing settlers to clear the rainforest for farming, mining and cattle ranching. Government officials and even some Indigenous community leaders have overseen the land deals in Río San Juan Wildlife Refuge, an ostensibly protected area in southeastern Nicaragua, resulting in deforestation and the displacement of some residents, according to receipts and other financial documents. The documents were originally obtained by the environmental organization Fundación del Río and shared with Mongabay. They reveal a pattern of corruption and fraud that has led to an influx of human presence in one of the country’s most ecologically important areas. “[The wildlife refuge] is facing severe ecosystem degradation, largely due to invasions that have been induced, promoted and permitted by institutional authorities, political operators and the Ortega-Murillo regime,” a Fundación del Río report said. Río San Juan Wildlife Refuge sits on the Atlantic coast and border with Costa Rica, covering 43,000 hectares (about 106,300 acres) within the larger Río San Juan Biosphere Reserve. Its estuaries and freshwater lagoons have earned it a Ramsar site designation, an international convention protecting wetlands. Around 22% of the wildlife refuge overlaps with Indigenous Rama and Afro-descendent Kriol territory. Nine communities occupy the area on both sides of the border, making land grabs not just a conservation concern but also a human rights violation by the government, observers said. Over the last two decades, President Daniel Ortega has looked&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/nicaragua-government-tied-to-illegal-land-invasions-in-wildlife-refuge-documents-suggest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301405</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As the gold rush surges in Nicaragua, Indigenous communities pay the price</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/as-the-gold-rush-surges-in-nicaragua-indigenous-communities-pay-the-price/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/as-the-gold-rush-surges-in-nicaragua-indigenous-communities-pay-the-price/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jan 2025 18:36:21 +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/20/2025/01/31180356/DSC_0301-768x480.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=293732</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forests, Gold Mining, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Law, Mining, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Gold mining has exploded in Nicaragua over the past few years, bringing in billions of dollars and becoming the country’s top export, surpassing even coffee and beef. International sanctions against the industry have done little to slow it down, with companies from China, Canada, the U.K. and Colombia setting up operations in ecologically sensitive areas [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Gold mining has exploded in Nicaragua over the past few years, bringing in billions of dollars and becoming the country’s top export, surpassing even coffee and beef. International sanctions against the industry have done little to slow it down, with companies from China, Canada, the U.K. and Colombia setting up operations in ecologically sensitive areas — often near national parks and on Indigenous territory. A lack of government transparency has made it difficult to know how concessions are granted and what happens to them once mining begins. But activist groups say the industry continues to expand, with weak regulations and widespread corruption resulting in deforestation, pollution and human rights violations against Indigenous communities. “The whole process of invasion is like a time bomb that’s going to implode from the inside,” one Indigenous rights defender, who asked that his name be withheld for safety concerns, told Mongabay. One analysis by the land-use observatory Land Matrix América Latina counted 144 active mining concessions in Nicaragua covering 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres), an overwhelming majority of them granted since President Daniel Ortega took office in 2007. Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, who’s been vice president since 2017, have cracked down on dissent and consolidated power through elections seen as flawed, drawing backlash from the international community. Gold offers a way of avoiding sanctions while laundering money and paying out the political elite — and there’s still room for the industry to grow, experts say. There are as many as 4.8 million&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/as-the-gold-rush-surges-in-nicaragua-indigenous-communities-pay-the-price/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-293732</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A deadly fly is spreading through Central America. Experts blame illegal cattle ranching</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/a-deadly-fly-is-spreading-through-central-america-experts-blame-illegal-cattle-ranching/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/a-deadly-fly-is-spreading-through-central-america-experts-blame-illegal-cattle-ranching/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Nov 2024 17:03:10 +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/20/2021/10/15140350/FEATURE1-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=290005</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Guatemala, Honduras, Latin America, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Cattle, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Governance, International Trade, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Law, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Ranching, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MEXICO CITY — Illegal cattle ranching in Central America has led to the spread of a deadly parasite long thought to be eradicated, and conservationists are calling for tighter controls before it reaches Mexico and the US. An outbreak of new world screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax)  — a fly that infects warm-blooded animals — is the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MEXICO CITY — Illegal cattle ranching in Central America has led to the spread of a deadly parasite long thought to be eradicated, and conservationists are calling for tighter controls before it reaches Mexico and the US. An outbreak of new world screwworm (Cochliomyia hominivorax)  — a fly that infects warm-blooded animals — is the direct result of cattle smuggling through protected areas across Central America, conservationists said. Unregulated movement of livestock has accelerated transmission, and could cost the region millions of dollars if officials don’t act soon. “The screwworm outbreak highlights an urgent need for tighter regulation in the cattle trade across Mesoamerica, as the unchecked movement of illegal cattle exacerbates both environmental and health issues,” said Chris Jordan, Latin America Director for Re:wild, a conservation group. “…Tackling this requires cooperation from companies, industry leaders and governments, who must step up to prevent contraband cattle from crossing borders unchecked.” New world screwworms lay their eggs in the open wounds of cattle and other animals, with the resulting larva feeding on live flesh until the host dies. It can be disastrous for agribusiness and countries relying on beef exports. A joint US campaign in the 1980s and 90s helped eradicate screwworm from Central America and Mexico. But last year, the fly reappeared unexpectedly, this time in Panama. Experts believe it traveled from South America through the thick jungles of the Darien Gap, which had previously kept the parasite at bay for nearly thirty years. Experts still don’t know if the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/a-deadly-fly-is-spreading-through-central-america-experts-blame-illegal-cattle-ranching/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/a-deadly-fly-is-spreading-through-central-america-experts-blame-illegal-cattle-ranching/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-290005</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Failed U.S. ‘war on drugs’ endangers Central American bird habitats, study warns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/failed-u-s-war-on-drugs-endangers-central-american-bird-habitats-study-warns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/failed-u-s-war-on-drugs-endangers-central-american-bird-habitats-study-warns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2024 16:47:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Boris van der Spek]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/03154121/Golden-cheeked_Warbler_male-Kerr_WMA-TX_-_2015-05-24at13-39-5312_21618131341-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=286890</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Deforestation, Forest Destruction, Forests, Rainforests, Research, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Every year, between November and February, the golden-cheeked warbler makes its way down from the U.S. state of Texas to Central America. But as it travels to find refuge from the winter, this tiny, endangered bird, Setophaga chrysoparia, with its bright-yellow cheeks and a buzzing song, seems unable to evade habitat loss. More than 90% [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Every year, between November and February, the golden-cheeked warbler makes its way down from the U.S. state of Texas to Central America. But as it travels to find refuge from the winter, this tiny, endangered bird, Setophaga chrysoparia, with its bright-yellow cheeks and a buzzing song, seems unable to evade habitat loss. More than 90% of the golden-cheeked warbler population winters in a region that is at increased risk of deforestation, experts are warning. It isn’t alone. Dozens of migratory and native forest birds in Central America could see as much as two-thirds of their habitats threatened by encroaching narco-trafficking activity that drives deforestation, according to recently published research. More than half of the migratory species analyzed had more than a quarter of their global populations in landscapes that have become more vulnerable to drug-related deforestation in Central America. And this is only for the migratory species that breed in North America, the study authors say. The Maya Biosphere Reserve in Guatemala. Large-scale deforestation in the region has been linked, in part, to narco-trafficking, say experts. Image courtesy of CIFOR via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). They found that antidrug policies can push narco-trafficking into more remote forest areas, many of which represent important bird landscapes. Some of the areas that have become more vulnerable as a result lie within Central America’s Five Great Forests: the Maya Forest in Guatemala, the Indio-Maiz in Nicaragua, the Tortuguero in Costa Rica, and the Moskitia in Honduras. The study found that since 1970, deforestation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/failed-u-s-war-on-drugs-endangers-central-american-bird-habitats-study-warns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-286890</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Nicaragua, activists challenge the value of international ‘green’ financing</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/in-nicaragua-activists-challenge-the-value-of-international-green-financing/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/in-nicaragua-activists-challenge-the-value-of-international-green-financing/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Aug 2024 20:23:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/08/30200730/El_castillo_-_rio_san_juan-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=286811</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Banking, Biodiversity, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, climate finance, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Funding, Governance, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Politics, Rainforests, Research, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nicaragua has spent the last several years shuttering over a thousand civil society organizations, universities, media outlets and other organizations, often for criticizing President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo. Their government has been sanctioned for acts of repression and human rights abuses, and the state-run mining company has been blocked from [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nicaragua has spent the last several years shuttering over a thousand civil society organizations, universities, media outlets and other organizations, often for criticizing President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo. Their government has been sanctioned for acts of repression and human rights abuses, and the state-run mining company has been blocked from global trade by many major importers. Some of the worst abuses are happening along the country’s Caribbean coast, where Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities continue to fend off land grabbing in ancestral rainforests ripe for mining, logging and agriculture. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has held numerous hearings accusing the regime of exacerbating the issue. Yet at the same time, the government continues to pursue “green financing” through the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA) as well as international backers like the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Global Environment Facility (GEF), among others. Environmentalists in the country are concerned about how that money is used given the government’s track record. They want to make sense of a regime they believe has exploited the country’s natural resources while continuing to accept funding for conservation projects. “On the one hand, we have a commitment from the international community, from financial organizations, for the conservation of those territories. On the other hand, we have an internal policy of destruction,” said Amaru Ruiz Alemán, head of Fundación Del Río, an organization that monitors land invasions and environmental issues in Nicaragua. A home in Bosawás, Nicaragua.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/in-nicaragua-activists-challenge-the-value-of-international-green-financing/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-286811</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Activists ask for help combatting violence against Nicaragua’s Indigenous communities</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/activists-ask-for-help-combatting-violence-against-nicaraguas-indigenous-communities/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/activists-ask-for-help-combatting-violence-against-nicaraguas-indigenous-communities/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jul 2024 13:00:55 +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/20/2024/07/26211717/Screenshot-2024-07-26-151543-768x500.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=285206</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forestry, Forests, Gold Mining, Governance, Human Rights, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Law, Law Enforcement, Logging, Mining, Politics, Pollution, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Increasing violence in northern Nicaragua this year has displaced rural families and led to calls for more drastic action from the international community, which activists say hasn’t done enough to hold the Ortega government accountable for human rights abuses. For years, Indigenous communities on Nicaragua’s northern Caribbean coast have suffered threats, kidnappings, torture and unlawful [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Increasing violence in northern Nicaragua this year has displaced rural families and led to calls for more drastic action from the international community, which activists say hasn’t done enough to hold the Ortega government accountable for human rights abuses. For years, Indigenous communities on Nicaragua’s northern Caribbean coast have suffered threats, kidnappings, torture and unlawful arrests while defending communal territory from illegal settlements and mining. This year appears to be as bad as ever, and residents say they are desperate for help. “Urgent measures must be taken to protect these communities,” said Gloria Monique de Mees, the OAS rapporteur on the rights of Afro-descendants and against racial discrimination. “Failure to address the crisis will only embolden the Nicaraguan government to continue its repressive campaign.” Much of the violence is concentrated within the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region (RACCN), a jurisdiction communally governed and titled by Indigenous communities since the late 1980s. It’s home to Miskitus, Mayangnas, Ulwa, Ramas, Creole and Garífunas peoples, and contains mountain, rainforest and coastal ecosystems. The area has attracted non-Indigenous Nicaraguans, known locally as colonos, looking to set up farms, logging operations and artisanal mines. Massive gold and copper deposits have also created opportunities for multinational mining corporations, with backing from the government. Indigenous communities say they’re worried about losing ancestral land as well as traditional farming, hunting and fishing practices as the forest is cleared and mines pollute local streams and rivers. An IACHR panel in March on unlawful arrests in Nicaragua. Photo by CIDH&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/activists-ask-for-help-combatting-violence-against-nicaraguas-indigenous-communities/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/activists-ask-for-help-combatting-violence-against-nicaraguas-indigenous-communities/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-285206</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesian palm oil, Brazilian beef top contributors to U.S. deforestation exposure</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/indonesian-palm-oil-brazilian-beef-top-contributors-to-u-s-deforestation-exposure/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/indonesian-palm-oil-brazilian-beef-top-contributors-to-u-s-deforestation-exposure/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 May 2024 15:45:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/05/07152346/colombia_cattle-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=281790</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Beef, Biodiversity, Cacao, Cattle, Coffee, Conservation, Corn, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forests, Green, International Trade, Palm Oil, Pasture, Rainforests, Ranching, Rubber, Soy, Threats To Rainforests, and Timber]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[If you’re in the United States, your meal might come with a side of deforestation.  The US imported palm oil, cattle products, soybeans, cocoa, rubber, coffee and corn linked to an estimated 122,800 hectares (303,445 acres) of tropical deforestation between October 2021 and November 2023 — an area the size of the city of Los [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[If you’re in the United States, your meal might come with a side of deforestation.  The US imported palm oil, cattle products, soybeans, cocoa, rubber, coffee and corn linked to an estimated 122,800 hectares (303,445 acres) of tropical deforestation between October 2021 and November 2023 — an area the size of the city of Los Angeles, according to a new report provided by the NGO Trase for Global Witness. More than a third (33.8%) of the deforestation was linked to oil palm imports, primarily from Indonesia. Cattle products, sourced mainly from Brazil, Australia and Mexico, were the second-largest contributor, at 31.8%. Coffee placed third, at 24.2%, followed by cocoa (7.6%), soybeans (2%), corn (0.37%) and rubber (0.15%). “I think it&#8217;s quite striking how palm oil was potentially quite a big source of deforestation exposure for the U.S. as a commodity that has received lots of attention,” Mark Titley, senior research associate at Trase, told Mongabay. Several Latin American countries were identified as significant sources of deforestation. Brazil was the second-largest contributor to U.S. deforestation exposure, primarily through cattle products. Colombia was the source of nearly a fifth of the deforestation linked to U.S. coffee imports. Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Honduras also contributed, mainly by exporting cattle products, coffee and cocoa. Trase&#8217;s methodology combines satellite data on tree cover loss with trade records and commodity production data to estimate the amount of deforestation per ton of production in each country and year. &#8220;So if we&#8217;re looking at palm oil, we&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/indonesian-palm-oil-brazilian-beef-top-contributors-to-u-s-deforestation-exposure/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-281790</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Tropical forest loss puts 2030 zero-deforestation target further out of reach</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/tropical-forest-loss-puts-2030-zero-deforestation-target-further-out-of-reach/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/tropical-forest-loss-puts-2030-zero-deforestation-target-further-out-of-reach/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Apr 2024 12:26:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/09/13160907/canada-fire-wildfire-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=280650</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Illegal Deforestation, Global Forests, Indonesian Fisheries, and Indonesian Palm Oil]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Asia, Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Congo Basin, Democratic Republic Of Congo, Indonesia, Laos, Latin America, Nicaragua, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, boreal forests, carbon, Carbon Emissions, Climate, Climate Change, data, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Drought, Environment, Fires, Forest Carbon, forest degradation, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Monitoring, Palm Oil, Plantations, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Remote Sensing, Threats To Rainforests, Trees, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — The tropics continue to lose primary forest at an alarming rate, with an area of tree cover half the size of Panama disappearing in 2023, new data from the University of Maryland&#8217;s GLAD lab show. Primary forest loss last year amounted to 3.7 million hectares (9.1 million acres), according to the data, available [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — The tropics continue to lose primary forest at an alarming rate, with an area of tree cover half the size of Panama disappearing in 2023, new data from the University of Maryland&#8217;s GLAD lab show. Primary forest loss last year amounted to 3.7 million hectares (9.1 million acres), according to the data, available on the Global Forest Watch (GFW) platform managed by the World Resources Institute (WRI). And while this marks or 9% decrease from 2022, it’s virtually unchanged from the 2019 and 2021 deforestation rates. On average, over the past two decades, the world has consistently lost 3 million to 4 million hectares (7.4 million to 9.9 million acres) of tropical forest every year. This leaves the planet well off track from achieving zero deforestation by 2030, a global target agreed to by 145 countries at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in 2021. Forest loss, particularly in the tropics, releases huge volumes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Halting and reversing forest loss by the end of the decade is considered essential to meeting the Paris Agreement goal of capping the global average temperature rise at 1.5° Celsius (2.7° Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. &#8220;Forests are critical ecosystems for fighting climate change, supporting livelihoods, and protecting biodiversity,” said WRI president and CEO Ani Dasgupta. “The world has just six years left to keep its promise to halt deforestation. This year’s forest loss numbers tell an inspiring story of what we can achieve when leaders prioritize action, but the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/tropical-forest-loss-puts-2030-zero-deforestation-target-further-out-of-reach/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-280650</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Harmful mining continues in Nicaragua despite U.S. sanctions, new investigation shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/harmful-mining-continues-in-nicaragua-despite-u-s-sanctions-new-investigation-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/harmful-mining-continues-in-nicaragua-despite-u-s-sanctions-new-investigation-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Feb 2024 16:40:14 +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/20/2024/02/02190049/5528820055_715d8e9df7_k-1-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=278509</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Gold Mining, Governance, Human Rights, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Law, Mining, Politics, Pollution, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Trade, Tropical Forests, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[U.S. sanctions imposed in 2022 against Nicaragua’s mining industry were supposed to help combat a bloody wave of human rights abuses against local communities. But several years later, some aspects of the sanctions still aren’t being enforced, allowing mining companies to continue operations and even expand into new parts of the country. Numerous mines are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[U.S. sanctions imposed in 2022 against Nicaragua’s mining industry were supposed to help combat a bloody wave of human rights abuses against local communities. But several years later, some aspects of the sanctions still aren’t being enforced, allowing mining companies to continue operations and even expand into new parts of the country. Numerous mines are still operating like normal, according to a new report from the Oakland Institute, a think tank focused on social and environmental issues, contributing to escalating violence against Indigenous communities and the destruction of ancestral land. “The Biden administration talks a big game about using targeted sanctions to hold human rights violators accountable in Nicaragua, but the Treasury Department lets the worst of these actors off the hook,” said report co-author Josh Mayer, an Oakland Institute fellow, in a press release. The Treasury Department announced sanctions against state-owned mining company Empresa Nicaragüense de Minas (ENIMIENAS) in June 2022, saying it was “using gold revenue to continue to oppress the people of Nicaragua.” A few months later, President Biden used executive order 14088 to expand the sanctions to all individuals and companies operating in Nicaragua’s gold sector. In theory, that meant anyone mining in Nicaragua was blocked from accessing financial entities in the U.S., including properties, capital and banking services. But sanctions have been historically hard to enforce and ineffective as a foreign policy tool. Last year, the U.S. was the country’s largest gold importer, bringing in around $465 million between January 2023 and July 2023, according&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/harmful-mining-continues-in-nicaragua-despite-u-s-sanctions-new-investigation-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/harmful-mining-continues-in-nicaragua-despite-u-s-sanctions-new-investigation-shows/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-278509</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Restoring degraded forests may be key for climate, study says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/restoring-degraded-forests-may-be-key-for-climate-study-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/restoring-degraded-forests-may-be-key-for-climate-study-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Oct 2023 15:41:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/04151943/Pesalat-Reforestation-Project-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274049</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Belize, Central America, Costa Rica, Global, Guatemala, Latin America, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Degraded Lands, Ecosystems, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Landscape Restoration, Logging, Mapping, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Reforestation, Research, Restoration, Saving Rainforests, Solutions, Sustainable Forest Management, Timber, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new global analysis focuses on the climate benefits of restoring degraded forest areas instead of replanting trees in deforested areas. Researchers mapped forests worldwide to find areas that could support more trees and wildlife if restored. The study reveals that degraded forests, which retain 50-80% of their potential tree density, cover more than 1.5 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new global analysis focuses on the climate benefits of restoring degraded forest areas instead of replanting trees in deforested areas. Researchers mapped forests worldwide to find areas that could support more trees and wildlife if restored. The study reveals that degraded forests, which retain 50-80% of their potential tree density, cover more than 1.5 billion hectares (3.7 billion acres) worldwide. Focusing restoration efforts in these damaged forest ecosystems may deliver rapid gains for carbon storage and wildlife habitat connectivity. Degraded forests are those with reduced canopy cover, biodiversity loss, soil erosion, altered water cycles, heightened susceptibility to pests and diseases and diminished overall health and functionality. Causes range from unsustainable logging and shifting cultivation to wildfires, overgrazing and climate change impacts. Forest restoration potential by intervention type. Areas with reforestation potential are mapped together with areas of degraded forest with potential for recovery. Figure from Rayden et al 2023. Degraded forests are cheaper and easier to restore than completely cleared lands, the authors say, and allowing them to regrow naturally (via natural or assisted natural regeneration) can rapidly recapture lost carbon. The authors argue that considering degraded forests significantly expands the area that could be targeted by restoration programs and would better reflect the full range of opportunities to pull carbon from the air into the plant biomass and soil of the forest. The study combined remote sensing data on current tree cover with models of forest biomass potential. This allowed the researchers to map degraded forests globally that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/restoring-degraded-forests-may-be-key-for-climate-study-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/restoring-degraded-forests-may-be-key-for-climate-study-says/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-274049</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Chemical spill in Nicaraguan reserve raises questions about industrial mining regulations</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/chemical-spill-in-nicaraguan-reserve-raises-questions-about-industrial-mining-regulations/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/chemical-spill-in-nicaraguan-reserve-raises-questions-about-industrial-mining-regulations/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 May 2023 17:48:27 +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/20/2023/05/19172754/Portada-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=268792</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Chemicals, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forests, Gold Mining, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Mining, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A recent chemical spill in a protected reserve in northern Nicaragua is raising concerns about the contamination of several river ecosystems and the public health fallout for thousands of Indigenous people living nearby. Earlier this month, chemicals believed to be cyanide leaked from a processing plant run by Colombian gold mining company Hemco in Bonanza, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A recent chemical spill in a protected reserve in northern Nicaragua is raising concerns about the contamination of several river ecosystems and the public health fallout for thousands of Indigenous people living nearby. Earlier this month, chemicals believed to be cyanide leaked from a processing plant run by Colombian gold mining company Hemco in Bonanza, a town located inside an autonomous region controlled by several Indigenous groups. The plant also sits within the buffer zone of the Bosawás Biosphere Reserve, the country’s largest protected area. Although a Hemco statement said the spill was addressed immediately, community leaders reported pollution in the Kukalaya and Tungki rivers, where residents washing laundry complained of itchiness after coming in contact with the water. Indigenous communities have for years struggled with water scarcity due to climate change and contamination from mining operations, both industrial and artisanal. Despite that the rivers are some of the only sources of clean water, leaders published a statement urging people to avoid bathing, drinking, doing laundry or giving the water to livestock for the next month. The Hemco plant in Nicaragua. (Photo courtesy of Hemco) “We understand very clearly that the rights of Indigenous peoples are being violated here,” an Indigenous community leader, who wished to remain anonymous due to security concerns in the country, told Mongabay. He said previous chemical spills sourced to industrial mining operations have left dead fish on the banks of the rivers. And while the government performs testing on the water before clearing it for human&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/chemical-spill-in-nicaraguan-reserve-raises-questions-about-industrial-mining-regulations/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/chemical-spill-in-nicaraguan-reserve-raises-questions-about-industrial-mining-regulations/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
					<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/05/19152844/Video-1.mp4" length="12127015" type="video/mp4" />
					<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-268792</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>UN denounces new attacks on Indigenous people in Nicaragua’s largest reserve</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/un-denounces-new-attacks-on-indigenous-people-in-nicaraguas-largest-reserve/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/un-denounces-new-attacks-on-indigenous-people-in-nicaraguas-largest-reserve/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Mar 2023 15:48:03 +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/20/2023/03/21153530/FEATURE--768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=266675</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forests, Gold Mining, Governance, Human Rights, Illegal Logging, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Logging, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A wave of violence against Indigenous people in Nicaragua this month has drawn international outcry over the government’s lack of action against land invaders committing human rights violations and destroying some of the country’s most important forests. Groups believed to be connected to cattle ranching, logging and illegal mining launched several attacks in March against [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A wave of violence against Indigenous people in Nicaragua this month has drawn international outcry over the government’s lack of action against land invaders committing human rights violations and destroying some of the country’s most important forests. Groups believed to be connected to cattle ranching, logging and illegal mining launched several attacks in March against Mayangna and Miskitu Indigenous communities living in and around the Bosawás Biosphere Reserve, the largest protected area in Nicaragua. “The increasing number of settlers and land traffickers on (Mayangna) Sauni As territory hasn’t stopped,” the Indigenous territorial government said in a letter to officials. “The environmental destruction has been unstoppable, leading to disastrous consequences for human lives and the greater wellbeing of the communities.” The 2-million-hectare (4.9-million-acre) Bosawás Biosphere Reserve borders the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, an area created in the 1980s to give Indigenous groups self-governance. But their vast stretches of uninhabited forests have drawn settlers (known locally as colonos) looking to profit from the area’s natural resources. For years, Indigenous communities have been trying to fend off the settlers, who have resorted to shootings, kidnappings and intimidation to take over the land. On March 11, armed settlers killed at least six Mayangna Sauni As men in the Wilu community while injuring one other, who was sent to the hospital, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which denounced the attacks. Several other members of the community are still missing. Mayangna Sauni As territory. (Photo courtesy of Larry&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/un-denounces-new-attacks-on-indigenous-people-in-nicaraguas-largest-reserve/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-266675</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous communities threatened as deforestation rises in Nicaraguan reserves</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/indigenous-communities-threatened-as-deforestation-rises-in-nicaraguan-reserves/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/indigenous-communities-threatened-as-deforestation-rises-in-nicaraguan-reserves/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jan 2023 17:17:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/01/30171128/Rio_Wany_Pinzapolka_RAAN_Nicaragua._-_panoramio-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=265080</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Cattle, Conservation, Culture, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forests, Gold Mining, Governance, Illegal Logging, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Logging, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Ranching, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It’s hard to know exactly what’s happening to the environment in Nicaragua. Data on everything from mining to deforestation to biodiversity loss is nearly impossible to get from the government. Hundreds of journalists and environmental defenders have been arrested or fled the country, including much of the newsroom of La Prensa, Nicaragua’s oldest newspaper. And [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It’s hard to know exactly what’s happening to the environment in Nicaragua. Data on everything from mining to deforestation to biodiversity loss is nearly impossible to get from the government. Hundreds of journalists and environmental defenders have been arrested or fled the country, including much of the newsroom of La Prensa, Nicaragua’s oldest newspaper. And many Indigenous people say they’re too frightened to speak openly about threats in their territory. But all available signs suggest that 2022 was another bad year for the country’s forests, especially its two big biosphere reserves on the eastern and western borders, Bosawás and Indio Maíz. Preliminary satellite data show severe encroachment into primary forests by cattle ranching, mining and logging. It’s especially concerning for human rights advocates because both reserves sit within or adjacent to Indigenous autonomous zones meant to preserve land ownership and self-governance for Mayangna and Miskito peoples. “The forest is Mother Earth for us because it’s the mother that provides what you need to survive, to feed and protect yourself,” said an Indigenous leader who asked to remain anonymous due to safety concerns. In 2021, Bosawás experienced its third-highest level of tree cover loss in 10 years, according to satellite data from Global Forest Watch (GFW). Overall, the 2-million-hectare (4.9-million-acre) reserve lost 20% of its tree cover between 2011 and 2021. GFW analysts haven’t determined the exact area of forest lost in 2022, but initial mapping suggests the reserve’s deforestation rate may have jumped even higher last year, and satellite imagery&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/indigenous-communities-threatened-as-deforestation-rises-in-nicaraguan-reserves/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-265080</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Displaced and deprived, Indigenous communities suffer from hunger in Nicaragua</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/displaced-and-deprived-indigenous-communities-suffer-from-hunger-in-nicaragua/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/displaced-and-deprived-indigenous-communities-suffer-from-hunger-in-nicaragua/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jan 2022 21:20:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/01/28211602/FEATURE-AB-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=252107</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Forests, Illegal Logging, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Grabbing, Protected Areas, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Many Indigenous communities in northern Nicaragua are struggling with hunger and malnutrition as increasing land invasions force them from ancestral forests that they once sustainably managed for crop cultivation. Residents in and around the Bosawás Biosphere Reserve near the Caribbean coast, most of them part of Mayangna and Miskito Indigenous communities, don’t always have enough [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Many Indigenous communities in northern Nicaragua are struggling with hunger and malnutrition as increasing land invasions force them from ancestral forests that they once sustainably managed for crop cultivation. Residents in and around the Bosawás Biosphere Reserve near the Caribbean coast, most of them part of Mayangna and Miskito Indigenous communities, don’t always have enough to eat after being displaced by outsiders who forcibly enter the area to mine for gold, graze cattle, and log the 2.2-million-hectare (5.4-million-acre) UNESCO-protected forest. “On the one hand you have the violence and massacres. On the other, there’s the slow, painful, morbid situation that is being created when lands are taken away,” said Anuradha Mittal, director of the U.S.-based Oakland Institute, which has investigated human rights issues in Nicaragua. “As the time comes for people to plant beans, cassava, bananas, these communities are expelled or afraid to go to their farms, which results in hunger and malnutrition.” Some displaced residents have complained of being underweight and losing their teeth, common symptoms of malnutrition. Older people have starved to death after refusing to eat processed foods that clash with the ancestral diets their bodies are accustomed to, community leaders told Mongabay. The processed foods are worse nutritionally and often include basic carbohydrates instead of natural plants and meats from the area. “Families are not eating well and the diversity of food has decreased,” said Maria*, a local activist in the community. “The quantity, as well. And the frequency … There are people who eat once&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/displaced-and-deprived-indigenous-communities-suffer-from-hunger-in-nicaragua/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/displaced-and-deprived-indigenous-communities-suffer-from-hunger-in-nicaragua/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-252107</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Agricultural frontier advances in Nicaraguan biosphere reserve</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/agricultural-frontier-advances-in-nicaraguan-biosphere-reserve/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/agricultural-frontier-advances-in-nicaraguan-biosphere-reserve/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Dec 2021 18:49:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Leonardo Guevara]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/12/31004241/1230-ondo-local-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=251336</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Forest Trackers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Community-based Conservation, Deforestation, Ecotourism, Environment, Fires, Forest Loss, Forests, Grasslands, Green, Habitat Loss, Indigenous Peoples, Industrial Agriculture, Old Growth Forests, Primary Forests, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Río San Juan Biosphere Reserve in Nicaragua is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in Central America. It is also part of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, which extends from Mexico to the Colombian Amazon. The reserve is located in the southeastern Nicaragua, specifically between the municipalities of El Castillo, San Juan de Nicaragua and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Río San Juan Biosphere Reserve in Nicaragua is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in Central America. It is also part of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, which extends from Mexico to the Colombian Amazon. The reserve is located in the southeastern Nicaragua, specifically between the municipalities of El Castillo, San Juan de Nicaragua and San Carlos, in the department of Río San Juan. It is home to a nearly intact rainforest, which prompted the government to grant the area official protection in 1999. This biosphere reserve encompasses smaller protected areas, including Indio Maíz Biological Reserve, Los Guatuzos Wildlife Refuge, the Fortress of the Immaculate Conception, Bartola Nature Reserve, and the Solentiname Islands. The Río San Juan Biosphere Reserve is a very particular ecosystem in Central America and conservation organizations, such as the Humboldt Centre, say it has been affected by mining and aggressive deforestation in recent years. Deforestation near the San Juan River. Photo courtesy of Onda Local. According to a study carried out by the Humboldt Centre, 1.4 million hectares of forest were lost in Nicaragua between 2011 and 2018, amounting to a rate of approximately 70,000 hectares per year. This was mainly driven by agriculture. Jurgen Guevara, an environmental consultant on extractive industries who worked for the Humboldt Centre until January 2021, told Mongabay that the Río San Juan Biosphere Reserve lost around 600,000 hectares of forest during the same period. Satellite data from the University of Maryland visualized on Global Forest Watch show forest loss has intensified in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/agricultural-frontier-advances-in-nicaraguan-biosphere-reserve/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/agricultural-frontier-advances-in-nicaraguan-biosphere-reserve/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-251336</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Deforestation from cattle ranching also hurts rivers in Nicaragua, study says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/deforestation-from-cattle-ranching-also-hurts-rivers-in-nicaragua-study-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/deforestation-from-cattle-ranching-also-hurts-rivers-in-nicaragua-study-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Oct 2021 18:12:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Maxradwin]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/10/22163322/FEATURE1-3-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=248460</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Central American Cattle Ranching, Global Forests, Indigenous Peoples and Conservation, and Latin America]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Pollution, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Cattle ranching has been destroying the Rama-Kriol territory in southeast Nicaragua for decades. And while many researchers have called attention to the devastating forest loss taking place there, few have focused on another, often-overlooked victim: the rivers. A recent study published in the journal Hydrobiologia shows that deforestation from cattle ranching is taking its toll [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Cattle ranching has been destroying the Rama-Kriol territory in southeast Nicaragua for decades. And while many researchers have called attention to the devastating forest loss taking place there, few have focused on another, often-overlooked victim: the rivers. A recent study published in the journal Hydrobiologia shows that deforestation from cattle ranching is taking its toll on the area’s watersheds, with noticeable erosion and decreases in biodiversity where forest loss is most prominent. “We hoped that this study would highlight the impressive intact river systems and provide evidence for where illegal cattle ranching has destroyed rivers and their fisheries,” said study co-author Joel Betts from Michigan State University. “Hopefully, it serves as a call to action to protect the area.” The Rama-Kriol territory is home to nine Indigenous communities that live in and around the 316,720-hectare (782,630-acre) Indio Maíz Biological Reserve and several other nearby protected areas. Since the late 1980s, colonos, or colonists, have settled there to hunt, harvest timber and raise cattle, among other illegal activities. Between 2001 and 2014, 2,434 hectares (6,015 acres) were deforested in Indio Maíz, according to Mongabay’s previous reporting. Cattle sprayed for ticks can introduce unwanted chemicals into aquatic ecoystems. Image by Joel Betts. At the peak of the deforestation, Nicaragua’s Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Marena), which didn’t respond to a request for comment for this story, reduced and even eliminated its personnel in many parts of the reserve. Conservation organizations like Re:wild helped the local communities develop ways of protecting&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/deforestation-from-cattle-ranching-also-hurts-rivers-in-nicaragua-study-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-248460</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Environmental defenders in Nicaragua denounce government crackdown as elections loom</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/environmental-defenders-in-nicaragua-denounce-government-crackdown-as-elections-loom/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/environmental-defenders-in-nicaragua-denounce-government-crackdown-as-elections-loom/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Oct 2021 14:13:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Maxradwin]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/10/13140548/Feature3-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=248156</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Forests, Indigenous Peoples and Conservation, and Latin America]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Cattle, Culture, Deforestation, Forest Destruction, Gold Mining, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Ranching, and Threats To Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[There is a sacred hill in Nicaragua known as Kiwakumbaih, where the ancestors of the Indigenous Mayangna people would go to hold important annual events. To this day, it continues to be a popular site for weddings, funerals, debates and festivals. But this year, Kiwakumbaih became the site of a massacre. More than a dozen [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[There is a sacred hill in Nicaragua known as Kiwakumbaih, where the ancestors of the Indigenous Mayangna people would go to hold important annual events. To this day, it continues to be a popular site for weddings, funerals, debates and festivals. But this year, Kiwakumbaih became the site of a massacre. More than a dozen Mayangna and Miskito had gathered on the hill one afternoon when a group of armed men approached with guns and machetes. They raped several of the women, according to community members who asked to remain anonymous. The armed men put their gun barrels in people’s mouths and fired, execution-style, and hanged others from trees. Between nine and 13 people were killed in what the government has called an “inter-ethnic” conflict between Indigenous communities, but which residents say was actually carried out by colonos, or colonists, who have been forcing their way onto protected territory for years. The country’s media noted this was not the first time that colonos had killed locals at Kiwakumbaih, although it had never been on this scale. Family members of the victims have called for a more thorough investigation into the Aug. 23 massacre. They say they want to locate the remains of loved ones and carry out a proper burial. But investigating land-grabbing disputes has become even more complicated in 2021. The government is arresting critics of President Daniel Ortega and escalating police force ahead of the presidential elections scheduled for November. “We are in a state of censorship,” María*,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/environmental-defenders-in-nicaragua-denounce-government-crackdown-as-elections-loom/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/environmental-defenders-in-nicaragua-denounce-government-crackdown-as-elections-loom/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-248156</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>For some Indigenous, COVID presents possibility of cultural extinction, says Myrna Cunningham</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/for-some-indigenous-covid-presents-possibility-of-cultural-extinction-says-myrna-cunningham/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/for-some-indigenous-covid-presents-possibility-of-cultural-extinction-says-myrna-cunningham/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Oct 2021 19:12:46 +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/20/2021/10/10230128/Myrna-Cunningham-02-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=248018</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Nature conservation Influencers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, Mesoamerica, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation leadership, COVID-19, Forests, Gender, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Land Rights, Medicinal Plants, Public Health, Traditional Knowledge, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COVID-19 has devastated communities around the world, but for some Indigenous groups, the pandemic posed an existential threat. Few people are better placed to speak to the impact COVID is having on Indigenous communities than Myrna Cunningham, a Miskitu physician from the Wangki river region of Nicaragua who has spent 50 years advocating for the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COVID-19 has devastated communities around the world, but for some Indigenous groups, the pandemic posed an existential threat. Few people are better placed to speak to the impact COVID is having on Indigenous communities than Myrna Cunningham, a Miskitu physician from the Wangki river region of Nicaragua who has spent 50 years advocating for the rights of women and Indigenous peoples at local, regional, national, and international levels. &#8220;For Indigenous peoples, the arrival of the virus, in addition to putting people at risk, presented the possibility that entire cultures could disappear,&#8221; Cunningham told Mongabay. &#8220;For Indigenous peoples with few members, the situation still endangers their existence as a collective, as a culture, as a people.&#8221; &#8220;We are all in a situation of extreme vulnerability.&#8221; Myrna Cunningham Cunningham, who was hospitalized with COVID and is still recovering, says that COVID has compounded the myriad challenges many Indigenous communities face. “For a lot of peoples and communities, on top of the inequality they face to access health care systems, they’ve also suffered, and still suffer, the impacts of measures adopted by states to tackle the health crisis,” she said. “We have seen cases of communities who live from selling their crops and losing everything if they can’t go out to sell.” “The main problems we’ve seen are the limited access to health care services; the increase in the workload for women as they care for their families; the lack of food; the impact on crop production and trade; loss of jobs; impacts&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/for-some-indigenous-covid-presents-possibility-of-cultural-extinction-says-myrna-cunningham/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-248018</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sea turtles: Can these great marine migrators navigate rising human threats?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/sea-turtles-can-these-great-marine-migrators-navigate-rising-human-threats/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/sea-turtles-can-these-great-marine-migrators-navigate-rising-human-threats/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Sep 2021 12:20:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Devitt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/09/20091037/Banner-Loggerhead-sea-turtle-hatchlings-crawl-to-sea-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=247298</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering the Commons, Oceans, and Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, Central America, Costa Rica, Global, Hawaii, Nicaragua, North America, Pacific Islands, Pacific Ocean, Peru, South America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Endangered Species, Environment, Estuaries, Extinction, Global Environmental Crisis, Herps, Human-wildlife Conflict, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Oil Spills, Overconsumption, Poaching, Pollution, Reptiles, Research, Sea Turtles, Turtles, Water Pollution, Wildlife, and Wildlife consumption]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[All seven sea turtle species are already endangered. Now humanity’s overshoot of planetary boundaries — climate change, ocean acidification, pollution and more — is upping the ante. Can turtles, people and conservation adapt?]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For millions of years, countless sea turtles navigated the world’s oceans, migrating vast distances between foraging sites and natal nesting beaches. But today, those long journeys repeatedly expose them to harmful anthropogenic impacts and disruptive environmental changes. And despite worldwide conservation efforts, all seven sea turtle species are endangered or critically endangered at global or regional levels. The mass movement of these, and other animals, by land, sea or air, represents one of Earth’s ancient rhythms and one of its great wonders. Those migrations also weave together vital living threads that strengthen ecosystem structure. Now, for myriad reasons — including human-made physical hazards, climate change, pollution, habitat loss, and much more — the frayed fabric of those global eco-structures is shredding fast. Species are disappearing at unprecedented rates and biodiversity loss is irrevocably altering natural systems, imposing adverse impacts on the world’s migrators. The burning question: can sea turtles, people and conservation strategies evolve fast enough to protect the world’s epic migrations and the animals that make them? Crossing planetary boundaries poses multiple threats Biodiversity is just one of nine planetary boundaries that allow a “safe operating space for humanity,” according to an interdisciplinary team of scientists convened by the Stockholm Resilience Centre. The other eight boundaries that humanity must avoid overshooting are climate change, ocean acidification, land-system change, freshwater use, stratospheric ozone depletion, atmospheric aerosol pollution, biogeochemical flows (imbalances in the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles), and the impact of novel entities (such as chemicals, engineered materials or organisms). Humanity&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/sea-turtles-can-these-great-marine-migrators-navigate-rising-human-threats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/sea-turtles-can-these-great-marine-migrators-navigate-rising-human-threats/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-247298</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As COVID-19 curbs patrols in Nicaragua, turtle eggs risk being poached</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/video/2020/07/video-as-covid-19-curbs-patrols-in-nicaragua-turtle-eggs-risk-being-poached/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/video/2020/07/video-as-covid-19-curbs-patrols-in-nicaragua-turtle-eggs-risk-being-poached/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jul 2020 11:42:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Monica Pelliccia]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Maria Angeles Salazar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/07/13113705/IMG_2787-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=232394</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, COVID-19, Poaching, Reptiles, Sea Turtles, Turtles, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Social distancing has become part of the routine for Liessi Calero and Darling Delgado, park rangers who protect turtles in Nicaragua, the only country in Central America that has not declared a state of emergency in response to COVID-19. Brasilon Beach, where turtles nest, is part of La Flor Wildlife Refuge, a marine conservation area [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Social distancing has become part of the routine for Liessi Calero and Darling Delgado, park rangers who protect turtles in Nicaragua, the only country in Central America that has not declared a state of emergency in response to COVID-19. Brasilon Beach, where turtles nest, is part of La Flor Wildlife Refuge, a marine conservation area located in the turquoise waters of the Pacific Ocean near the border with Costa Rica. Calero and Delgado have been patrolling the beach for years to prevent smugglers from raiding turtle nests and selling their eggs to markets and restaurants. La Flor is one of the seven most important turtle nesting beaches in the world. During the turtle nesting season, which begins in late July, more than 70,000 turtles will lay their eggs on the beach. But the patrols have been suspended since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Nicaragua in March, interrupting a decade of continued surveillance. Calero and Delgado are part of the Paso Pacifico organization, which manages projects that protect biodiversity in Mesoamerica. The Nicaraguan government has not imposed quarantines, nor have work and educational activities been officially paused. However, Paso Pacifico has decided to suspend its activities to help prevent the spread of the virus, including education programs for children, patrols, and managing turtle egg nurseries. ‘Who is going to take care of the beaches and the turtles?’ &#8220;At work and at home we have adopted social distancing and hygiene measures: we disinfect surfaces with alcohol and wash our hands frequently with liquid&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/video/2020/07/video-as-covid-19-curbs-patrols-in-nicaragua-turtle-eggs-risk-being-poached/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-232394</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Concerned for the future, indigenous Nicaraguans lament lost habitats</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/concerned-for-the-future-indigenous-nicaraguans-lament-lost-habitats/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/concerned-for-the-future-indigenous-nicaraguans-lament-lost-habitats/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jun 2020 11:45:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sandra Cuffe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Daniel]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/03/30124211/bosques-deforestacion-areas_naturales_protegidas-ganaderia-nicaragua-10-768x432.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=231453</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Commodities]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Beef, Biodiversity, Cattle, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Green, Indigenous Peoples, Land Grabbing, Pasture, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Ranching, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Read the original investigation. TIKTIK KAANU, Nicaragua – Laughter drifted up from the riverbank, where the glow of fireflies pulsed on and off between the tree trunks. It was Friday night, and Anthony Oscar Omier and other indigenous Rama teachers had made their weekly trek to teach Saturday high school classes in Tiktik Kaanu, a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Read the original investigation. TIKTIK KAANU, Nicaragua – Laughter drifted up from the riverbank, where the glow of fireflies pulsed on and off between the tree trunks. It was Friday night, and Anthony Oscar Omier and other indigenous Rama teachers had made their weekly trek to teach Saturday high school classes in Tiktik Kaanu, a community in Nicaragua’s South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region. At the end of every regular school week in Rama Cay, they travel by motor boat through the Bluefields Lagoon and up the Kukra River, past stands of forest and lands cleared by outsiders. One week the teachers found themselves without transport and rowed the whole way in a dugout canoe. “It took us four hours,” Omier said, laughing. “Good exercise!” Indigenous Rama and Afro-descendant Kriol communities received their joint title to communal lands ten years ago, but little support since. The government never followed through with addressing non-indigenous settlers within the territory, and the onslaught of outsiders clearing land for pasture has only risen since the title was issued. The nine Rama and Kriol communities and their territorial government are doing what they can largely on their own. Omier and his colleagues settled into their Friday night routine, setting out mattresses and hammocks in a Tiktik Kaanu leader’s wooden home. The teachers took turns bathing with a bucket outside under the stars while others cooked up fish and rice for dinner. Omier had settled into a hammock to review his lesson plan for English classes the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/concerned-for-the-future-indigenous-nicaraguans-lament-lost-habitats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-231453</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nicaraguan beef, grazed on deforested and stolen land, feeds global demand</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/nicaraguan-beef-grazed-on-deforested-and-stolen-land-feeds-global-demand/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/nicaraguan-beef-grazed-on-deforested-and-stolen-land-feeds-global-demand/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jun 2020 12:41:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mario RautnerSandra Cuffe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Daniel]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/06/09060851/cattle-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=231193</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Commodities and Investigation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Nicaragua, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Beef, Biodiversity, Cattle, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Governance, Green, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, International Trade, Land Grabbing, Logging, Mongabay investigation, Pasture, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Ranching, Threats To Rainforests, Trade, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[TIKTIK KAANU, Nicaragua — Eduardo Solano did not say much on the way home. He bought some oranges from a fruit vendor at a makeshift dock in Bluefields, the capital of Nicaragua’s South Caribbean Autonomous Region, and settled in for the three-hour boat journey that would get him most of the way home to Tiktik [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[TIKTIK KAANU, Nicaragua — Eduardo Solano did not say much on the way home. He bought some oranges from a fruit vendor at a makeshift dock in Bluefields, the capital of Nicaragua’s South Caribbean Autonomous Region, and settled in for the three-hour boat journey that would get him most of the way home to Tiktik Kaanu, an indigenous Rama community he leads. The other passengers were heading past Tiktik Kaanu to an illegal settlement where non-indigenous Nicaraguans have invaded indigenous communal lands, cleared the forest, and brought in cattle to graze. Traveling through the indigenous territory, the boat glided past towering mangroves and stretches of forest lining the Kukra River, where turtles, herons and blue morpho butterflies provided flashes of color against the walls of green. Here and there the forest gave way to clearings and pasture along the riverbank. “Our lands are reduced,” Solano said after disembarking and hiking the rest of the way home. “They come with the idea of destroying the forest. It is not like us Rama, we protect it. But they come in cutting down trees, sowing pasture, and then bringing in cattle.” Tiktik Kaanu is one of the nine communities — six indigenous Rama and three Afro-descendant Kriol — that govern Rama-Kriol communal lands. After years of struggle and international pressure, the Nicaraguan government granted a collective land title just over a decade ago covering more than 4,400 square kilometers (1,700 square miles) of land and nearly as much sea. But subsequent steps to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/nicaraguan-beef-grazed-on-deforested-and-stolen-land-feeds-global-demand/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-231193</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How coffee growers can adapt to a precipitous industry: Q&#038;A with Dean&#8217;s Beans founder Dean Cycon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/how-coffee-growers-can-adapt-to-a-precipitous-industry-qa-with-deans-beans-founder-dean-cycon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/how-coffee-growers-can-adapt-to-a-precipitous-industry-qa-with-deans-beans-founder-dean-cycon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Jun 2020 06:28:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Justin Catanoso]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/06/01060601/Dean-Cycon-Headshot-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=230868</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Central America, Global, Guatemala, Latin America, Nicaragua, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroforestry, Climate Change, Coffee, Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Deforestation, Diseases, Economics, Environment, Farming, Food, Forestry, Forests, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Plantations, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Rainforests, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Dean Cycon spoke recently to students at Harvard Business School. A student asked him what his profit margin was at Dean’s Beans Organic Coffee, a company he founded in 1993 in western Massachusetts using beans grown by small-scale farmers around the world. “Enough,” Cycon said. It was an unusually succinct answer for someone who prefers [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Dean Cycon spoke recently to students at Harvard Business School. A student asked him what his profit margin was at Dean’s Beans Organic Coffee, a company he founded in 1993 in western Massachusetts using beans grown by small-scale farmers around the world. “Enough,” Cycon said. It was an unusually succinct answer for someone who prefers long, involved responses to questions he regularly fields regarding what he’s learned in more than four decades of working to improve the plight of the working poor in rural communities throughout Latin America, Africa and Asia. Cycon started some 45 years ago as an environmental attorney working in indigenous communities. He eventually settled on coffee as a means of promoting social justice, environmental protection and improved health care and water quality. He did this by paying well above the often low, open-market price for coffee paid by large retailers. This enabled his suppliers to earn a living, farm more sustainably on less land, and thus reduce the pressure to deforest in order to grow a larger crop. Yet in a world where 400 billion cups of coffee are consumed annually, climate change in the tropics is dramatically impacting how and where coffee can be grown. One unintended, but increasingly common, climate impact is mass migration. Farmers paid too little for a crop that’s become difficult to grow are flooding north, fueling the immigration crisis playing out on the southern border of the United States. In a Mongabay interview, Cycon offered his unique insights into one&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/how-coffee-growers-can-adapt-to-a-precipitous-industry-qa-with-deans-beans-founder-dean-cycon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-230868</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nicaragua failing to protect indigenous groups from land grabs: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/nicaragua-failing-to-protect-indigenous-groups-from-land-grabs-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/nicaragua-failing-to-protect-indigenous-groups-from-land-grabs-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 May 2020 15:17:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Ashoka]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/03/30124217/bosques-deforestacion-areas_naturales_protegidas-ganaderia-nicaragua-1-768x432.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=229805</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, and Land Grabbing]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous groups in Nicaragua have faced years of land grabbing by mining companies, the cattle ranching industry, and migrants from other parts of the country, says a new report by the California-based Oakland Institute. The report accuses Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s ruling Sandinista party of failing to implement laws meant to protect the country’s indigenous [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous groups in Nicaragua have faced years of land grabbing by mining companies, the cattle ranching industry, and migrants from other parts of the country, says a new report by the California-based Oakland Institute. The report accuses Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s ruling Sandinista party of failing to implement laws meant to protect the country’s indigenous minorities and turning a blind eye to increasingly violent attacks against them. “Nicaraguan officials have been complicit not just in land sales and bringing in mining companies for resources that belong to indigenous people, but also in downplaying the crisis,” said Anuradha Mittal, the report’s author and founder of the Oakland Institute. According to the report, 40 indigenous people have been killed in conflicts with migrants, known as colonos or “settlers,” since 2015, with thousands of others forced to flee to nearby cities and towns to escape the violence. Last year, Mongabay reported on clashes between Mayangna communities and migrants in the northeastern Bosawás Biosphere Reserve; in late January this year, an attack on one community in the reserve left four Mayangna dead. “We have been facing a lot of threats from different companies and settlers doing land grabbing,” said Lottie Cunningham, an attorney with the Miskito indigenous community who has been involved in a long-running case at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights over indigenous land rights in Nicaragua. “Every year is getting worse and worse.” Many migrants are drawn by the prospect of fertile land that can be used for agriculture. Mittal said&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/05/nicaragua-failing-to-protect-indigenous-groups-from-land-grabs-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-229805</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Massacre in Nicaragua: Four indigenous community members killed for their land</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/massacre-in-nicaragua-four-indigenous-community-members-killed-for-their-land/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/massacre-in-nicaragua-four-indigenous-community-members-killed-for-their-land/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Feb 2020 19:09:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Taran Volckhausen]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/02/14184911/DSC_0350-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=227156</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Forest Trackers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Cattle, Deforestation, Environment, Fires, Forests, Governance, Green, Habitat Loss, Migration, Old Growth Forests, Primary Forests, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[An illegal armed group connected to land grabbers killed four members of the indigenous Mayangna people, left two injured and burned 16 houses in northern Nicaragua on Jan. 29, according to the UN Human Rights Office. The UN Human Rights Office condemned the Nicaraguan government for allowing impunity for crimes committed against Nicaragua’s indigenous communities: [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[An illegal armed group connected to land grabbers killed four members of the indigenous Mayangna people, left two injured and burned 16 houses in northern Nicaragua on Jan. 29, according to the UN Human Rights Office. The UN Human Rights Office condemned the Nicaraguan government for allowing impunity for crimes committed against Nicaragua’s indigenous communities: “We are very concerned about the continued attack against indigenous people in Nicaragua, the lack of protection of their rights, and the impunity of the crimes committed against them,” UN Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet said in a press statement. Advocacy organizations warn ongoing colonization process by non-indigenous mestizos from the central regions of Nicaragua threatens the cultural existence of Mayangna, whose ancestral rainforest territory is being taken over for gold mining, logging, cattle ranching and commercial crops. The process has accelerated over the past five years, precipitating a vicious land conflict that has claimed the lives of 40 people since 2015, according to the Center for Justice and Human Rights of the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua (CEJUDHCAN). Cattle browse in Bosawás Biosphere Reserve. Image by Taran Volckhausen for Mongabay. The Mayangna people inhabit a region known as La Mosquitia, which straddles the border between Nicaragua and Honduras and is the largest rainforest region in Central America. Alongside the more populous indigenous Miskito people, the Mayangna maintain a cultural tradition of protecting the forest ecosystem they rely on for food and water. The most recent attack on the Mayangna took place in the Alal community&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/massacre-in-nicaragua-four-indigenous-community-members-killed-for-their-land/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-227156</doi>				</item>
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