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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/conservation-leadership/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<title>News on Conservation leadership</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/conservation-leadership/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>What conservation rumors reveal about climate projects in the Congo Basin (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/what-conservation-rumors-reveal-about-climate-projects-in-the-congo-basin-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/what-conservation-rumors-reveal-about-climate-projects-in-the-congo-basin-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Sep 2026 07:00:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andre MalekaniEric AbanatiFergus O’Leary SimpsonKristof TitecaPapy Bambu]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/02163523/50481042727_043f1b4572_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328390</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Commentary, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Conservation Philosophy, Conservation Solutions, Culture, Governance, Media, Politics, and Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2020, a strange rumor began circulating in villages around the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Tshopo province. A newly constructed scientific tower, people said, was extracting oxygen from the surrounding rainforest and sending it to Europe, where it was being sold for profit. Not long after, an initiative to plant [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2020, a strange rumor began circulating in villages around the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Tshopo province. A newly constructed scientific tower, people said, was extracting oxygen from the surrounding rainforest and sending it to Europe, where it was being sold for profit. Not long after, an initiative to plant acacia trees around the reserve was incorporated into the rumor: the trees, some people claimed, were being planted to produce more oxygen for the tower to extract. Then, during an unusually hot spell in May 2024, another version spread rapidly through social media in Kisangani, the provincial capital. This time, the tower was accused of causing the extreme heat by removing oxygen from the atmosphere. When that rumor spread in 2024, the DRC’s then environment minister, Ève Bazaiba, publicly attributed such claims to “ignorance” and “superstitions.” She posted a video on social media to demonstrate that the tower, CongoFlux, does not extract oxygen: it measures exchanges of greenhouse gases between the rainforest and the atmosphere, helping scientists understand the Congo Basin’s role in global climate regulation. But correcting the science only gets us so far. Rumors can also tell us something about the people who spread them — and their relationship with conservation. While conducting research in Yangambi, recently published in Environmental Sociology, we learned that the rumors are ways for people to contest conservation, but also to make claims about who should benefit from it. At the same time, they are shaped by a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/what-conservation-rumors-reveal-about-climate-projects-in-the-congo-basin-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/what-conservation-rumors-reveal-about-climate-projects-in-the-congo-basin-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328390</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cambodia defies UN call to free ‘arbitrarily jailed’ environmental activists</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/cambodia-defies-un-call-to-free-arbitrarily-jailed-environmental-activists/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/cambodia-defies-un-call-to-free-arbitrarily-jailed-environmental-activists/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Aug 2026 10:30:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/07/02191929/Ly-Chandaravuth-addresses-Mother-Nature-Cambodia-supporters-before-the-court-issued-a-verdict-on-July-2-2024-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327551</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Climate Justice, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corruption, Crime, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Environmental Heroes, Governance, Law, Natural Resources, NGOs, Nonviolence, Protests, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CHIANG MAI, Thailand — The Cambodian government has defended its continued imprisonment of five environmental activists, after the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared the five had been arbitrarily detained and called for their immediate release. The activists, from environmental group Mother Nature Cambodia, have since 2024 been serving prison sentences of between [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CHIANG MAI, Thailand — The Cambodian government has defended its continued imprisonment of five environmental activists, after the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared the five had been arbitrarily detained and called for their immediate release. The activists, from environmental group Mother Nature Cambodia, have since 2024 been serving prison sentences of between six and eight years for allegedly plotting against the government. In a 16-page opinion published in February, the U.N. working group said it had found that the imprisonment of Long Kuntha, 28, Ly Chandaravuth, 26, Phuon Keoraksmey, 25, Thun Ratha, 34 and Yim Leanghy, 37, met the conditions for arbitrary detention on the grounds that there was no legal basis for the arrests. It said authorities had targeted the activists for exercising their fundamental freedoms, making the detention discriminatory and resulting in severe violations of their right to a fair trial. The opinion asked Cambodia to take immediate action on the matter in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the latter of which Cambodia ratified in 1992, and to provide evidence of having done so within six months. Contacted by Mongabay in August, six months since the working group’s findings, a government spokesperson said the activists would remain behind bars. “I have no comment on [the working group’s] rulings against us as all detentions have been made under legal and judicial proceeding,” Chan Rothona, spokesperson for Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/cambodia-defies-un-call-to-free-arbitrarily-jailed-environmental-activists/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/cambodia-defies-un-call-to-free-arbitrarily-jailed-environmental-activists/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327551</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Java’s hills, former bird hunters are rebuilding a songbird haven</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-javas-hills-former-bird-hunters-are-rebuilding-a-songbird-haven/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-javas-hills-former-bird-hunters-are-rebuilding-a-songbird-haven/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Aug 2026 10:29:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Triyo Handoko]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/27102040/Javan-blue-flycatcher-Cyornis-banyumas-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327538</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Central Java, Indonesia, Java, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Hunting, Poaching, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PURWOREJO, Indonesia — As a young man, Parman hunted songbirds here in the Menoreh Hills, a landscape of karst valleys near the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta. The area is now a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, but back then Parman would raid nests for rare birds, taking fledglings before they had learned to fly, then raising them [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PURWOREJO, Indonesia — As a young man, Parman hunted songbirds here in the Menoreh Hills, a landscape of karst valleys near the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta. The area is now a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, but back then Parman would raid nests for rare birds, taking fledglings before they had learned to fly, then raising them himself until they were old enough to sell. “Most buyers came from outside the area, especially Yogyakarta and Magelang,” Parman told Mongabay Indonesia in June, referring to the two nearest cities to his home in Donorejo village. “They’d ask local people to catch them, and we’d sell them — for a pretty good price.” The colorful Javan blue flycatcher (Cyornis banyumas), for example, used to be a common sight and sound here in the Menoreh Hills. But the species is now critically endangered, a sad reflection of the depth of Indonesia’s songbird trade. Today, many more of these birds are held in cages than live freely in forests. “Remarkably, the population in captivity likely numbers in the tens of thousands, while the wild population is now suspected to number fewer than 1,000, and maybe much lower,” notes the most recent assessment of the Javan blue flycatcher, published in 2022 by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. “It became really difficult to find birds here,” Parman said. “So that’s why we stopped, and chose to focus on raising goats instead.” But after Parman and his peers stopped hunting for the songbird trade, they found outsiders&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-javas-hills-former-bird-hunters-are-rebuilding-a-songbird-haven/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-javas-hills-former-bird-hunters-are-rebuilding-a-songbird-haven/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327538</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Inspiring young herpetologists in Sri Lanka: Interview with Anslem de Silva</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/inspiring-young-herpetologists-in-sri-lanka-interview-with-anslem-de-silva/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/inspiring-young-herpetologists-in-sri-lanka-interview-with-anslem-de-silva/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Aug 2026 14:53:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/25122934/3.-in-the-field-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327246</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Education, Herps, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Lizards, Reptiles, Science, and Tropical Conservation Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lankan-born conservation biologist and National Geographic explorer Ruchira Somaweera is internationally recognized for his award-winning wildlife research, photography and storytelling. Despite his global achievements, Somaweera treasures an old journal copy containing a prophecy. When he was 13 years old, Somaweera received a copy of the research journal Lyriocephalus with a handwritten note [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lankan-born conservation biologist and National Geographic explorer Ruchira Somaweera is internationally recognized for his award-winning wildlife research, photography and storytelling. Despite his global achievements, Somaweera treasures an old journal copy containing a prophecy. When he was 13 years old, Somaweera received a copy of the research journal Lyriocephalus with a handwritten note which read: “One day you will be a great herpetologist,” signed by Anslem de Silva. “Almost 30 years ago, I got hooked into herpetology after reading a series of newspaper articles written by de Silva on Sri Lankan snakes in a local science publication. Those articles inspired me to prepare a small booklet on snakes as my school science project. Most of the herpetologists of my generation were groomed by de Silva, and hundreds, if not thousands, of students have been inspired by him, just like I was,” Somaweera told Mongabay. In 1995, Ruchira Somaweera received a copy of the research journal Lyriocephalus from Anslem de Silva with the signed inscription: “One day you will be a great herpetologist.” Image courtesy of Ruchira Somaweera. Anslem de Silva is widely regarded as as the father of modern herpetology in Sri Lanka, having dedicated more than six decades to studying the island’s reptiles and amphibians. His pioneering research, publications and conservation efforts have transformed scientific understanding of Sri Lanka’s remarkable herpetofauna. Sri Lanka’s herpetofauna represents the island’s extraordinary diversity of reptiles and amphibians, including snakes, lizards, turtles, crocodiles, frogs, toads and caecilians, with many species found nowhere&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/inspiring-young-herpetologists-in-sri-lanka-interview-with-anslem-de-silva/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/inspiring-young-herpetologists-in-sri-lanka-interview-with-anslem-de-silva/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327246</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New Zealand opens marine reserves with groundbreaking Māori co-management model</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/new-zealand-opens-marine-reserves-with-groundbreaking-maori-co-management-model/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/new-zealand-opens-marine-reserves-with-groundbreaking-maori-co-management-model/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Aug 2026 14:48:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/18170638/2-Members-of-the-Kai-Tahu-marine-ranger-team-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326516</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[New Zealand, Oceania, Pacific Islands, and Polynesia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation leadership, Culture, Environment, Governance, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Hope and optimism, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Law, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Protected Areas, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[DUNEDIN, Aotearoa New Zealand — At a U.N. meeting in 2015, Aotearoa New Zealand’s then Prime Minister John Key made a major announcement that drew praise from international conservation groups: His administration would turn a swath of waters far larger than the country’s land mass into a marine protected area (MPA). The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[DUNEDIN, Aotearoa New Zealand — At a U.N. meeting in 2015, Aotearoa New Zealand’s then Prime Minister John Key made a major announcement that drew praise from international conservation groups: His administration would turn a swath of waters far larger than the country’s land mass into a marine protected area (MPA). The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary, planned for New Zealand’s northern waters, would have been one of the largest fully no-take MPAs in the world, but the sanctuary violated Māori fishing rights enshrined decades earlier. Key’s government had done relatively little to consult with Māori groups about the proposal, many of whom resisted the plan, calling for more recognition of their authority and their role in ocean governance. The sanctuary plan fell through. Yet, even as Key’s top-down exercise drew criticism, a more bottom-up approach to marine governance was underway in the country’s far southeast. There, Māori leaders helped develop a network of small MPAs, five of which became official on July 1, 2026, after more than a decade of grassroots and governmental work. A key aim is to protect seabed habitats, offshore canyons, rocky reefs, tidal lagoons and kelp forests. The network, called Te Au Roa o Te Rakihouia, is co-managed by the regional Māori tribe Kāi Tahu (Ngāi Tahu in standard Māori), and the Department of Conservation. The reserves are the first in the country to be co-managed by Indigenous people and the government using shared decision-making and a joint marine ranger team. The network name refers to the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/new-zealand-opens-marine-reserves-with-groundbreaking-maori-co-management-model/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/new-zealand-opens-marine-reserves-with-groundbreaking-maori-co-management-model/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326516</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How women farmers are helping elephants and forests in a Sumatran national park</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/how-women-farmers-are-helping-elephants-and-forests-in-a-sumatran-national-park/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/how-women-farmers-are-helping-elephants-and-forests-in-a-sumatran-national-park/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Aug 2026 14:22:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[SuryadiYenni Kwok]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/14132827/Ernita-farmer-and-member-of-womens-group-Perbani-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326257</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Riau, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Culture, Elephants, Environment, Gender, Human-wildlife Conflict, National Parks, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LUBUK KEMBANG BUNGA, Indonesia — Tesso Nilo National Park, located on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, often makes headlines due to human-wildlife conflict — a byproduct of illegal encroachment and deforestation by oil palm plantations. However, there is a ray of hope, thanks to female farmers who live in a buffer zone of the national [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LUBUK KEMBANG BUNGA, Indonesia — Tesso Nilo National Park, located on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, often makes headlines due to human-wildlife conflict — a byproduct of illegal encroachment and deforestation by oil palm plantations. However, there is a ray of hope, thanks to female farmers who live in a buffer zone of the national park. In the village of Lubuk Kembang Bunga, in the buffer zone next to the park, women are leading an initiative to plant fruit trees that both serve a conservation purpose and provide extra income. To prevent elephants from destroying their fruit plantations, the villagers plant citrus trees, which repel the pachyderms. Elsewhere, they also plant fruits beloved by these large animals, such as jackfruit, its cousin cempedak, and stink beans, known in Indonesian as petai. Ernita, a 33-year-old farmer, said she can now breathe easy after planting citrus trees on the perimeter of her oil palm farm. “Before we had the citrus trees, elephants always ate our oil palm fruits,” she told Mongabay Indonesia. “We had to replant the trees four or five times … Praise be to God, since we planted the citrus trees, the elephants haven’t eaten our oil palm fruits.” Ernita’s farm lies just outside Tesso Nilo, so she can grow various crops, including oil palm. But other parts of Lubuk Kembang Bunga village fall within the park’s borders, where, technically at least, oil palm cultivation isn’t permitted. Ernita, a farmer and member of Perbani, grows citrus trees on the perimeter&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/how-women-farmers-are-helping-elephants-and-forests-in-a-sumatran-national-park/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/how-women-farmers-are-helping-elephants-and-forests-in-a-sumatran-national-park/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326257</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>On fragile Sumatran peatland, a farmer fights to bring back lost mangroves</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-fragile-sumatran-peatland-a-farmer-fights-to-bring-back-lost-mangroves/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-fragile-sumatran-peatland-a-farmer-fights-to-bring-back-lost-mangroves/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2026 11:44:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Suryadi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/12113532/Harisyah-measures-the-distance-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326031</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Riau, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Mangroves, Marine, Peatlands, Solutions, Tropical Forests, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SUNGAI APIT, Indonesia — Harisyah was still knee-deep in the peatland as the light faded over the mouth of Indonesia&#8217;s Siak River. The 53-year-old palm oil and pineapple grower had been cutting back weeds since morning, clearing the riverbank on the north coast of Sumatra island before driving wooden stakes into the peat at 1.5-meter [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SUNGAI APIT, Indonesia — Harisyah was still knee-deep in the peatland as the light faded over the mouth of Indonesia&#8217;s Siak River. The 53-year-old palm oil and pineapple grower had been cutting back weeds since morning, clearing the riverbank on the north coast of Sumatra island before driving wooden stakes into the peat at 1.5-meter (5-feet) intervals. “We’re going to use this location as a nursery for the new seedlings,” Harisyah told Mongabay Indonesia. “This new generation will grow up close to mangroves, and they can learn more about them through playing and activities.” Harisyah and others who live in Tanjung Kuras, a coastal village in Siak district, say the weather has become increasingly erratic in recent years. Researchers, meanwhile, have documented a rapidly retreating coastline as the area&#8217;s peat soils continue to subside. Residents also contend with frequent tidal flooding, which many blame on the loss of the mangrove forests that once fortified the shoreline. Last Ramadan, the Islamic holy month observed by millions in the world&#8217;s largest Muslim-majority nation, strong winds lifted off the dome from the village mosque. “It’s because there’s no mangrove forest as a buffer to block the wind,” Harisyah said. “It&#8217;s been turned into an oil palm plantation — so the wind from the sea blows straight onto land.” Harisyah plants a marker stake at the mangrove planting site. Image by Suryadi/Mongabay Indonesia. World’s largest mangroves Indonesia&#8217;s more than 17,000 islands contain the world&#8217;s largest mangrove forest estate, covering about 3.3 million hectares (8.2&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-fragile-sumatran-peatland-a-farmer-fights-to-bring-back-lost-mangroves/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-fragile-sumatran-peatland-a-farmer-fights-to-bring-back-lost-mangroves/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326031</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>What conservation looks like from the outside: A conversation with Adam Falk after his first year as CEO of WCS</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/what-conservation-looks-like-from-the-outside/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/what-conservation-looks-like-from-the-outside/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Aug 2026 13:22:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/10202416/Adam-at-Jahoo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325685</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Nature conservation Influencers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Environment, Ex-situ Conservation, In-situ Conservation, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Other effective conservation measures (OECMs), philanthropy, Protected Areas, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Soon after becoming president and chief executive of the Wildlife Conservation Society, Adam Falk visited the giraffe keeper at the Bronx Zoo. What struck Falk was the source of the keeper’s commitment. If a giraffe needed help in the middle of the night, he said, the keeper would come in because of his bond with [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Soon after becoming president and chief executive of the Wildlife Conservation Society, Adam Falk visited the giraffe keeper at the Bronx Zoo. What struck Falk was the source of the keeper’s commitment. If a giraffe needed help in the middle of the night, he said, the keeper would come in because of his bond with the animal. Falk recognized something familiar. Before joining WCS, he had been a theoretical physicist, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, president of Williams College, and president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Academics often pursue highly specialized work that matters deeply to them. A university leader has to support those individual efforts while helping the institution work toward shared goals. Falk found much the same challenge at WCS: leading people whose motivation is rooted in the work itself. Adam Falk with Joe Nappi, a Senior Keeper in the Mammal Department, and a Giraffe at the Bronx Zoo. Photo courtesy of WCS. He took over WCS in July 2025 without professional experience in zoology or conservation. That was unusual for the head of an institution founded in 1895, which now operates four zoos and an aquarium in New York alongside conservation programs in more than 50 countries. His first year gave him an outsider’s view of a field with its own history and assumptions. One of his early observations was that conservation work involves people as much as animals. Public campaigns often focus on wildlife, especially large and familiar species. Field programs depend on relationships&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/what-conservation-looks-like-from-the-outside/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/what-conservation-looks-like-from-the-outside/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325685</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fighting new oil blocks in the Congo Basin: Interview with activist Pascal Mirindi</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/fighting-new-oil-blocks-in-the-congo-basin-interview-with-activist-pascal-mirindi/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/fighting-new-oil-blocks-in-the-congo-basin-interview-with-activist-pascal-mirindi/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2026 15:49:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Dan Yessa]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/16122152/oil-in-drc-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323702</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Congo Basin, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Energy, Environment, Fellows, Forests, Fossil Fuels, Governance, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Mongabay.org, Oil, Oil Drilling, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Pascal Mirindi is a young environmental activist based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, born in Goma. He was a member of a nonviolent movement, La LUCHA, fighting for democracy in the DRC. La LUCHA initiated him into nonviolent activism, but he used that opportunity to fight for Congolese ecosystems. Since 2024, Mirindi has been [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Pascal Mirindi is a young environmental activist based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, born in Goma. He was a member of a nonviolent movement, La LUCHA, fighting for democracy in the DRC. La LUCHA initiated him into nonviolent activism, but he used that opportunity to fight for Congolese ecosystems. Since 2024, Mirindi has been one of the main resistance forces against mineral, oil and gas exploitation inside the Congo Basin. Through campaigns and community awareness, he and his colleagues have successfully driven out oil exploration inside Virunga National Park. Now, Mirindi is fighting against the exploitation of 30 new oil blocks that cover 72% of the Congo Green Corridor, the country’s most emblematic conservation project, which spans a large part of the Congo Basin, home to thousands of animals and a lifeline for many communities in the DRC. Mirindi spoke with Mongabay in June, discussing what it means to resist from the inside and make a difference on a global scale, protecting the homes of endangered species such as mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) and okapis (Okapia johnstoni), endemic to the region. Pascal Mirindi&#8217;s first visit with the director of Virunga National Park, Emmanuel de Merode, in 2022. Image courtesy of Pascal Mirindi. This interview has been translated from French and edited for length and clarity. Mongabay: Who is Pascal Mirindi? Pascal Mirindi: I am Congolese; I was born in Goma in 1999. I have been an activist since I was 15 years old. I started in the citizen&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/fighting-new-oil-blocks-in-the-congo-basin-interview-with-activist-pascal-mirindi/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/fighting-new-oil-blocks-in-the-congo-basin-interview-with-activist-pascal-mirindi/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323702</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rivers are not just water bodies: Interview with the Waterman of Odisha</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/rivers-are-not-just-water-bodies-interview-with-the-waterman-of-odisha/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/rivers-are-not-just-water-bodies-interview-with-the-waterman-of-odisha/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2026 15:07:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Stephin Thomas]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/17095646/Fishing_In_Orissa-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323831</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation leadership, Environment, Fellows, Freshwater, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Mongabay.org, Natural Resources, Rivers, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Rivers are not just seen as water bodies in India, they are considered religious. From taking holy dips (a sacred act of faith in Hinduism, also called snan) for spiritual purification to scattering ashes after one&#8217;s death, it all starts and ends with rivers. While some see them as  religious spaces, others consider them recreational [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Rivers are not just seen as water bodies in India, they are considered religious. From taking holy dips (a sacred act of faith in Hinduism, also called snan) for spiritual purification to scattering ashes after one&#8217;s death, it all starts and ends with rivers. While some see them as  religious spaces, others consider them recreational spaces. For some, there is no life without rivers. But others have forgotten to see how deeply connected rivers are to everyday lives. With rivers like the Ganga (considered the holiest river in the country) drying up and urban Indian cities like Bengaluru facing water crises, Ranjan Panda, popularly known as the Waterman of Odisha, has spent more than three decades working on water conservation and climate advocacy closely with communities in Odisha, eastern India. “I want to be a living Earth citizen and not a dead Earth citizen,&#8221; Panda says. Panda&#8217;s work is especially important at a time when rural India faces groundwater depletion. India&#8217;s share of the world&#8217;s population is roughly 18%, while its share of renewable freshwater resources is only about 4%, a gap that increases the consequences of river degradation. Panda, a trained sociologist, has written widely on water, disasters and climate change-related mental health challenges affecting coastal communities in Odisha. He shares his insights on issues like coastal cities, displacement and the effects of climate change on communities. He is not just a researcher but has also been a journalist for a decade of his early life. He has been&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/rivers-are-not-just-water-bodies-interview-with-the-waterman-of-odisha/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/rivers-are-not-just-water-bodies-interview-with-the-waterman-of-odisha/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323831</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ancient rock structures help restore biodiversity on the US-Mexico border</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/ancient-rock-structures-help-restore-biodiversity-on-the-us-mexico-border/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/ancient-rock-structures-help-restore-biodiversity-on-the-us-mexico-border/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2026 10:49:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rose Shimberg]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/17103615/IMG_0265-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323477</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Mexico, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Agriculture, Climate Change, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Drought, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Impact Of Climate Change, In-situ Conservation, Nature-based climate solutions, Ranching, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CANANEA, Sonora — The day was windless. Long brown grasses speckled the landscape, and a stray tree erupted from the earth. The river channel was rusty, bone-dry. A pond that swells with summer rain glimmered on the horizon, but local rancher Eduardo Ríos Colores pointed toward the mountains, his finger tracing the route of a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CANANEA, Sonora — The day was windless. Long brown grasses speckled the landscape, and a stray tree erupted from the earth. The river channel was rusty, bone-dry. A pond that swells with summer rain glimmered on the horizon, but local rancher Eduardo Ríos Colores pointed toward the mountains, his finger tracing the route of a bone-dry streambed cutting through the landscape. “There was a time when this stream didn’t exist,” he said. “There used to be a lot of trees, and all the trees prevented erosion from the water. But … the trees have been drying up.” It was difficult to imagine the streambed swollen, rain-choked. But water in this region comes in all at once, in a deluge. As it races across the landscape, it forms deep channels like this one, creating sandy areas where new plants can’t grow. The land soon fails to support life, from the native grasses to migratory birds to the cattle that are the lifeline of ranchers like Ríos Colores. “Many people say that when water flows, it shouldn&#8217;t flow straight,” he continued. “Those serve to divert the water … so the current flows like a snake.” He was referring to his trincheras — hundreds of small rock structures peppering the streambed. The small, permeable barriers go on for more than a mile, spanning the channel, each small weir composed of dozens of fist-sized rocks. The trincheras, the Spanish word for “entrenchments,” were built in 2021 to slow down water, raising the water table&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/ancient-rock-structures-help-restore-biodiversity-on-the-us-mexico-border/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/ancient-rock-structures-help-restore-biodiversity-on-the-us-mexico-border/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323477</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Like ‘climbing Kilimanjaro’ without help: Interview with a Limpopo conservationist</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/like-climbing-kilimanjaro-without-help-interview-with-a-limpopo-conservationist/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/like-climbing-kilimanjaro-without-help-interview-with-a-limpopo-conservationist/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 19:34:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bernard Chiguvare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15161815/Baobab-Adansonia-digitata-limpopo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323589</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Fellows, Forestry, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Landscape Restoration, Logging, Mongabay.org, Plants, Restoration, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Limpopo province, in the far north of South Africa, where much of the population lives in rural areas, environmental conservation is often not considered very often. Instead, the residents spend much of their time trying to make a living either from the forestry around them or from fishing in the Mutale and Limpopo rivers. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Limpopo province, in the far north of South Africa, where much of the population lives in rural areas, environmental conservation is often not considered very often. Instead, the residents spend much of their time trying to make a living either from the forestry around them or from fishing in the Mutale and Limpopo rivers. But for Mutale resident Tshilidzi Mulugana, degradation of the local environment is a concern, as it will affect the community and endanger biodiversity. Mulugana is the founder of the Niani Youth Development organization whose mission is to educate local youth. He wants to make a change in the community, to help residents conserve the environment. Mulugana is afraid the next generation may not live to know indigenous tree species — yet these trees serve as traditional medicine. He noted several threats to indigenous species such as baobab (Adansonia genus), leadwood (Combretum imberbe), mopani (Colophospermum mopane) and marula (Sclerocarya birrea): recurring floods, the movement of elephant herds from neighboring Zimbabwe or Mozambique through the area, and traders who cut the trees to sell as firewood. In 2019, Mulugana began a grassroots conservation initiative focused on planting indigenous trees. One day, an official from Kruger National Park (KNP) — a walkable distance from where he lives — came across Mulugana, attracted to his project. The official later invited a representative from the forestry and fisheries department, and in 2024, the two groups funded the project. Mulugana also hoped to recruit community members to help with the work,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/like-climbing-kilimanjaro-without-help-interview-with-a-limpopo-conservationist/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/like-climbing-kilimanjaro-without-help-interview-with-a-limpopo-conservationist/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323589</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>No corporation can buy the ‘right to destroy’: Interview with activist Raja Waseem Ahmed</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/no-corporation-can-buy-the-right-to-destroy-interview-with-activist-raja-waseem-ahmed/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/no-corporation-can-buy-the-right-to-destroy-interview-with-activist-raja-waseem-ahmed/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 19:09:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Muhammad Talal]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15144500/Katas_Raj_Temples_Near_Katas_Village_Punjab_Pakistan_10-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323388</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Pakistan, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Business, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Culture, Development, Environment, Environmental Law, extractives, Fellows, Governance, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, and Mongabay.org]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For generations, the Kahoon Valley in Pakistan’s Chakwal district in northwestern Punjab has thrived as a rich ecological haven. Its fertile soil has yielded lush, historical loquat orchards, while the surrounding scrub forests have provided vital refuge to diverse wildlife, including local peacock populations and rare mountain deer species. At the center of this landscape [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For generations, the Kahoon Valley in Pakistan’s Chakwal district in northwestern Punjab has thrived as a rich ecological haven. Its fertile soil has yielded lush, historical loquat orchards, while the surrounding scrub forests have provided vital refuge to diverse wildlife, including local peacock populations and rare mountain deer species. At the center of this landscape sit the Katas Raj Temples, an ancient Hindu pilgrimage site anchoring the region’s profound spiritual heritage. However, the unchecked expansion of mega cement factories in the early 2000s transformed this natural sanctuary into a toxic industrial zone. Relentless industrial pumping reportedly caused the water table to crash from 36 meters (120 feet) to 122 m (402 ft). This extreme depletion withered the famous loquat trees and displaced native birds, also draining the sacred Katas Raj pond. Determined to save his homeland from erasure, Raja Waseem Ahmed, an environmental activist, brought together residents from neighboring villages to establish the Kahoon Protection Committee to defend the Kahoon Valley against the extreme ecological and social damages caused by heavy industrialization. Waseem utilized environmental legislation and led a forensic legal campaign that exposed the manipulated environmental approval documents eventually driving the Supreme Court of Pakistan to intervene on its own accord, resulting in a historic verdict that banned factories from draining local groundwater and slapped the industry with huge fines. In retaliation for his activism, Waseem was struck by unjustified anti-terrorism lawsuits, temporarily exiled from his native district by local authorities, and subjected to stress so harsh that it&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/no-corporation-can-buy-the-right-to-destroy-interview-with-activist-raja-waseem-ahmed/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/no-corporation-can-buy-the-right-to-destroy-interview-with-activist-raja-waseem-ahmed/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323388</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Waste, women &#038; environmental justice: Interview with Nubian activist Malasen Hamida</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/waste-women-environmental-justice-interview-with-nubian-activist-malasen-hamida/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/waste-women-environmental-justice-interview-with-nubian-activist-malasen-hamida/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2026 18:30:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ouma Elvine Tina]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/14131540/img5-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323283</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation leadership, Culture, Environment, Fellows, Gender, Interviews, Mongabay.org, NGOs, Social Justice, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Malasen Hamida, a Nubian Muslim woman from Kibera, in Nairobi, is an aspiring politician and an environmental activist with more than 25 years of advocacy behind her. Kibera, which was named by Nubians, meaning “land of forests,” is Kenya’s largest informal settlement and sits on land that the British colonial government allocated to the Nubian [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Malasen Hamida, a Nubian Muslim woman from Kibera, in Nairobi, is an aspiring politician and an environmental activist with more than 25 years of advocacy behind her. Kibera, which was named by Nubians, meaning “land of forests,” is Kenya’s largest informal settlement and sits on land that the British colonial government allocated to the Nubian community after their forebears served as soldiers in the King’s African Rifles. That allocation once covered 1,698 hectares (4,197 acres). Today, due to urbanization, forced evictions, land-grabbing and successive government projects, only 116 hectares (288 acres) remain under Nubian ownership, with no compensation ever offered. Through the Mazingira Women Initiative, Hamida has spent those years organizing around waste management, smart farming, land rights and women’s leadership. (“Mazingira” is a Swahili word for environment or nature.) She is also a three-time parliamentary candidate for the Kibera constituency and intends to run again in 2027. Hamida spoke with Mongabay on a cold Saturday afternoon, just as she was leaving the largest mosque in Kibera constituency. Her offices are a short walk away. As we moved toward them, several people stopped to greet her. She responded to each, “salaam aleikum,” paused to chat, and cupped a small girl’s face in her hands. She led me through a corrugated iron gate into a quiet compound of mud-walled, iron-roofed houses. The area was noticeably clean, with no stagnant water or litter in sight, unlike the typical sight in Kibera. We settled on the veranda of her home. Malasen Hamida addresses&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/waste-women-environmental-justice-interview-with-nubian-activist-malasen-hamida/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/waste-women-environmental-justice-interview-with-nubian-activist-malasen-hamida/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323283</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Southeast Asia, peer-support network boosts women’s well-being in conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-southeast-asia-peer-support-network-boosts-womens-well-being-in-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-southeast-asia-peer-support-network-boosts-womens-well-being-in-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jul 2026 08:21:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/06075921/Banner_Group-sharing-at-a-women-support-network-meeting.-Image-courtesy-of-ASAP-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322529</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation leadership, Culture, Environment, Gender, Health, Solutions, and Women In Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Jessa Cabaay began working in marine conservation in the Philippines, she frequently found she was the only woman in the room. Her isolation meant she often felt anxious while presenting at stakeholder meetings, sensing her audience questioned her credibility. “Most of the fishing communities I was working with were older and male,” Cabaay says, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When Jessa Cabaay began working in marine conservation in the Philippines, she frequently found she was the only woman in the room. Her isolation meant she often felt anxious while presenting at stakeholder meetings, sensing her audience questioned her credibility. “Most of the fishing communities I was working with were older and male,” Cabaay says, describing her experience of discussions on planning out marine protected areas (MPAs). “They didn’t listen the first few times I tried to talk to them.” Cabaay says she observed that her male colleagues were rarely under the same pressure to prove their competence. Now the technical manager of Community Centered Conservation (C3), a Philippine-based nonprofit, she says the fishers’ skepticism likely reflected cultural beliefs held in many Philippine coastal communities that place women in domestic roles rather than professional ones. “There are expectations that as a woman, you follow; you cannot lead,” she says. Lacking female colleagues to turn to for support and advice, Cabaay persevered largely alone through her early-career struggles. Now, however, she finds strength and encouragement through a peer-support network that links female conservation professionals across Southeast Asia. Connecting with other women facing similar challenges has been a game changer, she says: “I realized I’m not struggling alone. We all feel the same.” The initiative, the Network of Women (NOW), is led by the Asian Species Action Partnership (ASAP), a Singapore-based interagency coalition that focuses on critically endangered species of land and freshwater vertebrates. Launched in 2021, the program combines in-person leadership&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-southeast-asia-peer-support-network-boosts-womens-well-being-in-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-southeast-asia-peer-support-network-boosts-womens-well-being-in-conservation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322529</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The long and winding road to safe highways: Inside the global movement to reconnect habitat</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/the-long-and-winding-road-to-safe-highways-inside-the-global-movement-to-reconnect-habitat/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/the-long-and-winding-road-to-safe-highways-inside-the-global-movement-to-reconnect-habitat/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jun 2026 12:03:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ben Goldfarb]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/09164404/1.-BANNER-IMG_2277-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320842</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Conservation Solutions, Conservation Technology, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Fragmentation, Fragmentation, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Infrastructure, Innovation, Land Use Change, Landscape Restoration, Mitigation, Regulations, Restoration, Roadkill, Roads, Solutions, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Threatened species, Transportation, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[One of the busiest highways in the western U.S. is I-25, a concrete artery that runs north to south across the state of Colorado, funneling roughly 100,000 cars per day through the fast-growing exurbs south of the capital, Denver. While I-25 facilitates human journeys, it disastrously truncates the movements of another set of commuters. For [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[One of the busiest highways in the western U.S. is I-25, a concrete artery that runs north to south across the state of Colorado, funneling roughly 100,000 cars per day through the fast-growing exurbs south of the capital, Denver. While I-25 facilitates human journeys, it disastrously truncates the movements of another set of commuters. For decades, mule deer, elk, black bears and other species have wandered onto the highway — with fatal consequences. Over a two-year period, from 2018 to 2020, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) tallied collisions with 76 deer, 15 bears and 10 pumas along a 14-mile (22.5-kilometer) stretch of asphalt. Moreover, the interstate’s walls of traffic deter many animals from even attempting to cross, preventing them from roaming between alpine forests and Colorado’s eastern prairies. Lately, however, this once-dangerous barrier has become far more accommodating to four-legged travelers. In 2021, Colorado completed the construction of five capacious, dirt-floored underpasses, flanked by more than 25 mi (40 km) of roadside fencing, to allow wildlife to meander safely and freely beneath I-25. A black bear approaches a vehicle on the Alcan (Alaska-Canada) Highway, possibly indicating how habituating animals to human food can lead to road conflicts. Image by Ben Goldfarb. And in December 2025, CDOT finished construction of an overpass, 200 feet wide by 209 long (61 by 64 meters), that arcs over six lanes of traffic near the town of Greenland. That makes it one of the largest human-made wildlife crossings on Earth. All told, CDOT says&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/the-long-and-winding-road-to-safe-highways-inside-the-global-movement-to-reconnect-habitat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/the-long-and-winding-road-to-safe-highways-inside-the-global-movement-to-reconnect-habitat/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320842</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Indonesia, a schoolboy moves mountains on waste as government targets reform</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-indonesia-a-schoolboy-moves-mountains-on-waste-as-government-targets-reform/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-indonesia-a-schoolboy-moves-mountains-on-waste-as-government-targets-reform/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Apr 2026 14:34:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gafur Abdullah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/30142106/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-13-at-17.46.13-1-1200x800-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318477</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation leadership, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Recycling, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JEMBER, Indonesia — Syazwan Luftan Riady traces his environmental campaigning to school holidays spent at his grandmother’s riverside home in a rural part of Indonesia’s East Java province. “Throw that trash in the river, the basket’s full!” Luftan said, mimicking the levity with which his grandmother, like millions of others on the world’s most populous [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JEMBER, Indonesia — Syazwan Luftan Riady traces his environmental campaigning to school holidays spent at his grandmother’s riverside home in a rural part of Indonesia’s East Java province. “Throw that trash in the river, the basket’s full!” Luftan said, mimicking the levity with which his grandmother, like millions of others on the world’s most populous island, handled household waste in the absence of government services. While still a schoolboy in Jember, East Java, Luftan learned from his parents and developed his interest in the environment further after joining Sekolah Alam Raya. At just 12 years old, Luftan went on to co-found an organization of his own, Wiskomunalian, a grassroots association of youngsters working on achievable measures to effect environmental change. “It was about making friends aware about the environment, especially the issue of waste,” said Luftan, now in his second year of an undergraduate degree at Brawijaya University in Malang, a four-hour drive from Jember. Some of the Wiskomunalian youth in January 2026. Image by Gafur Abdullah/Mongabay Indonesia Child star A goal of Luftan and his colleagues is that “every child must be supported with adequate knowledge and experience grounded in their local realities,” Wiskomunalian wrote last year. But converting that vision into cleaner rivers and streets is a tall order, amid population growth and limited fiscal space with which to build waste treatment facilities. The United Nations Environment Programme records Indonesia as generating around 3.2 million metric tons of plastic waste every year, making it the world’s second-largest plastic&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-indonesia-a-schoolboy-moves-mountains-on-waste-as-government-targets-reform/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318477</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Young conservationists are building hope &#038; optimism despite challenging times (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/young-conservationists-are-building-hope-optimism-despite-challenging-times-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/young-conservationists-are-building-hope-optimism-despite-challenging-times-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Apr 2026 16:49:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Erfan FirouziMaria HashmiQazi Hammad MueenTaras Bains]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/28160642/IMG-20240919-WA0013-e1777392643191-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318238</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Commentary, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, and Health]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Several recent articles at Mongabay regarding mental health in the conservation sector provide a much-needed overview of an issue not talked about enough: that conservationists face a mental health crisis, an “epidemic of suffering” that is nestled within a complex biodiversity crisis. We are in a profession in which loss is a normal, everyday occurrence. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Several recent articles at Mongabay regarding mental health in the conservation sector provide a much-needed overview of an issue not talked about enough: that conservationists face a mental health crisis, an “epidemic of suffering” that is nestled within a complex biodiversity crisis. We are in a profession in which loss is a normal, everyday occurrence. The foundation of this sector lies in the passion of conservationists working tirelessly to understand, document and mitigate biodiversity and its loss. With that passion comes a job profile that is marked by exploitative practices, low wages and a general lack of support for dealing with mental well-being. Coupled with few benefits and a front-row seat to biodiversity loss and de-prioritization of conservation actions, a pertinent question arises: Is there a reason for hope? As young conservationists starting out in the field, following “conservation optimism” as a philosophy, we think so! Sometimes conservation work can make one feel like a lone tree on a mountain, but young conservationists say there&#8217;s a lot of room for hope and optimism amid the challenges. Image courtesy of Qazi Hammad Mueen. Language matters Conservation is marred by a language of crisis. This might not be the root of the mental health crisis in the field, but it is a major contributor. Hope is a delicate word to use in a field riddled with anxiety and despair. Its power, nonetheless, can be an enabling force for rebalancing the discourse around conservation and what it can achieve. How then do we&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/young-conservationists-are-building-hope-optimism-despite-challenging-times-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/young-conservationists-are-building-hope-optimism-despite-challenging-times-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318238</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>We can navigate conservation’s ‘epidemic of suffering’ by building a culture of care (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/we-can-navigate-conservations-epidemic-of-suffering-by-building-a-culture-of-care-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/we-can-navigate-conservations-epidemic-of-suffering-by-building-a-culture-of-care-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2026 14:03:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jen MillerKelly Guilbeau]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/21133102/redwoods_YosemiteUSA_creditJenMiller-e1776778567738-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317870</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Commentary, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, and Health]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Recent Mongabay articles by Jeremy Hance, Vik Mohan and Nerissa Chao, and Rhett Butler have laid bare a painful reality in conservation: the emotional price of witnessing biodiversity loss, the “epidemic of suffering” and burnout, and the psychological stresses assailing professionals on the frontlines. These articles document eco-grief, compassion fatigue, isolation, and moral injury with [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Recent Mongabay articles by Jeremy Hance, Vik Mohan and Nerissa Chao, and Rhett Butler have laid bare a painful reality in conservation: the emotional price of witnessing biodiversity loss, the “epidemic of suffering” and burnout, and the psychological stresses assailing professionals on the frontlines. These articles document eco-grief, compassion fatigue, isolation, and moral injury with clarity and urgency, giving voice to struggles that many conservationists have carried in silence. What these pieces don&#8217;t fully highlight is that conservationists are not standing idly by. Just as we dedicate ourselves to protecting ecosystems and species under pressure, we are simultaneously advocating for our own well-being by stepping up to support one another by building practical solutions from within the field itself. In early 2025, amid growing global instability for conservationists — job losses, funding shortfalls, and relentless ecological decline — we founded Revive, a global working group of the Society for Conservation Biology. Revive is a community of practice created by conservationists, for conservationists. Our approach is simple yet potent, and informed by more than 100 working group members in 30 countries as well as peer-reviewed evidence: equip individuals, teams, and organizations with evidence-based resilience tools to reshape the norms of our workforce. Together, we are building a culture of care that supports an inspired, emotionally resilient conservation community where well-being is valued and nourished as a foundational part of our work. Co-author Kelly Guilbeau with a graphic facilitator’s depiction of a keynote address on creating a culture of care for a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/we-can-navigate-conservations-epidemic-of-suffering-by-building-a-culture-of-care-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317870</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Meet the 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize Winners</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/meet-the-2026-goldman-environmental-prize-winners/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/meet-the-2026-goldman-environmental-prize-winners/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2026 08:00:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/20070038/Goldman-Environmental-Prize-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317746</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Environment, Forests, Governance, and Happy-upbeat Environmental]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Six environmental activists from around the world will be awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize on April 20. Known as the &#8220;Green Nobel Prize,&#8221; the Goldman Prize honors activists from the six inhabited continental regions. In a historic first, all six winners are women. This year&#8217;s winners fought to protect a rare bat in Nigeria by [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Six environmental activists from around the world will be awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize on April 20. Known as the &#8220;Green Nobel Prize,&#8221; the Goldman Prize honors activists from the six inhabited continental regions. In a historic first, all six winners are women. This year&#8217;s winners fought to protect a rare bat in Nigeria by training community members to prevent wildfires; won a court ruling in South Korea forcing the government to set stronger climate targets; stopped an oil drilling project in the U.K. after a decade of legal battles; pressured a global mining giant to clean up a toxic abandoned mine in Papua New Guinea; blocked the largest proposed open-pit mine in North American history in Alaska; and helped prevent commercial fracking from taking hold in Colombia. &#8220;While we continue to fight uphill to protect the environment and implement lifesaving climate policies — in the US and globally — it is clear that true leaders can be found all around us,&#8221; said John Goldman, vice president of the Goldman Environmental Foundation. &#8220;I am especially thrilled to honor our first-ever cohort of six women, as this is a powerful reflection of the absolutely central role that women play in the environmental community globally.&#8221; The winners will be honored at a ceremony in San Francisco, in the U.S., on April 20, hosted by Telemundo anchor Vanessa Hauc, with musical guest Caminos Flamencos. The event will be livestreamed at 5:30 p.m. local time (00:30 a.m. UTC on April 21) on the Goldman&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/meet-the-2026-goldman-environmental-prize-winners/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317746</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Conservation efforts help an endangered dipterocarp spread roots in Bangladesh</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/conservation-efforts-help-an-endangered-dipterocarp-spread-roots-in-bangladesh/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/conservation-efforts-help-an-endangered-dipterocarp-spread-roots-in-bangladesh/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2026 07:53:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sadiqur Rahman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/14075155/boilam-in-bangladesh-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317462</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Endangered Species, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Trees, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On Jan. 23, 2026, Mahbubul Islam Polash, a 34-year-old man from Bangladesh’s northern district of Sirajganj, traveled to Teknaf area in the southeastern coastal district of Cox’s Bazar, around 600 kilometers (373 miles) south of his hometown. Here, he planted a sapling of Anisoptera scaphula, a dipterocarp tree commonly known as boilam in Bangladesh. That [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On Jan. 23, 2026, Mahbubul Islam Polash, a 34-year-old man from Bangladesh’s northern district of Sirajganj, traveled to Teknaf area in the southeastern coastal district of Cox’s Bazar, around 600 kilometers (373 miles) south of his hometown. Here, he planted a sapling of Anisoptera scaphula, a dipterocarp tree commonly known as boilam in Bangladesh. That day marked the 64th planting of the endangered tree species, completing the plantation campaign in all the districts of the country. The campaign was launched on June 5, 2024, coinciding with World Environment Day, in the northwestern Rajshahi district. When Polash learned that the towering tree species was on the verge of extinction and birds like kites and vultures were losing nesting habitats, he pinned his focus on planting boilams. “Even if it was just one species, I wanted to spread it countrywide,” Polash tells Mongabay. In 2019, he says, he planned to collect its seeds or saplings from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) and distribute them across the country. But his initial attempts to germinate boilam seeds failed. Undeterred he continued to try and, in 2023, he succeeded in the germination of 74 seeds from the 2,000 sourced from mother trees in the hilly Bandarban and Khagrachhari districts. The saplings were nurtured on a piece of land adjacent to Polash’s home in Sirajganj for a year until they reached a height of about 30-45 centimeters (12-18 inches). Finally, the boilam saplings were planted in 64 districts of Bangladesh. Polash spent 597 days and self-financed&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/conservation-efforts-help-an-endangered-dipterocarp-spread-roots-in-bangladesh/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/conservation-efforts-help-an-endangered-dipterocarp-spread-roots-in-bangladesh/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317462</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Creating the North Atlantic’s largest MPA network: Interview with Azores President José Manuel Bolieiro</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/creating-the-north-atlantics-largest-mpa-network-interview-with-azores-president-jose-manuel-bolieiro/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/creating-the-north-atlantics-largest-mpa-network-interview-with-azores-president-jose-manuel-bolieiro/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Apr 2026 15:27:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maria José Mendes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/08153215/a.-BANNER-%C2%A9gianfrs-iNaturalist-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317158</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, Europe, European Union, and Portugal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[José Manuel Bolieiro says he’s been an environmentalist for as long as he can remember. He recalls captivating encounters with marine life as a teenager while diving in the North Atlantic waters of his native São Miguel, one of the nine islands that make up the Portuguese-administered Azores archipelago. The gaze of the moray eel [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[José Manuel Bolieiro says he’s been an environmentalist for as long as he can remember. He recalls captivating encounters with marine life as a teenager while diving in the North Atlantic waters of his native São Miguel, one of the nine islands that make up the Portuguese-administered Azores archipelago. The gaze of the moray eel remains etched in his memory: “It&#8217;s impressive because it watches us vigilantly, without aggression,” he tells Mongabay. Bolieiro’s early interactions with the ocean proved formative. A member of the Social Democratic Party, Bolieiro is a former mayor of Ponta Delgada, the largest city in the Azores, and has served as president of the regional government of the Azores since 2020, championing the establishment of a remarkable network of marine protected areas (MPAs) in the biodiverse waters around the archipelago. The region is home to numerous species of dolphins and whales, sharks and turtles, and rich in corals, hydrothermal vent ecosystems and seamounts. The previous government of the Azores, which is run as an autonomous region of Portugal, had set a goal of protecting 15% of the archipelago’s waters. But Bolieiro dreamed bigger: He sought marine protection covering 30% by 2030. In 2024, the regional parliament approved legislation for the new Azores Marine Protected Areas Network, and it came into force on Jan. 1 of this year. At 287,000 square kilometers (110,800 square miles) — more than three times the land area of Portugal — it’s now the largest MPA network in the North Atlantic Ocean.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/creating-the-north-atlantics-largest-mpa-network-interview-with-azores-president-jose-manuel-bolieiro/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/creating-the-north-atlantics-largest-mpa-network-interview-with-azores-president-jose-manuel-bolieiro/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317158</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How an engineer brought degraded wetlands back to life in drought-hit Bangladesh</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/how-an-engineer-brought-degraded-wetlands-back-to-life-in-drought-hit-bangladesh/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/how-an-engineer-brought-degraded-wetlands-back-to-life-in-drought-hit-bangladesh/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Apr 2026 13:44:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sadiqur Rahman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/03133606/4-Bharardaho-Beel-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316931</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation leadership, Drought, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The moment A.K.M. Fazlul Haque learnt that the government had declared two wetlands —Bharardaho Beel and Patuakamri Beel — located in Bangladesh’s northern district of Rangpur as the Special Biodiversity Conservation Area, he smiled with relief, he said. “Our years-long conservation efforts have paid off,” was his immediate response. In Bangladesh, a beel is defined [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The moment A.K.M. Fazlul Haque learnt that the government had declared two wetlands —Bharardaho Beel and Patuakamri Beel — located in Bangladesh’s northern district of Rangpur as the Special Biodiversity Conservation Area, he smiled with relief, he said. “Our years-long conservation efforts have paid off,” was his immediate response. In Bangladesh, a beel is defined as a large topographically low area that accumulates surface runoff water. As a senior deputy-assistant engineer at the Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA), the state-run agency responsible for restoring surface water sources, Fazlul, in 2021 and 2023, led the excavation of the two beels that had almost disappeared from the landscape, having been transformed as silted crop field. After excavating the 4.7 hectares (11.6 acres) of Bharardaho Beel, Fazlul and his peers volunteered the plantation of rare indigenous tree species along the ridges. When the BMDA team approached to excavate the nearby Patuakamtri Beel, illegal occupants attacked Fazlul physically and damaged his high-end photography camera, he said. Despite such obstacles, BMDA finally succeeded in the excavation of the 4.5 hectares (11.3 acres) of Patuakamri Beel. Today, both water bodies shelter hundreds of water birds, some of them migratory, and other wildlife around the year. Such conservation efforts are crucial to be replicated in such drought-prone northern regions of Bangladesh where wetlands are depleting fast, experts say. A study published in November 2022 reveals that Bangladesh’s northwest region lost more than 57% of its total wetland area between 1989 and 2020. Md Shafiqul Bari, a professor&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/how-an-engineer-brought-degraded-wetlands-back-to-life-in-drought-hit-bangladesh/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316931</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A profession built on hope, strained by loss</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-emotional-price-of-conservation-work/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-emotional-price-of-conservation-work/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Mar 2026 22:50:49 +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/20/2026/03/26143802/the-cost-of-caring-in-a-dying-world-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316338</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation leadership, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Gender, and Health]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Earlier this month, Jeremy Hance’s “‘An epidemic of suffering’: Why are conservationists breaking down?” and the follow-up commentary “Emotional and psychological stresses beleaguer conservation professionals” by Vik Mohan and Nerissa Chao gave fresh urgency—and language—to a crisis many in conservation have been naming quietly for years. This piece builds on their reporting and reflections, and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Earlier this month, Jeremy Hance’s “‘An epidemic of suffering’: Why are conservationists breaking down?” and the follow-up commentary “Emotional and psychological stresses beleaguer conservation professionals” by Vik Mohan and Nerissa Chao gave fresh urgency—and language—to a crisis many in conservation have been naming quietly for years. This piece builds on their reporting and reflections, and draws as well on my own earlier work, including “Conservation’s silent strain: Nature’s protectors face a mental health crisis,” along with other writing I’ve done on loss, grief, and endurance in the field. It also sits alongside the Nature Obituaries Project, a series of tributes to fallen conservationists, scientists, and environmental defenders, rooted in the belief that the people who protect life on Earth are not expendable. I’m not writing as a clinician here. I’m writing as someone listening to what conservationists keep describing, across roles and regions. There is a particular kind of exhaustion that does not come from long hours alone. It comes from paying attention. Conservationists are trained to notice what most people do not see: a reef that has lost its vibrancy and color, a forest that no longer holds the same birds, a river that carries less life each season. They are trained to count, to measure, to document change with discipline. But they are also people who entered the work because they love something outside themselves. A species. A place. A living world that felt worth protecting. That love is not a weakness. It is the fuel. And lately, it&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-emotional-price-of-conservation-work/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316338</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How foreign investor lawsuits stymie environmental protection</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/how-foreign-investor-lawsuits-stymie-environmental-protection/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/how-foreign-investor-lawsuits-stymie-environmental-protection/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Mar 2026 10:59:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/09/30133937/Jacob-Balzani_Mayuriaga-Oil-Spill-2016-WampisNation_3500px_Extra_0073-1-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315928</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Caribbean, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation leadership, Crime, Energy, Energy Transition, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Land Conflict, Law, Law Enforcement, Politics, Protected Areas, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[New data by the Transnational Institute reveal how an increase in lawsuits by foreign investors is undermining government efforts to protect natural resources and human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean. Countries in the region are facing a total of $36.6 billion in lawsuits from corporations, all through investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) claims, which [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[New data by the Transnational Institute reveal how an increase in lawsuits by foreign investors is undermining government efforts to protect natural resources and human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean. Countries in the region are facing a total of $36.6 billion in lawsuits from corporations, all through investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) claims, which often constrain governments’ ability to implement reforms due to fear of costly punishments. The data identified 419 ISDS claims against countries in the region filed as of mid-October 2025, with Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico, Peru and Ecuador shouldering the highest costs. Together, they face almost two-thirds of all lawsuits, with 257 claims. Between 2014 and 2024, 212 lawsuits were registered across the region, a 133% increase from previous decades. “We are talking about close to 40 billion dollars LAC [Latin American and Caribbean] states have been ordered to pay already, and there are many cases we don’t know the amount they were asked to pay, so the number is actually higher,” Bettina Müller, an associate researcher at the Transnational Institute and author of the report, told Mongabay over email. “Imagine what could have been done with 40 billion dollars in the region and specifically in the countries which have been ordered to pay the most, like Venezuela and Argentina.” ISDS is a mechanism in international trade agreements that allows foreign investors to sue states before international tribunals when they think that national laws, regulations, legal decisions or other public measures violate their treaty protections. The mechanism&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/how-foreign-investor-lawsuits-stymie-environmental-protection/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315928</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Conservation’s unfinished business</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/conservations-unfinished-business/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/conservations-unfinished-business/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Jan 2026 00:31:18 +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/20/2021/08/25184643/header-Felipe-Rodriguez-105-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312841</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Colonialism, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Conservation Philosophy, Environment, Governance, Green, Human Rights, Human-wildlife Conflict, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Protected Areas, Social Justice, Traditional Knowledge, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Conservation often presents itself as a technical enterprise: how much land to protect, which species to prioritize, what policies deliver results. A recent paper in Nature argues that this framing misses something fundamental. Many of the field’s most persistent failures, the authors contend, cannot be understood without confronting how race, power, and historical exclusion continue [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Conservation often presents itself as a technical enterprise: how much land to protect, which species to prioritize, what policies deliver results. A recent paper in Nature argues that this framing misses something fundamental. Many of the field’s most persistent failures, the authors contend, cannot be understood without confronting how race, power, and historical exclusion continue to shape conservation practice today. The paper, A Framework for Addressing Racial and Related Inequities in Conservation, does not claim that conservation is uniquely flawed, nor that injustice is universal across all projects. Its argument is narrower and more pointed. Modern conservation, it says, emerged from a colonial context that treated land as empty and people as obstacles. Those assumptions were never fully dismantled. They survive in subtler forms, influencing whose knowledge counts, who bears the costs of protection, and who decides what success looks like. A Purko elder collecting medicinal plants in the Loita Hills Forest, Kenya. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler. The authors, led by Moreangels Mbizah of Wildlife Conservation Action in Zimbabwe, trace conservation’s institutional roots to the late nineteenth century, when protected areas were established across colonized landscapes through forced removals and restrictions on customary land use. Indigenous peoples and rural communities were often excluded in the name of preserving “pristine” nature. Although conservation has evolved since then, the paper argues that these early patterns still shape present-day practice through what it calls “path dependencies”: inherited norms that continue to privilege outside expertise and centralized control. One consequence, according to the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/conservations-unfinished-business/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312841</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Iain Douglas-Hamilton, elephant protector, has died at 83</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/iain-douglas-hamilton-elephant-protector-has-died-at-83/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/iain-douglas-hamilton-elephant-protector-has-died-at-83/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Dec 2025 13:46:43 +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/20/2025/12/09134315/IainDouglas-HamiltonPortrait_SaveTheElephants-header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310868</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Elephants, Environment, Green, Illegal Trade, Ivory, Obituary, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For nearly six decades, Iain Douglas-Hamilton worked across the savannas of Africa, his scientific focus fixed on its largest inhabitants — the elephants. It was said he could identify an elephant by the pattern of its ears or the wrinkles in its skin. He liked to note that elephants were like people — capable of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For nearly six decades, Iain Douglas-Hamilton worked across the savannas of Africa, his scientific focus fixed on its largest inhabitants — the elephants. It was said he could identify an elephant by the pattern of its ears or the wrinkles in its skin. He liked to note that elephants were like people — capable of deep social bonds and flashes of temper. Douglas-Hamilton, who passed away on December 8th, 2025, at the age of 83, devoted his life to ensuring that they had a future. Born in Dorset, England, Iain was the younger son of Lord David Douglas-Hamilton, a decorated Royal Air Force (RAF) officer, and Prunella Stack, a pioneer of women’s fitness. From an early age, he was drawn toward Africa. After studying zoology at Oxford, he followed that pull. At 23, he arrived in Tanzania’s Lake Manyara National Park, where he began the first scientific study of elephant behavior in the wild. It was there that a professional interest became a lifelong responsibility. Douglas-Hamilton’s connection to elephants was not only intellectual. He spent long hours simply observing them — the quiet moments as important as the dramatic ones. He recalled a particular elephant that would approach his vehicle regularly, until a point that he could walk alongside her, feeding her wild gardenia fruits. “She was very special,” he said. “One day, she brought her babies to meet me.” But as he traveled across Africa during the 1970s and 1980s, he saw how the ivory trade was emptying landscapes&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/iain-douglas-hamilton-elephant-protector-has-died-at-83/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310868</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Small grants are key to a successful next generation of conservationists (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/small-grants-are-key-to-a-successful-next-generation-of-conservationists-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/small-grants-are-key-to-a-successful-next-generation-of-conservationists-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Nov 2025 02:00:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Paul Barnes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/13221742/EDGE-CTC-c-Dr-Paul-Barnes-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=309537</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[England, Global, and United Kingdom]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Conservation leadership, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Finance, Funding, philanthropy, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a meeting room in a head office in London, a handful of early-career conservationists from around the world sat in a circle on the floor to share their challenges of working in conservation. The conversation was sobering. From affording everyday bills, juggling multiple unsecured jobs and dealing with burnout to harassment in the field, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In a meeting room in a head office in London, a handful of early-career conservationists from around the world sat in a circle on the floor to share their challenges of working in conservation. The conversation was sobering. From affording everyday bills, juggling multiple unsecured jobs and dealing with burnout to harassment in the field, threats by extractive industries and abduction by narcotic gangs, the breadth of burdens on these young emerging leaders was astonishing. After three more similar workshops hosted by the project I lead — the Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) EDGE of Existence program — and fast-forward a year, my inbox holds 1,700 applications for our annual fellowship call, a bewildering demand for perhaps 10 places and all for roles that encounter the burdens described in the workshops. This kind of demand is not unusual; I’ve heard similar ratios for other fellowships and small grant schemes. In the same month, numerous blows to funding pipelines for organizations, both large and small, worldwide, have surfaced. Now, like many others, we find ourselves facing a sharp juxtaposition: an overwhelming demand from talented, dedicated teams working on urgent conservation projects that are ready for implementation, contrasted with decreasing, fragile and unpredictable upstream funding. Many young conservationists like Lucero Vaca, shown here conducting a jaguar study, have struggled to make a career in the sector, yet as she told Mongabay in 2017, &#8220;If we stop underestimating people based on their age and [help] young conservationists [carry] out their innovative ideas, we&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/small-grants-are-key-to-a-successful-next-generation-of-conservationists-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/small-grants-are-key-to-a-successful-next-generation-of-conservationists-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-309537</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia retiree rewilds world’s largest volcano lake as church demands plantation closures</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/indonesia-retiree-rewilds-worlds-largest-volcano-lake-as-church-demands-plantation-closures/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/indonesia-retiree-rewilds-worlds-largest-volcano-lake-as-church-demands-plantation-closures/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Oct 2025 03:54:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sri Wahyuni]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/24190725/Wilmar-Eliaser-Simandjorang-head-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307777</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, North Sumatra, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation leadership, Ecosystems, Environment, Governance, Islands, Lakes, Landscape Restoration, Restoration, Rewilding, and Volcanoes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SAMOSIR, Indonesia — On retirement from public life, Wilmar Eliaser Simandjorang found a quiet place on a hillside overlooking Lake Toba, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, to write about this landscape sacred to the region’s Batak people. “If we don&#8217;t pay attention to this, Lake Toba will be just a memory,” Wilmar told Mongabay [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SAMOSIR, Indonesia — On retirement from public life, Wilmar Eliaser Simandjorang found a quiet place on a hillside overlooking Lake Toba, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, to write about this landscape sacred to the region’s Batak people. “If we don&#8217;t pay attention to this, Lake Toba will be just a memory,” Wilmar told Mongabay Indonesia at his home near the lake, the site of a volcanic eruption 74,000 years ago that plunged the world into global winter and famine. More recently, North Sumatra province’s environment department has warned of a burgeoning pollution problem from the waste dumped into Toba, the largest volcanic lake in the world. Many here in this subdued lakeside region today, which is home to Sumatra’s ethnic Batak people (and the center of seven districts in North Sumatra province), say a complex array of changes taking place around the Toba landscape are reaching a tipping point. “The forest is being cut down, both legally and illegally — biodiversity is being burned,” Wilmar said. “Rainwater is just running off; it carries ash, trash and pesticides into the lake.” A study of 60 water samples published in the journal Advances in Oceanography and Limnology in 2024 confirms worrying local testimony. The research, conducted in 2020-2021 by scientists from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, Indonesia’s premier forestry university, indicated intensive ecological distress. Researchers revealed nitrogen levels greater than the safe threshold set by Indonesia’s environment ministry, threatening both fish and water quality. Civil society organizations, church groups and community&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/indonesia-retiree-rewilds-worlds-largest-volcano-lake-as-church-demands-plantation-closures/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/indonesia-retiree-rewilds-worlds-largest-volcano-lake-as-church-demands-plantation-closures/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307777</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Navigating conservation’s crisis (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/navigating-conservations-crisis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/navigating-conservations-crisis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Sep 2025 13:23:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/18204309/indonesia_160271-25-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=306225</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs and Navigating conservation's crisis]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Conservation leadership, Conservation Solutions, Economics, Environment, philanthropy, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Call it a crossroads. Ecological decline is accelerating in too many places at once; institutions that once limited the damage are wobbling; the information channels we rely on to coordinate action are clogged. In tropical forests alone, annual primary forest loss has climbed by 50% in the 2020s relative to the 2000s. Fires, drought and fragmentation have [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[An invitation The conservation field is facing a radical new reality: accelerating ecological decline, shrinking civic space, and shifting political and financial landscapes. At Mongabay, we believe this moment demands not only reporting, but reflection. We are inviting voices from across the sector to contribute commentaries that ask hard questions and explore how crisis can also be opportunity. If you work in conservation, what lessons, pivots, or strategies do you see emerging? Where is adaptation already happening—and what should come next? We welcome your reflections as part of a broader discourse on how conservation can meet this era with creativity, courage, and clarity. To submit a commentary for consideration, please see the guidance under Commentaries/editorials on our submissions page. Call it a crossroads. Ecological decline is accelerating in too many places at once; institutions that once limited the damage are wobbling; the information channels we rely on to coordinate action are clogged. In tropical forests alone, annual primary forest loss has climbed by 50% in the 2020s relative to the 2000s. Fires, drought and fragmentation have amplified each other, turning routine burns into regional infernos and pushing ecosystems toward limits toward limits scientists once thought hypothetical. The numbers are not abstract; they are acreage, species and livelihoods. Politics has not been neutral. Aid budgets have been cut or frozen; in the United States, the dismantling or suspension of major funding streams left conservation programs scrambling, with knock-on effects across ranger salaries, monitoring and community incentives from the Congo Basin to Indonesia. Meanwhile, some philanthropies have stepped up, yet the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/navigating-conservations-crisis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/navigating-conservations-crisis/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-306225</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>US proposes zero new protections for traded wildlife at upcoming CITES CoP</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/us-proposes-zero-new-protections-for-traded-wildlife-at-upcoming-cites-cop/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/us-proposes-zero-new-protections-for-traded-wildlife-at-upcoming-cites-cop/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Aug 2025 15:09:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/15082624/india_165187-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304329</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Central Asia, Global, North America, United States, and Uzbekistan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Crime, Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Environment, Environmental Policy, Governance, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Politics, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Sustainability, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[At the end of 2025, representatives from 185 countries will convene in Uzbekistan to discuss the fate of sharks, African hornbills, hyenas, vultures, palm trees and other threatened species. The group’s decisions will, in part, decide the survival and the future of widely traded fauna and flora as they vote whether to set limits on or [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[At the end of 2025, representatives from 185 countries will convene in Uzbekistan to discuss the fate of sharks, African hornbills, hyenas, vultures, palm trees and other threatened species. The group’s decisions will, in part, decide the survival and the future of widely traded fauna and flora as they vote whether to set limits on or bar the international trade of these species and their parts, including fins, heads and skins. This will be the 20th meeting of signatories to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES), one of the world’s oldest conservation treaties. These “Conference of the Parties” (CoP) discussions, held once every three years, will convene from Nov. 24 to Dec. 5 in Samarkand. They offer an opportunity for the world to rein in the unsustainable, multibillion-dollar wildlife trade, both legal and illegal. For species like the elephants, rhinos, tigers and numerous others, trade is the greatest threat to their long-term survival. The United States has traditionally been a leader in conservation, affording and securing protections to species at risk, including those exploited by trade. But this year, the country&#8217;s role seems to have weakened as a leader at CITES: It has sponsored only four proposals for consideration at the upcoming CoP, the lowest in the last 10 CoPs — 25 years. In total, 51 proposals are up for discussion to regulate or ban the international commercial trade of wildlife and its products. For the first time, none of the U.S.-backed proposals support&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/us-proposes-zero-new-protections-for-traded-wildlife-at-upcoming-cites-cop/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/us-proposes-zero-new-protections-for-traded-wildlife-at-upcoming-cites-cop/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304329</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>First congress of forest basin leaders results in call for direct financing</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/first-conference-of-forest-basin-leaders-results-in-call-for-direct-financing/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/first-conference-of-forest-basin-leaders-results-in-call-for-direct-financing/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jun 2025 15:06:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/24063744/Maribel-Arango-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301259</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon and Central Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Climate, climate finance, Climate Justice, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Conservation leadership, Conservation Solutions, Forests, Gender, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Redd, Solutions, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[At the world’s first global congress of Indigenous peoples and local communities from forest basins, representatives began preparations to increase direct finance to community forest conservation — especially in the run-up to the upcoming U.N. climate conference, COP30. The participants, from the Amazon, Congo, Mesoamerica, and Borneo-Mekong basins, gathered May 26-30 in Brazzaville, Republic of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[At the world’s first global congress of Indigenous peoples and local communities from forest basins, representatives began preparations to increase direct finance to community forest conservation — especially in the run-up to the upcoming U.N. climate conference, COP30. The participants, from the Amazon, Congo, Mesoamerica, and Borneo-Mekong basins, gathered May 26-30 in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, and proposed that new financing pledges at the global climate conference should direct at least 40% of funds directly to Indigenous and local community organizations. This, they said, should go through their own funding mechanisms — instruments that organizations are currently in the works of scaling up. An estimated 80% of the world’s tropical forests and two-thirds of its biodiversity lie within the Amazon, Congo and Borneo-Mekong-Southeast Asia basins, with about 36% of the world’s intact forests on Indigenous lands. Countries within these basins are experiencing record-high rates of forest loss, and some estimate the management and restoration of forests could cost $203 billion per year by 2050. “As we [Indigenous leaders] looked into the minimum funds that went directly to Indigenous peoples and local communities, this congress needed to initiate talks on advancing mechanisms that could channel direct funds to community organizations,” said Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, president of the Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad. Ivindo River in the Congo Basin in Gabon. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. Pathways to direct funding While the congress focused on the roles of Indigenous peoples and local communities in forest conservation, improved access to direct funds&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/first-conference-of-forest-basin-leaders-results-in-call-for-direct-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-301259</doi>				</item>
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