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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?s=&#038;type=post&#038;topic=organized-crime" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/organized-crime/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2026 03:25:28 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
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<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Organized Crime</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/organized-crime/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>To tackle environmental crime, track profits through the whole supply chain (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/to-tackle-environmental-crime-track-profits-through-the-whole-supply-chain-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/to-tackle-environmental-crime-track-profits-through-the-whole-supply-chain-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Sep 2026 18:07:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ilona Szabó de CarvalhoRobert Muggah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/08/08201639/3.-mongabay_Image-by-Ibama-via-Wikimedia-Commons-CC-BY-SA-2.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330777</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Commentary, Corruption, Crime, Environment, Gold Mining, Governance, Illegal Fishing, Illegal Logging, Illegal Mining, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Mining, Natural Resources, Organized Crime, timber trade, Trade, trafficking, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The world has spent a decade trying to put a price on nature. Forests have become carbon sinks, while wetlands are increasingly described as natural infrastructure. Biodiversity is also being drawn into financial markets. Governments and investors have poured billions into carbon markets and conservation finance, including green bonds. Around them, a financial system is [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The world has spent a decade trying to put a price on nature. Forests have become carbon sinks, while wetlands are increasingly described as natural infrastructure. Biodiversity is also being drawn into financial markets. Governments and investors have poured billions into carbon markets and conservation finance, including green bonds. Around them, a financial system is emerging on the assumption that intact ecosystems can generate enough economic value to protect them. A more destructive economy has been putting a price on nature for much longer. It makes money by extracting and selling it. Land grabbing, illegal logging, illicit gold mining and wildlife trafficking are usually treated as environmental offenses, so responsibility falls to park rangers, customs officials and specialized police. That view badly underestimates what is happening. In a new paper for the Brookings Institution, we argue that environmental crimes are a serious drag on both sustainable development and climate action. They damage ecosystems and weaken the institutions charged with governing them. They also drain revenue from legitimate companies and public coffers. Enforcement alone will not solve a problem that runs through trade, finance and local political economies. An IBAMA agent participates in a raid on an illegal logging and mining operation within an Indigenous reserve. Image courtesy of IBAMA. Global criminal economy No one knows exactly how large this economy has become. A widely cited estimate puts annual proceeds at between $110 billion and $281 billion, but the true figure is probably far higher, perhaps in the trillions. What makes the business&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/to-tackle-environmental-crime-track-profits-through-the-whole-supply-chain-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/to-tackle-environmental-crime-track-profits-through-the-whole-supply-chain-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330777</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘How did you come to be here?’ Study digs into origins of Zambian wildlife crime</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/how-did-you-come-to-be-here-study-digs-into-origins-of-zambian-wildlife-crime/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/how-did-you-come-to-be-here-study-digs-into-origins-of-zambian-wildlife-crime/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Sep 2026 21:22:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alex Megerle]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/17070507/Elephants_Zambia_Fawaz_Tairou-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329983</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Global, Southern Africa, and Zambia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Business, Conservation, Crime, Elephants, Environment, Governance, Illegal Trade, Ivory, Law, Mammals, Organized Crime, Pangolins, Poaching, Rhinos, Trade, trafficking, Ungulates, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The man in the Zambian prison recalled how he ended up there. He’d been approached by someone who had an uncle in the capital, Lusaka, who was willing to buy ivory and pangolin scales. He gave the man a phone and a number to reach him. “He promised that the money I would get would [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The man in the Zambian prison recalled how he ended up there. He’d been approached by someone who had an uncle in the capital, Lusaka, who was willing to buy ivory and pangolin scales. He gave the man a phone and a number to reach him. “He promised that the money I would get would enable me to build a house and take my children to school,” the man said. The story of this inmate — who was eventually arrested and incarcerated for an elephant-related offense — drives home an important truth. Wildlife crime is a multifaceted industry fueled by various participants with a slew of motives, ranging from local people who may occasionally capture and sell an animal to middlemen who handle logistics to heavily armed poaching gangs and the kingpins that rule over large international syndicates. The lower-level links in the chain are simpler to catch and prosecute, but are easily replaceable, so their arrest does little to stop poaching. The NGO Wildlife Crime Prevention (WCP) Zambia, in partnership with Copperbelt University, recently interviewed more than 300 inmates imprisoned for wildlife offenses in the country to learn how and why people on the lower rungs of the industry took their first steps into wildlife crime. “We wanted to understand better the drivers of the more grassroots-levels offenders and why they get involved — and how we might avoid them being involved again,” said one of the study&#8217;s authors, who needed to remain anonymous so not to endanger their&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/how-did-you-come-to-be-here-study-digs-into-origins-of-zambian-wildlife-crime/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/how-did-you-come-to-be-here-study-digs-into-origins-of-zambian-wildlife-crime/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329983</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>From seizure to sentence: Weak prosecution leaves tigers vulnerable to trafficking in Southeast Asia: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/from-seizure-to-sentence-weak-prosecution-leaves-tigers-vulnerable-to-trafficking-in-southeast-asia-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/from-seizure-to-sentence-weak-prosecution-leaves-tigers-vulnerable-to-trafficking-in-southeast-asia-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 13:13:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/28035444/1.-Sumatran-tiger-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327188</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, China, Global, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Business, Cats, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Health, Law, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Medicine, Organized Crime, Poaching, Threatened species, Tigers, Trade, Traditional Medicine, trafficking, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When tiger poachers and traffickers are apprehended in Southeast Asia, they frequently get away without consequences: Fewer than half of arrests and seizures in the cat’s Southeast Asian range countries are backed up by penalties or convictions, according to a recently published report by Canadian conservation think tank the GuArdean Centre for Conservation Research, wildlife [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When tiger poachers and traffickers are apprehended in Southeast Asia, they frequently get away without consequences: Fewer than half of arrests and seizures in the cat’s Southeast Asian range countries are backed up by penalties or convictions, according to a recently published report by Canadian conservation think tank the GuArdean Centre for Conservation Research, wildlife trade watchdog TRAFFIC, and WWF International. This means there’s little deterrent for a lucrative illegal industry that’s driving tigers toward extinction, experts say. Black market trade in their skins, bones, teeth and other body parts is an extremely lucrative business; most are headed to China, the top consumer. Researchers assessed publicly available records related to 259 tiger-related seizures in Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos between 2019 and 2024 — seven of the 10 countries where wild tigers still survive. Heather Sohl, the tiger trade lead at WWF and a co-author of the report, noted that these cases represent just a fraction of the trade, “only those which were intercepted and reported.” That level of wildlife crime could have a “massive impact” on wild tiger populations, she said. Based on their findings, the study’s authors are calling for a raft of measures to strengthen sentencing in an effort to fight the international criminal organizations that mastermind tiger trade and other wildlife crime in the region. A young Bengal tiger walks along a path through elephant grass in India’s Kaziranga National Park. Image by Steve Winter/Big Cat Voices. Little deterrent for tiger poachers and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/from-seizure-to-sentence-weak-prosecution-leaves-tigers-vulnerable-to-trafficking-in-southeast-asia-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/from-seizure-to-sentence-weak-prosecution-leaves-tigers-vulnerable-to-trafficking-in-southeast-asia-report/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327188</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Plans of Peru’s new administration spur concern among environmentalists</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/plans-of-perus-new-administration-spur-concern-among-environmentalists/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/plans-of-perus-new-administration-spur-concern-among-environmentalists/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Aug 2026 09:38:23 +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/20/2025/03/17050949/peru_221217-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327225</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Crime, Development, Energy, Energy Security, Energy Transition, Environmental Policy, Fossil Fuels, Governance, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Infrastructure, Natural Resources, Organized Crime, Politics, Pollution, Renewable Energy, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Keiko Sofía Fujimori Higuchi from the Popular Force Party was sworn in as the new president of Peru on July 28. Fujimori, who has pledged to tackle insecurity using greater force and militarization, narrowly defeated her left-wing opponent Roberto Sánchez by fewer than 50,000 votes on June 7. The new president has promised to expand [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Keiko Sofía Fujimori Higuchi from the Popular Force Party was sworn in as the new president of Peru on July 28. Fujimori, who has pledged to tackle insecurity using greater force and militarization, narrowly defeated her left-wing opponent Roberto Sánchez by fewer than 50,000 votes on June 7. The new president has promised to expand fossil fuel production and mining across the country, raising concerns among environmentalists and Indigenous leaders about the future of the Peruvian Amazon, as well as its international commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) — a national climate action plan under the Paris Agreement. The country submitted its first NDC in 2016, which was then updated in 2020 and 2025. In its plan, it has committed to diversify renewable energy sources, strengthen sustainable transportation, reduce deforestation, protect natural areas and support Indigenous and local communities, among other mitigation priorities. Experts, environmentalists and Indigenous leaders expressed concerns about the government’s plans, particularly Fujimori’s promise to expand the exploration and exploitation of energy resources, such as the promotion of new lots in the Amazon and the northern coast. Peru&#8217;s President Keiko Fujimori, center, poses for a group photo with members of her cabinet at the government palace in Lima, Peru, Tuesday, July 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo) “The current government is a bit pragmatic in its decisions because they are really driven by wanting development without considering the consequences for the Amazonian peoples,” Matsés Indigenous leader Leo Chuma Teca Beso told Mongabay&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/plans-of-perus-new-administration-spur-concern-among-environmentalists/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/plans-of-perus-new-administration-spur-concern-among-environmentalists/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327225</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>On ivory, follow the trafficking networks and not the headlines (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-ivory-follow-the-trafficking-networks-and-not-the-headlines-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-ivory-follow-the-trafficking-networks-and-not-the-headlines-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Aug 2026 22:47:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mary Rice]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/25133056/image1-e1786130110289-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325640</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Global, Southern Africa, and Zambia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Business, Charismatic Animals, Commentary, Conservation, Crime, Elephants, Environment, Governance, Illegal Trade, Ivory, Mammals, Organized Crime, Poaching, Trade, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In early March 2026, acting on intelligence shared by my organization, the Environmental Investigation Agency UK, Zambian authorities seized a consignment of more than 500 kg (over 1,100 pounds) of ivory and arrested a suspect with long-standing links to regional ivory trafficking operations. One of the suspects involved in the case was convicted in 2019 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In early March 2026, acting on intelligence shared by my organization, the Environmental Investigation Agency UK, Zambian authorities seized a consignment of more than 500 kg (over 1,100 pounds) of ivory and arrested a suspect with long-standing links to regional ivory trafficking operations. One of the suspects involved in the case was convicted in 2019 for possession of more than 200 kg (almost 441 lbs) of ivory and was sentenced to five years in prison in 2020. He was released after a matter of months and has continued trading ivory ever since. So, Zambia, which has been exploited by criminal networks operating with relative impunity since at least 2002, is under the spotlight once again. Of particular concern is the involvement of Congolese criminal groups, which continue to operate across Zambia and the wider region, sourcing and moving wildlife products including elephant ivory, rhino horn, pangolin scales and big cats along complex transnational routes toward Asia, with Vietnam often serving as a key transit hub to other destinations. Exploiting the lack of political will, weak enforcement, corrupt officials and marginalized communities to facilitate their trade, these networks have been orchestrating poaching expeditions into neighboring countries, using Zambian intermediaries to supply their illicit trade chains. This recent interception in Zambia — alongside two other large-scale seizures made in Tanzania and Botswana in April and May respectively — brings the minimum total of ivory seized globally since 2023 to approximately 29 tons, nearly 64,000 pounds. That’s the equivalent of at least 4,000&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-ivory-follow-the-trafficking-networks-and-not-the-headlines-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-ivory-follow-the-trafficking-networks-and-not-the-headlines-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325640</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Report reveals Cambodia’s appetite for tigers, rhinos and other endangered wildlife</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/report-reveals-cambodias-appetite-for-tigers-rhinos-and-other-endangered-wildlife/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/report-reveals-cambodias-appetite-for-tigers-rhinos-and-other-endangered-wildlife/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jul 2026 13:02:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/20152557/tiger1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324051</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Cambodia, Global, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Drug Trade, Endangered Species, Environmental Law, Governance, Illegal Trade, Megafauna, Organized Crime, Poaching, Rhinos, Threatened species, Tigers, Trade, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Tiger bone wines in exquisite bottles. Tiger cubs sold alive as pets or served as a culinary delicacy alongside pangolin and cobra meat at exclusive restaurants. Rooms filled with rhino horns and elephant ivory, stacks of freshly skinned tiger pelts and bags of pangolin scales. Jewelry made from protected corals and ivory. This is just [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Tiger bone wines in exquisite bottles. Tiger cubs sold alive as pets or served as a culinary delicacy alongside pangolin and cobra meat at exclusive restaurants. Rooms filled with rhino horns and elephant ivory, stacks of freshly skinned tiger pelts and bags of pangolin scales. Jewelry made from protected corals and ivory. This is just a glimpse of the thriving illegal wildlife trade in Cambodia discovered by undercover investigators from Earth League International (ELI), a U.S.-based NGO that probes environmental crime. From 2025-26, ELI investigators mapped out the people involved in this illicit enterprise and identified five main kingpins allegedly running it. They gathered details on how cartels smuggle wildlife and their parts, what they sell and who their main customers are. They also linked this black-market trade with human and drug trafficking networks and scam centers operating out of Cambodia that defraud their targets. The investigators’ findings of this operation — named Sandokan after a fictional 19th-century pirate from Southeast Asia — are published in a new report. The yearlong investigation revealed a huge demand for wildlife products within Cambodia, fueled by wealthy Chinese and Cambodian buyers. An elephant tusk offered for sale to undercover investigators. Image courtesy of Earth League International. “It&#8217;s a trafficking enterprise, and a good example of what happens when you don&#8217;t do anything … they grow and grow and grow, and at the end, the damage is substantial,” said Andrea Crosta, executive director of ELI. “The big surprise was the incredible quantity of wildlife&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/report-reveals-cambodias-appetite-for-tigers-rhinos-and-other-endangered-wildlife/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/report-reveals-cambodias-appetite-for-tigers-rhinos-and-other-endangered-wildlife/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324051</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Laos’s illegal wildlife shops keep growing despite enforcement, investigators find</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/laoss-illegal-wildlife-shops-keep-growing-despite-enforcement-investigators-find/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/laoss-illegal-wildlife-shops-keep-growing-despite-enforcement-investigators-find/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 01:34:22 +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/20/2026/07/14121851/baby-pagolin-in-market-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323316</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, China, Laos, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bears, Biodiversity, Business, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Illegal Trade, Ivory, Law Enforcement, Monkeys, Organized Crime, Pangolins, Poaching, Rhinos, Tigers, Tourism, Trade, Traditional Chinese Medicine, trafficking, Wildlife, Wildlife consumption, Wildlife Rescues, Wildlife Trade, Wildlife Trafficking, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Schemes funneling Chinese tour groups through illegal wildlife shopping sites in Laos appear to be persisting and even expanding in spite of some law enforcement action by authorities, Mongabay has learned. In July 2025, a joint Mongabay investigation identified up to 21 illegal wildlife shopping sites embedded in package tours catering to Chinese [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Schemes funneling Chinese tour groups through illegal wildlife shopping sites in Laos appear to be persisting and even expanding in spite of some law enforcement action by authorities, Mongabay has learned. In July 2025, a joint Mongabay investigation identified up to 21 illegal wildlife shopping sites embedded in package tours catering to Chinese nationals in the Laotian cites of Luang Prabang and Vientiane. Typically masquerading as cultural centers, restaurants, jewelry stores and the like, or as stores embedded in such venues, the shopping sites typically only showcase their products to Chinese-language tours run by Chinese and Laotian operators, while barring entry to anyone else. Since then, the number of these shops appears to have nearly doubled, according to multiple groups investigating these operations on the ground. Mongabay has seen evidence suggesting that as many as 35 shops are now operating in Luang Prabang and Vientiane, with 22 in the former and the rest in the latter. When Mongabay asked the Laotian Department of Forestry about the first 21 shops in mid-2025, a spokesperson suggested that at least some of them were not registered as retail shops and that they would investigate. Since then, authorities have made seizures of suspected illegal wildlife products at several shopping sites in Vientiane and Luang Prabang, including of nearly 50 kilograms (110 pounds) during inspections of 17 unnamed locations In November and December, and of more than 57 kg (126 lbs) at an unnamed location on June 13, according to local media reports.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/laoss-illegal-wildlife-shops-keep-growing-despite-enforcement-investigators-find/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/laoss-illegal-wildlife-shops-keep-growing-despite-enforcement-investigators-find/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323316</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia driver sentenced over organized crime group trafficking live orangutan</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/indonesia-driver-sentenced-over-organized-crime-group-trafficking-live-orangutan/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/indonesia-driver-sentenced-over-organized-crime-group-trafficking-live-orangutan/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jun 2026 11:01:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Junaidi Hanafiah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/24104236/Satwa-yang-disita-oleh-tim-gabungan_Foto-Dokumen-Bea-Cukai-Langsa-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321753</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Aceh, Asia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Great Apes, Illegal Trade, Law, Law Enforcement, Orangutans, Organized Crime, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[EAST ACEH, Indonesia — A court in Indonesia has sentenced a man in Aceh to three years in prison after investigators stopped him while driving a truck transporting dozens of live animals, among them a live Sumatran orangutan and two critically endangered birds. A panel of three judges ruled on June 17 that 41-year-old Agussalim [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[EAST ACEH, Indonesia — A court in Indonesia has sentenced a man in Aceh to three years in prison after investigators stopped him while driving a truck transporting dozens of live animals, among them a live Sumatran orangutan and two critically endangered birds. A panel of three judges ruled on June 17 that 41-year-old Agussalim bin Abdul Hamib, a farmer from Sumatra’s Kuta Makmur subdistrict in the semiautonomous region of Aceh, accepted a job to deliver a consignment in a white Isuzu Traga, a common light commercial vehicle, on Jan. 30, 2026, in North Aceh district. “We very much appreciate this legal ruling — this is an important lesson for the perpetrators and the wider community to refrain from engaging in illegal activities,” said Dwi Harmawanto, head of the customs and excise office in Langsa city. The original indictment published by the district court listed 82 live animals recovered by customs officers. Civil society organizations said it was the largest wildlife crime case tried in Aceh in years. The seized consignment also contained four dead Moluccan parrots (Eclectus roratus), which are currently listed as least concern on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species owing to its wide distribution in eastern Indonesia. In addition, investigators found a large number of frozen horseshoe crabs, and some skulls of dead animals. Prosecutors successfully proved Agussalim helped load the truck at a meeting point in the village of Alue Bili in the subdistrict of Baktiya. They said he was aware the cargo of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/indonesia-driver-sentenced-over-organized-crime-group-trafficking-live-orangutan/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/indonesia-driver-sentenced-over-organized-crime-group-trafficking-live-orangutan/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321753</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>What’s at stake for the environment in Colombia’s upcoming election?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whats-at-stake-for-the-environment-in-colombias-upcoming-election/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whats-at-stake-for-the-environment-in-colombias-upcoming-election/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Jun 2026 15:55:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/06/21194943/colombia_1875-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321507</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity Hotspots, Conservation, Crime, Deforestation, Development, Drivers Of Deforestation, Ecosystems, Energy Transition, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forests, Governance, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Infrastructure, Land Conflict, Land Use Change, Organized Crime, Politics, Traditional People, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Colombia’s first round of presidential elections on May 31 saw right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella take the top spot with 43.7% of the vote, followed by left-wing candidate Iván Cepeda, with 40.9%. The future of the Colombian Amazon, the fossil fuel phaseout commitments made by current President Gustavo Petro and the rights of Indigenous [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Colombia’s first round of presidential elections on May 31 saw right-wing candidate Abelardo de la Espriella take the top spot with 43.7% of the vote, followed by left-wing candidate Iván Cepeda, with 40.9%. The future of the Colombian Amazon, the fossil fuel phaseout commitments made by current President Gustavo Petro and the rights of Indigenous peoples and other traditional communities are all at stake during the runoff on June 21. Colombia has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 51% by 2030 and has a legally binding net-zero target for 2050. Analysts at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) say Petro’s government made some progress, but deep reductions in emissions are critical, in particular from deforestation and agriculture, as well as reforms to phase out fossil fuel subsidies. As a result, who Colombia elects next will have major implications for the country’s climate ambitions. When Petro took office in 2022, he made the fossil fuel phaseout and environmental protection central features of his government’s agenda. He promised to become a leader in the defense of life, which involved transforming the country’s relationship with nature and “Total Peace” (Paz Total) — his administration’s flagship peace policy aimed to end Colombia’s decades-long armed conflict. Petro opposed new oil and gas exploration contracts and has been vocal about environmental justice and the energy transition at the international level, including at the United Nations General Assembly, the World Economic Forum in Davos and the United Nations Climate Change Conferences (COPs). In April,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whats-at-stake-for-the-environment-in-colombias-upcoming-election/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whats-at-stake-for-the-environment-in-colombias-upcoming-election/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321507</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Crime affects 32% of Amazon Indigenous areas, says study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/crime-affects-32-of-amazon-indigenous-areas-says-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/crime-affects-32-of-amazon-indigenous-areas-says-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 May 2026 13:00:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Yvette Sierra Praeli]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/11120818/Indigenous-communities-face-changes-to-their-ways-of-life-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319088</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Crime, Economics, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Logging, Mining, Organized Crime, Threats To Rainforests, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A report by advocacy group Amazon Watch highlights how deeply criminal activity and the militarized state responses that they’ve triggered have impacted Indigenous communities across much of the Amazon Rainforest. “The Amazon Under Siege: How Crime and Militarization Threaten Indigenous Peoples” looks at seven case studies in five countries: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and Venezuela. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A report by advocacy group Amazon Watch highlights how deeply criminal activity and the militarized state responses that they’ve triggered have impacted Indigenous communities across much of the Amazon Rainforest. “The Amazon Under Siege: How Crime and Militarization Threaten Indigenous Peoples” looks at seven case studies in five countries: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and Venezuela. It describes how illicit activities and state repression are transforming the ways of life and cultural habits of Indigenous peoples, as well as undermining their self-determination and collective rights. “Across the Amazon, activities such as illicit gold mining, drug trafficking, illegal logging, wildlife trafficking, fuel smuggling, and human trafficking increasingly operate as interconnected systems,” says the report, published in April. “These economies share routes, infrastructure, financing, and armed protection mechanisms, allowing criminal organizations to diversify income streams, reduce risks, and adapt rapidly to market fluctuations and government pressure.” Illegal mining destroys forests and affects Indigenous communities in the Amazon. Image courtesy of Amazon Watch. As a result of this spiral of violence, at least 296 environmental defenders have been killed in the Amazon since 2012, with Colombia and Brazil being the most dangerous nations for those who defend nature. The report says criminal networks already affect 67% of Amazonian municipalities and have subjected 32% of Indigenous territories to dispute among armed groups. The report also says that military-oriented state strategies and actions in response to organized crime have repeatedly failed. “The state’s response often makes things worse,” said co-author Raphael Hoetmer, director of the Western&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/crime-affects-32-of-amazon-indigenous-areas-says-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/crime-affects-32-of-amazon-indigenous-areas-says-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319088</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The Amazon&#8217;s silent crime crisis (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/the-amazons-silent-crime-crisis-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/the-amazons-silent-crime-crisis-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Apr 2026 17:59:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carlos NobreIlona SzaboRobert Muggah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/15175627/peru_aerial_0166-2560px-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317585</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Crime, Deforestation, Ecosystem Services, Environment, Forests, Gold Mining, Illegal Logging, Illegal Mining, Illegal Trade, Mining, Organized Crime, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Amazon is approaching a dangerous threshold. Long understood as the world&#8217;s largest tropical forest and a critical regulator of the global climate, its future is increasingly shaped by the convergence of organized crime and environmental crime. This nexus is accelerating deforestation and degradation, worsening fire risk, undermining governance, and weakening the economic foundations needed to sustain [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Amazon is approaching a dangerous threshold. Long understood as the world&#8217;s largest tropical forest and a critical regulator of the global climate, its future is increasingly shaped by the convergence of organized crime and environmental crime. This nexus is accelerating deforestation and degradation, worsening fire risk, undermining governance, and weakening the economic foundations needed to sustain the region. Approaching a tipping point For decades, debate over the Amazon has centered on land-use change driven by agricultural expansion and cattle ranching. These pressures remain decisive. The advance of soy cultivation and pasture continues to fragment forests and disrupt rainfall cycles. When deforestation and degradation interact with climate change and fire, many scientists warn that parts of the Amazon—especially in the eastern and southern basin—could move toward an irreversible transition to a far more degraded, savannah-like state. A widely cited body of research suggests that such a tipping dynamic may emerge when deforestation reaches roughly 20 to 25 percent in some parts of the basin, especially when compounded by rising temperatures, drought, and recurrent fire. About 14–17% of the Amazon has been cleared, depending on definition and geography. The broader scientific message is clear: continued forest loss and degradation sharply increase the likelihood of large-scale ecological disruption. Many scientists warn that parts of the Amazon, especially the eastern and southern basin, are approaching dangerous thresholds once deforestation, degradation, fire and warming are considered together. Large-scale degraded areas scorched by fires, stripped by logging and desiccated by drought add a further layer of fragility that headline deforestation figures do not fully capture.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/the-amazons-silent-crime-crisis-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317585</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Asia now hub of growing illegal wildlife trade across 100+ countries, study shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/asia-now-hub-of-growing-illegal-wildlife-trade-across-100-countries-study-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/asia-now-hub-of-growing-illegal-wildlife-trade-across-100-countries-study-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Mar 2026 17:28:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/30124127/Chinese-Pangolin-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316529</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Europe, and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Elephants, Environment, Environmental Law, Illegal Trade, Organized Crime, Pangolins, Poaching, Rhinos, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Wildlife trade is decimating the planet’s biodiversity, driving declines in more than 31,500 wild species and spreading infectious zoonotic diseases that jump between wildlife, livestock and humans. In addition to massive legal, regulated trade, there’s widespread illicit trafficking in both live animals and high-demand, profitable animal products, a commerce worth at least $20 billion per [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Wildlife trade is decimating the planet’s biodiversity, driving declines in more than 31,500 wild species and spreading infectious zoonotic diseases that jump between wildlife, livestock and humans. In addition to massive legal, regulated trade, there’s widespread illicit trafficking in both live animals and high-demand, profitable animal products, a commerce worth at least $20 billion per year. Dubbed “one of the world’s largest criminal activities,” wildlife ranks among the most lucrative smuggled goods, a list that includes guns, drugs and humans — but with way lower risks. Yet, there’s patchy data on how this trade has grown over the years; what species are trafficked; and where the hotspots are. What we do know comes from law enforcement seizures, which are often just the tip of the iceberg. “Much of what we know about [illegal wildlife trade] is based on static estimates, isolated case studies or regional snapshots, rather than long-term, system-level analyses,” said researcher Tow Jia Hao at the National University of Singapore. “[It] is a difficult picture to piece together and tackle, especially with much of the pieces still being hidden.” To fill the knowledge gaps, Hao and his colleagues analyzed data on illegal wildlife trade from the last two decades (2000 – 2019), and compared it with legal trade data. They gathered seizure data from TRAFFIC’s Wildlife Trade Portal and collected information on permitted wildlife trade from the CITES legal trade database, which records all legitimate commerce in species listed under a global wildlife treaty, CITES. They mapped out&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/asia-now-hub-of-growing-illegal-wildlife-trade-across-100-countries-study-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316529</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A decade after the death of Berta Cáceres, we can no longer tolerate threats to environmental activists (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/a-decade-after-the-death-of-berta-caceres-we-can-no-longer-tolerate-threats-to-environmental-activists-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/a-decade-after-the-death-of-berta-caceres-we-can-no-longer-tolerate-threats-to-environmental-activists-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Mar 2026 14:43:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Michael Sutton]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/06/28101014/8_0314-honoring-river-defenders-brazils-munduruku-people-AmazoWatch-copy-e1773674548672-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315779</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Global, Honduras, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Commentary, Conflict, Crime, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Environmental Heroes, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Organized Crime, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Environmental activist Berta Cáceres won the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2015 for successfully halting the Agua Zarca project, a massive hydropower development along the Gualcarque River in her native Honduras. On March 3, 2016, 10 years ago this month, gunmen hired by executives of the company building the dam assassinated her for her activism. Since [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Environmental activist Berta Cáceres won the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2015 for successfully halting the Agua Zarca project, a massive hydropower development along the Gualcarque River in her native Honduras. On March 3, 2016, 10 years ago this month, gunmen hired by executives of the company building the dam assassinated her for her activism. Since then, Berta has become a global symbol of courage and sacrifice in the face of greed and violence. Her legacy is powerful, but her martyrdom for simply protecting her community is unacceptable. In January, an independent group of experts appointed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights released a comprehensive report on the assassination. They found that Berta’s murder was the result of a coordinated criminal operation to defeat opposition to the Agua Zarca project. Worse, international development funds intended for the hydroelectric project were diverted to the purchase of Indigenous land, surveillance, armed incursions, and Berta’s murder. Berta’s assassination is not an isolated case. Many environmental defenders’ stories resemble David vs. Goliath, as they frequently tangle with powerful, well-funded industries and governments — and the webs of corruption that sometimes link them. According to Global Witness, 2,253 environmental activists have been killed worldwide since 2012, and many more have been victimized. In September 2025, Global Witness reported that at least 146 land and environmental defenders were killed or disappeared in 2024, with a plurality in Latin America. According to the World Economic Forum, at least 175 park rangers were killed in the line of duty across 41 countries in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/a-decade-after-the-death-of-berta-caceres-we-can-no-longer-tolerate-threats-to-environmental-activists-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/a-decade-after-the-death-of-berta-caceres-we-can-no-longer-tolerate-threats-to-environmental-activists-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315779</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Colombia poised for another drop in deforestation in 2025, data show</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/colombia-poised-for-another-drop-in-deforestation-in-2025-data-show/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/colombia-poised-for-another-drop-in-deforestation-in-2025-data-show/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jan 2026 19:58:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/15211439/AP25339572345149-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313048</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forests, Logging, Mining, Organized Crime, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation in Colombia appears to have declined in 2025, with notable reductions in several departments that have historically struggled with forest loss. An estimated 36,280 hectares (89,650 acres) of forest were lost during the first three quarters of the year, a 25% drop from the 48,500 hectares (about 119,850 acres) recorded over the same period [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation in Colombia appears to have declined in 2025, with notable reductions in several departments that have historically struggled with forest loss. An estimated 36,280 hectares (89,650 acres) of forest were lost during the first three quarters of the year, a 25% drop from the 48,500 hectares (about 119,850 acres) recorded over the same period in 2024, according to the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM), a government agency. The figures only account for January to September, as data for the final quarter of the year are still being processed. Officials celebrated the results while stressing the need to continue improving forest conservation strategies. “The sustained reduction of deforestation in the Amazon is the result of collaboration between the national government and communities, through ecological restoration actions, voluntary conservation agreements, strengthening of sustainable production chains and forest management,” the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development said in a December statement. Colombia has around 60 million hectares (148 million acres) of forest cover, representing more than half of its total land area. This includes the Amazon Rainforest and savanna ecosystems like the Orinoquía. For decades, the country has struggled to slow the spread of cattle ranching and agriculture as well as illicit crops like coca, the primary ingredient in cocaine. In 2025, many of the worst-hit departments also saw the largest drops in forest loss, signaling progress in addressing some of these long-standing drivers. “When the figures are low, we should take advantage and strengthen actions to reduce threats,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/colombia-poised-for-another-drop-in-deforestation-in-2025-data-show/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313048</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Environmental crime prevention is moving into the diplomatic mainstream (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/environmental-crime-prevention-is-moving-into-the-diplomatic-mainstream-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/environmental-crime-prevention-is-moving-into-the-diplomatic-mainstream-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jan 2026 19:25:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Robert Muggah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/09032707/Preah-Roka_Mongabay_Andy-Ball-12-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312766</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Law, Law Enforcement, and Organized Crime]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Environmental crime used to be treated as a niche concern, a worry for park rangers, customs officers and a handful of conservation lawyers. Not anymore. From Vienna to Belém, a once technical debate about “crimes that affect the environment” is edging closer to the mainstream of multilateral diplomacy, and, more importantly, beginning to reshape enforcement and action [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Environmental crime used to be treated as a niche concern, a worry for park rangers, customs officers and a handful of conservation lawyers. Not anymore. From Vienna to Belém, a once technical debate about “crimes that affect the environment” is edging closer to the mainstream of multilateral diplomacy, and, more importantly, beginning to reshape enforcement and action on the ground. Environmental crime is a catch-all term for illegal activities that harm nature and the people who depend on it. It covers illegal land grabbing and logging, illicit mining, illegal fishing, wildlife trafficking, and the dumping of toxic waste. Increasingly, it also encompasses newer frontiers such as illegal sand extraction, fraudulent “green” or carbon projects, infiltration of biofuel supply chains, and exploitation of critical minerals and rare earths. From the Amazon to the Congo Basin and Southeast Asia, environmental crimes are anything but minor or opportunistic. They operate at industrial scale, generating hundreds of billions, perhaps trillions, of dollars annually, embedded in complex global supply chains and financial systems. These crimes are often tightly intertwined with other serious offenses including drug trafficking, extortion, corruption and money laundering, and are often enforced through violence and intimidation against Indigenous and local communities, environmental defenders and journalists. A large illegal gold mine in Aceh, Indonesia. Image by Junaidi Hanafiah/Mongabay Indonesia. Environmental crime is also getting worse. Even as governments and international organizations have strengthened laws and enforcement over the past decade, these illicit markets are expanding, not shrinking. The reasons are depressingly familiar. On the one hand, profits are high: gold is trading&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/environmental-crime-prevention-is-moving-into-the-diplomatic-mainstream-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-312766</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mercury, dredges and crime: Illegal mining ravages Peru’s Nanay River</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/mercury-dredges-and-crime-illegal-mining-ravages-perus-nanay-river/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/mercury-dredges-and-crime-illegal-mining-ravages-perus-nanay-river/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Dec 2025 14:37:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Enrique Vera]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/31143542/FOTO-ABRE-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312419</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Crime, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Gold Mining, Illegal Mining, Mercury, Mining, Organized Crime, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Rivers, Threats To Rainforests, Tropics, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On a small airplane, José Manuyama, a professor, frowns and shakes his head with anguish while  thousands of feet below, five dredges operated by illegal miners excavate the Nanay River Basin, in the Loreto region in the Peruvian Amazon. “They are like enormous leeches in the water,” said Manuyama. The plane has begun its second [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On a small airplane, José Manuyama, a professor, frowns and shakes his head with anguish while  thousands of feet below, five dredges operated by illegal miners excavate the Nanay River Basin, in the Loreto region in the Peruvian Amazon. “They are like enormous leeches in the water,” said Manuyama. The plane has begun its second hour of the flyover above the Nanay River and, so far, the people on board have seen about 40 dredges. The Nanay is surrounded by shiny riverbanks with an ochre hue, a result of the mercury used by the illegal miners to separate gold particles from other sediments. River mining is prohibited by Peruvian law. For Manuyama, the president of the Committee for the Defense of the Water of Iquitos, the situation is very disheartening. He says that seven years ago, the Nanay was a clear river, but the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic brought an increase in the mining rafts that have now given the river a milky appearance. Manuyama, a member of the Kukama community, is a social studies professor and is one of the 15 people on the plane, which is now flying over the Napo River. From the air, the orange pipes coming out of four dredges resemble the tentacles of a gigantic animal drilling into the river basin and disturbing the edge of the forest. Along with Manuyama are the prosecutor from the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office in Environmental Matters of Loreto (FEMA Loreto), Bratzon Saboya, and the coordinator of the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/mercury-dredges-and-crime-illegal-mining-ravages-perus-nanay-river/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/mercury-dredges-and-crime-illegal-mining-ravages-perus-nanay-river/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312419</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In the Amazon, lack of transparency and corruption undermine the environment</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/in-the-amazon-lack-of-transparency-and-corruption-undermine-the-environment/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/in-the-amazon-lack-of-transparency-and-corruption-undermine-the-environment/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Dec 2025 11:00:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Timothy J. Killeen]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mayra]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/16040940/PORTADA-BRASIL-Beyond-Fire_Mining_04_DSC_2834-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311448</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Perfect Storm in the Amazon]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Corruption, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Governance, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Law, Law Enforcement, Organized Crime, Politics, Rainforests, Timber, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Brazil’s Ministério Público Federal has demonstrated how an ambitious corps of prosecutors can foster compliance with environmental laws. After charges are filed and indictments served, however, the forum for law enforcement shifts to the courtroom, which in the jurisdictions of the Pan Amazon usually translates into inaction and impunity. Failure to enforce environmental law in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Brazil’s Ministério Público Federal has demonstrated how an ambitious corps of prosecutors can foster compliance with environmental laws. After charges are filed and indictments served, however, the forum for law enforcement shifts to the courtroom, which in the jurisdictions of the Pan Amazon usually translates into inaction and impunity. Failure to enforce environmental law in the courts is part of a larger problem of political corruption and judicial dysfunction. Just as illegal loggers and land grabbers rarely see the inside of a jail, individuals guilty of bribery, embezzlement and money laundering also largely escape punishment. Success in fighting environmental crime depends on a society’s ability to isolate its judicial system from political corruption. Fighting corruption in the judicial system and enforcing environmental laws go hand in hand. Corruption takes many forms, but in the overwhelming number of acts of political corruption that infect government, it is usually a crime of commission, where the guilty parties proactively offer or solicit bribes or kickbacks, or engage in money laundering. This type of malfeasance occurs within the judicial system, but there is a more insidious form of corruption that contaminates the criminal justice system. The failure to act when its officers are legally obligated to do so is a crime of omission; sometimes referred to as ‘wilful blindness’, it describes the behavior of prosecutors who abuse their ‘power of discretion’ to bring charges – or not. For judges, it might be their ability to delay a case until the statute of limitations terminates&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/in-the-amazon-lack-of-transparency-and-corruption-undermine-the-environment/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311448</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The rise of anti-corruption prosecutors in the Amazon region</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/the-rise-of-anti-corruption-prosecutors-in-the-amazon-region/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/the-rise-of-anti-corruption-prosecutors-in-the-amazon-region/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Oct 2025 11:00:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Timothy J. Killeen]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mayra]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/23235157/WhatsApp-Image-2020-05-20-at-17.20.23-2-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308243</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Perfect Storm in the Amazon]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, South America, and Venezuela]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Corruption, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Law Enforcement, Organized Crime, Politics, Rainforests, Social Justice, and Threats To Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Prosecutors are lawyers employed by the state to investigate crimes and initiate judicial proceedings. Ensuring their integrity and competence is essential to judicial reform and the application of environmental law. In Brazil, allegations of political corruption by public servants are reviewed by the 5ª Câmara de Coordenação e Revisão (Combate à Corrupção) and, if warranted, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Prosecutors are lawyers employed by the state to investigate crimes and initiate judicial proceedings. Ensuring their integrity and competence is essential to judicial reform and the application of environmental law. In Brazil, allegations of political corruption by public servants are reviewed by the 5ª Câmara de Coordenação e Revisão (Combate à Corrupção) and, if warranted, referred to a regional office for prosecution. For example, the anti-corruption specialists in Curitiba (4th Region) were instrumental in uncovering the perfidy of the Lava Jato bribery and money laundering network. Although media attention focused on the presiding judge (Sergio Moro), the investigations were conducted by a dedicated team of prosecutors who relentlessly accumulated evidence against some of the most powerful individuals in Brazil. One of the shark seizures carried out by the Tumbes Prosecutor&#8217;s Office in Peru. Image courtesy of Oceana. The impact of Brazil’s anti-corruption campaign is reflected by the number of criminal cases reviewed by the 5ª Câmara, which rose from 2,500 per year in 2002 to more than 15,000 annually in 2019. Very few, however, are referred for a trial: approximately 90% of the criminal complaints reviewed in the twenty-plus years of existence of the 5ª Câmara have been dismissed for technical reasons, most commonly for lack of evidence. The lack of aggressive prosecution is also characteristic of their internal affairs unit (Corregedoria Nacional of the Conselho Nacional do Ministério Público), which recommended that 89% (940 out of 1,078) of the complaints filed against procuradores should be dismissed. The decision not&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/the-rise-of-anti-corruption-prosecutors-in-the-amazon-region/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308243</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Amid Venezuela’s illegal gold heist are armed groups, gangs &#038; elites, report says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/amid-venezuelas-illegal-gold-heist-are-armed-groups-gangs-elites-report-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/amid-venezuelas-illegal-gold-heist-are-armed-groups-gangs-elites-report-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2025 14:57:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/02133441/AP23136547644568-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=306973</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Land rights and extractives]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, and Venezuela]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Crime, Environment, Gold Mining, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Mercury, Organized Crime, Rainforest Destruction, and Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[According to a new report, most of Venezuela’s gold is smuggled and laundered internationally through shell companies and opaque supply chains, including to the U.S. The operations are often controlled by military elites, guerrilla groups and transnational gangs, which exploit several loopholes and gaps in the U.S. financial and trade systems, the report by the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[According to a new report, most of Venezuela’s gold is smuggled and laundered internationally through shell companies and opaque supply chains, including to the U.S. The operations are often controlled by military elites, guerrilla groups and transnational gangs, which exploit several loopholes and gaps in the U.S. financial and trade systems, the report by the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition says. The impact on Amazon forests, water and Indigenous communities is “devastating,” the authors write. They suggest several policy changes in the U.S. to prevent the transfer of illegal gold into the country, such as tightening oversight, closing legal loopholes and restoring domestic enforcement capacity, which has been dramatically reduced over the years due to the prioritization of resources to curb narcotics trafficking. The current U.S. government&#8217;s approach to drugs and gangs from Venezuela, which included strikes on alleged drug boats, is one they say shouldn&#8217;t be replicated for illegal gold as it &#8220;isn&#8217;t working&#8221; and the costs &#8220;are considerable.&#8221; “A militaristic, hardline U.S. response to illegal gold mining in the region would be both unwise and ineffective,” Julia Yansura, the FACT Coalition’s program director for environmental crime and illicit finance and co-author of the report, told Mongabay via email. “First off, many of our allies in the region have already tried this, sending in troops for rapid, military style &#8216;strikes&#8217; against illegal mining sites. &#8220;What we are urging the U.S. to do is to employ new tools from the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing toolbox. By cutting&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/amid-venezuelas-illegal-gold-heist-are-armed-groups-gangs-elites-report-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-306973</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Controlling wildlife crime saves more than species (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/controlling-wildlife-crime-saves-more-than-species-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/controlling-wildlife-crime-saves-more-than-species-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2025 19:11:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kumar Paudel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/13152750/Trenggiling_Sunda_Sunda_Pangolin_Manis_javanica-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305754</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Commentary, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Illegal Trade, Organized Crime, Poaching, Trade, trafficking, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Despite concerted efforts to control illegal wildlife trafficking globally, more than 13 million items of wildlife parts were seized and reported in 162 countries in just the last seven years, according to the World Wildlife Crime Report 2024 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). These wildlife parts came from more than [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Despite concerted efforts to control illegal wildlife trafficking globally, more than 13 million items of wildlife parts were seized and reported in 162 countries in just the last seven years, according to the World Wildlife Crime Report 2024 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). These wildlife parts came from more than 4,000 species, of which at least 3,250 are CITES-listed. However, the reported seizures reflect only a fraction of the true scale of illegal wildlife trade, as developed countries have better detection and reporting mechanisms, but many countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia, which are biodiversity hotspots and significant sources of trafficked wildlife, do not have adequate capacity and resources to detect, record and report seizures. Worryingly, the real picture is vastly different from what is captured when it comes to the full extent of wildlife crime. There is no doubt that uncontrolled and unsustainable wildlife exploitation damages ecosystems and biodiversity, but the continued prevalence of such crime goes far beyond impacting wildlife species&#8217; survival. It also jeopardizes local communities&#8217; well-being and livelihood, breaks down law and order in society, compromises people’s safety and security, and promotes overall corruption, especially as funding cuts loom large and budget allocations for conservation continue dwindling, even as the scale of nature exploitation shows few signs of decline. Hence, it is important to see wildlife crime as more than a conservation problem, and understand how controlling it has other significant benefits for society, and in maintaining law and order.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/controlling-wildlife-crime-saves-more-than-species-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-305754</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mexico’s rising mercury trade fuels toxic gold mining in Latin America: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/mexicos-rising-mercury-trade-fuels-toxic-gold-mining-in-latin-america-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/mexicos-rising-mercury-trade-fuels-toxic-gold-mining-in-latin-america-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jul 2025 17:07:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/30170037/AP110519174590-1-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=303440</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Bolivia, Colombia, Latin America, Mexico, North America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forests, Gold Mining, Governance, Illegal Mining, Illegal Trade, Law, Law Enforcement, Mercury, Mining, Organized Crime, Politics, Pollution, Protected Areas, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MEXICO CITY — In 2017, as part of an international treaty, Mexico started phasing down mercury production and eliminating its use in gold mining, citing major environmental and public health hazards. The effort appeared to work: Between 2017 and 2018, the government reported that national mercury production had dropped from 442 metric tons to just [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MEXICO CITY — In 2017, as part of an international treaty, Mexico started phasing down mercury production and eliminating its use in gold mining, citing major environmental and public health hazards. The effort appeared to work: Between 2017 and 2018, the government reported that national mercury production had dropped from 442 metric tons to just half a metric ton. Over the following three years, it reportedly dropped to zero. But for some environmental groups, those numbers looked too good to be true. The government wasn’t reporting mercury smuggling during those years, they said, and had even left several key sections of its progress reports blank. Ultimately, the government would have to issue a correction to some official figures, clarifying that mercury was still being produced in the country. Today, mercury production persists in several states across Mexico, including in protected areas, and has turned the country into one of the main suppliers for the mercury used in gold mines across Latin America. “Mercury mining production is spinning out of control, with bursts of activity driven by mercury prices, increased violence and an alleged recent takeover of productive mines by a drug cartel,” the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) said in a recent report. Peruvian jungle devastated by wild cat gold miners in Madre de Dios, Peru. (Guadalupe Pardo/Pool Photo via AP) Mercury is considered one of the top 10 chemicals of major public health concern by the World Health Organization. Once released into an ecosystem, it can pollute soils and streams&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/mexicos-rising-mercury-trade-fuels-toxic-gold-mining-in-latin-america-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-303440</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Large-scale illegal wildlife shops in Laos found scamming Chinese tourists</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/large-scale-illegal-wildlife-shops-in-laos-found-scamming-chinese-tourists/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/large-scale-illegal-wildlife-shops-in-laos-found-scamming-chinese-tourists/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Jul 2025 08:00:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/21121045/AP760576283416-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=302848</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, China, Laos, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Consumption, Crime, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Illegal Trade, Ivory, Law, Law Enforcement, Mongabay investigation, Organized Crime, Poaching, Tourism, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Traditional Medicine, Wildlife, Wildlife consumption, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LUANG PRABANG, Laos — “No coffee, no coffee,” repeated the security guard. His smile stood in stark contrast to his faded camouflage fatigues and the machine gun slung over his shoulder. Few cafés in the sleepy Laotian tourist town of Luang Prabang boast armed guards, but Kin Liao Coffee is not the average café. While [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LUANG PRABANG, Laos — “No coffee, no coffee,” repeated the security guard. His smile stood in stark contrast to his faded camouflage fatigues and the machine gun slung over his shoulder. Few cafés in the sleepy Laotian tourist town of Luang Prabang boast armed guards, but Kin Liao Coffee is not the average café. While it’s unclear if Kin Liao Coffee actually serves coffee, the café situated on the side of the road near the Kuang Si waterfall has been found to illegally sell a wide array of ivory, rhino horn and bear bile products, as well as Angong Niuhuang Wan — a traditional Chinese medicine that is often manufactured in North Korea using powdered rhino horn. Kin Liao Coffee is just one of more than 20 locations across Luang Prabang and the Laotian capital of Vientiane identified in a joint investigation between Mongabay and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) as selling illegal wildlife products at scale. These shops appear to exclusively cater to Chinese tourists, specifically those visiting Laos on pre-arranged low-budget package tours. The tours target elderly Chinese nationals, promising them all-inclusive trips to explore the historic ties between the two countries, often via the China-Laos railway. Upon arrival, tour groups are ferried from one shop to another, where sellers — mostly Chinese nationals themselves — use coercive and manipulative sales tactics to pressure tourists into buying illegal wildlife products, most of which are sold at inflated prices, the investigation found. Large ivory carvings, some&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/large-scale-illegal-wildlife-shops-in-laos-found-scamming-chinese-tourists/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/large-scale-illegal-wildlife-shops-in-laos-found-scamming-chinese-tourists/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-302848</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Community patrols can slash environmental crime by 80% (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/community-patrols-can-slash-environmental-crime-by-80-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/community-patrols-can-slash-environmental-crime-by-80-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jul 2025 17:09:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Caetano Franco]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/21162232/1620px-Reserva_Sustentavel_Mamiraua_ThiagoALacerda_09-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=302889</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Commentary, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Forests, Governance, Illegal Fishing, Illegal Logging, Illegal Mining, Illegal Trade, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Law Enforcement, Organized Crime, Poaching, Protected Areas, Research, timber trade, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, local communities are leading the charge against environmental crime — and they’re succeeding. Our new peer-reviewed study published in Conservation Biology has found that community-led patrols reduced illegal activities such as unregulated fishing, hunting and logging by up to 80% in two vast protected areas, even in the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, local communities are leading the charge against environmental crime — and they’re succeeding. Our new peer-reviewed study published in Conservation Biology has found that community-led patrols reduced illegal activities such as unregulated fishing, hunting and logging by up to 80% in two vast protected areas, even in the near-total absence of formal government enforcement. These findings come from a decade-long analysis of the Voluntary Environmental Agents (VEA) Program, a community-based monitoring initiative in the Mamirauá and Amanã sustainable development reserves in Brazil’s Amazonas state. From 2003 to 2013, more than 200 trained residents carried out nearly 20,000 patrols, totaling around 150,000 hours of activity. When communities are equipped with training, resources and institutional support, they can become powerful guardians of biodiversity. Local participation in environmental protection offers a scalable and cost-effective approach that not only enhances rule enforcement but also strengthens social legitimacy and long-term compliance — especially in remote or underresourced regions. A community patroller in the region studied. Image courtesy of Bruno Kelly/Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá. Patrolling with purpose The study tracked illegal activities across 12 community-managed territories within the two reserves. VEAs, often mobilized through community alerts, responded to environmental infractions including poaching of pirarucu (Arapaima gigas), the world’s largest scaled freshwater fish, and the use of banned fishing gear. Crime detection was higher during informant-led patrols and increased with the number of patrollers and time spent in the field. But what stood out was the overall downward trend:&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/community-patrols-can-slash-environmental-crime-by-80-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-302889</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How drug cartels destroy the last habitat of Mexico&#8217;s thick-billed parrot (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/how-cartels-destroy-the-last-habitat-of-mexicos-thick-billed-parrot-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/how-cartels-destroy-the-last-habitat-of-mexicos-thick-billed-parrot-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2025 15:46:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andrew-James Anthony]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/16120842/thick-billed-parrots-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=302325</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Mexico and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Commentary, Conservation, Crime, Endangered Species, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Illegal Logging, Illegal Trade, Organized Crime, Parrots, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[While supporting conservation research in Mexico’s Sierra Madre Occidental with teams from the U.S.-based Columbia University and San Diego Zoo Global, I assisted in work involving the endangered thick-billed parrot. That experience — observing their habitat and the threats it faces — made clear how severely environmental crime and weak governance are driving biodiversity loss. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[While supporting conservation research in Mexico’s Sierra Madre Occidental with teams from the U.S.-based Columbia University and San Diego Zoo Global, I assisted in work involving the endangered thick-billed parrot. That experience — observing their habitat and the threats it faces — made clear how severely environmental crime and weak governance are driving biodiversity loss. This commentary is grounded in those insights and calls for urgent global attention. Once, the raucous calls of the thick-billed parrot (Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha) ricocheted through Mexico’s pine forests. Now, the silence is deafening. This striking green-and-red bird, once numbering in the tens of thousands, clings to existence with as few as 840 individuals left. But its disappearance signals a larger crisis: its forest home is vanishing. Cartel-led illegal logging accelerates deforestation, stripping Mexico of its last old-growth forest strongholds. Those who resist face violence, even death. Parrot on the brink, forest falling silent One of the last high-altitude parrots, this species depends on old-growth pines for food, nesting and shelter. Its population has plummeted so dramatically, it is now endangered, with extinction likely within a decade if conservation fails. The decline of the imperial woodpecker (Campephilus imperialis), possibly extinct, has worsened the crisis: without this keystone species to create nesting cavities, the parrots struggle to reproduce. But the parrot’s decline signals something larger. The Sierra Madre Occidental, a biodiversity hotspot home to black bears (Ursus americanus), jaguars (Panthera onca) and endemic species, is unravelling. Parrots disperse seeds, aiding forest regeneration. Without them, tree populations decline,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/how-cartels-destroy-the-last-habitat-of-mexicos-thick-billed-parrot-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-302325</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Organized crime &#038; gold trade are increasingly connected, report shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/organized-crime-gold-trade-are-increasingly-connected-report-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/organized-crime-gold-trade-are-increasingly-connected-report-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Jun 2025 18:03:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda Wenzel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/23143606/Adobe-Express-file-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301229</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Crime, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Gold Mining, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Mining, Organized Crime, Politics, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Latin American cartels once were masters of the drug trade, but spikes in prices led them into controlling a new venture. ]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The gold business has become more and more attractive for criminal organizations, as shown by a report published in late May by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Behind this trend is the rise in gold prices and the metal&#8217;s suitability for money laundering, thanks to its high value, ease of transport and the facility of selling it quickly in many parts of the world. Gold prices have been on the rise since the 2008 financial crisis. An ounce, sold for around $700 at the time, reached $1,900 in 2020 as investors turned to more reliable assets. In 2025, Donald Trump&#8217;s trade war, the Russia invasion in Ukraine and the war in Palestine have led to new price records, reaching $3,500 — a 500% spike since 2008. Another explanation is &#8220;the perceived lower risk in the gold mining sector compared to other illegal activities like drug trafficking,&#8221; Claudia Carpanese, from the UNODC&#8217;s Research and Trend Analysis Branch, told Mongabay in a video call. The report examined the world&#8217;s leading gold suppliers in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Southeast Asia. It concluded that &#8220;organized crime groups have embedded themselves in gold supply chains to such an extent that they now pose a serious global threat.&#8221; The document also stated that organizations with roots in drug trafficking in Latin America &#8220;have used established smuggling routes and infrastructure to expand into illegal gold mining,&#8221; using gold revenues to reinvest into other criminal operations. Specifically in the Amazon,where gold&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/organized-crime-gold-trade-are-increasingly-connected-report-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301229</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Panama boosts protections in the Darién Gap, but deforestation threats still loom</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/panama-boosts-protections-in-the-darien-gap-but-deforestation-threats-still-loom/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/panama-boosts-protections-in-the-darien-gap-but-deforestation-threats-still-loom/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jun 2025 21:59:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/01150303/AP24270727639176-768x487.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301089</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Panama]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Cattle, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forests, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Infrastructure, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Logging, Organized Crime, Politics, Pollution, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Ranching, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[METETÍ, Panama — Thousands of people used to cross the Darién Gap every day. Emerging from the rainforest, they would stop in small towns across southern Panama, where migrant reception centers provided food, water and medical treatment, before the long journey to the U.S. But last year, the government shut down several crossing routes, leaving [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[METETÍ, Panama — Thousands of people used to cross the Darién Gap every day. Emerging from the rainforest, they would stop in small towns across southern Panama, where migrant reception centers provided food, water and medical treatment, before the long journey to the U.S. But last year, the government shut down several crossing routes, leaving many of these small towns quieter than they have been in years. The government’s crackdown on migration is part of a broader effort to regain control over Darién, a remote province where the rugged, nearly impenetrable jungle provides cover not only for migrants but also drug traffickers, illegal loggers, miners and cattle ranchers. The effort, which began when President José Mulino took office last July, has seen increased funding, a wave of new hires in protected areas, tighter oversight, and more public comments from officials about the importance of conservation. The new policies could help curb deforestation, reduce pollution and protect threatened species in one of Central America’s largest rainforests — even as officials disagree over where to focus their efforts. “We’re aware that if we don’t conserve, we’ll affect this generation and the next, and that’s why we are concerned about what we have to do,” said Pablo Guainora, the general administrator of the Emberá-Wounaan comarca, or Indigenous territory, which borders Darién province. New personnel, better enforcement The Darién Gap straddles Panama’s border with Colombia, and is made up of a series of Indigenous territories, protected areas, and public and private lands, and only a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/panama-boosts-protections-in-the-darien-gap-but-deforestation-threats-still-loom/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301089</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Glass eel smuggling booms despite bans, leaving species on the brink</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/glass-eel-smuggling-booms-despite-bans-leaving-species-on-the-brink/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/glass-eel-smuggling-booms-despite-bans-leaving-species-on-the-brink/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jun 2025 12:23:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/12/01092012/glass_eels_rocks-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301183</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Illegal Wildlife Trade]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[East Asia, Europe, and European Union]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquaculture, Biodiversity, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Food, Food Industry, Freshwater, Illegal Fishing, Illegal Trade, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Organized Crime, Overfishing, Wildlife, Wildlife consumption, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Tiny, translucent and no longer than a finger, juvenile European eels, also known as glass eels, might not look like much. But demand for these slippery creatures, particularly in East Asia, has made them one of the world’s most trafficked animals, driving the species to the edge of extinction. A new 2025 Europol serious and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Tiny, translucent and no longer than a finger, juvenile European eels, also known as glass eels, might not look like much. But demand for these slippery creatures, particularly in East Asia, has made them one of the world’s most trafficked animals, driving the species to the edge of extinction. A new 2025 Europol serious and organized crime threat assessment estimates that illegal glass eel trafficking has generated up to 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) during peak years, placing it among the most lucrative wildlife crimes globally. A separate 2025 report by wildlife trade watchdog TRAFFIC confirms the scale: EU authorities seized more than 1 million live eels in nearly 5,200 cases in 2023. Their destination? Aquaculture farms in China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong, where they’re raised to maturity and sold, often ending up grilled at high-end restaurants as unagi, a prized Japanese delicacy. A decades-old trade still booming The illegal trade in European eels (Anguilla anguilla) isn’t new; it began surging in the 1990s, when Japan’s native eel stocks began to collapse. To fill the gap, East Asian farms turned to importing wild-caught European eels. Unlike sturgeon, which can be bred in captivity to produce caviar, European eels can’t be commercially bred; according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, adult eels have never been successfully bred in captivity. That leaves farms entirely dependent on wild-caught juveniles, making glass eels a high-value commodity. Despite being listed under Appendix II of CITES, the international wildlife trade convention,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/glass-eel-smuggling-booms-despite-bans-leaving-species-on-the-brink/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301183</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>High-profile wildlife trafficking case tests Malawi’s conservation commitment</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/high-profile-wildlife-trafficking-case-tests-malawis-conservation-commitment/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/high-profile-wildlife-trafficking-case-tests-malawis-conservation-commitment/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jun 2025 11:23:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Madalitso Wills Kateta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/10111513/pangolin-africa-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300485</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Malawi]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Illegal Trade, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Organized Crime, Pangolins, Poaching, Rhinos, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LILONGWE — In 2021, Malawian authorities found Lin Yunhua and 14 other members of an international trafficking syndicate in possession of pangolin scales, rhino horns, and elephant and hippo ivory. Lin, a Chinese national, was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Since his sentencing, Lin has been linked with several corrupt efforts to avoid the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LILONGWE — In 2021, Malawian authorities found Lin Yunhua and 14 other members of an international trafficking syndicate in possession of pangolin scales, rhino horns, and elephant and hippo ivory. Lin, a Chinese national, was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Since his sentencing, Lin has been linked with several corrupt efforts to avoid the full consequences of his sentencing — seemingly even obtaining a pardon — but the Southern African country’s criminal justice system has held firm, a sign of the successful strengthening of wildlife law enforcement. A 2015 report written for Malawi’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife of Malawi described the country’s position as a transit hub for trafficking, and the 2021 arrests and successful prosecution of traffickers was welcomed by civil society. “We’re very pleased to see this notorious wildlife crime kingpin finally face the music with a stiff sentence of 14 years in prison and trust that it sends a crystal-clear message to other wildlife criminals plundering Africa’s natural resources that they are not beyond the reach of the law,” Mary Rice, executive director of the U.K.-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), said in a press release at the time. “I believe today’s judgment and the destruction of the Lin-Zhang gang will prove to be a pivotal moment in Malawi’s commitment to bring high-level wildlife criminals to justice.” Lin Yunhua, right, pictured with another member of the trafficking syndicate, Jimmy Mkwelezalemba. Mkwelezalemba was sentenced to three years in prison for pangolin smuggling in 2019. Image from&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/high-profile-wildlife-trafficking-case-tests-malawis-conservation-commitment/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300485</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Environmental crimes are often hidden by ‘flying money’ laundering schemes (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/environmental-crimes-are-often-hidden-by-flying-money-laundering-schemes-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/environmental-crimes-are-often-hidden-by-flying-money-laundering-schemes-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jun 2025 20:35:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andrea Crosta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/01/10075600/gekko-gecko-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300354</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Corruption, Crime, Environment, Organized Crime, trafficking, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the Tang dynasty, Chinese merchants began buying rice on credit with a system that relied on trust and trade to sidestep the authorities — and taxes — to deliver goods immediately. In China it&#8217;s called, feiqian, and across the Middle East and South Asia, it&#8217;s known as hawala. These days it&#8217;s about more than [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the Tang dynasty, Chinese merchants began buying rice on credit with a system that relied on trust and trade to sidestep the authorities — and taxes — to deliver goods immediately. In China it&#8217;s called, feiqian, and across the Middle East and South Asia, it&#8217;s known as hawala. These days it&#8217;s about more than rice. It&#8217;s called “flying money,” and it&#8217;s the tool for concealing financial crimes: tax-free remittances, washing dirty money, even funding terror and concealing wildlife crime. &#8220;Flying money is often used to denote Chinese money laundering or paying in-kind with a commodity instead of cash,&#8221; explains Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior Brookings Institute fellow studying crime and terrorism. This can make cutting timber in Africa, mining Amazonian gold — even selling endangered species online — easier than drug smuggling. Police are trained to identify a kilo of cocaine, but spotting an outlaw bone tonic is another story. That&#8217;s also why buying a bowl of shark fin soup or taking a tiger selfie means you&#8217;re probably supporting organized crime. Shark fins and a dead hammerhead shark. Image courtesy of Earth League International (ELI). Gangs in Asia want wildlife products and natural resources that often come from Latin America, while gangs in Latin America want the ingredients to make drugs, which Asian companies make and ship via Chinese container ships traveling the world. &#8220;This money laundering scheme is the engine that fuels the fentanyl trade,&#8221; says Leland Lazarus, who tracks the Chinese-Latin American crime connection at Florida International University.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/environmental-crimes-are-often-hidden-by-flying-money-laundering-schemes-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-300354</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>After terror attacks, Mozambique nature reserve faces ‘new reality’</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/after-terror-attacks-mozambique-nature-reserve-faces-new-reality/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/after-terror-attacks-mozambique-nature-reserve-faces-new-reality/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jun 2025 15:21:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/02125138/lions-mozambique-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300053</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Mozambique]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Governance, Organized Crime, Protected Areas, Social Conflict, Terrorism, Violence, Wildlife, and Wildlife Rangers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BERLIN — Islamist fighters affiliated with ISIS have left a Mozambican wildlife reserve following a series of deadly attacks that claimed the lives of at least 10 people, including two wildlife rangers, according to the head of the country’s National Administration of Conservation Areas. “We still have a challenging environment, but we have clear indications [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BERLIN — Islamist fighters affiliated with ISIS have left a Mozambican wildlife reserve following a series of deadly attacks that claimed the lives of at least 10 people, including two wildlife rangers, according to the head of the country’s National Administration of Conservation Areas. “We still have a challenging environment, but we have clear indications that the insurgents are moving out of the reserve,” Pejulo Calenga told local press last week. The attacks on April 29 targeted tourism and conservation facilities in northern Mozambique’s Niassa Special Reserve, forcing their closure as units of the Mozambican army deployed. Two rangers working with the Niassa Carnivore Project (NCP) remain missing. More than 30 Islamist fighters attacked the Mariri Environmental and Skills Training Centre, which houses the NCP, a conservation group that’s worked inside the reserve for more than 20 years. Most of the group’s staff had already been evacuated following a separate attack on a hunting safari camp 10 days earlier, but a contingent of rangers and Mozambican soldiers were still there when the rebels arrived. In an email to Mongabay, Colleen Begg, the NCP director, said she wasn’t sure when project staff would be able to return to work. “It seems like the insurgents have withdrawn from the Niassa Province portion of Niassa Reserve, but it is not known whether they are still in the eastern sections of Niassa Reserve across the Lugenda River in Cabo Delgado [province], or whether they intend to return,” she wrote. The fighters are members of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/after-terror-attacks-mozambique-nature-reserve-faces-new-reality/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300053</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Amazon illegal gold mines drive sex trafficking in the Brazil-Guyana border</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/amazon-illegal-gold-mines-drive-sex-trafficking-in-the-brazil-guyana-border/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/amazon-illegal-gold-mines-drive-sex-trafficking-in-the-brazil-guyana-border/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 May 2025 07:00:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Oliveira]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/23174416/OPERAO1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299597</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Guyana, South America, and Venezuela]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Conflict, Crime, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Mining, Organized Crime, Politics, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Poverty and poor border controls have allowed young women to be trafficked into the sex trade catering to illegal gold miners in Brazil’s border areas with countries like Guyana and Venezuela.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BOA VISTA, Brazil — After crossing the Brazilian border into the town of Lethem in Guyana, a billboard declares that human trafficking is a crime. It’s a jarring message in this otherwise tranquil town with its streets full of stores selling products imported from China. Those are just some of the products that draw traders here from across the border in the Brazilian city of Bonfim, 132 kilometers (82 miles) away from the capital of Boa Vista, the Amazonian state of Roraima. Separated by the Tacutu River (or Takutu in Guyana), the cities are easily accessible by the BR-401 highway. I crossed the border from Brazil into Guyana without being subjected to any inspections, despite the presence of a Federal Police post on the Brazilian side. Over the course of seven days in Roraima, three sources told me that traffickers in Boa Vista often recruit girls in Roraima and take them to Lethem, where they’re dragged into the sex trade at bars catering to gold miners. In Guyana, prostitution is prohibited and mining operations are supervised. However, sources who requested anonymity for security reasons told Mongabay that the sexual exploitation of young women, including Brazilians and especially Venezuelans, routinely occurs. In general, according to the sources, bars and other places frequented by young people in Boa Vista are targets for groomers working for organized crime networks that have invested heavily in mining activities in the Amazon. They lure girls and young women with invitations to business trips and promises of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/amazon-illegal-gold-mines-drive-sex-trafficking-in-the-brazil-guyana-border/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299597</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The world needs a new UN protocol to fight environmental crime (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/the-world-needs-a-new-un-protocol-to-fight-environmental-crime-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/the-world-needs-a-new-un-protocol-to-fight-environmental-crime-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 May 2025 14:31:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Robert Muggah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/09/14135503/1-Amazon-logging-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299154</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Crime, Environment, Governance, Illegal Trade, Organized Crime, Social Justice, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Brazil’s Yanomami Indigenous Territory and across other parts of the Amazon Basin, illegal gold mining has metastasized into a transnational criminal enterprise. What starts with illegal deforestation and mercury poisoning ends with laundered gold flowing into global supply chains. The trade finances organized crime, corrupt officials, and crosses borders via shell companies into Suriname, Guyana and Venezuela, before [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Brazil’s Yanomami Indigenous Territory and across other parts of the Amazon Basin, illegal gold mining has metastasized into a transnational criminal enterprise. What starts with illegal deforestation and mercury poisoning ends with laundered gold flowing into global supply chains. The trade finances organized crime, corrupt officials, and crosses borders via shell companies into Suriname, Guyana and Venezuela, before being sold on to refiners, jewelers and tech manufacturers around the world. Over the past few years Brazilian authorities have uncovered a vast network of fraudulent permits and financial front men linking Amazonian gold to buyers in Europe and the Middle East. And since 2023, coordinated action involving more than 4,000 security operations has reduced illegal mining in Yanomami land by more than 90%. Yet local officials concede that the criminal networks driving the trade remain firmly entrenched, adapt quickly, and expand their reach faster than enforcement can keep up. Efforts to forge a new global protocol to tackle these kinds of complex environmental crimes have gathered momentum over the past decade, especially since the 2015 Doha Declaration. In October 2024, the U.N. launched an intergovernmental process to explore new protocols under the U.N. Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) targeting environmental crime. Shark fins and a dead hammerhead shark, products of illegal wildlife trafficking. Image courtesy of Earth League International. Championed by Brazil, France and Peru, opportunities are emerging to unify fragmented global efforts and spur stronger state action. These developments reflect mounting international recognition that offenses such as illegal logging, illicit mining, wildlife trafficking, unregulated fishing, and the dumping of hazardous waste are not merely conservation concerns. They&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/the-world-needs-a-new-un-protocol-to-fight-environmental-crime-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-299154</doi>				</item>
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