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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/primary-forests/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<title>News on Primary Forests</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/primary-forests/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Indigenous peoples near Congo parks propose diverse solutions for the future of conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-peoples-near-congo-parks-propose-diverse-solutions-for-the-future-of-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-peoples-near-congo-parks-propose-diverse-solutions-for-the-future-of-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Sep 2026 20:50:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Blaise Kasereka MakutaLatoya Abulu]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/08204653/image1__20648409894_e4b04e9e1b_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329161</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Congo Basin, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Community Forests, Conflict, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Governance, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Law, Primary Forests, Rainforests, Resource Conflict, Saving Rainforests, Solutions, Sustainable Forest Management, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo — High above the lush forests of protected areas in the Congo Basin in eastern Congo, the calls of endemic birds and monkeys echo through the trees. Beneath the canopy, the Maiko, Salonga, Kahuzi-Biega, and Virunga National Parks sprawl across millions of hectares. For millennia, long before these protected areas [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo — High above the lush forests of protected areas in the Congo Basin in eastern Congo, the calls of endemic birds and monkeys echo through the trees. Beneath the canopy, the Maiko, Salonga, Kahuzi-Biega, and Virunga National Parks sprawl across millions of hectares. For millennia, long before these protected areas were established, Indigenous peoples lived in, roamed and shaped these lands, only to be expelled during the 20th century. “We lived in harmony with the forest,” says Julien Basimika, a young Mutwa man, one of the Indigenous Twa people in Congo. “We protected everything that needed protecting, because our lives depended on it. If we had started destroying the forest, we would have suffered the consequences.” Today, many descendants of those who were displaced live in extreme poverty owing to lack of land, armed conflicts and discrimination. Discussions on how to better involve these communities in conservation fuel passionate debates among protected area managers, environmentalists, lawyers and human rights advocates: Should they return to their ancestral lands or not? Should they be part of environmental projects? If so, which ones? How can we mitigate armed conflicts and the involvement of Indigenous peoples in illegal logging, which complicate the situation? Among the communities living near these four national parks, views vary on how to address these issues. Meanwhile, policymakers are discussing how best to involve communities in the Belém Call to Action, announced in November 2025, which aims to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-peoples-near-congo-parks-propose-diverse-solutions-for-the-future-of-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-peoples-near-congo-parks-propose-diverse-solutions-for-the-future-of-conservation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329161</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Logging operations uncovered at Cambodian senator’s dam in the Cardamoms</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/logging-operations-uncovered-at-cambodian-senators-dam-in-the-cardamoms/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/logging-operations-uncovered-at-cambodian-senators-dam-in-the-cardamoms/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 01:30:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/10/09140647/Lutrogale_perspicillata_-_Jurong_Eco_Garden-harrison-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328129</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Global, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Carbon Credits, Carbon Market, Carbon Sequestration, climate finance, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corruption, Crime, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Energy, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Habitat Loss, Hydroelectric Power, Illegal Logging, Logging, Natural Resources, Old Growth Forests, Rainforests, Selective Logging, and Threats To Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“They are clearing the forest for the reservoir,” said Phan, a resident of O’Soam commune in Cambodia’s western province of Pursat. “These days, every few days, there is only one timber truck because it is the raining season, but during the dry season, there are three or four timber trucks [per day].” Phan, who spoke [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“They are clearing the forest for the reservoir,” said Phan, a resident of O’Soam commune in Cambodia’s western province of Pursat. “These days, every few days, there is only one timber truck because it is the raining season, but during the dry season, there are three or four timber trucks [per day].” Phan, who spoke to Mongabay by phone, requested that neither his full name nor his village name be published for fear of retribution from the developers of the 70-megawatt (MW) Stung Russei Chrum Kandal hydropower dam, also known as the Middle Russei Chrum River dam. Construction on the dam, which spans the Russei Chrum River in neighboring Koh Kong province, began in 2023 inside Phnom Kravanh National Park, one of Cambodia’s largest protected rainforests. The dam is one of many being built in the Cardamoms as Cambodia pushes for “clean” energy security, but recent satellite imagery indicates that large-scale logging is happening beyond the authorized construction sites. This map shows where the two dams are being built inside Cambodia&#8217;s protected Kravanh National Park. Image by Emilie Languedoc/Mongabay. Access to the site, Phan added, has been restricted and checkpoints are closely guarded by armed men in Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) uniforms. “We used to enter for fishing and laying fishing equipment, yet we are not allowed to enter anymore,” he said. “They have checkpoints, they have troops — they say the troops came to protect the forests. But the company set them up as security guards; we cannot&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/logging-operations-uncovered-at-cambodian-senators-dam-in-the-cardamoms/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/logging-operations-uncovered-at-cambodian-senators-dam-in-the-cardamoms/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328129</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>First Nations in Canada call for emergency order to protect southern mountain caribou</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/first-nations-in-canada-calls-for-emergency-order-to-protect-southern-mountain-caribou/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/first-nations-in-canada-calls-for-emergency-order-to-protect-southern-mountain-caribou/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Aug 2026 00:04:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/28230737/1-Caribou-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327848</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada, Global, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Mammals, Old Growth Forests, Primary Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“Under our Syilx Okanagan law, everything is sacred to us. We believe that Mother Earth is alive, all of kʷuləncutn, the creator&#8217;s creation, that it&#8217;s all alive,” Chief Dan Wilson of the Okanagan Indian Band, a Syilx Okanagan Nation, told Mongabay in a phone call. “That&#8217;s why the caribou are so important to us … [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“Under our Syilx Okanagan law, everything is sacred to us. We believe that Mother Earth is alive, all of kʷuləncutn, the creator&#8217;s creation, that it&#8217;s all alive,” Chief Dan Wilson of the Okanagan Indian Band, a Syilx Okanagan Nation, told Mongabay in a phone call. “That&#8217;s why the caribou are so important to us … they reflect on the job we&#8217;re doing for preserving kʷuləncutn as a creation for the next generation.” Southern mountain caribou are a type of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) found in mountainous regions of Western Canada, and until recently, parts of the U.S. They live in mature forests, and depend on lichen as a winter food. Three caribou herds — all imperiled — remain within Syilx-Okanagan territory in southern British Columbia. The Columbia North herd is the strongest with 185 individuals. The Central Selkirk herd has just 27 individuals, and the Frisby-Boulder herd, with eight individuals, is considered too small to remain viable. A fourth herd, the Columbia South, was extirpated from Syilx-Okanagan territory in 2023. The situation is mirrored across the southern mountain caribou’s range, where logging has chipped away at their mature forest habitat. In the past 20 years, 15 out of 40 herds once found in British Columbia and Alberta have disappeared or are too small to stand a chance, with numbers falling from nearly 10,000 in 1991 to just over 4,700 in 2023. In British Columbia alone, 11 of the province’s 32 herds have either vanished completely or become so small&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/first-nations-in-canada-calls-for-emergency-order-to-protect-southern-mountain-caribou/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/first-nations-in-canada-calls-for-emergency-order-to-protect-southern-mountain-caribou/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327848</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Logging and the slow disappearance of Australia&#8217;s large old trees (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/logging-and-the-slow-disappearance-of-australias-large-old-trees-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/logging-and-the-slow-disappearance-of-australias-large-old-trees-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Aug 2026 00:43:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Lindenmayer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/16122929/Wollert-Leadbeaters-Possum-on-Wurundjeri-Country-Steven-Kuiter-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326317</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Commentary, Ecosystems, Environment, forest degradation, Forestry, Forests, Logging, Old Growth Forests, Primary Forests, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Large old trees are among the most important structures in native forests, in Australia and around the world. They store disproportionately large amounts of carbon relative to small, young trees, and they provide the nesting and denning hollows that hundreds of animal species depend on. A single large old tree can take two or three [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Large old trees are among the most important structures in native forests, in Australia and around the world. They store disproportionately large amounts of carbon relative to small, young trees, and they provide the nesting and denning hollows that hundreds of animal species depend on. A single large old tree can take two or three centuries to grow. There is a persistent claim that logging does little or no lasting harm to these trees. It is worth examining what the evidence actually shows. I have studied populations of thousands of large old trees for more than four decades and published that work in the international peer-reviewed literature. I have also written a series of global reviews on large old trees and co-edited an international book on the subject – so the issue of logging effects on large old trees can be examined from data rather than assertion. Our long-term research has shown quite clearly that logged and regenerated forests have far fewer large old trees than places that have not been logged. There are several reasons for this – some obvious and some not so obvious. First, most trees are removed in a logging operation. Second, trees that are retained in logged areas are very exposed to increased windspeeds – the previous tree cover is not there to slow air movement. Third, the debris left on the forest floor after logging is burnt in a fire lit deliberately to help regenerate the forest. These are very high severity fires which&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/logging-and-the-slow-disappearance-of-australias-large-old-trees-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/logging-and-the-slow-disappearance-of-australias-large-old-trees-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326317</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Suriname moves to evict Mennonites and illegal Amazon settlers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/suriname-moves-to-evict-mennonites-and-illegal-amazon-settlers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/suriname-moves-to-evict-mennonites-and-illegal-amazon-settlers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Aug 2026 23:52:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/03214304/Atjoni_en_Pokigron_Surinamerivier-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325650</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Global, South America, and Suriname]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Business, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Sequestration, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Farming, Food, Forest Carbon, Forest Destruction, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Industrial Agriculture, Land Conflict, Law, Logging, Politics, Primary Forests, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Sustainable Forest Management, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The government in Suriname has started toughening up on land developers who illegally clear the Amazon Rainforest for agriculture and cattle ranching, according to Suriname President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, speaking at an Aug. 4 press briefing. In recent months, officials have started investigating illegal settlements and revising zoning for hundreds of thousands of hectares of mostly [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The government in Suriname has started toughening up on land developers who illegally clear the Amazon Rainforest for agriculture and cattle ranching, according to Suriname President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, speaking at an Aug. 4 press briefing. In recent months, officials have started investigating illegal settlements and revising zoning for hundreds of thousands of hectares of mostly primary forest, previously set aside for agribusiness. Many areas under development are connected to Mennonites, a conservative Christian group who migrated to the country from other parts of the region, with plans to establish religious farming communities. “The people who are active there in the interior and have cleared land to live there, are there illegally,” Geerlings-Simons said during the briefing. “And that means that we’re going to take measures against them.” In 2023, Mongabay revealed that private agribusiness investors were working with the government to develop a Mennonite pilot program, in which around 1,000 families would be relocated from Bolivia — and possibly other parts of the region — onto as much as 30,000 hectares (about 74,000 acres) of land in interior departments of Suriname. In 2023 and 2024, Mongabay also published stories detailing the government’s plan to transfer around 467,000 hectares (1,153,982 acres) of mostly primary rainforest from the Ministry of Land Policy and Forest Management to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (LVV) for future agribusiness development projects. Geerlings-Simons during the press briefing Aug 4. Image courtesy of Key tv 8.2 Backlash to the plans focused on Suriname’s 93% forest cover&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/suriname-moves-to-evict-mennonites-and-illegal-amazon-settlers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/suriname-moves-to-evict-mennonites-and-illegal-amazon-settlers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325650</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Land records reveal how Mennonites are reshaping Belize’s forests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/land-records-reveal-how-mennonites-are-reshaping-belizes-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/land-records-reveal-how-mennonites-are-reshaping-belizes-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jul 2026 18:45:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/31152733/1-FEATURE--768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324951</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Belize and Central America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Cattle, Conservation, Crops, Culture, Encroachment, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Farming, Food, Forest Fragmentation, Forests, Governance, Industrial Agriculture, Land Rights, Livestock, Monocultures, Plantations, Politics, Primary Forests, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Ranching, Regulations, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SPANISH LOOKOUT, Belize — When the Mennonite community here purchased a property four years ago in the middle of the Maya Forest Corridor, a government-recognized stretch of land designed to connect forests in the region, conservation groups were concerned. Community members began clearing land before completing an environmental impact assessment, resulting in fires and pollution, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SPANISH LOOKOUT, Belize — When the Mennonite community here purchased a property four years ago in the middle of the Maya Forest Corridor, a government-recognized stretch of land designed to connect forests in the region, conservation groups were concerned. Community members began clearing land before completing an environmental impact assessment, resulting in fires and pollution, according to one report. In addition, Mennonites beat a conservation coalition that had also wanted to purchase the land for the corridor. The battle for that piece of real estate is just one example of how Mennonites conduct business in Belize, and how those moves have led to extensive deforestation. The small Central American country, flanked by Mexico, Guatemala and the Caribbean Sea, is about the size of the U.S. state of New Jersey, but its dense jungle is now much smaller than it once was. The nation lost around 20% of its forest cover between 2001 and 2025 — more than 350,000 hectares (865,000 acres), similar to the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Much of the deforestation in Belize has been tied to Mennonites, the conservative and largely insular Christian denomination that began migrating to Belize more than six decades ago, cutting down the rainforest to establish new colonies. While reports documenting Mennonites and deforestation are common, far less understood is the corporate machinery they’ve put in place for this expansion. Mongabay conducted extensive interviews and reviewed dozens of land records to better understand the way Mennonites became one of the most prolific land&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/land-records-reveal-how-mennonites-are-reshaping-belizes-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/land-records-reveal-how-mennonites-are-reshaping-belizes-forests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324951</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Illegal timber imports from Cambodia, Laos skirt Vietnam safeguards, report reveals</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/illegal-timber-imports-from-cambodia-laos-skirt-vietnam-safeguards-report-reveals/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/illegal-timber-imports-from-cambodia-laos-skirt-vietnam-safeguards-report-reveals/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jul 2026 11:35:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/09032420/RESIZED-Preah-Roka_Mongabay_Andy-Ball-5-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322242</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Laos, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Corporations, Crime, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Governance, Illegal Logging, Logging, Primary Forests, Rainforests, Supply Chain, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, Trade, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Illegally sourced timber from Cambodia and Laos continues to enter Vietnam’s supply chains despite recent efforts to tighten legality controls, according to a new report from U.K.-based watchdog the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). Falsified paperwork, manipulated harvesting quotes, and intermixing of timber from multiple sources are just some of the ways well-established criminal networks perpetuate [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Illegally sourced timber from Cambodia and Laos continues to enter Vietnam’s supply chains despite recent efforts to tighten legality controls, according to a new report from U.K.-based watchdog the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). Falsified paperwork, manipulated harvesting quotes, and intermixing of timber from multiple sources are just some of the ways well-established criminal networks perpetuate the illicit trade, EIA teams uncovered during a four-year investigation. “We repeatedly observed mechanisms through which timber from questionable sources could be incorporated into formal trade channels,” says Thomas Chung, forest timber campaigns lead for the EIA. Vietnam is one of the world’s largest timber exporters. As a major manufacturing hub of furniture, flooring and other wood products, it plays a key role in international supply chains, shipping roughly $17 billion in timber and timber products in 2025. Timber from neighboring Laos and Cambodia represents a relatively small share of Vietnam’s total supply, the EIA report says, accounting for less than 9% of all timber shipments into the country. However, it carries an outsized legality risk that significantly undermines Vietnam’s efforts to ensure legal sourcing. To maintain access to lucrative export markets, such as the U.S., the EU, Japan and China, the country has made several recent updates to its national timber legality framework, known as the Vietnam Timber Legality Assurance System (VNTLAS). However, the EIA investigation indicates these efforts are being grossly undermined by persistent imports of illegal timber from Cambodia and Laos, exposing key weaknesses in the VNTLAS system. A consistent issue was&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/illegal-timber-imports-from-cambodia-laos-skirt-vietnam-safeguards-report-reveals/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/illegal-timber-imports-from-cambodia-laos-skirt-vietnam-safeguards-report-reveals/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322242</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Climate-fueled landslides killed an estimated 58 Tapanuli orangutans, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/climate-fueled-landslides-killed-an-estimated-58-tapanuli-orangutans-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/climate-fueled-landslides-killed-an-estimated-58-tapanuli-orangutans-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jun 2026 06:52:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/15042253/Orangutan-tapanuli_Junaidi-Mongabay1-1536x1024-1-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321265</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Indonesia, North Sumatra, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Apes, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Business, Climate Change, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Endangered Species, forest degradation, Forest Destruction, Forest Fragmentation, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Great Apes, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Landslides, Mammals, Orangutans, Primary Forests, Primates, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Climate change has become a direct threat to the survival of the world&#8217;s rarest great ape, according to scientists, after landslides triggered by an unusually intense storm killed an estimated 58 critically endangered Tapanuli orangutans (Pongo tapanuliensis) in Indonesia’s Batang Toru ecosystem. The estimate comes from a new study published in Current Biology, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Climate change has become a direct threat to the survival of the world&#8217;s rarest great ape, according to scientists, after landslides triggered by an unusually intense storm killed an estimated 58 critically endangered Tapanuli orangutans (Pongo tapanuliensis) in Indonesia’s Batang Toru ecosystem. The estimate comes from a new study published in Current Biology, whose authors say the findings may represent one of the first examples of climate change immediately threatening the survival of an entire species. The researchers found that landslides triggered by extreme rainfall associated with Cyclone Senyar in November 2025 likely killed about 7% of the estimated global population of Tapanuli orangutans, which number fewer than 800 individuals and are concentrated in the Batang Toru landscape in North Sumatra. After analyzing satellite imagery, the researchers identified more than 50,000 individual landslide scars and estimated that about 8,300 hectares (20,500 acres) of forest in the western block of Batang Toru were affected by the disaster. The western block is considered the species&#8217; most important stronghold, hosting more than 500 orangutans and one of the three known population clusters within the Batang Toru landscape. The researchers believe most orangutans caught in the landslides died rather than being displaced because of the violence and speed of the event. While the landslides were relatively shallow, they moved extremely rapidly and transformed into channelized debris flows. With little or no warning, orangutans and other wildlife likely had little chance of escaping and may have been buried, drowned or fatally injured by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/climate-fueled-landslides-killed-an-estimated-58-tapanuli-orangutans-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/climate-fueled-landslides-killed-an-estimated-58-tapanuli-orangutans-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321265</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Taiwan’s tallest tree found with help of citizen science</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/taiwans-tallest-tree-found-with-help-of-citizen-science/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/taiwans-tallest-tree-found-with-help-of-citizen-science/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 19:46:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/08192242/Team_climbing_The_Heaven_Sword-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320778</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[East Asia and Taiwan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forests, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Peoples, Old Growth Forests, Rainforests, Research, Trees, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Deep in Taiwan&#8217;s misty mountains, researchers have confirmed the tallest tree in the country: a thousand-year-old fir tree higher than a 20-story building, which they’ve named &#8220;the heaven sword of the Da&#8217;an River.&#8221; Climbers scaled the tree and dropped a measuring tape from the top to the forest floor during the Lunar New Year holiday [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Deep in Taiwan&#8217;s misty mountains, researchers have confirmed the tallest tree in the country: a thousand-year-old fir tree higher than a 20-story building, which they’ve named &#8220;the heaven sword of the Da&#8217;an River.&#8221; Climbers scaled the tree and dropped a measuring tape from the top to the forest floor during the Lunar New Year holiday in January 2023. The tree measured 84.1-meters (276-feet). The findings have been published in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. A team of ecologists, geologists, remote-sensing specialists, professional climbers and Indigenous people that calls itself the &#8220;Taiwan tree seekers” began the search in 2014. “The common characteristics [of the team] are probably that we are all tree lovers and like adventures,” Rebecca Chia-Chun Hsu, lead author from Division of Forest Ecology, Institute of Taiwan Forestry Research, told CNN. &#8216;The Heaven Sword&#8217;, Taiwan&#8217;s tallest tree, measures 84.1 meters. Photo courtesy of Steven Pearce. Taiwan is one of the few places on Earth where trees can grow this tall. The island sits where the tropics meet the subtropics, and its mountains host several giant conifer species. The species behind the new record, Taiwania cryptomerioides, is known to the Indigenous Rukai people as &#8220;the tree that hits the moon.&#8221; Although nearly 60% of Taiwan is covered in forest, loggers cleared much of the island&#8217;s old-growth forest between 1912 and 1991. However, its steep slopes were too dangerous to reach, and pockets of ancient forest survived. Still, finding the tallest tree amid the rugged terrain was a task. Taiwan&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/taiwans-tallest-tree-found-with-help-of-citizen-science/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/taiwans-tallest-tree-found-with-help-of-citizen-science/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320778</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How trade bans and local conservation helped save a dazzling blue gecko</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-trade-bans-and-local-conservation-helped-save-a-dazzling-blue-gecko/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-trade-bans-and-local-conservation-helped-save-a-dazzling-blue-gecko/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jun 2026 06:43:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manuel Fonseca]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/06063558/TurquoiseDwarfGecko_MorogoroTanzania_ArdgardINaturalistBYlarge-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320662</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Fires, Forests, Habitat Loss, Herps, Primary Forests, Protected Areas, Reptiles, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Beauty is a curse — at least for the turquoise dwarf gecko of central Tanzania. Between December 2004 and July 2009, demand for this gecko from collectors in Europe boomed, leading to the capture and export of an estimated 40,000 of these striking reptiles from Tanzania. “I remember when I saw them for the first [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Beauty is a curse — at least for the turquoise dwarf gecko of central Tanzania. Between December 2004 and July 2009, demand for this gecko from collectors in Europe boomed, leading to the capture and export of an estimated 40,000 of these striking reptiles from Tanzania. “I remember when I saw them for the first time [at] a fair, it was about 600 euros per specimen,” or about $700, Dennis Rödder, a herpetologist at the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change in Germany, told Mongabay in a video call. “I think within three or four years, the species appeared everywhere across Europe. You could buy them in every pet shop.” Turquoise dwarf geckos (Lygodactylus williamsi) grow to a length of 6-9 centimeters (about 2.5-3.5 inches) and are known from only two small patches of forest in Tanzania: The Kimboza and Ruvu forest reserves. These protected areas cover a combined 34 square kilometers (13 square miles). Adult females have a green-brownish color that mimics the leaves of the trees they live in, but the males’ skins are a vivid contrasting blue, one of the rarest colors in nature, meant to stand out and attract females. Turquoise dwarf gecko (Lygodactylus williamsi). Image © Simon via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0). Active during the day, and so fiercely territorial they evict their young hatchlings from their home trees soon after birth, this species lives exclusively on screwpines (Pandanus rabaiensis), a tree found in Kenya and Tanzania. Standing anywhere from 3-20 meters tall&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-trade-bans-and-local-conservation-helped-save-a-dazzling-blue-gecko/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-trade-bans-and-local-conservation-helped-save-a-dazzling-blue-gecko/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320662</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Report alleges élite ties behind logging permits in Cameroon’s Ebo Forest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/report-alleges-elite-ties-behind-logging-permits-in-cameroons-ebo-forest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/report-alleges-elite-ties-behind-logging-permits-in-cameroons-ebo-forest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 May 2026 14:46:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/08/10143029/Footage-of-a-male-and-a-baby-gorilla-in-the-ebo-forest-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320290</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Cameroon, and Central Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Apes, Biodiversity, Community Forests, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Deforestation, Development, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, forest degradation, Forest Destruction, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Logging, Primary Forests, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A newly released report alleges that well-placed elites in Cameroon’s government are enabling a cluster of timber and agribusiness companies to log primary forest in the country. These companies include Sextransbois, which was awarded a controversial 68,000-hectare (168,000-acre) logging concession in the Ebo Forest in 2023. The report by Swiss-based advocacy group Global Initiative Against [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A newly released report alleges that well-placed elites in Cameroon’s government are enabling a cluster of timber and agribusiness companies to log primary forest in the country. These companies include Sextransbois, which was awarded a controversial 68,000-hectare (168,000-acre) logging concession in the Ebo Forest in 2023. The report by Swiss-based advocacy group Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) also named SCIEB, which controls another concession in the Ebo Forest covering 65,000 hectares (161,000 acres). The report used corporate registry documents, trade records, and sources in Cameroon’s forestry sector to link both companies, along with Boiscam and Camvert, to prominent businessman Aboubakar Al Fatih. According to an “informal broker” who has worked to connect logging companies with forestry officials and was interviewed by GI-TOC, Al Fatih’s companies have benefitted from his ties to the minister of economy, Alamine Ousmane Mey. Mey is considered an ally of Cameroonian President Paul Biya’s eldest son Franck, who reportedly recommended him for a cabinet post in 2011. Sextransbois was incorporated by relatives of Franck Biya’s in 2014, before being transferred to then-20-year-old Mahmoud Mourtada, Al Fatih’s half-brother. The report implies that Al Fatih&#8217;s connections to figures in Franck Biya’s circle helped Sextransbois and SCIEB obtain their concessions in the Ebo Forest. Those concessions were awarded despite a global campaign to protect the forest, which is a biodiversity-rich habitat for threatened gorillas and chimpanzees. After initially walking back its decision to reclassify the forest as government land in 2020, the government quietly reissued the two&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/report-alleges-elite-ties-behind-logging-permits-in-cameroons-ebo-forest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/report-alleges-elite-ties-behind-logging-permits-in-cameroons-ebo-forest/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320290</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Chile’s ancient conifers host underground web of life that sustains forests: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/chiles-ancient-conifers-host-underground-web-of-life-that-sustains-forests-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/chiles-ancient-conifers-host-underground-web-of-life-that-sustains-forests-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Apr 2026 10:26:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sofia Moutinho]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/09101258/61_Chile_Fungi_DJI_0270-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317250</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Chile, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Carbon Sequestration, Conservation, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Forest Carbon, Forest Loss, Forests, Fungi, Logging, Old Growth Forests, Planetary Boundaries, Plants, Protected Areas, Research, Temperate Forests, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In an isolated valley within Alerce Costero National Park in southern Chile, one tree towers above all others. At 30 meters (100 feet) high, this alerce abuelo or grandpa alerce, is estimated to be more than 2,400 years old. Its massive trunk and branches are covered in lichens, mosses and even other woody plant species [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In an isolated valley within Alerce Costero National Park in southern Chile, one tree towers above all others. At 30 meters (100 feet) high, this alerce abuelo or grandpa alerce, is estimated to be more than 2,400 years old. Its massive trunk and branches are covered in lichens, mosses and even other woody plant species that take root in the crevices of its bark. But beneath it, hidden underground, lies another hidden treasure: a community of fungi known as arbuscular mycorrhizae. These kinds of fungi establish unique partnerships with plants that are fundamental to keeping forests alive. More than 80% of all terrestrial plants are associated with these fungi, which form underground networks, penetrating roots and creating specialized structures called arbuscules that supply nutrients and water to the plant in exchange for carbon and sugars. Now, for the first time, scientists have sampled and analyzed the fungal community beneath alerce trees (Fitzroya cupressoides) in the Chilean national park, the country’s largest protected area for temperate coastal forests. Their research revealed that the ancient alerce abuelo hosts two and a quarter times more fungal diversity than its smaller, younger counterparts, highlighting the uniqueness of this old tree. “All the diversity you see above in the tree branches also happens belowground,” says lead author Camille Truong, a mycologist with the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria and the University of Melbourne in Australia and the study’s lead author. “All these root systems and the soil offer a habitat for thousands of fungi, and also&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/chiles-ancient-conifers-host-underground-web-of-life-that-sustains-forests-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317250</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>An invasive guava is muscling out Madagascar’s forests — and lemurs are helping</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/an-invasive-guava-is-muscling-out-madagascars-forests-and-lemurs-are-helping/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/an-invasive-guava-is-muscling-out-madagascars-forests-and-lemurs-are-helping/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Mar 2026 18:44:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ryan Truscott]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/31182852/Natalee-Phelps_0508-scaled-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316665</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Madagascar, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Forests, Habitat Loss, Lemurs, Mammals, Old Growth Forests, Primary Forests, Primates, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Madagascar is renowned for its lemurs, which are threatened due to hunting and deforestation. Restoring native forests to ensure their survival is critical, but once damaged, forests in Madagascar are vulnerable to takeover by invasive guava trees — whose seeds the lemurs themselves are helping to spread. When the delicious strawberry guavas (Psidium cattleyanum) are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Madagascar is renowned for its lemurs, which are threatened due to hunting and deforestation. Restoring native forests to ensure their survival is critical, but once damaged, forests in Madagascar are vulnerable to takeover by invasive guava trees — whose seeds the lemurs themselves are helping to spread. When the delicious strawberry guavas (Psidium cattleyanum) are in fruit, lemurs will choose them over native fruit, says Amy Dunham, a biologist at Rice University in the U.S. On her last visit to Ranomafana National Park, in southeastern Madagascar, Dunham, who has been doing fieldwork there for more than 30 years, filmed an endangered Milne-Edwards’ sifaka (Propithecus edwardsi), a large lemur with a dark-brown and cream-colored coat, a black hairless face, and penetrating orange eyes. The sifaka was sitting in a thick guava patch munching on one of the ruby-red fruits. “For me, [the video] captures a big part of the picture,” Dunham says. “An endangered lemur can benefit from an invasive plant that is simultaneously undermining the long-term biodiversity and functioning of the forest.” Dunham and colleagues carried out a study in Ranomafana in 2024 that found that where strawberry guavas, originally from Brazil, had taken hold, they created thick, impenetrable patches in areas of forest that had been disturbed as far back as the 1930s. These thickets, which Dunham refers to as “monocultures,” drain key nutrients from the soil, suppress the growth of native plants, and strip away the diversity of insects and other invertebrates. The loss of insect diversity means&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/an-invasive-guava-is-muscling-out-madagascars-forests-and-lemurs-are-helping/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316665</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Deforestation climbs in Central America’s largest biosphere reserve</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/deforestation-climbs-in-central-americas-largest-biosphere-reserve/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/deforestation-climbs-in-central-americas-largest-biosphere-reserve/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Dec 2025 20:09:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/31195758/2048px-Bairds_Tapir_Tapirus_bairdii_captive_specimen-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312462</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Cattle, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Fires, Forest Loss, Forests, Green, Herps, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Mammals, Pasture, Primary Forests, Rainforests, Ranching, Salamanders, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Encompassing some 7,400 square kilometers, or 2,860 square miles, along the Honduran border, Nicaragua’s Bosawás Biosphere Reserve is the largest biosphere reserve in Central America. It’s home to the Miskito and Mayanga Indigenous groups as well as countless species; endangered Geoffrey&#8217;s spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) and Baird&#8217;s tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) inhabit Bosawas, as do critically [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Encompassing some 7,400 square kilometers, or 2,860 square miles, along the Honduran border, Nicaragua’s Bosawás Biosphere Reserve is the largest biosphere reserve in Central America. It’s home to the Miskito and Mayanga Indigenous groups as well as countless species; endangered Geoffrey&#8217;s spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) and Baird&#8217;s tapirs (Tapirus bairdii) inhabit Bosawas, as do critically endangered Saslaya moss salamanders (Nototriton saslaya), that are found nowhere else in the world. But, increasingly over the past several decades, Bosawás has also become host to cattle ranches and gold mines, at the cost of its rainforest. Despite its designation as a UNESCO site, Bosawás Biosphere Reserve has lost more than 30% of its primary forest cover since the turn of the century, according to satellite data from the University of Maryland’s Global Land Analysis and Discovery lab and visualized on the monitoring platform Global Forest Watch. Deforestation surged to a record high in 2024, with 740 km2 (286 mi2) — 10% of the reserve’s land area — cleared in a single year. A satellite image captured April 2025 by Sentinel 2b shows recently deforested areas in Bosawás Biosphere Reserve. The data show fire activity in Bosawás also rose in 2024, with 35% of annual tree cover loss caused by fire, representing a 700% jump from 2023. Preliminary data for 2025 indicate forest loss has continued this year, with satellite imagery showing telltale patches of brown spreading ever deeper into Bosawás’s remaining old-growth rainforest. Cattle ranching is one of the main drivers of forest&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/deforestation-climbs-in-central-americas-largest-biosphere-reserve/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/deforestation-climbs-in-central-americas-largest-biosphere-reserve/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312462</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Satellite data show forest loss persists in Brazilian Amazon’s most deforested reserve</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/satellite-data-show-forest-loss-persists-in-brazilian-amazons-most-deforested-reserve/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/satellite-data-show-forest-loss-persists-in-brazilian-amazons-most-deforested-reserve/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Dec 2025 21:51:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/30212511/AP20236730024384-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312370</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Cattle, Environment, Fires, Forests, Green, Habitat Loss, Old Growth Forests, Pasture, Primary Forests, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Ranching, Slash-and-burn, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Brazil’s Triunfo do Xingu Environmental Protection Area encompasses an area of Amazon Rainforest more than half the size of Belgium. Or at least it used to. The embattled reserve has lost around half of its primary forest cover since it was created in 2006, according to satellite data from the University of Maryland’s Global Land [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Brazil’s Triunfo do Xingu Environmental Protection Area encompasses an area of Amazon Rainforest more than half the size of Belgium. Or at least it used to. The embattled reserve has lost around half of its primary forest cover since it was created in 2006, according to satellite data from the University of Maryland’s Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) lab and visualized on monitoring platform Global Forest Watch. The data show 2024 had the highest rate of forest loss, rocketing 400% over 2023. Preliminary data show forest loss continued in 2025, concentrated in the northern portion of the 1.7-million-hectare (4.2-million-acre) reserve, where most of the largest tracts of forest remain. Satellite data from the University of Maryland show primary forest loss jumped 400% between 2023 and 2024. Image by Mongabay. Google Timelapse shows forest loss advancing rapidly through Triunfo do Xingu. This has given Triunfo do Xingu the dubious distinction of being the protected area with the highest rate of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. The main cause? Cattle. Triunfo do Xingu lies in the heart of Brazil’s cattle country, where cows outnumber people 38 to one. To feed this legion of cattle, ranchers carve pasture from forest, often using slash-and-burn techniques to clear areas and renew degraded soil. During a visit in 2023, Mongabay reporters observed the charred remains of sawed-down trees, and were told by local small-scale famers and officials that fires set by ranchers can spread out of control, consuming crops, homes and forest alike. “They set&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/satellite-data-show-forest-loss-persists-in-brazilian-amazons-most-deforested-reserve/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/satellite-data-show-forest-loss-persists-in-brazilian-amazons-most-deforested-reserve/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312370</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photos: Top new species from 2025</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/photos-top-new-species-from-2025/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/photos-top-new-species-from-2025/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Dec 2025 14:22:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/29141103/Screenshot-2025-12-28-at-5.12.22-PM-1-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312133</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Andes, Angola, Atlantic Ocean, Brazil, Cerrado, Global, Himalayas, India, Peru, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Acoustic, Amphibians, Animals, Biodiversity, Captive Breeding, Climate Change, Cloud Forests, Conservation, Deep Sea, Deforestation, DNA, Ecosystem Services, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Farming, Forests, Fungi, Habitat Loss, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Peoples, Invasive Species, Marine, Mining, Oceans, Old Growth Forests, Pollution, Protected Areas, Ranching, Research, Science, Snakes, Species, Species Discovery, Swamps, Threatened species, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional People, Trees, Tropical Forests, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The world still holds its secrets. Hidden under wet rocks, in the ocean&#8217;s twilight crevices, and in the minutiae of the genetic code are creatures unknown and unnamed by the human species. Every year, scientists find hundreds of new animals, insects, plants and fungi. This year, researchers described a tiny new marsupial, a new Himalayan [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The world still holds its secrets. Hidden under wet rocks, in the ocean&#8217;s twilight crevices, and in the minutiae of the genetic code are creatures unknown and unnamed by the human species. Every year, scientists find hundreds of new animals, insects, plants and fungi. This year, researchers described a tiny new marsupial, a new Himalayan bat, an ancient tree, a bright blue butterfly, a parrot snake, and a fairy lantern plant, among others. &#8220;I think most people believe that we know most species on Earth,&#8221; Mario Moura, a professor at the Federal University of Paraíba in Brazil, told Mongabay, &#8220;but in the best-case scenario, we know 20% of Earth&#8217;s species.&#8221; Some estimate that only 10% of all the species on the planet have been described. Unfortunately, many species may be threatened with extinction before they’re even formally named — victims of human activities like development and climate change. Some of these species could be food or medicine for humans, but each plays a unique role in Earth’s interconnected web of life. “We’re understanding more and more that every species on the planet has a role, and in one way or another, is linked to our well-being through the part they play in ecosystems,&#8221; said Boris Worm, a marine conservation biologist who co-authored a study that quantifies the number of undescribed species on land and in the ocean. “We can’t protect them … if we don’t know them.&#8221; Atlantic manta ray (Mobula yarae) with a diver off the coast of Mexico. Originally&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/photos-top-new-species-from-2025/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312133</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In California’s redwoods, scientists rebuild lost ecosystems high up in the canopy</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/in-californias-redwoods-scientists-rebuild-lost-ecosystems-high-up-in-the-canopy/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/in-californias-redwoods-scientists-rebuild-lost-ecosystems-high-up-in-the-canopy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Dec 2025 14:14:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Marlowe Starling]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/24171113/2048px-California_Scrub-Jay_38808625355-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311969</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[carbon, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forest Recovery, Forest Regeneration, Forests, Logging, Old Growth Forests, Plants, Restoration, Sustainable Forest Management, Temperatures, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Van Eck Forest in northwestern California is home to iconic coast redwood trees, which store more above-ground carbon per acre than any other forest type. The oldest trees can grow to heights of more than 90 meters (300 feet) and may be more than 2,000 years old. But due to the region’s extensive logging, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Van Eck Forest in northwestern California is home to iconic coast redwood trees, which store more above-ground carbon per acre than any other forest type. The oldest trees can grow to heights of more than 90 meters (300 feet) and may be more than 2,000 years old. But due to the region’s extensive logging, which reduced old-growth redwood forests to just 5% of their original extent, very few large, old redwood trees (Sequoia sempervirens) exist today. Consequently, there are also fewer fern mats high up in the forest canopy: large masses of leather-leaf ferns (Polypodium scouleri), a keystone species that stores water, mitigates forest temperatures and provides habitat for other plants and animals. To help restore these historic forests, a conservation nonprofit and a university are experimenting with ways to transplant the mats back into redwood treetops. In a collaboration that began in 2021, the Pacific Forest Trust and scientists from California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, are taking fern mats that have fallen from old-growth trees and replanting them in younger trees to restore the canopy layer. As they grow over decades and centuries, these mats collect decomposing plant matter and germinate seeds, creating swaths of arboreal gardens that are home to salamanders, insects, birds and rare lichens. “It’s like having a little garden up there,” said Laurie Wayburn, co-founder and president of the Pacific Forest Trust. A great horned owl, a common redwood forest resident. Image by B. Washburn via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0). ‘Putting back the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/in-californias-redwoods-scientists-rebuild-lost-ecosystems-high-up-in-the-canopy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/in-californias-redwoods-scientists-rebuild-lost-ecosystems-high-up-in-the-canopy/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311969</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>All new roads lead to increased deforestation in Ecuador’s Indigenous territory</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/all-new-roads-lead-to-increased-deforestation-in-ecuadors-indigenous-territory/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/all-new-roads-lead-to-increased-deforestation-in-ecuadors-indigenous-territory/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Dec 2025 09:40:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ana Cristina Alvarado]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/19093425/vias-achuar-2025-09-15-19h12m48s546-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311713</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Forests, Illegal Logging, Indigenous Peoples, Infrastructure, Logging, Primary Forests, and Roads]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Between March and May 2025, at least eight children from the Achuar Indigenous community died of leptospirosis in the southern Ecuadorian Amazon. The disease is preventable with access to safe drinking water and timely treatment. But these two conditions are absent in Taisha, one of the poorest five cantons in Ecuador and the one with [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Between March and May 2025, at least eight children from the Achuar Indigenous community died of leptospirosis in the southern Ecuadorian Amazon. The disease is preventable with access to safe drinking water and timely treatment. But these two conditions are absent in Taisha, one of the poorest five cantons in Ecuador and the one with lowest coverage of basic services. Months earlier, provincial and canton authorities built access roads to Taisha, promising to address this neglect. But these projects — implemented without the full consent of the Achuar, environmental control strategies and, in some cases, technical criteria or permits — had fatal consequences. Two Achuar people were murdered. Illegal loggers used the roads and took advantage of the lack of control on the part of authorities to reach Achuar territory. The demand for timber quickly found supply in a canton where almost eight out of 10 people live in poverty or extreme poverty, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC). Taisha also makes up a large part of Achuar territory, which is home to “one of the best-preserved and most biodiverse forests in Ecuador,” according to a recent report by the organization Amazon Conservation’s Andean Amazon Monitoring Program (MAAP). Several Achuar sold the illegal loggers timber from the cedro (Cedrelo odorata) and chuncho (Cedrelinga cateniformis) tree species from their land, says Waakiach Kuja, president of the Achuar Nation of Ecuador (NAE), who gave an interview to Mongabay Latam after coordinating the transfer of a sick community member&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/all-new-roads-lead-to-increased-deforestation-in-ecuadors-indigenous-territory/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/all-new-roads-lead-to-increased-deforestation-in-ecuadors-indigenous-territory/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311713</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>DRC hit by record deforestation in 2024, satellite data show</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/drc-hit-by-record-deforestation-in-2024-satellite-data-show/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/drc-hit-by-record-deforestation-in-2024-satellite-data-show/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Nov 2025 17:19:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/26160309/chimpu-baby-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310220</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Conflict, data, Deforestation, Fires, Forest Loss, Forests, Human Rights, Illegal Logging, Logging, Old Growth Forests, Primary Forests, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Remote Sensing, Resource Conflict, Slash-and-burn, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Africa’s great Congo Basin rainforest, often called the Earth’s second lung, covers an area about the size of India. Millions of people depend directly on the forest for food, energy and income. It is home to our closest relatives and some of the planet’s most threatened wildlife — gorillas (Gorilla sp.), chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), bonobos [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Africa’s great Congo Basin rainforest, often called the Earth’s second lung, covers an area about the size of India. Millions of people depend directly on the forest for food, energy and income. It is home to our closest relatives and some of the planet’s most threatened wildlife — gorillas (Gorilla sp.), chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), bonobos (Pan paniscus), okapi (Okapia johnstoni), forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) and more. The humid forest with towering trees and extensive peatlands also helps regulate our global climate, taking in greenhouse gases emitted far beyond the forest’s borders. Sixty percent of the Congo Basin rainforest lies within the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and around 70% of the DRC was covered in natural forest as of 2020, according to data visualized on the Global Forest Watch (GFW) platform. From 2002 to 2024, the DRC lost 7.1% of its forest cover, according to GFW satellite data, and experienced the third-largest absolute amount of primary forest loss globally, behind Brazil and Indonesia. (This estimate may be conservative and the actual amount even higher, according to GFW, as previous methods it had used to measure tree cover loss between 2001 and 2015 likely led to underestimations.) Annual primary forest loss in the DRC grew steadily over the past five years and spiked to a record high of 590,000 hectares (1.5 million acres) in 2024, according to GFW data. That’s up from 530,000 hectares (1.3 million acres) of primary forest loss in 2023 and 510,000 hectares in 2022. The data show&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/drc-hit-by-record-deforestation-in-2024-satellite-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-310220</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Why are Amazonian trees getting ‘fatter’?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/why-are-amazonian-trees-getting-fatter/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/why-are-amazonian-trees-getting-fatter/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Nov 2025 12:08:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Suzana Camargo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/24120054/2048px-Brazil_nut_tree_in_the_rainforest-castanheira-amazonia-peruana-My-Favorite-Pet-Sitter-CC-BY-2.0-via-Wikimedia-Commons-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310071</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Dioxide, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Old Growth Forests, Plants, Rainforests, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[How have the trees in Amazonia reacted to the rise in CO2 emissions in recent centuries? It is common knowledge that, of all greenhouse gases, CO2 is the most responsible for global warming. The most recent report released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) showed that the concentration of carbon in Earth’s atmosphere rose more [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[How have the trees in Amazonia reacted to the rise in CO2 emissions in recent centuries? It is common knowledge that, of all greenhouse gases, CO2 is the most responsible for global warming. The most recent report released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) showed that the concentration of carbon in Earth’s atmosphere rose more in 2024 than in any other year since it began measuring in 1957. Climate scientists unanimously agree that last year’s increase was provoked by human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels like oil, coal and natural gas. But to the surprise of researchers involved in a study recently published in Nature Plants, mature forests in Amazonia have shown much resilience in response to the climate changes resulting from the excess carbon in the atmosphere. This is important because trees are known to be natural CO2 sinks because they absorb it during photosynthesis. In addition, the trees in the Amazon Rainforest are getting “fatter” over time: The average trunk sizes are increasing 3.3% every decade. “We wouldn’t normally expect the average size of trees in an old-growth forest to change over time, since their growth and death rates generally remain stable,” explains Rebecca Banbury Morgan, a researcher at the University of Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences in the United Kingdom and co-author of the article. “We compared our observations with the fact that we weren’t expecting any changes and found that the average size of trees was increasing. This means that the trees today are&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/why-are-amazonian-trees-getting-fatter/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310071</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘A big no’: Opposition grows to proposed mine in Malawi’s newest UNESCO site</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/a-big-no-opposition-grows-to-proposed-mine-in-malawis-newest-unesco-site/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/a-big-no-opposition-grows-to-proposed-mine-in-malawis-newest-unesco-site/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Nov 2025 23:08:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/04215636/Adobe-Express-file-23-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308825</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Malawi, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Critical Minerals, Critically Endangered Species, Ecotourism, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Green, Mining, Montane Forests, Mountains, Primary Forests, Protected Areas, Trees, Tropical Forests, and UNESCO World Heritage Site]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A controversial proposed mining project in Malawi’s newest UNESCO World Heritage Site is raising opposition from traditional chiefs and conservationists. Mount Mulanje in southern Malawi is a renowned biodiversity hotspot, a vital source of freshwater, and is of huge spiritual significance to the communities that live on and around it. In June, the mountain was [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A controversial proposed mining project in Malawi’s newest UNESCO World Heritage Site is raising opposition from traditional chiefs and conservationists. Mount Mulanje in southern Malawi is a renowned biodiversity hotspot, a vital source of freshwater, and is of huge spiritual significance to the communities that live on and around it. In June, the mountain was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Malawi’s third. Mulanje conservationists say they fear that proposed mining projects on the mountain’s high-altitude plateau would threaten the mountain’s ecological integrity, jeopardize tourism development and undo hard-won gains in sustainable development. A sacred mountain rich in endemic species Mount Mulanje is a massive inselberg in southern Malawi, its forested slopes rising steeply to a broad plateau with 13 peaks, reaching an altitude of 3,002 meters (9,849 feet) at its highest point. Nine perennial rivers drain from the upper slopes, and the mountain is home to more than 70 endemic species, including the critically endangered Mulanje cedar (Widdringtonia whytei), Malawi’s national tree. The critically endangered Mulanje cedar (Widdringtonia whytei), also called the Mulanje cypress, is found only on Mount Mulanje between 1,830 and 2,550 meters (6,004 to 8,366 feet). It is threatened by logging and human-caused wildfires. Image by Amanita Phalloides via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). More than a million people live in the surrounding districts of Mulanje and Phalombe, and rely on the mountain and its forests for clean water, firewood, edible forest products, protection from storms, income from tourism, and more. The mountain is considered sacred&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/a-big-no-opposition-grows-to-proposed-mine-in-malawis-newest-unesco-site/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/a-big-no-opposition-grows-to-proposed-mine-in-malawis-newest-unesco-site/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308825</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New cluster of Tapanuli orangutans discovered in Sumatra peat swamp</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/tapanuli-orangutan-sumatra-endangered-ape-conservation-forest-indonesia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/tapanuli-orangutan-sumatra-endangered-ape-conservation-forest-indonesia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Oct 2025 02:05:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Junaidi Hanafiah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/15042253/Orangutan-tapanuli_Junaidi-Mongabay1-1536x1024-1-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307657</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Great Apes]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, North Sumatra, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Apes, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Great Apes, Habitat Loss, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Infrastructure, Logging, Mammals, Orangutans, Primary Forests, Primates, Protected Areas, Research, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CENTRAL TAPANULI, Indonesia — Since it was first described by scientists in 2017, the Tapanuli orangutan, one of the world’s rarest great apes, was believed to live only in the Batang Toru forest of Indonesia’s North Sumatra province. But new findings reveal that the species (Pongo tapanuliensis) also inhabits a peat swamp forest some 32 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CENTRAL TAPANULI, Indonesia — Since it was first described by scientists in 2017, the Tapanuli orangutan, one of the world’s rarest great apes, was believed to live only in the Batang Toru forest of Indonesia’s North Sumatra province. But new findings reveal that the species (Pongo tapanuliensis) also inhabits a peat swamp forest some 32 kilometers (20 miles) away, adding a new layer to the understanding of its range. On Sept. 26, 2025, a field team from the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Foundation–Orangutan Information Centre (YOSL-OIC), accompanied by Mongabay Indonesia journalist Junaidi Hanafiah, documented a mother and infant orangutan in the secondary forest of Lumut Maju village in Central Tapanuli district. The observation followed hours of trekking through thick vegetation, and the sighting became the first confirmed record of Tapanuli orangutans in this area, which borders the Indian Ocean. The location first drew attention in 2022, when local residents reported orangutan sightings to YOSL-OIC’s Human-Orangutan Conflict Response Unit (HOCRU). Initial verification found no apes, but did reveal five nests. Later that year, HOCRU and the YOSL-OIC research team returned for further monitoring across the 1,234-hectare (3,049-acre) peat swamp. They found 17 nests, several newly constructed, indicating active use of the forest by orangutans. “We found new nests that we categorized as class one nests, which we can confirm to have orangutans,” Rio Ardi, the research manager at YOSL-OIC, told Mongabay. A previously unknown home of Tapanuli orangutans has been discovered in a peat swamp forest in North Sumatra. Image by Junaidi&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/tapanuli-orangutan-sumatra-endangered-ape-conservation-forest-indonesia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/tapanuli-orangutan-sumatra-endangered-ape-conservation-forest-indonesia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307657</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New conservation area protects 53% of carbon in northern Peruvian Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/new-conservation-area-protects-53-of-carbon-in-northern-peruvian-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/new-conservation-area-protects-53-of-carbon-in-northern-peruvian-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Sep 2025 15:39:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Geraldine Santos]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/18153755/154c08ce-5194-431b-aeea-c3097c4a375a-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=306194</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[carbon, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Primary Forests, Protected Areas, and Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new regional conservation area has been created in Loreto, the largest region in Peru’s Amazon. The Medio Putumayo Algodón Regional Conservation Area is the fourth protected natural area in the Putumayo region, an area connected by the Putumayo River, which flows into Colombia. The Ministry of the Environment established the area on June 6 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new regional conservation area has been created in Loreto, the largest region in Peru’s Amazon. The Medio Putumayo Algodón Regional Conservation Area is the fourth protected natural area in the Putumayo region, an area connected by the Putumayo River, which flows into Colombia. The Ministry of the Environment established the area on June 6 by Supreme Decree to conserve 283,595 hectares (about 700,778 acres) across the districts of Pebas, Putumayo and Yaguas. Pebas is in Mariscal Ramón Castilla province, while Putumayo and Yaguas are in Putumayo province. The area contains seven different ecosystems with primary forests. Protecting this area will contribute to maintaining 53% of Loreto&#8217;s annual carbon stock. Forests are among the world’s most dynamic carbon reservoirs, as deforestation and land use changes release carbon dioxide, driving global warming. The new regional conservation area covers over 283,000 hectares (700,780 acres) of primary forest surrounding the Putumayo River. Image courtesy of Diego Pérez (Peruvian Society for Environmental Law – SPDA). Sixteen Indigenous communities are to benefit from the Medio Putumayo Algodón Regional Conservation Area. Image courtesy of Diego Pérez (SPDA). The region is the largest in Peru, covering 6,9 million hectares (17 million acres), which represents 28% of the country’s territory and 51% of the Peruvian Amazon. It is also home to the largest Indigenous population, with around 100,000 people from 27 different communities. Additionally, more than 5,000 people living in 16 Indigenous communities around the new regional conservation area, which the regional government of Loreto will manage, will&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/new-conservation-area-protects-53-of-carbon-in-northern-peruvian-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/new-conservation-area-protects-53-of-carbon-in-northern-peruvian-amazon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-306194</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Last chance to save Europe&#8217;s greatest old-growth forest? (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/last-chance-to-save-europes-greatest-old-growth-forest-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/last-chance-to-save-europes-greatest-old-growth-forest-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2025 14:31:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alan Weiss]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/03/10153021/feature1-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305360</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, and Poland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Commentary, Conservation, Deforestation, Forests, Governance, Old Growth Forests, Temperate Forests, Trees, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Białowieża Forest is unparalleled in the world. It harbors the best-preserved fragments of lowland deciduous and mixed forests in the European Lowlands, where natural processes, including all stages of forest ecosystem dynamics, unfold undisturbed by human interference over vast areas. Yet, only 36% of the Białowieża Forest on the Polish side is protected within [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Białowieża Forest is unparalleled in the world. It harbors the best-preserved fragments of lowland deciduous and mixed forests in the European Lowlands, where natural processes, including all stages of forest ecosystem dynamics, unfold undisturbed by human interference over vast areas. Yet, only 36% of the Białowieża Forest on the Polish side is protected within the Białowieża National Park and its related nature reserves. The rest is managed commercially, underscoring the urgent need to minimize human impact. In light of climate change and the biodiversity crisis, placing the entire Białowieża Forest under permanent protection should be a matter of course. Conveying the uniqueness of this place cannot be achieved merely by listing species, providing statistics on protected areas, or enumerating natural attractions. Such data is readily available online, yet it pales in comparison to the haunting sound of wolves (Canis lupus lupus), howling at dusk, the swift current of the Narewka River, the rustling of ancient oaks, and the watchful eyes of a pine marten (Martes martes) surveying the forest from a spruce windfall. Here, you can admire the rare three-toed woodpecker (Picoides tridactylus), the vibrant cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae), and the elusive pygmy owl (Glaucidium passerinum). To truly feel the primal pulse and witness the captivating beauty of the Białowieża Forest, you must visit. This forest, embodying the distinct traits of a primeval ecosystem, has existed for 12,000 years. It might not have survived to this day if Polish kings had not placed it under their protection. In modern&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/last-chance-to-save-europes-greatest-old-growth-forest-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/last-chance-to-save-europes-greatest-old-growth-forest-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305360</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Forest connectivity key to preserving PNG’s spectacular rainforest birds: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/forest-connectivity-key-to-preserving-pngs-spectacular-rainforest-birds-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/forest-connectivity-key-to-preserving-pngs-spectacular-rainforest-birds-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jul 2025 12:55:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/08123630/1.-Cassowary_Full_RAB-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=302057</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Papua New Guinea, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Ecosystem Services, Forest Fragmentation, Forest Loss, Forests, Fragmentation, Green, Habitat Degradation, Logging, Primary Forests, Rainforests, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[From pollinating plants to dispersing seeds, birds play a variety of crucial roles that help to keep ecosystems in balance. But when we degrade and fragment their habitats, some species disappear much quicker than others — taking their specific ecosystem functions with them. New research from Papua New Guinea, one of the world&#8217;s last havens [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[From pollinating plants to dispersing seeds, birds play a variety of crucial roles that help to keep ecosystems in balance. But when we degrade and fragment their habitats, some species disappear much quicker than others — taking their specific ecosystem functions with them. New research from Papua New Guinea, one of the world&#8217;s last havens of intact tropical forest, suggests that forest-specialist insectivores and ground foragers are among the first to go. Given these vulnerable groups of birds include various bird-of-paradise species along with bowerbirds and cassowaries, which are important emblems of PNG, the authors urge conservationists to focus on retaining forest-dependent birds as a strategy that would protect species of both ecological and cultural significance, as well as their forest home. “PNG derives much of its cultural power from birds, as sources of Indigenous clothing, pride as national animals, [or the focus of] ecotourism,” study lead author Krystof Korejs, a zoologist at the University of South Bohemia in the Czech Republic, told Mongabay in an email. Covering the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, PNG is a global epicenter of avian biodiversity. Some of the world’s most ornate and behaviorally complex species are found in its megadiverse old growth rainforests. However, mounting pressure from agricultural expansion and commercial logging are putting stress on these crucial ecosystems, sparking concerns among conservationists about how species will cope. A sulphur-crested cockatoo in New Guinea. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. Specialists out, generalists in To find out how PNG’s bird communities&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/forest-connectivity-key-to-preserving-pngs-spectacular-rainforest-birds-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/forest-connectivity-key-to-preserving-pngs-spectacular-rainforest-birds-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-302057</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Tropical forest loss hit new heights in 2024; fire a major driver in Latin America</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/tropical-forest-loss-hit-new-heights-in-2024-fire-a-major-driver-in-latin-america/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/tropical-forest-loss-hit-new-heights-in-2024-fire-a-major-driver-in-latin-america/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 May 2025 22:02:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/21213531/IF_Quilpue_24_2-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299460</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Bolivia, Brazil, Congo Basin, Democratic Republic Of Congo, Global, Indonesia, Latin America, Republic of Congo, South America, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Deforestation, El Nino, Environment, Fires, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Warming, Green, Habitat Loss, Primary Forests, Rainforests, Temperate Forests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Tropical forest loss skyrocketed in 2024, with vast swaths of primary forest consumed by fire, according to new satellite data from the University of Maryland’s Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) laboratory, made available on World Resources Institute’s (WRI) Global Forest Watch (GFW) platform. The data indicate a record 6.7 million hectares (16.6 million acres) [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Tropical forest loss skyrocketed in 2024, with vast swaths of primary forest consumed by fire, according to new satellite data from the University of Maryland’s Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) laboratory, made available on World Resources Institute’s (WRI) Global Forest Watch (GFW) platform. The data indicate a record 6.7 million hectares (16.6 million acres) of primary tropical forest was destroyed in 2024 — an area almost the size of Panama. Nearly half of this forest loss was driven by fire, according to WRI’s analysis of the data. Five times more tropical forest burned in 2024 than in the previous year. That made fire, not agricultural expansion, the primary driver of tropical forest loss for the first time. Non-fire related tropical forest loss was also up, by 14% compared with 2023. “The 2024 numbers must be a wake-up call to every country, every bank, every international business,” Elizabeth Goldman, co-director of GFW said during a press conference. “Continuing down this path will devastate economies, people’s jobs and any chance of staving off climate change’s worst effects.&#8221; In 2024, the Amazon experienced the worst drought — and fire season — in decades. Fires are normally rare in humid tropical ecosystems. But in hot dry conditions, agricultural fires, many lit to clear land, can quickly spread, driving forest loss in the Amazon and other parts of Latin America. The data revealed that in the Congo Basin, shifting cultivation remained the primary driver of tropical forest loss, with rates of forest loss in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/tropical-forest-loss-hit-new-heights-in-2024-fire-a-major-driver-in-latin-america/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299460</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In New Guinea, megadiverse lowland forests are most at risk of deforestation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/in-new-guinea-megadiverse-lowland-forests-are-most-at-risk-of-deforestation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/in-new-guinea-megadiverse-lowland-forests-are-most-at-risk-of-deforestation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 May 2025 08:43:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/21020452/Banner_IMG_9967-e1747793965688-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299383</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, New Guinea, Papua New Guinea, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Carbon Emissions, Conservation, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forests, Governance, Green, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Logging, Plantations, Primary Forests, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Research, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The island of New Guinea is famed for its eye-popping diversity of plants, animals and human cultures. Estimated to host one-tenth of Earth’s species, it’s the world’s second-largest island and has the third-largest intact expanse of tropical forest in the world, after the Amazon and the Congo. It’s where birds-of-paradise perform their effervescent courtship displays, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The island of New Guinea is famed for its eye-popping diversity of plants, animals and human cultures. Estimated to host one-tenth of Earth’s species, it’s the world’s second-largest island and has the third-largest intact expanse of tropical forest in the world, after the Amazon and the Congo. It’s where birds-of-paradise perform their effervescent courtship displays, tree kangaroos shimmy up trees to dizzying heights, and the world’s largest butterfly flits between foliage in the forest canopy. This extraordinary biodiversity is partly the result of centuries of evolutionary isolation at the edge of the western Pacific, where the biota of Asia and Australasia meet. It also comes from powerful tectonic activity that shaped a rugged and mountainous landscape, making many areas difficult for humans to access and develop. Today, roughly 80% of New Guinea’s forest cover remains intact, sharply contrasting with nearby islands like Borneo, Java and Sumatra, which have seen extensive development and deforestation. However, experts are increasingly concerned that developers are shifting their focus to New Guinea, which is split roughly in half between Indonesia, which controls the island’s west, and Papua New Guinea, in the east. Major road schemes, industrial logging and agricultural conglomerates pushing biofuel agendas are carving into the island’s ancient landscapes, especially on the Indonesian side. A new study that models deforestation risk across the island predicts that its low-elevation forests are likely to be especially vulnerable. This is worrisome, the authors note, since these ecosystems are among the tallest, most biologically rich and carbon-dense ecosystems&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/in-new-guinea-megadiverse-lowland-forests-are-most-at-risk-of-deforestation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299383</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Beyond reforestation, let’s try ‘proforestation’</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/beyond-reforestation-lets-try-proforestation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/beyond-reforestation-lets-try-proforestation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Mar 2025 16:39:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sruthi Gurudev]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/26162107/Pinus-strobus-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=296518</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, carbon, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Sequestration, Conservation, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forest Destruction, Forestry, Forests, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Logging, Old Growth Forests, Protected Areas, Reforestation, Soil Carbon, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Edward Faison, an ecologist at the Highstead Foundation, stood quietly in a patch of forest that stretched for miles in all directions. Above him, the needles from white pine trees swayed — common in the Adirondack Forest Preserve in northern New York state. He stepped past downed wood and big, broken snags, observing how the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Edward Faison, an ecologist at the Highstead Foundation, stood quietly in a patch of forest that stretched for miles in all directions. Above him, the needles from white pine trees swayed — common in the Adirondack Forest Preserve in northern New York state. He stepped past downed wood and big, broken snags, observing how the forest functioned with minimal interference. “These forests have been essentially unmanaged for over 125 years. To see them continue to thrive and accumulate carbon, recover from natural disturbances and develop complexity without our help reveal just how resilient these systems are,” Faison says. Protected from logging in 1894 by an act of the New York Legislature, the Adirondack Forest Preserve (AFP) is a model of natural forest growth, or letting forests simply “get on with it.” The largest trees, white pines (Pinus strobus), are more than a century old and stretch more than 150 feet tall and are 4-5 feet in diameter. The AFP, the largest wilderness preserve in the eastern United States, is a prime example of what researchers have come to call “proforestation.” Coined in 2019 by Tufts University professor William Moomaw and Trinity College professor of applied science Susan Masino, the term proforestation describes the process of allowing existing forests to continue growing without human interference until they achieve their full ecological potential for carbon sequestration and biological diversity. Proforestation is considered a natural climate solution, i.e., a strategy to steward the Earth’s vegetation to increase the removal of carbon dioxide (CO2)&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/beyond-reforestation-lets-try-proforestation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/beyond-reforestation-lets-try-proforestation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-296518</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Reforesting Malawi’s ‘Island in the Sky’ to save its vanishing woodlands</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/reforesting-malawis-island-in-the-sky-to-save-its-vanishing-woodlands/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/reforesting-malawis-island-in-the-sky-to-save-its-vanishing-woodlands/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Feb 2025 00:14:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/27235116/2-Kazembe_-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=295133</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Regenerative landscapes]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Malawi, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Dry Forests, Endangered Species, Environment, Fires, Forests, Green, Old Growth Forests, Plants, Primary Forests, Reforestation, Savannas, Timber, Trees, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In March 2023, Tropical Cyclone Freddy hit Malawi, unleashing six months of rain in six days. Freddy was the largest and longest-lasting tropical cyclone ever recorded, and the impacts were catastrophic. In Malawi, more than 600 people died, and more than 650,000 were displaced. Communities around Mount Mulanje, in the country’s south, were some of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In March 2023, Tropical Cyclone Freddy hit Malawi, unleashing six months of rain in six days. Freddy was the largest and longest-lasting tropical cyclone ever recorded, and the impacts were catastrophic. In Malawi, more than 600 people died, and more than 650,000 were displaced. Communities around Mount Mulanje, in the country’s south, were some of the hardest hit. Once heavily forested, parts of the mountain have been left denuded or bare from illegal logging, fires and demand for firewood. Without trees to slow the rain’s descent, slopes turned to rivers of rocks and mud, destroying villages and smothering fields. For many, Cyclone Freddy was a turning point, says Kondwani Chamwala, an environmental educator whose family home sits in the mountain’s shadow. “The communities, most of them are now seeing the importance of protecting what is there,” he says. Often called the “Island in the Sky,” Mt. Mulanje rises steeply out of the plains like a rocky fortress. It’s massive, about 64,000 hectares (158,000 acres) around, with a broad, high-altitude plateau from which rise 13 peaks, the tallest reaching an elevation of 3,002 meters (9,849 feet). Miombo woodlands, a type of forest common across parts of Southern Africa, dominate the lower slopes. But as you ascend, you enter an otherworldly place: fog-laden forests and grasslands, home to nearly 70 endemic plant species. Nine major rivers originate on the mountain’s slopes, and there are hundreds of streams. In local lore, it’s a place of spirits. Mount Mulanje, known as the ‘Island in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/reforesting-malawis-island-in-the-sky-to-save-its-vanishing-woodlands/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/reforesting-malawis-island-in-the-sky-to-save-its-vanishing-woodlands/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-295133</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How the U.S. got no old growth forest protections from the Biden Administration (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/how-the-u-s-got-no-old-growth-forest-protections-from-the-biden-administration-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/how-the-u-s-got-no-old-growth-forest-protections-from-the-biden-administration-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jan 2025 17:39:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Dominick A. DellaSala]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/02/11145221/GP04ZBU-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=292638</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Governance, Nature-based climate solutions, Old Growth Forests, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Wikipedia defines a &#8216;nothing-burger&#8217; as “a situation that receives a lot of attention but which, upon closer examination, reveals to be of little to no real significance.” That unfortunately applies to the Forest Service’s national old-growth amendment (NOGA), which despite President Biden’s executive order directing the agency to conduct an inventory of mature and old-growth [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Wikipedia defines a &#8216;nothing-burger&#8217; as “a situation that receives a lot of attention but which, upon closer examination, reveals to be of little to no real significance.” That unfortunately applies to the Forest Service’s national old-growth amendment (NOGA), which despite President Biden’s executive order directing the agency to conduct an inventory of mature and old-growth forests (hereafter called “old”) on federal lands for “conservation purposes,” did nothing to move the needle on old forest protections. While the president was a signatory to the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration to end deforestation and forest degradation globally by 2030, and was committed to the Paris Climate Agreement, including maintaining “carbon sinks and reservoirs,” the Biden Administration is now ending without a single forested acre protected by NOGA, and the related Northwest Forest Plan amendment, with severe forest degradation consequences. All sides are to blame for a failed NOGA policy that was the result of: (1) definition paralysis that delayed action; (2) rebranding strategies by the timber industry that positioned logging as the solution to all “forest health” issues rather than the problem itself; (3) questionable agency threat assessments that supported the industry narrative; and (4) the lack of a unified vision for forest protection by conservation groups. Let me break the failure to act down, piece by piece. Redwood forests in California are among the oldest and tallest in the U.S. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler for Mongabay. Paralysis over old growth forest definition The NOGA process initially got bogged down in a so-called&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/how-the-u-s-got-no-old-growth-forest-protections-from-the-biden-administration-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-292638</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Satellite data show bursts of deforestation continue in Indonesian national park</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/satellite-data-show-bursts-of-deforestation-continue-in-indonesian-national-park/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/satellite-data-show-bursts-of-deforestation-continue-in-indonesian-national-park/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Nov 2024 19:43:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/11/30193103/sumatra_9232-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=290970</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Forest Trackers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Riau, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Critically Endangered Species, data, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environment, Green, Habitat Loss, Industrial Agriculture, National Parks, Old Growth Forests, Palm Oil, Primary Forests, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Remote Sensing, Satellite Imagery, Tigers, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When the Indonesian government established Tesso Nilo National Park in 2004 on a former logging concession, little could it have known that the legacy of logging and deforestation would continue years after granting it official protection. The park, which was expanded in 2009, now covers more than 80,000 hectares of land in Sumatra’s Riau province, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When the Indonesian government established Tesso Nilo National Park in 2004 on a former logging concession, little could it have known that the legacy of logging and deforestation would continue years after granting it official protection. The park, which was expanded in 2009, now covers more than 80,000 hectares of land in Sumatra’s Riau province, and is one of the last tracts of lowland forest blocks that remains on the island. Tesso Nilo National Park is home to nearly 3% of the world’s mammals, according to World Wildlife Fund (WWF) – Indonesia, including the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) and the Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus), both critically endangered. It also boasts more than 4,000 plant species within its borders — one of the highest levels of lowland plant diversity in the world. As few as 400 Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae) may persist in the wild. Image by Rhett A. Butler / Mongabay. However, for decades since its designation of a national park, Tesso Nilo has experienced unabated deforestation, driven by illegal logging, establishment of palm oil plantations within the national park, and encroachments in the form of villages. A 2018 investigation from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) found that nearly three-fourths of Tesso Nilo is converted into palm oil plantations, and related deforestation has continued to destroy primary forest in the park. Satellite data from monitoring platform Global Forest Watch (GFW) show Tesso Nilo lost 78% of its primary forest cover between 2009 and 2023. And preliminary data&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/satellite-data-show-bursts-of-deforestation-continue-in-indonesian-national-park/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-290970</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fires rip through Indigenous territories in Brazilian Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/fires-rip-through-indigenous-territories-in-brazilian-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/fires-rip-through-indigenous-territories-in-brazilian-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Nov 2024 23:27:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/11/29230510/1129-capoto-xingu-sept-planet-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=290961</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Forest Trackers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Cattle, Corn, Environment, Fires, Forests, Green, Habitat Loss, Indigenous Reserves, Industrial Agriculture, Infrastructure, Primary Forests, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Ranching, Roads, Soy, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Surrounded by soy fields and cattle pastures, Xingu Indigenous Park and Capoto/Jarina Indigenous Territory — still shrouded in rainforest — stand out like a green thumb in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state. Home to roughly 7,500 Indigenous residents in 18 groups, the two territories cover 3.3 million hectares — an area bigger than Belgium — and are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Surrounded by soy fields and cattle pastures, Xingu Indigenous Park and Capoto/Jarina Indigenous Territory — still shrouded in rainforest — stand out like a green thumb in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state. Home to roughly 7,500 Indigenous residents in 18 groups, the two territories cover 3.3 million hectares — an area bigger than Belgium — and are a haven for wildlife. Yet despite decades of protection, the reserves are not immune to the pressures building at their boundaries. Google Timelapse shows how Xingu and Capoto/Jarina became an island of forest in a sea of industrial agriculture. Xingu Indigenous Park lost 15% of its primary forest cover between 2002 and 2023, an area of 368,000 hectares, according to satellite data from Global Forest Watch (GFW). More than a quarter of that was lost in 2016 alone, when fires ripped through the reserve. The adjacent Capoto/Jarina Indigenous Territory lost 8.3% of primary forest cover between 2002 and 2023, an area of 46,300 hectares. The worst years for forest loss were 2017, 2020 and 2022. Both territories saw big drops in deforestation activity in 2023.  But that appears to be but a blip, with imagery and data showing huge swaths of land lost to fire in 2024. Satellite data show large swaths of tree cover were lost in both Xingu Indigenous Park and Capoto/Jarina Indigenous Territory in 2024. Data from NASA and satellite imagery from Planet Labs and Sentinel 2A indicate fires were the driving force behind forest loss in both Indigenous territories. In Capoto/Jarina&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/fires-rip-through-indigenous-territories-in-brazilian-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-290961</doi>				</item>
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