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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?s=&#038;type=post&#038;topic=shipping" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/shipping/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Mon, 12 Oct 2026 16:26:56 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
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<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Shipping</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/shipping/</link>
	<width>32</width>
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				<item>
					<title>In Rio Indio, farmers fight Panama Canal reservoir project — and displacement</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-rio-indio-farmers-fight-panama-canal-reservoir-project-and-displacement/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-rio-indio-farmers-fight-panama-canal-reservoir-project-and-displacement/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jun 2026 15:20:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Monica Pelliccia]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/16150742/6-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321305</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Global, North America, and Panama]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Canals, Controversial, Corporations, Dams, Development, Encroachment, Endangered Species, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Indigenous Peoples, Infrastructure, Resource Conflict, and Shipping]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LIMÓN DE CHAGRES, Panama — In Panama’s Rio Indio Basin, a $1.5 billion reservoir project aims to meet water demand for the next 50 years. But the project would displace dozens of farming communities, sparking widespread opposition to the reservoir’s construction. “We will give our lives to save Rio Indio! I came from Limón de [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LIMÓN DE CHAGRES, Panama — In Panama’s Rio Indio Basin, a $1.5 billion reservoir project aims to meet water demand for the next 50 years. But the project would displace dozens of farming communities, sparking widespread opposition to the reservoir’s construction. “We will give our lives to save Rio Indio! I came from Limón de Chagres, the first community that could be flooded to make space for the dam,” shouts Maricel Sanchéz at the microphone from a stage during a May 1 march in Panama City. “Today, I’m so proud to see how united we are in our resistance.” Sanchéz, 25, is the spokesperson for the Rio Indio farmers’ assembly, which is part of Coordinadora Campesina por la Vida (Peasant Coordinator for Life), a grassroots social and community organization of farmers, Indigenous communities and civic groups in Panama. During the march, she spoke out about their mobilization against the Río Indio reservoir: a $1.5 billion project by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), Panama’s government agency responsible for managing the canal. Rio Indio is a 98-kilometer (about 61-mile) river in central Panama, flowing through the Costa Abajo area (home to 231 farming communities) to the Caribbean Sea. Here, the ACP plans to create a reservoir to provide water to nearby Gatun Lake (the northern entrance of the Panama Canal in the Atlantic Ocean) to meet water demand for the next 50 years for human consumption and for canal operations, especially during droughts. The construction is expected to begin in 2027 and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-rio-indio-farmers-fight-panama-canal-reservoir-project-and-displacement/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-rio-indio-farmers-fight-panama-canal-reservoir-project-and-displacement/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321305</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Whale strike risk rises as international shipping reroutes around South Africa</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whale-strike-risk-rises-as-international-shipping-reroutes-around-south-africa/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whale-strike-risk-rises-as-international-shipping-reroutes-around-south-africa/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2026 06:37:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/04104305/IMG_9041-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320573</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and South Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Governance, Science, Shipping, trafficking, Whale Sharks, Whales, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In April this year, two Bryde’s whales washed-up dead-on Dyer Island, a small nature reserve located a few kilometers off the coast of Gansbaai in South Africa’s Western Cape province. Both whales carried severe injuries; their vertebrae had been shattered. “It was very clear that it was [vessel] strikes, because both those whales were snapped [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In April this year, two Bryde’s whales washed-up dead-on Dyer Island, a small nature reserve located a few kilometers off the coast of Gansbaai in South Africa’s Western Cape province. Both whales carried severe injuries; their vertebrae had been shattered. “It was very clear that it was [vessel] strikes, because both those whales were snapped in half, and you can also see the propeller marks,” Loraine Shuttleworth, head of research at the Dyer Island Conservation Trust, told Mongabay. Two whale strandings linked to ship strikes in one month alone is an unusually high number, Shuttleworth said. A new risk assessment has linked the increase in risk of ships striking whales to the rerouting of maritime traffic around South African coast. Due to the Houthi rebels attacks on ships traversing the Red Sea, which started in 2023, and the more recent fallout from the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, many cargo companies have rerouted their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope. With greater shipping traffic comes a growing threat to marine species inhabiting the region: collisions with large, fast-moving vessels. Between December 2023 and December 2024, the number of large vessels traveling through South African waters at average speeds above 15 knots (28 kilometers per hour) has quadrupled, satellite data show. The scale of the increased maritime traffic struck scientist Els Vermeulen from the University of Pretoria’s Mammal Research Institute Whale Unit, on a flight into Cape Town in 2025. “It was a beautiful day, and there were just&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whale-strike-risk-rises-as-international-shipping-reroutes-around-south-africa/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whale-strike-risk-rises-as-international-shipping-reroutes-around-south-africa/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320573</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The most underfunded climate opportunities may be at sea</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-most-underfunded-climate-opportunities-may-be-at-sea/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-most-underfunded-climate-opportunities-may-be-at-sea/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 May 2026 00:45:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/23171940/OceanImageBank_CameronVenti_2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320057</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Decarbonization, Ecosystems, Energy, Energy Security, Energy Transition, Marine, Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Offshore Wind, Ports, Renewable Energy, Shipping, Wind, and Wind Power]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Ocean philanthropy remains a small field. Funding directed specifically toward ocean-climate solutions is smaller still. At last week’s “Sea Change” panel on ocean-climate solutions in Asia, convened as part of the Philanthropy Asia Summit, the discussion kept returning to this mismatch: the ocean is central to the climate transition, yet ocean-climate philanthropy remains a rounding [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Ocean philanthropy remains a small field. Funding directed specifically toward ocean-climate solutions is smaller still. At last week’s “Sea Change” panel on ocean-climate solutions in Asia, convened as part of the Philanthropy Asia Summit, the discussion kept returning to this mismatch: the ocean is central to the climate transition, yet ocean-climate philanthropy remains a rounding error in global giving. Ocean-climate philanthropy’s funding gap The numbers are stark: Less than 1.5% of global philanthropic giving goes to climate mitigation. About 0.25% goes to ocean issues. At the intersection of the two, the figure is roughly 0.05%. That is a narrow base of support for work that touches power generation, shipping, food systems, coastal protection, marine biodiversity, and the future of many island and coastal economies. The ocean has long been treated by funders primarily as a conservation concern. Grants have supported marine protected areas, fisheries management, coastal livelihoods, scientific research, and habitat protection. Much of that work remains essential. It has helped create institutions, protect places, and improve the management of fisheries and reefs. Climate change is now the force most likely to overwhelm many of those gains. Warming, acidification, rising seas, stronger storms, and shifting fish stocks are changing the conditions under which ocean conservation operates. Foundation Funding for Ocean-Climate (2015–2024). Foundation ocean-climate funding shown here is inclusive of all mitigation and sequestration-focused funding, including cross-cutting policy work. Funding to blue carbon is included in this chart as a sequestration strategy. Labels represent 2024 funding amounts. Graphic from &#8220;Funding Trends&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-most-underfunded-climate-opportunities-may-be-at-sea/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-most-underfunded-climate-opportunities-may-be-at-sea/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320057</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ocean philanthropy: small sums for a vast domain</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/ocean-philanthropy-small-sums-for-a-vast-domain/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/ocean-philanthropy-small-sums-for-a-vast-domain/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 May 2026 00:35:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/07014337/OceanImageBank_EllenCuylaerts_01-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318899</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation Finance, Ecosystems, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, philanthropy, and Shipping]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For a realm that covers most of the planet, the ocean attracts a modest share of charitable attention. In philanthropic terms, it remains a niche cause: widely discussed, but thinly financed. That gap has narrowed in recent years, though only slightly and from a low base. Estimates suggest that ocean-focused philanthropy accounts for well under [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For a realm that covers most of the planet, the ocean attracts a modest share of charitable attention. In philanthropic terms, it remains a niche cause: widely discussed, but thinly financed. That gap has narrowed in recent years, though only slightly and from a low base. Estimates suggest that ocean-focused philanthropy accounts for well under 1% of global charitable giving, despite the ocean’s role in climate regulation, food production, and trade. In absolute terms, funding has grown. Annual contributions rose from roughly $430 million in 2010 to about $1 billion by 2022, with foundation funding reaching around $1.2 billion in recent years, according to a report published last November by CEA Consulting. Total Foundation Ocean Funding (2015–2024). Graphic from &#8220;Funding Trends 2025: Tracking the State of Global Ocean Funding&#8221;. Ocean Philanthropic Funding from Legacy Funders and New Entrants (2015–2024). Legacy funders include grants data from any funders who began grantmaking in 2015 or earlier. New entrants include grants data from any funders who began grantmaking in the ocean space after 2015. Graphic from &#8220;Funding Trends 2025: Tracking the State of Global Ocean Funding&#8221;. Funding Trends 2025: Tracking the State of Global Ocean Funding estimates that foundation funding grew from roughly $633 million in 2015 before flattening over the past two years. Growth has come from larger commitments by established donors and the entry of new ones, though spending now appears to have leveled off. The field is concentrated. Very concentrated. A small group of foundations accounts for a large share&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/ocean-philanthropy-small-sums-for-a-vast-domain/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/ocean-philanthropy-small-sums-for-a-vast-domain/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318899</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Shipping’s biofuel gamble could deepen Africa’s land squeeze and food insecurity (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/shippings-biofuel-gamble-could-deepen-africas-land-squeeze-and-food-insecurity-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/shippings-biofuel-gamble-could-deepen-africas-land-squeeze-and-food-insecurity-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Mar 2026 15:10:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Million BelaySusan Chomba]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/07145348/container-ship-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316050</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Biofuels, Business, carbon, Climate, Climate Change, Commentary, Farming, Food, food security, International Trade, Land Rights, Mitigation, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Shipping, Social Justice, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Africa&#8217;s future prosperity depends on how fast we can reduce emissions, especially from large polluting sectors like shipping. But using crops as fuel to cut emissions risks causing more harm than good. As countries gather at the UN&#8217;s International Maritime Organization (IMO) meeting in April to lay down the rules for future clean energy to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Africa&#8217;s future prosperity depends on how fast we can reduce emissions, especially from large polluting sectors like shipping. But using crops as fuel to cut emissions risks causing more harm than good. As countries gather at the UN&#8217;s International Maritime Organization (IMO) meeting in April to lay down the rules for future clean energy to power shipping, African governments must ensure that crop-based biofuels are not part of the solution. If that does happen, Africa might once again find itself paying the price for a transition from which it may not benefit. Shipping, as with other heavily polluting sectors, must decarbonize. But not all climate solutions are equal. The expansion of biofuels, often portrayed as ‘green’ in international shipping dialogues, could intensify pressures on land and food systems that are already stretched to the limit. As our work has shown, competition for land has reached a breaking point across Africa. Since 2000, hundreds of large-scale land deals have been recorded for industrial farming, carbon credits, mining, and biofuels. What is often presented as ‘unused’ or ‘marginal’ land is, in reality, the basis of livelihoods for small-scale farmers and Indigenous communities who are being displaced or stripped of control over their territories, which drives land inequality, rural poverty, and food insecurity. Biofuels for shipping risks accelerating this trajectory. Farmers at Yangambi, Democratic Republic of Congo. Image by Axel Fassio/CIFOR via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). Shipping consumes roughly 300 million tons of fuel each year, and is responsible for 3% of global&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/shippings-biofuel-gamble-could-deepen-africas-land-squeeze-and-food-insecurity-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/shippings-biofuel-gamble-could-deepen-africas-land-squeeze-and-food-insecurity-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316050</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Petrostates stymie effort to rein in Arctic shipping carbon emissions</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/petrostates-stymie-effort-to-rein-in-arctic-shipping-carbon-emissions/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/petrostates-stymie-effort-to-rein-in-arctic-shipping-carbon-emissions/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Feb 2026 15:41:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/22030600/b.-AdobeStock_254252875-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314611</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arctic and Arctic Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Black Carbon, carbon, Carbon Emissions, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Global Warming, Marine, Oceans, Pollution, Sea Ice, Shipping, Transportation, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[International shipping is on the rise in the Arctic region now that climate change regularly opens up transpolar sea routes in summer. That surge in traffic is leading to higher emissions of black carbon — colloquially known as soot, considered a “super pollutant.” Those emissions are escalating climate change and quickening sea ice and snow [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[International shipping is on the rise in the Arctic region now that climate change regularly opens up transpolar sea routes in summer. That surge in traffic is leading to higher emissions of black carbon — colloquially known as soot, considered a “super pollutant.” Those emissions are escalating climate change and quickening sea ice and snow loss across the Arctic, which is already Earth’s most rapidly warming region. At a recent meeting of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), member states (led by Denmark, and including France, Germany and the Solomon Islands), proposed new regulations to require ships sailing in the Arctic to use fuels that emit low amounts of black carbon. But in February, global petrostates, including Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States, opposed this effort, meant to slow Arctic warming. This delay follows a 2025 postponement of an IMO plan that had been widely expected to succeed, which would have accelerated the decarbonization of global shipping. That plan was blocked by the U.S. along with other oil-producing nations. The just-nixed Arctic proposal would have required ships sailing in the Far North to stop burning residual fuels — responsible for high black carbon emissions — and instead move to less polluting fuels. As spring approaches in the Arctic, an orange horizon backlights a ship&#8217;s stack emissions. The Research Vessel Polarstern embarked on a yearlong expedition to drift in Arctic sea ice called the Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC). Image by Julienne Stroeve/NSIDC via Flickr (CC&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/petrostates-stymie-effort-to-rein-in-arctic-shipping-carbon-emissions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/petrostates-stymie-effort-to-rein-in-arctic-shipping-carbon-emissions/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314611</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Collapses of Amazon riverbanks threaten communities and shipping routes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/collapses-of-amazon-riverbanks-threaten-communities-and-shipping-routes/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/collapses-of-amazon-riverbanks-threaten-communities-and-shipping-routes/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Dec 2025 17:29:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[André Schröder]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/14215034/001_terrascaidas_manacapuru_SGB-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311297</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Drought, Education, Environment, Erosion, Infrastructure, Ports, Rainforests, Rivers, Shipping, Threats To Rainforests, and Transportation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Erosion is natural along Amazonian rivers, but increasing boat traffic can raise the risk of bank collapse.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On the afternoon of Oct. 7, 2024, a section of banks along the Solimões River abruptly collapsed at the port of Manacapuru in Brazil’s Amazonas state. The resulting crater was the size of two soccer fields and as deep as 20 meters (65 feet). The collapse killed two people and shut down the port, a regional hub for moving goods and passengers about 160 kilometers (100 miles) upstream from the state capital, Manaus. Investigations later identified an erosion process known as terras caídas — literally “fallen lands” — a natural phenomenon observed along fast-flowing rivers across the Amazon Basin. During the dry season, when water levels drop sharply, riverbanks become tall, exposed walls, particularly vulnerable at river bends, where the waters can more easily dig their base and destabilize the terrain. At Manacapuru, however, human interventions on the riverbank contributed to the collapse. A report by Brazil’s federal geological agency, SGB, obtained by Mongabay shows that the river port was built directly on a bend of the Solimões (the name used in Brazil for the upper stretch of the Amazon River). The document states that walls and embankments further weakened the riverbank, which could no longer support its own weight amid the river’s low water level. “We need to be more careful when choosing where to build ports along Amazonian rivers,” Elton Andretta, a geoscience researcher at SGB, told Mongabay by phone. “Brazil already has satellite imagery and other technologies to monitor Amazonian rivers and identify risks. More conscious use&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/collapses-of-amazon-riverbanks-threaten-communities-and-shipping-routes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311297</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nations delay vote on shipping decarbonization rules after fierce US resistance</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/nations-delay-vote-on-shipping-decarbonization-rules-after-fierce-us-resistance/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/nations-delay-vote-on-shipping-decarbonization-rules-after-fierce-us-resistance/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Oct 2025 20:07:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/07145854/16056256428_a5ec357bdc_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307925</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[carbon, Climate Change, climate finance, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Industry, Marine, Oceans, Politics, and Shipping]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is Part 4 of a short series on efforts to decarbonize the global shipping industry, covering a key meeting from London. Part 1 addressed international policy and politics leading up to this meeting. Part 2 looked at efficiency measures; Part 3, alternative fuels. The shipping sector was widely expected to become the first industry to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is Part 4 of a short series on efforts to decarbonize the global shipping industry, covering a key meeting from London. Part 1 addressed international policy and politics leading up to this meeting. Part 2 looked at efficiency measures; Part 3, alternative fuels. The shipping sector was widely expected to become the first industry to adopt a binding set of global greenhouse gas emissions rules during an Oct. 14-17 meeting in London. However, the contentious talks concluded not with a vote on the rules, but rather a vote on whether to delay the decision for another year — a proposal that narrowly passed. Member countries of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) committee voted 57-49 in favor of delaying the decision until October 2026. The IMO is a United Nations body that regulates shipping. The “net-zero framework,” as the rules are known, would have established emissions intensity limits that become more stringent each year, with substantial fees paid for noncompliance. “Getting the net-zero framework adopted in this [meeting], however imperfect, was fundamental for shipping to stay within reach of its own decarbonation targets,” Anaïs Rios, senior shipping policy officer at Seas At Risk, a Brussels-based NGO, said in a statement. “Emotions have run high this week at the IMO, with once high-ambitious alliances wavering and strategies eclipsing reason.” The United States and other oil-exporting countries dominated much of the discussion in London as they sought to prevent the deal from being adopted. The U.S. derided the framework as an illegitimate international tax and argued&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/nations-delay-vote-on-shipping-decarbonization-rules-after-fierce-us-resistance/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307925</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>What fuel will ships burn as they move toward net zero?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/what-fuel-will-ships-burn-as-they-move-toward-net-zero/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/what-fuel-will-ships-burn-as-they-move-toward-net-zero/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Oct 2025 16:56:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/08141520/The-Laura-Maersk-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307225</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[carbon, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Footprint, Carbon Offsets, Climate Change, climate finance, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Governance, Impact Of Climate Change, Industry, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Politics, and Shipping]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is Part 3 of a short series on efforts to decarbonize the global shipping industry. Part 1 addressed international policy and politics, Part 2 efficiency measures. This part looks at alternative fuels. In mid-October, more than 100 nations will gather at a London meeting to decide whether to enshrine a set of carbon reduction [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is Part 3 of a short series on efforts to decarbonize the global shipping industry. Part 1 addressed international policy and politics, Part 2 efficiency measures. This part looks at alternative fuels. In mid-October, more than 100 nations will gather at a London meeting to decide whether to enshrine a set of carbon reduction rules into international shipping law. If they do, high-emitting conventional shipping fuels will be heavily penalized within a few years. But the rules don’t specify how they’re to be replaced; industry members would get to decide which low- and zero-carbon fuels to use instead. And so, spurred largely by these pending global regulations, the race is on to develop alternative fuels and scale up their use. Shipping accounts for about 3% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, and activity is expected to rise in coming decades. Efficiency measures to reduce fuel use of any kind, such as in hull design, will help but aren’t anywhere near a complete solution. “You’re not going to get to zero” with just efficiency, Lee Kindberg, former head of environment and sustainability for the North America division of Danish shipping giant A.P. Møller-Mærsk, often known simply as Maersk, told Mongabay. “Think about moving this huge mountain of metal with all these boxes of cargo on top of it,” she added. “It takes a lot of energy to do that, so it&#8217;s going to take low-carbon fuels.” Experts may disagree on the best alternative fuels, but they generally agree on which ones&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/what-fuel-will-ships-burn-as-they-move-toward-net-zero/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307225</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>With global rules pending, can the shipping industry get more carbon efficient?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/with-global-rules-pending-can-the-shipping-industry-get-more-carbon-efficient/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/with-global-rules-pending-can-the-shipping-industry-get-more-carbon-efficient/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Sep 2025 18:30:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/17131534/The-pink-panther-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=306131</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[carbon, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Footprint, Carbon Offsets, Climate Change, climate finance, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Governance, Impact Of Climate Change, Industry, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Politics, and Shipping]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is Part 2 of a short series on efforts to decarbonize the global shipping industry. Part 1 discussed international policy and politics. This part looks at efficiency measures. Those in the shipping business have long had some incentive to make their vessels travel more efficiently: saving money on fuel. But the heavy fuel oil [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is Part 2 of a short series on efforts to decarbonize the global shipping industry. Part 1 discussed international policy and politics. This part looks at efficiency measures. Those in the shipping business have long had some incentive to make their vessels travel more efficiently: saving money on fuel. But the heavy fuel oil they use is a “bottom-of-the-barrel” byproduct of crude oil refining and, while the price fluctuates, it generally is less expensive than other fossil fuels. So, getting shipowners to optimize operations or redesign their vessels on a large scale requires regulations, experts say. A big regulatory push may be steaming into port. The European Union recently began regulating greenhouse gas emissions from shipping, and the International Maritime Organization could adopt global decarbonization rules at a meeting in October, which would make shipping the first industry to be governed by a global treaty that sets enforceable decarbonization standards. The IMO deal would lead to a long-term transition to greener fuels and it could, coupled with other IMO regulations, lead to increased use of efficiency measures that reduce how much fuel vessels need in the first place. Such measures include everything from adding sails to ships to lubricating or redesigning hulls and optimizing routes or arrival times. These are cheaper and more immediately available than alternative fuels. “Efficiency measures are the most important because ultimately the most important thing we can do is reduce energy consumption, full stop,” Madadh MacLaine, secretary-general of the Zero Emissions Ship Technology Association&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/with-global-rules-pending-can-the-shipping-industry-get-more-carbon-efficient/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-306131</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>World’s first industry-wide climate mandate could be launched with shipping vote</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/worlds-first-industry-wide-climate-mandate-could-be-launched-with-shipping-vote/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/worlds-first-industry-wide-climate-mandate-could-be-launched-with-shipping-vote/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Aug 2025 15:47:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/07145348/container-ship-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=303925</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[carbon, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Footprint, Carbon Offsets, Climate Change, climate finance, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Governance, Impact Of Climate Change, Industry, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Politics, and Shipping]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is Part 1 in a short series on efforts to decarbonize the global shipping industry. Since the Paris climate agreement was signed in 2015, no industry has been governed by a global treaty that sets enforceable decarbonization standards. That could change in October, when more than 100 nations will gather at a meeting of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is Part 1 in a short series on efforts to decarbonize the global shipping industry. Since the Paris climate agreement was signed in 2015, no industry has been governed by a global treaty that sets enforceable decarbonization standards. That could change in October, when more than 100 nations will gather at a meeting of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London to potentially adopt a “net-zero framework” for the shipping industry. The body finalized the draft of the framework and moved it toward adoption at an April meeting. The shipping sector currently accounts for about 3% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, and maritime trade volumes are expected to increase in coming decades. In 2023, the IMO, a United Nations body that regulates shipping, approved a nonbinding strategy to decarbonize “by or around” 2050. The new framework, if it’s adopted and enters into force, will make that vision concrete and binding. Critics, however, say the framework falls short of fulfilling the strategic vision. The framework sets exact emissions targets through 2040, when all large vessels will be required to reduce their greenhouse gas intensity by 65% from a 2008 baseline or pay substantial fees. “That in practice means a fundamentally different energy system for shipping,” Tristan Smith, professor of energy and transport at University College London and a leading expert on shipping decarbonization, told Mongabay. “If the [framework] is adopted, then within 15 years, the entire fleet has to completely change the energy that it uses on board, and the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/worlds-first-industry-wide-climate-mandate-could-be-launched-with-shipping-vote/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-303925</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Locals fear Chile’s new port project for green energy will disrupt ecosystems</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/locals-fear-chiles-new-port-project-for-green-energy-will-disrupt-ecosystems/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/locals-fear-chiles-new-port-project-for-green-energy-will-disrupt-ecosystems/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jul 2025 14:59:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/11132103/D72B0964-66F5-446D-B86C-48498E13C8B0-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=302171</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, Chile, Latin America, Pacific Ocean, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Development, Ecosystems, Energy, Environment, Fish, Green, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Industry, Infrastructure, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Ports, Renewable Energy, Saltwater Fish, Shipping, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Chilean government has recently approved a new port project in Magallanes and the Chilean Antarctic Region, an area that recently attracted a lot of attention due to its enormous green energy potential. The port will transport infrastructure to expand green hydrogen, a colorless gas produced without fossil fuels, and allow for faster and more [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Chilean government has recently approved a new port project in Magallanes and the Chilean Antarctic Region, an area that recently attracted a lot of attention due to its enormous green energy potential. The port will transport infrastructure to expand green hydrogen, a colorless gas produced without fossil fuels, and allow for faster and more efficient transport of salmon from the farms in the region, said a government official. Meanwhile, some Indigenous residents and environmental organizations are raising concerns about potential environmental impacts of the port on the region’s marine ecosystems and species, such as humpback whales. In April, the Regional Commission for the Use of Coastal Border (CRUBC in Spanish) unanimously approved the Cabo Negro port project, proposed by the investment company Inversiones PPG SpA, which will be located 28 kilometers (17.3 miles) from the regional capital of Punta Arenas. A company presentation seen by Mongabay said it will include a 400-meter (1,312-foot) dock for loading and unloading supplies and servicing vessels, along with a 2-hectare (5-acre) landfill. The total length of the pier is approximately 1,100 m (3,609 ft) from the beach. Jan Gysling, the project manager for Nortev SpA, a company that is supporting PPG in the development of the project, told Mongabay that, although it has not yet been defined, the total area of the project will most likely be approximately 30 hectares (74 acres) of land and 5 hectares (12.3 acres) of sea. Local officials expect the port to help boost industries producing green hydrogen,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/locals-fear-chiles-new-port-project-for-green-energy-will-disrupt-ecosystems/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-302171</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Oil and plastic pollution from shipwreck raises concerns, legal scrutiny in India</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/oil-and-plastic-pollution-from-shipwreck-raises-concerns-legal-scrutiny-in-india/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/oil-and-plastic-pollution-from-shipwreck-raises-concerns-legal-scrutiny-in-india/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jul 2025 18:15:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Max Martin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/09180818/nurdles-hurdles-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=302141</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Global Environmental Crisis, Law, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Oil Spills, Plastic, Pollution, Shipping, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As shiny, pearl-like white plastic pellets rode wave after wave and piled up on the beaches of Thiruvananthapuram in India’s southern state of Kerala, local residents were first bemused, then baffled. Some, more enterprising than others, began collecting them in sacks with help from the local police — a first step in heading off what [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As shiny, pearl-like white plastic pellets rode wave after wave and piled up on the beaches of Thiruvananthapuram in India’s southern state of Kerala, local residents were first bemused, then baffled. Some, more enterprising than others, began collecting them in sacks with help from the local police — a first step in heading off what many fear could potentially become an environmental “catastrophe.” While the oil slick from the MSC ELSA-3 — a Liberia-flagged cargo vessel that sank off Kerala’s coast in late May — was reportedly contained in a few days, it marked only the beginning of an unfolding environmental disaster. Within days, the scale of the crisis began to surface — quite literally. Plastic pellets, dirty debris, sacks and beams of wood began washing ashore. Containers were found along the coast, with some even catching fire in Kollam district. Plastic pellets, also known as nurdles, began washing up along Kerala’s southern beaches and drifting steadily towards the shores of Kanyakumari, mainland India’s southernmost town. Experts were able to spot and contain the patches of oil slick. “That the oil spill is only in patches, not continuous, is a feat,” media reports quoted defense officials in Kerala’s Kochi city as saying, referring to the swift containment efforts by the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard. Scientists, however, raised red flags about submerged containers believed to be carrying hazardous materials such as calcium carbide and marine fuel oil. Calcium carbide reacts with water, producing acetylene — a flammable and potentially&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/oil-and-plastic-pollution-from-shipwreck-raises-concerns-legal-scrutiny-in-india/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-302141</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>River dredging in Bangladesh: Investigation shows government claims don’t add up</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/river-dredging-in-bangladesh-investigation-shows-government-claims-dont-add-up/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/river-dredging-in-bangladesh-investigation-shows-government-claims-dont-add-up/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Dec 2024 09:48:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abu SiddiqueFarhana ParvinMahadi Al HasnatRafiqul Islam]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/24054757/9267-An-excavator-was-being-used-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=292218</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Economics, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Freshwater, Governance, Law, Pollution, Rivers, Shipping, Transportation, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Over the last two decades, Bangladesh has spent a large amount of money to restore its waterways by dredging the rivers across the country to clear some silt and sand. The government planned to make the waterways navigable for carrying goods and passengers, to reduce the pressure on roads and transportation costs. According to the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Over the last two decades, Bangladesh has spent a large amount of money to restore its waterways by dredging the rivers across the country to clear some silt and sand. The government planned to make the waterways navigable for carrying goods and passengers, to reduce the pressure on roads and transportation costs. According to the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), out of Bangladesh&#8217;s 24,000 kilometers (14,900 miles) of waterways, only about 6,000 km (3,730 mi) are navigable by mechanized vessels during the monsoons. During the dry seasons, this shrinks to about 3,800 km (2,360 mi). In an effort to expand the waterways and ensure navigability throughout the year, Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) — under Bangladesh’s ministry of water resources — and BIWTA — under the shipping ministry — have been jointly managing the capital and maintenance of dredging every year for two decades under a master plan. This project is dependent on public money. Dredgers that are regularly used to dredge the Meghna River remain stationed in Brahmanbaria, eastern Bangladesh. Image by Rafiqul Islam. Plans for dredging Capital dredging is a method of creating new waterways by increasing the depth of a channel by dredging, while maintenance dredging is a regular activity to clear silt and sediment from the channels of bigger rivers. As per the master plan announced in 2012, 178 rivers are supposed to be dredged gradually over time to maintain regular navigation channels and create 10,000 km (6,213 mi) of new waterways. Of them, 53&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/river-dredging-in-bangladesh-investigation-shows-government-claims-dont-add-up/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-292218</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Shipbreaking pollutes Türkiye’s coast despite European cleanup efforts</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/shipbreaking-pollutes-turkiyes-coast-despite-european-cleanup-efforts/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/shipbreaking-pollutes-turkiyes-coast-despite-european-cleanup-efforts/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Dec 2024 18:18:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lyse MauvaisWouter Massink]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/17151957/edit-Yardwork-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=291775</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, Mediterranean Sea, and Turkey]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Birds, Coastal Ecosystems, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Governance, Health, International Trade, Marine, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Pollution, Public Health, Shipping, Waste, Water Pollution, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ALIAĞA, Türkiye — Every day, as dusk settles over the Aegean Sea, small vans ferrying workers homeward bustle in and out of Aliağa, a town nestled against lush, forested hills in the western İzmir province of Türkiye, formerly known as Turkey. Stepping out in oil-streaked overalls after a long day, the workers’ scent blends with [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ALIAĞA, Türkiye — Every day, as dusk settles over the Aegean Sea, small vans ferrying workers homeward bustle in and out of Aliağa, a town nestled against lush, forested hills in the western İzmir province of Türkiye, formerly known as Turkey. Stepping out in oil-streaked overalls after a long day, the workers’ scent blends with the thick industrial haze, a smell alien to outsiders and unnoticed by locals. Since the 1970s, this historic town near the ancient city of Troy, has become one of Türkiye’s prime industrial hubs, home to oil refineries, a liquefied natural gas plant and iron-steel furnaces. These highly polluting industries have helped transform the area into a notorious hotspot of carcinogenic contamination. But another key culprit lies just out of sight, hidden at the bay’s edge: shipbreaking. Aliağa is the world’s fourth destination for decaying oil rigs, container carriers and cruise ships. According to the Brussels-based NGO Shipbreaking Platform, at least 2,224 vessels have been dismantled there over the past 15 years, spewing out billions of tons of scrap metal, along with oil from the guts of rusty tankers, old electric wires, asbestos-based insulants and thousands of liters of bilge and ballast water. Locals know better than to eat the fish caught in Aliağa’s waters, which receive a toxic cocktail of pollution from the shipyards, a fisher and a shipbreaker told Mongabay. “They say even the fish is inedible here because it smells like shipbreaking,” the shipbreaker said. Yet this doesn’t stop people from selling fish&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/shipbreaking-pollutes-turkiyes-coast-despite-european-cleanup-efforts/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/shipbreaking-pollutes-turkiyes-coast-despite-european-cleanup-efforts/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-291775</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>South Africa’s penguins heading toward extinction; will no-fishing zones help?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/south-africas-penguins-heading-toward-extinction-will-no-fishing-zones-help/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/south-africas-penguins-heading-toward-extinction-will-no-fishing-zones-help/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Oct 2023 19:05:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Leonie Joubert]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/17131708/pam-ivey-c0Y30cWbyEc-unsplash-768x512-1.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274353</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Extinction, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Global Environmental Crisis, In-situ Conservation, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Overfishing, Pollution, Protected Areas, Saving Species From Extinction, Shipping, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CAPE TOWN — The endangered African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) could be extinct in the wild in just over a decade. To protect the bird’s food supply and slow its population collapse, South Africa is throwing a protective no-fishing cordon around its main breeding colonies. But the devil is in the details, and conservationists say time [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CAPE TOWN — The endangered African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) could be extinct in the wild in just over a decade. To protect the bird’s food supply and slow its population collapse, South Africa is throwing a protective no-fishing cordon around its main breeding colonies. But the devil is in the details, and conservationists say time is running out to get the policy up to scratch before an early 2024 deadline. South African seabird conservationists have had to launch a number of rescue operations in recent years, collecting thousands of starving African penguin, Cape gannet (Morus capensis) and Cape cormorant (Phalacrocorax capensis) chicks from key breeding colonies after they were abandoned by hungry parents. These rescues, conservationists say, show the extent to which the birds’ main food source, anchovies (Engraulis encrasicolus) and sardines (Sardinops sagax), is disappearing from their foraging ranges. Dwindling food is one of the main threats — but hardly the only one — driving a crash in African penguin numbers in the past three decades. Africa’s only endemic penguin has declined by nearly three-quarters since 1991, according to a 2021 census. About 10,000 breeding pairs are left today, compared with more than 1 million a century ago, and the species will be functionally extinct by 2035 if the current rate of population decline (currently at 8% per year) continues, according to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), whose estimates are based on ongoing population monitoring. The birds are losing food as they compete with commercial&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/south-africas-penguins-heading-toward-extinction-will-no-fishing-zones-help/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/south-africas-penguins-heading-toward-extinction-will-no-fishing-zones-help/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-274353</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Expected ship traffic to LNG Canada port could see whale deaths also rise</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/expected-ship-traffic-to-lng-canada-port-could-see-whale-deaths-also-rise/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/expected-ship-traffic-to-lng-canada-port-could-see-whale-deaths-also-rise/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Aug 2023 15:28:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/08/18144104/humpback-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272362</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Policy, Fish, Indigenous Peoples, Industry, Infrastructure, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Ports, Research, Shipping, Traditional People, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In September 2022, researchers at BC Whales, a Canadian research nonprofit studying cetaceans in the north of British Columbia province, gasped when they saw a drone image of a humpback whale known as Moon. Each summer, she regularly visited the many meandering waterways in the region with her calves, along with hundreds of other humpbacks, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In September 2022, researchers at BC Whales, a Canadian research nonprofit studying cetaceans in the north of British Columbia province, gasped when they saw a drone image of a humpback whale known as Moon. Each summer, she regularly visited the many meandering waterways in the region with her calves, along with hundreds of other humpbacks, feeding in the food-rich, tranquil waters. But this time, she looked different. Moon’s spine was crooked and her back half was paralyzed, probably after being hit by a ship, BC Whales researchers concluded. Despite heroically swimming thousands of kilometers to Hawai‘i propelled by only her pectoral fins, she likely died emaciated and eaten by parasites within months — a fate met by many whales hit by ships. “Ship strikes can kill or injure whales, and injuries can eventually lead to death, either through infection or reduced mobility, which eventually leads to starvation,” said Eric Keen, science director at BC Whales. He called Moon’s case a “fate worse than death.” As more ships cruise the waterways in northern British Columbia, mostly passenger cruise liners and freight carriers sailing to expanding ports in Prince Rupert and Kitimat, many cetaceans on the route are likely to meet Moon’s destiny, according to a recent study led by Keen. The biggest cause of concern in the next decade is the liquefied natural gas terminal at Kitimat, being built as part of one of the largest, and very popular, energy investments in Canadian history. The LNG Canada project is jointly owned&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/expected-ship-traffic-to-lng-canada-port-could-see-whale-deaths-also-rise/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/expected-ship-traffic-to-lng-canada-port-could-see-whale-deaths-also-rise/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-272362</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Top 15 species discoveries from 2022 (Photos)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/top-15-species-discoveries-from-2022-photos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/top-15-species-discoveries-from-2022-photos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Dec 2022 17:52:19 +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/20/2022/03/11184718/FISHCirrhilabrus-finifenmaa_4%C2%A9-Yi-Kai-Tea-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=264198</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Cameroon, Central America, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Global, Guinea, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Japan, Latin America, Madagascar, Maldives, Pacific Ocean, Panama, Peru, South America, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birding, Botany, Charismatic Animals, Climate Change, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Cryptic Species, Culture, Deforestation, DNA, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Environment, Flowers, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Insects, Islands, Lizards, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, New Discovery, Oceans, Oil Drilling, Owls, Plants, Rainforests, Reptiles, Research, Saving Species From Extinction, Shipping, Snakes, Solutions, Species Discovery, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A resplendent rainbow fish, a frog that looks like chocolate, a Thai tarantula,  an anemone that rides on a back of a hermit crab, and the world&#8217;s largest waterlily are among the new species named by science in 2022. In this well-trodden world, finding a new species is a glimpse of the uncharted riches of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A resplendent rainbow fish, a frog that looks like chocolate, a Thai tarantula,  an anemone that rides on a back of a hermit crab, and the world&#8217;s largest waterlily are among the new species named by science in 2022. In this well-trodden world, finding a new species is a glimpse of the uncharted riches of biodiversity still hidden around the globe. Scientists estimate that only 10% of all the species on the planet have been described. Even among the most well-known group of animals, mammals, scientists think we have only found 80% of species. Most of these hidden species are likely bats, rodents, shrews, moles, and hedgehogs. “Based on our analysis, a conservative estimate would be that there are hundreds of species of mammals worldwide that have yet to be identified,” Bryan Carstens, a professor at The Ohio State University, told Mongabay. This year, researchers at the California Academy of Sciences named 146 new species, including “44 lizards, 30 ants, 14 sea slugs, 14 flowering plants, 13 sea stars, seven fishes, four beetles, four sharks, three moths, three worms, two scorpions, two spiders, two lichens, one toad, one clam, one aphid, and one sea biscuit.” Around 2,000 new species of plants and fungi are found each year, according to Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew). These are potential sources of food, medicines, and other solutions. Unfortunately, many new species of plants, fungi, and animals are assessed as Vulnerable or Critically Endangered with extinction. “There is something immensely unethical and troubling&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/top-15-species-discoveries-from-2022-photos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/top-15-species-discoveries-from-2022-photos/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-264198</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Will shipping noise nudge Africa’s only penguin toward extinction?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/will-shipping-noise-nudge-africas-only-penguin-toward-extinction/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/will-shipping-noise-nudge-africas-only-penguin-toward-extinction/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Nov 2022 18:54:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Leonie Joubert]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/11/21182247/AP_2_TeganCarpenterKling_1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=262808</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and South Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Birds, Communication, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Extinction, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Global Environmental Crisis, In-situ Conservation, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Mongabay Data Studio, Noise Pollution, Oceans, Overfishing, Pollution, Protected Areas, Research, Saving Species From Extinction, Shipping, Solutions, Water, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, Wildlife Trafficking, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CAPE TOWN — Seabird ranger Eduard Drost was busy with a routine inspection in an African penguin colony off the South African coast in 2021 when he noticed a troubling number of sickly birds. “Some were emaciated, especially the chicks,” he recalls. “Their chest and hip bones were sticking out. Their bellies were flat, not [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CAPE TOWN — Seabird ranger Eduard Drost was busy with a routine inspection in an African penguin colony off the South African coast in 2021 when he noticed a troubling number of sickly birds. “Some were emaciated, especially the chicks,” he recalls. “Their chest and hip bones were sticking out. Their bellies were flat, not rounded.” It looked as though they weren’t feeding well, and his colleagues at the nonprofit Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), which helps monitor the colony, on Bird Island, agreed. As soon as a weather window opened, South African National Parks, a government agency, sent in a helicopter to airlift 95 starving chicks for hand rearing at a rehabilitation center on the mainland, 60 kilometers (37 miles) away in the port city of Gqeberha. This rescue is a red flag for marine conservationists. The African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) is expected to go extinct in the wild in just over a decade, given its current population decline. The main reason is a lack of food — sardines, mostly — caused by disruptions to ocean conditions from global heating and competition from the commercial fishing industry. Another colony in the same bay, on St. Croix Island, just 43 km (27 mi) away, has seen one of the most devastating population crashes in recent years. Annual head counts show that St. Croix’s penguin numbers dropped by 85% in five years, between 2016 and 2021. Scientists have identified a possible additional cause, one that is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/will-shipping-noise-nudge-africas-only-penguin-toward-extinction/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/will-shipping-noise-nudge-africas-only-penguin-toward-extinction/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-262808</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>2021’s top ocean news stories (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/2021s-top-ocean-news-stories-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/2021s-top-ocean-news-stories-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Dec 2021 15:18:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Callie SteffenDouglas McCauleyEmma CritchleyMolly Morse]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/12/27050449/8.-Algal_bloom-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=251144</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Commentary, Conservation, COVID-19, Critically Endangered Species, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Economics, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Environment, Environmental Policy, Fishing, Governance, Illegal Fishing, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Marine Protected Areas, New Discovery, Oceans, Overfishing, Plastic, Politics, Pollution, Protected Areas, Science, Shipping, Social Justice, Species Discovery, Transparency, Water Pollution, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[1. The ocean-climate nexus The presence of the ocean was felt more strongly than ever at this year’s U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP 26), held Oct. 31 to Nov. 12 in Glasgow, Scotland. In fact, the COP designated an entire day as “ocean day.” Importantly, the negotiating language explicitly mentioned the ocean for the first [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[1. The ocean-climate nexus The presence of the ocean was felt more strongly than ever at this year’s U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP 26), held Oct. 31 to Nov. 12 in Glasgow, Scotland. In fact, the COP designated an entire day as “ocean day.” Importantly, the negotiating language explicitly mentioned the ocean for the first time. Many countries included commitments to conserve, restore and sustainably manage coastal marine ecosystems that store “blue carbon,” such as mangrove habitats, seagrass meadows and coral reefs, as part of their nationally determined contributions. Simon Kofe, the foreign minister of Tuvalu, illustrated just how critical the link between climate and ocean is by delivering his speech knee-deep in rising seawater surrounding the Pacific island. A coalition of ocean advocates and heads of state, the Blue Leaders, also called for immediate action to address the impacts of climate change on the ocean. With 2021 marking the start of the U.N. Decade of Ocean Science, the increased focus on the ocean at COP26 was timely. Tuvalu’s foreign minister, Simon Kofe, addresses COP 26. Image courtesy of Ministry of Justice, Communication and Foreign Affairs, Tuvalu Government. 2. Big investments for conservation This was a year that big donors stepped up big for oceans and the planet. Jeff Bezos pledged to donate $1 billion to ocean and land conservation over the next decade as part of the Bezos Earth Fund. Some of the programs in the fund include ocean carbon sequestration projects, such as mangrove restoration and seaweed farming.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/2021s-top-ocean-news-stories-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/2021s-top-ocean-news-stories-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-251144</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Top 15 species discoveries from 2021 (Photos)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/top-15-species-discoveries-from-2021-photos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/top-15-species-discoveries-from-2021-photos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Dec 2021 18:29:54 +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/20/2021/12/21182636/Screen-Shot-2021-12-21-at-12.26.13-PM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=250851</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Ecuador, Global, Guiana Shield, India, Latin America, South America, Venezuela, West Africa, and Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Ants, Bats, Biodiversity, Birding, Botany, Carnivores, Cetaceans, Charismatic Animals, Climate Change, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Cryptic Species, Culture, Deforestation, DNA, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Environment, Flowers, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Insects, Islands, Lizards, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, New Discovery, Oceans, Oil Drilling, Orchids, Owls, Plants, Plastic, Rainforests, Reptiles, Research, Saving Species From Extinction, Shipping, Snakes, Solutions, Species Discovery, Tropical Forests, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With humans sending probes to Mars and the sun, one might think we’ve already explored the full extent of our own planet. But scientists say we’ve only begun to find and describe the riches here on Earth. “I think most people believe that we know most species on Earth … but in the best-case scenario, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With humans sending probes to Mars and the sun, one might think we’ve already explored the full extent of our own planet. But scientists say we’ve only begun to find and describe the riches here on Earth. “I think most people believe that we know most species on Earth … but in the best-case scenario, we know 20% of Earth’s species,” Mario Moura, a professor at the Federal University of Paraíba in Brazil, told Mongabay in a March 2021 interview.  Moura is the co-creator of a study that maps out places in the world likely to hold the highest number of species unknown to science. As it turns out, there are a lot. This year, Mongabay reported on newly described species from nearly every continent, including a fuzzy orange bat from West Africa, tiny screech owls from Brazil, an acrobatic North American skunk, a snake from the Himalayas (found on Instagram), a new whale species in the Gulf of Mexico, an Ecuadoran ant whose name broke the gender binary, and an Australian “killer tobacco.” Map showing the portion of undiscovered species worldwide. Image by Mario R. Moura. (Moura and Jetz 2021) “Every year, as scientists explore the world’s ecosystems, search herbaria and fungaria, sequence organisms’ DNA and, increasingly, browse social media, they come across species of plants and fungi that have not been scientifically described,” says the “State of the World’s Plants and Fungi 2020” report, released by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. However, though a species may be new&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/top-15-species-discoveries-from-2021-photos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/top-15-species-discoveries-from-2021-photos/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-250851</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New ecolabel will certify ‘Whale-Safe’ shipping companies and cruise lines</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/new-ecolabel-will-certify-whale-safe-shipping-companies-and-cruise-lines/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/new-ecolabel-will-certify-whale-safe-shipping-companies-and-cruise-lines/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jun 2021 18:36:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claudia Geib]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/06/15182444/CGeib_WhaleSafe_Ship-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=243726</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Conservation Technology, Ecosystems, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Shipping, Solutions, Whales, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the 1980s, video of dolphins dying in fishing nets sparked a public boycott of tuna and the development of “dolphin-safe” labeling programs for canned tuna that have become ubiquitous in many countries. Now, one organization wants to use that model to protect whales from collisions with ships. The Italian NGO World Sustainability Organization launched [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the 1980s, video of dolphins dying in fishing nets sparked a public boycott of tuna and the development of “dolphin-safe” labeling programs for canned tuna that have become ubiquitous in many countries. Now, one organization wants to use that model to protect whales from collisions with ships. The Italian NGO World Sustainability Organization launched the new “Whale-Safe” label in March via its Friend of the Sea project, which certifies fisheries, aquaculture, and tourism efforts as sustainable. Run-ins with ships are a major cause of death and injury for whales. An estimated 80 whales die from ship collisions off the western U.S. annually. In the Mediterranean, one in five stranded whales recorded have marks from ship strikes. And while the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has compiled ship strike records from nearly every corner of the globe, these records are understood to be incomplete; crews on larger vessels may not notice if they hit a whale, and even observed strikes often go unreported. With marine traffic increasing, these strikes have serious implications, particularly for vulnerable species. More North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) die from ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement than are born each year. “Time is not on our side, and we need to act,” said Paolo Bray, founder of Friend of the Sea, in an interview with Mongabay. Bray is also the European director of the California-based Earth Island Institute’s Dolphin Safe Monitoring Program, which certifies that enrolled tuna companies outside the U.S. meet dolphin-safe standards. A diver&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/new-ecolabel-will-certify-whale-safe-shipping-companies-and-cruise-lines/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/new-ecolabel-will-certify-whale-safe-shipping-companies-and-cruise-lines/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-243726</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fewer than 100 of these giant whales make up a newly described species</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/fewer-than-100-of-these-giant-whales-make-up-a-newly-described-species/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/fewer-than-100-of-these-giant-whales-make-up-a-newly-described-species/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Feb 2021 19:05:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Teresa L. Carey]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/02/04185211/1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=239292</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Florida, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Critically Endangered Species, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Oil Drilling, Plastic, Shipping, Species Discovery, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For decades, scientists observed a puzzling group of whales in the Gulf of Mexico. The animals looked like Bryde&#8217;s whales — but not quite. They fed like Bryde&#8217;s whales — but at greater depths. What were they? With genetic data and a chance stranding, the scientists finally have their answer. The so-called Gulf of Mexico [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For decades, scientists observed a puzzling group of whales in the Gulf of Mexico. The animals looked like Bryde&#8217;s whales — but not quite. They fed like Bryde&#8217;s whales — but at greater depths. What were they? With genetic data and a chance stranding, the scientists finally have their answer. The so-called Gulf of Mexico Bryde&#8217;s whale is actually a unique species — and for years, it hid in plain sight. A Rice’s whale swims in the Gulf of Mexico. Image courtesy of NOAA. Patience leads to discovery Researchers first reported a Bryde’s whale (pronounced &#8220;broo-dus,” Balaenoptera edeni) in the Gulf of Mexico in 1965 and began tracking a small group of the animals in earnest in 1997. Survey data eventually showed the group lived year-round in the Gulf of Mexico, keeping to a small area along the continental shelf near Florida’s panhandle. Noting the differences from either of the two recognized subspecies of Bryde’s whale, which live in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans, they suspected the whales in the Gulf might belong to a unique species all their own. In 2014, researchers with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published the results of a DNA analysis showing that the whales in the Gulf were genetically distinct enough to at least be designated as the third subspecies of Bryde’s whale, if not their own species. &#8220;That is when we got really intrigued by how different they look genetically,” said lead author Patricia Rosel, a research geneticist at&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/fewer-than-100-of-these-giant-whales-make-up-a-newly-described-species/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/fewer-than-100-of-these-giant-whales-make-up-a-newly-described-species/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-239292</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>2020’s top ocean news stories (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/2020s-top-ocean-news-stories-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/2020s-top-ocean-news-stories-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Dec 2020 08:00:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Callie SteffenDouglas McCauleyEmma Critchley]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/12/18162951/Image-6-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=238031</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Commentary, Conservation, Coral Reefs, COVID-19, Critically Endangered Species, data, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Economics, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Policy, Extinction, Fishing, Governance, Illegal Fishing, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Marine Protected Areas, New Discovery, Ocean Acidification, Oceans, Overfishing, Plastic, Politics, Pollution, Protected Areas, Remote Sensing, Science, Shipping, Social Justice, Species Discovery, Transparency, Water Pollution, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[1. The ocean in a worldwide pandemic As the year that challenged the world with a widespread pandemic draws to a close, COVID-19 has affected almost every aspect of life as we knew it. Even the ocean, the most powerful force in the world, is not immune to its effects. The amount of marine plastic [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[1. The ocean in a worldwide pandemic As the year that challenged the world with a widespread pandemic draws to a close, COVID-19 has affected almost every aspect of life as we knew it. Even the ocean, the most powerful force in the world, is not immune to its effects. The amount of marine plastic pollution, 13 million tons of which was already entering the ocean each year, has certainly grown with the addition of improperly disposed personal protective equipment, such as single-use masks and gloves. People are using an estimated 129 billion face masks and 65 billion gloves every month; one report predicts that 1.56 billion face masks could end up in the ocean this year. State and city rollbacks on bans of plastic items like bags and utensils due to concern over spreading the virus via reusable options could contribute as well. The influx of yet more plastic to the sea not only poses a threat to human health, but also heightens the risk of injury or death to some 600 wildlife species that may consume debris they mistake for food. On a brighter note, the early days of the pandemic provided a rare opportunity to study a quieter underwater habitat resulting from reduced worldwide trade. Researchers examined underwater sound in real-time near the port of Vancouver and found a consistent reduction in low-frequency sound attributed to ship traffic from January to April, when imports and exports dropped 20%. This study and others are providing much-anticipated evidence about&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/2020s-top-ocean-news-stories-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/2020s-top-ocean-news-stories-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-238031</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Whale zone ahead: A cetacean speed trap tags ships going over the limit</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/whale-zone-ahead-a-cetacean-speed-trap-tags-ships-going-over-the-limit/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/whale-zone-ahead-a-cetacean-speed-trap-tags-ships-going-over-the-limit/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Nov 2020 16:23:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/11/10160114/8718387270_3a89fdd1f7_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=236704</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bioacoustics, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Charismatic Animals, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Fishing, GPS, Green, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Shipping, Technology, Whales, Wildlife, Wildlife Rescues, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The CMA CGM Brazil, a huge cargo freighter carrying more than 15,000 containers, powered through the Atlantic Ocean, headed for New York City. North of Nantucket, it entered what’s known as a dynamic management area (DMA), a region established by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries to protect a population of North Atlantic [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The CMA CGM Brazil, a huge cargo freighter carrying more than 15,000 containers, powered through the Atlantic Ocean, headed for New York City. North of Nantucket, it entered what’s known as a dynamic management area (DMA), a region established by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries to protect a population of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis). There’s a 10-knot (18.5-kilometer-per-hour) voluntary speed limit in the DMA. But the ship, the length of the Empire State Building, didn’t obey it. Instead, it barreled through the DMA at 13.4 knots (25 km/h), according to GPS tracking data collected by analysts in September. “They [the ship’s company] were doing all sorts of PR about the environmentally-friendly megaship that is saving all of this carbon and doing this amazing stuff coming into all of these ports,” Gib Brogan, senior campaigns managers at Oceana, a Washington, D.C.-based NGO, told Mongabay. “We thought, you know, that isn&#8217;t really the whole story. This enormous ship is going right through whale habitat and not cooperating with the advisories that are coming out from the government.” While the freighter doesn’t appear to have hit any whales on this particular journey, conservationists say that ship traffic, in general, poses a substantial risk to North Atlantic right whales, particularly when vessels disobey mandatory or voluntary speed limits in places where whales are present. To help monitor this issue, Oceana launched a publicly available online tool called Ship Speed Watch this past June, which collects data on vessel speeds&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/whale-zone-ahead-a-cetacean-speed-trap-tags-ships-going-over-the-limit/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/11/whale-zone-ahead-a-cetacean-speed-trap-tags-ships-going-over-the-limit/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-236704</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Battle over proposed Colombian port at Tribugá puts sustainable development in focus</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/battle-over-proposed-colombian-port-at-tribuga-puts-sustainable-development-in-focus/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/battle-over-proposed-colombian-port-at-tribuga-puts-sustainable-development-in-focus/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Oct 2020 10:11:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Dimitri Selibas]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Genevieve Belmaker]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/10/05123724/Tribuga-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=235493</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Development, Forests, Governance, Habitat Loss, Infrastructure, Ports, Rainforests, Saving Rainforests, Shipping, Solutions, Sustainable Development, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The area surrounding the town of Nuquí and its neighboring bay of Tribugá on Colombia’s northern Pacific coast has some of highest levels of rainfall in the world, a unique geography snuggled between tropical mountains and the ocean, and a mega-abundance of exceptional biodiversity. It is home to nature reserves, virgin forests, mangroves, breeding areas [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The area surrounding the town of Nuquí and its neighboring bay of Tribugá on Colombia’s northern Pacific coast has some of highest levels of rainfall in the world, a unique geography snuggled between tropical mountains and the ocean, and a mega-abundance of exceptional biodiversity. It is home to nature reserves, virgin forests, mangroves, breeding areas for turtles and whales, and Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities whose worldviews are intimately intertwined with the territory and its natural resources. But a battle has also been raging here against the proposed construction of a deep-water port in the jungle-rimmed bay of Tribugá. On Sept. 29, Colombia’s port authority rejected the developer’s application to construct the port, but a new application can still be submitted. And while the environmental impacts of the proposed port project have been extensively documented, less is known about the economic arguments and how the proposed port represents a disjuncture in what development means for local communities, and for those from outside. Under Colombia’s Constitution, ethnic communities like those around Tribugá must be consulted prior to the start of any major infrastructure project. “To understand the relationship the people have with the territory, a relationship which is historical and ancestral &#8230; they say that ‘I’m from here, my umbilical cord is planted here,’” said researcher Julian Idrobo about the Afro-Colombian community’s ties to the land in this area. “When they are born it is removed, treated and planted next to a tree &#8230; so can you imagine how deep their relationship&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/battle-over-proposed-colombian-port-at-tribuga-puts-sustainable-development-in-focus/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/10/battle-over-proposed-colombian-port-at-tribuga-puts-sustainable-development-in-focus/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-235493</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New tool alerts ships when whales are near. But will they slow down?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/new-tool-alerts-ships-when-whales-are-near-but-will-they-slow-down/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/new-tool-alerts-ships-when-whales-are-near-but-will-they-slow-down/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Sep 2020 15:27:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claudia Geib]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/09/23141556/3_01_DeadBlue_ResearchVessel_OSU_CraigHayslip-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=235087</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri WildTech Reporting Fellowship]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Conservation Technology, Ecosystems, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Shipping, Solutions, Whales, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In August, whale-watchers witnessed something remarkable off the coast of California: 30 blue whales, the largest animal that has ever lived and a typically solitary species, all feeding in the same small area. Yet for whale scientists, the news was as terrifying as it was incredible. The whales were eating in and around the Santa [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In August, whale-watchers witnessed something remarkable off the coast of California: 30 blue whales, the largest animal that has ever lived and a typically solitary species, all feeding in the same small area. Yet for whale scientists, the news was as terrifying as it was incredible. The whales were eating in and around the Santa Barbara Channel, where shipping lanes serve the major ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, scooping up mouthfuls of krill as container ships three times the length of a football field and 15 stories high steamed past. Over the two years prior, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) documented a record 27 whale-ship collisions off California. Estimates suggest these whales represent only a fraction of the true number struck or killed by ships. Most whale strikes go unnoticed and many whales that die sink before humans ever see the carnage. And with maritime shipping traffic forecast to increase by 240% to 1,209% worldwide by 2050, more whales are at risk of meeting the same fate. Not far from where the blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) had gathered, a new monitoring system is trying to give these ocean giants a swimming chance. Launched Sept. 17, the Whale Safe system alerts ship operators to whales’ presence, with the aim of encouraging vessels to slow down when whales are near. A blue whale dangerously near the bow of a container ship. Image courtesy of NOAA’s Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. “The folks on these ships don&#8217;t want&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/new-tool-alerts-ships-when-whales-are-near-but-will-they-slow-down/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/new-tool-alerts-ships-when-whales-are-near-but-will-they-slow-down/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-235087</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Birthday party on ship may have led to oil spill in Mauritius, Panama regulator says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/birthday-party-on-ship-may-have-led-to-oil-spill-in-mauritius-panama-regulator-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/birthday-party-on-ship-may-have-led-to-oil-spill-in-mauritius-panama-regulator-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Sep 2020 03:25:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/09/16030013/DJI_0051-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=234880</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Japan, Mauritius, and Panama]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coral Reefs, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Islands, Mangroves, Marine, Marine Protected Areas, Oil, Oil Spills, Shipping, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A Japanese ship that wrecked off the coast of Mauritius in July and sparked one of the worst environmental disasters in the country’s history may have run aground because of birthday celebrations on board at the time. That’s according to a statement from the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP), in the latest development from the July [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A Japanese ship that wrecked off the coast of Mauritius in July and sparked one of the worst environmental disasters in the country’s history may have run aground because of birthday celebrations on board at the time. That’s according to a statement from the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP), in the latest development from the July 25 wrecking of the Panama-flagged and Japanese-owned M.V. Wakashio, a bulk carrier. The ship, bound for Brazil from Singapore, was sailing through Mauritian waters when it ran aground on a coral reef and leaked almost 1,000 tonnes of fuel oil. In its statement published in Spanish on Sept. 7, the AMP, which is collaborating in the investigation into the accident, said the ship diverted its navigation plan, possibly in relation to “the celebration of the birthday of one of the crew members.” &#8220;[T]he change of course is produced by indications of the captain of the boat, who gave instructions to approach about 5 miles away from the coast of Mauritius, looking for a telephone and internet signal, so that the crew members could communicate with their families,&#8221; the AMP said. The Wakashio&#8217;s captain was taken into custody on Aug. 18 for endangering safe navigation. According to the government, the ship had failed to respond to several calls from the Mauritian Coast Guard. Mauritius&#8217;s environment minister, Kavydass Ramano, called it an &#8220;unprecedented&#8221; crisis, and the prime minister declared a national emergency on Aug. 7, a day after oil began leaking from its tank. An aerial view of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/birthday-party-on-ship-may-have-led-to-oil-spill-in-mauritius-panama-regulator-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/birthday-party-on-ship-may-have-led-to-oil-spill-in-mauritius-panama-regulator-says/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-234880</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mauritians take to the street over oil spill and dolphin and whale deaths</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/mauritians-take-to-the-street-over-oil-spill-and-dolphin-and-whale-deaths/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/mauritians-take-to-the-street-over-oil-spill-and-dolphin-and-whale-deaths/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2020 12:05:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawahare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/09/01111702/947745e5-f5b9-4a82-bf4b-e881736a3d3f-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=234422</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Mauritius]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Dolphins, Global Environmental Crisis, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oil, Oil Spills, Shipping, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Thousands of people demonstrated in Mauritius on Aug. 29 over the government&#8217;s handling of a recent ship grounding that spilled 1,000 tons oil in the seas around the island nation. In what appears to be the latest toll in the incident, dolphins and whales have beached close to where the M.V. Wakashio freighter ran aground [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Thousands of people demonstrated in Mauritius on Aug. 29 over the government&#8217;s handling of a recent ship grounding that spilled 1,000 tons oil in the seas around the island nation. In what appears to be the latest toll in the incident, dolphins and whales have beached close to where the M.V. Wakashio freighter ran aground and broke up. Thirty-nine of the mammals have beached in the week to Aug. 28. Social media is awash with photos of the stranded animals, including mothers and calves. At a press conference Sudheer Maudhoo, the Mauritian fisheries, marine resources and shipping minister, called the beachings a &#8220;sad coincidence.&#8221; Though a link between the deaths and oil contamination has yet to be established, disaffection has swelled in the aftermath of the spill, with protesters taking to the streets of the capital, Port Louis, and wielding an inflatable dolphin with &#8220;Inaction&#8221; written on it. The Wakashio struck the coral reef barrier off the country&#8217;s southeastern coast on July 25; the damage to its fuel tankers led to a leak on Aug. 6. The fact that the ship lay lodged in the coral reef for more than 10 days before any decisive action by the government has become a sour point for Mauritians demanding answers from the authorities. An archival photograph showing oil spilling from the M.V. Wakashio. Image Courtesy: Greenpeace Africa. &nbsp; &#8220;The oil spill became like a culmination of growing frustration in the country. Since we have this new government, there were a series of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/mauritians-take-to-the-street-over-oil-spill-and-dolphin-and-whale-deaths/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/mauritians-take-to-the-street-over-oil-spill-and-dolphin-and-whale-deaths/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-234422</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Company investigated for timber trafficking gets stimulus from Peru government</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/company-investigated-for-timber-trafficking-gets-stimulus-from-peru-government/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/company-investigated-for-timber-trafficking-gets-stimulus-from-peru-government/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Aug 2020 09:18:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Yvette Sierra Praeli]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Genevieve Belmaker]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/08/24114348/Madera-EIA-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=234141</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America and Peru]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Forests, Illegal Logging, Ports, Rainforests, Shipping, Timber, Timber Laws, timber trade, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Inversiones La Oroza, a company under investigation since 2015 for alleged timber trafficking, has just been awarded $380,000 from Reactiva Peru, a stimulus program by the Peruvian government to revive the forestry sector hit by COVID-19. In November 2015, La Oroza and 10 other logging companies came under investigation during Operation Amazonas, when authorities seized [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Inversiones La Oroza, a company under investigation since 2015 for alleged timber trafficking, has just been awarded $380,000 from Reactiva Peru, a stimulus program by the Peruvian government to revive the forestry sector hit by COVID-19. In November 2015, La Oroza and 10 other logging companies came under investigation during Operation Amazonas, when authorities seized the cargo ship Yacu Kallpa carrying more than 1,300 cubic meters of timber — 60 freight trucks’ worth — of alleged illegal origin. Eighty percent of the allegedly illegal timber found on board the Yacu Kallpa belonged to Inversiones La Oroza. Image courtesy of EIA. It was the largest timber seizure in Peru, an emblematic case that showed how official documents with false information were used to “launder” timber that was allegedly illegally extracted. Currently, two public prosecutors specializing in environmental affairs in the Loreto region are in charge of 52 case files that involve more than 100 people. The regional governor of Loreto, Elisbán Ochoa, and the regional manager of forest development and wildlife, Kenjy Terán, appear to have overlooked La Oroza’s background in awarding it 1.36 million soles ($380,000) it recently as part of a bid to jump-start the forestry sector. They chose the company’s operations plant, located in Iquitos, the capital of Loreto, as the setting to launch the forest activities restart program, which will see 13 million soles ($3.6 million) invested in the regeneration of this sector. &#8220;It is incredible that the Loreto regional government announced the regeneration of the forests&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/company-investigated-for-timber-trafficking-gets-stimulus-from-peru-government/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-234141</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mauritius&#8217;s plan to dump part of wrecked ship sparks controversy</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/mauritiuss-plan-to-dump-part-of-wrecked-ship-sparks-controversy/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/mauritiuss-plan-to-dump-part-of-wrecked-ship-sparks-controversy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Aug 2020 02:44:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawahare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/08/21004509/ship-broken-GP-Africa-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=234083</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Mauritius]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coral Bleaching, Coral Reefs, Mangroves, Marine, Marine Protected Areas, Oil, Oil Spills, and Shipping]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On the morning of Aug.15, a wrecked ship, longer than the Titanic, broke in two in Mauritian waters. The Japanese-owned bulk carrier, M.V. Wakashio, had rammed into the island nation&#8217;s coral reef barrier on July 25. In the weeks since the crash, it leaked almost 1,000 tonnes of fuel oil into the sea. Oil-laden waves [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On the morning of Aug.15, a wrecked ship, longer than the Titanic, broke in two in Mauritian waters. The Japanese-owned bulk carrier, M.V. Wakashio, had rammed into the island nation&#8217;s coral reef barrier on July 25. In the weeks since the crash, it leaked almost 1,000 tonnes of fuel oil into the sea. Oil-laden waves crashed on the shore, and greasy residue settled on coral reefs and slunk into the mangrove forests that clutch the eastern coast of the island. At least 30 kilometers (19 miles) of shoreline is heavily affected. The country is still trying to mop up the oil, but another problem now looms large: what to do with the broken halves of the ship? This week the Mauritian government floated the idea of sinking the severed bow 13 km (8 mi) off the east coast, in open waters 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) deep. On Aug. 17, two tugs started this operation. The move has proved controversial. &#8220;Out of all available options, the Mauritian government is choosing the worst one,&#8221; Happy Khambule, Greenpeace Africa senior climate and energy campaign manager, said in a statement. &#8220;Sinking this vessel would risk biodiversity and contaminate the ocean with large quantities of heavy metal toxins, threatening other areas as well, notably the French island of La Réunion.&#8221; The French minister for overseas departments, Sébastien Lecornu, who visited Mauritius on Aug. 16, also appeared unimpressed with the plan. Sinking part of the ship in international waters &#8220;is clearly not our preferred solution,&#8221; he&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/mauritiuss-plan-to-dump-part-of-wrecked-ship-sparks-controversy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-234083</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mauritius grapples with worst environmental crisis in a generation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/mauritius-grapples-with-worst-environmental-crisis-in-a-generation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/mauritius-grapples-with-worst-environmental-crisis-in-a-generation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Aug 2020 11:35:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawahare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/08/10110312/DJI_0051-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=233623</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Indian Ocean and Mauritius]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coral Reefs, Disasters, Ecosystems, Global Environmental Crisis, Mangroves, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oil Spills, Shipping, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Mauritius, envied the world over for its azure waters, alluring beaches and marine riches, is facing one of its worst environmental disasters after a ship ran aground on a coral reef and leaked about 900 tons of fuel into the sea. The island nation in the western Indian Ocean declared an environmental emergency on Aug. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Mauritius, envied the world over for its azure waters, alluring beaches and marine riches, is facing one of its worst environmental disasters after a ship ran aground on a coral reef and leaked about 900 tons of fuel into the sea. The island nation in the western Indian Ocean declared an environmental emergency on Aug. 7. The Japanese-owned bulk carrier, MV Wakashio, struck the coral reef barrier off the southeastern coast on July 25. It lay stranded for more than 10 days as its condition deteriorated; on Aug. 6, a breach in its fuel tank triggered an oil spill. The stranded MV Wakashio leaking oil off the southeastern coast of Mauritius. Image courtesy of Greenpeace Africa. The ship, plying under a Panama flag, originated in China and was heading for Brazil. It was not carrying any cargo but did have 3,894 tons of low-sulfur fuel oil on board. That fuel oil is now sullying the waters of Mauritius. Over the weekend, oily sludge clogged the coastline, washing up on Mauritius’s pristine beaches and threatening a host of ecologically sensitive marine areas. The ship went aground on the reefs of Pointe d’Esny, a Ramsar site and the largest remaining wetland in Mauritius. The Ile aux Aigrettes Nature Reserve, Blue Bay Marine Area and Mahebourg Fishing Reserves all lie close to the spill site. Coral reefs rising from the seafloor are natural breakwaters that create shallow lagoons near the shore. They are hubs of marine life, providing shelter and nursery grounds for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/08/mauritius-grapples-with-worst-environmental-crisis-in-a-generation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-233623</doi>				</item>
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