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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<title>News on Archeology</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/archeology/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Indigenous myths reveal Amazon&#8217;s past truths: Interview with Stéphen Rostain</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/indigenous-myths-reveal-amazons-past-truths-interview-with-stephen-rostain/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/indigenous-myths-reveal-amazons-past-truths-interview-with-stephen-rostain/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2025 14:14:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Peter Speetjens]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/01063151/1988_Rostain-French-Guiana-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=306877</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Ecuador, French Guiana, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Ancient Civilizations, Anthropology, Climate, Conservation, Culture, Drought, Environment, History, Indigenous Peoples, LiDAR, Mapping, and Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Now a leading archaeologist, Rostain was discouraged at first. “No one is interested in archaeology of the Amazon.”]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Born in the French city of Brest in 1962, archaeologist Stéphen Rostain has worked in the Amazon for more than 40 years, primarily in French Guiana and Ecuador. He has authored or co-authored more than 450 publications on the rainforest’s past and present, including some 45 books. In January 2024, Rostain made a big splash as the lead author of a Science paper on the Upano Valley’s “urban garden culture” in the eastern Ecuadorian Amazon. It led to an avalanche of headlines around the world, many of which overly claimed a “lost city” had been found, and sparked new interest in Amazon archaeology. “I thought perhaps 10 journalists would contact me for an interview. But I did 10 to 20 interviews a day,” Rostain told Mongabay. As director of research at the French Institute for Scientific Research, Rostain isn’t very positive about the future of the Amazon. As deforestation continues and global temperatures continue to rise, he said the Amazon has already reached a turning point and is on its way to partially becoming a savanna. The profound changes in Western thinking about the rainforest that have taken place over the past decades offer a glimmer of hope. This includes the shift in our perception of the Amazon’s past and an end to the centuries of prejudice toward Indigenous people. “Our preconception has long been that the ‘Indians’ are just savages and their oral traditions just crazy legends,” Rostain told Mongabay in June. “Thankfully, that has changed. Twenty years ago,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/indigenous-myths-reveal-amazons-past-truths-interview-with-stephen-rostain/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-306877</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>An ancient Indigenous civilization endures beneath an Amazon urban soy hub</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/an-ancient-indigenous-civilization-endures-beneath-an-amazon-urban-soy-hub/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/an-ancient-indigenous-civilization-endures-beneath-an-amazon-urban-soy-hub/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Sep 2025 07:00:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Peter Speetjens]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/15130802/IMG_3640-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305898</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Ancient Civilizations, Anthropology, Climate Change, Colonization, Conflict, Conservation, Culture, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Politics, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Soy, and Threats To Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Santarém’s ceramics grace museums around the globe, yet the city’s heritage remains largely unknown in Brazil.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SANTARÉM, Brazil — Praça Rodrigues dos Santos has seen better days. The triangular plaza at the center of Santarém is broken and filled with potholes and piles of garbage. Amid the trees stands the statue of a priest. His right arm seems disproportionately large, and he holds a bible under his left arm. Next to the statue is a small pillar, too damaged to read the text on it. The plaque underneath the robed figure offers solace. “In this place used to be Ocara-Açu [the large terrain] of the Tupaiu or Tapajós indians,” it reads in Portuguese. “Here, on the day of June 22, 1661, the Jesuit father João Felipe Betendorf installed the mission of Our Lady of the Conception, which gave birth to the city of Santarém.” Praça Rodrigues dos Santos is the historic heart of the city, the place where it all began. Yet anyone passing the site would be forgiven for thinking it was just a parking lot. Overlooking the Tapajós River, one of the largest tributaries to the mightiest river of them all — the Amazon — Santarém is home to some 330,000 people. Its façade has long been dominated by the hundreds of fishing boats and ferries docked along the shore. Since 2003, the enormous Cargill soy terminal has been an added feature to the urban silhouette. Ferry boats lie neatly lined up at the Tapajós River port. Image by Peter Speetjens. Away from the happy hustle and bustle along the river, the city is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/an-ancient-indigenous-civilization-endures-beneath-an-amazon-urban-soy-hub/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305898</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Soy crops squeeze Amazon park with 11,000-year-old rock paintings in Brazil</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/soy-crops-squeeze-amazon-park-with-11000-year-old-rock-paintings-in-brazil/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/soy-crops-squeeze-amazon-park-with-11000-year-old-rock-paintings-in-brazil/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2025 18:30:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Peter Speetjens]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/12200305/Solar-Calendar-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=303448</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Archeology, Climate Change, Conflict, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Politics, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, and Threats To Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Remarkable discoveries in an Amazon cave rewrote human history, but it remains largely unknown as farmers advance closely.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MONTE ALEGRE, Brazil — Despite its name, all is not well in Monte Alegre, or “Happy Mountain.” Situated on the north bank of the Amazon River, some 120 kilometers (74.5 miles) from Santarém, a town with some 50,000 inhabitants, Monte Alegre guards one of Brazil’s best-kept secrets. Founded as a conservation area in 2001, the Monte Alegre State Park (PEMA in Portuguese), protects a forested complex of canyons, valleys and caves, home to some 600 prehistoric rock paintings dating back some 11,000 years. Measuring 3,678 hectares (9,090 acres), PEMA’s cultural value and natural beauty would be a top attraction anywhere in the world. In 2002, it was chosen as one of 25 global heritage sites by World Monuments Watch (WMW), a flagship advocacy program of the nonprofit World Monuments Fund. Yet, the park struggles to attract visitors. “It’s one of our biggest challenges,” said PEMA’s general manager Jorge Braga. “We have some 4,000 visitors annually. That’s not a lot.” Sitting at the Monte Alegre main square, Braga blamed a combination of visibility and accessibility. He estimated that only one in ten people living in the region knew about the park’s value. Among Brazilians living elsewhere and foreign visitors, the ratio will be way lower. It’s hardly the only problem the park is facing. While PEMA offers the highest possible level of environmental protection, the surrounding area is increasingly falling prey to deforestation. Park guide Luana Wanessa Assunção looks to Serra da Lua, or “Moon Mountain,” where the famous image of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/soy-crops-squeeze-amazon-park-with-11000-year-old-rock-paintings-in-brazil/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-303448</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Villagers in Sumatra bring ancient forest flavors back to the table</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/villagers-in-sumatra-bring-ancient-forest-flavors-back-to-the-table/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/villagers-in-sumatra-bring-ancient-forest-flavors-back-to-the-table/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2025 08:13:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claire Turrell]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/04071834/07-Paduka-community-cooking-for-visitors_credit-Javara-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300043</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Java, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Pacific Ocean, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Ancient Civilizations, Animals, Anthropology, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Crops, Environment, Fish, Food, Food Industry, Forests, Freshwater Fish, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Plants, Rainforests, and Rivers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nurul Nazipah’s favorite dish to cook is one that involves going into the Muaro Jambi forest to pick from among 120 different types of herbs and edible greens that grow wild. To the untrained eye, they could be weeds in the Sumatran forest, but to Nazipah each one has its own identity. It could taste [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nurul Nazipah’s favorite dish to cook is one that involves going into the Muaro Jambi forest to pick from among 120 different types of herbs and edible greens that grow wild. To the untrained eye, they could be weeds in the Sumatran forest, but to Nazipah each one has its own identity. It could taste mild, earthy or sometimes bitter. To complete her prized rempah ratus belut dish, she also needs an eel caught fresh from the Batang Hari River. “This richly spiced traditional dish has a distinct, fresh flavor and was historically prepared only during special occasions,” Nazipah says. But it’s not just the taste of the dish that fills her with pride. She says it also showcases how rich the forest is as a resource. “Through this dish, we can highlight the potential of local food sources that are still abundant in our surroundings.” Nazipah is among the local women from the Dusun Karet Market, popularly known as Paduka, near the 7th-century Buddhist temple complex of Muaro Jambi, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The Paduka women, who cook for temple visitors, concoct their dishes using diverse traditional ingredients. They say they want to do their part to show how their home is a living landscape steeped in heritage. Dining in the grounds of the temple. Image courtesy of Javara. As their eight villages are found within the Muaro Jambi temple complex, also spelled Muarojambi, they wanted to make sure the recipes remained authentic. While they say they&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/villagers-in-sumatra-bring-ancient-forest-flavors-back-to-the-table/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300043</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Meet Pedro Porras, the priest who first rediscovered Amazon ancient cities</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/meet-pedro-porras-the-priest-who-first-rediscovered-amazon-ancient-cities/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/meet-pedro-porras-the-priest-who-first-rediscovered-amazon-ancient-cities/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 May 2025 07:00:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Peter Speetjens]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/23170708/52782351580_f31489bcfe_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299353</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Ecuador, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Archeology, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, and Rainforest Destruction]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A Catholic priest, Pedro Porras, was the first to research and document the Amazon rainforest’s Upano Valley culture dating back 2,500 years.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Pedro Porras can, quite literally, be called the “father of Ecuadorian archaeology.” Wearing a black cossack and white collar, the Catholic priest did extensive research in just about every corner of the country. This includes the Amazon rainforest, where Father Porras was the first to research and document the ancient Upano Valley culture, a complex network of earthen platforms, roads and canals in eastern Ecuador dating back 2,500 years ago. “In February 1978, by a stroke of luck, and a mention by missionary Salesiano P. Juan Butasso, I discovered the ceremonial site of Guapula,” Porras wrote in the foreword to his book Investigaciones Arqheologicas a las faldas del Sangay (Archaeological Investigations in the Foothills of Sangay). The Guapula platform — more widely known as Huapula — is one of the largest sites within the human-altered landscape of the Upano Valley. Overlooked by the 5,286-meter-high (17,341-feet-high) Sangay volcano, this is the part of Ecuador where the Andes mountains and Amazon rainforest meet. Pedro Porras reading at his Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador (PUCE) office. In 1964, he was appointed professor of archaeology at PUCE, where he established a center for archaeological research. Image courtesy of Museo Weilbauer. Led by Porras, a team of students and archaeologists from the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador (PUCE in Spanish) conducted the first Upano Valley excavation in August 1978. Fourteen more digs followed over the next six years, according to Porras, totalling 210 days, or 29,400 hours, of field work, which ultimately resulted in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/meet-pedro-porras-the-priest-who-first-rediscovered-amazon-ancient-cities/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299353</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>DNA testing proves that cocoa originated in the Amazon and reveals robust pre-Columbian trade</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/dna-testing-proves-that-cocoa-originated-in-the-amazon-and-reveals-robust-pre-columbian-trade/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/dna-testing-proves-that-cocoa-originated-in-the-amazon-and-reveals-robust-pre-columbian-trade/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jul 2024 11:46:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sibélia Zanon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/07/29103110/Digital_Inclusion_in_the_Peruvian_Amazon_-_48138694956-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=285230</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroforestry, Ancient Civilizations, Anthropology, Biodiversity, Cacao, Conservation, DNA, Environment, Food, Forests, and Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It’s hard to imagine the history that lies behind the cacao trees grown on agroforestry farms in the Amazon today. For a long time, people believed that cacao’s origins lay elsewhere. Archaeological evidence had pointed to what is today southern Mexico and Central America — Mesoamerica — as the birthplace of the domesticated form of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It’s hard to imagine the history that lies behind the cacao trees grown on agroforestry farms in the Amazon today. For a long time, people believed that cacao’s origins lay elsewhere. Archaeological evidence had pointed to what is today southern Mexico and Central America — Mesoamerica — as the birthplace of the domesticated form of the Theobroma cacao tree some 4,000 years ago. It was only believed to have arrived in South America later. “We would always find cacao trees in the native forest on the Upper Amazon [in Ecuador] and think of the peoples who had lived in the region thousands of years before, but at the time, we had no idea that cacao was native to the region,” says Francisco Valdez, an archaeologist at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD). At the start of the 2000s, Valdez began studying evidence that would bring new knowledge about the ancient peoples who once prospered in the Upper Amazon. His research focused on the Andean region of the Amazon River Basin, straddling modern-day Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela. Among numerous findings was the surprising detection of cacao DNA on ceramic artifacts dating back thousands of years that had been used inside homes and as burial items. This led to a reevaluation of the fruit’s origin: with South American roots, the evidence showed that cacao was already circulating between 19 different pre-Columbian cultures some 5,500 years ago. “The most important characteristic of our research is the fact that it&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/dna-testing-proves-that-cocoa-originated-in-the-amazon-and-reveals-robust-pre-columbian-trade/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-285230</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Secrets from the rainforest’s past uncovered in Amazonian backyards</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/secrets-from-the-rainforests-past-uncovered-in-amazonian-backyards/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/secrets-from-the-rainforests-past-uncovered-in-amazonian-backyards/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 May 2024 10:53:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolina Pinheiro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/05/08104711/IMG_3010-colecao-provada-em-Parintins-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=281827</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Archeology, Biodiversity, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Forests, Rainforests, Traditional Knowledge, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Small fragments of ancestral Amazonian culture are emerging from the ground in the backyards of homes in the rural and urban parts of Parintins, Amazonas: pieces of broken pots, chips with clear drawings, elaborately sculpted figures of human and nonhuman beings, decorative objects and burial urns — all made of pottery. Among these particles of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Small fragments of ancestral Amazonian culture are emerging from the ground in the backyards of homes in the rural and urban parts of Parintins, Amazonas: pieces of broken pots, chips with clear drawings, elaborately sculpted figures of human and nonhuman beings, decorative objects and burial urns — all made of pottery. Among these particles of time that include stone instruments as well, people and objects are intertwined amid diverse landscapes composing an ancient biocultural mosaic called a sustainable agroecological system in archaeology. In this municipality located on Tupinambarana Island, a “floating terrace” as researchers describe, the population of some 96,000 people are discovering remnants of what were at one time the pre-Columbian societies in the region. The place, some 420 kilometers (260 miles) from the state capitol of Manaus, was given the name Tupinambarana by passing visitors who came into contact with the territory’s Indigenous people, the Tupinambá. Today, the collective work of scientists and local communities is filling in gaps with pieces to the historical jigsaw puzzle of this region. This new understanding is opening new paths to the study of South America’s history. These fragments reveal important information about pre-Columbian occupation in the state and are commonly found by those living in Parintins. The city is also home to Brazil’s two most famous Boi, or sacred folkloric steer entities: the Caprichoso and the Garantido. The stage of a world-famous folkloric festival celebrating the Boi, Parintins is also becoming famous for the ancient remains driving an investigation that connects&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/secrets-from-the-rainforests-past-uncovered-in-amazonian-backyards/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-281827</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A short walk through Amazon time: Interview with archaeologist Anna Roosevelt</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/a-short-walk-through-amazon-time-interview-with-archaeologist-anna-roosevelt/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/a-short-walk-through-amazon-time-interview-with-archaeologist-anna-roosevelt/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Apr 2024 19:06:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Peter Speetjens]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/10180436/ACR-high-res-e1712772532240-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=280726</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Archeology, Conservation, Environment, Forests, History, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Interviews, Rainforests, Research, Traditional People, and Women In Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Roosevelt said the recent hype regarding the “garden cities” in Ecuador is “annoying”, as it is not a new discovery and it ignores older research from Latin American archaeologists.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois Chicago, Anna Roosevelt has been dubbed the “matriarch” of archaeology in the Amazon River Basin. In a career spanning some 40 years, she has authored more than a hundred scientific articles and a dozen books, which helped accomplish a radical shift in the way we perceive the past of the human presence in the Amazon. Known as environmental determinism, the dominant view for decades was that the tropical rainforest was too hostile, too wet, too infertile to bring forth any complex culture. Additionally, the human presence in the Amazon was thought to be a relatively recent phenomenon, consisting mainly of small bands of hunters and gatherers and simple gardeners. Having worked from the Orinoco floodplains to the Monte Alegre caves and from Marajó Island to the tropical forests of the Congo River Basin, Roosevelt smashed the pillars upon which the “false faith” was built. Today, thanks to archaeologists like her, almost everything regarding the human past of the Amazon is the exact opposite of what was taught in academia only 50 years ago. Erudite and witty, Roosevelt is the first to acknowledge that she did not do it alone. Too many before her remained ignored for far too long. “From an ecological point of view, the significance of the [archaeological] sequence is that the Amazonians have always very much managed the rainforest and rivers,” she said. “They didn’t deforest, but further developed and enriched the natural diversity.” Despite the many existential&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/a-short-walk-through-amazon-time-interview-with-archaeologist-anna-roosevelt/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/a-short-walk-through-amazon-time-interview-with-archaeologist-anna-roosevelt/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-280726</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ancient ocean water found in Himalayas could offer insights about evolution</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/ancient-ocean-water-found-in-himalayas-could-offer-insights-about-evolution/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/ancient-ocean-water-found-in-himalayas-could-offer-insights-about-evolution/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Nov 2023 02:30:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Niladry Sarkar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/11/21103925/himalayas-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275640</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellowship]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Archeology, Biodiversity, Conservation, Earth Science, Environment, Fellows, Geology, History, Mountains, Oceans, Paleontology, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A team of scientists from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Japan’s Niigata University have unearthed water droplets trapped in mineral deposits in the Kumaon mountains in the central sector of the Himalayas, in the north Indian state of Uttarakhand. The scientists say they believe these droplets were remnants of an ancient ocean that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A team of scientists from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Japan’s Niigata University have unearthed water droplets trapped in mineral deposits in the Kumaon mountains in the central sector of the Himalayas, in the north Indian state of Uttarakhand. The scientists say they believe these droplets were remnants of an ancient ocean that existed around 500-700 million years ago and that they could enhance our understanding of how complex life forms evolved on Earth. In their paper, published in the journal Precambrian Research in September, three scientists from IISc’s Centre for Earth Sciences and two from Niigata University wrote that they had discovered mineral deposits in the Kumaon mountains, in a region also known as the Lesser Himalayas, that contained marine carbonates from a sea of the Neoproterozoic era, estimated to have existed between 1 billion and 540 million years ago. The team found sparry magnesites, which are stratigraphically associated with dolomite, a kind of limestone that is rich in magnesium carbonate and calcium carbonate, and stromatolite, which is a sedimentary rock formed by microbial organisms. But the deposits the researchers found had lower amounts of calcium and higher amounts of magnesium, suggesting a different origin and environment of precipitation, the researchers wrote in their paper. “In present-day environmental conditions, precipitating magnesium carbonate in the oceans is difficult. However, during the Neoproterozoic era, extreme environmental and climatic factors favored magnesium carbonate precipitation because the calcium input in the oceans was significantly low due to the freezing of rivers,”&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/ancient-ocean-water-found-in-himalayas-could-offer-insights-about-evolution/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-275640</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Australia crackdown on climate protesters grows amid fight against gas project</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/australia-crackdown-on-climate-protesters-grows-amid-fight-against-gas-project/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/australia-crackdown-on-climate-protesters-grows-amid-fight-against-gas-project/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Oct 2023 14:43:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tessa Fox]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/31133108/protest-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274832</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation and Land rights and extractives]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Archeology, Arts, Business, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, COVID-19, Culture, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, History, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Industry, Infrastructure, Land Rights, Politics, Pollution, Protected Areas, Protests, Social Justice, Traditional Knowledge, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BRISBANE, Australia — Formed billions of years ago from volcanic magma, the red rocks and hills of Murujuga arise in striking contrast to the surrounding green native grasses. This area, in what is known today as Western Australia (WA), holds the world’s largest and oldest collection of petroglyphs, dating back at least 40,000 years. Described [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BRISBANE, Australia — Formed billions of years ago from volcanic magma, the red rocks and hills of Murujuga arise in striking contrast to the surrounding green native grasses. This area, in what is known today as Western Australia (WA), holds the world’s largest and oldest collection of petroglyphs, dating back at least 40,000 years. Described as a “bible” for local Indigenous groups, some of the rocks even depict the now-extinct Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus). Murujuga also encompasses 42 islands that are surrounded by passageways for various migratory whale and dolphin species. All this dynamic land is tied together by the Turtle Dreaming story. It details how the freshwater meets the ocean through the acts of a turtle, says Raelene Cooper, a Mardudhunera woman and former board member of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation. This is one of the greatest creation stories for the Indigenous groups, referred to as original custodians — as in caretakers — of Murujuga. “We have an enormous responsibility in terms of creating a safe space for all plant life, land animals, marine animals and the underwater systems and especially the &#8230; connection with the rock art,” Cooper tells Mongabay. And part of this landscape is an expanding industrial site that protrudes from the rich, red earth. Environmentalists and Indigenous advocates say the sacred site is threatened by the upcoming expansion planned by Australia’s largest petroleum company, Woodside Energy. The project entails expanding two processing plants and building two new offshore gas fields in what will produce billions&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/australia-crackdown-on-climate-protesters-grows-amid-fight-against-gas-project/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/australia-crackdown-on-climate-protesters-grows-amid-fight-against-gas-project/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-274832</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The Amazon’s archaeology of hope: Q&#038;A with anthropologist Michael Heckenberger</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/the-amazons-archaeology-of-hope-qa-with-anthropologist-michael-heckenberger/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/the-amazons-archaeology-of-hope-qa-with-anthropologist-michael-heckenberger/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Oct 2023 07:00:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Peter Speetjens]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/11092436/Kuikuro-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274170</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Anthropology, Archeology, Biodiversity, Cities, Conservation, Culture, Drought, Forest Loss, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Savannas, urban ecology, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A professor at the University of Florida, Michael Heckenberger has been visiting and studying Indigenous peoples at the Upper Xingu River for decades and says the Amazon is already facing its tipping point: “It’s a tipping event.”]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Michael Heckenberger has lived among the Kuikuro people at the Upper Xingu River for at least part of the year for the past 30 years. A professor of anthropology at the University of Florida and an archaeology expert, Heckenberger’s research has shown that, prior to European conquest, the region on the southern edge of the Amazon was not “pristine forest” as was firmly believed for centuries. The Kuikuro used to live in clusters of settlements, protected by palisades and ditches, surrounded by canals, bridges and ponds, connected by an impressive network of roads. While only a few thousand Kuikuro remain today, these “garden cities” of the Upper Xingu were once home to more than 50,000 people and maybe twice that many in 1492. Heckenberger returns to the Kuikuro almost every year and has witnessed firsthand the rapid deforestation affecting the protected Xingu Indigenous Park and its people. “When I started working with the Kuikuro, I could not have imagined there would no longer be an Amazon Rainforest in my lifetime. But, some 15 years ago, I realized that scenario could actually become a reality.” Part of his work now deals with working with the Kuikuro to prepare them for living in an environment very different from the one they had lived in for thousands of years. By looking at the past, Heckenberger hopes to find solutions that could help people in the Amazon and beyond help cope with a very different future. It’s what he calls an “archaeology of hope.”&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/the-amazons-archaeology-of-hope-qa-with-anthropologist-michael-heckenberger/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/the-amazons-archaeology-of-hope-qa-with-anthropologist-michael-heckenberger/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-274170</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Many features of the Amazon are man-made’: Q&#038;A with archaeologist Eduardo Neves</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/many-features-of-the-amazon-are-man-made-qa-with-archaeologist-eduardo-neves/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/many-features-of-the-amazon-are-man-made-qa-with-archaeologist-eduardo-neves/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 May 2023 18:44:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Peter Speetjens]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/05/03175619/Portrait-Neves-Marina-Garcia-Burgos-cropped-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=268168</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Archeology, Climate Change, Conflict, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Politics, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, and Threats To Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Neves has studied human occupation of the Amazon for 30 years and found evidence of rice, manioc and palm tree cultivation dating back thousands of years.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Amazon Rainforest is often considered the ultimate wilderness. Here, nature rules ruthlessly in all its grandeur. There’s no room for agriculture here and, hence, none for humankind, except for a few small groups of hunter-gatherers. For many people across the globe, this would be their idea of the Amazon. However, recent archaeological research turns that image on its head. Human presence in the world’s largest tropical rainforest is not only much older than previously thought, but also much more significant and varied than long presumed. Until the turn of the 21st century, the ruling paradigm was that the soil in the Amazon was too poor to support agriculture. And, without enough food, it’s not suited for humankind. Today, there’s little doubt among archaeologists that the Amazon was, in fact, a hotspot for plant cultivation. Eduardo Neves is well-versed in this paradigm shift in Amazonian archaeology and its consequences on our view of the past, present and future of the rainforest. A professor of archaeology at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, he’s worked for more than 30 years in the central and southwest Amazon. He recently published his latest book, Sob os tempos do equinócio: Oito mil anos de história na Amazônia central (“Under the times of the equinox: 8,000 years of history in central Amazon,” not yet translated into English.) “Archaeology in the Amazon is pretty unique, as we not only work with the past, but also with the present and the future,” says Neves, 56. “Even in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/many-features-of-the-amazon-are-man-made-qa-with-archaeologist-eduardo-neves/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-268168</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sri Lanka aims to restore ancient irrigation tanks in climate change plan</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/sri-lanka-aims-to-restore-ancient-irrigation-tanks-in-climate-change-plan/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/sri-lanka-aims-to-restore-ancient-irrigation-tanks-in-climate-change-plan/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Apr 2023 15:00:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/04/22142124/Cover-photo-Cascade-tank-system-c-IUCN-Sri-Lanka-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267775</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Adaptation To Climate Change, Ancient Civilizations, Environment, Mitigation, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ANURADHAPURA, Sri Lanka — Current climate models forewarn that Sri Lanka’s dry zone is likely to become drier due to climate change, resulting in water shortages for agriculture. A country that has twice been ranked among the top 10 countries in the climate risk index, Sri Lanka intends to revive its village tank cascade systems, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ANURADHAPURA, Sri Lanka — Current climate models forewarn that Sri Lanka’s dry zone is likely to become drier due to climate change, resulting in water shortages for agriculture. A country that has twice been ranked among the top 10 countries in the climate risk index, Sri Lanka intends to revive its village tank cascade systems, a neglected but highly efficient series of ancient irrigation systems as part of its climate adaptation strategy. A tank cascade system is a hydrologically interconnected series of tanks organized within micro-catchments in the dry zone landscape. The water released to paddy fields from one tank flows to the next, effectively sharing water from the top to the bottom and feeding many paddy lands. Each component in a cascade system adopts a specific functional purpose that can be explained in modern science even though they were designed centuries ago, according to research. A graphical representation of the tank cascade system. Image courtesy of IUCN Sri Lanka. “Restoring the tank cascade system has a wider implication from the point of view of climate change as the system has proved its resilience to extreme weather events,” said P.B. Dharmasena, former research officer at the Department of Agriculture and a specialist in soil and water management. The system can absorb shocks of natural disasters such as floods, which can be controlled by storing water, and drought impact, by reducing water loss from tanks through absorption in the surrounding environment. The cascaded tank-village system also contributes to efficient water management&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/sri-lanka-aims-to-restore-ancient-irrigation-tanks-in-climate-change-plan/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-267775</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sulawesi hydropower dam could flood important archaeological sites</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/sulawesi-hydropower-dam-could-flood-important-archaeological-sites/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/sulawesi-hydropower-dam-could-flood-important-archaeological-sites/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Dec 2022 08:17:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Agus Mawan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/11/28021227/Karama-river-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=262970</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Sulawesi, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Archeology, Conservation, Dams, Development, Energy, Environment, Environmental Law, Flooding, Governance, History, Hydroelectric Power, Infrastructure, Rivers, and Tropics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KALUMPANG, Indonesia — In January, as representatives of a hydropower company explained their plan to dam the river near his home, Kasman wondered if he was staring at annihilation. Kasman is the head of the village deliberation body in Kalumpang, a village on the Karama River in western Sulawesi, one of Indonesia’s biggest islands. Jakarta-based [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KALUMPANG, Indonesia — In January, as representatives of a hydropower company explained their plan to dam the river near his home, Kasman wondered if he was staring at annihilation. Kasman is the head of the village deliberation body in Kalumpang, a village on the Karama River in western Sulawesi, one of Indonesia’s biggest islands. Jakarta-based PT DND Hydro Ecopower wants to harness its fast-flowing waters as part of a 190-megawatt clean energy project meant to help wean the nation off coal. As the pitchmen assured locals that the reservoir formed by the dam would not inundate their village, Kasman wasn’t convinced. “How do we know they can be believed?” he told Mongabay. Indonesia runs on coal. The fossil fuel accounts for 63% of the energy mix in the archipelagic Southeast Asian nation, whose 275 million people make it the world’s fourth-most populous country. To reduce Indonesia’s reliance on coal, President Joko Widodo urged business leaders to develop hydropower, taking advantage of the some 4,400 big and medium rivers dotted throughout the country’s thousands of islands. But while hydroelectric dams can help cut carbon emissions, they have also displaced tens of millions of people worldwide, submerging huge areas of land and forcing rural communities to pick up and relocate. A settlement near the Karama River. People living near the river have been assured their homes won&#8217;t be inundated if a planned hydroelectric dam is built, but not all residentsare convinced, fearing they will lose land and possibly even their homes if&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/sulawesi-hydropower-dam-could-flood-important-archaeological-sites/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-262970</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Chimpanzee nut cracking leaves telltale marks on stones, providing clues to human evolution</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/chimpanzee-nut-cracking-leaves-telltale-marks-on-stones-providing-clues-to-human-evolution/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/chimpanzee-nut-cracking-leaves-telltale-marks-on-stones-providing-clues-to-human-evolution/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Dec 2022 07:02:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kate Hull]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/12/09013520/Hull-1_NutCracking_upscale-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=263415</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Cote D'Ivoire, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Apes, Archeology, Chimpanzees, Culture, Environment, Evolution, Great Apes, Primates, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The dents and dings on the surfaces of rocks used by chimpanzees to crack open nuts preserve a history of how the animals used the tools and how those patterns change from one troop to the next, researchers reported recently in Royal Society Open Science. This archaeological data can offer insights into the ways similar [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The dents and dings on the surfaces of rocks used by chimpanzees to crack open nuts preserve a history of how the animals used the tools and how those patterns change from one troop to the next, researchers reported recently in Royal Society Open Science. This archaeological data can offer insights into the ways similar stone tool technology arose millions of years ago among hominins, the ancestors of humans. Scientists examined nut-smashing rocks used by chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in Taï National Park, in southwestern Côte d’Ivoire in West Africa. Measurements and 3D scans of the tools revealed distinct patterns of damage related to how the animals wielded the rocks. Geographic locations of Djouroutou and Bossou chimpanzee sites in West Africa. Purple shading marks their distribution. Map Credit: IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) 2018. Pan troglodytes. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2022-1 The team then compared these marks to those from prior study that described nut-cracking tools used by chimpanzees about 300 kilometers away in Bossou, Guinea — the only other study to examine tools in this way. Even though the Guinea chimps used their stone tools for the same purpose, differences in the damage patterns clearly showed which tools came from which troop. The study focused on “percussive” tools used for hitting or pounding. Most archaeological research on tool use has focused on “flake” technology — tools used for cutting and slicing. However, percussive tools probably came first, researchers believe. Example of an anvil&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/chimpanzee-nut-cracking-leaves-telltale-marks-on-stones-providing-clues-to-human-evolution/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/chimpanzee-nut-cracking-leaves-telltale-marks-on-stones-providing-clues-to-human-evolution/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-263415</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Giant kangaroo fossil points to previously unknown species in New Guinea</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/07/giant-kangaroo-fossil-points-to-previously-unknown-species-in-new-guinea/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/07/giant-kangaroo-fossil-points-to-previously-unknown-species-in-new-guinea/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jul 2022 18:42:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jim Tan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/07/27150803/Nombe-nombe-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=258620</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Oceania and Papua New Guinea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Archeology, Biodiversity, Environment, Extinction, Fossils, Islands, Marsupials, New Discovery, Rainforests, Research, Science, and Species Discovery]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A previously unknown genus of primitive giant kangaroo that once roamed the rainforests of New Guinea has been described by a team of paleontologists from Flinders University in Australia. The researchers say they hope the findings, published in June, will reenergize the field of paleontological research on New Guinea, helping to uncover the island&#8217;s history [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A previously unknown genus of primitive giant kangaroo that once roamed the rainforests of New Guinea has been described by a team of paleontologists from Flinders University in Australia. The researchers say they hope the findings, published in June, will reenergize the field of paleontological research on New Guinea, helping to uncover the island&#8217;s history and thus better understand its diverse and often unique modern-day flora and fauna. The chance discovery came about as lead author Isaac Kerr, a Ph.D. candidate at Flinders University, was reexamining a fossilized jawbone thought to belong to a giant kangaroo from the extinct genus Protemnodon, a cousin to the modern-day eastern gray and red kangaroos (Macropus giganteus and Macropus rufus) found in Australia and the focus of Kerr’s research. On closer examination, distinct differences to Protemnodon in the molar teeth led the research team to believe they were in fact looking at a previously undiscovered genus most likely unique to New Guinea. Flinders University palaeontology researcher Isaac Kerr with an Australian kangaroo jaw bone, and an Australian megafauna fossil jaw used in the latest Royal Society study. Image courtesy of Flinders University. The jawbone was originally found during an expedition led by Mary Jane Mountain in the 1970s at an archaeological site in central Papua New Guinea called the Nombe Rockshelter. Kerr and his colleagues have named the new genus Nombe after the site and the type species will be called Nombe nombe. “The New Guinean fauna is strange and unique, and the fossil&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/07/giant-kangaroo-fossil-points-to-previously-unknown-species-in-new-guinea/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-258620</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The controversial hunt for a multibillion-dollar treasure in a Chilean park</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/the-controversial-hunt-for-a-multibillion-dollar-treasure-in-a-chilean-park/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/the-controversial-hunt-for-a-multibillion-dollar-treasure-in-a-chilean-park/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Feb 2021 11:38:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Barinia Montoya]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Maria Angeles Salazar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/02/12112805/Robinson-Crusoe_Panora%CC%81mica-scaled-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=239538</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Chile, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Archeology, Biodiversity, Environment, National Parks, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A two-and-a-half hour flight separates the Chilean capital of Santiago and the Archipiélago de Juan Fernández National Park. The archipelago is rich in marine and terrestrial biodiversity and comprises three islands: Santa Clara, Alejandro Selkirk, and Robinson Crusoe, which is home to San Juan Bautista, the islands’ only permanently inhabited settlement. According to legend, a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A two-and-a-half hour flight separates the Chilean capital of Santiago and the Archipiélago de Juan Fernández National Park. The archipelago is rich in marine and terrestrial biodiversity and comprises three islands: Santa Clara, Alejandro Selkirk, and Robinson Crusoe, which is home to San Juan Bautista, the islands’ only permanently inhabited settlement. According to legend, a treasure lies in the sea around the island. For two decades, treasure hunters used shovels and picks in their search. But in November 2019, methods changed radically with the introduction of a backhoe with a mechanized hammer. The advent of this shift sparked controversy around the potential destruction of the environment in the national park, which was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1977. The History of the Treasure In 1994, historian and businessman Bernard Keiser, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Dutch descent, arrived for the first time on Robinson Crusoe Island. More than just a tourist, he had evidence that pirates had lost treasure in the area. The local community knows Keiser by the nickname “El Gringo.” Keiser had found “significant writings” dating from the 18th century in Selkirk’s Cave on the small bay of Puerto Inglés, according to Victorio Bertullo, a historian and close friend of Keiser. Buoyed by his discovery, Keiser went to Seville, Spain, to examine historical naval records from that period in the General Archive of the Indies, which houses documents related to the Spanish Empire’s activities in North and South America as well as the Philippines. His research confirmed&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/the-controversial-hunt-for-a-multibillion-dollar-treasure-in-a-chilean-park/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-239538</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Reviving an ancient way of aquaculture at Hawaii&#8217;s Heʻeia fishpond</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/reviving-an-ancient-way-of-aquaculture-at-hawaiis-he%ca%bbeia-fishpond/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/reviving-an-ancient-way-of-aquaculture-at-hawaiis-he%ca%bbeia-fishpond/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2020 16:03:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shannon Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Genevieve Belmaker]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/04/20153328/DSC4942-1-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=229170</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Hawaii and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Ancient Civilizations, Anthropology, Aquaculture, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Culture, Fish, Fisheries, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Solutions, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[OAHU, Hawaii — Tucked at the base of the Ko’olau Mountains on the eastern side of the Hawaiian island of Oahu lies He’eia fishpond. Built around 800 years ago by indigenous Hawaiians, it was a thriving aquaculture site for hundreds of years, before falling into disrepair after a flood damaged its wall in 1965. Fishponds [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[OAHU, Hawaii — Tucked at the base of the Ko’olau Mountains on the eastern side of the Hawaiian island of Oahu lies He’eia fishpond. Built around 800 years ago by indigenous Hawaiians, it was a thriving aquaculture site for hundreds of years, before falling into disrepair after a flood damaged its wall in 1965. Fishponds had been declining even before then; culture and land use patterns started to change with the arrival of Captain James Cook in 1778. Ancient Hawaiians originally built almost 500 fishponds throughout the Hawaiian islands. At the time, they managed to support themselves entirely from the ponds, island agriculture, and occasional forays into the ocean for offshore fish. Today, 87% of Hawaii’s food is imported, including 63% of its seafood. Of the original 488 ponds, 20 have received restoration permits through the state of Hawaii. However, it’s difficult to determine an exact number. Some ponds have had only minor restoration work done, and don’t have a permit. At 36 hectares (88 acres) and with a perimeter of 2.1 kilometers (1.3 miles), He’eia is one of the largest. In 2017, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded a Saltonsall-Kennedy grant to the Oceanic Institute at Hawaii Pacific University (HPU) and Conservation International. The goal for the grant was to study the logistics of producing fish at three fishponds, including He’eia, and determine whether they could again be turned into productive aquaculture sites. He&#8217;eia fishpond construction utilizes ancient technologies and techniques. Photo by Shannon Brown. The three-year&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/reviving-an-ancient-way-of-aquaculture-at-hawaiis-he%ca%bbeia-fishpond/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-229170</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Humans have been transforming Earth for thousands of years, study says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/humans-have-been-transforming-earth-for-thousands-of-years-study-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/humans-have-been-transforming-earth-for-thousands-of-years-study-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Aug 2019 10:42:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/08/30073139/stephens9HR-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=222052</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Archeology, Climate Change, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Green, Land Use Change, Livestock, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Look around, and you’ll see examples of how we’ve modified our planet’s land surface: roads, buildings, farms, plantations. But is the widespread human impact on Earth a modern occurrence? No, according to a new study published in Science. Some 3,000 years ago, our ancestors were already stripping away forests and substantially transforming Earth’s surface through [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Look around, and you’ll see examples of how we’ve modified our planet’s land surface: roads, buildings, farms, plantations. But is the widespread human impact on Earth a modern occurrence? No, according to a new study published in Science. Some 3,000 years ago, our ancestors were already stripping away forests and substantially transforming Earth’s surface through farming and grazing livestock, researchers have found by crowdsourcing the expert knowledge of more than 250 archaeologists from the around the world. Archaeologists typically focus on a particular region and time period. But this massive collaboration, termed the ArchaeGLOBE project, has helped build the first ever global picture of how human activities were altering the planet’s surface from 10,000 years ago, long before there were written records to keep track of the same, right up to 1850, or after the industrial revolution. “Our open access dataset provides the first globally consistent dataset on land use over the past 10,000 years that is based on the expert knowledge of archaeologists,” Erle Ellis, a co-author of the study and professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, told Mongabay. “It describes both the global patterns of this knowledge over time, and the timing of the emergence of agriculture, pastoralism and urbanism, and the decline of hunter-gatherer land use.” To piece together humankind’s history of land use, the researchers divided Earth’s surface into 146 analytical regions spanning all continents except Antarctica. Then they sent out questionnaires to more than 1,300 archaeologists, asking them to contribute their understanding of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/08/humans-have-been-transforming-earth-for-thousands-of-years-study-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-222052</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fire, cattle, cocaine: Deforestation spikes in Guatemalan national park</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/invaders-cattle-cocaine-deforestation-spikes-in-guatemalan-national-park/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/invaders-cattle-cocaine-deforestation-spikes-in-guatemalan-national-park/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jun 2019 14:59:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/06/21145646/31-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=219505</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Forest Trackers]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Archeology, Big Cats, Birds, Cats, Cattle, Deforestation, Drug Trade, Environment, Fires, Forest Loss, Forests, Green, Habitat Loss, Industrial Agriculture, Land Rights, National Parks, Primary Forests, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Satellite Imagery, Slash-and-burn, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[4759]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A patrol of eleven men is hiking along a rough jungle trail spotted with the blackened foliage of several small brush fires. Nearby trees, smoke-stained at their bottoms but still alive, are painted with a messy green &#8220;M&#8221; for La Mestiza, the peasant community staking a claim on the area. Authorities consider La Mestiza residents [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A patrol of eleven men is hiking along a rough jungle trail spotted with the blackened foliage of several small brush fires. Nearby trees, smoke-stained at their bottoms but still alive, are painted with a messy green &#8220;M&#8221; for La Mestiza, the peasant community staking a claim on the area. Authorities consider La Mestiza residents to be intruders, as their village falls within Laguna del Tigre National Park, the largest such park in Guatemala. But community members have defended what they say is their right to live on the land and to use its resources, in some cases even resorting to violence. Five of the men on this patrol are park rangers. The other six are National Civil Police officers, who arrived late the night before to provide additional security. Together, they navigate the forest in a straight line, speaking only in whispers. The leaders hold machetes for clearing the trail of vines and ferns. Most hold water bottles, sometimes more than one. Even at 8:30 a.m., the sun hits so hard that sweat has begun dripping down their necks. Laguna del Tigre occupies about 1,300 square miles in northern Guatemala. Photo by Max Radwin for Mongabay. The patrol walks in a single file, speaking only in whispers. Photo by Max Radwin for Mongabay. The jungle becomes thinner and thinner until the patrol reaches a five-mile-long field, once as dense as the healthiest parts of the park but now scattered with cattle fences. It’s completely deserted. Over the most distant&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/invaders-cattle-cocaine-deforestation-spikes-in-guatemalan-national-park/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/invaders-cattle-cocaine-deforestation-spikes-in-guatemalan-national-park/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-219505</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New ancient, giant carnivore described from bones in museum drawer</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/new-ancient-giant-carnivore-described-from-bones-in-museum-drawer/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/new-ancient-giant-carnivore-described-from-bones-in-museum-drawer/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Apr 2019 12:34:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/04/19044355/simbakubwa-reconstruction-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=217634</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Archeology, Carnivores, Climate Change, Extinction, Fossils, Mammals, Paleontology, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For a long time, some of the fossil remains that had been excavated from a site in western Kenya in the late 1970s languished in a drawer at Nairobi National Museum, unidentified. Now, by examining and piecing together the teeth, parts of a jaw, skull and skeleton, researchers have described a new species of a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For a long time, some of the fossil remains that had been excavated from a site in western Kenya in the late 1970s languished in a drawer at Nairobi National Museum, unidentified. Now, by examining and piecing together the teeth, parts of a jaw, skull and skeleton, researchers have described a new species of a giant carnivore that stalked the Earth some 22 million years ago. The extinct carnivore was larger than any big cat that lives today, researchers report in a new study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. It had a skull the size of a rhinoceros’s and massive canine teeth. In fact, it’s well-preserved teeth suggest that the predator could have weighed as much as 1,500 kilograms (3,300 pounds), making it one of the largest terrestrial carnivorous mammals ever known, the researchers say. The animal possibly preyed on elephant- and hippopotamus-like herbivores that lived then. The meat-eating mammal has been dubbed Simbakubwa kutokaafrika — simbakubwa in Swahili means “big lion,” while kutokaafrika means “from Africa.” “Based on its massive teeth, Simbakubwa was a specialized ‘hypercarnivore’ that was significantly larger than the modern lion and possibly larger than a polar bear,” Matthew Borths, a paleontologist at Duke University, said in a statement. Borths conducted the research as a postdoctoral student at Ohio University. A comparison of a modern lion skull, top, and the jaw of Simbakubwa kutokaafrika. Image by Matthew Borths. Despite its name, the animal wasn’t a big cat or related to one. Instead, it belonged to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/new-ancient-giant-carnivore-described-from-bones-in-museum-drawer/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-217634</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New species of ancient human found in a Philippine cave</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/new-species-of-ancient-human-found-in-a-philippine-cave/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/new-species-of-ancient-human-found-in-a-philippine-cave/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Apr 2019 11:01:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shreya Dasgupta]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/04/12082635/DSC_4469b-1024x680-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=217439</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Archeology, Biogeography, Environment, Evolution, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Human Migration, Islands, Research, Science, and Species Discovery]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[4127-1 SEA-ENV-SIDA]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Over the past decade, archaeologists have dug out several pieces of bones and teeth from a cave on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. These fossil remains, all estimated to be at least 50,000 years old, belong to a new species of early human, researchers have now confirmed in a study published in Nature. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Over the past decade, archaeologists have dug out several pieces of bones and teeth from a cave on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. These fossil remains, all estimated to be at least 50,000 years old, belong to a new species of early human, researchers have now confirmed in a study published in Nature. The journey to discovering this early human species, dubbed Homo luzonensis, has been a long one. Archaeologist Armand Mijares, an associate professor at the University of the Philippines and co-lead author of the study, first began excavating around Callao Cave on Luzon in 2003, when his team unearthed evidence of human activity dating back some 25,000 years. He returned to the cave in 2007, this time digging much deeper than he had the first time. At depths of around 8 to 9 feet (2.4 to 2.7 meters), among bones of deer and other animals, his team discovered a foot bone. The team sent the bone to Philip Piper, a professor at the Australian National University, who soon confirmed what Mijares suspected: the bone belonged to a human. “When Dr. Armand Mijares (Project Leader) and I found the first human bone dating to more than 50,000 years ago at Callao in 2007, we knew [what] we had was something special,” Piper, co-author of the study, told Mongabay in an email. “We didn’t know it was a new species then of course, but we did know that we had the oldest human remains in the Philippines. From then&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/new-species-of-ancient-human-found-in-a-philippine-cave/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-217439</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Honduras aims to save vital wildlife corridor from deforestation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/honduras-aims-to-save-vital-wildlife-corridor-from-deforestation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/honduras-aims-to-save-vital-wildlife-corridor-from-deforestation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Nov 2018 02:51:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/11/12092809/Jaguar_photo-by-Julie-Larsen-Maher.8ec22025e1474670989afd55ced2b69c-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=212164</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Honduras, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Archeology, Biodiversity, Birds, carbon, Cats, Cattle, Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Ecology, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Peoples, Jaguars, Mammals, Parks, Pasture, Rainforests, Ranching, Saving Rainforests, Solutions, Traditional People, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Honduras has committed to protecting part of the tropical rainforests found in the Moskitia region, a move that conservation groups say will protect the region’s rich wildlife, carbon stocks and indigenous groups from recent incursions by ranchers. “The Moskitia is Central America’s second largest rainforest, one of the last wild places in the region, and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Honduras has committed to protecting part of the tropical rainforests found in the Moskitia region, a move that conservation groups say will protect the region’s rich wildlife, carbon stocks and indigenous groups from recent incursions by ranchers. “The Moskitia is Central America’s second largest rainforest, one of the last wild places in the region, and contains expansive areas of primary forest,” Chris Jordan, who heads the Central America and Tropical Andes program for the NGO Global Wildlife Conservation, said in a statement. “Putting a stop to deforestation in the Moskitia will change the course of history for Honduras.” A river flowing through the Moskitia region. Image by John Polisar/WCS. President Juan Orlando Hernández announced the program “SOS Honduras” on Nov. 8, aimed at ridding the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve in the Moskitia of cattle and livestock ranching. The U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) says illegal ranching has caused 90 percent of the deforestation in the 21,000-square-kilometer (8,100-square-mile) Moskitia. Also beset with wildlife trafficking and the looting of its archaeological sites, the Moskitia has lost 30 percent of its forests in the past 15 years, WCS’s research shows. “As a state, we have taken actions to protect Río Plátano, but the problem is so serious and delicate that it is necessary to redouble efforts to guarantee that it remains one of the most important protected areas of Honduras and at the same time a UNESCO World Heritage site,” the Institute of Forest Conservation, a government agency, said according to the statement.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/honduras-aims-to-save-vital-wildlife-corridor-from-deforestation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-212164</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A Brazilian mourns what was lost in the National Museum fire</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/09/a-brazilian-mourns-what-was-lost-in-the-national-museum-fire/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/09/a-brazilian-mourns-what-was-lost-in-the-national-museum-fire/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Sep 2018 12:49:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Peter Moon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/09/06122535/FEATURED-768x449.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=210045</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Cerrado, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Anthropology, Archeology, Biodiversity, Culture, Earth Science, Fires, Geology, Indigenous Peoples, Paleontology, Rainforest Destruction, and Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The greatest natural history repository in South America, Brazil’s National Museum was consumed by fire last Sunday — much was destroyed, but not all.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Brazil&#8217;s National Museum on fire. Image by Erick Dau / Farpa. This story appears courtesy of a co-publication partnership between Mongabay and ((O))eco. The original story can be read here in Portuguese. Forty years ago, in July 1978, neglect of Brazil’s culture and heritage by Rio de Janeiro&#8217;s public officials and business entrepreneurs resulted in the destruction of the Museum of Modern Art (MAM). Struck by a fire, it lost more than 90 percent of its collection. The blaze consumed about a thousand artworks, among them those by Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Henri Matisse, René Magritte, Salvador Dalí and the Brazilians Cândido Portinari and Di Cavalcanti. Only 50 works survived, mostly sculptures. One realizes today that no lessons were learned from that irreparable loss of a unique artistic legacy. Now we have lost the National Museum of Quinta da Boa Vista, the oldest natural history museum in South America, founded by King of Portugal Dom João VI in 1808. The museum celebrated its 200th anniversary in June. On Sunday night, September 2, 2018, a major fire totally consumed the main building of the museum, a colonial palace that served as the imperial home for Dom Pedro II and his family. In historical terms, therefore, the destruction of Brazil’s National Museum is comparable to the loss of the Louvre or Versailles. In cultural and scientific terms, the extent of the loss is immeasurable. Palaces can be rebuilt to their former grandeur and likeness. Scientific collections, once lost, are forever. The National Museum was the depository of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/09/a-brazilian-mourns-what-was-lost-in-the-national-museum-fire/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-210045</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Researchers are looking into the past to help ensure a future for tropical forests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/researchers-are-looking-into-the-past-to-help-ensure-a-future-for-tropical-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/researchers-are-looking-into-the-past-to-help-ensure-a-future-for-tropical-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jul 2018 10:06:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/07/30100026/wide-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=208779</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Ecuador, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Archeology, Cloud Forests, Deforestation, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Farming, Forests, History, Rainforests, Ranching, Research, Restoration, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[At 1,200 to 3,200 meters above sea level, the montane cloud forests on the eastern Andean flank in Ecuador lie between the Andes’ high-elevation grasslands (known as páramo) and the tropical rainforests of the Amazon Basin. They are incredibly biodiverse and densely populated with moisture-loving trees and plants that cling to the steep Andean slopes, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[At 1,200 to 3,200 meters above sea level, the montane cloud forests on the eastern Andean flank in Ecuador lie between the Andes’ high-elevation grasslands (known as páramo) and the tropical rainforests of the Amazon Basin. They are incredibly biodiverse and densely populated with moisture-loving trees and plants that cling to the steep Andean slopes, but the more accessible areas have been cleared for agriculture and cattle ranching, while ongoing deforestation is making landslides and fires worse. Of course, Ecuador’s cloud forests are hardly unique in this respect: forests the world over are being destroyed to make way for agriculture and ranching operations. As we seek to reverse global trends of deforestation and forest degradation, researchers are peering into the past to help chart a course forward for imperiled tropical forests. A study published in Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution earlier this month shows that tropical forests may be more resilient in the face of human pressures than previously thought. The study, led by Nicholas Loughlin of the UK’s Open University (OU), determined that indigenous peoples farmed the land intensively before European colonists arrived. In fact, “prior to European arrival, indigenous peoples in the cloud forests of Ecuador modified landscapes to a greater degree than modern human populations,&#8221; including clearing even more of the cloud forests than we have cleared today, Loughlin told Mongabay. These intensive cultivation practices came to an abrupt end in the late 1500s as a result of the violence perpetrated against the indigenous peoples inhabiting the cloud&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/07/researchers-are-looking-into-the-past-to-help-ensure-a-future-for-tropical-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-208779</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Conserving the World’s Remaining Intact Forests (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/conserving-the-worlds-remaining-intact-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/conserving-the-worlds-remaining-intact-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Jul 2017 18:15:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David WilkieMichael Painter]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/07/25173901/sabah_aerial_1802_1210PX-768x451.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=197623</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Ancient Civilizations, Anthropology, Biodiversity, Commentary, Conservation, Culture, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Old Growth Forests, Primary Forests, Rainforests, Traditional People, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Intact forests are among the few places on earth where native trees and animals can fulfill their ecological roles outside the influence of industrial humankind. Some interpret “intact” to mean absent the influence of people, but people have lived within forests the world over for millennia and we are only beginning to understand how they [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Intact forests are among the few places on earth where native trees and animals can fulfill their ecological roles outside the influence of industrial humankind. Some interpret “intact” to mean absent the influence of people, but people have lived within forests the world over for millennia and we are only beginning to understand how they have – and continue to – influence them. A recent article in Science reviews plant domestication practices by pre-Columbian peoples in the Amazon, concluding that they continue to influence the composition of the forest we know today. Of the roughly 16,000 woody species the Science researchers identified within the Amazon forest, a mere 227 account for more than half of the total number of trees in the Amazon, a disproportionality that the authors refer to as “hyper-dominant.” Pre-Columbian peoples domesticated roughly 10 percent of these 227 hyper-dominant species to some degree, and according to archaeological evidence, distributed them across the Amazon basin. They thus changed forest composition by enriching the forest with useful species and creating new landscapes for domesticated plants. A Tacana woman harvesting a cacao pod in Bolivia. Photo by Mileniusz Spanowicz / WCS History has shown that people can live successfully in forests over long periods of time. Despite the massive demographic upheavals that have occurred as a result of agrarian, industrial, and digital revolutions, intact forests are still home to hunter-gatherers in Africa, Asia and the Americas. Such communities depend almost exclusively on the direct use of forest resources for food, fuel, fiber, and shelter. Forests do&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/conserving-the-worlds-remaining-intact-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-197623</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pre-Columbian Amazon settlement primarily ate fish — more sustainable?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/pre-columbian-amazon-settlement-primarily-ate-fish-more-sustainable/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/pre-columbian-amazon-settlement-primarily-ate-fish-more-sustainable/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jul 2016 14:59:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claire Salisbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/07/01200247/FEATURED-USE-444x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=187516</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Ancient Civilizations, Anthropology, Archeology, Culture, Environment, Fish, Food, Freshwater Fish, Indigenous Peoples, Rainforests, Research, Rivers, Sustainability, and Turtles]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Uncovering the history of human habitation in the Amazon rainforest is challenging. The humid, tropical climate and dynamic forest landscape, where organic materials decay rapidly, can be an enemy of archaeological remains. But researchers have persevered and over the last two decades have gathered evidence that overturns the once commonly-held theory that the ancient Amazon [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Excavations at the Hatahara prehistoric site revealed a large diversity of animal bones. The vast majority were fish, followed by reptiles, particularly river turtles. Photo courtesy of Val Moraes Uncovering the history of human habitation in the Amazon rainforest is challenging. The humid, tropical climate and dynamic forest landscape, where organic materials decay rapidly, can be an enemy of archaeological remains. But researchers have persevered and over the last two decades have gathered evidence that overturns the once commonly-held theory that the ancient Amazon was a sparsely populated, largely “pristine” wilderness. Modern archaeology instead paints a picture of a far more densely populated and heavily manipulated landscape, occupied by flourishing Pre-Columbian communities. A recent study has unearthed the first “zooarchaeological” evidence — animal bones that indicate dietary habits — for one such Central Amazonian community, located on a bluff above the confluence of the Amazon and Negro rivers between 750 and 1230 AD. Excavations at an earth mound at Hatahara, a Central Amazonian settlement on a bluff near the confluence of the Amazon and Negro rivers. Photo courtesy of Val Moraes The Hatahara site dates back even further, but during this time period the settlement had expanded to cover about 20 hectares (49.4 acres), and its residents produced ceramics, cultivated crops, and modified vegetation cover so extensively that their work indicates “intense landscape transformation related to population growth,” the researchers wrote. But what did they eat? Sieving 300 liters (79.3 gallons) of excavated sediment, from 4.5 to 9 feet beneath&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/pre-columbian-amazon-settlement-primarily-ate-fish-more-sustainable/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-187516</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Controversial park plans in Guatemala&#8217;s Maya Biosphere Reserve</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/controversial-park-plans-in-guatemalas-maya-biosphere-reserve/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/controversial-park-plans-in-guatemalas-maya-biosphere-reserve/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jun 2016 07:00:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sandra Cuffe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/06/01201206/061616-SCuffe_MBRMirador_LaDantaVista-494x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=187168</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Guatemala, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Ancient Civilizations, Biodiversity, Birds, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conflict, Conservation, Crime, Deforestation, Drug Trade, Ecology, Ecotourism, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forest Products, Forests, Governance, Green, Human Rights, Illegal Logging, Innovation, Land Rights, Land Use Change, Law Enforcement, Logging, National Parks, Organized Crime, Parks, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Forest Management, Tourism, Traditional People, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Other stories in Mongabay’s series on the Maya Biosphere Reserve: Killing of Guatemalan activist in the Maya Biosphere Reserve raises alarm Successes and many challenges in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve Communities lead the way in rainforest conservation in Guatemala You hear them before you see them. It&#8217;s a frog-like croaking, coming from the treetops below [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Other stories in Mongabay’s series on the Maya Biosphere Reserve: Killing of Guatemalan activist in the Maya Biosphere Reserve raises alarm Successes and many challenges in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve Communities lead the way in rainforest conservation in Guatemala You hear them before you see them. It&#8217;s a frog-like croaking, coming from the treetops below as the sky begins to fill with light. The jungle goes on for as far as the eye can see from up here at the top of El Tigre, a temple in the ancient Mayan city of Mirador. It&#8217;s the momentary flash of movement and color in the canopy that gives the birds away. You can&#8217;t make out the bright orange, red, and lime green on their large beaks from here, but when they move their heads, it becomes possible to pick out the keel-billed toucans (Ramphastos sulfuratus) perched in the treetops. Pink clouds streak the sky as the sun starts to rise above La Danta. One of the two tallest pyramids in the western hemisphere and among the largest in volume in the world, it looms above the canopy. Down below, the calls of endangered Guatemalan black howler monkeys (Alouatta pigra) punctuate the birds&#8217; dawn chorus here in Mirador-Rio Azul National Park, in the northern part of Guatemala&#8217;s Maya Biosphere Reserve. Keel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos sulfuratus). Photo by Rhett A. Butler. It&#8217;s a 25-mile trek to get here from the closest village. There are no roads into the ancient city of Mirador or the national&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/controversial-park-plans-in-guatemalas-maya-biosphere-reserve/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-187168</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Communities lead the way in rainforest conservation in Guatemala</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/communities-lead-the-way-in-rainforest-conservation-in-guatemala/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/communities-lead-the-way-in-rainforest-conservation-in-guatemala/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jun 2016 16:44:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sandra Cuffe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/06/01201812/060916-MBRConcessions_1_Xate-440x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=186972</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Guatemala, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Ancient Civilizations, Biodiversity, Birds, Certification, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conflict, Conservation, Crime, Deforestation, Drug Trade, Ecology, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forest Products, Forests, Governance, Green, Innovation, Land Rights, Land Use Change, Law Enforcement, Logging, National Parks, Organized Crime, Palm Oil, Parks, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Forest Management, Traditional People, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Other stories in Mongabay’s series on the Maya Biosphere Reserve: Killing of Guatemalan activist in the Maya Biosphere Reserve raises alarm Successes and many challenges in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve Controversial park plans in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve &#160; Marta Álvarez doesn&#8217;t miss a beat, checking each and every palm frond while she explains the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Other stories in Mongabay’s series on the Maya Biosphere Reserve: Killing of Guatemalan activist in the Maya Biosphere Reserve raises alarm Successes and many challenges in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve Controversial park plans in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve &nbsp; Marta Álvarez doesn&#8217;t miss a beat, checking each and every palm frond while she explains the workings of the busy warehouse. A harvester walks in and sets the giant bundle on his back down on the floor, which is scattered with discarded greenery. “They bring it by the bundle. The women are here to sort the xate. I&#8217;m the inspector. They leave the bunches in good condition. I go over it all, checking it,” Álvarez tells Mongabay. “See this?” She wipes some tiny insect eggs from the underside of a leaf. Harvested here in Uaxactún and in other community forest concessions in Guatemala&#8217;s Maya Biosphere Reserve, the ornamental xate (Chamaedorea elegans, C. ernesti-augusti, C. oblongata, and C. nerochlamys) palm fronds will end up adorning floral arrangements more than a thousand miles away in the United States and beyond. Xate is just one of several plants and trees that residents in the northernmost reaches of Guatemala harvest, process, and export. One of the best ways to protect the rainforest, it turns out, is to hand its management over to communities whose livelihoods depend on it. Guatemalan communities have been up to the task, engaging in the carefully regulated extraction of timber and plants while protecting their sections of the Maya Biosphere Reserve&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/communities-lead-the-way-in-rainforest-conservation-in-guatemala/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-186972</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Successes and many challenges in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/successes-and-many-challenges-in-guatemalas-maya-biosphere-reserve/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/successes-and-many-challenges-in-guatemalas-maya-biosphere-reserve/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jun 2016 19:04:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sandra Cuffe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/06/01202253/MBRintro_Rainforest-448x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=186792</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Guatemala, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Ancient Civilizations, Biodiversity, Birds, Certification, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conflict, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corruption, Crime, Deforestation, Drug Trade, Ecology, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forest Products, Forests, Governance, Green, Human Rights, Illegal Logging, Indigenous Rights, Innovation, Land Rights, Land Use Change, Law Enforcement, Logging, National Parks, Organized Crime, Palm Oil, Parks, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Forest Management, Traditional People, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Other stories in Mongabay’s series on the Maya Biosphere Reserve: Killing of Guatemalan activist in the Maya Biosphere Reserve raises alarm Communities lead the way in rainforest conservation in Guatemala Controversial park plans in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve Flashes of color move about the trees lining the path to the Waka&#8217; archaeological site inside Guatemala’s [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[Other stories in Mongabay’s series on the Maya Biosphere Reserve: Killing of Guatemalan activist in the Maya Biosphere Reserve raises alarm Communities lead the way in rainforest conservation in Guatemala Controversial park plans in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve Flashes of color move about the trees lining the path to the Waka&#8217; archaeological site inside Guatemala’s Laguna del Tigre National Park. It&#8217;s the army ants that set things in motion. A river of ants flows across the path and into the rainforest, overturning leaves and uncovering insects along the way, and birds flock to the area to feed — at least a dozen different species. Carlos Cuz wants to double check the identification of a few, and he swipes his finger across a tablet running the iBird Pro program a visiting birder gave him. Cuz learned the Maya Q&#8217;eqchi&#8217; names for many bird species from his parents. They moved to Paso Caballos, a village inside Laguna del Tigre National Park in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, when Cuz was a young child. He later discovered his passion for birds in the forest around his new home. A guide for the Guacamayas Biological Station during the week, Cuz returned to school as an adult and has been completing his high school education on the weekends. Cuz&#8217;s favorite course so far, though, was one on bird identification the Audubon Society offered to locals two years ago. There&#8217;s no shortage of subjects for practice. More than 500 bird species live in the Maya Biosphere Reserve.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/06/successes-and-many-challenges-in-guatemalas-maya-biosphere-reserve/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-186792</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Lima to restore pre-Incan aqueducts to alleviate its water crisis</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/04/lima-to-restore-pre-incan-aqueducts-to-alleviate-its-water-crisis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/04/lima-to-restore-pre-incan-aqueducts-to-alleviate-its-water-crisis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Apr 2015 16:44:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ariel Mark]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Tiffany Roufs]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2015/04/lima-to-restore-pre-incan-aqueducts-to-alleviate-its-water-crisis/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Andes, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Ancient Civilizations, Cities, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Andean community leaders show hydrologists and project developers from Lima damaged amunas. These pre-Incan canals collect excess river water in the wet season so it can recharge pools and groundwater supplies for use in the dry season. Credit: Gena Gammie. To tackle a looming water crisis, the city of Lima, Peru, is planning a series [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Andean community leaders show hydrologists and project developers from Lima damaged amunas. These pre-Incan canals collect excess river water in the wet season so it can recharge pools and groundwater supplies for use in the dry season. Credit: Gena Gammie. To tackle a looming water crisis, the city of Lima, Peru, is planning a series of green infrastructure projects, including the restoration of an ancient network of aqueducts in the mountains above the city. With a rapidly growing population of around 8.75 million Lima is the world&#8217;s second largest desert city, and no stranger to water shortages. Three main watersheds supply the city, supplemented by additional water transported in from across the Andes. The city currently faces a water deficit of 43 million cubic meters per year, even though it receives more than enough water during its extremely rainy December-through-May wet season to meet its needs year round. Much of the grasslands and wetlands in the Andes Mountains surrounding the city are degraded from livestock and agricultural activity, causing the rainfall to run off and make its way to the ocean rather than soak into the land and replenish water supplies. Climate change is likely to add to the city&#8217;s water woes — if it isn&#8217;t doing so already, Bert De Bievre, a water resource engineer with the Lima-based sustainable development organization CONDESAN (Consorcio para el Desarrollo Sostenible de la Ecorregión Andina), told mongabay.com. Girls at play in a small Andean community in a watershed that supplies Lima. Credit: Gena&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/04/lima-to-restore-pre-incan-aqueducts-to-alleviate-its-water-crisis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-23837</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Discovery of &#8216;Lost City&#8217; spurs conservation pledge</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/03/discovery-of-lost-city-spurs-conservation-pledge/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/03/discovery-of-lost-city-spurs-conservation-pledge/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Mar 2015 16:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2015/03/discovery-of-lost-city-spurs-conservation-pledge/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America and Honduras]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Ancient Civilizations, Anthropology, Archeology, Biodiversity, Cattle, Conservation, Controversial, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Governance, Green, Illegal Logging, Indigenous Peoples, Law Enforcement, Logging, Military, Parks, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Ranching, Science, Traditional People, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Media coverage of ruins raises controversy among scientists, but leads to stepped-up protection efforts in long-neglected region Temple at Tikal, a Mayan city in Guatemala. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Earlier this month, National Geographic made big news: the discovery of what it called a &#8220;lost city&#8221; below the thick jungles of Honduras. While the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Media coverage of ruins raises controversy among scientists, but leads to stepped-up protection efforts in long-neglected region Temple at Tikal, a Mayan city in Guatemala. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Earlier this month, National Geographic made big news: the discovery of what it called a &#8220;lost city&#8221; below the thick jungles of Honduras. While the coverage has led to scientists crying sensationalism, it also resulted this week in a commitment of protection by the Honduras President, Juan Orlando Hernández, for a long-neglected portion of the country. Located in Honduras&#8217; wild and remote La Mosquitia region, the ruins are imperiled by encroaching deforestation for cattle-ranching which the field team warned was just 20 miles away. World-renowned ethnobotanist, Mark Plotkin, who was a part of the team that first explored the centuries-old site in February, said the presidential commitment was a &#8220;bold move.&#8221; &#8220;I see this as an extremely positive and first, but it is not the end of the story,&#8221; he told mongabay.com. &#8220;Political pronouncements in capital cities need to translate into action on the ground, whereby indigenous peoples, peasant cultures, archaeologists, government officials, the military and the conservation community need to work together for the common good.&#8221; Last week, Hernández called on the nation&#8217;s military to ensure the safety of the site, as well as La Mosquitia region in general, which is likely home to many more undiscovered archeological riches. The exact location of the well-preserved ruins is being kept a secret for fear of looters. Hernández also called for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/03/discovery-of-lost-city-spurs-conservation-pledge/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-23977</doi>				</item>
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