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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/citizen-science/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Sat, 29 Aug 2026 16:24:24 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>News on Citizen Science</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/citizen-science/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Dragonflies help protect water and ancestral Indigenous languages in Colombia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/dragonflies-help-protect-water-and-ancestral-indigenous-languages-in-colombia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/dragonflies-help-protect-water-and-ancestral-indigenous-languages-in-colombia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Aug 2026 12:22:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manuel Fonseca]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/24120153/Hylaeonympha-magoi-1-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326671</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity Hotspots, Citizen Science, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Ecosystems, Ecotourism, Freshwater, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Indigenous Peoples, Insects, Research, Tourism, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Every dragonfly story starts in the water, and Guainía, known as the land of many waters, should be the Olympus of these insects. The mix of waters from the Orinoquia and the Amazon with the vast pristine rainforest should make this region a dragonfly biodiversity hotspot. But little to nothing is known about the diversity [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Every dragonfly story starts in the water, and Guainía, known as the land of many waters, should be the Olympus of these insects. The mix of waters from the Orinoquia and the Amazon with the vast pristine rainforest should make this region a dragonfly biodiversity hotspot. But little to nothing is known about the diversity of these flying predators in this remote part of eastern Colombia. “When we started, very little was known; there were about 10 reported species,” Yiselle Cano, a doctoral candidate at the National University of La Plata, Argentina, and biodiversity leader of the project Dragones Guainía, told Mongabay in a video call. With rubber boots, long-sleeved shirts, hats and sweeping nets, Cano and her colleague Jenilee Montes go out every day and explore the waters of the Guainía in search of these insects. From small puddles to the deep-red waters of the Inirida River, these Colombian researchers have spent the last three years collecting and identifying dragonflies and damselflies in order to understand what is still left to protect, according to Cano. “I think we must be close to 120 species by now,” Cano said. “It’s a hugely diverse group, because it includes dragonflies native to the Orinoco, Amazonas and dragonflies that are endemic to the Guiana Shield.” Guainía, also known as the land of many waters, is a remote biodiversity hotspot at the meeting point of the Amazon Rainforest, the Orinoco River basin and the Guyana Shield. Image courtesy of Jenilee Montes. This discovery is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/dragonflies-help-protect-water-and-ancestral-indigenous-languages-in-colombia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/dragonflies-help-protect-water-and-ancestral-indigenous-languages-in-colombia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326671</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous fishers rethink shark hunting &#038; protect species on Colombia’s coast</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-fishers-rethink-shark-hunting-protect-species-on-colombias-coast/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-fishers-rethink-shark-hunting-protect-species-on-colombias-coast/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Aug 2026 06:00:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Euan Wallace]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/19153718/DSC04428-2-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326694</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation and Indigenous-led conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Citizen Science, Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Crime, Ecosystems, Environment, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Research, Science, and Sharks]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LA GUAJIRA, Colombia — Feet from the ocean, four sharks and a ray lie dead on the wind-battered sand. Above them stands Wilfrido Arends, 46. The blade of a short knife glints in his hand. Carefully, he bends down to cut a small fin from the underside of one shark — an endangered species known [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LA GUAJIRA, Colombia — Feet from the ocean, four sharks and a ray lie dead on the wind-battered sand. Above them stands Wilfrido Arends, 46. The blade of a short knife glints in his hand. Carefully, he bends down to cut a small fin from the underside of one shark — an endangered species known as a blacknose (Carcharhinus acronotus). He hands the sample to a woman next to him, who places it delicately in a vial. A tape measure is passed over the still glistening back of the dead shark. Each measurement is read out and noted down. Arends, a fisher from Colombia&#8217;s Wayuu Indigenous community, is spearheading shark research and conservation in Punta Gallinas, a Wayuu community where shark meat is part of the traditional diet. Home to around 50 families, the community sits at the northernmost tip of South America. &#8220;If we wipe out our sharks, I think that further down the line we will miss them,&#8221; says Arends, who is known locally as &#8220;Caracas.&#8221; Together with researchers from Colombian shark conservation initiative Proyecto Puyuii, Arends and other Wayuu fishers are documenting shark diversity in the largely unstudied waters of La Guajira. &#8220;There&#8217;s almost no data on anything,&#8221; says Diego Cardeñosa, a marine biologist at Florida International University in the U.S. A member of Proyecto Puyuii, he has been training Wayuu fishers to record the shark species they catch. Wayuu fishers and Puyuii researchers measure the carcass of a caught blacknose shark, an endangered species. Image by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-fishers-rethink-shark-hunting-protect-species-on-colombias-coast/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-fishers-rethink-shark-hunting-protect-species-on-colombias-coast/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326694</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Elders, conservationists race to record fading sacred ties to Philippines’ endemic birds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/elders-conservationists-race-to-record-fading-sacred-ties-to-philippines-endemic-birds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/elders-conservationists-race-to-record-fading-sacred-ties-to-philippines-endemic-birds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Aug 2026 19:55:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/18111008/Mindoro-boobook-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326488</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Citizen Science, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Education, Endangered Species, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Medicinal Plants, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Medicine, Traditional People, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PUERTO GALERA, Philippines — The forest settles into a gentle rhythm as the trail climbs into the Iraya Mangyan ancestral domain in Puerto Galera town, on the Philippines’ Mindoro Island. Only birdsong breaks the silence as towering trees sway overhead. A clear stream tumbles across the trail over smooth rocks. Ahead walks 43-year-old Lenito Pampilo. Every [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PUERTO GALERA, Philippines — The forest settles into a gentle rhythm as the trail climbs into the Iraya Mangyan ancestral domain in Puerto Galera town, on the Philippines’ Mindoro Island. Only birdsong breaks the silence as towering trees sway overhead. A clear stream tumbles across the trail over smooth rocks. Ahead walks 43-year-old Lenito Pampilo. Every few steps, he stops — not because the climb is difficult, but because the forest is speaking, he says. He points to an unseen bird in the canopy. Another answers from farther uphill. For him, each call carries meaning. “Our elders taught us these birds,” he tells Mongabay. Pampilo, an Iraya community leader and ecotrail guide, has spent much of his life in these mountains. His knowledge goes beyond recognizing species. “Some birds signal changing weather, warn of danger or carry messages between the living and spirit worlds,” he says. “Trees, streams and ridges also hold stories passed from one generation to the next.” For the Iraya, the forest is a largely unwritten living archive. Lenito Pampilo, an Iraya community leader and ecotrail guide, has spent much of his life in the mountains located in the Iraya Mangyan ancestral lands. Image by Keith Anthony Fabro. For the Iraya, the forest is a largely unwritten living archive. Image courtesy of Center for Conservation Innovations PH Inc. As elders age and fewer young people learn beside them, the Center for Conservation Innovations Philippines (CCIPH) is helping Iraya knowledge holders document wildlife, medicinal plants and culturally important places&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/elders-conservationists-race-to-record-fading-sacred-ties-to-philippines-endemic-birds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/elders-conservationists-race-to-record-fading-sacred-ties-to-philippines-endemic-birds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326488</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A shy bird found only in Nepal is waiting for the world to notice</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-shy-bird-found-only-in-nepal-is-waiting-for-the-world-to-notice/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-shy-bird-found-only-in-nepal-is-waiting-for-the-world-to-notice/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2026 11:01:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bibek Bhandari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/04104809/Spiny_babbler_the_only_endemic_bird_of_Nepal-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325290</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birding, Birds, Conservation, Environment, Habitat, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nepal’s shrubby hillsides are home to a medium-sized bird with brownish upperparts, distinctive black streaks from the shafts of its feathers and, sometimes, a chalky white facial patch. It’s the spiny babbler (Turdoides nipalensis), a mysterious bird, recorded only in Nepal. In June, the bird made headlines with a sighting for the first time in the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nepal’s shrubby hillsides are home to a medium-sized bird with brownish upperparts, distinctive black streaks from the shafts of its feathers and, sometimes, a chalky white facial patch. It’s the spiny babbler (Turdoides nipalensis), a mysterious bird, recorded only in Nepal. In June, the bird made headlines with a sighting for the first time in the forests of Madhesh province, in Nepal’s southern lowlands. With this recording, the bird has now been spotted in all of Nepal’s seven provinces. In Kathmandu, sightings of the bird have been recorded from the fringes of Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park to the foothills of Phulchowki, as well as at various locations in and around Pokhara, usually at an elevation ranging from 915 to 2,135 meters (3,000 to 7,000 feet) above sea level depending on the season. But in June, ornithologists Hathan Chaudhary and Suraj Baral identified the bird in Madhesh for the first time, at an elevation of around 443 m (1,450 ft). This sighting means the spiny babbler has now been documented across all of Nepal’s seven provinces. Despite its limited known habitat, the spiny babbler remains poorly understood and researchers and ornithologists are calling for greater global attention to study and protect it. Despite its limited known habitat, the spiny babbler remains poorly understood. Image by Aardwolf6886 via Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0). “We still don’t know a lot about the bird and have no scientific data to back its population, movements, exact breeding season/months and the effects of increasing human settlements,” said Kamal Raj&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-shy-bird-found-only-in-nepal-is-waiting-for-the-world-to-notice/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-shy-bird-found-only-in-nepal-is-waiting-for-the-world-to-notice/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325290</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How birders in Chad ‘found’ the rusty lark, a bird lost to science for nearly a century</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-birders-in-chad-found-the-rusty-lark-a-bird-lost-to-science-for-nearly-a-century/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-birders-in-chad-found-the-rusty-lark-a-bird-lost-to-science-for-nearly-a-century/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2026 12:47:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/10163732/Rusty-Lark-260202-mirafra_Mongo_feb26%C2%A9Birard_DefosduRau_pm4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323087</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Chad, and Sahel]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biology, Birding, Birds, Conservation, Environment, Rediscovered Species, Research, Species, Wetlands, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The morning of Feb. 2, 2026, started like many others for Pierre Defos du Rau and Julien Birard: It was hot and sunny with a gentle breeze, ideal birding weather. The two French ornithologists, who have been birding since their teens and have traveled the world in search of birds, were at Abou Telfane Game [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The morning of Feb. 2, 2026, started like many others for Pierre Defos du Rau and Julien Birard: It was hot and sunny with a gentle breeze, ideal birding weather. The two French ornithologists, who have been birding since their teens and have traveled the world in search of birds, were at Abou Telfane Game Reserve in central Chad, looking for migratory birds that visit Sahelian wetlands. The duo has surveyed birds in Chad since 2016, they said, keeping detailed records of the winged visitors that fly across the Mediterranean and the Sahara Desert to overwinter in the Sahel every year, and catch any signs of trouble. Birds in the region face many threats: The construction of cities and farms drains their wetland homes; droughts — made more intense and frequent in a warming world — dry up water bodies; and some migratory species are hunted as bushmeat in conflict-prone countries, where food is scarce. Defos du Rau works at the French Biodiversity Agency, while Birard is at the nonprofit Tour du Valat Research Institute. On that early February day, they were joined by Idriss Dapsia and Abakar Saleh Wachoum from the Chadian governmental department for wildlife and protected areas, as part of a collaboration between the two countries for biodiversity monitoring. The team started the day with a plan in mind. “We had set ourselves the (unlikely) goal of searching for the Kordofan rufous sparrow,” Birard said, referring to a species found only in southwestern Sudan and across the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-birders-in-chad-found-the-rusty-lark-a-bird-lost-to-science-for-nearly-a-century/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-birders-in-chad-found-the-rusty-lark-a-bird-lost-to-science-for-nearly-a-century/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323087</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal&#8217;s birdwatchers help monitor wildlife and promote tourism</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/nepals-birdwatchers-help-monitor-wildlife-and-promote-tourism/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/nepals-birdwatchers-help-monitor-wildlife-and-promote-tourism/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jul 2026 15:09:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bibek Bhandari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/06123303/Spiny-Babbler-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322563</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birding, Birds, Citizen Science, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, data, Ecotourism, Environment, Research, Science, Tourism, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — As a child, Shankar Tiwari and his friends killed birds for fun around Chitwan National Park in central Nepal, where they grew up. Years later, a foreign guest at the hotel where Tiwari worked took him birdwatching and turned the hunter into a bird lover. The striking yellow and black plumage and red [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — As a child, Shankar Tiwari and his friends killed birds for fun around Chitwan National Park in central Nepal, where they grew up. Years later, a foreign guest at the hotel where Tiwari worked took him birdwatching and turned the hunter into a bird lover. The striking yellow and black plumage and red eyes of the black-hooded oriole (Oriolus xanthornus), which he saw magnified through binoculars for the first time, sparked Tiwari&#8217;s lifelong passion for birds, he said. Today, the 57-year-old is one of Nepal&#8217;s leading birdwatching guides and a prominent member of the country&#8217;s growing birdwatching community that is contributing to bird conservation while promoting it as a tourism attraction. Enthusiasts look for birds in Suryabinayak, Kathmandu. Image courtesy of Prasan Shrestha. &#8220;The birdwatching community has grown significantly today,&#8221; he said. &#8220;This has helped not just in raising awareness of the birds, but the community also helps in keeping tabs on the birds — how their habitat and population have changed over the years.&#8221; A new study suggests that birdwatching is becoming increasingly popular in Nepal, particularly among the young, and that this trend &#8220;contributes to biodiversity conservation through public engagement and ecological data collection.&#8221; In Nepal&#8217;s capital, Kathmandu, nonprofits like Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN) and Friends of Birds organize events on weekends, drawing a diverse group of birdwatchers. Despite the increasing popularity of birdwatching, the study notes, public participation and data sharing remain limited. A black-hooded oriole, the bird that sparked Tiwari’s lifelong passion for birds.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/nepals-birdwatchers-help-monitor-wildlife-and-promote-tourism/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/nepals-birdwatchers-help-monitor-wildlife-and-promote-tourism/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322563</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A year on, Australia’s biggest harmful algal bloom continues to wreak havoc</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-year-on-australias-biggest-harmful-algal-bloom-continues-to-wreak-havoc/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-year-on-australias-biggest-harmful-algal-bloom-continues-to-wreak-havoc/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 18:42:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nick Rodway]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/08044105/1-d.-Algae-Bloom-Marine-Life-Washups-Stefan-Andrews_-12-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320708</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[algae, Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Citizen Science, Climate, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Dolphins, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Governance, Habitat, Health, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Monitoring, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Penguins, Rays, Research, Sharks, Water, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PORT HUGHES, Australia — Situated midway along the Great Southern Reef that spans Australia’s southern coastline, the waters off Port Hughes typically teem with life. The coastal hamlet northwest of Adelaide plays host to a multitude of coral, bivalve and fish species. But in late March, the largest and longest harmful algal bloom (HAB) in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PORT HUGHES, Australia — Situated midway along the Great Southern Reef that spans Australia’s southern coastline, the waters off Port Hughes typically teem with life. The coastal hamlet northwest of Adelaide plays host to a multitude of coral, bivalve and fish species. But in late March, the largest and longest harmful algal bloom (HAB) in Australian history arrived to Port Hughes, depleting its waters’ rich biodiversity. The bloom had first appeared elsewhere off the state of South Australia’s coast a year earlier, causing eye and skin irritation and respiratory symptoms among beachgoers. Then, along with waves of acrid-smelling sea foam, scores of dead marine animals began washing ashore. In Port Hughes, the HAB’s impacts were most visible below the surface. The town’s wooden jetty had previously been one of the most consistent locations in South Australia to observe temperate species, said Stefan Andrews, co-founder of the Great Southern Reef Foundation, a conservation advocacy group. But by mid-April, when Mongabay joined Andrews on a dive, the site was drab compared with vibrant photographs taken in February and March. Under the jetty, sponges and corals that had previously adorned its pylons in a brilliantly hued mosaic appeared colorless. Apart from a short-headed seahorse (Hippocampus breviceps) — a “sign of hope,” Andrews called it — little life was visible in the murky waters. The reef, he said, had become quieter, lacking the sounds of snapping shrimp and other creatures that once played in the underwater soundtrack. “There’s a sense of loss when you&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-year-on-australias-biggest-harmful-algal-bloom-continues-to-wreak-havoc/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320708</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>An Australian icon, the platypus is struggling — and scientists still lack answers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/an-australian-icon-the-platypus-is-struggling-and-scientists-still-lack-answers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/an-australian-icon-the-platypus-is-struggling-and-scientists-still-lack-answers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 May 2026 02:16:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Paul Harvey]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/17224328/Image-6-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319612</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Queensland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Citizen Science, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Drought, Environment, Fires, Habitat, Mammals, Research, Wildlife, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The platypus is an evolutionary anomaly. This duck-billed, semiaquatic mammal is both unique and rare. It’s just one of five egg-laying mammals on the planet. It nurses its young. And it also has reptilian traits: It has a cloaca, maintains a low body temperature (32° Celsius, or 90° Fahrenheit) and males have venomous spurs. It [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The platypus is an evolutionary anomaly. This duck-billed, semiaquatic mammal is both unique and rare. It’s just one of five egg-laying mammals on the planet. It nurses its young. And it also has reptilian traits: It has a cloaca, maintains a low body temperature (32° Celsius, or 90° Fahrenheit) and males have venomous spurs. It prefers the lush rivers along Australia’s east coast, using electroreception, sensing electrical stimuli to detect favored food, which includes larvae, shrimp and small crayfish on the riverbed. The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) usually feeds during twilight at dusk and dawn, and is elusive,  spending much of its life submerged. Its true population remains unknown. The IUCN Red List estimates 50,000 and classifies the species as near threatened. But that listing was based on an assessment done in 2014, which even then noted it was a “best estimate” and the population was decreasing. Gilad Bino, who leads the University of New South Wales Platypus Conservation Initiative, said he doubts those numbers. Platypuses are hard to find and count. They face a host of challenges, including destruction of their riparian habitat and encroaching human development. New research shows that environmental “threat scenarios” are raising the platypus’s risk of extinction. More frequent and extreme weather events endanger platypuses when drought dries the waters they inhabit, wildfires blaze through or floods inundate burrows before the animals can escape. The research, published in the journal Australian Mammalogy, calls for a proactive response, based on habitat and risk. But effective conservation, the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/an-australian-icon-the-platypus-is-struggling-and-scientists-still-lack-answers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319612</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Citizen science helps reconnect Singapore treetops for elusive leaf-eating langurs</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/citizen-science-helps-reconnect-singapore-treetops-for-elusive-leaf-eating-langurs/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/citizen-science-helps-reconnect-singapore-treetops-for-elusive-leaf-eating-langurs/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Apr 2026 09:57:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/23091734/Banner_DSCF2728-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317985</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Citizen Science, Conservation, Forest Fragmentation, Forests, Infrastructure, Mammals, Mitigation, Primates, Research, Solutions, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ANG MO KIO, Singapore — On the edge of a bustling Singapore suburb, Lay Hoon steps into the shade of a forest reserve she’s visited monthly for eight years to search for one of the world’s most threatened primates. Scanning the dense canopy for signs of movement, she listens intently. “Before we see the langurs, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ANG MO KIO, Singapore — On the edge of a bustling Singapore suburb, Lay Hoon steps into the shade of a forest reserve she’s visited monthly for eight years to search for one of the world’s most threatened primates. Scanning the dense canopy for signs of movement, she listens intently. “Before we see the langurs, we usually hear them,” she says. The foliage rustles above, but it turns out to be a plantain squirrel (Callosciurus notatus), one of a surprising number of small mammals found here at the Lower Peirce Reservoir Park, a 10-hectare (25-acre) patch of maturing secondary forest to the northeast of Singapore’s Central Catchment Nature Reserve. Hoon is looking for the Raffles’ banded langur (Presbytis femoralis), a leaf-eating monkey confined to pockets of fragmented forest in Singapore and the southern tip of Peninsular Malaysia. Listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List, its total global population is estimated to be only 200-250 mature individuals, fewer than 80 of them in Singapore. The extent of habitat loss in Singapore over the past two centuries cannot be overstated. Today, less than 1% of the primary forest that once stretched across much of the main island remains; and of the island’s roughly 20% secondary forest cover, only about 4.3% is considered high-quality mature forest. With their habitats devastated, many groups of terrestrial vertebrates plunged into decline. Yet even after rapid urbanization since the 1960s, small groups of langurs have clung on in isolated forest fragments. However, as treetop specialists,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/citizen-science-helps-reconnect-singapore-treetops-for-elusive-leaf-eating-langurs/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317985</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How Namibia&#8217;s bird conservation projects build community resilience (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/how-namibias-bird-conservation-projects-build-community-resilience-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/how-namibias-bird-conservation-projects-build-community-resilience-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Mar 2026 16:13:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Martha Karas]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/23152715/143_Lilac-breasted_roller_in_Etosha_National_Park_Photo_by_Giles_Laurent-e1774279787746-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316139</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Namibia, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birding, Birds, Commentary, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, and Gender]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Namibia’s Karas Region, birds are more than symbols of freedom or beauty — they are teachers of resilience. Their survival in arid landscapes mirrors the endurance of the communities who live alongside them. Grassroots bird conservation projects here have revealed something profound: protecting birds can also strengthen families, nurture hope, and build social cohesion. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Namibia’s Karas Region, birds are more than symbols of freedom or beauty — they are teachers of resilience. Their survival in arid landscapes mirrors the endurance of the communities who live alongside them. Grassroots bird conservation projects here have revealed something profound: protecting birds can also strengthen families, nurture hope, and build social cohesion. Across villages in Karas, parents and children tend habitats together, restoring nesting sites and planting native vegetation. These acts of care are not only ecological interventions; they are lessons in patience and problem solving. When a child sees a weaverbird return to a reed bed that the community has protected, it is a moment of triumph that teaches perseverance in the face of environmental challenges. Women and youth are at the forefront of these initiatives. In one community, a group of young women organized bird walks for schoolchildren, teaching them to identify species like the sociable weaver and the pale chanting goshawk. Their leadership has inspired confidence among peers and shown that conservation is not the domain of scientists alone — it is a practice of everyday resilience. Sociable weavers nesting in acacia trees, Karas Region, Namibia. Image courtesy of Martha Karas. These projects also counter the isolation that environmental stress can bring. Droughts and land degradation often erode social bonds, but bird conservation has become a rallying point. Families gather to monitor nesting sites, share stories, and celebrate small victories. In doing so, they weave resilience into the social fabric. Conservation here is not&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/how-namibias-bird-conservation-projects-build-community-resilience-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316139</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Citizen science rediscovers rare South African moth</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/citizen-science-rediscovers-rare-south-african-moth/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/citizen-science-rediscovers-rare-south-african-moth/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Feb 2026 13:00:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ryan Truscott]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/11114336/Drepanogynis-insciata-Cameron-Scott-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314094</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Citizen Science, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Grasslands, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Insects, Moths, Rediscovered Species, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A strikingly handsome emerald-green moth, lost to science for nearly one-and-a-half centuries, has been rediscovered in South Africa by citizen scientists who posted photographs of it online. The moth, Drepanogynis insciata, whose body and wing margins look as though they’ve been stained with red wine, was thought to be extinct. The species hadn’t been recorded [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A strikingly handsome emerald-green moth, lost to science for nearly one-and-a-half centuries, has been rediscovered in South Africa by citizen scientists who posted photographs of it online. The moth, Drepanogynis insciata, whose body and wing margins look as though they’ve been stained with red wine, was thought to be extinct. The species hadn’t been recorded since two male specimens were collected near the Western Cape town of Swellendam around 1875. Scientists only knew of the moth from those two faded specimens, which are kept in London’s Natural History Museum. However, according to a recent article in ZooKeys, a dozen separate sightings were recorded in four different locations between 2020 and 2023 and uploaded onto iNaturalist, the citizen science website. They were the first photographs ever taken of live specimens. Male specimens of Drepanogynis insciata have now been observed in the Gondwana Private Nature Reserve on four occasions. Image courtesy of Mikael Englund. Screenshot of iNaturalist page showing pictures of D. insciata. When the first of those photographs, taken by Cameron Scott in the Gondwana Private Game Reserve, around 160 kilometers (100 miles) west of Swellendam, was uploaded to the site in September 2020, South African lepidopterist Hermann Staude got a tip-off about his intriguing picture. “I looked, and there it was — insciata — [a] living animal,” Staude told Mongabay. “That was quite an incredible feeling, to all of a sudden see something that you thought might have been extinct.” Staude asked Scott to catch a moth if he saw&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/citizen-science-rediscovers-rare-south-african-moth/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314094</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>An inventory of life in California</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/an-inventory-of-life-in-california/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/an-inventory-of-life-in-california/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jan 2026 23:50:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/06234519/ca_huddart_park_180107197-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312680</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California, North America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Citizen Science, Conservation, DNA, Ecology, Environment, Fungi, Green, Insects, Invertebrates, and Plants]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#160; Why Mongabay is reporting on California’s biodiversity Mongabay’s coverage of biodiversity has long been associated with tropical forests and far-flung frontiers. Yet California—wealthy, populous, and intensively studied—presents a different kind of challenge. It is one of the planet’s biodiversity hotspots, and yet much of its life remains undocumented, unnamed, and unaccounted for. That contradiction [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[&nbsp; Why Mongabay is reporting on California’s biodiversity Mongabay’s coverage of biodiversity has long been associated with tropical forests and far-flung frontiers. Yet California—wealthy, populous, and intensively studied—presents a different kind of challenge. It is one of the planet’s biodiversity hotspots, and yet much of its life remains undocumented, unnamed, and unaccounted for. That contradiction sits at the heart of the California All-Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (CalATBI), a statewide effort to catalogue life before it disappears. Over the past several months, Mongabay has reported on CalATBI and its partners as they attempt something unusually comprehensive: to build a verifiable, statewide baseline robust enough to support decades of future decisions. What follows draws on Mongabay’s reporting on insects, fungi, museum collections, and field science in California. It is not a catalogue of threats, nor a tour of charismatic species. It is a portrait of an infrastructure project—scientific, institutional, and human—designed to answer a basic question that turns out to be surprisingly hard to settle: what lives here? Discovering what still lives here &nbsp; California has never lacked for ambition. Its 20th-century infrastructure projects—like dams, aqueducts, and freeways—are known for their scale and confidence. CalATBI belongs to that lineage, though its raw material is not concrete or steel, but beetles, spores, DNA fragments, and pinned moths. The premise is straightforward. California cannot protect what it has not documented. Despite centuries of natural history, thousands of species remain undescribed, particularly among insects, fungi, and soil organisms. Many exist only as fleeting presences, active for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/an-inventory-of-life-in-california/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312680</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Statewide survey aims to put California’s fungi on the conservation map</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/statewide-survey-aims-to-put-californias-fungi-on-the-conservation-map/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/statewide-survey-aims-to-put-californias-fungi-on-the-conservation-map/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Dec 2025 13:08:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/19121458/Image_2-LAPTOP-7JODAAGR-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311724</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[carbon, Citizen Science, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, data, DNA, Drought, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Fires, Forests, Fungi, Nitrogen Cycle, Plants, Soil Carbon, Species, Species Discovery, Surveying, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Getting to The Cedars, an ecological preserve in California’s Sonoma county, is a slog. Multiple rivers and creeks must be crossed, and it can be tough going on an often storm-destroyed road. But it’s home to a rich diversity of species found nowhere else on Earth that are uniquely adapted to serpentine soil, composed of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Getting to The Cedars, an ecological preserve in California’s Sonoma county, is a slog. Multiple rivers and creeks must be crossed, and it can be tough going on an often storm-destroyed road. But it’s home to a rich diversity of species found nowhere else on Earth that are uniquely adapted to serpentine soil, composed of decomposed rock and rich in heavy metals. If you’re a fungi collector, it’s well worth the trip. Over the past two years, a dedicated team of mycologists — specialists in the study of fungi — and experienced mushroom collectors have combed California’s forests, rivers and mountains in often remote locations such as this, searching for and collecting fungi. Those making the arduous journey out to The Cedars have identified more than 100 new species, 25 of which are only known from the area. They snapped photos, which were then uploaded with all pertinent data to iNaturalist, a citizen scientist biodiversity database. Collections have been sent to labs where scientists extracted DNA for sequencing. Dried specimens are stored for safe keeping at California State University, East Bay, and the University of California, Los Angeles. This is part of an expansive effort to map the state’s fungal diversity, which has yielded thousands of specimens and is the first of its kind in North America, says Harte Singer, who heads genetic research at the California Fungal Diversity Survey (CA FUNDIS). The CA FUNDIS team collected thousands of fungi species from across California. Many of those collected are undescribed.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/statewide-survey-aims-to-put-californias-fungi-on-the-conservation-map/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311724</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Turning outdoor exploration into environmental discovery: Gregg Treinish and the rise of Adventure Scientists</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/turning-outdoor-exploration-into-environmental-discovery-gregg-treinish-and-the-rise-of-adventure-scientists/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/turning-outdoor-exploration-into-environmental-discovery-gregg-treinish-and-the-rise-of-adventure-scientists/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Nov 2025 22:25:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/11173751/gregg-okavango-header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308688</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Citizen Science, Conservation, DNA, Environment, Insects, Interviews, Invertebrates, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Some revolutions begin not with technology, but with a feeling. For Gregg Treinish, that feeling was guilt. He was spending years on long wilderness expeditions—crossing ranges, sleeping rough, watching the world’s edges—and began to wonder what any of it added up to. “I was spending years in the wilderness, doing long expeditions, and I began [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Some revolutions begin not with technology, but with a feeling. For Gregg Treinish, that feeling was guilt. He was spending years on long wilderness expeditions—crossing ranges, sleeping rough, watching the world’s edges—and began to wonder what any of it added up to. “I was spending years in the wilderness, doing long expeditions, and I began to feel selfish for being out there without making a difference,” he says. “I wanted to stay in the outdoors, but I also wanted my time to matter and to contribute to something bigger than myself.” Gregg Treinish in the Oakavango. National Geographic Society’s Okavango Wilderness Project carried out extensive exploration and data-collection across the Okavango River Basin — from the Angolan highlands through Namibia to the Okavango Delta in Botswana, producing one of the most detailed scientific baselines ever gathered for the ecosystem. Photo courtesy of Adventure Scientists. That reckoning became Adventure Scientists, an organization that mobilizes outdoor enthusiasts to collect data for research and conservation. Founded more than a decade ago, it has since grown from an idea scribbled between treks into an operation that partners with agencies, universities, and businesses to fill data gaps in biodiversity, climate, forests, and freshwater. Its volunteers—hikers, climbers, divers, paddlers—now deliver samples and observations that influence policy, corporate practices, and scientific understanding. Treinish insists the success of the project has little to do with personal brilliance. “I have no special skills as a scientist or as an adventurer,” he says. “That’s exactly why I believed this idea&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/turning-outdoor-exploration-into-environmental-discovery-gregg-treinish-and-the-rise-of-adventure-scientists/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/turning-outdoor-exploration-into-environmental-discovery-gregg-treinish-and-the-rise-of-adventure-scientists/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308688</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>First oarfish sighting in Sri Lanka highlights citizen science in marine protection</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/first-oarfish-sighting-in-sri-lanka-highlights-citizen-science-in-marine-protection/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/first-oarfish-sighting-in-sri-lanka-highlights-citizen-science-in-marine-protection/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Oct 2025 13:41:19 +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/20/2025/10/13134042/imgonline-com-ua-FrameBlurred-gSKGJ2AdBW4k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307465</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Citizen Science, Conservation, Deep Sea, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Research, Saltwater Fish, Sharks, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — In the shadowy depths of the ocean lives a ribbon-like giant crowned with a fiery red crest — long mistaken for a sea monster. Rarely glimpsed alive, the oarfish holds the record as the world’s longest bony fish, capable of growing up to 8 meters (26 feet). It usually surfaces only by chance, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — In the shadowy depths of the ocean lives a ribbon-like giant crowned with a fiery red crest — long mistaken for a sea monster. Rarely glimpsed alive, the oarfish holds the record as the world’s longest bony fish, capable of growing up to 8 meters (26 feet). It usually surfaces only by chance, and one such encounter off Sri Lanka marked the first confirmed record of an oarfish in the Indian Ocean, igniting maritime legend and modern science. The individual, measuring 2.6 m (8.5 ft), was accidentally caught in a surface tuna gillnet set by a multiday fishing vessel off Sri Lanka’s west coast. Curious fishers, unfamiliar with the strange catch, brought it ashore at Beruwala Fishery Harbour, where it was handed over to the authorities. Globally, three species of oarfish are recognized, namely giant oarfish Regalecus glesne), Russell&#8217;s oarfish (R. russelii) and streamerfish (Agrostichthys parkeri). Detailed examination by Ishara Rathnasuriya of the Ocean University of Sri Lanka confirmed the Sri Lankan specimen as R. russelii. Though collected in 2021, its significance was only recently formalized in a paper published in Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria, documenting it as the first oarfish record for the Indian Ocean. Only a few records of oarfish are scattered over the Indian Ocean and only two specimens have been identified to species level as R. russellii, Rathnasuriya says. The limited observations of R. glesne from the Indian Ocean highlight the importance of the current report, he adds. Meanwhile, reports of oarfish have surfaced&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/first-oarfish-sighting-in-sri-lanka-highlights-citizen-science-in-marine-protection/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/first-oarfish-sighting-in-sri-lanka-highlights-citizen-science-in-marine-protection/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307465</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Funding is needed to save Samoa’s ‘little dodo’ from extinction (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/funding-is-needed-save-samoas-little-dodo-from-extinction-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/funding-is-needed-save-samoas-little-dodo-from-extinction-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Sep 2025 16:27:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gianluca Serra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/18152124/manumea-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=306169</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Pacific Islands and Samoa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bioacoustics, Birding, Birds, Commentary, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Ecotourism, Endangered Species, Environment, Ethics, Extinction, Funding, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Islands, philanthropy, Rainforests, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Sustainable Development, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It’s early August 2025. Deep in the rainforests of Upolu, on the island of Samoa, Moeumu “Moe” Uili and I have paused our hike, counting the seconds between coo calls from an unseen pigeon hidden in the dense canopy. Moe mutters, “Nah, the intervals between the calls are too irregular. That’s got to be a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It’s early August 2025. Deep in the rainforests of Upolu, on the island of Samoa, Moeumu “Moe” Uili and I have paused our hike, counting the seconds between coo calls from an unseen pigeon hidden in the dense canopy. Moe mutters, “Nah, the intervals between the calls are too irregular. That’s got to be a lupe,” referring to the much more common Pacific imperial pigeon (Ducula pacifica). “Are you still using the number of coo calls per sequence to distinguish lupe from manumea?” I ask per the latter bird and the object of our search: the tooth-billed pigeon (Didunculus strigirostris), also called “the little dodo.” “Not anymore,” she replies. “Turns out lupe can have sequences of up to 40 calls &#8230;” “Damn,” I sigh. A bird &#8216;hide&#8217; or &#8216;blind&#8217; built in Uafato in hopes of facilitating an extremely rare sighting of an adult manumea, Samoa&#8217;s critically endangered &#8216;little dodo.&#8217; Image courtesy of Samoa Conservation Society. It’s been a few years since I last joined a manumea search, and I’m glad to be here again. The rainforest of Samoa still enchants me — its timeless atmosphere, stifling humidity, slippery trails, and chorus of bizarre bird calls. Towering tree ferns, giant leaves, dangling lichens, parasitic orchids and humongous strangling ficus (“the kings of the forest,” or aoa in Samoan) all surrounded by a cacophony of pigeons, doves and honey-eaters. Among them, the high-pitched whistles of the ma‘oma‘o (Gymnomyza samoensis), an endangered and endemic giant honey-eater, pierces the stillness. It’s one of the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/funding-is-needed-save-samoas-little-dodo-from-extinction-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/funding-is-needed-save-samoas-little-dodo-from-extinction-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-306169</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>After 160 years, an old drawing leads scientists to a long-lost Sri Lanka orchid</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/after-160-years-an-old-drawing-leads-scientists-to-a-long-lost-sri-lanka-orchid/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/after-160-years-an-old-drawing-leads-scientists-to-a-long-lost-sri-lanka-orchid/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Aug 2025 08:37:03 +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/20/2025/08/28082511/Vanda-thwaitesii-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305028</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Botany, Citizen Science, Conservation, Environment, Flowers, Forests, Hunting, Orchids, Plants, Rediscovered Species, Species, Species Discovery, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — In the mist-wrapped folds of Sri Lanka’s Knuckles Mountain Range, a UNESCO-recognized world heritage site, where clouds softly wrap the rugged peaks in a soft embrace, a group of scientists recently stumbled upon a ghost from the island’s colonial past, in the form of a forgotten orchid. Nestled among the branches of forest [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — In the mist-wrapped folds of Sri Lanka’s Knuckles Mountain Range, a UNESCO-recognized world heritage site, where clouds softly wrap the rugged peaks in a soft embrace, a group of scientists recently stumbled upon a ghost from the island’s colonial past, in the form of a forgotten orchid. Nestled among the branches of forest trees near a tributary of the Mahaweli River in Rangala, Kandy district, bloomed Vanda thwaitesii — a delicate orchid unseen in the wild for more than 160 years. The orchid had never been studied alive, even by eminent British botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker, who described it in 1898 based on only two drawings by Haramanis de Alwis, the official draftsman at Sri Lanka’s Royal Botanic Gardens at the time. With no herbarium specimens collected, the plant slipped into obscurity and was widely presumed extinct. “Many assumed it had vanished from the Earth, so we were delighted to find it alive after all this time,” says Bhathiya Gopallawa, a Ph.D. candidate at Sri Lanka’s University of Peradeniya, who co-authored the paper announcing the rediscovery. Vanda thwaitesii is named after George Thwaites, a botanist and administrator who held the post of superintendent of the Royal Botanical Gardens located in Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, for 30 years and also studied the flower through a 1961 drawing. Image by Bhathiya Gopallawa. A scientific twist The return of V. thwaitesii is also a testament to citizen science, a trait of many recent floral rediscoveries and finding of rare plants. Gopallawa and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/after-160-years-an-old-drawing-leads-scientists-to-a-long-lost-sri-lanka-orchid/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/after-160-years-an-old-drawing-leads-scientists-to-a-long-lost-sri-lanka-orchid/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305028</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Out-of-range albatross makes a highlight in the revival of seabird watching in Sri Lanka</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/out-of-range-albatross-makes-a-highlight-in-the-revival-of-seabird-watching-in-sri-lanka/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/out-of-range-albatross-makes-a-highlight-in-the-revival-of-seabird-watching-in-sri-lanka/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jul 2025 07:14:58 +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/20/2025/07/09062642/1-Great-Crested-and-swift-Terns-c-Garry-Alport-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=302076</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indian Ocean, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birding, Birds, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Environment, Marine, Marine Conservation, Migration, Oceans, Research, and Seabirds]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Young birder Lahiru Walpita begins most of his days at dawn by scanning the skies for seabirds along the coastline in northern Sri Lanka. In July 2024, during one of his routine beach surveys, Walpita noticed a large bird trailing a fishing vessel. It circled gracefully with wings outstretched, before vanishing into the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Young birder Lahiru Walpita begins most of his days at dawn by scanning the skies for seabirds along the coastline in northern Sri Lanka. In July 2024, during one of his routine beach surveys, Walpita noticed a large bird trailing a fishing vessel. It circled gracefully with wings outstretched, before vanishing into the horizon, he says, just long enough for him to capture a few photographs. From its shape and size, he had a hunch about its identity, and consultations with experts confirmed it was a grey-headed albatross (Thalassarche chrysostoma). This marked a groundbreaking moment — not only was it the first-ever albatross recorded in Sri Lankan waters, but also the first confirmed sighting north of the equator, says ornithologist Sampath Seneviratne, a professor of zoology at the University of Colombo. “These albatrosses typically dwell in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica and rarely stray far from their home range. This is a truly remarkable observation,” he tells Mongabay. This grey-headed albatross (Thalassarche chrysostoma) was the first-ever confirmed albatross recorded in Sri Lankan waters as well as to the north of the equator. Image by Lahiru Walpita. Over the past few years, Walpita’s diligent ocean-watching — especially around Mannar Island in northern Sri Lanka — has led to sightings of elusive seabirds such as the Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), tropical shearwater (Puffinus bailloni) and Jouanin&#8217;s petrel (Bulweria fallax). During his beach surveys, Walpita has rescued over 150 pelagic birds. He has also collected over 60 dead pelagic birds that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/out-of-range-albatross-makes-a-highlight-in-the-revival-of-seabird-watching-in-sri-lanka/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/out-of-range-albatross-makes-a-highlight-in-the-revival-of-seabird-watching-in-sri-lanka/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-302076</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Colombia, bird-watching brings tourism and a love for conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/in-colombia-bird-watching-brings-tourism-and-a-love-for-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/in-colombia-bird-watching-brings-tourism-and-a-love-for-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jun 2025 13:58:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Charlie Cordero]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/23133727/MincaGlobalBigDay-Charlie-14-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301214</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birding, Birds, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Ecotourism, Global Environmental Crisis, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Private Reserves, Protected Areas, Solutions, Tourism, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It was 3 in the morning when Lorenzo Mora, 41, was getting ready to go bird-watching. This wasn’t just any birding trip: he’d meticulously prepared his boots, clothes, jacket, recorder, speaker, laser pointer, vehicle and binoculars days in advance. “I went to bed at 6 last night,” he said, as I hopped on the back [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It was 3 in the morning when Lorenzo Mora, 41, was getting ready to go bird-watching. This wasn’t just any birding trip: he’d meticulously prepared his boots, clothes, jacket, recorder, speaker, laser pointer, vehicle and binoculars days in advance. “I went to bed at 6 last night,” he said, as I hopped on the back of his motorcycle. We began a two-hour journey in the darkness, navigating muddy trails to La Cuchilla de San Lorenzo, 2,600 meters (about 8,500 feet) above sea level, near the peak of Cerro Kennedy, in the heart of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta range. It was May 11, also known by the bird-watching community as the Global Big Day, an annual event organized by Cornell University’s Lab of Ornithology in the U.S., during which thousands of people across the world aim to record as many bird species as possible in a single day.  Using the eBird platform, the event promotes citizen science and conservation. Mora was hoping to beat his personal best and make it into the ranks of Colombia’s top 10 birders. His family has been growing coffee on the Biscanieves farm in Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, in the northern department of Magdalena, for more than 60 years. From a young age, Mora was always drawn to birds. Lorenzo Mora, 41, rides along the rugged road from Minca to La Cuchilla de San Lorenzo, at 2,600 meters above sea level, to begin his Global Big Day journey. Image by Charlie Cordero. “My&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/in-colombia-bird-watching-brings-tourism-and-a-love-for-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/in-colombia-bird-watching-brings-tourism-and-a-love-for-conservation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301214</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Nepal, northernmost sighting of Eurasian otter raises hope, concerns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/in-nepal-northernmost-sighting-of-eurasian-otter-raises-hope-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/in-nepal-northernmost-sighting-of-eurasian-otter-raises-hope-concerns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Jun 2025 00:42:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/05/28093850/European_otter_02-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300368</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Aquaculture, Biodiversity, Citizen Science, Conservation, Dams, Fish, Fishing, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Hydroelectric Power, Infrastructure, Mammals, Overfishing, and Rivers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — A Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) found in the Karnali River in western Nepal marks the species’ northernmost record in the country, offering hope for range expansion but raising concerns about its long-term conservation. As the animal was found dead in a fishing net, overfishing could add to the growing list of challenges, such [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — A Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) found in the Karnali River in western Nepal marks the species’ northernmost record in the country, offering hope for range expansion but raising concerns about its long-term conservation. As the animal was found dead in a fishing net, overfishing could add to the growing list of challenges, such as damming of rivers for planned hydropower development, sand mining and road expansion. “This is exciting news, as even growing up near the area where the otter was discovered, I had never seen an otter myself,” said researcher Vidyaman Thapa, lead author of a recent study documenting the finding. “Local artisanal fishermen caught the otter in a fishing net on the banks of the Karnali River at Dulli Kuna in Nepal’s Humla [district] in April 2023, and reported it to researchers working in the area,” added Thapa, who is pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of New Orleans. In Nepal, the animal was considered a cryptic species with no confirmed evidence of its presence for decades. But that changed in 2021, following discoveries in the Barekot, Roshiand Tubang rivers, then a flurry of sightings in different parts of the country. In 2021, it was even found in the Kathmandu Valley, home to the country’s capital city, in a heavily built-up area. “The finding is important as we confirm the northernmost documented record of the animal in Nepal,” said Rinzin Phunjok Lama, co-author of the study. “But that the animal was found dead most likely because&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/in-nepal-northernmost-sighting-of-eurasian-otter-raises-hope-concerns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300368</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Concrete sprawl in Buddha’s birthplace in Nepal threatens sarus cranes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/concrete-sprawl-in-buddhas-birthplace-in-nepal-threatens-sarus-cranes/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/concrete-sprawl-in-buddhas-birthplace-in-nepal-threatens-sarus-cranes/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 May 2025 11:40:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mukesh Pokhrel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/19111522/2-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299230</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birding, Birds, Buddhism, Cities, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Farming, Fragmentation, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, and Religions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LUMBINI, Nepal — Legend has it that before he became the Buddha, a young Prince Siddhartha Gautama nursed an injured sarus crane (Antigone antigone)  back to health. Since then, the bird and the faith have been closely intertwined, and nowhere more so than in Lumbini gardens in Nepal, hailed as the birthplace of the Buddha. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LUMBINI, Nepal — Legend has it that before he became the Buddha, a young Prince Siddhartha Gautama nursed an injured sarus crane (Antigone antigone)  back to health. Since then, the bird and the faith have been closely intertwined, and nowhere more so than in Lumbini gardens in Nepal, hailed as the birthplace of the Buddha. Yet with the recent commemoration of Vesak, the holiest festival in Buddhism, marking the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha, the fate of the sarus crane in Lumbini looks grim. Sajrudin Musalman grew up here seeing the birds wherever he went, he tells Mongabay. They would drift gracefully over his home and fields, sparking wonder and delight, he says. “When cranes came close, it felt like something out of this world,” says Musalman, now 72, who lives near the ancient ruins believed to mark the Buddha’s birthplace. “We’d scour the fields for their nests, thrilled just to find their eggs.” Buddhist monks in Lumbini.  Image by Aleksandr Zykov via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0). Things have changed in the intervening decades. Musalman is the mayor now, and he doesn’t see as many cranes as before. Unplanned urbanization and land-use change in Lumbini have pushed the sarus crane out of its habitat and slashed its population. Musalman’s views are echoed by others in the region. A recent study incorporating responses from 459 people across four districts in Lumbini province reported that 59% of respondents said they believed the range of the bird has shrunk in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/concrete-sprawl-in-buddhas-birthplace-in-nepal-threatens-sarus-cranes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/concrete-sprawl-in-buddhas-birthplace-in-nepal-threatens-sarus-cranes/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299230</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Angling for answers, this saltwater fishing group boosts research for better conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/angling-for-answers-this-saltwater-fishing-group-boosts-research-for-better-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/angling-for-answers-this-saltwater-fishing-group-boosts-research-for-better-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 May 2025 19:09:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/12173830/ASGA-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=298905</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biodiversity, Citizen Science, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Interviews, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Regulations, Research, Saltwater Fish, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Saltwater fishing is both big business and a pastime in the U.S., with millions of Americans working in the industry – from commercial trawlers to professional fishing guides and gear manufacturers – and many more pursuing this passion recreationally, whether to catch fish and then release, or for the dinner table. But despite some positive [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Saltwater fishing is both big business and a pastime in the U.S., with millions of Americans working in the industry – from commercial trawlers to professional fishing guides and gear manufacturers – and many more pursuing this passion recreationally, whether to catch fish and then release, or for the dinner table. But despite some positive examples, many fish populations have been declining in recent years due to a combination of factors, from overfishing to pollution or habitat loss. The ocean&#8217;s vastness and the large array of people intent upon catching fish makes knowing what&#8217;s going on under the waves incredibly difficult, and that much harder to advocate for regulatory measures that can ensure a sustainable harvest for all, and a healthy ecosystem. Though there are advocacy groups hitched to saltwater fishing that sometimes communicate fisheries science or stock assessments to their members, one is also engaged in directly fostering scientific understanding of saltwater fish and fishing, and uses its data to make cogent advocates of their membership comprised of guides, gear manufacturers, tackle shop owners, and everyday anglers. ASGA member Captain Bailey Short on his &#8216;morning commute&#8217; in search of redfish in the bayous of Louisiana. Image courtesy of American Saltwater Guides Association. Standing behind a tagline of &#8220;Promoting sustainable business through marine conservation,&#8221; The American Saltwater Guides Association (ASGA) is a small and savvy team of anglers who are also top science communicators and advocates, educating their members on which conservation minded policies to support, while developing new fisheries&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/angling-for-answers-this-saltwater-fishing-group-boosts-research-for-better-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/angling-for-answers-this-saltwater-fishing-group-boosts-research-for-better-conservation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-298905</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A migrating flycatcher returning to the same Sri Lankan garden sparks interest in birders</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/a-migrating-flycatcher-returning-to-the-same-sri-lankan-garden-sparks-interest-in-birders/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/a-migrating-flycatcher-returning-to-the-same-sri-lankan-garden-sparks-interest-in-birders/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 May 2025 04:35:56 +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/20/2025/05/11040349/Barat-the-flycatcher-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=298915</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Citizen Science, Climate Change, Conservation, Education, Environment, Habitat, Migration, Pollution, and Species]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — As October drew to a close last year, ardent birdwatcher Moditha Kodikarachchi eagerly awaited a special guest in his garden — a migratory Asian paradise flycatcher. Since 2021, the same male flycatcher, identified by three distinct white dots on its black head, has returned to the garden each year, making 2024 its fourth [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — As October drew to a close last year, ardent birdwatcher Moditha Kodikarachchi eagerly awaited a special guest in his garden — a migratory Asian paradise flycatcher. Since 2021, the same male flycatcher, identified by three distinct white dots on its black head, has returned to the garden each year, making 2024 its fourth consecutive visit. “The bird first appeared on Nov. 2 in 2023 and returned on the Nov. 1, 2024 — almost the same date, sticking to the same schedule,” Moditha told Mongabay, expressing his joy in welcoming back his feathered friend, now affectionately named Barat, ancient India’s Sanskrit name, where the species migrates to Sri Lanka from. The Asian paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi) is a visually stunning bird found in almost all of South Asia and parts of Southeast Asia. Two subspecies are found in Sri Lanka: the Indian subspecies T. p. paradisi, in which adult males are white (juveniles are rufous and subsequently take a white hue) sporting long, flowing tail feathers while the females are always rufous with shorter tails; and the T. p. ceylonensis subspecies, which is rufous in color and breeds in Sri Lanka. Barat belongs to the migratory Indian subspecies and displays a striking white plumage characteristic of a mature male. However, when Moditha first spotted the bird in 2021, it had a mix of white and rufous feathers, indicating it was still a juvenile then. Barat is a beautiful male Asian paradise flycatcher from India. Image by Moditha Kodikara Arachchi.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/a-migrating-flycatcher-returning-to-the-same-sri-lankan-garden-sparks-interest-in-birders/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-298915</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Trophies’ shared on social media reveal scale of mass bird slaughter in Lebanon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/trophies-shared-on-social-media-reveal-scale-of-mass-bird-slaughter-in-lebanon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/trophies-shared-on-social-media-reveal-scale-of-mass-bird-slaughter-in-lebanon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Apr 2025 14:10:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/17051926/kestrel-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=297740</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Lebanon, and Middle East]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birding, Birds, Conservation, Crime, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Illegal Trade, Over-hunting, Poaching, Raptors, Trophy Hunting, Wildlife, Wildlife consumption, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Every year, during the Northern Hemisphere spring and autumn, the skies over Lebanon are dotted with millions of birds on their epic migrations. From soaring Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus) to charismatic white storks (Ciconia ciconia), more than 500 species of birds traverse the African-Eurasian flyway, which funnels over Lebanon, as they migrate between their breeding [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Every year, during the Northern Hemisphere spring and autumn, the skies over Lebanon are dotted with millions of birds on their epic migrations. From soaring Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus) to charismatic white storks (Ciconia ciconia), more than 500 species of birds traverse the African-Eurasian flyway, which funnels over Lebanon, as they migrate between their breeding grounds in Europe and their wintering grounds in Africa. “It&#8217;s an incredible spectacle,” says seabird biologist Andre Raine, science director at Archipelago Research and Conservation in Hawai‘i. “You can see thousands of storks, huge flocks of eagles, honey-buzzards, sparrowhawks … they&#8217;re just coming through in waves and waves and waves.” But this avian spectacle draws in a darker element. As large flocks of migratory birds fly over Lebanon and other countries in the region, they become an easy target for poachers, who fire indiscriminately at them, sometimes killing almost every bird in a single flock. Across the Mediterranean, people shoot dead an estimated 11 million to 36 million birds each year, and in Lebanon, one of the worst countries in the region for bird poaching, that number stands at 2.6 million birds a year. “The scale of it is intense … you have to see it to believe it,” Raine says. “You can go to mountaintops … and it&#8217;s just littered with snowdrifts of feathers of raptors, where you&#8217;re wading through, sometimes up to your knees, in dead birds.” What’s also harrowing is that many dead birds don’t end up as food on the table,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/trophies-shared-on-social-media-reveal-scale-of-mass-bird-slaughter-in-lebanon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-297740</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Africa’s growing cities are endangering birdlife (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/africas-growing-cities-are-pushing-birdlife-to-the-brink-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/africas-growing-cities-are-pushing-birdlife-to-the-brink-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Apr 2025 18:32:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bello Adamu Danmallam]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/08/07134921/Red-throated-bee-eaters-Merops-bulocki-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=297734</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Cities, Citizen Science, Commentary, Conservation, Development, Global Environmental Crisis, Invasive Species, Research, Sustainable Development, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As urbanization reshapes global landscapes, ecological balance is increasingly at risk, especially in Africa. The primary drivers are rapid development and expanding human settlements, often without proper environmental considerations, posing a serious threat to birds and biodiversity and weakening ecological resilience. These changes create opportunities for invasive species to thrive, further threatening native bird populations [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As urbanization reshapes global landscapes, ecological balance is increasingly at risk, especially in Africa. The primary drivers are rapid development and expanding human settlements, often without proper environmental considerations, posing a serious threat to birds and biodiversity and weakening ecological resilience. These changes create opportunities for invasive species to thrive, further threatening native bird populations and the essential roles they play in ecosystems. Without strategic environmental planning, urban expansion will continue to erode biodiversity, altering species interactions, ecosystem functions, and threatening species survival. I recently co-led a study published in Frontiers in Conservation Science revealing how urban growth in Kenya and Nigeria degrades bird communities, undermining both species diversity and their ecological roles. With more than half of the global population already in urban areas — a figure projected to reach about 70% by 2050 — the pressures on biodiversity are mounting. In Africa, urban land cover is expected to triple by 2030, and the potential impact on birds and biodiversity is particularly alarming. Birds are key indicators of environmental health, making them crucial for assessing human impacts on ecosystems. Although urbanization contributes to habitat loss, fragmentation, and the spread of invasive species, its effects on birds’ ecological roles in Africa remain understudied, despite the region’s rich but vulnerable ecosystems. &#8220;Urbanization is fundamentally reshaping African landscapes, and its impacts on avian biodiversity are often overlooked,&#8221; said one of my co-authors, Peggy Ngila. &#8220;Our research sheds light on how this process is changing the composition of bird communities and their vital ecosystem services, such as seed&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/africas-growing-cities-are-pushing-birdlife-to-the-brink-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-297734</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Maltese Falcon Poachers: European hunters endanger Egypt’s birds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/maltese-falcon-poachers-european-hunters-endanger-egypts-birds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/maltese-falcon-poachers-european-hunters-endanger-egypts-birds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Apr 2025 19:59:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mahmoud ElsobkyWael El-Sayegh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Daniel]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/02172057/illustration-Malta-Bird_Smuggling-v1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=296943</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Egypt, Malta, and North Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birding, Birds, Conservation, Crime, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Illegal Trade, Over-hunting, Poaching, Raptors, Trophy Hunting, Wildlife, Wildlife consumption, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The New Arab and The Shift co-published a set of edited versions of this investigation. As the sun hung low over the Nile, casting golden ripples across the water, we navigated Lake Nasser. The air carried whispers of wings overhead, the soft rustle of migratory birds seeking refuge during their epic winter journey from Europe [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The New Arab and The Shift co-published a set of edited versions of this investigation. As the sun hung low over the Nile, casting golden ripples across the water, we navigated Lake Nasser. The air carried whispers of wings overhead, the soft rustle of migratory birds seeking refuge during their epic winter journey from Europe to Africa. In January 2024, it was here, in these seemingly tranquil landscapes, that we began unraveling the tangled web of illegal bird hunting — a world where beauty and brutality collide. Evidence was everywhere. In Malta, freezers filled with bird skins and carcasses were confiscated in raids, many tied directly to hunting expeditions in Egypt. The scenes were grotesque: a clash of cultures, politics and conservation. Hashim Morsi, an Egyptian bird-watcher, recalled a shocking find in 2017. He discovered around 7,000 dead birds along an approximately 15-kilometer (9-mile) stretch near Port Said. Many bore the hallmarks of Maltese poaching: plastic wrapping bearing text in Maltese. In a call with Mahmoud*, a veteran hunting guide, he told us that “Italian hunters usually want ducks. Maltese hunters are the ones who want different kinds. The Maltese hunters take everything in sight … even stray dogs if they get the chance. In Aswan, I had Maltese clients, and we did what we could there.” From Aswan, our investigation took us deeper into Egypt’s rural heartlands, tracing a shadowy trail to Fayoum and beyond. There, The New Arab (TNA) uncovered the digital footprints of Maltese hunters flaunting their&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/maltese-falcon-poachers-european-hunters-endanger-egypts-birds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-296943</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A century later, a rare mushroom with a curious shape emerges in Sri Lanka</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/a-century-later-a-rare-mushroom-with-a-curious-shape-emerges-in-sri-lanka/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/a-century-later-a-rare-mushroom-with-a-curious-shape-emerges-in-sri-lanka/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Mar 2025 04:01:22 +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/20/2025/03/26034603/0-The-mushroom-c-Sajeewa-Wijeweera-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=296473</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Citizen Science, Conservation, Ecology, Endangered Species, Environment, Fungi, Rediscovered Species, Research, and Species]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — In July 2023, heavy rains continued in southern Sri Lanka for days, soaking the lush greenery of the village of Hapugala in Galle. Amid the downpour, journalist and naturalist Sajeewa Wijeweera received an unexpected call — not from the wild, but from just across his garden. His wife, Sirangika Lokukaravita, had spotted something [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — In July 2023, heavy rains continued in southern Sri Lanka for days, soaking the lush greenery of the village of Hapugala in Galle. Amid the downpour, journalist and naturalist Sajeewa Wijeweera received an unexpected call — not from the wild, but from just across his garden. His wife, Sirangika Lokukaravita, had spotted something strange emerging from the wet soil: a vivid red mushroom with a bulbous base, bizarre and eye-catching in form. Experienced in nature observation, Wijeweera suspected this wasn’t just another garden fungus. He turned to plant identification apps, but it was not possible to identify the mushroom. Intrigued, he sent the images to a network of botanists, hoping for a clue. The mushroom is about 15 centimeters (6 inches) long. Image courtesy of Sajeewa Wijeweera. One of the first to respond was Bhathiya Gopallawa, a doctoral researcher at the University of Peradeniya. “This looks like a mushroom not recorded from Sri Lanka before,” he said — a comment that turned casual curiosity into scientific excitement. After digging through mycological records, the team identified the specimen as Mutinus bambusinus, a rare stinkhorn mushroom that hadn’t been documented in Sri Lanka in more than a century. The only known record dated back to 1919, when it was found growing in decomposing bamboo debris. While the species is known from other tropical regions, its reappearance in Sri Lanka, especially outside a bamboo grove, was remarkable. “There were no bamboos in that area for as long as I can remember,”&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/a-century-later-a-rare-mushroom-with-a-curious-shape-emerges-in-sri-lanka/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-296473</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How birds deepen our awareness of nature: Interview with Ayuwat Jearwattanakanok</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/how-birds-deepen-our-awareness-of-nature-interview-with-ayuwat-jearwattanakanok/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/how-birds-deepen-our-awareness-of-nature-interview-with-ayuwat-jearwattanakanok/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Feb 2025 01:30:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/20144830/Banner_bird-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=294764</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Biodiversity, Birding, Birds, Conservation, Endangered Species, Farming, Forests, Green, Hunting, Marine, Migration, Protected Areas, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Growing up in northern Thailand, Ayuwat Jearwattanakanok would sketch and paint the birds he saw during family outings. These early artistic pursuits soon fledged into a lifelong passion for avian lifeforms. Over the past two decades, Ayuwat has photographed and observed the diversity of Thailand’s bird life throughout the country’s forests, wetlands, mudflats, salt pans, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Growing up in northern Thailand, Ayuwat Jearwattanakanok would sketch and paint the birds he saw during family outings. These early artistic pursuits soon fledged into a lifelong passion for avian lifeforms. Over the past two decades, Ayuwat has photographed and observed the diversity of Thailand’s bird life throughout the country’s forests, wetlands, mudflats, salt pans, limestone crags and agricultural fields. This body of work recently culminated in his new book, The Birds of Thailand. Aimed at tourists and beginner bird-watchers, the book details the characteristics of common and rarer species alike, alongside information about some of their favorite haunts. After starting out as a sustainability researcher, Ayuwat spent many years working with the Bird Conservation Society of Thailand (BCST), the local affiliate of BirdLife International. His focus there was on the conservation of flagship species, such as helmeted hornbills (Rhinoplax vigil) and spoon-billed sandpipers (Calidris pygmaea). Today, he dedicates his time to writing and leading bird tours. While Ayuwat notes the threats to birds from hunting, the wildlife trade and Southeast Asia’s rapid development, he says he’s buoyed by a rising public interest in birds in Thailand and remains cautiously optimistic about Thailand’s ability to preserve its impressive range of bird species. Mongabay’s Carolyn Cowan recently spoke with Ayuwat about the work that went into compiling his latest book and what he perceives as the most pressing bird conservation issues in Thailand. The following interview has been lightly edited for length. Ayuwat Jearwattanakanok leads bird tours in Thailand. Image courtesy&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/how-birds-deepen-our-awareness-of-nature-interview-with-ayuwat-jearwattanakanok/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-294764</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Better government policies could help as migratory birds lose habitat in Bangladesh</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/better-government-policies-could-help-as-migratory-birds-lose-habitat-in-bangladesh/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/better-government-policies-could-help-as-migratory-birds-lose-habitat-in-bangladesh/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Feb 2025 08:00:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Pinky Akter]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/05074709/common-pochard-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=293912</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birding, Birds, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Policy, Freshwater, Governance, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Lakes, Mangroves, Migration, Water Scarcity, Wetlands, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Bangladesh transforms into a mesmerizing haven of migratory birds every winter, particularly in its haors (swampy wetlands) and coastal areas. These birds undertake incredible journeys from northern Mongolia, parts of Tibet and China, and Russia and Siberia’s tundra, seeking respite from harsh winters, flying towards the abundant food and favorable climates in South Asia. The [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Bangladesh transforms into a mesmerizing haven of migratory birds every winter, particularly in its haors (swampy wetlands) and coastal areas. These birds undertake incredible journeys from northern Mongolia, parts of Tibet and China, and Russia and Siberia’s tundra, seeking respite from harsh winters, flying towards the abundant food and favorable climates in South Asia. The birds enter Bangladesh via two routes, the East Asian-Australasian Flyway and the Central Asian Flyway, which was recognized by the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP) in 2010. The birds arrive at six predominant wetland habitat sites during the winter months: three haor regions — Hakaluki Haor, Tanguar Haor and Hail Haor — and three coastal areas — Nijhum Dwip National Park, Sonadia Island and Ganguirar Char. These areas host thousands of migratory birds every year, creating picturesque landscapes and becoming popular among birdwatchers. However, their numbers have declined significantly over the past few decades due to rapid habitat loss caused by several unfavorable government policies, raising concerns among conservationists and researchers. Bangladesh transforms into a mesmerizing haven of migratory birds every winter, particularly in its haors and coastal areas. Image by Faisal Akram via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0). Declining numbers and causes A recent study in Tanguar Haor analyzed 69 bird species, of which 41 are migratory, and found a declining trend in bird species. Tanguar Haor, which covers 9,500 hectares (23,475 acres) in Sunamganj district, is one of the primary winter refuges for migratory birds, hosting around 43% of the country’s total migratory birds&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/better-government-policies-could-help-as-migratory-birds-lose-habitat-in-bangladesh/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-293912</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Underwater citizen science reveals the specter of ghost fishing in Thailand</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/underwater-citizen-science-reveals-the-specter-of-ghost-fishing-gear-in-thailand/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/underwater-citizen-science-reveals-the-specter-of-ghost-fishing-gear-in-thailand/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jan 2025 15:28:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/30145915/Banner_Lethrinus-lentjan-Petra-4_Image-courtesy-of-Aow-Thai-Marine-Ecology-Center-ATMEC-scaled-e1738249656854-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=293655</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Citizen Science, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Invertebrates, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Plastic, Pollution, Recycling, Sustainability, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Marine biologists diving in the Gulf of Thailand were thrilled in 2023 to rediscover several colonies of a rare type of ocean sponge once thought to be extinct in the wild. But their excitement quickly gave way to concern when they realized many of the Neptune’s cup sponges (Cliona patera) were entangled in discarded fishing [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Marine biologists diving in the Gulf of Thailand were thrilled in 2023 to rediscover several colonies of a rare type of ocean sponge once thought to be extinct in the wild. But their excitement quickly gave way to concern when they realized many of the Neptune’s cup sponges (Cliona patera) were entangled in discarded fishing gear. “We rediscovered it conclusively in the Gulf of Thailand, but we’re losing them at a rate that means this could just be a blip in the entire story of this species,” Rahul Mehrotra, research director at the Aow Thai Marine Ecology Center, told Mongabay. Spurred by the sponge’s plight, Mehrotra recently led a study that assessed the scale of the impacts of discarded or “ghost” fishing gear on Thailand’s marine species. The study, published in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin, compiled data from more than 100 underwater surveys conducted between 2021 and 2023 at sites across the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman Sea, to the country’s east and west, respectively. The teams of marine researchers and citizen scientists found 606 pieces of ghost gear across all the dive sites, amounting to more than 1,200 square meters (about 13,000 square feet) of netting and hundreds of meters of rope and fishing line. A wide range of species, from the hard corals that build crucial reef habitats, to crabs, marine snails and schooling and predatory fish, had perished in the abandoned equipment. Among the victims were barracuda, groupers, batfish and porcupinefish, as well as branching corals&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/underwater-citizen-science-reveals-the-specter-of-ghost-fishing-gear-in-thailand/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-293655</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Birdwatchers rally behind endemic hummingbird, spurring conservation movement in Mexico</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/birdwatchers-rally-behind-endemic-hummingbird-spurring-conservation-movement-in-mexico/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/birdwatchers-rally-behind-endemic-hummingbird-spurring-conservation-movement-in-mexico/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jan 2025 14:00:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tamara Blazquez Haik]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/22111526/1-4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=293243</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biodiversity, Birding, Birds, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Protected Areas, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nestled in the thorny shrubs of the dry forests of Veracruz in the Gulf of Mexico, a small bird lights a spark for a promising future. After flying under scientists’ radar for many years, the Mexican sheartail (Doricha eliza) is now fighting for its survival with the help of an improbable ally: the expanding birdwatching [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nestled in the thorny shrubs of the dry forests of Veracruz in the Gulf of Mexico, a small bird lights a spark for a promising future. After flying under scientists’ radar for many years, the Mexican sheartail (Doricha eliza) is now fighting for its survival with the help of an improbable ally: the expanding birdwatching community in Mexico.  A popular destination for birdwatching, Mexico has more than 1,120 bird species, representing more than 10% of the world’s total number of bird species. Among those, the country is home to around 58 different species of hummingbirds that face growing threats from climate change and deforestation.  Despite its adaptability, the Mexican sheartail relies on the tropical dry forests and savannas of central Veracruz. However, since 2001, 480,000 hectares (1.18 million acres) Veracruz’ forests have been destroyed to make way for urban expansion, citrus and sugar cane plantations, and grasslands for cattle ranching. Losing its habitat remains the biggest threat to the sheartail’s survival. Due to the species’ unique and awe-inspiring courtship display, in which the male soars high into the sky to then plummet down in a hypnotic dance for its mate, the sheartail requires vast amounts of open wilderness. Its nesting habits are also specific, as females in Veracruz mainly build nests in the Sierra Madre nightshade (Solanum houstonii), a plant with beautiful purple flowers of the nightshade family which only grows in these dry forests. The Mexican sheartail&#8217;s habitat includes wide open savannas and dry forests with lots of thorny&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/birdwatchers-rally-behind-endemic-hummingbird-spurring-conservation-movement-in-mexico/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-293243</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photos: Top new species from 2024</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/photos-top-new-species-from-2024/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/photos-top-new-species-from-2024/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Dec 2024 22:47:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/01222118/Image-1-Leopardus-tigrinus-pardinoides-Cuenca-3-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=292398</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Amazon, Asia, Atlantic Forest, Australia, Cameroon, Central America, Chile, China, Global, India, Indonesia, Latin America, Malaysia, Mekong Basin, Pacific Ocean, Peru, South America, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birding, Birds, Botany, Charismatic Animals, Climate Change, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Cryptic Species, Culture, Deforestation, DNA, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Environment, Flowers, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Insects, Islands, Lizards, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, New Discovery, Oceans, Oil Drilling, Plants, Rainforests, Reptiles, Research, Saving Species From Extinction, Snakes, Solutions, Species Discovery, Traditional Knowledge, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A giant anaconda, a vampire hedgehog, a dwarf squirrel, and a tiger cat were among the new species named by science in 2024. Found from the depths of the Pacific Ocean to the mountaintops of Southeast Asia, each new species shows us that even our well-known world contains unexplored chambers of life. This year, in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A giant anaconda, a vampire hedgehog, a dwarf squirrel, and a tiger cat were among the new species named by science in 2024. Found from the depths of the Pacific Ocean to the mountaintops of Southeast Asia, each new species shows us that even our well-known world contains unexplored chambers of life. This year, in Peru&#8217;s Alto Mayo Landscape alone, scientists uncovered 27 new-to-science species, including four new mammals, during a two month expedition. Meanwhile, the Greater Mekong region yielded 234 new species, and scientists from the California Academy of Sciences described 138 new species globally. The ocean depths continued to surprise, with more than 100 potentially new species found on an unexplored underwater mountain off Chile&#8217;s coast. Two new mammal species were found in India this year, including the world’s smallest otter. Scientists estimate only a small fraction of Earth&#8217;s species have been documented, perhaps 20% at best. Even among mammals, the best-known group of animals, researchers think we’ve only found 80% of species.  Most of these hidden species are likely bats, rodents, shrews, moles and hedgehogs. Members of Indigenous Awajun communities in Peru&#8217;s Alto Mayo assist scientists with their research, such as throwing cast nets to capture fish.  68 fish species were collected, including eight that are new to science. Photo courtesy of Trond Larsen/Conservation International. However, while species may be new to Western science, many have been well known to Indigenous peoples and local communities for generations. These communities often maintain sophisticated classification systems and deep ecological&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/photos-top-new-species-from-2024/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-292398</doi>				</item>
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