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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/developing-countries/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 04 Sep 2026 16:48:02 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>News on Developing Countries</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/developing-countries/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Bangladesh’s green building drive grows beyond factories amid climate pressures</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/bangladeshs-green-building-drive-grows-beyond-factories-amid-climate-pressures/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/bangladeshs-green-building-drive-grows-beyond-factories-amid-climate-pressures/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Aug 2026 11:38:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ibrahim Hossain Ovi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/24110524/mahmudul-hasan-roni-RHj9x0iESvE-unsplash-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327058</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Business, Climate Change, Developing Countries, Development, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Industry, Pollution, Solutions, and Sustainable Development]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The concept of green building in Bangladesh started solely for its vast apparel industry. Now, the country’s corporates and realtors, too, are constructing green certified buildings, also known as eco-friendly buildings. The vision behind green building is to reduce environmental impacts and to also ensure a healthy workplace for employees. It has become a part [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The concept of green building in Bangladesh started solely for its vast apparel industry. Now, the country’s corporates and realtors, too, are constructing green certified buildings, also known as eco-friendly buildings. The vision behind green building is to reduce environmental impacts and to also ensure a healthy workplace for employees. It has become a part of corporate branding and responsibility towards sustainability to demonstrate care and function as carers of the environment, preserving for the next generation a healthy living. In Bangladesh According to the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), there are 35 certified buildings and corporate offices in Bangladesh representing various sectors like financial institutions, corporate offices and hospitals. Besides these, the country also has many green factories, mostly in the ready-made garments (RMG) sector. According to Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Bangladesh houses 290 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified RMG factories — including 125 platinum-rated, 145 gold-rated and 16 silver-rated. The country also holds 53 of the world&#8217;s top 100 highest-scoring LEED-certified factories. “Green-certified buildings in Bangladesh are typically associated with manufacturing and garments. Breaking this convention, Unilever Bangladesh [UBL] built its corporate building to demonstrate sustainability in corporate office environments as well, earning LEED-gold certification from USGBC in 2023,” said Syeda Durdana Kabir, human resources director of UBL. She said UBL’s initiative was driven by a clear vision: to integrate sustainability into daily operations rather than treat it as a one-time achievement. The corporate office was designed to minimize resource consumption while&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/bangladeshs-green-building-drive-grows-beyond-factories-amid-climate-pressures/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/bangladeshs-green-building-drive-grows-beyond-factories-amid-climate-pressures/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327058</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Despite energy crisis, Bangladesh’s factories are slow to adopt solar power: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/despite-energy-crisis-bangladeshs-factories-are-slow-to-adopt-solar-power-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/despite-energy-crisis-bangladeshs-factories-are-slow-to-adopt-solar-power-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Aug 2026 07:37:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Md Asaduz Zaman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/18072353/solar-power-energy-bangladesh-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326474</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Business, Developing Countries, Development, Energy, Energy Efficiency, Energy Transition, Environment, Industry, Natural Resources, Renewable Energy, Solar Power, and Sustainable Development]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Bangladesh’s energy system is facing intense pressure from the country’s ongoing fuel crisis and rising electricity bills. Yet thousands of garment factories&#8217; rooftops that could be fitted with solar panels remain largely unused. Renewable energy such as solar could be a potential solution to the escalating crisis, but has been overlooked for many years despite [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Bangladesh’s energy system is facing intense pressure from the country’s ongoing fuel crisis and rising electricity bills. Yet thousands of garment factories&#8217; rooftops that could be fitted with solar panels remain largely unused. Renewable energy such as solar could be a potential solution to the escalating crisis, but has been overlooked for many years despite Bangladesh having sufficient amounts of sunshine. Rather, the country relies almost entirely on grid electricity, which is mostly generated from imported fossil fuels. More than two-thirds or 69% of factories have still not adopted renewable energy technologies (RET), according to a recent study funded by the International Growth Centre (IGC). “Only 31% of factories have adopted RET (predominantly rooftop solar), with very low average capacity,” the study says. “Half of all solar installations do not even contribute to production processes.” This analysis is based on a survey of 661 factories in the cities of Gazipur and Savar, located close to the capital Dhaka, conducted by Atonu Rabbani of Dhaka University and a BRAC University research team and completed in October 2025. Bangladesh’s garment sector has more than 3,320 active factories. Of these, more than are located in Savar and Gazipur. The study focuses on these two industrial hubs using the Mapped in Bangladesh (MiB) database and samples more than 650 factories out of 1,937 in the two cities. A separate study conducted by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) finds that solar adoption is mostly seen in large and environmentally certified factories (LEED-certified). Large factories&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/despite-energy-crisis-bangladeshs-factories-are-slow-to-adopt-solar-power-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/despite-energy-crisis-bangladeshs-factories-are-slow-to-adopt-solar-power-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326474</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fossil fuel-based mega projects displace locals in Bangladesh, pushing youth out</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/fossil-fuel-based-mega-projects-displace-locals-in-bangladesh-pushing-youth-out/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/fossil-fuel-based-mega-projects-displace-locals-in-bangladesh-pushing-youth-out/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jul 2026 13:07:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Eyamin Sajid]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/13123859/Matarbari-coal-power-plant04-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323215</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Coal, Coastal Ecosystems, Developing Countries, Development, Economics, Energy, Environment, Fisheries, Fishing, Fossil Fuels, Governance, Land Rights, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Eid is usually a day of laughter and joy for most people in Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation of 170 million in South Asia. But for Muhammad Gura Miya, it became a day of sadness and mourning after his only son left home on Eid in 2025 and never returned. Gura Miya, a 65-year-old resident of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Eid is usually a day of laughter and joy for most people in Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation of 170 million in South Asia. But for Muhammad Gura Miya, it became a day of sadness and mourning after his only son left home on Eid in 2025 and never returned. Gura Miya, a 65-year-old resident of Maheshkhali sub-district of Bangladesh’s southeastern coastal district Cox’s Bazar, now spends his days in distress over the loss of his son. “He was my only hope and support. I don’t know where he is, or whether he is alive or dead,” Miya said. Miya is not alone. Mongabay spoke with dozens of families whose sons or household heads are missing or dead after attempting to migrate to Malaysia for work. On April 14, 2026, a small boat carrying around 250 people, including Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingya refugees, capsized in the Andaman Sea while en route to Malaysia. Only nine people were rescued; the rest remain missing. Young, unskilled people in this coastal area are risking illegal migration across the Bay of Bengal in small boats as fossil fuel projects, ports and petrochemical complexes threaten their ancestral livelihoods. A study on irregular migration from Bangladesh to Malaysia through the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea found that Cox’s Bazar has become a new hub for human trafficking to Malaysia. Construction of Matarbari deep sea port. Image by Muhammad Mostafigur Rahman. A ship at the construction of Matarbari deep sea port. Image by Muhammad Mostafigur Rahman.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/fossil-fuel-based-mega-projects-displace-locals-in-bangladesh-pushing-youth-out/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/fossil-fuel-based-mega-projects-displace-locals-in-bangladesh-pushing-youth-out/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323215</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Plastic household waste burned as fuel on rise in Global South, risking health</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/plastic-household-waste-burned-as-fuel-on-rise-in-global-south-risking-health/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/plastic-household-waste-burned-as-fuel-on-rise-in-global-south-risking-health/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Feb 2026 18:34:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/23155841/Image_2-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313269</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Central America, Global, Guatemala, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Climate, Conservation, Developing Countries, Environment, Health, Planetary Health, Plastic, Pollution, Public Health, Toxicology, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Burning plastic waste for household fuel, or to manage household waste, may be far more prevalent in poor urban areas in developing countries than previously thought, raising serious environmental pollution and public health concerns for individuals, families and communities. That’s according to a new global study that surveyed more than 1,000 “key informants,” including researchers, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Burning plastic waste for household fuel, or to manage household waste, may be far more prevalent in poor urban areas in developing countries than previously thought, raising serious environmental pollution and public health concerns for individuals, families and communities. That’s according to a new global study that surveyed more than 1,000 “key informants,” including researchers, government workers and community leaders, from cities in 26 countries across the Global South. The researchers found that one-third of respondents are aware of households that are burning plastic, while 16% stated they’ve burned plastic in their own household. Burning plastic “has been integrated into household energy practices in numerous and diverse ways in many urban communities,” the authors write. Bishal Bharadwaj, lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of Calgary, says the issue has been largely overlooked, as it is occurring in marginalized and largely out-of-sight neighborhoods within cities. “The practice is more widespread than we thought,” he says. Bharadwaj published a paper in 2025 outlining how this practice is growing in the Global South, but this new paper adds in-depth data. The current research also comes against a backdrop of experts warning that the regular practice of open burning of plastic represents an “urgent global health issue” as communities increasingly resort to burning plastic as a fuel source and to tackle a rapidly growing plastic waste disposal crisis. Plastic and other waste in a cooking stove in Guatemala. Household burning of plastic raises health concerns due to close and prolonged&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/plastic-household-waste-burned-as-fuel-on-rise-in-global-south-risking-health/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/plastic-household-waste-burned-as-fuel-on-rise-in-global-south-risking-health/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313269</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Maluku coconut growers cry crisis as Indonesia land-grabs feed energy transition</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/maluku-coconut-growers-cry-crisis-as-indonesia-land-grabs-feed-energy-transition/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/maluku-coconut-growers-cry-crisis-as-indonesia-land-grabs-feed-energy-transition/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2025 10:56:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Achmad Rizki Muazam]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/09060319/Halmahera-women-peeling-coconuts-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305623</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, North Maluku, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Batteries, Clean Energy, Developing Countries, Development, Economics, Energy, Farming, Food, food security, Forests, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Industry, Islands, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Mining, Pollution, Renewable Energy, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SOUTH WASILE, Indonesia — Rudy said South Wasile district police officers visited his home with PT Arumba Jaya Perkasa staff three times in June to recommend he take the company’s 20,000 rupiah offer, around $1.22, per square meter of his coconut grove. “But I didn’t want to do that,” Rudy, whose name has been changed, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SOUTH WASILE, Indonesia — Rudy said South Wasile district police officers visited his home with PT Arumba Jaya Perkasa staff three times in June to recommend he take the company’s 20,000 rupiah offer, around $1.22, per square meter of his coconut grove. “But I didn’t want to do that,” Rudy, whose name has been changed, told Mongabay Indonesia. The officer, Rudy said, prohibited recording the interaction in Loleba village here on Halmahera, a once-remote island in North Maluku province that today is the site of a nickel mining boom to feed the global energy transition. In a statement to Mongabay Indonesia, South Wasile district police denied any involvement in whether local residents should agree to contracts of sale. The 20-year mining permit held by PT Arumba Jaya Perkasa covers 1,818 hectares (4,492 acres) of forest and community plantations in the interior of Loleba village, according to Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. It is just one of “hundreds of extractive mining company concessions” operating in North Maluku province, according to Transparency International, a nonprofit. PT Arumba Jaya Perkasa is paving a dedicated haulage road and building a small harbor in the inlet piercing Halmahera Island from the northeast. Swaths of coconut and nutmeg groves planted long ago by families in Loleba, Saramaake and Talaga Jaya villages are being razed for mining infrastructure. In Loleba village, many farmers resisted the land use change while feeling squeezed by below-market-value offers for land, which were based on valuations assessed by the local&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/maluku-coconut-growers-cry-crisis-as-indonesia-land-grabs-feed-energy-transition/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/maluku-coconut-growers-cry-crisis-as-indonesia-land-grabs-feed-energy-transition/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305623</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Snow leopards frequently cross Nepal, India, China borders, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/snow-leopards-frequently-cross-nepal-india-china-borders-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/snow-leopards-frequently-cross-nepal-india-china-borders-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Jun 2025 16:06:31 +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/20/2025/06/12134736/zeborong-edited-%C2%A9-DNPWC-_-WWF-Nepal-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300668</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Atlantic Forest, China, India, and Nepal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Developing Countries, GPS, Mammals, Mountains, Other effective conservation measures (OECMs), and Snow Leopards]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — The first-ever study of GPS-collared snow leopards carried out in Nepal has shown that these hyper elusive big cats spend up to a third of their time in neighboring India and China. It also found that up to half their range lies within these other countries, highlighting the importance of cross-border collaboration to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — The first-ever study of GPS-collared snow leopards carried out in Nepal has shown that these hyper elusive big cats spend up to a third of their time in neighboring India and China. It also found that up to half their range lies within these other countries, highlighting the importance of cross-border collaboration to conserve this threatened species. The findings, published in March, are based on data from tracking collars fitted to four snow leopards (Panthera uncia) in Kangchenjunga Conservation Area in northeastern Nepal, home to the third-highest mountain on Earth. Kangchenjunga is sandwiched to the east by Khangchendzonga National Park in India and to the northwest by Qomolangma National Nature Preserve. Researchers tracked the individual snow leopards from 20 to 659 days between 2013 and 2017, and found that they roamed across areas six to 97 times larger than previously thought. Three of the animals were also found to have crossed international borders five to seven times, spending 10-34% of their time in India and China, with 28-50% of their home ranges overlapping with India. “We now have solid proof,” study lead author Samundra Subba, a large carnivore researcher at WWF Nepal, said of long held assumptions about snow leopards’ transboundary movements. “National borders are human constructs — snow leopards don’t recognize them. As long as there are no physical and artificial barriers like fences, and the habitat conditions are similar with relative proportion of prey availability, these big cats can move freely across the landscape.” Map shows&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/snow-leopards-frequently-cross-nepal-india-china-borders-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/snow-leopards-frequently-cross-nepal-india-china-borders-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300668</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Police in Indonesia’s Halmahera Island charge 11 farmers in latest nickel flashpoint</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/police-in-indonesias-halmahera-island-charge-11-farmers-in-latest-nickel-flashpoint/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/police-in-indonesias-halmahera-island-charge-11-farmers-in-latest-nickel-flashpoint/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jun 2025 10:30:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rabul Sawal]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/03101535/maluku-residents-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300073</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Maluku, North Maluku, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Batteries, Clean Energy, Developing Countries, Development, Economics, Energy, Forests, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Industry, Islands, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Mining, Pollution, Renewable Energy, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[EAST HALMAHERA, Indonesia — Police in Indonesia’s North Maluku province arrested 27 people and charged 11 of them with weapons offenses and commercial obstruction in late May following conflict with a nickel mining company controlled by Indonesia’s billionaire Barki family. The 11 residents of Maba Sangaji village, which is located in East Halmahera district, are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[EAST HALMAHERA, Indonesia — Police in Indonesia’s North Maluku province arrested 27 people and charged 11 of them with weapons offenses and commercial obstruction in late May following conflict with a nickel mining company controlled by Indonesia’s billionaire Barki family. The 11 residents of Maba Sangaji village, which is located in East Halmahera district, are alleged to have taken 18 sets of keys for heavy vehicles operated by nickel miner PT Position, a subsidiary of the Barki-controlled Harum Energy, on April 16-17. Police seized 10 machetes, five catapults, one spear, a bow, and several arrows. “Their actions showed gangsterism that disrupted the community and investment,” Bambang Surhayono, a spokesperson for North Maluku Police, said in a statement. Anto Yunus, a lawyer for the detained men, said they were victims of physical assault during the detention. “We have seen it and photographed it,” Anto said. Mongabay has not independently verified evidence of physical abuse. The seizure of blades, which the men use as farming tools, was not evidence of criminal intent, Anto said, calling on police to release the men and pursue remedial motions out of court under “restorative justice,” a form of mediation. “Demonstrate that the company’s financial losses were due to the citizens’ actions. If there were no losses, don’t make excuses,” he added. Guidelines published by Indonesia’s attorney general in 2020 say mediation can be applied in lieu of criminal proceedings if a settlement is adjudicated to be in the public interest and proportionate to the alleged offense.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/police-in-indonesias-halmahera-island-charge-11-farmers-in-latest-nickel-flashpoint/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/police-in-indonesias-halmahera-island-charge-11-farmers-in-latest-nickel-flashpoint/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300073</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>US funding shortfall halts Nepal’s rhino census, sparks debate over methods</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/us-funding-shortfall-halts-nepals-rhino-census-sparks-debate-over-methods/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/us-funding-shortfall-halts-nepals-rhino-census-sparks-debate-over-methods/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 May 2025 00:28:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Deepak Adhikari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/29000434/rhino-census-nepal-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299820</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Developing Countries, Elephants, Foreign Aid, Human-wildlife Conflict, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, and Population]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In March 2021, dozens of elephants marched through the grasslands and sal (Shorea robusta) forests of Chitwan National Park, their riders armed with GPS devices and notebooks, searching for one of Asia’s most iconic megafauna: the greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis). The labor-intensive census mobilized more than 300 people and spanned three protected [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In March 2021, dozens of elephants marched through the grasslands and sal (Shorea robusta) forests of Chitwan National Park, their riders armed with GPS devices and notebooks, searching for one of Asia’s most iconic megafauna: the greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis). The labor-intensive census mobilized more than 300 people and spanned three protected areas and 21 habitat blocks. It ended with a population estimate of 752 rhinos — a 16% increase from the last census in 2015, raising hope for the species classified as ‘vulnerable’ by IUCN, the global conservation authority. Now, for the first time in decades, Nepal has canceled its national rhino count, citing a lack of funds. “We’ve decided to carry out the census next year,” said Bed Kumar Dhakal, spokesperson for the country’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC). The quinquennial rhino census, which takes nearly a month, costs an estimated $115,000-155,000 (around 15-20 million Nepali rupees). Two one-horned rhinos seen in Nepal. Image courtesy of NTNC. Early this year, the Trump Administration in the U.S. launched a policy to reduce overseas spending, shutting down the activities of its main aid agency USAID. Nepal had anticipated support from USAID’s Jal Jungle project, with longtime conservation partners including WWF, Zoological Society of London and National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) also expected to share the rest of the expenses. After the USAID pullout, the government decided to cancel the census plans. Some conservationists, however, argue that this pause presents an opportunity to rethink&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/us-funding-shortfall-halts-nepals-rhino-census-sparks-debate-over-methods/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/us-funding-shortfall-halts-nepals-rhino-census-sparks-debate-over-methods/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299820</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fish-tracking robot aims to make fishing more sustainable in developing nations</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/fish-tracking-robot-aims-to-revolutionize-fishing-sustainability-in-developing-nations/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/fish-tracking-robot-aims-to-revolutionize-fishing-sustainability-in-developing-nations/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Mar 2025 17:21:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Charles Mpaka]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/11/01153948/4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=296153</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Malawi]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Development, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Developing Countries, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Food, food security, Freshwater Fish, Lakes, Overfishing, Research, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Technology, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LAKE CHILWA, Malawi — When fishers on Lake Chilwa cast their nets, they don’t know whether there are fish below, or something else entirely. “We don’t go out in the lake to check what we have where. We go to fish,” Anderson Thembwa, a fisher since 1994 and chair of the Lake Chilwa Fisheries Association, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LAKE CHILWA, Malawi — When fishers on Lake Chilwa cast their nets, they don’t know whether there are fish below, or something else entirely. “We don’t go out in the lake to check what we have where. We go to fish,” Anderson Thembwa, a fisher since 1994 and chair of the Lake Chilwa Fisheries Association, tells Mongabay. The cooperative of 36 committees comprising fishers and community leaders manages fishing on the lake, landlocked Malawi’s second-largest fishing ground. “You pull the net and you realize all you have down there are frogs, crabs, juvenile fish and debris,” Thembwa says. A new system could help them check not only what kind of fish they have and where, but also how much. That way they can avoid the overfishing that’s threatening livelihoods on Lake Chilwa and elsewhere, as well as scooping up all those unwanted lake dwellers in their nets. The system in question? It’s not a net, but a robot: A solar-powered, transparent cylinder a meter (3 feet) long that can roam the waters autonomously for five days at a stretch, counting fish. “Our project, which we call SOUND, was aimed to solve these problems by in situ measuring number of fish, detecting schools of fish, estimating size of individual fish, thereby the biomass of the fish,” Roee Diamant, head of the Underwater Acoustics and Navigation Laboratory at the University of Haifa in Israel, tells Mongabay. He and his team developed the robot for use by regulatory authorities or fishers’ groups like&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/fish-tracking-robot-aims-to-revolutionize-fishing-sustainability-in-developing-nations/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/fish-tracking-robot-aims-to-revolutionize-fishing-sustainability-in-developing-nations/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-296153</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nickel miners dig up Indonesia’s Gebe Island despite Indigenous and legal opposition</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/nickel-miners-dig-up-indonesias-gebe-island-despite-indigenous-and-legal-opposition/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/nickel-miners-dig-up-indonesias-gebe-island-despite-indigenous-and-legal-opposition/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2025 02:04:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jaya Barends]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/10083010/WhatsApp-Image-2025-02-12-at-08.21.25-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=295528</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Maluku, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Batteries, Clean Energy, Developing Countries, Development, Economics, Energy, Forests, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Industry, Islands, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Mining, Pollution, Renewable Energy, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[GEBE ISLAND, Indonesia — Abdul Manan Magtiblo watched the excavator dump a piece of Gebe Island into the back of a truck. Barely a thicket remained on the buzz-cut upland above Umera village as the vehicle drove off to the nearby port. “That’s the PT Bartra Putra Mulia [BPM] nickel mine,” Manan, the village chief, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[GEBE ISLAND, Indonesia — Abdul Manan Magtiblo watched the excavator dump a piece of Gebe Island into the back of a truck. Barely a thicket remained on the buzz-cut upland above Umera village as the vehicle drove off to the nearby port. “That’s the PT Bartra Putra Mulia [BPM] nickel mine,” Manan, the village chief, told Mongabay Indonesia. Locals like Manan say life has become harder since 2020, when the company began operating here on Gebe, a remote island of fewer than 6,000 people in the Halmahera Sea, on Indonesia’s Pacific rim. When BPM first broke ground on its 1,850-hectare (4,570-acre) nickel mining concession here, the company’s executives told the elders in Umera they would have to relocate the Indigenous community’s shrines. Since then, residents say, water sources have run dry, community plantations have withered, and pollution from the mine has bled into the local fishing grounds. Manan and his neighbors in Umera are not alone in enduring change to the environment and way of life on Gebe. Mining companies are busy extracting the mineral wealth from seven nickel concessions beneath this 22,400-hectare (55,350-acre) island, which is around half the size of New Orleans. Research by Forest Watch Indonesia, a Jakarta-based environmental nonprofit, showed corporate land concessions occupy 876,000 hectares (2.2 million acres) on 242 small Indonesian islands. Of these concessions, 28% are for mining. Myriad criminal investigations have demonstrated extensive corruption in how licenses are awarded to industry. Last year, a court sentenced Abdul Gani Kasuba, the former governor&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/nickel-miners-dig-up-indonesias-gebe-island-despite-indigenous-and-legal-opposition/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-295528</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>&#8216;Without us, no scrutiny&#8217;: Indonesia&#8217;s independent media count cost of US funding cuts</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/without-us-there-is-no-scrutiny-indonesias-independent-media-count-cost-of-us-funding-cuts/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/without-us-there-is-no-scrutiny-indonesias-independent-media-count-cost-of-us-funding-cuts/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Mar 2025 01:38:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeff Hutton]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/05132251/fisherman-clams-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=295315</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, North Maluku, Southeast Asia, Sulawesi, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Clean Energy, Developing Countries, Development, Economics, Energy, Environment, Forests, Funding, Governance, Human Rights, Industry, Journalism, Media, Mining, Politics, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Last November, Jakarta-based Muhamad Heychael, program director at nonprofit media organization Remotivi, began offering small grants to local journalists to report on the nickel mines and smelters proliferating in remote corners of Indonesia’s far east. Heychael and his colleagues chose 10 journalists hailing from places like Morowali on the island of Sulawesi and Obi Island [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Last November, Jakarta-based Muhamad Heychael, program director at nonprofit media organization Remotivi, began offering small grants to local journalists to report on the nickel mines and smelters proliferating in remote corners of Indonesia’s far east. Heychael and his colleagues chose 10 journalists hailing from places like Morowali on the island of Sulawesi and Obi Island in North Maluku province. Each got 10 million rupiah ($600) — money linked to an earlier USAID grant — to report on the impact the country’s headlong rush to insert itself into the electric vehicle supply chain was having on their communities. The effort was a small step toward highlighting the pollution, disruption and abuse stemming from the onslaught of secretive Chinese investment in Indonesia’s booming metals sector. But when U.S. President Donald Trump froze USAID funding in January, Remotivi’s reporting initiative ended as soon as it began, putting at risk coverage of the impact to remote communities from one of fastest-growing sectors of Indonesia’s economy. U.S. Congress had earmarked nearly $270 million this year to support independent journalism outlets like Remotivi as well as media-related NGOs around the world, funds now halted by the Trump administration. The loss of those funds, coupled with the decades-long hollowing-out of newsrooms owing to slumping revenue and government curbs on press freedom in the region, will be a boon to polluters who are now less likely to be held to account by reporters. “Without our efforts, there would be no scrutiny,” Heychael said, referring to remote communities that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/without-us-there-is-no-scrutiny-indonesias-independent-media-count-cost-of-us-funding-cuts/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-295315</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Farmers cleave to sago as mining industry digs deeper in Indonesia’s Maluku</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/farmers-cleave-to-sago-as-mining-industry-digs-deeper-in-indonesias-maluku/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/farmers-cleave-to-sago-as-mining-industry-digs-deeper-in-indonesias-maluku/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Dec 2024 17:23:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mahmud Ichi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/11064421/squeezing-sago-palms-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=291429</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, North Maluku, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Developing Countries, Development, Economics, Farming, Food, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Industry, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Mining, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[EAST HALMAHERA, Indonesia — Halik Fanen and his wife, Fatimun, spent much of the day sifting the couple’s inheritance into seven plastic sacks near the east of Indonesia’s Halmahera Island. “These sago trees aren’t giving all that much because they are still small, so the yield is so-so,” Halik told Mongabay Indonesia as flour cascaded [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[EAST HALMAHERA, Indonesia — Halik Fanen and his wife, Fatimun, spent much of the day sifting the couple’s inheritance into seven plastic sacks near the east of Indonesia’s Halmahera Island. “These sago trees aren’t giving all that much because they are still small, so the yield is so-so,” Halik told Mongabay Indonesia as flour cascaded into its container. “If they were bigger, we’d have gotten 13 sacks out of these four trees.” Fatimun’s late parents bequeathed to the couple this orchard of sago palms, together with 3 hectares (7.4 acres) of coconut palms. At harvest time, the couple begins a traditional process that refines the raw sago pith into a starchy flour. Sago and root vegetables used to be preferred food staples across much of eastern Indonesia before the New Order government under Suharto began to promote white rice in the 1970s — creating a supply chain for the grain largely controlled by the Suharto family and its retinue of cronies. A new glut of subsidized fertilizer and cheap seeds boosted rice farming, and improved the affordability of a grain previously seen as the food of the elite. Decades later, Indonesian public health experts citing numerous research studies say overreliance on refined white rice is fueling millions of undiagnosed cases of diabetes, which can lead to life-changing injuries and early death. Fatimun refines raw sago pith into a starchy flour. Image by Mahmud Ichi/Mongabay Indonesia. Tumbling rice Bicoli is one of the oldest villages in South Maba subdistrict, which is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/farmers-cleave-to-sago-as-mining-industry-digs-deeper-in-indonesias-maluku/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-291429</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photos: The lives and forests bound to Indonesia’s nickel dreams</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/photos-the-lives-and-forests-bound-to-indonesias-nickel-dreams/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/photos-the-lives-and-forests-bound-to-indonesias-nickel-dreams/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Dec 2024 17:25:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Garry Lotulung]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/02164736/1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=291039</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Batteries, Clean Energy, Developing Countries, Development, Economics, Electric Cars, Energy, Forests, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Industry, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Mining, Renewable Energy, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[EAST HALMAHERA, Indonesia — The dense forest near the village of Dodaga in the island district of East Halmahera means the world to Sumean Gebe, 42, who lives here with his wife and their two children. In the island’s forest, they hunt animals such as wild boar to eat, and collect damar resin to sell. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[EAST HALMAHERA, Indonesia — The dense forest near the village of Dodaga in the island district of East Halmahera means the world to Sumean Gebe, 42, who lives here with his wife and their two children. In the island’s forest, they hunt animals such as wild boar to eat, and collect damar resin to sell. “It feels comfortable living here,” he says. Sumean and his small family are among the contacted people part of the O’Hongana Manyawa Indigenous community (meaning “people of the forest”). The O’Hongana Manyawa are a nomadic hunter-gatherer tribe in Indonesia, many of whose members live in voluntary isolation. Their lives have for centuries been deeply intertwined with the tropical forests of Halmahera, and their traditions teach them not to damage it. However, the harmony of tribe and forest has been disturbed by a wave of nickel mining projects. The prized ore is destined for processing at the expansive Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP), about 80 kilometers (50 miles) to the south. Tatoyo Penes, 64, and Etus Hurata, 56 (L) from the O&#8217;Hongana Manyawa tribe pose for a photo while processing material from sago palm trees with traditional tools inside a jungle in East Halmahera, North Maluku, Indonesia, on August 18, 2024. Image by Garry Lotulung. In an aerial view, the O&#8217;Hongana Manyawa tribe lives in the territory of Dodaga in a remote indigenous village in the Halmahera rainforest at East Halmahera, North Maluku, Indonesia, on August 19, 2024. Image by Garry Lotulung. They’re not alone.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/photos-the-lives-and-forests-bound-to-indonesias-nickel-dreams/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-291039</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>WTO negotiations flounder — again — over banning unsustainable fishing subsidies</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/wto-negotiations-flounder-again-over-banning-unsustainable-fishing-subsidies/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/wto-negotiations-flounder-again-over-banning-unsustainable-fishing-subsidies/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jul 2024 17:04:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Fitt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/07/31150258/18663387352_329356b91a_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=285443</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Business, Conservation, Developing Countries, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Food, Food Industry, food security, Governance, International Trade, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Overfishing, Politics, Saltwater Fish, Subsidies, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Hopes for closure on a fair deal to stop governments bankrolling overfishing flopped yet again at the recent General Council meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva. Scheduled decision-making sessions aimed at closing the second half of a legally binding treaty to curb harmful fisheries subsidies were downgraded to a discussion at the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Hopes for closure on a fair deal to stop governments bankrolling overfishing flopped yet again at the recent General Council meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva. Scheduled decision-making sessions aimed at closing the second half of a legally binding treaty to curb harmful fisheries subsidies were downgraded to a discussion at the July 22–23 gathering, after India raised objections to the draft text. “We will never succeed in concluding the negotiations if one seeks disciplines and obligations to apply to others and exemptions and carve-outs for oneself,” João Aguiar Machado, head of the E.U. Permanent Mission to Geneva, stated at the meeting. The WTO has been negotiating a treaty to prevent subsidies that encourage or support overfishing and illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing for 25 years and counting. The negotiating group was given a 2020 deadline, in 2015, to land a deal in line with U.N. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14.6, which aims to tackle overfishing by banning subsidies for illegal fishing and preventing new harmful subsidies while stressing fair treatment for developing nations. This is now years overdue. A partial deal, dubbed “Fish One” was finally struck at the WTO’s 12th ministerial conference in June 2022. But delegates couldn&#8217;t settle on how to balance the needs of rich and poor nations to land “Fish Two,” either then, at the 13th ministerial conference in March, or now. “In the meantime, fish stocks continue to suffer, and the WTO is unable to deliver on Sustainable Development Goal 14.6,”&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/wto-negotiations-flounder-again-over-banning-unsustainable-fishing-subsidies/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/wto-negotiations-flounder-again-over-banning-unsustainable-fishing-subsidies/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-285443</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia must integrate marine protection with fisheries subsidies, study says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/indonesia-must-integrate-marine-protection-with-fisheries-subsidies-study-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/indonesia-must-integrate-marine-protection-with-fisheries-subsidies-study-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jun 2024 04:53:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/02/28113359/Aktivitas-jual-beli-ikan-di-Pulau-MoaFoto-Luh-De-Suriyani-WWF-Indonnesia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=283758</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Developing Countries, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Illegal Fishing, International Trade, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Overfishing, Politics, Regulations, Saltwater Fish, Subsidies, Sustainability, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — In continuing to provide controversial subsidies for small-scale fishers, Indonesia must also integrate marine protection measures into social protection schemes, a new study has said. Government subsidies for fisheries have enabled industries to fish in economically unfeasible ocean areas, but this support has faced wide criticism for harming the long-term viability of marine [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — In continuing to provide controversial subsidies for small-scale fishers, Indonesia must also integrate marine protection measures into social protection schemes, a new study has said. Government subsidies for fisheries have enabled industries to fish in economically unfeasible ocean areas, but this support has faced wide criticism for harming the long-term viability of marine resources. Indonesia claims to be exempt from a 2022 World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement requiring its 164 member states to halt subsidies that support fishing overfished stocks and to reduce those that contribute to illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing at sea. However, the Indonesian government must implement an effective strategy and prescription to protect marine resources through subsidies, aiming to support small-scale fisheries and ensure the long-term sustainability of marine resources, as mandated by the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, according to a researcher duo from the country’s Airlangga University and Padjadjaran University — Intan Innayatun Soeparna and Ankiq Taofiqurohman — in their study published in May on the journal Marine Policy. “[U]pholding and preserving the sustainability of marine fishery resources are incumbent upon the government through the implementation of marine protection policies,” the paper read. Indonesia is a top marine capture producer in the world. Image courtesy of Indonesia&#8217;s Marine and Fisheries Ministry. The researchers analyzed Indonesian policies that stipulate efforts to protect marine fishery resources and support small-scale fishers, who are among the country’s most extremely impoverished groups. They found that some of the policies have indeed targeted the dual objective of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/indonesia-must-integrate-marine-protection-with-fisheries-subsidies-study-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/indonesia-must-integrate-marine-protection-with-fisheries-subsidies-study-says/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-283758</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Stalemate: WTO talks again fail to end overfishing subsidies</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/stalemate-wto-talks-again-fail-to-end-overfishing-subsidies/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/stalemate-wto-talks-again-fail-to-end-overfishing-subsidies/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Mar 2024 21:34:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Fitt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/01/19143713/2-trawler-fish-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=279521</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Conservation, COVID-19, Developing Countries, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, International Trade, Oceans, Overfishing, Politics, Saltwater Fish, Subsidies, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Ambitions to finalize a two-part treaty to equitably stop governments from funding overfishing were dashed again at the World Trade Organization’s 13th ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi, which ended in the early hours of March 2. “This outcome is not just disappointing; it’s a dire blow to global marine biodiversity,” Daniel Skerritt, a senior analyst [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Ambitions to finalize a two-part treaty to equitably stop governments from funding overfishing were dashed again at the World Trade Organization’s 13th ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi, which ended in the early hours of March 2. “This outcome is not just disappointing; it’s a dire blow to global marine biodiversity,” Daniel Skerritt, a senior analyst at U.S.-based conservation NGO Oceana, said in a statement. “The WTO’s continued failure to prohibit subsidy-driven overcapacity and overfishing jeopardizes the lives of millions of people who depend on healthy fish populations for their livelihoods and food security.” Governments around the world pump an estimated $22 billion annually into so-called “harmful” fisheries subsidies, blamed for depletion of global fish stocks and distorted market dynamics. WTO member states have been trying to negotiate a deal to end them for 22 years. The WTO’s 12th ministerial conference, MC12, in June 2022 finally brought a partial result. Delegates hustled a truncated deal, dubbed Fish One, over the line at the last minute, but only by putting off crucial aspects for resolution at this year’s meeting, MC13. Delegates to MC13 worked hard to do that, but agreement on Fish Two remained out of reach despite a 36-hour extension of the meeting. “We came so close, but at the end of the day the one or two matters we could not bridge need more consultation … more thought, more engagement,” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the WTO’s director-general, said in her closing statement. “It makes me wonder if the WTO is ever going&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/stalemate-wto-talks-again-fail-to-end-overfishing-subsidies/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/stalemate-wto-talks-again-fail-to-end-overfishing-subsidies/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-279521</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fish deaths near Rio Tinto mine in Madagascar dredge up community grievances</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/fish-deaths-near-rio-tinto-mine-in-madagascar-dredge-up-community-grievances/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/fish-deaths-near-rio-tinto-mine-in-madagascar-dredge-up-community-grievances/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 May 2023 10:19:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawahare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/05/12155025/fish-deaths-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=268549</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Land rights and extractives]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Development, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Developing Countries, Development, Environmental Law, Fish, Fishing, food security, Human Rights, Mining, Pollution, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Social Justice, Sustainable Development, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LAKE AMBAVARANO, Madagascar — On March 5, 2022, following days of cyclone-induced flooding, executives at the Rio Tinto-owned QMM mine in Madagascar shot off an urgent request to the country’s water regulator. They wanted to release 1 million cubic meters (264 million gallons) of wastew ater into the Mandromondromotra River that flows along the mine’s [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LAKE AMBAVARANO, Madagascar — On March 5, 2022, following days of cyclone-induced flooding, executives at the Rio Tinto-owned QMM mine in Madagascar shot off an urgent request to the country’s water regulator. They wanted to release 1 million cubic meters (264 million gallons) of wastew ater into the Mandromondromotra River that flows along the mine’s northeastern perimeter. A few days later, Simon Razanandriana’s eldest son, Derrick, came home with distressing news: Thousands of dead fish were floating on Lake Ambavarano, where their family has fished for generations. “No one can help us. Even the government works with QMM,” Simon Razanandriana said. Image by Malavika Vyawahare/Mongabay. The Mandromondromotra drains into Ambavarano, which is one of a string of estuarine lakes located between the mine and the Indian Ocean. The fishing hamlet of Manaka, or Emanaka, where the Razanandriana family lives, sits on the sandy bank separating the lakes and the sea. Plying their dugout canoes on subdued lake waters, fishers can sometimes hear the whirr of the mine’s heavy machinery over the roar of the ocean. Civil society groups say the mine’s effluent enters neighboring water bodies with alarming regularity, endangering people’s health and robbing them of their livelihoods, and that the mining company is doing little to better the lives of Malagasy people most impacted by its activities. They say the threat posed by the mine grows as climatic changes bring more destructive storms to Madagascar’s shores. A lake that belches dead fish The city of Fort Dauphin. Image by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/fish-deaths-near-rio-tinto-mine-in-madagascar-dredge-up-community-grievances/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/fish-deaths-near-rio-tinto-mine-in-madagascar-dredge-up-community-grievances/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-268549</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rio Tinto must repair the damage caused by their Madagascar mine (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/rio-tinto-must-repair-the-damage-caused-by-their-madagascar-mine-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/rio-tinto-must-repair-the-damage-caused-by-their-madagascar-mine-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Apr 2023 13:33:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ketakandriana Rafitoson]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/04/26222447/RT-QMM-peninsula-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267940</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Community Development, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Developing Countries, Development, food security, Human Rights, Mining, Pollution, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Sustainable Development, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Rio Tinto’s sprawling Qit Minerals Madagascar (QMM) mining operation is situated in one of the poorest regions of the fifth poorest country in the world. It lies in an area near Fort-Dauphin on the far southeastern coast of Madagascar, where 91% of people live in poverty and 80% of the rural population wholly depend on [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Rio Tinto’s sprawling Qit Minerals Madagascar (QMM) mining operation is situated in one of the poorest regions of the fifth poorest country in the world. It lies in an area near Fort-Dauphin on the far southeastern coast of Madagascar, where 91% of people live in poverty and 80% of the rural population wholly depend on natural resources for their survival. The ilmenite-producing QMM mine has made their lives immeasurably harder, pushing them deeper into poverty. And it has done so in various ways which have been comprehensively documented over many years, including in research we at Publish What You Pay-Madagascar produced in 2022. The mining operation has contaminated water, with uranium levels found to be 50 times higher than the WHO safe drinking water guidelines in some parts of the waterways and lakes adjacent to the mine, which the majority of the 15,000 people living near the site use for drinking and domestic purposes. Fish allegedly killed by a 2022 QMM mine tailings dam release. Photo courtesy of Andrew Lees Trust. Meanwhile food insecurity has intensified, as soil fertility has decreased and local peoples’ access to land has been reduced &#8211; meaning fewer pastures for cattle. These hardships were compounded a year ago, when the mine’s tailings dam failed twice. To prevent the dam’s total collapse, the QMM operations released a million cubic meters of mine wastewater. In the following days, hundreds of dead fish were found floating in downstream lakes, precipitating a fishing ban which hit local fisher folks’&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/rio-tinto-must-repair-the-damage-caused-by-their-madagascar-mine-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/rio-tinto-must-repair-the-damage-caused-by-their-madagascar-mine-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-267940</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Alleged macaque-smuggling ring exposed as U.S. indicts Cambodian officials</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/alleged-macaque-smuggling-ring-exposed-as-u-s-indicts-cambodian-officials/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/alleged-macaque-smuggling-ring-exposed-as-u-s-indicts-cambodian-officials/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Nov 2022 07:33:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/11/18054548/Cropped-troupe-of-LTMs-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=262745</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cambodia, Hong Kong, New York, Southeast Asia, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Corruption, Crime, Deforestation, Developing Countries, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Environment, Extinction, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Human-wildlife Conflict, Illegal Trade, Lacey Act, Law Enforcement, Medicine, Monkeys, Organized Crime, Poaching, Primates, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — Eight people, including two Cambodian Forestry Administration officials, have been charged by U.S. federal prosecutors for their alleged involvement in an international monkey smuggling ring. One of the officials charged, Kry Masphal, was arrested at New York City&#8217;s John F. Kennedy International Airport, en route to Panama, where he was to have [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — Eight people, including two Cambodian Forestry Administration officials, have been charged by U.S. federal prosecutors for their alleged involvement in an international monkey smuggling ring. One of the officials charged, Kry Masphal, was arrested at New York City&#8217;s John F. Kennedy International Airport, en route to Panama, where he was to have represented Cambodia at an international conference on the global wildlife trade. In a Nov. 16 press statement, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that as many as 3,000 wild long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) have been laundered through Vanny Bio Research’s facilities in Cambodia since at least December 2017. Cambodian Forestry Administration officials allegedly received cash payments for each animal captured in the wild and then created fake papers from CITES, the global convention on the wildlife trade, that mislabeled the long-tailed macaques as captive-bred monkeys. The two officials, Masphal and Keo Omaliss, have both worked as CITES representatives for Cambodia, with Omaliss also serving as director-general of the Forestry Administration, while Masphal works beneath him as deputy director of the Forestry Administration’s Department of Wildlife and Biodiversity. Both were named in a 27-page indictment from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida that was unsealed after Masphal’s Nov. 16 arrest as he was headed to the CITES conference in Panama. Cambodia&#8217;s population of the endangered long-tailed macaque remains unknown to researchers, but they are typically found across the country. Photo by Gerald Flynn/Mongabay. Also charged were James Man Sang Lau, founder and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/alleged-macaque-smuggling-ring-exposed-as-u-s-indicts-cambodian-officials/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/alleged-macaque-smuggling-ring-exposed-as-u-s-indicts-cambodian-officials/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-262745</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>WTO ban on ‘harmful’ subsidies won’t impact small-scale fishers, Indonesia says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/wto-ban-on-harmful-subsidies-wont-impact-small-scale-fishers-indonesia-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/wto-ban-on-harmful-subsidies-wont-impact-small-scale-fishers-indonesia-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jun 2022 00:52:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/05/27181846/9764_Fish-Forever_Indonesia_GWS-00492-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=257721</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Developing Countries, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Illegal Fishing, International Trade, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Overfishing, Politics, Regulations, Saltwater Fish, Subsidies, Sustainability, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Small-scale fishers in Indonesia will be exempt from an end to “harmful” subsidies agreed by governments at the World Trade Organization. Indonesian negotiators citing existing fishing quotas that are meant to be sustainable and the fact that Indonesian fishers receive a fraction of what fishers in other countries get in the way of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Small-scale fishers in Indonesia will be exempt from an end to “harmful” subsidies agreed by governments at the World Trade Organization. Indonesian negotiators citing existing fishing quotas that are meant to be sustainable and the fact that Indonesian fishers receive a fraction of what fishers in other countries get in the way of subsidies. The WTO on June 17 struck the deal banning its 164 member states from giving subsidies that support the fishing of already-overfished stocks and curbing those that contribute to illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing at sea. To protect its small-scale fishers, who account for the majority of fishers in the country, the Indonesian government has invoked two “exempting provisions” — namely, the special and different treatment (S&amp;DT) and fisheries management (FM) provisions — that allow fishers in less-industrialized coastal countries to continue receiving subsidies. “Indonesia chose the fisheries management approach because we want to continue give subsidies to our fishers, and FM has already been implemented in our country for a long time,” Nilanto Perbowo, a fisheries expert and negotiator with the Indonesian delegation to the WTO ministerial meetings, told Mongabay in a press briefing on June 21. “Indonesia has since the beginning of the fisheries subsidy ban talks fought for exemptions for small-scale and traditional fishers because they are the majority of our fishing communities,” Nilanto added. Indonesia is a top marine capture producer in the world. Image courtesy of the Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries. Indonesia currently provides financial&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/wto-ban-on-harmful-subsidies-wont-impact-small-scale-fishers-indonesia-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-257721</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>WTO finally nets deal curbing fisheries subsidies, but tables key bits for later</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/wto-finally-nets-deal-curbing-fisheries-subsidies-but-tables-key-bits-for-later/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/wto-finally-nets-deal-curbing-fisheries-subsidies-but-tables-key-bits-for-later/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jun 2022 23:09:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Fitt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/06/18005049/14981581864_6b771acf13_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=257455</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Conservation, COVID-19, Developing Countries, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, International Trade, Oceans, Overfishing, Politics, Saltwater Fish, Subsidies, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Talks aimed at curbing harmful subsidies for fisheries concluded in Geneva in the first multilateral trade agreement the World Trade Organization (WTO) has struck in almost a decade. The body’s Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12) was scheduled for June 12–15, but overtime negotiations didn’t conclude until early June 17. It is the first time WTO members [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Talks aimed at curbing harmful subsidies for fisheries concluded in Geneva in the first multilateral trade agreement the World Trade Organization (WTO) has struck in almost a decade. The body’s Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12) was scheduled for June 12–15, but overtime negotiations didn’t conclude until early June 17. It is the first time WTO members have ever concluded a deal “with environmental sustainability at its heart,” WTO director general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in her closing speech. The fisheries agreement is a global solution that “will help ensure ocean resources are used in a sustainable way that drives economic growth and development while maintaining a healthy ocean for the benefit of biodiversity, nature, and people,” Dona Bertarelli, special adviser for the blue economy with the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, told Mongabay. The 6 a.m. closing ceremony of MC12 in Geneva on June 17, 2022. Image by Jay Louvion courtesy of WTO. The new agreement bans government subsidies that support the fishing of already-overfished stocks and curbs those that contribute to illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing. But in the interest of reaching a deal, the WTO’s 164 member states put off dealing with certain subsidies where agreement proved elusive: those that contribute to building fleets with capacity to fish unsustainably and other forms of overfishing. Negotiators say they will re-open talks on those issues at the WTO’s next ministerial conference, possibly in late 2023. “This is a historic step forward,” Claire Nouvian, founder of the Paris-based marine conservation group&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/wto-finally-nets-deal-curbing-fisheries-subsidies-but-tables-key-bits-for-later/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/wto-finally-nets-deal-curbing-fisheries-subsidies-but-tables-key-bits-for-later/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-257455</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In the DRC’s forests, a tug-of-war between oil and aid</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/in-the-drcs-forests-a-tug-of-war-between-oil-and-aid/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/in-the-drcs-forests-a-tug-of-war-between-oil-and-aid/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Jun 2022 12:28:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Ashoka]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/12/16055317/ITPC-field-visit-Congo-peatlands-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=256903</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Congo Basin, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Developing Countries, Development, Environment, Foreign Aid, Forest Destruction, Forests, Peatlands, Politics, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It was a banner moment at COP26, one of the climate summit’s headline achievements. On stage, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson sat with President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo as the two put their pens to paper. As a part of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use — signed [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It was a banner moment at COP26, one of the climate summit’s headline achievements. On stage, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson sat with President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo as the two put their pens to paper. As a part of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use — signed by more than 100 countries — a consortium of wealthy donors that included Norway, Germany and the U.K. were committing to a $500 million aid package meant to slow deforestation in the DRC. “With its forests, water and mineral resources, the Democratic Republic of Congo is a genuine ‘Solution Country’ to the climate crisis,” Tshisekedi said. But just a few short months later, the exuberant tone struck at COP26 has given way to a gloomier assessment of the DRC’s seriousness about the agreement’s intent, and whether it will ultimately prove compatible with the country’s efforts to tackle chronic poverty and manage its resource wealth. In April, the Ministry of Hydrocarbons shocked observers when it announced the auction of 16 new oil exploration blocs, including three that overlap with the Cuvette Centrale peatlands, which holds one of the largest carbon deposits on the planet. The announcement follows the DRC’s controversial decision to lift its moratorium on new logging concessions, which provoked an outcry from environmental NGOs last year. To some observers, the moves are a red flag for the DRC’s commitment to being a “solution country,” and raise questions about whether the expensive new aid package&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/in-the-drcs-forests-a-tug-of-war-between-oil-and-aid/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/in-the-drcs-forests-a-tug-of-war-between-oil-and-aid/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-256903</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Does citizen ownership of natural resources hold the key to realizing deforestation commitments? (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/does-citizen-ownership-of-natural-resources-hold-the-key-to-realizing-deforestation-commitments-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/does-citizen-ownership-of-natural-resources-hold-the-key-to-realizing-deforestation-commitments-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jun 2022 20:51:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Han Overman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/03/15080644/Logging-trucks-grumiers-in-Gabon-e1654548469359-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=256840</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, Guyana, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Avoided Deforestation, Climate Change, climate finance, Commentary, Conservation Finance, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Deforestation, Developing Countries, Development, Forests, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Redd, Sustainable Development, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Many words and billions in funding were pledged at last year’s ‘Nature COP’ in Glasgow, resulting in a global commitment to stop deforestation by 2030. However, the challenge of how to achieve this explicit and ambitious goal was less clear at the event and in subsequent reporting. The emerging main approaches are direct funding of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Many words and billions in funding were pledged at last year’s ‘Nature COP’ in Glasgow, resulting in a global commitment to stop deforestation by 2030. However, the challenge of how to achieve this explicit and ambitious goal was less clear at the event and in subsequent reporting. The emerging main approaches are direct funding of forest protection and land rights of Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs), combined with increased demand-side pressure for deforestation-free commodities. However, given past performance and little to directly address the main powerful commodity drivers of forest loss (beef, palm oil, soy, timber, minerals), the overall effectiveness towards stopping deforestation by 2030 may be limited in practice. For instance, forestland owned by or designated to IPLC is currently estimated at 14% of total forest area (with 67% government administered). Expansion of IPLC forestlands would increase commercial pressure on non-IPLC forestland, if not increase tension between the two tenure types. In addition, as long as commercial forest uses yield more public revenue and employment than IPLC lands, the inclination of decision-making governments seems evident. Clearly, the international influence on land use in sovereign developing countries is limited and can only be done through incentives and international market regulations. But what if the domestic opinion on commodity sectors could be influenced? Recent quantitative research suggests this can have a huge potential for both forest conservation and boosting equitable national welfare, from several billion U.S. dollars of homegrown net public revenue per year, per developing country. Development and expansion&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/does-citizen-ownership-of-natural-resources-hold-the-key-to-realizing-deforestation-commitments-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/does-citizen-ownership-of-natural-resources-hold-the-key-to-realizing-deforestation-commitments-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-256840</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘What’s lacking is respect for Mayan culture’: Q&#038;A with Pedro Uc Be on Mexico&#8217;s Tren Maya</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/whats-lacking-is-respect-for-mayan-culture-qa-with-pedro-uc-be-on-mexicos-tren-maya/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/whats-lacking-is-respect-for-mayan-culture-qa-with-pedro-uc-be-on-mexicos-tren-maya/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 May 2022 18:19:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Thelma Gómez Durán]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/05/30181009/41830040_1925804764142511_8651833059374530560_n-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=256473</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Anthropology, Conservation, Culture, Developing Countries, Development, Environment, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Infrastructure, Land Conflict, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[*UPDATE: On March 30, 2021, a press release announced that the Collegiate Court of Circuit in Work and Administration Matters had reversed the decision to suspend activity on Sections 1, 2, and 3 of the Tren Maya project, giving the go-ahead for the works to continue.  In a statement, the members of the Múuch´ Xíinbal [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[*UPDATE: On March 30, 2021, a press release announced that the Collegiate Court of Circuit in Work and Administration Matters had reversed the decision to suspend activity on Sections 1, 2, and 3 of the Tren Maya project, giving the go-ahead for the works to continue.  In a statement, the members of the Múuch´ Xíinbal Assembly said: “This [ruling] is yet further evidence of the authoritarian decisions of the Powers of the Union with which they seek to impose a project on the peninsula. Attempts to defend people’s rights also continue to be hindered by political interests over Mayan territories, which thereby leave human rights defenders in a state of high risk and vulnerability.” &nbsp; Pedro Uc Be is a poet and intellectual, but he is also a campesino. He is a teacher, a cultural ambassador and a priest. But, above all, for Pedro, he is Mayan and a defender of his territory. His story as a land defender is a long one. For Pedro, this story started after he left his hometown of Buctzotz, in the state of Yucatán, Mexico, to study his first degree in theology in a seminary. “[It was] very conservative, [and] it distanced me from my own culture”, he recalls. It was in the mid-1980s that Pedro encountered liberation theology. “It questioned so many things that it changed my life. It is such a generous [outlook] that it liberates you from [the confines of] theology. That’s what happened to me,” he said. He soon left&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/whats-lacking-is-respect-for-mayan-culture-qa-with-pedro-uc-be-on-mexicos-tren-maya/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/whats-lacking-is-respect-for-mayan-culture-qa-with-pedro-uc-be-on-mexicos-tren-maya/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-256473</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Latest delay casts pall over WTO bid to end harmful fishing subsidies</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/latest-delay-casts-pall-over-wto-bid-to-end-harmful-fishing-subsidies/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/latest-delay-casts-pall-over-wto-bid-to-end-harmful-fishing-subsidies/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Dec 2021 15:01:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Fitt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/12/01145935/Fisherman-on-board-the-FU-YUANG-YU-380-Chinese-fishing-boat-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=250084</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Conservation, COVID-19, Developing Countries, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, International Trade, Oceans, Overfishing, Politics, Saltwater Fish, Subsidies, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Twenty years is a long time to talk about fish. But hopes that World Trade Organization (WTO) members would finally reach a meaningful agreement to ban subsidies that enable overfishing at the Ministerial Conference (MC12) this year were dashed Friday when organizers postponed the event indefinitely, due to concerns over the novel Omicron COVID-19 variant. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Twenty years is a long time to talk about fish. But hopes that World Trade Organization (WTO) members would finally reach a meaningful agreement to ban subsidies that enable overfishing at the Ministerial Conference (MC12) this year were dashed Friday when organizers postponed the event indefinitely, due to concerns over the novel Omicron COVID-19 variant. “This does not mean that negotiations should stop,” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the WTO’s director-general, said in a press release about the postponement. “On the contrary, delegations in Geneva should be fully empowered to close as many gaps as possible. This new variant reminds us once again of the urgency of the work we are charged with.” The global trade regulator is grappling with how to keep itself relevant amid rising calls for reform of trade rules made last century that observers say no longer fit present-day economic conditions. Many observers saw MC12, formally the Twelfth WTO Ministerial Conference and scheduled to run Nov. 30 through Dec. 3 in Geneva, Switzerland, as a chance for the WTO to prove its ability to conclude major trade deals and to reform its dispute settlement and negotiation pillars. Other major agenda items for the meeting were the waiver of trade-related intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines and reform of the WTO’s organizational process. Okonjo-Iweala had emphasized the importance of the fisheries subsidies negotiation at an April meeting of delegation heads: “[C]oncluding these negotiations is a top priority for this organization, not only for the fisheries, but also for the WTO&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/12/latest-delay-casts-pall-over-wto-bid-to-end-harmful-fishing-subsidies/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-250084</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Plantation giant Socfin accused of dodging taxes in Africa</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/plantation-giant-socfin-accused-of-dodging-taxes-in-africa/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/plantation-giant-socfin-accused-of-dodging-taxes-in-africa/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Oct 2021 13:54:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Ashoka]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/06/26185527/IMG_69-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=248415</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Developing Countries, Development, Industrial Agriculture, Palm Oil, Poverty, and Poverty Alleviation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[By the OECD’s estimates, every year countries in Africa are cheated out of more than $50 billion in taxes, mainly by multinational corporations that run mines, oil wells, and plantations on the continent. That figure is higher than the total amount of development aid given to countries in sub-Saharan Africa — and some studies suggest [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[By the OECD’s estimates, every year countries in Africa are cheated out of more than $50 billion in taxes, mainly by multinational corporations that run mines, oil wells, and plantations on the continent. That figure is higher than the total amount of development aid given to countries in sub-Saharan Africa — and some studies suggest it could be much higher. Belgian agribusiness giant Socfin is likely one of those corporations, according to a new report published by Bread for all, Alliance Sud, and the German Network for Tax Justice. The groups analyzed financial reports published by Socfin subsidiaries that manage the company’s operations in Africa, Asia and Europe, finding that a large portion of its overall profits were booked in Switzerland instead of the countries where it operates its network of rubber and oil palm plantations. The report’s authors told Mongabay that the data suggest Socfin is systematically tacking on high fees for trading services in Switzerland while claiming some of those plantations are losing money. “It shows how companies like Socfin pull out or extract as much profit as possible from the land and people in these countries in Africa, and how they can shift part of it to tax havens,” said Silva Lieberherr, agricultural economist at Bread for all. Socfin, or Société Financière des Caoutchoucs, is a Belgian company that is majority-owned by its chairman, Hubert Fabri, along with French billionaire Vincent Bollaré. It holds the rights to agricultural concessions that cover nearly 400,000 hectares (988,000 acres) of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/10/plantation-giant-socfin-accused-of-dodging-taxes-in-africa/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-248415</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>China joins the foreign fleets quietly exploiting Madagascar’s waters</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/china-joins-the-foreign-fleets-quietly-exploiting-madagascars-waters/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/china-joins-the-foreign-fleets-quietly-exploiting-madagascars-waters/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Aug 2021 16:38:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/08/16161904/Malagasy-fisherman-northern-Madagascar-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=245961</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation in Madagascar]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conservation, Developing Countries, Economics, Ecosystems, Environment, Finance, Fish, Fishing, Governance, Green, International Trade, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Poverty, and Saltwater Fish]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is part of a three-article series on industrial fishing in Madagascar’s waters. Part one focuses on offshore fishing; part two focuses on a new exclusive-access zone for small-scale fishers; and part three looks at changes in the near-shore trawling sector. On Madagascar’s east coast, where local people fish in dugout canoes, an onlooker could easily assume [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is part of a three-article series on industrial fishing in Madagascar’s waters. Part one focuses on offshore fishing; part two focuses on a new exclusive-access zone for small-scale fishers; and part three looks at changes in the near-shore trawling sector. On Madagascar’s east coast, where local people fish in dugout canoes, an onlooker could easily assume there was nothing but traditional fishing all the way across the Indian Ocean. But they would be wrong. Out of sight beyond the horizon, industrial vessels ply Madagascar’s waters, especially during tuna season. Such fishing has quietly gone on for decades by vessels from several nations, but now there is new entrant whose fleet has a history of engaging in illegal fishing practices: China. In the last several years, at least 14 Chinese industrial vessels have likely fished in Madagascar’s waters, according to a tracking analysis run by OceanMind, a U.K.-based not-for-profit specializing in marine compliance and fisheries management. Clues from official documents indicate that Madagascar’s government may have authorized these vessels to fish, at least since 2019. If so, the authorization process was not public. Though there is no evidence of corruption, civil society members are on alert due to a series of irregular fisheries deals with Chinese-backed firms in recent years and a longer history of opaque dealing with fleets from other Asian countries and the EU. Asian-flagged vessels have dominated in recent years, racking up many tens of thousands of fishing hours per year in Madagascar’s waters, according to a recent academic&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/china-joins-the-foreign-fleets-quietly-exploiting-madagascars-waters/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-245961</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Billions in fishing subsidies finance social, ecological harm, report finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/billions-in-fishing-subsidies-finance-social-ecological-harm-report-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/billions-in-fishing-subsidies-finance-social-ecological-harm-report-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Jul 2021 14:37:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/07/07115014/GP0STQO6M_High_res-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=244578</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[China, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Developing Countries, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Global Environmental Crisis, Illegal Fishing, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Overexploitation, Overfishing, Subsidies, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new report shows that the world’s top fishing nations are using subsidies worth billions of dollars to exploit the high seas and the waters of other nations, including some of the world’s least-developed countries. Published by researchers at the University of British Columbia and supported by the NGO Oceana, the report takes a shrewd [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new report shows that the world’s top fishing nations are using subsidies worth billions of dollars to exploit the high seas and the waters of other nations, including some of the world’s least-developed countries. Published by researchers at the University of British Columbia and supported by the NGO Oceana, the report takes a shrewd look at “harmful fishing subsidies,” payments made by governments that allow fishing fleets to operate beyond their normal capacity. The researchers found that 10 countries — China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, the U.S.A., Thailand, Taiwan, Spain, Indonesia and Norway — spent more than $15.3 billion on harmful fishing subsidies in 2018, which has likely contributed to a number of social, economic and ecological issues. About 60% ($9.2 billion) of these harmful fishing subsidies used by these 10 nations were spent on domestic fishing, while 35% ($5.4 billion) was spent on traveling long distances to fish in the waters of 116 other nations. The remaining 5% ($800 million) was spent on fishing in the high seas, which are parts of the ocean beyond any nation’s jurisdiction. China was found to be the top provider of harmful fishing subsidies, worth about $5.9 billion, followed by Japan at $2.1 billion and the European Union at $2 billion. Kathryn Matthews, chief scientist at Oceana, says the report shows the scale and magnitude of harmful fishing subsidies, which can transfer the risk of overfishing from one place to another. “It was reasonably well understood by the community that works on this&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/billions-in-fishing-subsidies-finance-social-ecological-harm-report-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-244578</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Myanmar junta’s growing reliance on extractives for cash raises concerns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/myanmar-juntas-growing-reliance-on-extractives-for-cash-raises-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/myanmar-juntas-growing-reliance-on-extractives-for-cash-raises-concerns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jun 2021 13:23:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Carolyncowan]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/06/18120222/Myanmar-4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=243862</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Land rights and extractives]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Myanmar, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, Developing Countries, Development, Energy, Environment, Finance, Forests, Governance, Green, Human Rights, Illegal Mining, Land Grabbing, Military, Mining, Natural Gas, Oil, Politics, Pollution, Protests, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CHIANG MAI, Thailand — As the military regime entrenches itself in Myanmar following its Feb. 1 coup and forceful crackdown on protesters, activists are calling on companies that operate in the country to sever links with the military junta and its wide-ranging business interests. Extractive industries are a key concern since they provide the bulk [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CHIANG MAI, Thailand — As the military regime entrenches itself in Myanmar following its Feb. 1 coup and forceful crackdown on protesters, activists are calling on companies that operate in the country to sever links with the military junta and its wide-ranging business interests. Extractive industries are a key concern since they provide the bulk of the junta’s income. During the five months since the junta overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy administration, more than 850 people have been killed and around 6,000 imprisoned. The situation continues to escalate. In spite of an internet blackout across the country, reports reveal violent clashes between military security forces and pro-democracy protesters, and arrests of civilian officials, journalists and protest leaders. According to Human Rights Watch, at least 175,000 people in ethnic minority areas have been forced to flee their homes. The U.N. has warned that the combination of the coup and the COVID-19 pandemic could leave almost half of Myanmar’s 54 million people living below the poverty line by 2022. “In the space of 12 years, from 2005 to 2017, Myanmar managed to nearly halve the number of people living in poverty. However, the challenges of the past 12 months have put all of these hard-won development gains at risk,” Achim Steiner, the UNDP administrator, said in a statement. “Without functioning democratic institutions, Myanmar faces a tragic and avoidable backslide towards levels of poverty not seen in a generation.” Alongside the humanitarian crisis, advocates fear that a return to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/myanmar-juntas-growing-reliance-on-extractives-for-cash-raises-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-243862</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As the rest of world tackles plastics disposal, the U.S. resists</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/05/as-the-rest-of-world-tackles-plastics-disposal-the-u-s-resists/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/05/as-the-rest-of-world-tackles-plastics-disposal-the-u-s-resists/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 May 2021 17:48:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Charles Pekow]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/05/14173605/banner-bird-plastic-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=242711</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering the Commons, Global Environmental Impacts of US Policy, Industry and People, and Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada, China, Global, Malaysia, Mexico, Thailand, Turkey, United States, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Developing Countries, Economics, Environment, Environmental Policy, Ethics, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Green, Health, International Trade, Land Use Change, Microplastics, Oceans, Planetary Health, Plastic, Politics, Pollution, Sea Turtles, Trade, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The United Nations Basel Convention regulates international transport of hazardous waste, which in 2021 expanded to include plastics. But the U.S. has never fully implemented the agreement; Biden may change that. ]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For the first time ever, international shipments of plastic waste came under global control this year. That’s because disposable plastic — a major pollutant of the world’s waters and atmosphere, fodder for incinerators, occupier of overflowing landfills, and material for costly recycling — was added to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. The convention is a United Nations treaty aimed at managing the adulterating of lands and seas with novel polluting entities, but how effectively this international protocol will work to control plastics disposal remains to be seen. For nearly three decades, the Basel Convention has regulated international transport of hazardous materials, primarily so wealthy companies couldn&#8217;t dump their dangerous garbage on less-developed ones. Garbage in Pattaya, Thailand. Major global recipients of plastic waste included Turkey, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Mexico. Image by Leonid Danilov via Pexels. The agreement was formulated in 1989, and took effect in 1992, and initially covered toxic, poisonous, explosive, corrosive, flammable, ecotoxic and infectious wastes, including chemicals such as arsenic, mercury and cadmium; lead and other metals; copper including ash; electronics; cathode-ray and other glass tubes; and now has been extended to encompass plastics. (The Basel Convention does not deal with nuclear waste, which is instead regulated by the International Atomic Energy Agency.) The Basel Convention partially addresses one of nine critical planetary boundaries — scientifically estimated limits within which humanity can continue to thrive, but which, if exceeded, could threaten civilization, humanity, and much of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/05/as-the-rest-of-world-tackles-plastics-disposal-the-u-s-resists/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-242711</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pet trade relies on ‘disposable’ wild chameleons from Madagascar</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/pet-trade-relies-on-disposable-wild-chameleons-from-madagascar/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/pet-trade-relies-on-disposable-wild-chameleons-from-madagascar/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Jan 2021 16:29:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Chris Scarffe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/01/13180409/WS201868-Banner-768x512-1.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=238640</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation in Madagascar]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animal Welfare, Animals, Biodiversity, Charismatic Animals, Conservation, Developing Countries, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Green, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Herps, International Trade, Law Enforcement, Pet Trade, Pets, Poverty, Reptiles, Science, Species, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[DIANA REGION, Madagascar — With the sun still low in the sky, my taxi boat pulled up to a floating wooden pontoon in the bustling port of Ankify in northwestern Madagascar. As one of the few foreigners, or vazaha, in the port that morning, I was instantly surrounded by local taxi drivers eager to take [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[DIANA REGION, Madagascar — With the sun still low in the sky, my taxi boat pulled up to a floating wooden pontoon in the bustling port of Ankify in northwestern Madagascar. As one of the few foreigners, or vazaha, in the port that morning, I was instantly surrounded by local taxi drivers eager to take me and my camera gear to the neighboring town of Ambanja. Situated on the banks of the Sambirano River, the town is best known historically for its cocoa plantations, which supply international chocolate markets. However, in recent decades a new trade has sprung up: collecting stunning lizards with iridescent blue and green hues from the local forests. These are a much sought-after color morph of one the most popular chameleons in the exotic pet trade, the panther chameleon (Furcifer pardalis). As my fellow photographer and translator, Michel Strogoff, and I wove through the throngs of people to the taxi, a stocky middle-aged Malagasy man blocked my path. “Caméléon! Caméléon!” he shouted in French, angrily pointing at my large, hard-bodied camera case. A heated debate in Malagasy with Strogoff made it clear that he had mistaken me for an illegal reptile dealer. Whether he was looking to settle an old score with my doppelganger or protect the local herpetofauna from a grim fate, we couldn’t decipher. But once we convinced him I was not the dealer he had in mind, he calmed down and let us on our way. That was in 2016. As an environmental&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/pet-trade-relies-on-disposable-wild-chameleons-from-madagascar/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-238640</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Risking death and arrest, Madagascar fishers chase dwindling sea cucumbers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/risking-death-and-arrest-madagascar-fishers-chase-dwindling-sea-cucumbers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/risking-death-and-arrest-madagascar-fishers-chase-dwindling-sea-cucumbers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2020 08:00:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Chris Scarffe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/07/14140336/DSC00084-Big-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=232483</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation in Madagascar]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, China, and Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Developing Countries, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Invertebrates, Law Enforcement, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Natural Resources, Oceans, Overfishing, Poverty, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NOSY BE, Madagascar — Far offshore from the luxury resorts and seafood restaurants in the resort town of Nosy Be in northwestern Madagascar, three local fishermen are pulling on their SCUBA diving gear in the sweltering midmorning sun. Hunched over my video camera, I capture them making their final preparations, as part of a documentary [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NOSY BE, Madagascar — Far offshore from the luxury resorts and seafood restaurants in the resort town of Nosy Be in northwestern Madagascar, three local fishermen are pulling on their SCUBA diving gear in the sweltering midmorning sun. Hunched over my video camera, I capture them making their final preparations, as part of a documentary I am making on fishers in Madagascar. “Tahiry,” the eldest and most experienced, repeatedly bangs his regulator mouthpiece against the side of the narrow wooden dugout canoe. His efforts fail to stop the angry hiss of air escaping from his decrepit-looking dive gear. He needs that precious air to sustain him on the repeated dives he will carry out today. Tahiry asked that I use a pseudonym because he is about to knowingly break fisheries law, not to mention risk his life by diving far deeper and for far longer than safe diving protocol allows. His target is one of the four “marine treasures” of Cantonese cuisine: the sea cucumber. If he and his dive buddies are successful, they’ll earn far more today than their hospitality-working peers back on shore. Risky though the work may be, the payout makes it an enticing proposition in one of the world’s poorest countries. Fishers are risking their lives by diving deeper and further offshore to find the last remaining populations of sea cucumbers. Image by Michel Strogoff / © Chris Scarffe Film and Photography. Sea cucumbers are echinoderms, a group of marine animals that includes sea stars and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/risking-death-and-arrest-madagascar-fishers-chase-dwindling-sea-cucumbers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-232483</doi>				</item>
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