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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/environmental-law/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2026 09:35:25 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>News on Environmental Law</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/environmental-law/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>&#8216;Stringing me along&#8217;: After 7 years, trial in Indigenous forest guardian killing delayed again</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/stringing-me-along-after-7-years-trial-in-indigenous-forest-guardian-killing-delayed-again/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/stringing-me-along-after-7-years-trial-in-indigenous-forest-guardian-killing-delayed-again/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2026 15:41:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Karla Mendes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Nandithachandraprakash]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/06154106/Paulo-2_Screenshot-2026-11-06-123923-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=335132</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Conflict, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Law, Law Enforcement, Murdered Activists, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Why hasn&#8217;t the trial for the 2019 killing of forest guardian Paulo Paulino Guajajara and the attempted killing of fellow guardian Láercio Guajajara, in the Brazilian Amazon, taken place yet? &#8220;[T]here are no available slots on the court’s hearing calendar,&#8221; the advisory staff to the judge in the case told Mongabay in an emailed statement, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Why hasn&#8217;t the trial for the 2019 killing of forest guardian Paulo Paulino Guajajara and the attempted killing of fellow guardian Láercio Guajajara, in the Brazilian Amazon, taken place yet? &#8220;[T]here are no available slots on the court’s hearing calendar,&#8221; the advisory staff to the judge in the case told Mongabay in an emailed statement, one year after claiming lack of time for it to be held in 2025, sparking outrage among Guajajara Indigenous, activists and authorities. &#8220;They’re just stringing me along. Because if they actually intended to resolve this, they would have done it by now,&#8221; Paulo Guajajara’s father, José Maria Paulino Guajajara, told Mongabay by phone. &#8220;This is taking way too long — it’s been seven years already! That’s exactly why I’m here, feeling pretty fed up, to say the least.&#8221; &#8220;It’s as if we aren’t seen as human beings, right? When someone kills an Indigenous person, it’s as if it’s nothing at all — just the same as killing any animal,&#8221; Laércio Guajajara told Mongabay by phone. &#8220;We have a lot of negative thoughts about the justice system regarding this case.&#8221; On Nov. 1, 2019, Paulo Guajajara and Laércio Guajajara were fired upon in an alleged ambush by illegal loggers in the Arariboia Indigenous Territory, in northeastern Maranhão state. In August 2025, a long-awaited anthropological report of the collective damages to the Indigenous community as a result of the crimes was concluded and attached to the court case, bringing hope to the Guajajara people, activists and the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/stringing-me-along-after-7-years-trial-in-indigenous-forest-guardian-killing-delayed-again/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/stringing-me-along-after-7-years-trial-in-indigenous-forest-guardian-killing-delayed-again/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-335132</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mediterranean fisheries commission adopts species management plans but punts on deep-sea protections</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/mediterranean-fisheries-commission-adopts-species-management-plans-but-punts-on-deep-sea-protections/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/mediterranean-fisheries-commission-adopts-species-management-plans-but-punts-on-deep-sea-protections/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2026 14:43:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Francesco De Augustinis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/06074209/Fishmonger-Malaga-53236699475_c008cee0f3_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=335146</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, Greece, Italy, Mediterranean Sea, Morocco, and Spain]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Law, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Regulations, Saltwater Fish, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The international organization responsible for regulating fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black seas concluded its annual meeting with the adoption of new management plans for some iconic species. However, it declined to pass expected fishing restrictions to protect certain ecologically important habitats. Half of all assessed species in the region are overexploited. The 49th session [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The international organization responsible for regulating fisheries in the Mediterranean and Black seas concluded its annual meeting with the adoption of new management plans for some iconic species. However, it declined to pass expected fishing restrictions to protect certain ecologically important habitats. Half of all assessed species in the region are overexploited. The 49th session of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), a body of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), took place in Rome Oct. 26-30, bringing together 23 member countries and the European Union. The meeting achieved some milestones, including establishing long-term harvest strategies for European hake (Merluccius merluccius) and deep-water rose shrimp (Parapenaeus longirostris) in the Strait of Sicily, and for giant red shrimp (Aristaeomorpha foliacea) in the Strait of Sicily, the Ionian Sea between Greece and southern Italy, and the Levantine Sea in the easternmost Mediterranean. However, the commission postponed making a decision on the establishment of two Fisheries Restricted Areas: One covering a cold-water coral reef between Spain and Morocco, and another expanding protection for deep-sea areas. Both proposals had broad agreement just a few months earlier, observers said. “It is disappointing that, despite multiple proposals to restrict fishing to protect sensitive habitats, countries could not reach agreement and instead delayed adoption,” Esther Wozniak, senior policy officer for sustainable fisheries at the U.S.-based NGO The Pew Charitable Trusts, who took part in the meeting as an observer, said in a press release. “There was, however, important progress on improving fisheries management that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/mediterranean-fisheries-commission-adopts-species-management-plans-but-punts-on-deep-sea-protections/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/mediterranean-fisheries-commission-adopts-species-management-plans-but-punts-on-deep-sea-protections/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-335146</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesian company seeks CITES approval to breed and sell rare Asian golden cats</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/indonesian-company-seeks-cites-approval-to-breed-and-sell-rare-asian-golden-cats/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/indonesian-company-seeks-cites-approval-to-breed-and-sell-rare-asian-golden-cats/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Nov 2026 14:03:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda WenzelSpoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/05121758/1.-Allwetter-Zoo_banner-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=335038</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Business, Captive Breeding, Cats, Conservation, Controversial, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Law, Mammals, Pet Trade, Pets, Wildlife, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With their shiny golden or reddish-brown fur, round ears, and white and black facial markings, Asian golden cats are cute. But don’t let their looks fool you: these cats, native to China and South and Southeast Asia, are fiercely territorial, elusive, and highly solitary animals. Because of this, Asian golden cats (Catopuma temminckii) don’t reproduce [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With their shiny golden or reddish-brown fur, round ears, and white and black facial markings, Asian golden cats are cute. But don’t let their looks fool you: these cats, native to China and South and Southeast Asia, are fiercely territorial, elusive, and highly solitary animals. Because of this, Asian golden cats (Catopuma temminckii) don’t reproduce well in captivity, and only a handful of zoos have bred them successfully, always for conservation purposes. Now, a private Indonesian company, PT Alam Nusantara Jayatama, wants to become the first in the world to commercially breed them in captivity, selling their offspring to exotic pet owners across the globe. The company is owned and run by Danny Gunalen, who owns several zoos and animal-breeding facilities in Indonesia. The Indonesian government plans to certify the facility as a legal breeder of Asian golden cats. In August, it sent a public notification to the Secretariat of CITES, the global wildlife trade treaty, which includes 184 nations and the European Union. The signatories to CITES have until Nov. 10, 2026, to object to the registration, otherwise the company will be authorized to export the cats. Only a handful of zoos around the world breed and display Asian golden cats. Image courtesy of @Zoo Heidelberg. The Asian golden cat is listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List and is a protected species in most of the countries where it lives. Only about 7,000 are thought to remain in the wild, their numbers decreasing as forests&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/indonesian-company-seeks-cites-approval-to-breed-and-sell-rare-asian-golden-cats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-335038</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists call on Ecuador to stop the rising trafficking of Galápagos iguanas</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/scientists-call-on-ecuador-to-stop-the-rising-trafficking-of-galapagos-iguanas/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/scientists-call-on-ecuador-to-stop-the-rising-trafficking-of-galapagos-iguanas/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Nov 2026 12:04:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/04115037/Marine-iguana-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334877</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador, Galapagos, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environmental Law, Governance, Law, Reptiles, Trade, trafficking, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Ecuadorian authorities said they caught a Russian woman at the airport in Quito, the capital city, trying to smuggle 32 live marine iguanas, endemic to the Galápagos Islands. The iguanas — bound and stuffed in eight plastic boxes — were headed to Iceland. The dehydrated lizards were transferred to a conservation center in Pichincha for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Ecuadorian authorities said they caught a Russian woman at the airport in Quito, the capital city, trying to smuggle 32 live marine iguanas, endemic to the Galápagos Islands. The iguanas — bound and stuffed in eight plastic boxes — were headed to Iceland. The dehydrated lizards were transferred to a conservation center in Pichincha for specialized care after being found in August, authorities said. About a month later, 24 of the surviving iguanas were released back on Galápagos — where they are believed to be stolen from. In May, authorities arrested three Thai nationals with 12 young marine iguanas destined for Asian markets. A week earlier, four separate cases of these lizards mysteriously appearing on sidewalks in Guayaquil on the mainland were reported. The marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus), a threatened species, is the only lizard in the world that swims in the ocean and eats sea algae. About 11 subspecies of these colorful lizards are known to science. Under Ecuadorian laws, it&#8217;s illegal to remove any wildlife from the Galápagos. In 2025, the lizards were added to Appendix I of the CITES global wildlife trade treaty, which means they cannot be commercially traded internationally. Yet, they continue being smuggled as collectors in Europe and Asia want them as exotic pets. So far this year, authorities have confiscated nearly 50 marine iguanas. The global commerce is so lucrative that international wildlife traffickers are involved in smuggling them, experts say. Marine iguanas confiscated by authorities from a Russian woman in August 2026.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/scientists-call-on-ecuador-to-stop-the-rising-trafficking-of-galapagos-iguanas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/scientists-call-on-ecuador-to-stop-the-rising-trafficking-of-galapagos-iguanas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334877</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>High expectations but no agreement on Antarctic marine protection, krill fishing</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/high-expectations-but-no-agreement-on-antarctic-marine-protection-krill-fishing/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/high-expectations-but-no-agreement-on-antarctic-marine-protection-krill-fishing/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Nov 2026 18:02:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Francesco De Augustinis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/03115956/Penguin_in_Antarctica_jumping_out_of_the_water-edit-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334852</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Antarctica]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Law, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Politics, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The multilateral body charged with regulating fishing and protecting ecosystems in the Southern Ocean reached no agreements on establishing new marine protected areas or adopting new krill-fishing management measures at its recent annual meeting. The 45th meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) took place Oct. 19-30 in Hobart, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The multilateral body charged with regulating fishing and protecting ecosystems in the Southern Ocean reached no agreements on establishing new marine protected areas or adopting new krill-fishing management measures at its recent annual meeting. The 45th meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) took place Oct. 19-30 in Hobart, Australia, bringing together the body&#8217;s 27 members: 26 countries and the EU. Months of press conferences, boycott campaigns, lobbying activities and bilateral meetings preceded the event. Attention focused particularly on the potential adoption of a new fisheries management system for Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) and the establishment of a marine protected area in a large swathe of sea, known as Domain 1, between the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Orkney Islands. Domain 1 is where krill fishing is concentrated and also contains important feeding grounds for wildlife populations that rely primarily on the small shrimp-like crustaceans for food. “CCAMLR Members did not reach consensus on either,” Javier Arata, spokesperson for the industry Association of Responsible Krill harvesting companies (ARK), told Mongabay by email, minutes after the meeting closed. “CCAMLR adopted no new measures for the krill fishery this year,” Arata said, adding that members “were closer this year than many expected.” He said his group will keep working with all CCAMLR members, scientists and other interested parties to get both measures adopted in 2027. In response to the lack of progress, several conservation organizations, including the U.S.-based Antarctic Wildlife Alliance, the Our Antarctica campaign and the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/high-expectations-but-no-agreement-on-antarctic-marine-protection-krill-fishing/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334852</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Governments must include small-scale fishers in their plans to protect the oceans: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/governments-must-include-small-scale-fishers-in-their-plans-to-protect-the-oceans-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/governments-must-include-small-scale-fishers-in-their-plans-to-protect-the-oceans-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Nov 2026 16:03:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mark Hillsdon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/03151848/WhatsApp-Image-2026-10-22-at-12.16.33-4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334870</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Law, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new report finds that countries around the world have committed to supporting sustainable fishing as a way to counter marine biodiversity loss, but urges them to strengthen accountability measures and do more to support small-scale fishers. The report, jointly published by the U.K.-based nonprofit the Marine Stewardship Council and the U.S.-based global research organization [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new report finds that countries around the world have committed to supporting sustainable fishing as a way to counter marine biodiversity loss, but urges them to strengthen accountability measures and do more to support small-scale fishers. The report, jointly published by the U.K.-based nonprofit the Marine Stewardship Council and the U.S.-based global research organization World Resources Institute (WRI), was released at the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity summit (COP 17) held Oct. 19-30 in Yerevan, Armenia, and analyzes government pledges made under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). Launched at COP 15 in 2022, the GBF was heralded as a major breakthrough, establishing 23 targets aimed at reversing biodiversity loss by 2030. Now, at the framework’s halfway point, the new report takes stock of progress toward meeting those targets in relation to ocean biodiversity. It analyzed 812 fisheries-related commitments across the 74 National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) from coastal and island state countries and the European Union that had met the deadline to submit their plans. NBSAPs are pathways countries are developing in pursuit of the GBF targets. The most cited commitments focused on fisheries management, stronger governance, and science and data collection. The analysis found that while all national plans included at least one fisheries-related pledge, and 60% contained a measurable metric or deadline, just 27% directly referenced an existing policy, and only 13% included both. So, while fisheries and aquaculture are broadly recognized across NBSAPs, the report says, most biodiversity pledges are only “weakly anchored”&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/governments-must-include-small-scale-fishers-in-their-plans-to-protect-the-oceans-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334870</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The RSPO closed the case on First Resources. Indonesian forests kept falling for palm oil (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/the-rspo-closed-the-case-on-first-resources-indonesian-forests-kept-falling-for-palm-oil-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/the-rspo-closed-the-case-on-first-resources-indonesian-forests-kept-falling-for-palm-oil-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Nov 2026 10:27:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tom Johnson]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/03102619/First-Resources-RSPO-Commentary-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334809</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Anonymous Companies, Business, Commentary, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Crops, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Food Industry, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Industrial Agriculture, Industry, Law, Media, Palm Oil, Plantations, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) — as the name suggests — sets itself up as the arbiter of what is sustainable in the palm oil industry. For that to work, it has to do two things. First, it has to make sensible rules about what is and isn’t sustainable. Second, it has to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) — as the name suggests — sets itself up as the arbiter of what is sustainable in the palm oil industry. For that to work, it has to do two things. First, it has to make sensible rules about what is and isn’t sustainable. Second, it has to enforce those rules, to ensure that companies whose actions fall outside them do not get to market their products as sustainable. If it does not police the rules, the rules don’t really mean all that much. Evidence from a new investigation — and newly unearthed court records — shows that it has failed on that second task. In December 2025, the RSPO Complaints Panel issued its final ruling on a case that had dragged on for more than four years. In a succession of NGO reports dating back to 2017, allegations had piled up connecting Singapore-listed, Indonesian-owned First Resources, an RSPO member and major palm oil producer, to a string of other groups that were still clearing rainforests. First Resources had first committed to “zero deforestation” in 2015 and was able to access markets closed to unsustainable palm oil through its RSPO membership. But through its apparent control of so-called “shadow companies,” the theory went, the Fangiono family that owned First Resources was simultaneously able to keep expanding into rainforests. A complaint alleging that the Fangionos controlled two other groups — Ciliandry Angki Abadi and FAP Agri — was first taken up by the RSPO&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/the-rspo-closed-the-case-on-first-resources-indonesian-forests-kept-falling-for-palm-oil-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334809</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Uncertainty surrounds controversial resort in Zanzibar forest reserve as work stalls</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/uncertainty-surrounds-controversial-resort-in-zanzibar-forest-reserve-as-work-stalls/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/uncertainty-surrounds-controversial-resort-in-zanzibar-forest-reserve-as-work-stalls/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Nov 2026 06:48:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/02181729/Banner-image-Copy-of-3_2-Hyperolius-watsonae_DG-1-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334746</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Business, Economics, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Governance, Land Rights, Science, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In March 2026, contractors built a wall along the edge of the Ngezi-Vumawimbi Forest Reserve on Pemba Island, Zanzibar, marking the boundary of what appears to be the site of the planned Mantuli luxury resort within the reserve. According to sources Mongabay spoke to, no further work has taken place since the wall was completed [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In March 2026, contractors built a wall along the edge of the Ngezi-Vumawimbi Forest Reserve on Pemba Island, Zanzibar, marking the boundary of what appears to be the site of the planned Mantuli luxury resort within the reserve. According to sources Mongabay spoke to, no further work has taken place since the wall was completed in the first half of 2026. It stands in the very northwest of the island, between a former rubber plantation and land used by local communities for homes and fields of crops like cassava and sweet potatoes. The forest reserve boundary lies just beyond the community land. Ngezi-Vumawimbi is surrounded by 10 villages, with a combined population of more than 20,000 people, according to Tanzania’s 2022 census. Members of surrounding communities enter the reserve to collect firewood and wild fruit, as well as to tend their ancestors&#8217; graves and perform other spiritual practices. Research has established that rural communities across Pemba Island derive around a third of their annual income from forest resources; around Ngezi, the forest notably provides residents with income from the bungo fruit (Saba comorensis), which locals harvest for sale between July and late September. The moist forests of Ngezi host unique species of animals and plants. Image courtesy of Emily Tanganelli. Risk to biodiversity In September 2025, a number of conservationists and researchers published an open letter opposing the Mantuli project in the journal Science. They said the project risked damaging the 1,500-hectare (3,700-acre) Ngezi-Vumavimbi forest reserve, one of East Africa’s most&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/uncertainty-surrounds-controversial-resort-in-zanzibar-forest-reserve-as-work-stalls/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334746</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Do not ‘engage formally’: UK officials advised against billionaire-run zoo ahead of CITES meeting</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/do-not-engage-formally-uk-officials-advised-against-billionaire-run-zoo-ahead-of-cites-meeting/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/do-not-engage-formally-uk-officials-advised-against-billionaire-run-zoo-ahead-of-cites-meeting/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Nov 2026 06:00:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elisângela MendonçaSpoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/02032118/77_UKZookInvestigation_05-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334634</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, India, Switzerland, and United Kingdom]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Birds, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Governance, Mongabay investigation, Politics, Raptors, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LONDON — British officials explicitly advised government ministers to not engage formally with Vantara, the controversial zoo founded and led by Indian billionaire Anant Ambani, according to documents obtained by Mongabay and The Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act. Ambani is the son of one of India’s richest men, Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LONDON — British officials explicitly advised government ministers to not engage formally with Vantara, the controversial zoo founded and led by Indian billionaire Anant Ambani, according to documents obtained by Mongabay and The Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act. Ambani is the son of one of India’s richest men, Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, a multinational petrochemical and telecommunications conglomerate. Internal British government communications at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) show civil servants strongly cautioning against ministerial interactions with Vantara. A central reason why the officials warned colleagues is the U.K. role chairing a committee at CITES, the global treaty regulating trade in endangered wildlife. “Given the ongoing compliance proceedings and continued scrutiny, we do not advise ministers to engage formally with Vantara at this stage,” an unnamed DEFRA official wrote in an email on July 14. The government redacts names of many civil servants, reflecting a policy of withholding junior officials’ personal information unless they are public-facing or already considered public. In a separate internal briefing document obtained by Mongabay and The Guardian and sent later in July, U.K. officials also raised concerns about how the zoo has sought to acquire rare and endangered species. DEFRA’s headquarters in London. Image by Elisangela Mendonça. The zoo describes itself as a “wildlife rescue, rehabilitation and conservation centre” with more than 150,000 animals. In 2025, the organization drew official scrutiny after reports alleging it acquired endangered species illegally. The facility is not open&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/do-not-engage-formally-uk-officials-advised-against-billionaire-run-zoo-ahead-of-cites-meeting/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334634</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ranchers in Brazil ordered to leave home of Indigenous people living in voluntary isolation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/ranchers-in-brazil-ordered-to-leave-home-of-indigenous-people-living-in-voluntary-isolation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/ranchers-in-brazil-ordered-to-leave-home-of-indigenous-people-living-in-voluntary-isolation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Nov 2026 18:25:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/02141949/cattle-rancher-mato-grosso-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334652</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Cattle, Conservation, Culture, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Law, Law Enforcement, Protected Areas, Tropical Deforestation, and Uncontacted Tribes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A federal judge in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state has ordered individuals, along with their employees, animals, machinery, equipment and movable property, to leave the Piripkura Indigenous Territory within 120 days. The Oct. 7 ruling reverses an earlier, contentious decision that allowed certain people to remain in the territory until the conclusion of the demarcation process. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A federal judge in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state has ordered individuals, along with their employees, animals, machinery, equipment and movable property, to leave the Piripkura Indigenous Territory within 120 days. The Oct. 7 ruling reverses an earlier, contentious decision that allowed certain people to remain in the territory until the conclusion of the demarcation process. The new ruling comes after Funai, Brazil&#8217;s Indigenous affairs agency, and Brazil’s environmental protection agency (IBAMA) discovered clandestine airstrips for drug trafficking and new deforestation associated with cattle ranching inside the territory. A judge has set a daily fine of 500 Brazilian reais (about $93) for those who remain after 120 days. Since 2008, the area has been under a special protection regime to prevent outsiders from entering the land, though a 2025 court decision provisionally allowed some ranchers to remain. This decision was based on a provision of the contentious Marco Temporal law which stated that, until an Indigenous territory’s demarcation is completed and compensation for improvements made in good faith has been paid, non-Indigenous occupants retain certain rights to possess and use the land. In Dec. 2025, Brazil’s Supreme Court struck down the Marco Temporal Law, declaring it unconstitutional. The territory is home to at least two Indigenous Piripkura people who live in voluntary isolation. Funai has not yet ruled out the possibility that more isolated people live there. The new ruling “represents a very important step forward for the protection of the Piripkura, both for its practical effects and for the recognition&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/ranchers-in-brazil-ordered-to-leave-home-of-indigenous-people-living-in-voluntary-isolation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334652</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cyanide ponds from illegal mining threaten Amazon Indigenous territory</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/cyanide-ponds-from-illegal-mining-threaten-amazon-indigenous-territory/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/cyanide-ponds-from-illegal-mining-threaten-amazon-indigenous-territory/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Nov 2026 14:12:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Oliveira]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/20111822/Ibama-2026_03_25_Op_Xapiri_capa-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333213</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Chemicals, Conflict, Conservation, Crime, Culture, Degraded Lands, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, extractives, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Gold Mining, Governance, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Health, Human Rights, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Land Grabbing, Law, Law Enforcement, Mercury, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, Protected Areas, Public Health, Rainforests, Resource Conflict, Water, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With mercury increasingly hard to get, illegal gold miners have turned to a cheaper, deadlier alternative.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Cyanide use in illegal gold mining in the Brazilian Amazon is posing a new threat to people and animals in the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Territory. The territory, in the state of Roraima, has been invaded by illegal miners who use cyanide to dissolve gold out of crushed ore, leaving behind ponds of cyanide-contaminated water. In July, the Federal Police arrested two men and seized from them approximately 375 kilograms (827 pounds) of a “chemical compound with characteristics consistent with cyanide,” as well as 1,250 kg (2,756 lb) of activated charcoal — another substance used in gold processing in Roraima. According to the police, the seizures are linked to illegal gold mining in the Indigenous territory. A year earlier, in July 2025, the Federal Police closed down an illegal laboratory in Boa Vista, the state capital, where rocks thought to have come from gold mining and areas of water contaminated with cyanide were found. According to the G1 news outlet, the rocks reportedly came from Raposa Serra do Sol, with miners sending them to the capital for the gold-washing and separation process. Traditionally, illegal miners extract gold from ore using mercury — a toxic substance whose trade is illegal in Brazil. With intensified environmental raids, mercury availability on the informal market has fallen dramatically, according to Brazil’s environmental agency, IBAMA. Because no companies are authorized to legally sell mercury in the country, the product has become significantly more expensive on the black market, where a 1.5-liter (50-ounce) bottle can&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/cyanide-ponds-from-illegal-mining-threaten-amazon-indigenous-territory/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333213</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The women who won&#8217;t let go: Female-led resistance to development harms across Asia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-women-who-wont-let-go-female-led-resistance-to-development-harms-across-asia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-women-who-wont-let-go-female-led-resistance-to-development-harms-across-asia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Oct 2026 23:50:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kannikar Petchkaew]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/30233650/WB-women-4_banner-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334537</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Conflict, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Culture, Environment, Environmental Law, Gender, Governance, Law, Politics, Protests, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Now in her mid-70s, Sompong Viengchan has seen 16 prime ministers and 26 cabinets come and go during her fight against a dam upstream of her village. Governments change; her demand for justice remains. Since 1990, Sompong  and her neighbors along the Mun and Mekong rivers have fought relentlessly to prove that the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Now in her mid-70s, Sompong Viengchan has seen 16 prime ministers and 26 cabinets come and go during her fight against a dam upstream of her village. Governments change; her demand for justice remains. Since 1990, Sompong  and her neighbors along the Mun and Mekong rivers have fought relentlessly to prove that the 136 MW multipurpose Pak Mun Dam, co-funded by the World Bank Group and built to deliver promised prosperity, instead took their livelihoods. At a people’s tribunal in Bangkok in October, aimed at highlighting the social and environmental impacts of IMF and World Bank-funded projects, Sompong  told the story of the women-led Pak Mun Dam movement to 400 women land defenders from more than 30 nations. &#8220;Living in the village downstream with no agricultural land, we rely primarily on fishing,” Sompong  said. “Blasting rock for dam construction wiped out local fish. We faced financial ruin — investments vanished and were replaced by debt; livelihoods became impossible to sustain. Families were forced to send their children to big cities to work, and when the area flooded, the entire community had to relocate.” In 2000, the World Commission on Dams, a body established by the World Bank and IUCN, determined the dam took houses and land, or both, from around 1,700 households and that fish catches in the reservoir and directly upstream declined by  60-80%. &#8220;Building a dam is the same as burying a person alive,” Sompong said. “It doesn’t kill you right away, but it ruins your&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-women-who-wont-let-go-female-led-resistance-to-development-harms-across-asia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334537</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A historic land restitution process offers new hope for Botswana&#8217;s Indigenous San</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-historic-land-restitution-process-offers-new-hope-for-botswanas-indigenous-san/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-historic-land-restitution-process-offers-new-hope-for-botswanas-indigenous-san/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Oct 2026 09:33:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/30082944/IMG_7790-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334343</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Botswana, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Law, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nearly two decades after winning a landmark court case against their forced removal from ancestral lands in Botswana&#8217;s Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Indigenous San communities may finally be closer to securing broader, legally protected rights to the land they have called home for generations. The Central Kalahari Game Reserve was established in 1961 both to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nearly two decades after winning a landmark court case against their forced removal from ancestral lands in Botswana&#8217;s Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Indigenous San communities may finally be closer to securing broader, legally protected rights to the land they have called home for generations. The Central Kalahari Game Reserve was established in 1961 both to protect wildlife and to provide a sanctuary where San communities could continue their traditional way of life. But beginning in the 1990s, the government relocated residents to settlements outside the reserve. The United Nations documented how the authorities justified these policies on conservation grounds and the costs of providing public services. Some residents moved under government resettlement programs, while others resisted. Following the withdrawal of basic services in 2002, further forced relocations led to a prolonged legal battle. In December 2006, Botswana&#8217;s High Court ruled in favor of Roy Sesana and other San applicants, finding that they had been unlawfully deprived of possession of their land. But the ruling did not resolve the wider question of Indigenous land rights in that area. A change of government in November 2024 opened the possibility of a different approach. Botswana&#8217;s new president, Duma Boko, a former human rights lawyer involved in the San people&#8217;s legal struggle, had firsthand knowledge of their grievances. In March 2025, his administration announced an interministerial committee to examine the situation of San communities, including their relocation, land claims, cultural rights and possible return to the reserve. The committee subsequently began consultations with affected&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-historic-land-restitution-process-offers-new-hope-for-botswanas-indigenous-san/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334343</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Historic win’: Australian state approves national koala park despite controversial funding</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/historic-win-australian-state-approves-national-koala-park-despite-controversial-funding/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/historic-win-australian-state-approves-national-koala-park-despite-controversial-funding/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Oct 2026 01:28:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Paul Harvey]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Yenni Kwok]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/28133825/kenny-van-roosbroek-CG2AtzDOLFg-unsplash-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334201</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Controversial, Environment, Environmental Law, Finance, Funding, Governance, Mammals, Marsupials, National Parks, Parks, Protected Areas, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SYDNEY — After more than a decade of campaigning, Australian conservation and community groups celebrated a historic win on Oct. 23 after legislation was passed to create the Great Koala National Park in New South Wales (NSW). The campaigners’ success came 10 days after NSW Premier and Labor politician Chris Minns tabled a bill proposing [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[SYDNEY — After more than a decade of campaigning, Australian conservation and community groups celebrated a historic win on Oct. 23 after legislation was passed to create the Great Koala National Park in New South Wales (NSW). The campaigners’ success came 10 days after NSW Premier and Labor politician Chris Minns tabled a bill proposing the creation of the park in the Mid North Coast region of the state. The park was a key 2023 election promise made by Australia’s Labor Party. “This park will protect our precious Australian wildlife and boost tourism for the region for generations,” Minns wrote on Facebook after the result of the vote. The park, slated to open before the end of 2026, will incorporate 178,000 hectares (440,000 acres) of state forests, primarily earmarked for native timber harvesting, and other government land into the existing national park estate. It will create a protected area spanning 475,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) for 12,000 koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) and more than 100 other threatened fauna and flora species, including southern greater gliders (Petauroides volans), glossy black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus lathami) and rare spider orchids. The park, slated to open before the end of 2026, will incorporate 178,000 hectares (440,000 acres) of state forests. Image courtesy of NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. The Gumbaynggirr and Dunghutti people, who have helped shape the national park, “will continue to guide its management,” according to the NSW government. “Eight Aboriginal rangers will be employed through community-controlled organisations and some park roles will&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/historic-win-australian-state-approves-national-koala-park-despite-controversial-funding/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/historic-win-australian-state-approves-national-koala-park-despite-controversial-funding/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334201</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>&#8216;A proper seat at the table&#8217;: Lucy Mulenkei on Indigenous decision-making at the COP17 biodiversity summit</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-proper-seat-at-the-table-lucy-mulenkei-on-indigenous-decision-making-at-the-cop17-biodiversity-summit/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-proper-seat-at-the-table-lucy-mulenkei-on-indigenous-decision-making-at-the-cop17-biodiversity-summit/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Oct 2026 13:41:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mark Hillsdon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/28133853/WhatsApp-Image-2026-10-24-at-16.57.46-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334199</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Governance, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Law, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[YEREVAN, Armenia — Two years ago at the 2024 U.N. biodiversity conference (COP 16) in Cali, Colombia, a meeting room packed with people representing some of the world’s thousands of Indigenous Peoples, erupted into cheering and applause. After three decades of hard work and negotiations, a seemingly obscure group within the Convention on Biological Diversity [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[YEREVAN, Armenia — Two years ago at the 2024 U.N. biodiversity conference (COP 16) in Cali, Colombia, a meeting room packed with people representing some of the world’s thousands of Indigenous Peoples, erupted into cheering and applause. After three decades of hard work and negotiations, a seemingly obscure group within the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Subsidiary Body on Article 8j, had finally been adopted — forming a body that would significantly boost the voice and decision-making of Indigenous peoples and local communities at future biodiversity COPs. Now, at October’s U.N. biodiversity conference (COP 17) in Armenia, Indigenous representatives are deep in discussions to finalize how it will operate, its governance and the modus operandi of this body — how the permanent body will function day-to-day. This includes establishing co-chairs, advancing 12 tasks under a programme of work and addressing funding mechanisms. &#8220;It gives us a proper seat at the table … [but] it’s taken too long,&#8221; said Lucy Mulenke, co-chair of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity. Mulenkei was among those who had worked to get the new body over the line. A Masai leader from Kenya, Mulenkei is also executive director of the Indigenous Information Network. A former broadcast journalist, she spent 17 years reporting on environmental issues in East Africa. She eventually switched roles to become an activist focusing on the traditional skills and knowledge of Indigenous nomadic pastoralists and hunter-gathers. Negotiations are going in force, she told Mongabay, though barriers exist. Cristiane Pankararu, an Indigenous&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-proper-seat-at-the-table-lucy-mulenkei-on-indigenous-decision-making-at-the-cop17-biodiversity-summit/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-proper-seat-at-the-table-lucy-mulenkei-on-indigenous-decision-making-at-the-cop17-biodiversity-summit/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334199</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The Philippine lawyer who beat an oil giant: Rose Liza Eisma-Osorio on defending Tañon Strait</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-philippine-lawyer-who-beat-an-oil-giant-rose-liza-eisma-osorio-on-defending-tanon-strait/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-philippine-lawyer-who-beat-an-oil-giant-rose-liza-eisma-osorio-on-defending-tanon-strait/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Oct 2026 14:15:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maverick Avila]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Yenni Kwok]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/27140336/A-turtle-at-the-Tanon-Strait.-Photo-Courtesy-of-Tanon-Strait-Philippines-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334013</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Energy, Environment, Environmental Law, Fellows, Fossil Fuels, Governance, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Law, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Media, and Oil]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CEBU CITY, Philippines — At a coffee meeting in 2007, Philippine environmental lawyer Rose Liza Eisma-Osorio and four other law professors in Cebu City sat laughing at an idea: representing marine mammals in court. Despite their laughter, they were dead serious about their goal: Stop the oil exploration led by Japan Petroleum Exploration (JAPEX) in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CEBU CITY, Philippines — At a coffee meeting in 2007, Philippine environmental lawyer Rose Liza Eisma-Osorio and four other law professors in Cebu City sat laughing at an idea: representing marine mammals in court. Despite their laughter, they were dead serious about their goal: Stop the oil exploration led by Japan Petroleum Exploration (JAPEX) in Tañon Strait. The protected seascape between the islands of Cebu and Negros in the central Philippines is home to 14 whale and dolphin species, as well as coral reefs and mangrove forests, according to advocacy group Oceana. In 2007, the Japanese energy company performed seismic surveys and drilled an exploration well in the strait, driving away cetaceans. It was an ambitious plan, as animals had never been named as petitioners. Eisma-Osorio and fellow lawyer Gloria “Golly” Estenzo Ramos filed the first petition representing the resident marine mammals in December 2007. Their colleagues filed a second petition on behalf of the fishing communities who had been directly affected by the exploration activities. The case, Resident Marine Mammals of the Protected Seascape Tañon Strait v. Secretary Angelo Reyes, went on for several years. In April 2015, the Philippine Supreme Court ruled to void the contract that allowed the exploration, development and exploitation of petroleum resources within the Tañon Strait. Eisma-Osorio joined Oceana Philippines as a consultant in 2015, a year after the NGO was established. At 56, she now leads the campaign and legal departments as senior director of Oceana Philippines. On Oct. 24, 2025, a major&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-philippine-lawyer-who-beat-an-oil-giant-rose-liza-eisma-osorio-on-defending-tanon-strait/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334013</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Influence without enforcement’: Indonesia’s fires test Singapore’s anti-haze law</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/influence-without-enforcement-indonesias-fires-test-singapores-anti-haze-law/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/influence-without-enforcement-indonesias-fires-test-singapores-anti-haze-law/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Oct 2026 11:11:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gabrielle See]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/27100929/AP26282576385450-singapore-haze-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334000</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Disasters, Environment, Environmental Law, Extreme Weather, Fires, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Health, Industry, Law, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SINGAPORE — As Singapore comes off its longest streak of unhealthy air since the 2015 Southeast Asian haze crisis, authorities have served notices to 20 firms linked to Indonesia’s fires, but have stopped short of taking further legal action. Half of the notices were sent to concession holders in Sumatra and Kalimantan where the fires [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SINGAPORE — As Singapore comes off its longest streak of unhealthy air since the 2015 Southeast Asian haze crisis, authorities have served notices to 20 firms linked to Indonesia’s fires, but have stopped short of taking further legal action. Half of the notices were sent to concession holders in Sumatra and Kalimantan where the fires originated, while the other half went to Singapore-based entities with ties to them. Of the 10 Indonesian plantation companies identified, three of them — PT Bumi Andalas Permai, PT Bumi Mekar Hijau and PT SBA Wood Industries — have had separate investigations open against them by Singaporean authorities since 2015, with no public outcome. All three are tied to the Asia Pulp &amp; Paper (APP) conglomerate, as is PT Buana Megatama Jaya, which was also issued a notice to extinguish fires in its concession. The other six companies issued the notices requiring them to act against fires are PT Paramitra Mulia Langgeng, PT Sumatera Alam Anugerah, PT Hutan Lestari Raya, PT Bangkanesia, PT Mananjung Hayak and PT Baratama Putra Perkasa. A spokesperson from Singapore’s National Environmental Agency told Mongabay by email it could not disclose further details into existing investigations. The agency did not respond to questions as to whether it would escalate against repeat offenders. Based on the government’s current investigations, Singapore-headquartered APP, Singapore-listed First Resources and Bumitama Agri, and privately held First Borneo Plantations, whose ownership is tied to Singapore, already appear to be linked to the haze-causing fires in Indonesia, Singapore’s senior&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/influence-without-enforcement-indonesias-fires-test-singapores-anti-haze-law/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334000</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Canadian-backed potash mine in Brazil has dried up sacred Amazon springs, say residents</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/canadian-backed-potash-mine-in-brazil-has-dried-up-sacred-amazon-springs-say-residents/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/canadian-backed-potash-mine-in-brazil-has-dried-up-sacred-amazon-springs-say-residents/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Oct 2026 20:28:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/26133313/AP25066522713919-Mura-Amazonas-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333876</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Canada, Latin America, North America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Environmental Law, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Governance, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Industry, Law, Law Enforcement, Mining, Natural Resources, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The construction of an access road for a potash mining project in Autazes, in Brazil’s Amazonas state, has caused at least two sacred springs to dry up, according to the Indigenous Mura people. It is the latest in a series of controversies spanning a decade that has plagued the Potássio Autazes project. “There is a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The construction of an access road for a potash mining project in Autazes, in Brazil’s Amazonas state, has caused at least two sacred springs to dry up, according to the Indigenous Mura people. It is the latest in a series of controversies spanning a decade that has plagued the Potássio Autazes project. “There is a profound sense of loss,” Filipe Mura, chief of the affected Lago do Soares village, told Mongabay via WhatsApp. “We realize we may be losing what belongs to us — our territory, our culture, and, above all, the very life that exists in this place.” In Mura traditional cosmology, all springs, rivers, lakes and forests have a guardian, or owner, who must be treated with respect, residents tell Mongabay. “If a spring dries up, it means its keeper has departed — and when the keeper leaves, they take with them the animals, the fertility of the soil, and all the blessings of that region,” Willian Rodrigues Filgueira, a professor from the Mura Baixo Madeira Indigenous territory, which neighbors the affected Lago do Soares/Urucurituba territory, and member of the Organization of Mura Indigenous Leaders of Careiro da Várzea (OLIMCV), told Mongabay via WhatsApp. The loss of a spring, therefore, disrupts the spiritual balance that sustains life in the territory. Residents also said that the company behind the project has begun to clear-cut the area — the process of cutting down all trees in a section of forest at the same time — where it intends to build&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/canadian-backed-potash-mine-in-brazil-has-dried-up-sacred-amazon-springs-say-residents/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333876</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A rare victory for multilateralism in the fight against environmental crime (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-rare-victory-for-multilateralism-in-the-fight-against-environmental-crime-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-rare-victory-for-multilateralism-in-the-fight-against-environmental-crime-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Oct 2026 20:20:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Laura WaisbichMelina RissoRobert Muggah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/26200756/colombia_2156_26-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333944</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Illegal Mining, Illegal Trade, Law, Law Enforcement, Organized Crime, and Timber Laws]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Multilateralism has had a miserable few years. International institutions are under strain,  geopolitical rivalries are intensifying and governments struggle to agree on even the most elementary rules. Governments struggle to agree on even elementary rules. Yet last week in Vienna, there was an unexpected breakthrough. Countries agreed to begin negotiating a global treaty to tackle [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Multilateralism has had a miserable few years. International institutions are under strain,  geopolitical rivalries are intensifying and governments struggle to agree on even the most elementary rules. Governments struggle to agree on even elementary rules. Yet last week in Vienna, there was an unexpected breakthrough. Countries agreed to begin negotiating a global treaty to tackle environmental crime. It is a modest but important victory for international cooperation, and one that could help turn the tables on some of the world&#8217;s most destructive criminal enterprises. The breakthrough came at the 13th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). By 83 votes to 12, governments backed a resolution establishing a committee to design a new protocol targeting illegal trade in wildlife and timber, illicit mining and trafficking in minerals, and waste trafficking. The outcome was hardly assured. The United States, Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Iran sought to dilute the initiative. They failed. The vote showed that international rules can still advance despite determined opposition. Illegal logging in Indonesian Borneo. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler Brazil deserves considerable credit. Working with a coalition spanning Latin America and Africa, its diplomats turned years of technical discussions into political momentum. Civil society organizations, including the Igarapé Institute, helped build the evidence and sustain pressure for stronger international action. The breakthrough also signals a wider shift in global diplomacy. Countries across the Global South are increasingly becoming norm-makers rather than simply norm-takers. On issues ranging from climate and biodiversity&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-rare-victory-for-multilateralism-in-the-fight-against-environmental-crime-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333944</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bangladesh’s climate migrants are arriving in cities unprepared to protect them</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/bangladeshs-climate-migrants-are-arriving-in-cities-unprepared-to-protect-them/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/bangladeshs-climate-migrants-are-arriving-in-cities-unprepared-to-protect-them/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Oct 2026 19:36:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Usraat Fahmidah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/23153115/AP22228819567904-dhaka-climate-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333680</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Cities, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Development, Environment, Environmental Law, Fellows, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Human Migration, Impact Of Climate Change, Law, and Mongabay.org]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2024, disasters displaced 2.4 million people within Bangladesh even as the International Monetary Fund predicts that rising seas could eliminate more than one-seventh of Bangladesh’s land area and nearly one-third of its food production by 2050. As environmental pressures drive people from their homes, researchers are examining the risks migrants face in the secondary [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2024, disasters displaced 2.4 million people within Bangladesh even as the International Monetary Fund predicts that rising seas could eliminate more than one-seventh of Bangladesh’s land area and nearly one-third of its food production by 2050. As environmental pressures drive people from their homes, researchers are examining the risks migrants face in the secondary cities where they relocate and whether these cities are equipped to accommodate growing numbers of climate-displaced people. To cope with increasing climate-related pressures, migration is often viewed as an adaptive strategy because moving away from areas exposed to hazards such as flooding, cyclones, river erosion and sea-level rise can help people reduce their exposure to climate risks and seek safer housing and more stable livelihoods. In these circumstances, urban informal settlements are often among the first destinations for displaced people. Yet, in Bangladesh, these settlements are risky in nature because of the structural formation, and the residents are exposed to various hazards. This raises a broader question: Are the cities receiving climate migrants equipped to support a safer, more stable future or leaving them more exposed? A new study published in Climate and Development on climate migrants living in informal settlements in southwestern Bangladesh examines what happens to migrants after relocation to secondary settlements. The study findings suggest that moving away from regions affected by climate hazards does not necessarily mean moving toward safety, particularly when urban planning and social protection systems fail to account for their needs. In Shariatpur district, Billal Hossain breaks his&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/bangladeshs-climate-migrants-are-arriving-in-cities-unprepared-to-protect-them/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333680</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Critics call for halt to road construction in Mexico’s Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/critics-call-for-halt-to-road-construction-in-mexicos-sian-kaan-biosphere-reserve/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/critics-call-for-halt-to-road-construction-in-mexicos-sian-kaan-biosphere-reserve/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Oct 2026 18:47:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/23172145/32498588713_1c22e72954_3k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333741</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Caribbean, Global, Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Development, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Infrastructure, Law, Mangroves, Marine, Protected Areas, and Roads]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MEXICO CITY — In early October, Mexico’s environment ministry published a statement about minimizing infrastructure development inside the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, a protected area on the Caribbean coast. But environmental groups say road construction continues to move forward there, threatening mangroves, cenote sinkholes, and dunes. The courts should address a lawsuit filed by local [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MEXICO CITY — In early October, Mexico’s environment ministry published a statement about minimizing infrastructure development inside the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, a protected area on the Caribbean coast. But environmental groups say road construction continues to move forward there, threatening mangroves, cenote sinkholes, and dunes. The courts should address a lawsuit filed by local communities to halt the road construction and repair ecological damage, they said. They added that while the statement by the ministry, formally the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), is hopeful, it doesn’t provide the same legal guarantees as a court ruling. “We want certainty for the communities that, first, the project is canceled, and second, that they repair the damage already done,” Viridiana Maldonado, co-coordinator with Territorios Diversos para la Vida, an environmental NGO that supports Indigenous peoples defending the environment, told Mongabay. “Because a good part of the project is already built, the damage is done. They cut down mangroves, they cut down forest, they interrupted hydrological flows.” The Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve covers more than 528,000 hectares (1.3 million acres) of mangroves, rainforests, and dunes in the southern state of Quintana Roo. It received UNESCO World Heritage status in 1987 and provides extensive habitat to jaguars (Panthera onca), Central American tapirs (Tapirus bairdii), and hundreds of migratory birds, among other species. The reserve also has 47 community-based tourism initiatives and 140 permits for tourism and recreational activities, according to Semarnat. The Puerta al Mar (“Door to the Sea”) project underway in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/critics-call-for-halt-to-road-construction-in-mexicos-sian-kaan-biosphere-reserve/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/critics-call-for-halt-to-road-construction-in-mexicos-sian-kaan-biosphere-reserve/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333741</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ahead of landmark climate trial in Canada, Indigenous youth eye impacts in the North</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/ahead-of-landmark-climate-trial-in-canada-indigenous-youth-eye-impacts-in-the-north/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/ahead-of-landmark-climate-trial-in-canada-indigenous-youth-eye-impacts-in-the-north/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Oct 2026 07:00:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Rusch]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/22224309/Leandrea-smiling-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333591</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Human Rights, Impact Of Climate Change, Indigenous Peoples, Law, and Law Enforcement]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Earlier this year, one of Leandrea Taylor Reeves’s best friends fell ill with a cold. “Maybe you need to go gather some Labrador,” said Reeves’ grandmother, observing the friend. For as long as Reeves could remember, her community, part of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation in Yukon, Canada, gathered and steeped the leaves and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Earlier this year, one of Leandrea Taylor Reeves’s best friends fell ill with a cold. “Maybe you need to go gather some Labrador,” said Reeves’ grandmother, observing the friend. For as long as Reeves could remember, her community, part of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation in Yukon, Canada, gathered and steeped the leaves and flowers from the evergreen shrub in hot water to make a medicinal tea that treats coughs and colds. Reeves, 22, told Mongabay she had plenty of experience harvesting Labrador (Rhododendron groenlandicum) and knew what to look for and where. But as she searched along the edge of the boreal forest, she couldn’t find much. After coming across a short Labrador bush and plucking a tiny harvest, she handed her grandmother a huge Ziplock bag with only the very bottom filled. “Nana,” Reeves said. “There are none there.” The decline in Labrador near her community is one of a myriad of climate change impacts Reeves worries is affecting Canada’s North. Reeves is part of a group of plaintiffs comprising 14 other youth across the country. They are suing Canada and the attorney general of Canada for its continued support of fossil fuels, a net-zero emissions plan that allows an increase in emissions, and actions on climate change that infringes on their rights to life, liberty and security under Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The five-week trial of La Rose v. His Majesty the King beginning on Oct. 26, 2026, in Vancouver,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/ahead-of-landmark-climate-trial-in-canada-indigenous-youth-eye-impacts-in-the-north/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/ahead-of-landmark-climate-trial-in-canada-indigenous-youth-eye-impacts-in-the-north/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333591</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Extractive industries threaten global goal to protect 30% of nature by 2030, report finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/extractive-industries-threaten-global-goal-to-protect-30-of-nature-by-2030-report-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/extractive-industries-threaten-global-goal-to-protect-30-of-nature-by-2030-report-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Oct 2026 19:50:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/21144245/alain-bonnardeaux-CeaBZ2F49x4-unsplash-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333467</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, extractives, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Reform, Land Rights, Law, Mining, Natural Resources, Protected Areas, Tropical Forests, and Tropics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new report by Earth Insight finds more than 61.5 million hectares (151.9 million acres) of protected and conserved areas — an area roughly 2.5 times the size of the United Kingdom — overlap with ongoing and planned oil and gas blocks across the tropical countries. Another 42.7 million hectares (105.5 million acres) of protected [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new report by Earth Insight finds more than 61.5 million hectares (151.9 million acres) of protected and conserved areas — an area roughly 2.5 times the size of the United Kingdom — overlap with ongoing and planned oil and gas blocks across the tropical countries. Another 42.7 million hectares (105.5 million acres) of protected lands overlap with mining blocks or concessions. “[The] analysis reveals a major gap between conservation commitments and the industrial pressures facing areas already counted as protected and conserved,” Florencia Librizzi, deputy director at Earth Insight and author of the report, told Mongabay over email. Released on Oct. 8, the report arrived less than two weeks before delegates from around the world gather in Yerevan, Armenia, for the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP17) from Oct. 19 – 30. The findings show that expanding protected areas is not enough, according to the report. At COP15 in 2022, 196 nations pledged to conserve at least 30% of the world’s land, inland waters and coastal and marine areas by 2030 (known as “30&#215;30”) under Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This year, delegates will assess global progress toward the 30&#215;30 goal. But instead, the report says governments should evaluate which ecosystems are being preserved, ensure enforcement is effective and prevent industrial activities from undermining conservation efforts. A coalition of NGOs, including Earth Insight, the World Commission on Protected Areas, the KBA Secretariat, the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB) and others analyzed extractive pressures from a host&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/extractive-industries-threaten-global-goal-to-protect-30-of-nature-by-2030-report-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/extractive-industries-threaten-global-goal-to-protect-30-of-nature-by-2030-report-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333467</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nature has a new Noah’s Ark moment at the biodiversity summit (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/nature-has-a-new-noahs-ark-moment-at-the-biodiversity-summit-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/nature-has-a-new-noahs-ark-moment-at-the-biodiversity-summit-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Oct 2026 19:21:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Glenn Hurowitz]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/21175138/ani-adigyozalyan-_vg33BH0KPM-unsplash-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333507</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Biodiversity, Commentary, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Endangered Species Act, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Health, One Health, Planetary Health, Religions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Delegates from most of the world’s governments are assembling this week in Yerevan, Armenia for the latest summit of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17), whose aim is to prevent the extinction of our fellow creatures, and promote sustainable and just land use. There could be no more fitting location: in the Bible, Mount [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Delegates from most of the world’s governments are assembling this week in Yerevan, Armenia for the latest summit of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17), whose aim is to prevent the extinction of our fellow creatures, and promote sustainable and just land use. There could be no more fitting location: in the Bible, Mount Ararat is where Noah’s Ark found dry land after the great flood – and where the animals he had rescued, two by two – finally disembarked: “But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. Then God said to Noah, ‘Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you — the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground — so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.’” (Genesis 8). Thousands of years later, our fellow creatures need another rescue in the shadow of Mount Ararat, via this summit. That is fitting, because, as a lifelong environmentalist, I have personally never seen a time where politicians around the world seem to care less about nature than they do right now. A wreathed hornbill, found across South and Southeast Asia. Image by Nick Volpe via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0). A leading edge of this political assault on nature is the U.S. Government, even though America was in many ways the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/nature-has-a-new-noahs-ark-moment-at-the-biodiversity-summit-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/nature-has-a-new-noahs-ark-moment-at-the-biodiversity-summit-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333507</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Six beluga deaths cast a shadow over rescue from Canada’s Marineland</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/six-beluga-deaths-cast-a-shadow-over-rescue-from-canadas-marineland/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/six-beluga-deaths-cast-a-shadow-over-rescue-from-canadas-marineland/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Oct 2026 10:04:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/20160121/Credit-Shedd-Aquarium-Brenna-Hernandez-177-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333330</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Dolphins, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Whales, Wildlife, and Wildlife Rescues]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Six members of a pod of 30 belugas, a fifth of the whales that were transferred from a marine park in Canada to facilities in the U.S. and Spain as part of a massive rescue operation, have died in the last two months. They were transported to the facilities in July and August after languishing [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Six members of a pod of 30 belugas, a fifth of the whales that were transferred from a marine park in Canada to facilities in the U.S. and Spain as part of a massive rescue operation, have died in the last two months. They were transported to the facilities in July and August after languishing for more than a year at the Marineland theme park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, which closed to the public in 2025. These cetaceans were among the last to be held captive in Canada, after the country passed the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act in 2019. The law banned the keeping, breeding, and trading of cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) for entertainment, affecting Marineland’s business model. After months of uncertainty over the animals’ future — including threats of euthanasia and an attempt to send them to an entertainment park in China — a consortium of aquariums under the U.S. Association of Zoos &amp; Aquariums (AZA) devised the plan to transfer the 30 Marineland belugas. Sixteen went to SeaWorld facilities in California and Texas, 10 to Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, two to Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, and two to Oceanogràfic València in Spain, which also took in four bottlenose dolphins. A captive beluga at SeaWorld San Diego. Image by Steven Snodgrass via Flickr (CC BY 2.0). On Aug. 26, Shedd Aquarium announced that Peekachu, a 23-year-old female beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) who had arrived at the facility on Aug. 13 and was blind in one&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/six-beluga-deaths-cast-a-shadow-over-rescue-from-canadas-marineland/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333330</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Anatomy of a land grab: the law, likes, and legislator behind an Indigenous land invasion in Brazil</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/anatomy-of-a-land-grab-the-law-likes-and-legislator-behind-an-indigenous-land-invasion-in-brazil/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/anatomy-of-a-land-grab-the-law-likes-and-legislator-behind-an-indigenous-land-invasion-in-brazil/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Oct 2026 19:42:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee GabayElisângela Mendonça]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/16132711/73_tunaItata_03_Black_03-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332839</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Global, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Beef, Business, Cattle, Commodity agriculture, Conflict, Conservation, Corruption, data, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Farming, forest degradation, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Habitat Loss, Human Rights, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Industrial Agriculture, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Land Use Change, Law, Livestock, Natural Resources, Politics, Primary Forests, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Ranching, Resource Conflict, Satellite Imagery, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Uncontacted Tribes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The polished leather of Francisco “Torrinho” Torres’ shoes gleamed as he walked toward the lectern in the plenary chamber of the Pará state legislature in the Brazilian Amazon. The 57-year-old rancher-turned-politician moved unhurriedly as he prepared to deliver a speech that would set in motion a series of events leading to new invasions of the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The polished leather of Francisco “Torrinho” Torres’ shoes gleamed as he walked toward the lectern in the plenary chamber of the Pará state legislature in the Brazilian Amazon. The 57-year-old rancher-turned-politician moved unhurriedly as he prepared to deliver a speech that would set in motion a series of events leading to new invasions of the Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Territory. It was June 30, 2026, in what seemed to be a routine session for the state representative from one of Brazil’s largest Amazonian states. Behind his sharp suit and the supportive nods of his agribusiness allies was a track record of environmental fines, a corruption investigation, and land disputes. In a brief speech, Torres defended a bill he’d authored to create a new state-run environmental protection area, APA Bacajaí. He presented the measure as a solution for families struggling to farm and rural families in need of land regulation. Three other state representatives took the stand to support the proposal. They spoke of farmers who had waited decades for land titles, of families unable to access credit without them, and of the uncertainty created by the possibility of an Indigenous land claim. It only took 24 minutes for the chamber to pass the bill into law unanimously. There were no objections and no requests for technical notes — even though it was known that the new 142,400-hectare (about 351,900-acre) reserve would overlap entirely with the Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Territory. The area has been under a land-use protection order since 2011 to safeguard the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/anatomy-of-a-land-grab-the-law-likes-and-legislator-behind-an-indigenous-land-invasion-in-brazil/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/anatomy-of-a-land-grab-the-law-likes-and-legislator-behind-an-indigenous-land-invasion-in-brazil/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332839</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Legal gaps allow rampant pet trade, poaching reptiles and amphibians towards extinction</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/legal-gaps-allow-rampant-pet-trade-poaching-reptiles-and-amphibians-towards-extinction/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/legal-gaps-allow-rampant-pet-trade-poaching-reptiles-and-amphibians-towards-extinction/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Oct 2026 15:55:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/15152757/Lehmanns-poison-frog-Oophaga-lehmanni.-Credit_-%C2%A9%EF%B8%8FJonathan-Vanegas-WCS-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332764</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Animals, Biodiversity, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Extinction, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Herps, Illegal Trade, Law, Law Enforcement, Pet Trade, Pets, Poaching, Reptiles, Trade, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Spain’s law enforcement agency, the Civil Guard, announced on Sept. 25, 2026, that it seized 209 reptiles from breeding facilities in Jérica and Sot de Ferrer (Castellón), including critically endangered iguanas endemic to Fiji. Nearly half of the reptiles were protected under CITES, the global wildlife trade treaty. They also seized unlicensed handguns and nearly [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Spain’s law enforcement agency, the Civil Guard, announced on Sept. 25, 2026, that it seized 209 reptiles from breeding facilities in Jérica and Sot de Ferrer (Castellón), including critically endangered iguanas endemic to Fiji. Nearly half of the reptiles were protected under CITES, the global wildlife trade treaty. They also seized unlicensed handguns and nearly 200 rounds of ammunition. Authorities arrested three individuals — two men aged 48 and 51 and a 37-year-old woman — on a litany of charges: Belonging to a criminal organization, wildlife-related offenses, smuggling, money laundering and illegal weapons possession. The alleged traffickers reportedly smuggled reptiles from the wild in the Americas, Africa and Asia, and then bred them without permits, the authorities said. They added that these reptiles were then sold at European reptile and trade fairs, mixing smuggled animals with legally acquired animals — a practice called laundering that’s prevalent in wildlife trade. In this way, traffickers exploit the “legal gray area surrounding documentation that certifies the animals&#8217; origins,” the authorities said in a press release. The Spanish case is just one recent example among a slew of seizures and arrests involving rare tortoises, endangered turtles, poisonous frogs, endemic iguanas and many other protected reptiles and amphibians worldwide. The trade is lucrative — estimated to be worth some $2.5 billion — and comes with little risk. It’s often unregulated. Smugglers are rarely caught, and if they are, they get off by paying a small fine, which is absorbed as the cost of doing business.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/legal-gaps-allow-rampant-pet-trade-poaching-reptiles-and-amphibians-towards-extinction/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/legal-gaps-allow-rampant-pet-trade-poaching-reptiles-and-amphibians-towards-extinction/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332764</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New tool reveals siege on Indigenous lands in Bolivia’s Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/new-tool-reveals-siege-on-indigenous-lands-in-bolivias-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/new-tool-reveals-siege-on-indigenous-lands-in-bolivias-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Oct 2026 13:30:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nelfi Fernández Reyes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/15073726/Foto-Principal-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331568</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Bolivia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, data, Deforestation, Deforestation Alert System, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Illegal Logging, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Law, Monitoring, Protected Areas, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For most Indigenous peoples in the Bolivian Amazon, the forest is far more than a collection of trees. It is the casa grande, Spanish for “the main house”, where communities, rivers, wildlife, spiritual beings and ancestral memories coexist. For them, conserving the forest means conserving life itself. Yet data analyzed by Amazonía Traficada (Trafficked Amazon) [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For most Indigenous peoples in the Bolivian Amazon, the forest is far more than a collection of trees. It is the casa grande, Spanish for “the main house”, where communities, rivers, wildlife, spiritual beings and ancestral memories coexist. For them, conserving the forest means conserving life itself. Yet data analyzed by Amazonía Traficada (Trafficked Amazon) — a journalistic collaboration backed by the Pulitzer Center in partnership with Mongabay, Bolivian independent environmental journalism platform RAI Bolivia and the multiplatform newsroom Asuntos Centrales — show that this casa grande is now under siege. According to the analysis, between 2003 and 2023, more than 186,500 hectares (460,900 acres) of forest were cleared across the 48 Indigenous territories of the Bolivian Amazon basin — an area nearly three times the size of Madrid. Of that total, the Bolivian Authority for the Supervision and Social Control of Forests and Land (ABT) authorized only 10%; the remaining 90%, or 168,670 hectares (416,800 acres), was cleared illegally. For Rivelino Segundo, leader of Isoso — the Bolivian Indigenous territory with the largest area of illegal forest clearing, more than 43,000 hectares (106,000 acres) — the deforestation eating into ancestral lands is directly tied to land invasions and an expanding agricultural frontier. Those occupying the land illegally seek to convert forest into farmland, he told Mobgabay: “We are not the ones clearing the land. It is the invaders. [In Isoso], they do it to plant large-scale soy. We, as the Guaraní Indigenous people, coexist with nature.” These findings stem&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/new-tool-reveals-siege-on-indigenous-lands-in-bolivias-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/new-tool-reveals-siege-on-indigenous-lands-in-bolivias-amazon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331568</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Chinese squid tied to labor abuses finds an easy route into Western markets</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/chinese-squid-tied-to-labor-abuses-finds-an-easy-route-into-western-markets/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/chinese-squid-tied-to-labor-abuses-finds-an-easy-route-into-western-markets/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Oct 2026 07:00:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Francesco De Augustinis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/12143406/1-fishers-with-squid-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332241</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, China, East Asia, and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Fisheries, Fishing, Food, Food Industry, Forced labor, Governance, Human Rights, Illegal Fishing, Law, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Natural Resources, Oceans, and Supply Chain]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In recent years, a series of high-profile investigations implicated the Chinese fleets targeting squid in international waters in illegal fishing practices, environmental violations, and poor working conditions, including forced labor and deaths at sea. They’ve also identified abusive working conditions in Chinese squid-processing factories. The revelations received widespread public attention, including from elected officials in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In recent years, a series of high-profile investigations implicated the Chinese fleets targeting squid in international waters in illegal fishing practices, environmental violations, and poor working conditions, including forced labor and deaths at sea. They’ve also identified abusive working conditions in Chinese squid-processing factories. The revelations received widespread public attention, including from elected officials in the U.S. and Europe. Yet a Mongabay analysis shows that Western markets have continued to import Chinese squid products in large quantities. The findings raise concerns about regulatory gaps, lack of transparency and consumer awareness, and the difficulty of adopting effective measures to prevent products linked to abuses from entering the market. “For us, the main problem is that the product, in this case from the Chinese fleet, enters the European market and is difficult to distinguish,” Edelmiro Ulloa, director of the Vigo Shipowners&#8217; Cooperative in Spain, told Mongabay. According to Ulloa, the Spanish fleet, which is based in Vigo and fishes for squid primarily in international waters off Argentina, faces unfair competition. “On Chinese vessels, the working conditions are not only poor, but truly worrying,” he said. According to Ulloa, differences in production standards, including lower labor costs, result in Chinese squid prices being as much as 40% lower than Spanish squid prices. In 2025, China was the world’s leading exporter of frozen squid and cuttlefish products, which represent the vast majority of international trade in these species, with a total export value of $1.6 billion, according to data from ITC Trade Map, a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/chinese-squid-tied-to-labor-abuses-finds-an-easy-route-into-western-markets/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332241</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Protected areas are not for mining: Interview with WWF’s Nadège Nzoyem</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/protected-areas-are-not-for-mining-interview-with-wwfs-nadege-nzoyem/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/protected-areas-are-not-for-mining-interview-with-wwfs-nadege-nzoyem/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Oct 2026 11:58:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/13085615/1125-okapi-mining-south-satellite-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332282</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Central Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Mining, National Parks, Parks, Politics, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“Protected areas are protected areas,” says Nadège Nzoyem, WWF’s regional director for the Congo Basin. For her, mining has no place in landscapes that governments have committed to conserve. Yet keeping extractive industries out and ensuring effective protection remain major challenges across the region. A recent analysis by U.S.-based Earth Insight highlights the conflict between [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“Protected areas are protected areas,” says Nadège Nzoyem, WWF’s regional director for the Congo Basin. For her, mining has no place in landscapes that governments have committed to conserve. Yet keeping extractive industries out and ensuring effective protection remain major challenges across the region. A recent analysis by U.S.-based Earth Insight highlights the conflict between conservation commitments and extractive interests. Across the tropical countries examined, the report says, oil and gas blocks overlap across nearly 62 million hectares (153 million acres) of protected and conserved areas. Mining concessions overlap with another 43 million hectares (106 million acres). In the Congo Basin, 29% of identified terrestrial Key Biodiversity Areas remain unprotected. The findings raise questions about where protection is needed and how effective it is against industrial pressures. WWF’s “Living Planet Report 2026” adds to those concerns. It reports an average 80% decline in monitored wildlife population sizes across Africa between 1970 and 2022. The figure is continent-wide, not specific to the Congo Basin. Next week, the global community will meet for the biodiversity COP17 in Armenia, where the urgency of meeting the global 30&#215;30 target puts protected areas under greater scrutiny. Conserving 30% of land and waters by 2030 means more than drawing boundaries, the Earth Insight report argues. It requires effective management, equitable governance, and respect for Indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ rights. Semi-industrial mining at Muchacha along the Ituri River, in the southwestern sector of Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the DRC, has caused deforestation and contamination of water&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/protected-areas-are-not-for-mining-interview-with-wwfs-nadege-nzoyem/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332282</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Community action to protect Cambodia’s seas: Interview with commune leader Sorn Srenh</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/community-action-to-protect-cambodias-seas-interview-with-commune-leader-sorn-srenh/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/community-action-to-protect-cambodias-seas-interview-with-commune-leader-sorn-srenh/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Oct 2026 09:53:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Eung Sea]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Yenni Kwok]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/09120806/IMG_9736-Sorn-Srenh-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332097</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Environment, Environmental Law, Fellows, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Marine, Marine Conservation, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — In Cambodia’s Koh Sdach archipelago, where turquoise waters hide mounting environmental pressures from overfishing and plastic waste to climate change, one local leader has turned grassroots action into a model for marine conservation. Koh Sdach commune deputy chief Sorn Srenh, a marine advocate who studied fishery science at the Royal University of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — In Cambodia’s Koh Sdach archipelago, where turquoise waters hide mounting environmental pressures from overfishing and plastic waste to climate change, one local leader has turned grassroots action into a model for marine conservation. Koh Sdach commune deputy chief Sorn Srenh, a marine advocate who studied fishery science at the Royal University of Agriculture in Phnom Penh, stands at the intersection of science, policy, and community advocacy. For years, the 38-year-old has worked relentlessly with the fishing community to protect their livelihoods while pushing for sustainable practices that safeguard marine biodiversity. His efforts, ranging from organizing community capacity to lobbying for stronger local enforcement of fishing regulations, have made him a trusted voice among villagers and a rare example of commune-level leadership driving tangible environmental change. For years, Srenh has also been working with the Cambodian government’s Fisheries Administration and the UK-based NGO Fauna &amp; Flora to help establish Koh Sdach’s community fisheries management area, known as a Marine Fisheries Management Area (MFMA). In a phone interview with Mongabay, Srenh shared his vision for community-led conservation, the challenges of balancing economic survival with ecological stewardship, and why protecting Cambodia’s seas matters far beyond its shores. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Fishers in Koh Sdach, Cambodia, on July 19, 2026. Image by Eung Sea for Mongabay. Mongabay: Can you describe your journey from studying fishery science to becoming a grassroots conservation leader in Koh Sdach? What encourages you to protect marine ecosystems? Sorn Srenh: I&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/community-action-to-protect-cambodias-seas-interview-with-commune-leader-sorn-srenh/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332097</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Lawmakers in Suriname call for investigation, stricter oversight amid new mining activity</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/lawmakers-in-suriname-call-for-investigation-stricter-oversight-amid-new-mining-activity/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/lawmakers-in-suriname-call-for-investigation-stricter-oversight-amid-new-mining-activity/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Oct 2026 16:18:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/09154037/a.-Banner-%C2%A9-marccharron-original-1-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331661</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, South America, and Suriname]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Chemicals, Conservation, Critical Minerals, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Loss, Forests, Gold Mining, Governance, Health, Illegal Mining, Law, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Lawmakers in Suriname are calling for a formal investigation into mining activity that allegedly uses heavily restricted chemicals like cyanide, and risks creating runoff and pollution in the surrounding ecosystem. On Sept. 19, two members of the National Assembly, Rabindre Parmessar and Michael Marengo, visited an area in Pelin Bergi, near Kwakoegron, in northern Suriname, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Lawmakers in Suriname are calling for a formal investigation into mining activity that allegedly uses heavily restricted chemicals like cyanide, and risks creating runoff and pollution in the surrounding ecosystem. On Sept. 19, two members of the National Assembly, Rabindre Parmessar and Michael Marengo, visited an area in Pelin Bergi, near Kwakoegron, in northern Suriname, and said they discovered “substantial” mining activity that raised legal questions about permitting. Now, the two lawmakers are calling on President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons to launch an immediate investigation and temporarily halt all mining activity in the area. “The situation on-site raises fundamental questions about the nature, duration, permitting, oversight and the fiscal and environmental controls on these activities,” the lawmakers said in a letter, reviewed by Mongabay, to the president’s office last month. It added, “[It’s] necessary to establish how activities of this scale have been able to take place over an extended period and to what extent the state’s interests and revenues have been protected in the process.” The lawmakers, who traveled with a group of local journalists and an environmental activist, observed “deep excavations” at the site and materials being transported to processing locations. There were also indications of cyanide use via heap leaching, a process in which the chemical is sprayed onto rock to dissolve gold, making it easier to collect smaller particles. The import and use of cyanide is heavily restricted in Suriname. Geerlings-Simons is trying to phase out imports and implement a registry system for the chemical, which is still&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/lawmakers-in-suriname-call-for-investigation-stricter-oversight-amid-new-mining-activity/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331661</doi>				</item>
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