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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/estuaries/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2026 23:52:03 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>News on Estuaries</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/estuaries/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Land rights and mangroves entwine in a Brazilian quilombo’s resistance</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/land-rights-and-mangroves-entwine-in-a-brazilian-quilombos-resistance/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/land-rights-and-mangroves-entwine-in-a-brazilian-quilombos-resistance/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Aug 2026 15:29:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolina de Marchi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/11152728/20260402-PXL_20260402_191844572.PANO_-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325902</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bioeconomy, Coastal Ecosystems, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Philosophy, Culture, Ecosystems, Environment, Estuaries, Freshwater, Mangroves, Marine Conservation, Protected Areas, Religions, Rivers, Social Justice, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BREJÃO DOS NEGROS, Brazil — It’s hard to tell where one ends and the other starts. Here on Brazil’s Atlantic coast, where the São Francisco River meets the sea, waves ripple across the crystal-clear water. In the vast blue expanse, the green of islands and islets blends with fertile lands covered in Atlantic Forest remnants, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BREJÃO DOS NEGROS, Brazil — It’s hard to tell where one ends and the other starts. Here on Brazil’s Atlantic coast, where the São Francisco River meets the sea, waves ripple across the crystal-clear water. In the vast blue expanse, the green of islands and islets blends with fertile lands covered in Atlantic Forest remnants, white dunes, small docks, marginal lagoons, and mangroves — a biological heritage that serves as a nursery for countless marine species. But this beauty has not always belonged to those who lived there. Remnants of cotton plantations and more than 20 mills tell of an era before the so-called Golden Law of 1888 abolished slavery in Brazil. This region once held the largest number of enslaved people in the lower catchment area of the São Francisco River. Because of its dense native forests, it was also an ideal refuge for those who managed to escape, which earned it the name Refúgio dos Negros. Even after abolition, the people who lived off artisanal fishing and farming here enjoyed little real freedom. The land where they had lived on and worked for generations was claimed by local landowners who, with or without legal titles, exercised uncontested dominance. According to residents of the Brejão dos Negros Quilombola Territory — a group of traditional communities, or quilombos, founded by formerly enslaved Afro-Brazilians — fences and cattle grids went up everywhere, making them feel like prisoners in their own land. “It was like this: if you harvested a field of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/land-rights-and-mangroves-entwine-in-a-brazilian-quilombos-resistance/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/land-rights-and-mangroves-entwine-in-a-brazilian-quilombos-resistance/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325902</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Can conservation change how the world sees the Strait of Hormuz? (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/can-conservation-change-how-the-world-sees-the-strait-of-hormuz-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/can-conservation-change-how-the-world-sees-the-strait-of-hormuz-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jul 2026 15:37:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Iman Ebrahimi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/09/13142321/Moray-eel-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322992</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Iran, Kuwait, Middle East, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Commentary, Conflict, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Estuaries, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Oil Spills, War, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In recent months, the Strait of Hormuz has again been described in the language the world knows best: Oil, tankers, naval risk, energy security and war. That is understandable. Around one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments normally move through this narrow passage between Iran and Oman. When Hormuz is threatened, markets react [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In recent months, the Strait of Hormuz has again been described in the language the world knows best: Oil, tankers, naval risk, energy security and war. That is understandable. Around one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments normally move through this narrow passage between Iran and Oman. When Hormuz is threatened, markets react and governments calculate. But this is only one map of the strait. Conservation offers another. The Strait of Hormuz is not only an oil chokepoint. It is an ecological corridor: The narrow mouth through which the Persian Gulf exchanges water with the Gulf of Oman and the wider Indian Ocean, and through which islands, mangroves, seabird colonies, coral reefs, turtle nesting beaches and coastal communities are connected across borders. A pair of flamingos, Marawah Marine Biosphere Reserve, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Image courtesy of Maitha Bughanoom. This way of seeing Hormuz matters now because recent oil-related reports have not pointed to empty water. They have pointed toward real places: Shidvar, an uninhabited Ramsar island in Lavan, Iran, where damage to nearby oil infrastructure can quickly become a threat to a breeding ground for more than 80,000 terns each year; Qeshm and the Hara mangrove forests, the largest mangrove system in the Persian Gulf and also a Ramsar site; Kharg Island, and also small ports, fishing grounds and coastal waters where human life and wildlife are not easily separated. The full biological impact is still unclear but the geography already tells us enough: In the Persian Gulf,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/can-conservation-change-how-the-world-sees-the-strait-of-hormuz-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/can-conservation-change-how-the-world-sees-the-strait-of-hormuz-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322992</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Arabian Gulf’s fragile marine ecosystem threatened by current crisis (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/arabian-gulfs-fragile-marine-ecosystem-threatened-by-current-crisis-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/arabian-gulfs-fragile-marine-ecosystem-threatened-by-current-crisis-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 May 2026 15:06:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Razan Al Mubarak]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/11143229/050A0598-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319117</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Abu Dhabi, Iran, Middle East, and Persian Gulf]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Coastal Ecosystems, Commentary, Conflict, Dugong, Ecosystems, Estuaries, Marine, Marine Animals, Oceans, Oil, Oil Spills, Pollution, Seabirds, War, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[At this time of year, the waters of the Arabian Gulf support one of the most significant gatherings of marine life anywhere in the world. Thousands of dugongs congregate in shallow coastal areas, including mother-and-calf pairs, dependent on the 3,000 square kilometers (well over 1,000 square miles) of seagrass meadows in Abu Dhabi waters. Along [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[At this time of year, the waters of the Arabian Gulf support one of the most significant gatherings of marine life anywhere in the world. Thousands of dugongs congregate in shallow coastal areas, including mother-and-calf pairs, dependent on the 3,000 square kilometers (well over 1,000 square miles) of seagrass meadows in Abu Dhabi waters. Along the same coastline, sea turtles return to nest, seabirds enter their breeding season, and migratory birds pass through wetlands that connect continents. Mangroves and coral reefs line these coasts. These ecosystems exist alongside the same coastal zones that support cities, energy and industrial infrastructure. They also underpin human life across the region. Tens of millions of people depend on desalination, drawing seawater from these same environments. Their survival, like ours, depends on clean water, intact habitats and stable environmental conditions. I have had the rare privilege, through my work, to witness these systems up close. Their richness is extraordinary, but so too is their fragility. The danger is that war turns that fragility into lasting damage. Indian Ocean humpback dolphin in Mangrove Marine National Park, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Image courtesy of Maitha Bughanoom. An airstrike on an oil tanker, or a collision, fire or loss of control by one of these vessels would release oil or other pollutants into shallow waters, where they spread rapidly across seagrass beds and coastal habitats. Water quality declines, oxygen levels fall, nesting sites are lost, and breeding cycles are disrupted. Local populations can collapse, and recovery becomes uncertain. The&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/arabian-gulfs-fragile-marine-ecosystem-threatened-by-current-crisis-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/arabian-gulfs-fragile-marine-ecosystem-threatened-by-current-crisis-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319117</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Chesapeake Bay conservation bolstered by the power of business &#038; viral videos</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/chesapeake-bay-conservation-bolstered-by-the-power-of-business-viral-videos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/chesapeake-bay-conservation-bolstered-by-the-power-of-business-viral-videos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Apr 2026 17:09:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/28221641/Screenshot-2026-04-28-at-5.50.55-PM-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318325</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Business, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Corporate Social Responsibility, Ecosystems, Environment, Estuaries, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Marine, Pollution, Rivers, Water Pollution, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the U.S., providing key habitat for a huge variety of aquatic life, and it is also home to major cities like Baltimore and Annapolis. That large human footprint is very evident in the bay&#8217;s water quality, though, which has suffered greatly from pollution – much of which [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the U.S., providing key habitat for a huge variety of aquatic life, and it is also home to major cities like Baltimore and Annapolis. That large human footprint is very evident in the bay&#8217;s water quality, though, which has suffered greatly from pollution – much of which is invisible, but the rest is quite visible in the form of trash. Austin Lewis is a veteran of the Army National Guard and small business owner in the Baltimore area who greatly enjoys his home waters, but increasingly noticed all the debris that floated or coated the bottom of his beloved bay, and so decided to become part of the solution: &#8220;I really had no choice but to attempt to do my part,&#8221; he told Mongabay in the recent short interview below. Using the flexibility provided by owning his own insurance firm, Bay Life Brokerage (&#8220;Not just a life insurance brokerage, but an agency for environmental change&#8221; its homepage says) he can afford to work part time with local conservation group Back River Restoration Committee for hours every day, removing tons of trash while recording very  entertaining and informative videos about their shared mission, later posted to various social platforms like Instagram, FaceBook and TikTok under the handle @BayLifeBrokerage. These often humorous videos also share much natural history information and the Instagram reels in particular garner large numbers of comments and views, all of which extend the reach of the cleanup effort by raising awareness&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/chesapeake-bay-conservation-bolstered-by-the-power-of-business-viral-videos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/chesapeake-bay-conservation-bolstered-by-the-power-of-business-viral-videos/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318325</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Marine heat waves and raw sewage combine to put human health at risk</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/marine-heat-waves-and-raw-sewage-combine-to-put-human-health-at-risk/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/marine-heat-waves-and-raw-sewage-combine-to-put-human-health-at-risk/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Dec 2025 14:26:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/01/11155000/sewage-in-Bangkok-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311605</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Chemicals, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Coral Reefs, Diseases, Drinking Water, Ecosystems, Environment, Estuaries, Freshwater, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Nutrient Pollution, Oceans, Planetary Boundaries, Planetary Health, Pollution, Public Health, Research, Rivers, Waste, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Earlier this year, a spate of deaths in Florida caused by Vibrio vulnificus, known as the flesh-eating bacteria, made headlines. Infections of this kind are troublingly on the rise as ocean temperatures surge higher and marine heat waves increase in frequency and intensity due to climate change. Experts are especially concerned that marine heat waves, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Earlier this year, a spate of deaths in Florida caused by Vibrio vulnificus, known as the flesh-eating bacteria, made headlines. Infections of this kind are troublingly on the rise as ocean temperatures surge higher and marine heat waves increase in frequency and intensity due to climate change. Experts are especially concerned that marine heat waves, when combined with an influx of pollution in coastal areas — especially untreated sewage and synthetic agricultural fertilizers — could be fueling the growth of harmful pathogens, including V. vulnificus. There are at least 12 species of Vibrio harmful to people, including V. cholerae, which causes cholera, a disease infecting 1.3-4 million people annually and killing 21,000-143,000. Humanity is significantly worsening cholera outbreaks by creating ideal conditions for V. cholerae growth and spread, via increased global temperatures, extreme weather (both floods and droughts) and contaminated water sources. It’s important to note that all these bacterial species occur naturally in marine environments. V. vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus are two other pathogenic species of major concern today, while another, V. alginolyticus, is less well-known but also on the rise. Human activity, particularly climate change, is creating conditions for their growth and spread to new waters. Flooding in Florida caused by Hurricane Ian’s storm surge in 2022. In the week following that storm, 38 cases and 11 deaths were reported due to Vibrio vulnificus, the largest outbreak in U.S. history. Climate change made Hurricane Ian at least 10% worse than it would have historically been. The aftermath of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/marine-heat-waves-and-raw-sewage-combine-to-put-human-health-at-risk/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/marine-heat-waves-and-raw-sewage-combine-to-put-human-health-at-risk/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311605</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Desalination plants proposed for Texas Gulf Coast spur broad opposition</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/desalination-plants-proposed-for-texas-gulf-coast-spur-broad-opposition/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/desalination-plants-proposed-for-texas-gulf-coast-spur-broad-opposition/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Nov 2024 00:41:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/11/26235829/1280px-Corpus_Christi_bay-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=290744</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America, Texas, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Business, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Estuaries, Fishing, Freshwater, Industry, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Plastic, Pollution, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Corpus Christi is a city of 316,000 residents on Texas&#8217;s Coastal Bend, a rich marine area along the Gulf of Mexico. Located close to multiple water hungry industries, this city located in a drought-plagued state is also home to multiple proposals to build desalination plants that would turn abundant saltwater into freshwater for plastic manufacturers [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Corpus Christi is a city of 316,000 residents on Texas&#8217;s Coastal Bend, a rich marine area along the Gulf of Mexico. Located close to multiple water hungry industries, this city located in a drought-plagued state is also home to multiple proposals to build desalination plants that would turn abundant saltwater into freshwater for plastic manufacturers and other industrial end users. This requires a lot of energy but also produces brine, which can be twice as salty as seawater and can contain elevated levels of heavy metals. Corpus Christi Bay is home to myriad fish, mammal, and shorebird species, including threatened and endangered ones, so the five desalination plants proposed – each of which would siphon tens of millions of gallons of water daily from the bay and then pump the extra salty water laced with metals back into the bay – have been met with stiff opposition. Cyndi Valdes is just one of the activists organizing against the &#8216;desal&#8217; plans. In her role as Coastal Watch Association’s Executive Director, she’s constantly organizing and educating people about the issue, and spends long hours in the city’s meeting rooms to provide comment on the numerous proposals and related permits being issued for such projects. She responded to Mongabay’s questions via email, and her answers have been edited lightly for brevity. Fishing, birdwatching and other outdoor pursuits are popular on the rich waters surrounding Corpus Christi. Image by Starco Charters via Instagram. Mongabay: Last year, Sierra published a feature about all the desalination&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/desalination-plants-proposed-for-texas-gulf-coast-spur-broad-opposition/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/desalination-plants-proposed-for-texas-gulf-coast-spur-broad-opposition/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-290744</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Warming seas push India’s fishers into distant, and more dangerous, waters</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/warming-seas-push-indias-fishers-into-distant-and-more-dangerous-waters/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/warming-seas-push-indias-fishers-into-distant-and-more-dangerous-waters/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Apr 2024 16:55:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aliya BashirImran Muzaffar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/23162221/Indias-fishers-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=281278</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering Climate Now and Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Coastal Ecosystems, Environment, Estuaries, Fish, Fishing, Food, Global Warming, Impact Of Climate Change, Mangroves, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Politics, and Sea Levels]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KANNIYAKUMARI, India — Anthoni Dhasan, 47, sits on the deck of his fishing boat at the harbor of Thengapattanam in Tamil Nadu, India’s southernmost state, peering out at the stormy Indian Ocean. It’s been a year since his last fishing expedition — the one that almost took his life. On Feb. 19, 2023, Dhasan and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KANNIYAKUMARI, India — Anthoni Dhasan, 47, sits on the deck of his fishing boat at the harbor of Thengapattanam in Tamil Nadu, India’s southernmost state, peering out at the stormy Indian Ocean. It’s been a year since his last fishing expedition — the one that almost took his life. On Feb. 19, 2023, Dhasan and his nine-member crew were on board their motorized boat, the Ruby, 450 nautical miles (830 kilometers) off the mainland, when a Hong Kong-flagged container ship reportedly rammed into their vessel, tossing the crew, like flies, into the cold, blue waters. “It felt like a big explosion,” Dhasan recalls. “I thought this is our end.” The boat began capsizing while the crew floated in the water, screaming for help. Dhasan, the captain of the boat, says he froze up and just hoped for what he calls “help from the heavens.” “It’s God’s grace that we all survived,” he says. “If neighboring boats had not come to our rescue, we would have become food for the sharks.” Two local boats towed the wreck home. Since the incident, Dhasan and his crew have been out of work while the remains of the Ruby lie in a corner of the harbor that mostly houses scrapped boats. Dhasan is claiming damages of more than $10 million, including the boat, gear and lost fish catch. Incidents like this are becoming more common as many of India’s more than 4 million fishers have begun leaving the country’s exclusive economic zone — which&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/warming-seas-push-indias-fishers-into-distant-and-more-dangerous-waters/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/warming-seas-push-indias-fishers-into-distant-and-more-dangerous-waters/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-281278</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>One of Colombia’s largest estuary ecosystems is drying up, communities warn</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/one-of-colombias-largest-estuary-ecosystems-is-drying-up-communities-warn/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/one-of-colombias-largest-estuary-ecosystems-is-drying-up-communities-warn/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Apr 2024 14:06:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Austin Landis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/10135137/NuevaVeneciaHomes-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=280778</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Estuaries, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Indigenous Peoples, Marine, Rivers, Saltwater Fish, Traditional People, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NUEVA VENECIA, Colombia — Sandra Milena Manjarez puts two plates of bright yellow rice topped with liza — a finger-sized mullet fish similar to a sardine — on the white plastic table on her porch. In Nueva Venecia, where homes sit on stilts in the middle of an expansive lagoon in the northern department of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NUEVA VENECIA, Colombia — Sandra Milena Manjarez puts two plates of bright yellow rice topped with liza — a finger-sized mullet fish similar to a sardine — on the white plastic table on her porch. In Nueva Venecia, where homes sit on stilts in the middle of an expansive lagoon in the northern department of Magdalena, everyone subsists on fish, mainly mullet, catfish, tilapia and tarpon.   “There’s no other work here,” Manjarez told Mongabay. “What we’ve always lived on is fishing.” The Ciénaga Grande of Santa Marta, or the “great swamp,” is a 428,000-hectare (1.06 million- acre) wetland nestled between the coastal cities of Barranquilla to the west and Santa Marta to the east. The estuary ecosystem collects water from the Caribbean Sea, the Sierra Nevada and the Magdalena River, Colombia’s largest waterway. A wildlife sanctuary, it became a Ramsar wetland of international importance in 1998 and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2000. Children row a boat in the town of Nueva Venecia. Most residents get around the town using large canoes steered by wooden poles. Image by Austin Landis for Mongabay. “[Its] hydrological configuration is difficult to find anywhere else in the word,” said Sandra Vilardy, Colombia’s former vice minister of environmental policies and standardization and an expert on the Ciénaga Grande.  “In a place where people depend on fishing, they need that input and that flow, because the Ciénaga ends up being a nursery for marine fish,” Vilardy said. The Ciénaga estuary is home to approximately 20,000 people,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/one-of-colombias-largest-estuary-ecosystems-is-drying-up-communities-warn/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/one-of-colombias-largest-estuary-ecosystems-is-drying-up-communities-warn/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-280778</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Where sea otters play, salt marshes stay, new study shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/where-sea-otters-play-salt-marshes-stay-new-study-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/where-sea-otters-play-salt-marshes-stay-new-study-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Feb 2024 11:50:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/02/07112900/image-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=278650</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Charismatic Animals, Coastal Ecosystems, Ecosystem Engineers, Ecosystem Services, Ecosystems, Estuaries, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Predators, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Sea otters are slowing down the erosion of salt marshes, thanks to their rapacious appetite for crabs, according to new research. But it took some sleuthing to figure this out. Marine ecologist Brent Hughes said he and his colleagues first noticed sea otters (Enhydra lutris) using the tidal creeks and salt marshes of Elkhorn Slough [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Sea otters are slowing down the erosion of salt marshes, thanks to their rapacious appetite for crabs, according to new research. But it took some sleuthing to figure this out. Marine ecologist Brent Hughes said he and his colleagues first noticed sea otters (Enhydra lutris) using the tidal creeks and salt marshes of Elkhorn Slough estuary, near Monterey, California, about a decade ago. This got them thinking about the relationship between the otters and the coastal wetlands they inhabited — or rather, reinhabited. Otters used to be abundant in many estuaries along the West Coast of the United States but were virtually wiped out by fur traders in the 19th century. But now, the otters are back. “This presented a really unique opportunity to study the effects of a recovering top predator on a salt marsh ecosystem that was under a lot of [stress due to] anthropogenic effects and negative effects,” Hughes told Mongabay. Salt marshes are estuarine habitats that thrive on the ebb and flow of tides. These coastal wetlands provide a myriad of ecosystem services. For instance, they act as giant filters, trapping pollutants such as pesticides, herbicides and heavy metals that would otherwise wash out to sea. They also provide critical habitat for fish and other species, help stabilize shorelines, and even store carbon. Yet, in many parts of the world, salt marshes are disappearing due to rising sea levels — a result of human-induced climate change — which leads to the erosion of these coastal habitats. They’re also&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/where-sea-otters-play-salt-marshes-stay-new-study-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/where-sea-otters-play-salt-marshes-stay-new-study-shows/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-278650</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Don&#8217;t destroy Earth on the way to Mars (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/dont-destroy-earth-on-the-way-to-mars-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/dont-destroy-earth-on-the-way-to-mars-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 May 2023 14:19:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sharon Wilcox]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/05/22183923/SpaceX-accident-debris-in-TX-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=268860</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, North America, Texas, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Commentary, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Ecosystems, Environment, Estuaries, Ethics, Marine, Restoration, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Experimental rocketry may be causing irreparable harm to one of the most biodiverse and special places in the United States. On April 20, the first fully integrated test of SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket destroyed its launch pad at an experimental launch facility in South Texas before exploding in a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Experimental rocketry may be causing irreparable harm to one of the most biodiverse and special places in the United States. On April 20, the first fully integrated test of SpaceX’s Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket destroyed its launch pad at an experimental launch facility in South Texas before exploding in a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” over the Gulf of Mexico. Further launches are grounded as the Federal Aviation Administration investigates an “anomaly” in the ascent that resulted in the Starship failing to decouple from the rocket. This time, SpaceX’s launch base barely averted disaster. However, it is likely that accidents like this will continue to be the norm, as SpaceX’s record clearly indicates. This is particularly concerning, as the Boca Chica, TX, site is surrounded by fragile lands and rare animals found nowhere else in the United States. Northern bobwhite eggs discolored by wildfire caused by an explosion at SpaceX launch site. This species has been rapidly declining for decades in the state. Image courtesy of the Coastal Bend Bays &amp; Estuaries Program. The site is no stranger to explosive outcomes. In April 2021, a Starship prototype rocket crashed on its launch pad, raining large debris onto nearby protected flats and wetlands. Removal of that debris caused significantly more damage to the fragile refuge lands when crews attempted to retrieve the scattered rocket parts. Worse yet, in September 2022 a static test of the Raptor engine resulted in a fire that incinerated 68 acres of the federally protected Las Palomas&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/dont-destroy-earth-on-the-way-to-mars-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/dont-destroy-earth-on-the-way-to-mars-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-268860</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Sierra Leone’s fishing villages, a reality check for climate aid</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/in-sierra-leones-fishing-villages-a-reality-check-for-climate-aid/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/in-sierra-leones-fishing-villages-a-reality-check-for-climate-aid/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Dec 2022 13:29:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Ashoka]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/12/15090802/sierra-leone-fishing-village-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=263648</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering Climate Now and Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Sierra Leone, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Biodiversity, Climate Change, climate finance, Climate Justice, Coastal Ecosystems, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Estuaries, Fishing, Flooding, Food, Foreign Aid, Forests, Global Warming, Impact Of Climate Change, Mangroves, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Politics, Reforestation, and Sea Levels]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BONTHE, Sierra Leone — As the sun rises over Bonthe, a small city on the coastline of Sierra Leone’s remote Sherbro Island, echoes of a not-so-distant colonial past bathe in the red glow of early morning. A crumbling stone warehouse, its façade scarred by years of salt and humidity, stands in front of a vast, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BONTHE, Sierra Leone — As the sun rises over Bonthe, a small city on the coastline of Sierra Leone’s remote Sherbro Island, echoes of a not-so-distant colonial past bathe in the red glow of early morning. A crumbling stone warehouse, its façade scarred by years of salt and humidity, stands in front of a vast, mangrove-laden riverine estuary. Above its doorway, faded lettering reads “Patterson, Zochonis” — two European traders who made their fortunes in what was once called British West Africa. Nearby, a worn white and gray church bearing the name Amistad watches over a quiet road. Sengbe Pieh, leader of the famous slave rebellion on the ship that the church was named for, was born on the island, and legend says his gravesite is hidden somewhere in the forest here. Bonthe, and the Sherbro estuary in general, was once a major trading outpost for the British Empire, feeding what was then an emergent global economy with slave labor and, later, tropical commodities like palm oil. Now it’s a sleepy fishing town of about 10,000 people. Even reaching Bonthe is no small feat — the journey from Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, involves a series of public buses, motorcycle rides down dirt highways, and a wooden public boat that ambles across the sprawling estuary, shuttling goods and travelers between the tiny fishing villages that dot its coastline. The city of Bonthe, Sierra Leone. Photo by Ashoka Mukpo for Mongabay. As the morning light shines on brightly painted fishing boats that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/in-sierra-leones-fishing-villages-a-reality-check-for-climate-aid/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/in-sierra-leones-fishing-villages-a-reality-check-for-climate-aid/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-263648</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Heat-sensing drone cameras spy threats to sea turtle nests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/10/heat-sensing-drone-cameras-spy-threats-to-sea-turtle-nests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/10/heat-sensing-drone-cameras-spy-threats-to-sea-turtle-nests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Oct 2022 16:33:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/10/17155840/1_Whitworth_Andy_Jan2022_OliveRidleyTurtle-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=261556</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Costa Rica, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Endangered Species, Environment, Estuaries, Extinction, Global Environmental Crisis, Herps, Human-wildlife Conflict, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Overconsumption, Poaching, Pollution, Reptiles, Research, Sea Turtles, Turtles, Water Pollution, Wildlife, and Wildlife consumption]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Sea turtles lumber from ocean to shore to lay their eggs in the sand. In some places, this effort is protected by humans who patrol beaches on foot, warding off poachers, predators and naïve tourists. But might there be a more effective way? Researchers used thermal infrared sensors mounted on drones to monitor sea turtle [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Sea turtles lumber from ocean to shore to lay their eggs in the sand. In some places, this effort is protected by humans who patrol beaches on foot, warding off poachers, predators and naïve tourists. But might there be a more effective way? Researchers used thermal infrared sensors mounted on drones to monitor sea turtle nesting on a beach in Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula. Using these heat-detecting cameras, scientists could not only see the turtles moving, but also see their tracks, differentiate the tracks of different species, detect hatchlings, and observe other wildlife and potential poachers. This technology has been used before, but this is the first time these methods have been empirically tested for nighttime sea turtle monitoring. The results are published in the journal Frontiers in Conservation Science. “Something that really surprised me was that the drone was able to detect tracks, because sometimes even for the patrollers is hard to differentiate them,” lead author Bárbara Sellés-Ríos, a researcher with the NGO Osa Conservation, told Mongabay in a phone call. And the fact they were able to get such clear images, she said, “was amazing.” A) An Olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) returning to the sea, at a height of 4 meters. B) Olive ridley sea turtle emerges from the sea (left) while another olive ridley digs an egg chamber (right). Note that the turtle on the right is lighter (lower temperature) because more time has passed since the turtle emerged. Due to temperature loss, this turtle’s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/10/heat-sensing-drone-cameras-spy-threats-to-sea-turtle-nests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/10/heat-sensing-drone-cameras-spy-threats-to-sea-turtle-nests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-261556</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘The return of land to Indigenous people is key’: Q&#038;A with Shinnecock Kelp Farm’s Tela Troge</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/the-return-of-land-to-indigenous-people-is-key-qa-with-shinnecock-kelp-farms-tela-troge/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/the-return-of-land-to-indigenous-people-is-key-qa-with-shinnecock-kelp-farms-tela-troge/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Jun 2022 08:00:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claudia Geib]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/06/17184532/GoPro-8_Moment-e1655492145975-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=257358</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation and Oceans]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquaculture, Biodiversity, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Culture, Ecosystems, Estuaries, Indigenous Peoples, Land Conflict, Marine, Marine Conservation, Ocean Acidification, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When is seaweed much more than seaweed? In the United States, seaweed farms are sprouting up all over the country, but on the east end of Long Island, New York, a new project cultivating kelp in the waters of Shinnecock Bay is more than a follower of a new trend. The Shinnecock Kelp Farm is [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When is seaweed much more than seaweed? In the United States, seaweed farms are sprouting up all over the country, but on the east end of Long Island, New York, a new project cultivating kelp in the waters of Shinnecock Bay is more than a follower of a new trend. The Shinnecock Kelp Farm is the first Indigenous-owned seaweed farm on the East Coast. Its founders hope that it may alter the course of a bay devastated by pollution — and, perhaps, restore the sovereignty of the tribe that cultivated these waters for millennia. “It really goes back to this concept of reciprocity; Indigenous people know that if we take care of Mother Earth, that Mother Earth will then take care of us,” says Tela Troge, one of the six women running the farm. Troge is also a member of the Shinnecock Nation, the tribe that lived on the bay since the end of the last Ice Age. Tela Troge heads back into shore from the kelp lines. Behind her and to the right you can see Shinnecock Nation territory. Image courtesy of Claudia Geib for Mongabay. “We’re taught to think ahead for the next seven generations,” she tells Mongabay. “It&#8217;s really a lot of what drives us in educating and sharing our message, and hopefully getting others engaged in taking action to protect the water now.” Shinnecock Bay is tucked into the south fork of Long Island, which splits like the tail of a fish as the island stretches&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/the-return-of-land-to-indigenous-people-is-key-qa-with-shinnecock-kelp-farms-tela-troge/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/the-return-of-land-to-indigenous-people-is-key-qa-with-shinnecock-kelp-farms-tela-troge/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-257358</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘We should be pretty concerned’: Study shows only 15% of coastal regions still intact</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/we-should-be-pretty-concerned-study-shows-only-15-of-coastal-regions-still-intact/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/we-should-be-pretty-concerned-study-shows-only-15-of-coastal-regions-still-intact/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Feb 2022 13:15:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/02/08130102/BCU-NAT-MV-0046.mov.00_00_07_31.Still001-1-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=252461</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Degraded Lands, Ecosystems, Estuaries, forest degradation, Forest Loss, Land Use Change, Landscape Restoration, Marine, Marine Conservation, Seagrass, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Less than 16% of the world’s coastal regions remain intact, while other parts are severely degraded by human activities, according to a new study. With coastal regions supporting a rich array of biodiversity and the livelihoods of billions of people, the authors say urgent action is needed to restore the land-sea interface and to protect [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Less than 16% of the world’s coastal regions remain intact, while other parts are severely degraded by human activities, according to a new study. With coastal regions supporting a rich array of biodiversity and the livelihoods of billions of people, the authors say urgent action is needed to restore the land-sea interface and to protect what’s still undamaged. Previous research has examined separately human pressures on land and human pressures on the ocean. This study takes a different approach by looking at both aspects together, focusing on coral reefs, kelp forests, tidal flats, seagrass meadows, mangroves, estuaries, salt marshes, wetlands, savannas, forests and deserts. “We wanted to shine a light on coastal regions, which are often ignored in these broad assessments,” study lead author Brooke Williams, a conservation ecologist from the University of Queensland in Australia, told Mongabay. The researchers found that while no coastal area was free of human influence, about 15.5% had low amounts of human pressure. Conversely, about 14% had experienced “extreme human pressure” and about 48% was exposed to “high human pressure” such as fishing, agriculture and development. About 14% of the world&#8217;s coastal regions are under extreme human pressure, while 48% is exposed to high human pressure. Image by Williams et al (2022). “We should be pretty concerned,” Williams said. “Our paper is one of many [that shows] how we&#8217;re pushing further and further into Earth boundaries.” Study co-author James Watson, also from the University of Queensland, said he was surprised how few places remained&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/we-should-be-pretty-concerned-study-shows-only-15-of-coastal-regions-still-intact/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/we-should-be-pretty-concerned-study-shows-only-15-of-coastal-regions-still-intact/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-252461</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sea turtles: Can these great marine migrators navigate rising human threats?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/sea-turtles-can-these-great-marine-migrators-navigate-rising-human-threats/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/sea-turtles-can-these-great-marine-migrators-navigate-rising-human-threats/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Sep 2021 12:20:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Devitt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/09/20091037/Banner-Loggerhead-sea-turtle-hatchlings-crawl-to-sea-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=247298</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering the Commons, Oceans, and Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, Central America, Costa Rica, Global, Hawaii, Nicaragua, North America, Pacific Islands, Pacific Ocean, Peru, South America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Endangered Species, Environment, Estuaries, Extinction, Global Environmental Crisis, Herps, Human-wildlife Conflict, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Oil Spills, Overconsumption, Poaching, Pollution, Reptiles, Research, Sea Turtles, Turtles, Water Pollution, Wildlife, and Wildlife consumption]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[All seven sea turtle species are already endangered. Now humanity’s overshoot of planetary boundaries — climate change, ocean acidification, pollution and more — is upping the ante. Can turtles, people and conservation adapt?]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For millions of years, countless sea turtles navigated the world’s oceans, migrating vast distances between foraging sites and natal nesting beaches. But today, those long journeys repeatedly expose them to harmful anthropogenic impacts and disruptive environmental changes. And despite worldwide conservation efforts, all seven sea turtle species are endangered or critically endangered at global or regional levels. The mass movement of these, and other animals, by land, sea or air, represents one of Earth’s ancient rhythms and one of its great wonders. Those migrations also weave together vital living threads that strengthen ecosystem structure. Now, for myriad reasons — including human-made physical hazards, climate change, pollution, habitat loss, and much more — the frayed fabric of those global eco-structures is shredding fast. Species are disappearing at unprecedented rates and biodiversity loss is irrevocably altering natural systems, imposing adverse impacts on the world’s migrators. The burning question: can sea turtles, people and conservation strategies evolve fast enough to protect the world’s epic migrations and the animals that make them? Crossing planetary boundaries poses multiple threats Biodiversity is just one of nine planetary boundaries that allow a “safe operating space for humanity,” according to an interdisciplinary team of scientists convened by the Stockholm Resilience Centre. The other eight boundaries that humanity must avoid overshooting are climate change, ocean acidification, land-system change, freshwater use, stratospheric ozone depletion, atmospheric aerosol pollution, biogeochemical flows (imbalances in the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles), and the impact of novel entities (such as chemicals, engineered materials or organisms). Humanity&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/sea-turtles-can-these-great-marine-migrators-navigate-rising-human-threats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/sea-turtles-can-these-great-marine-migrators-navigate-rising-human-threats/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-247298</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>To save salt marshes, researchers deploy a wide arsenal of techniques</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/to-save-salt-marshes-researchers-deploy-a-wide-arsenal-of-techniques/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/to-save-salt-marshes-researchers-deploy-a-wide-arsenal-of-techniques/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2021 07:00:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lisa Golden]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/08/11145847/Essex-salt-marsh-sausages-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=245821</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[England, Europe, and United Kingdom]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, carbon, Climate Change, Climate Science, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Erosion, Estuaries, Forest Recovery, Impact Of Climate Change, Invasive Species, Landscape Restoration, Nature-based climate solutions, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Research, Sea Levels, Soil Carbon, Solutions, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On one of the first dry, hot days of summer, Rachel Langley walks past farmhouses and tractors, heading for the edge of the Colne Estuary in Essex, U.K. She’s on her way to see how her “salt marsh sausages” are doing. Six years ago, the U.K. government’s Environment Agency broke through the seawalls on the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On one of the first dry, hot days of summer, Rachel Langley walks past farmhouses and tractors, heading for the edge of the Colne Estuary in Essex, U.K. She’s on her way to see how her “salt marsh sausages” are doing. Six years ago, the U.K. government’s Environment Agency broke through the seawalls on the west side of the estuary that dated back to the medieval period. The breach allowed the tide to flow in and create 22 hectares (54 acres) of new salt marsh and mudflats. It was part of the government’s “managed realignment” program to fortify suitable coastal sites against the erosive effects of rising seas and stronger storms that are becoming more common as climate change unfurls. On the other side of the estuary, however, an existing salt marsh was showing signs of erosion. In 2018, Langley and her team introduced the sausages, 3-meter (9-foot) bundles of coconut coir, to try to stabilize the degrading habitat. Coir rolls are commonly used into restore riverine habitats, and restoration projects, but Langley and her team wanted to test their usefulness in the more energetic estuarine environment with higher energy levels than a river. Could the sausages, installed across narrow channels running through the marsh, help raise the marsh, slow the water flooding it with each tide, and ultimately prevent it from succumbing to the sea? The chestnut-wood spikes holding stacked coir rolls in place stick out of the fine mud. As Langley approaches, crabs skitter in and out of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/to-save-salt-marshes-researchers-deploy-a-wide-arsenal-of-techniques/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/to-save-salt-marshes-researchers-deploy-a-wide-arsenal-of-techniques/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-245821</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Researchers urge better protection as wetlands continue to vanish</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/researchers-urge-better-protection-as-wetlands-continue-to-vanish/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/researchers-urge-better-protection-as-wetlands-continue-to-vanish/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Feb 2021 00:05:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/02/12234334/The_fight-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=239563</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Biodiversity, Carbon Sequestration, Cities, Climate Change, Ecosystem Services, Ecosystems, Environment, Estuaries, Flooding, Freshwater, Global Warming, Green, Habitat Loss, Industrial Agriculture, Mitigation, Water Pollution, Wetlands, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Swamps, sloughs, marshes, bogs, fens; water purification, flood control, wildlife nurseries, nutrient providers, carbon sinks: wetlands have many names and serve many environmental purposes. But for centuries they have been viewed simply as hindrances to human development, obstacles to drain and dredge to make room for progress. Few have escaped this pressure. Research indicates the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Swamps, sloughs, marshes, bogs, fens; water purification, flood control, wildlife nurseries, nutrient providers, carbon sinks: wetlands have many names and serve many environmental purposes. But for centuries they have been viewed simply as hindrances to human development, obstacles to drain and dredge to make room for progress. Few have escaped this pressure. Research indicates the world may have lost as much as 87% of its wetlands over the past 300 years, with much of this loss happening after 1900. But in the mid-20th century scientists started grasping just how ecologically – and economically – important wetlands are, and the global environmental community rushed to protect those that still remained. The result was the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, an intergovernmental treaty designed to facilitate wetland conservation and sustainable use around the world. Named after Ramsar, Iran, where it was first signed in 1971, the convention today protects 2,413 wetlands encompassing some 2.55 million square kilometers (985,000 sq mi) and has been ratified by 170 countries. Satellite image of the marshes and mudflats of the Shadegan Wildlife Refuge, the largest wetland in Iran and a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance. The area provides a wintering habitat for a wide variety of migratory birds, and is the most important site in the world the marbled duck (Marmaronetta angustirostris). Image by the European Space Agency via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO). And yet, wetlands are still disappearing. In an article published in the journal Nature earlier this month, researchers Peter Bridgewater at the University of Canberra&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/researchers-urge-better-protection-as-wetlands-continue-to-vanish/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/researchers-urge-better-protection-as-wetlands-continue-to-vanish/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-239563</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Communities on Brazil’s ‘River of Unity’ tested by dams, climate change</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/communities-on-brazils-river-of-unity-tested-by-dams-climate-change/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/communities-on-brazils-river-of-unity-tested-by-dams-climate-change/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jun 2020 18:23:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sarah Sax]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/06/02174755/BANNER-IMAGE-13-da-768x452.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=230925</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Infrastructure]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Controversial, Dams, Drinking Water, Ecosystems, Energy, Environment, Estuaries, Extinction, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Food, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Hydroelectric Power, Impact Of Climate Change, Infrastructure, Land Use Change, Rivers, Saltwater Fish, Social Justice, Traditional People, Tropics, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Pixaim is one of the remaining quilombos on the Atlantic coast, an Afro-Brazilian settlement already gravely impacted by upstream dams. Now climate change could doom it.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Piaçabuçu dunes, a unique geological formation, are classified as a protected area. Image by Sarah Sax. PIAÇABUÇU, Alagoas state Brazil — The landscape where the São Francisco River enters the Atlantic Ocean seems so out of place it makes one wonder if this is still coastal Brazil. White sand dunes stretch as far as the eye can see; clusters of cashew trees throw flickering shadows like ocean waves on the sand. Here among these shifting dunes escaped slaves in the 19th century hid from, and out-maneuvered, the Portuguese who came searching for them. Eventually, the formerly enslaved founded the Pixaim Quilombo near the mouth of the river and developed a reliable sustainable lifestyle and community well attuned to the dynamic, always changing estuary. But it is a lifestyle utterly dependent on the São Francisco River; reliant on the planting of rice in marshes downstream and on catching plentiful freshwater fish upstream. Now, varied and growing water demands by upstream dams and other users are threatening the long-established quilombo lifestyle — demands that experts predict will worsen severely in Brazil’s Northeast, one of the nation&#8217;s most climatically vulnerable regions. “We used to catch fish that were meters long, but now you have to go much farther up the river to find them,” remembers 84-year-old Aladim, who lives in Pixaim and goes by his first name only. “The fish left, so the people left,” he remarks. Aladim is an 84-year-old resident of Pixaim, one of Brazil&#8217;s remaining coastal quilombos. Seated opposite&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/communities-on-brazils-river-of-unity-tested-by-dams-climate-change/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/communities-on-brazils-river-of-unity-tested-by-dams-climate-change/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-230925</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bringing back the fish: Q&#038;A with a repentant blast fisherman</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/bringing-back-the-fish-qa-with-a-repentant-blast-fisherman/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/bringing-back-the-fish-qa-with-a-repentant-blast-fisherman/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2019 15:14:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/07/10102209/MRadwin_ElSalvadorBlastFishing_2_Banner-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=220483</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Sea Change]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, El Salvador, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Community-based Conservation, Crime, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Policy, Estuaries, Fish, Fishing, Governance, Habitat Loss, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Illegal Fishing, Law Enforcement, Mangroves, Overfishing, and Restoration]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[To read about the artificial reefs of Jiquilisco Bay in depth, see the companion piece to this article: Salvadoran fishermen ditch blast fishing for artificial reefs JIQUILISCO BAY, El Salvador — El Salvador’s Jiquilisco Bay sits off the Pacific coast among estuaries, rivers and sea turtle breeding grounds. The 241-kilometer-long (150-mile) reserve contains six different [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[To read about the artificial reefs of Jiquilisco Bay in depth, see the companion piece to this article: Salvadoran fishermen ditch blast fishing for artificial reefs JIQUILISCO BAY, El Salvador — El Salvador’s Jiquilisco Bay sits off the Pacific coast among estuaries, rivers and sea turtle breeding grounds. The 241-kilometer-long (150-mile) reserve contains six different kinds of mangroves, which protect against soil erosion while playing host to spawning fish. The bay is also a significant source of the country’s seafood. But after a civil war that lasted between 1979 and 1992, the area has struggled with a blast fishing problem. The war gave everyday citizens access to the materials needed to construct handmade explosives, which can be thrown into the water to kill or stun fish en masse. By the 1990s, the practice had decimated many of the bay’s marine populations. Despite years of efforts by local NGOs and government officials to curb the practice, it was ultimately a fisherman named Eleuterio Lara, now 69, who conjured up a convincing alternative. By dropping old tree branches, rocks and bicycle parts into a single spot in the bay, he was able to replicate the dense habitat provided by mangroves. The invention would later be deemed an “artificial reef,” supporting enough life to make line-and-pole fishing a viable option. Soon, officials were investing in more advanced cement structures that could create even better reefs. It was Lara who went from meeting to meeting in the approximately 35 fishing communities around Jiquilisco Bay,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/bringing-back-the-fish-qa-with-a-repentant-blast-fisherman/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/bringing-back-the-fish-qa-with-a-repentant-blast-fisherman/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-220483</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Salvadoran fishermen ditch blast fishing for artificial reefs</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/salvadoran-fishermen-ditch-blast-fishing-for-artificial-reefs/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/salvadoran-fishermen-ditch-blast-fishing-for-artificial-reefs/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jul 2019 11:00:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/07/10103728/MRadwin_ElSalvadorBlastFishing_9_BannerCrop-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=220313</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Sea Change]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, El Salvador, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Community-based Conservation, Crime, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Policy, Estuaries, Fish, Fishing, Governance, Habitat Loss, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Illegal Fishing, Law Enforcement, Mangroves, Overfishing, and Restoration]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[2163-3717]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[To read an interview with the man who sparked the artificial reefs of Jiquilisco Bay, see the companion piece to this article: Bringing back the fish: Q&#38;A with a repentant blast fisherman JIQUILISCO BAY, El Salvador — With no police patrol in sight, a young fisherman named Jose Salvador Soriano kneeled into his long, narrow boat [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[To read an interview with the man who sparked the artificial reefs of Jiquilisco Bay, see the companion piece to this article: Bringing back the fish: Q&amp;A with a repentant blast fisherman JIQUILISCO BAY, El Salvador — With no police patrol in sight, a young fisherman named Jose Salvador Soriano kneeled into his long, narrow boat and began preparing an explosive with the power to bring in nearly an entire day’s catch. The explosive contained sulfur, benzoate, chlorate and sugar, packed into a tube of newspaper with a wick made from a bicycle-brake hose. The best spot to throw an explosive was under the long, spider-like roots of the mangroves lining both sides of the estuary, as fish gather there in large numbers to lay their eggs. But this time, Soriano miscalculated. Before he could toss the explosive — the wick quickly burning down — it went off in his hand, leaving him amputated up to the high wrist. Soriano, now 47, got away easy compared to many other residents of the 35 fishing communities along El Salvador’s Jiquilisco Bay Biosphere Reserve, a 241-kilometer (150-mile) wetland that contributes approximately 2 tons of fish to the country’s seafood markets every day. Some residents have been badly burned, lost an eye or — because explosives are normally packed with the tube held between the thighs — their legs and genitals. But blast fishing has also taken a toll on Jiquilisco Bay’s marine life. Populations of yellowfin snook (Centropomus robalito), hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/07/salvadoran-fishermen-ditch-blast-fishing-for-artificial-reefs/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-220313</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Venezuela’s hungry hunt wildlife, zoo animals, as economic crisis grows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/05/venezuelas-hungry-hunt-wildlife-zoo-animals-as-economic-crisis-grows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/05/venezuelas-hungry-hunt-wildlife-zoo-animals-as-economic-crisis-grows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 May 2018 13:45:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeanfreddy Gutiérrez Torres]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/05/21124048/FEATURED2-768x444.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=206895</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, South America, and Venezuela]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Birds, Bushmeat, Carnivores, Cats, Conservation, Dolphins, Ecology, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Estuaries, Extinction, Fish, Food, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Herps, Human-wildlife Conflict, Hunting, Mammals, Monkeys, Over-hunting, Overconsumption, Primates, Reptiles, Research, Sea Turtles, Turtles, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, Wildlife Trafficking, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The humanitarian crisis in Venezuela has become a crisis for wildlife and zoo animals too, as a hungry, desperate population hunts wild species for food.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Empty food shelves in Venezuela have left people hungry and in search of food wherever they can find it, which sometimes includes zoos and wildlife areas. Image found on flckr LAKE MARACAIBO, Venezuela — The wildlife of Venezuela, one of 17 countries that account for 70 percent of the world&#8217;s biodiversity, has come under new pressure in addition to deforestation, toxic oil spills and illegal trafficking: human starvation. The economic crisis that began in 2014 with the collapse of the nation’s oil revenues, has now deepened to the point that Venezuela is considered a failed state by some analysts. Poverty currently holds more than 80 percent of the population in its grip, according to studies by four Venezuelan universities. Many critics place responsibility for the nation’s financial woes on Nicolás Maduro, who won a second term as president on Sunday, amidst international accusations of election fraud, and concerns that Venezuela’s inflation will “hit a stunning 13,000 percent this year. Stores are empty and people sift through garbage for scraps. Many people call the country’s malnutrition the ‘Maduro diet,’ laying blame for the gaunt figures that are common sights now [in the streets] on Mr. Maduro,” reports the New York Times Although the national government officially denies the severity of the humanitarian emergency here, public services, agricultural productivity and even the commercial transportation network have deteriorated — and as a consequence, so has access to food. As a result, people are feeding themselves wherever, and on whatever, they can. That has&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/05/venezuelas-hungry-hunt-wildlife-zoo-animals-as-economic-crisis-grows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-206895</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Communities band together to protect El Salvador’s last mangroves</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/05/communities-band-together-to-protect-el-salvadors-last-mangroves/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/05/communities-band-together-to-protect-el-salvadors-last-mangroves/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 May 2017 22:20:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Martha Pskowski]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/05/23215754/IMG_9916-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=196007</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Forest Reporting Network]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, El Salvador, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[carbon, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Estuaries, Forests, Global Warming, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mangroves, Mitigation, Reforestation, Restoration, Rivers, Tropical Forests, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[USULUTAN PROVINCE, El Salvador –  “Without the mangroves, we couldn’t live here,” says José Antonio Hernández. “We wouldn’t have any water.” He is standing on a rare dry patch of soil amid a mangrove forest on El Salvador’s eastern coast. While his green button-up shirt bears the logo of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MARN), [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[USULUTAN PROVINCE, El Salvador –  “Without the mangroves, we couldn’t live here,” says José Antonio Hernández. “We wouldn’t have any water.” He is standing on a rare dry patch of soil amid a mangrove forest on El Salvador’s eastern coast. While his green button-up shirt bears the logo of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MARN), Juan works as a volunteer on his daily patrols of the mangroves. José Horacio Soriano accompanies Hernández on the patrol. They both work as Natural Resource Guards for the Mangrove Association, a coalition of 80 communities that protects the mangroves of Usulután province. The Lempa river divides Usulután from the neighboring province of San Vicente. The communities at the river’s southern end where it empties into the Pacific Ocean are known as the Bajo Lempa – or Lower Lempa. Hernández explains that he arrived in the Bajo Lempa at the end of El Salvador’s Civil War. In the 1992 Peace Accords, the government committed to redistributing land to the guerrillas of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) and members of the National Guard and Army. The delta of the Lempa River hosts half of El Salvador&#8217;s remaining mangroves. Satellite data from the University of Maryland and imagery from Planet Labs show agricultural expansion has led to tree cover loss in and around the mangroves in the past decade. But communities are trying to stem the disappearance of their mangrove forests. José Horacio Soriano walks through the mangroves, which he patrols daily as a “Natural Resources Guard.”&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/05/communities-band-together-to-protect-el-salvadors-last-mangroves/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-196007</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rio Olympic organizers fail to meet all environmental goals</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/rio-olympic-organizers-fail-to-meet-all-environmental-goals/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/rio-olympic-organizers-fail-to-meet-all-environmental-goals/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jul 2016 15:24:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jenny Gonzales]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/07/01195258/FEATUR-2-475x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=187854</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Latin America]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Diseases, Environment, Estuaries, Nutrient Pollution, Oceans, Pollution, Public Health, Rivers, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Rio de Janeiro won the bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games — set to begin on August 5th — the Brazilian government committed itself to cleaning up the city’s notoriously dirty waters as part of its Olympics legacy. These goals were institutionalized in the Responsibility Matrix, a document that gathers together commitments [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Though beautiful from above, Guanabara Bay is a dumping ground for raw sewage, hospital waste, trash, and a breeding ground of viruses, bacteria and fecal coliforms. Photo by Halley Pacheco de Oliveira licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license When Rio de Janeiro won the bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games — set to begin on August 5th — the Brazilian government committed itself to cleaning up the city’s notoriously dirty waters as part of its Olympics legacy. These goals were institutionalized in the Responsibility Matrix, a document that gathers together commitments made by the federal, state, and municipal governments presented to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). That was in 2009. Seven years and US$10 billion later, both the state and city have announced that they won&#8217;t meet any of their environmental goals. As a result, Rio’s waterways — including bays and lagoons that will host Olympic sailing and swimming events — contain a foul soup of trash, raw sewage, hospital waste, and even super bacteria. The opportunity to improve the quality of Rio&#8217;s waters, and therefore the population&#8217;s quality of life, was squandered, critics say, due to a mix of government and business inefficiency, excessive bureaucracy, and possibly, acts of corruption. Rio&#8217;s problems, however, are not limited to the environmental arena. In June, the interim governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Francisco Dornelles, declared “a state of calamity” over finances. He announced that unless the federal government delivered emergency funding, the city&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/07/rio-olympic-organizers-fail-to-meet-all-environmental-goals/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-187854</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New Rio Olympic golf course harmed environment, say critics</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/05/new-rio-olympic-golf-course-harmed-environment-say-critics/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/05/new-rio-olympic-golf-course-harmed-environment-say-critics/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 May 2016 16:01:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[(Paloma Savedra contributed to this story)Carolina Torres]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/05/01205012/FEATURED-8-490x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=186715</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Endangered Species, Estuaries, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Protected Areas, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[After more than a 100-year hiatus, the sport of golf will again be played at the Summer Olympics — though that celebratory event has been tarnished by an environmental controversy, with conservationists battling but failing to stop the city of Rio’s Olympic golf preparations. A new golf course was required for Olympics competition, according to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Rio&#8217;s new Olympic golf course. Photo by Tomaz Silva/Agência Brasil After more than a 100-year hiatus, the sport of golf will again be played at the Summer Olympics — though that celebratory event has been tarnished by an environmental controversy, with conservationists battling but failing to stop the city of Rio’s Olympic golf preparations. A new golf course was required for Olympics competition, according to Rio authorities — even though there were already two regulation golf courses within the city of Rio de Janeiro. The land chosen for the new golf course, which was to be completed in 2015 ahead of the Olympics, lay within the Marapendi Environmental Protection Area (EPA) — a coastal habitat for sandbank native vegetation and animal life, including endangered species. The open space of the EPA also happened to lie conveniently within the upmarket Rio beach suburb of Barra de Tijuca, dubbed “Rio’s Miami Beach,” a real-estate hot spot where condos and shopping malls are on the rise, and also the site of the Olympic Village and Olympic Park. Biologist Marcello Mello, strongly opposed to the project, bluntly dubbed the golf course’s construction an &#8220;environmental crime&#8221;. &#8220;The [formerly protected] sandbank belongs to the Atlantic Forest, which is a registered [heritage site] by UNESCO and is [part of] one of the most threatened biomes in the world,” asserted Mello. Referring to the damage done to the Marapendi Environmental Protection Area — home to 238 registered species — he declared: “It is a scandal.&#8221; The decision to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/05/new-rio-olympic-golf-course-harmed-environment-say-critics/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-186715</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Lake Maracaibo: an oil development sacrifice zone dying from neglect</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/05/lake-maracaibo-oil-development-disaster-area-dying-neglect/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/05/lake-maracaibo-oil-development-disaster-area-dying-neglect/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 May 2016 16:06:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeanfreddy Gutiérrez Torres]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/05/01214013/FEATURED2-496x330.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=186191</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Latin America]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, South America, and Venezuela]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Energy, Estuaries, Fish, Fisheries, Oceans, Oil, Oil Drilling, Oil Spills, Pollution, Saltwater Fish, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In July 1914 oil drilling activities were formally initiated in the state of Zulia, in western Venezuela, with the opening of the historic Zumaque I oil well on the east shore of Lake Maracaibo. The discovery of “black gold” soon converted the rural, poor but picturesque fishing economy into an industrial worksite. An influx of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Sunrise over Lake Maracaibo., a once productive fishery sacrificed to the oil industry. Photo by The Photographer licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license In July 1914 oil drilling activities were formally initiated in the state of Zulia, in western Venezuela, with the opening of the historic Zumaque I oil well on the east shore of Lake Maracaibo. The discovery of “black gold” soon converted the rural, poor but picturesque fishing economy into an industrial worksite. An influx of petrodollars brought the arrival of dozens of transnational companies who took over a waterfront once occupied by fishermen, farmers and indigenous people — replacing their villages with tank farms, and oil processing and transport facilities. Development caused Venezuela’s once moribund economy to boom, as it soared to become the world’s fifth biggest oil producer. But development had another impact: it polluted the brackish bay’s once productive ecosystem, resulting in a steady decline in commercial fishing and the contamination of drinking water — to the detriment of the region’s historic fishing villages. A century of degradation Lake Maracaibo is a semi-closed salty bay that feeds into the Gulf of Venezuela, which merges into the Caribbean Sea. The great estuary was once a commercially valuable fishery, but that was a resource Venezuela was ready and willing to sacrifice in order to make Maracaibo one of the most productive oil fields in the world. At its height, more than 450 active wells pumped oil to the lake’s surface, which was regularly&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/05/lake-maracaibo-oil-development-disaster-area-dying-neglect/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-186191</doi>				</item>
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