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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/fellows/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2026 21:41:58 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Fellows</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/fellows/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Fighting new oil blocks in the Congo Basin: Interview with activist Pascal Mirindi</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/fighting-new-oil-blocks-in-the-congo-basin-interview-with-activist-pascal-mirindi/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/fighting-new-oil-blocks-in-the-congo-basin-interview-with-activist-pascal-mirindi/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2026 15:49:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Dan Yessa]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/16122152/oil-in-drc-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323702</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Congo Basin, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Energy, Environment, Fellows, Forests, Fossil Fuels, Governance, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Mongabay.org, Oil, Oil Drilling, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Pascal Mirindi is a young environmental activist based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, born in Goma. He was a member of a nonviolent movement, La LUCHA, fighting for democracy in the DRC. La LUCHA initiated him into nonviolent activism, but he used that opportunity to fight for Congolese ecosystems. Since 2024, Mirindi has been [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Pascal Mirindi is a young environmental activist based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, born in Goma. He was a member of a nonviolent movement, La LUCHA, fighting for democracy in the DRC. La LUCHA initiated him into nonviolent activism, but he used that opportunity to fight for Congolese ecosystems. Since 2024, Mirindi has been one of the main resistance forces against mineral, oil and gas exploitation inside the Congo Basin. Through campaigns and community awareness, he and his colleagues have successfully driven out oil exploration inside Virunga National Park. Now, Mirindi is fighting against the exploitation of 30 new oil blocks that cover 72% of the Congo Green Corridor, the country’s most emblematic conservation project, which spans a large part of the Congo Basin, home to thousands of animals and a lifeline for many communities in the DRC. Mirindi spoke with Mongabay in June, discussing what it means to resist from the inside and make a difference on a global scale, protecting the homes of endangered species such as mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) and okapis (Okapia johnstoni), endemic to the region. Pascal Mirindi&#8217;s first visit with the director of Virunga National Park, Emmanuel de Merode, in 2022. Image courtesy of Pascal Mirindi. This interview has been translated from French and edited for length and clarity. Mongabay: Who is Pascal Mirindi? Pascal Mirindi: I am Congolese; I was born in Goma in 1999. I have been an activist since I was 15 years old. I started in the citizen&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/fighting-new-oil-blocks-in-the-congo-basin-interview-with-activist-pascal-mirindi/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/fighting-new-oil-blocks-in-the-congo-basin-interview-with-activist-pascal-mirindi/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323702</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rivers are not just water bodies: Interview with the Waterman of Odisha</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/rivers-are-not-just-water-bodies-interview-with-the-waterman-of-odisha/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/rivers-are-not-just-water-bodies-interview-with-the-waterman-of-odisha/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2026 15:07:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Stephin Thomas]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/17095646/Fishing_In_Orissa-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323831</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation leadership, Environment, Fellows, Freshwater, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Mongabay.org, Natural Resources, Rivers, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Rivers are not just seen as water bodies in India, they are considered religious. From taking holy dips (a sacred act of faith in Hinduism, also called snan) for spiritual purification to scattering ashes after one&#8217;s death, it all starts and ends with rivers. While some see them as  religious spaces, others consider them recreational [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Rivers are not just seen as water bodies in India, they are considered religious. From taking holy dips (a sacred act of faith in Hinduism, also called snan) for spiritual purification to scattering ashes after one&#8217;s death, it all starts and ends with rivers. While some see them as  religious spaces, others consider them recreational spaces. For some, there is no life without rivers. But others have forgotten to see how deeply connected rivers are to everyday lives. With rivers like the Ganga (considered the holiest river in the country) drying up and urban Indian cities like Bengaluru facing water crises, Ranjan Panda, popularly known as the Waterman of Odisha, has spent more than three decades working on water conservation and climate advocacy closely with communities in Odisha, eastern India. “I want to be a living Earth citizen and not a dead Earth citizen,&#8221; Panda says. Panda&#8217;s work is especially important at a time when rural India faces groundwater depletion. India&#8217;s share of the world&#8217;s population is roughly 18%, while its share of renewable freshwater resources is only about 4%, a gap that increases the consequences of river degradation. Panda, a trained sociologist, has written widely on water, disasters and climate change-related mental health challenges affecting coastal communities in Odisha. He shares his insights on issues like coastal cities, displacement and the effects of climate change on communities. He is not just a researcher but has also been a journalist for a decade of his early life. He has been&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/rivers-are-not-just-water-bodies-interview-with-the-waterman-of-odisha/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/rivers-are-not-just-water-bodies-interview-with-the-waterman-of-odisha/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323831</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Like ‘climbing Kilimanjaro’ without help: Interview with a Limpopo conservationist</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/like-climbing-kilimanjaro-without-help-interview-with-a-limpopo-conservationist/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/like-climbing-kilimanjaro-without-help-interview-with-a-limpopo-conservationist/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 19:34:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bernard Chiguvare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15161815/Baobab-Adansonia-digitata-limpopo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323589</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Fellows, Forestry, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Landscape Restoration, Logging, Mongabay.org, Plants, Restoration, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Limpopo province, in the far north of South Africa, where much of the population lives in rural areas, environmental conservation is often not considered very often. Instead, the residents spend much of their time trying to make a living either from the forestry around them or from fishing in the Mutale and Limpopo rivers. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Limpopo province, in the far north of South Africa, where much of the population lives in rural areas, environmental conservation is often not considered very often. Instead, the residents spend much of their time trying to make a living either from the forestry around them or from fishing in the Mutale and Limpopo rivers. But for Mutale resident Tshilidzi Mulugana, degradation of the local environment is a concern, as it will affect the community and endanger biodiversity. Mulugana is the founder of the Niani Youth Development organization whose mission is to educate local youth. He wants to make a change in the community, to help residents conserve the environment. Mulugana is afraid the next generation may not live to know indigenous tree species — yet these trees serve as traditional medicine. He noted several threats to indigenous species such as baobab (Adansonia genus), leadwood (Combretum imberbe), mopani (Colophospermum mopane) and marula (Sclerocarya birrea): recurring floods, the movement of elephant herds from neighboring Zimbabwe or Mozambique through the area, and traders who cut the trees to sell as firewood. In 2019, Mulugana began a grassroots conservation initiative focused on planting indigenous trees. One day, an official from Kruger National Park (KNP) — a walkable distance from where he lives — came across Mulugana, attracted to his project. The official later invited a representative from the forestry and fisheries department, and in 2024, the two groups funded the project. Mulugana also hoped to recruit community members to help with the work,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/like-climbing-kilimanjaro-without-help-interview-with-a-limpopo-conservationist/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/like-climbing-kilimanjaro-without-help-interview-with-a-limpopo-conservationist/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323589</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>No corporation can buy the ‘right to destroy’: Interview with activist Raja Waseem Ahmed</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/no-corporation-can-buy-the-right-to-destroy-interview-with-activist-raja-waseem-ahmed/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/no-corporation-can-buy-the-right-to-destroy-interview-with-activist-raja-waseem-ahmed/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 19:09:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Muhammad Talal]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/15144500/Katas_Raj_Temples_Near_Katas_Village_Punjab_Pakistan_10-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323388</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Pakistan, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Business, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Culture, Development, Environment, Environmental Law, extractives, Fellows, Governance, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, and Mongabay.org]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For generations, the Kahoon Valley in Pakistan’s Chakwal district in northwestern Punjab has thrived as a rich ecological haven. Its fertile soil has yielded lush, historical loquat orchards, while the surrounding scrub forests have provided vital refuge to diverse wildlife, including local peacock populations and rare mountain deer species. At the center of this landscape [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For generations, the Kahoon Valley in Pakistan’s Chakwal district in northwestern Punjab has thrived as a rich ecological haven. Its fertile soil has yielded lush, historical loquat orchards, while the surrounding scrub forests have provided vital refuge to diverse wildlife, including local peacock populations and rare mountain deer species. At the center of this landscape sit the Katas Raj Temples, an ancient Hindu pilgrimage site anchoring the region’s profound spiritual heritage. However, the unchecked expansion of mega cement factories in the early 2000s transformed this natural sanctuary into a toxic industrial zone. Relentless industrial pumping reportedly caused the water table to crash from 36 meters (120 feet) to 122 m (402 ft). This extreme depletion withered the famous loquat trees and displaced native birds, also draining the sacred Katas Raj pond. Determined to save his homeland from erasure, Raja Waseem Ahmed, an environmental activist, brought together residents from neighboring villages to establish the Kahoon Protection Committee to defend the Kahoon Valley against the extreme ecological and social damages caused by heavy industrialization. Waseem utilized environmental legislation and led a forensic legal campaign that exposed the manipulated environmental approval documents eventually driving the Supreme Court of Pakistan to intervene on its own accord, resulting in a historic verdict that banned factories from draining local groundwater and slapped the industry with huge fines. In retaliation for his activism, Waseem was struck by unjustified anti-terrorism lawsuits, temporarily exiled from his native district by local authorities, and subjected to stress so harsh that it&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/no-corporation-can-buy-the-right-to-destroy-interview-with-activist-raja-waseem-ahmed/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/no-corporation-can-buy-the-right-to-destroy-interview-with-activist-raja-waseem-ahmed/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323388</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Community conservation under fire: Interview with Myanmar’s Clean Mountains founder</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/community-conservation-under-fire-interview-with-myanmars-clean-mountains-founder/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/community-conservation-under-fire-interview-with-myanmars-clean-mountains-founder/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 18:51:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Esther J]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/13175110/4-Local-community-in-Karenni-collect-garbage-2025-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323228</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Myanmar, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Degraded Lands, Environment, Fellows, forest degradation, Gender, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Mongabay.org, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Myanmar experienced a military coup in February 2021. In the aftermath, widespread repression by the military regime fueled the emergence of armed resistance movements across the country, pushing an ongoing conflict to its most intense level in decades. Starting from 2024, the military&#8217;s conscription law has further threatened the lives and futures of young people, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Myanmar experienced a military coup in February 2021. In the aftermath, widespread repression by the military regime fueled the emergence of armed resistance movements across the country, pushing an ongoing conflict to its most intense level in decades. Starting from 2024, the military&#8217;s conscription law has further threatened the lives and futures of young people, forcing thousands to leave the country. Meanwhile, environmental degradation continues to worsen. People are facing multiple crises, including environmental destruction caused by the overexploitation of natural resources, natural disasters, armed conflict, and human rights violations by the military regime. The democratic freedoms that used to exist during the five years of semi-civilian government before the coup have disappeared. Within this context, environmental activism and conservation efforts have widely faded. Yet, against this backdrop, the environmental group Clean Mountains was established in 2024 and is based in the conflict-affected states of Karenni (Kayah) and Karen (Kayin), areas controlled by resistance forces. The organization — funded through grants and donations — is a small, women-led team of four members between the ages of 22 and 28. The group&#8217;s founder, Ou Ou, 27, leads Clean Mountains in implementing community-based conservation in conflict-affected mountainous regions, focusing on waste management, water conservation, sustainable agriculture and forest conservation. Ou Ou, founder of Clean Mountains, attends an awareness session on waste management in Bago region, 2025. Image courtesy of Clean Mountains. Through both her previous organization and Clean Mountains, waste management systems have been established in more than 130 villages, including 15&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/community-conservation-under-fire-interview-with-myanmars-clean-mountains-founder/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/community-conservation-under-fire-interview-with-myanmars-clean-mountains-founder/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323228</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Waste, women &#038; environmental justice: Interview with Nubian activist Malasen Hamida</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/waste-women-environmental-justice-interview-with-nubian-activist-malasen-hamida/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/waste-women-environmental-justice-interview-with-nubian-activist-malasen-hamida/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2026 18:30:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ouma Elvine Tina]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/14131540/img5-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323283</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation leadership, Culture, Environment, Fellows, Gender, Interviews, Mongabay.org, NGOs, Social Justice, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Malasen Hamida, a Nubian Muslim woman from Kibera, in Nairobi, is an aspiring politician and an environmental activist with more than 25 years of advocacy behind her. Kibera, which was named by Nubians, meaning “land of forests,” is Kenya’s largest informal settlement and sits on land that the British colonial government allocated to the Nubian [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Malasen Hamida, a Nubian Muslim woman from Kibera, in Nairobi, is an aspiring politician and an environmental activist with more than 25 years of advocacy behind her. Kibera, which was named by Nubians, meaning “land of forests,” is Kenya’s largest informal settlement and sits on land that the British colonial government allocated to the Nubian community after their forebears served as soldiers in the King’s African Rifles. That allocation once covered 1,698 hectares (4,197 acres). Today, due to urbanization, forced evictions, land-grabbing and successive government projects, only 116 hectares (288 acres) remain under Nubian ownership, with no compensation ever offered. Through the Mazingira Women Initiative, Hamida has spent those years organizing around waste management, smart farming, land rights and women’s leadership. (“Mazingira” is a Swahili word for environment or nature.) She is also a three-time parliamentary candidate for the Kibera constituency and intends to run again in 2027. Hamida spoke with Mongabay on a cold Saturday afternoon, just as she was leaving the largest mosque in Kibera constituency. Her offices are a short walk away. As we moved toward them, several people stopped to greet her. She responded to each, “salaam aleikum,” paused to chat, and cupped a small girl’s face in her hands. She led me through a corrugated iron gate into a quiet compound of mud-walled, iron-roofed houses. The area was noticeably clean, with no stagnant water or litter in sight, unlike the typical sight in Kibera. We settled on the veranda of her home. Malasen Hamida addresses&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/waste-women-environmental-justice-interview-with-nubian-activist-malasen-hamida/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323283</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Humans’ relationship with nature: Interview with ethnobotanist Pavel Partha</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/humans-relationship-with-nature-interview-with-ethnobotanist-pavel-partha/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/humans-relationship-with-nature-interview-with-ethnobotanist-pavel-partha/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jul 2026 22:56:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Usraat Fahmidah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/13134413/Pavel-Partha-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323233</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biodiversity, Biology, Botany, Conservation, Culture, Development, Ecology, Environment, Fellows, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Mongabay.org, Plants, and Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Pavel Partha and I first crossed paths almost two years ago at a 2024 sit-in protest against the destruction of Panthakunja Park in Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital. In a makeshift tent that housed a few activists, his eccentricity stood out as the researcher made a detailed list of the plants, birds and species affected by [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Pavel Partha and I first crossed paths almost two years ago at a 2024 sit-in protest against the destruction of Panthakunja Park in Dhaka, the Bangladesh capital. In a makeshift tent that housed a few activists, his eccentricity stood out as the researcher made a detailed list of the plants, birds and species affected by the felling of trees. When I asked him why such documentation was necessary for a protest, he said the plants, trees and species that make up the ecosystem deserve recognition and justice too. Partha is a trained botanist. For almost two decades, he has researched Bangladesh&#8217;s plant diversity alongside the knowledge of Indigenous and local communities through ethnobotanical research (the study of human-plant relationships). But he is just as likely to be found at a protest advocating for the rights of Indigenous communities and the systems they depend on. He is currently the director of the  Bangladesh Resource Center for Indigenous Knowledge (BARCIK), where he has worked since 2003, and continues his research. For almost two decades, Pavel Partha has researched Bangladesh’s plant diversity alongside the knowledge of Indigenous and local communities through ethnobotanical research. Image by Usraat Fahmidah. In this interview with Mongabay, Partha reflects on his philosophies of research and activism, shares why ecological justice matters and expounds on how scientific research can support Indigenous communities facing environmental destruction. This interview has been edited for length and clarity and has been translated from Bangla. Mongabay: Where does this begin for you? Can you&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/humans-relationship-with-nature-interview-with-ethnobotanist-pavel-partha/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/humans-relationship-with-nature-interview-with-ethnobotanist-pavel-partha/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323233</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Restoring Kashmir’s lakes one community at a time: Interview with Manzoor Ahmad Wangnoo</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/restoring-kashmirs-lakes-one-community-at-a-time-interview-with-manzoor-ahmad-wangnoo/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/restoring-kashmirs-lakes-one-community-at-a-time-interview-with-manzoor-ahmad-wangnoo/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jul 2026 20:40:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hashim Quraishi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/10173913/Photo-1.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323118</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Environment, Fellows, Freshwater, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Lakes, Mongabay.org, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The lakes and wetlands of Kashmir in northwestern India have long sustained the valley&#8217;s biodiversity, agriculture, tourism and water security. But over recent decades, these freshwater ecosystems have come under increasing pressure from pollution, encroachment and rapid urbanization. A recent government audit found that nearly half (315 of the 697) of lakes recorded across Jammu [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The lakes and wetlands of Kashmir in northwestern India have long sustained the valley&#8217;s biodiversity, agriculture, tourism and water security. But over recent decades, these freshwater ecosystems have come under increasing pressure from pollution, encroachment and rapid urbanization. A recent government audit found that nearly half (315 of the 697) of lakes recorded across Jammu and Kashmir have disappeared, while another 203 have shrunk, raising concerns about the region&#8217;s ecological health and long-term water security. Against this backdrop, Manzoor Ahmad Wangnoo has spent more than two decades trying to reverse the decline of Kashmir&#8217;s freshwater ecosystem. The businessman-turned-conservationist has become one of the leading voices for protecting Kashmir&#8217;s lakes, wetlands and springs. Through the nonprofit Nigeen Lake Conservation Organisation (NLCO) and its flagship Mission Ehsaas, he has helped mobilize residents, volunteers and government agencies around the restoration of degraded water bodies, including the Khushalsar-Gilsar wetland system, two interconnected urban lakes in the heart of Srinagar. Conservation is not just about cleaning lakes for Wangnoo. It&#8217;s the reestablishment of a relationship between individuals and nature, a relationship he describes as Ehsaas, a word in Urdu and Kashmiri meaning &#8220;awareness&#8221; or &#8220;realization.&#8221; Nigeen Lake Conservation Organisation team visit to a lake. Image courtesy of NLCO. During an in-person interview with Mongabay, Manzoor Ahmad Wangnoo discussed his conservation journey, the significance of wetlands, the challenges facing these ecosystems such as pollution and encroachment, and his optimism for the future of these wetlands as a result of community stewardship. The following interview conducted in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/restoring-kashmirs-lakes-one-community-at-a-time-interview-with-manzoor-ahmad-wangnoo/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/restoring-kashmirs-lakes-one-community-at-a-time-interview-with-manzoor-ahmad-wangnoo/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323118</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Conserving Sierra Leone’s western chimpanzees: Interview with Tacugama’s Willie Tucker</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/conserving-sierra-leones-western-chimpanzees-interview-with-tacugamas-willie-tucker/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/conserving-sierra-leones-western-chimpanzees-interview-with-tacugamas-willie-tucker/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jul 2026 19:24:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Patricia Sia Ngevao]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/10170639/Photo-30-06-2026-17-59-04-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323105</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Sierra Leone, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Chimpanzees, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Fellows, Great Apes, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Mammals, Mongabay.org, Primates, Wildlife, Wildlife Rehabilitation, and Wildlife Rescues]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Sierra Leone, the critically endangered western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) faces growing threats from habitat loss, deforestation, illegal wildlife trade and expanding human activity. For the past 30 years, Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary has worked to rescue, rehabilitate and protect chimpanzees affected by these challenges. Few people have witnessed the sanctuary’s journey as closely as [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Sierra Leone, the critically endangered western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) faces growing threats from habitat loss, deforestation, illegal wildlife trade and expanding human activity. For the past 30 years, Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary has worked to rescue, rehabilitate and protect chimpanzees affected by these challenges. Few people have witnessed the sanctuary’s journey as closely as Willie Tucker, the conservancy’s camp supervisor, popularly known as “Pa Willie.” His conservation career began in 1990 when he studied wildlife management in Tanzania before joining Sierra Leone&#8217;s Wildlife Division. It was there that he met Bala Amarasekaran, Tacugama’s founder, who was caring for rescued chimpanzees and seeking to establish a rehabilitation center. Pa Willie was among the small team that helped turn that vision into reality. After identifying a suitable forest reserve outside Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, and securing support from the European Union, Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary officially opened in October 1995. Today, as camp supervisor, Pa Willie remains a central figure in the sanctuary’s work. Over the years, he has helped rescue and care for hundreds of chimpanzees while witnessing the growing threats facing the species. His story reflects both a lifelong commitment to conservation and the remarkable growth of Sierra Leone&#8217;s leading chimpanzee sanctuary. Willie Tucker, Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary&#8217;s camp supervisor, popularly known as “Pa Willie.” Image by Patricia Sia Ngevao. Mongabay spoke with Pa Willie in June about his conservation journey, the early days of Tacugama and the challenges facing western chimpanzees in Sierra Leone. This interview has been edited for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/conserving-sierra-leones-western-chimpanzees-interview-with-tacugamas-willie-tucker/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323105</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Confronting culture to protect vultures: Interview with Nigeria’s Michael Williams</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/confronting-culture-to-protect-vultures-interview-with-nigerias-michael-williams/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/confronting-culture-to-protect-vultures-interview-with-nigerias-michael-williams/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jul 2026 15:09:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kingsley Charles]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/07181032/Hooded_vulture_landing_on_its_roost-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322791</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Culture, Endangered Species, Environment, Fellows, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Mongabay.org, Vultures, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Known for their unique ability to polish off animal carcasses and minimize the potential for disease outbreaks, vultures are one of the most endangered bird groups on the planet today.  Around many parts of West Africa, especially Nigeria, their populations have plummeted, thanks largely to commercial poaching and traditional beliefs that prize vulture parts as [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Known for their unique ability to polish off animal carcasses and minimize the potential for disease outbreaks, vultures are one of the most endangered bird groups on the planet today.  Around many parts of West Africa, especially Nigeria, their populations have plummeted, thanks largely to commercial poaching and traditional beliefs that prize vulture parts as vital ingredients for traditional medicine. Most of the historic resident species have been locally extirpated — and those remaining are declining sharply too. Ornithologist Michael Manja Williams is no stranger to this decline in Nigeria’s wild vulture population. Growing up in Plateau State, Middle Belt Nigeria, Williams typically saw committees of vultures perched on rooftops in his community. “All of a sudden, we no longer saw them again,” he said. This disappearance would pique his curiosity, leading him on to many different research surveys across Nigerian states and eventually inspiring a lifelong career in vulture conservation. A Ph.D. student at Nigeria’s Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Williams is currently the coordinator for endangered species conservation at Biota Conservation Hub Foundation, a nonprofit where he leads research on endangered bird species and wildlife animals. In a recent Zoom interview with Mongabay, Williams shared insights from his countrywide field studies, the present shift in the perception of vultures among younger generations, and why policy reforms and community-based conservation are essential in offsetting Nigeria’s diminished vulture numbers. Michael Manja Williams looking through his camera on a field trip. Image courtesy of Michael Manja Williams. This interview has been lightly&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/confronting-culture-to-protect-vultures-interview-with-nigerias-michael-williams/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/confronting-culture-to-protect-vultures-interview-with-nigerias-michael-williams/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322791</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>African environment programs still try to fill funding gap since USAID freeze</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/african-environment-programs-still-try-to-fill-funding-gap-since-usaid-freeze/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/african-environment-programs-still-try-to-fill-funding-gap-since-usaid-freeze/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Dec 2025 18:30:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fanta Mabo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/11091839/ivory-stacking-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311086</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Change, Climate Change Denial, Climate Justice, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Fellows, Finance, Funding, Governance, Impact Of Climate Change, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nearly a year after U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze U.S. development aid, USAID has permanently closed its offices in several African countries. Behind this move lies a huge collapse in climate financing, threatening dozens of ongoing environmental initiatives. Experts and observers are increasingly concerned about a funding vacuum that neither Europe nor billionaire [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nearly a year after U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to freeze U.S. development aid, USAID has permanently closed its offices in several African countries. Behind this move lies a huge collapse in climate financing, threatening dozens of ongoing environmental initiatives. Experts and observers are increasingly concerned about a funding vacuum that neither Europe nor billionaire philanthropists seem ready to fill. Originally announced as a temporary 90-day suspension, the shutdown of USAID (United States Agency for International Development) programs now appears to be a permanent rupture in U.S.-Africa cooperation. Since April 20, the expiration date of Trump’s moratorium, have been notified of a total halt in funding. focused on energy transition and climate resilience have even been reassigned to the U.S. Department of State, which has stated it will only continue them if they are deemed essential to saving human lives, a former USAID employee, who asked to remain anonymous for political reasons, told Mongabay during an interview in Cameroon. In this context, USAID offices have shut down, and funding for projects related to biodiversity, conservation and anti-desertification efforts and have stopped in many African countries. This sudden disengagement comes at a time when the continent is already struggling with a major green finance deficit. Morris Wamah, the director for the Liberian Initiative for Development Services, who worked implementing USAID funding in Liberian land reform, looks at a local map in June, amid global cuts to USAID funding. Image by AP Photo/Annie Risemberg. A continent neglected amid climate emergency Africa receives&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/african-environment-programs-still-try-to-fill-funding-gap-since-usaid-freeze/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/african-environment-programs-still-try-to-fill-funding-gap-since-usaid-freeze/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311086</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>What was — and the uncertainty of what will be: Youth voices from COP30</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/what-was-and-the-uncertainty-of-what-will-be-youth-voices-from-cop30/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/what-was-and-the-uncertainty-of-what-will-be-youth-voices-from-cop30/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Dec 2025 15:39:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda Biasoli]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/04123729/imgonline-com-ua-FrameBlurred-dmtUitJx5C1Z8-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310595</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Fellows, Governance, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[There is a certain delay in nature — so says a metaphor that refers to the natural time of environments in responding to human actions. It attempts to explain that often, positive or negative environmental impacts are not necessarily immediately visible. The climate crisis we are experiencing today is a consequence of past choices. (Scientists [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[There is a certain delay in nature — so says a metaphor that refers to the natural time of environments in responding to human actions. It attempts to explain that often, positive or negative environmental impacts are not necessarily immediately visible. The climate crisis we are experiencing today is a consequence of past choices. (Scientists call this “climate lag,” the time between when greenhouse gas emissions are released and when climate change effects occur — up to 20 or 30 years.) The same will apply to the future: The world of the coming years is being built now. And representatives of the generation that will live with the effects of today&#8217;s choices — young people — are participating in this construction. Youth from around the world involved in environmental and climate causes gathered in November in Belém, a city in the Brazilian Amazon, to participate in COP30, the Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. Each was in Brazil to observe and contribute to the negotiations and decisions that will directly affect their future. These young people hailed from countries in the Global South and North. They were of different ages and with diverse experiences, but they shared a common desire: to ensure that the world will be a livable and sustainable place in the coming years. Unlike today. “Today we have our city called Port-Gentil, our economic capital, which is threatened with disappearing within 50 years according to some experts because it is being&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/what-was-and-the-uncertainty-of-what-will-be-youth-voices-from-cop30/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310595</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Healthy rivers, healthy people: A Brazil project links human &#038; ecosystem well-being</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/healthy-rivers-healthy-people-a-brazil-project-links-human-ecosystem-well-being/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/healthy-rivers-healthy-people-a-brazil-project-links-human-ecosystem-well-being/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2025 18:44:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda Biasoli]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/06122431/12-Encontro-do-Rio-das-Velhas-com-o-Sao-Francisco-na-Barra-do-Guaicui.-Foto-Leo-Boi-CBH-Velhas-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308980</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Ecosystems, Fellows, Fish, Freshwater, Health, Mongabay.org, Pollution, Rivers, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Some 30 years ago, Apolo Heringer, a Brazilian public health doctor, was participating in a night fishing trip with residents of the community Raiz, in southeastern Brazil. That night, the fish were being caught with harpoons, and to ensure visibility, the fishers used a spotlight that illuminated the entire river. When the light first reflected [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Some 30 years ago, Apolo Heringer, a Brazilian public health doctor, was participating in a night fishing trip with residents of the community Raiz, in southeastern Brazil. That night, the fish were being caught with harpoons, and to ensure visibility, the fishers used a spotlight that illuminated the entire river. When the light first reflected what was underwater, Heringer saw what would define the next chapters of his career as a doctor: There were thousands of fish. “It was as if it were a joy to see all those fish in the clean river,” he tells Mongabay in a video call. “That&#8217;s what health is.” In addition to being a doctor, Heringer is also a writer and a professor. He taught at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) School of Medicine for 33 years and, during his time at the university, conceived the Manuelzão Project, rooted in his realizations about fish and rivers — and health. Officially founded in 1997 as a university extension project of the UFMG medical course, today Manuelzão is an ongoing, multi- and interdisciplinary project, with the participation of students, professors and researchers from different fields such as biology, geography and communication.  The project bases its actions on the concept of collective health and understands that, just as there are no fish without rivers, there is no human health without healthy ecosystems. “Collective health is ecology. It is the balance of ecosystems. So health is a product of an ecosystem. Medical care is not health.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/healthy-rivers-healthy-people-a-brazil-project-links-human-ecosystem-well-being/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/healthy-rivers-healthy-people-a-brazil-project-links-human-ecosystem-well-being/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308980</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Journalism is failing to report on environmental leaders&#8217; fights (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/journalism-is-failing-to-report-on-environmental-leaders-fights-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/journalism-is-failing-to-report-on-environmental-leaders-fights-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Nov 2025 18:46:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manuel Fonseca]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/05103557/Colombia-climate-activist-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308854</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Letters to the Future]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Conflict, Conservation, Environment, Fellows, Journalism, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#160; Protecting the jungle “justifies all the struggles. … what’s the value of your life if you have nothing to die for?” Ángela Maldonado, Whitley Award winner and director of the NGO Fundación Entropika, said to me once during an interview. Her answer got tattooed in my mind and soul. For years, I have met [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In this series, Our Letters to the Future, the sixth cohort of Mongabay’s Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellows share their views on environmental journalism, conservation and the future for their generation, amid multiple planetary crises. Each commentary is a personal reflection, based on individual fellows’ experiences in their home communities and the insights gained through the past six months of the fellowship. The series spans the Global South — Malaysia, India, Colombia, Brazil, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo — showcasing a broad diversity of ideas and the common ground these young environmental journalists share as they embark on their careers. &nbsp; Protecting the jungle “justifies all the struggles. … what’s the value of your life if you have nothing to die for?” Ángela Maldonado, Whitley Award winner and director of the NGO Fundación Entropika, said to me once during an interview. Her answer got tattooed in my mind and soul. For years, I have met all sorts of activists, environmentalists and social leaders, and I always wondered if they felt the same way as Maldonado about protecting their territories and values. It is not something you usually ask, but I wish I had. What are the stories of the people who oppose the destruction of their water sources, land, forests and homes, to the point that their lives are being taken away from them? In countries of Latin America such as Colombia, Brazil and Mexico, the number of assassinations and disappearances of environmentalists is out of control.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/journalism-is-failing-to-report-on-environmental-leaders-fights-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/journalism-is-failing-to-report-on-environmental-leaders-fights-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308854</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Youth, hope &#038; the role of environmental journalism in building a better future (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/youth-hope-the-role-of-environmental-journalism-in-building-a-better-future-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/youth-hope-the-role-of-environmental-journalism-in-building-a-better-future-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Nov 2025 17:49:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda Biasoli]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/04105815/fb5bfce2-df5d-4a98-a5a5-6d967a1f0e67-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308781</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Letters to the Future]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fellows, Global Environmental Crisis, and Journalism]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#160; Perhaps it is something inherent to youth, but I am not yet ready to throw in the towel. I admit it: I want the real possibility of dreaming, imagining and building another future for those who will come after me. I want to learn to flow like rivers and put down roots like forests. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In this series, Our Letters to the Future, the sixth cohort of Mongabay’s Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellows share their views on environmental journalism, conservation and the future for their generation, amid multiple planetary crises. Each commentary is a personal reflection, based on individual fellows’ experiences in their home communities and the insights gained through the past six months of the fellowship. The series spans the Global South — Malaysia, India, Colombia, Brazil, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo — showcasing a broad diversity of ideas and the common ground these young environmental journalists share as they embark on their careers. &nbsp; Perhaps it is something inherent to youth, but I am not yet ready to throw in the towel. I admit it: I want the real possibility of dreaming, imagining and building another future for those who will come after me. I want to learn to flow like rivers and put down roots like forests. To live in community like bees and rest in solitude like bears. I want to keep alive the narratives of connection with nature and respect for all other beings that inhabit this planet. But I can&#8217;t do it alone. That&#8217;s why I&#8217;m so happy when I have the opportunity to share ideas with others who also live on this planet. In September, I participated for the first time in an event as a speaker, holding the microphone in one hand and a glass of water in the other. With the help of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/youth-hope-the-role-of-environmental-journalism-in-building-a-better-future-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/youth-hope-the-role-of-environmental-journalism-in-building-a-better-future-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308781</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How to clean solar panels in arid areas? Waterless systems could improve efficiency</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/how-to-clean-solar-panels-in-arid-areas-waterless-systems-could-improve-efficiency/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/how-to-clean-solar-panels-in-arid-areas-waterless-systems-could-improve-efficiency/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Oct 2025 16:41:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Samuel Ogunsona]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/24125511/Yurt_in_Gobi_Desert-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308253</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Clean Energy, Deserts, Energy, Energy Efficiency, Environment, Fellows, Freshwater, Global Environmental Crisis, Renewable Energy, Solar Power, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As the world grapples with the challenges of meeting rising electricity demand, particularly in developing countries, solar energy has emerged as a beacon of hope. In sub-Saharan Africa, where energy poverty is a persistent challenge, the potential for solar energy is vast. Monocrystalline photovoltaic (PV) panels have become a popular choice for solar energy generation [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As the world grapples with the challenges of meeting rising electricity demand, particularly in developing countries, solar energy has emerged as a beacon of hope. In sub-Saharan Africa, where energy poverty is a persistent challenge, the potential for solar energy is vast. Monocrystalline photovoltaic (PV) panels have become a popular choice for solar energy generation in the region. These panels convert sunlight into electrical energy, providing a clean and renewable source of power. However, efficiency is affected by the harsh environmental conditions in arid regions. One of the major challenges facing solar panels is the accumulation of dust, bird droppings and other contaminants on the panel surface. Research has shown that dust accumulation can significantly reduce a solar panel’s power output up to 56% over time, compared with clean modules. Research also shows that the method of cleaning affects solar panel efficiency, depending on whether soap or pressurized water are used. “Cleaning using water is an effective method but it needs pressurized water or a cleaning brush to help the water to remove sticky or muddy particles,” the authors of a 2013 Energy Conservation and Management study write. The study also notes that surfactants (soap) help maintain the panel’s efficiency. A Syrian man, Abdul Razzaq Al-Jenan, cleans solar panels on his house roof, in Damascus. Image by AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed. In many parts of the world, manual cleaning of solar panels using water, brushes and mild soap is a common practice, but it has downsides: It can be labor-intensive, and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/how-to-clean-solar-panels-in-arid-areas-waterless-systems-could-improve-efficiency/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308253</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Primatology goes high tech — from bioacoustics to drones &#038; AI</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/primatology-goes-high-tech-from-bioacoustics-to-drones-ai/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/primatology-goes-high-tech-from-bioacoustics-to-drones-ai/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Oct 2025 17:30:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manuel Fonseca]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/21084909/6-Ekspedisi-Murung-Raya_Joan-Prahara_BNF_IMG-3391-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307996</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Artificial Intelligence, Bioacoustics, cameras, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Drones, Endangered Species, Environment, Fellows, Forests, Monkeys, Primates, Technology, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Riding in a helicopter, Fabiano Melo, with the Federal University of Viçosa, Brazil, searched for the elusive northern muriqui (Brachyteles hypoxanthus), a large monkey in the northern Atlantic Forest of Brazil. Flying over evergreen canopies with trees as tall as buildings, the researchers tried to spot light brown monkeys moving between branches. Finally, after almost [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Riding in a helicopter, Fabiano Melo, with the Federal University of Viçosa, Brazil, searched for the elusive northern muriqui (Brachyteles hypoxanthus), a large monkey in the northern Atlantic Forest of Brazil. Flying over evergreen canopies with trees as tall as buildings, the researchers tried to spot light brown monkeys moving between branches. Finally, after almost one hour, they found one. Seeing the helicopter, the monkey started shaking the branches fiercely. It then tried to move out of sight, jumping from branch to branch as if doing parkour. At the same time, Melo took video of the monkey’s agile movements as it disappeared into the canopy. Even though the animal got away easily, the researchers now had an idea of where to look for them. “The problem is that they have very low densities &#8230; and if you go inside the forest and try to track animals [by] walking, it&#8217;s almost impossible to find them,” Melo told Mongabay. Primatologists — scientists who study nonhuman primates such as apes, monkeys and lemurs — once considered the northern muriqui among the world’s 25 most endangered primates. Habitat loss, isolated populations and hunting have made this elusive species critically endangered. If Melo wanted to find the muriquis to understand their distribution, he needed to improve his tactics fast. New technologies gave Melo a possible solution: fewer helicopters, more drones. In 2017, Melo started to build the “dronequi,” a customized drone with high-definition and thermal cameras, allowing him to find and follow the monkeys more&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/primatology-goes-high-tech-from-bioacoustics-to-drones-ai/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/primatology-goes-high-tech-from-bioacoustics-to-drones-ai/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307996</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>One after another, Pakistan endures successive climate disasters</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/one-after-another-pakistan-endures-successive-climate-disasters/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/one-after-another-pakistan-endures-successive-climate-disasters/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Oct 2025 15:38:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Waqas Alam Angaria]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/10080941/floods-in-pakistan-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307371</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Pakistan, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Conservation, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fellows, Flooding, Heatwave, Impact Of Climate Change, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On the morning of Aug. 15, a cloudburst that poured more than 150 millimeters (6 inches) of rain in one hour triggered a flash flood in the city of Buner, located in Pakistan’s northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. More than 300 people died after the torrents of boulders and mud washed away homes, hotels, restaurants and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On the morning of Aug. 15, a cloudburst that poured more than 150 millimeters (6 inches) of rain in one hour triggered a flash flood in the city of Buner, located in Pakistan’s northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. More than 300 people died after the torrents of boulders and mud washed away homes, hotels, restaurants and other infrastructure. “The flash flood came from the mountains. In my whole life living in Buner, I never saw any disaster like that. It was horrific,” Tariq Zaman, a resident, told Mongabay by phone. “My friend who was with me that day saw his house submerged under water. He lost 18 members of his family on a single day.” Torrential rain created havoc in other parts of the northern areas beyond Buner as well, as water flowed from the mountains to the downstream areas, destroying localities and neighborhoods. Climate change is impacting communities worldwide, but researchers say Pakistan is affected by two phenomena: a “compound” climate change effect, a term used by climate scientists to describe multiple climate hazards — such as drought, heat waves, torrential rains and wildfires — that occur simultaneously or in close succession; and also what’s called the “sequential” climate change phenomenon, in which a chain reaction can occur where one climate-related hazard triggers or intensifies a series of subsequent events. Villager Mateen Khan, second left, and his family members sit over the rubble of their damaged home following flooding in Buner district, Pakistan, in August. Image by AP Photo/Muhammad Sajjad.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/one-after-another-pakistan-endures-successive-climate-disasters/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307371</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Turning a stream into a river: Inside India’s Yettinaholé diversion project</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/turning-a-stream-into-a-river-inside-indias-yettinahole-diversion-project/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/turning-a-stream-into-a-river-inside-indias-yettinahole-diversion-project/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2025 16:49:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shradha Triveni]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/02133930/fisher-at-yettinahole-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=306921</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conflict, Dams, Development, Drinking Water, Ecosystems, Environment, Fellows, Fishing, Freshwater, Governance, Hydroelectric Power, Land Rights, Renewable Energy, Resource Conflict, Rivers, Tropics, Water, Water Pollution, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Daybreak is almost nonexistent during monsoons in Raxidi, a village perched in the thick of the Western Ghats, an Indian biodiversity hotspot. It is the 7 a.m. body clock that pushes most villagers out of slumber — to enter the accurate measure of the day’s rainfall in a log, a habit passed on by the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Daybreak is almost nonexistent during monsoons in Raxidi, a village perched in the thick of the Western Ghats, an Indian biodiversity hotspot. It is the 7 a.m. body clock that pushes most villagers out of slumber — to enter the accurate measure of the day’s rainfall in a log, a habit passed on by the British in coffee estates. There are, however, occasions where it dawns sooner when sharp-edged winds split trees into halves and bring them to a thud. Or gusts that constantly stab the windowpanes. In Raxidi, rain, as much as coffee, is a part and parcel of life, and livelihood. Mountain slopes are covered with coffee plantations, dotted with tall silver oak trees for shade. Men and women in gumboots hold sickles and hover around the coffee bush till dusk. Raingear is paramount for protection from water and leeches. Roads that snake like garland along the hills provide breathtaking views of greener mountains farther away, engulfed by thick, heavy clouds. One such mountain is Muru Kannu Gudda, or Three-Eyed Hill, more than 1,100 meters (3,900 feet) above mean sea level in Sakleshpur taluk (administrative division) in the heart of Karnataka’s Western Ghats, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Bengaluru, the capital city of the southern Indian state. “This is where the Yettinahalla is born,” said Prasad Raxidi, a writer, theater person and longtime resident of Raxidi, as he pointed to the longshot view of Muru Kannu Gudda from atop an amphitheater he built with the villagers. In&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/turning-a-stream-into-a-river-inside-indias-yettinahole-diversion-project/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-306921</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Malaysian small-scale farmers worry about rights under proposed seed law changes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/malaysian-small-scale-farmers-worry-about-rights-under-proposed-seed-law-changes/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/malaysian-small-scale-farmers-worry-about-rights-under-proposed-seed-law-changes/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Sep 2025 17:32:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lee Kwai Han]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/29055933/Mohd-Naim-Razak-explaining-different-coconut-varieties-have-different-shape-of-trunk-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=306664</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Malaysia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Community Development, Conflict, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Farming, Fellows, Food, Food Industry, Food Prices, food security, Industrial Agriculture, Resource Conflict, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is Part 1 of a two-part series on proposed changes to Malaysia’s seed laws. Part 2 reports more on Malaysia’s seed quality bill. On an August Sunday morning, a rice mill roars in a public park in the busy Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. Paddy farmer Azhar Hashim has brought it from his house in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is Part 1 of a two-part series on proposed changes to Malaysia’s seed laws. Part 2 reports more on Malaysia’s seed quality bill. On an August Sunday morning, a rice mill roars in a public park in the busy Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. Paddy farmer Azhar Hashim has brought it from his house in Perak state, 280 kilometers (175 miles) away, for the farmers’ carnival. Golden paddy turns into white rice as the machine grinds. At the carnival, farmers and NGOs give out free seeds and plant cuttings, sell saplings and food made from their harvest. Visitors guess plant names from seeds. Many leave with freshly milled rice. The carnival is part of the Malaysian Food Sovereignty Forum (FKMM) initiative to bring farmers and public members together to talk about seeds — something that’s been in the public eye recently. FKMM, a coalition of farmers, fishers, breeders, academics and professionals, is opposing a proposed law amendment to Malaysia’s Protection of New Plant Varieties (PNPV) Act, which, if implemented, critics say could hurt the rights of small farmers. The PNPV Act came into force in 2007. Under this act, a plant breeder can apply to the government for exclusive rights over a new plant variety. If the variety meets the criteria, the breeder is granted 15- to 25-year breeder’s rights. The granted rights are gazetted and added to a public list. While the act protects breeders’ rights, it exempts small farmers who farm less than 0.2 hectares of land (0.5&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/malaysian-small-scale-farmers-worry-about-rights-under-proposed-seed-law-changes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-306664</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Meet the DJs of nature, inspired by biodiversity</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/meet-the-djs-of-nature-inspired-by-biodiversity/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/meet-the-djs-of-nature-inspired-by-biodiversity/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Sep 2025 21:15:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manuel Fonseca]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/15155703/Tayta-Bird-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=306008</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Arts, Bioacoustics, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Fellows, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Rainforests, Technology, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nature is taking the stage. The sunset starts to fade on a cloudy summer day next to the Main River in an industrial neighborhood of Frankfurt, Germany. The main artist of the festival is an ecologist by day and DJ by night, Dominik Eulberg. Calm snare sounds mixed with a decaying beat like a ball [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nature is taking the stage. The sunset starts to fade on a cloudy summer day next to the Main River in an industrial neighborhood of Frankfurt, Germany. The main artist of the festival is an ecologist by day and DJ by night, Dominik Eulberg. Calm snare sounds mixed with a decaying beat like a ball bouncing freely against the floor fill in the atmosphere. Some people in the crowd recognize the pattern and start to cheer, raising their arms up to the sky as if a Mass is just about to begin. A man with sunglasses says to the person next to him: “Dude! It’s finally Dominik.” A tall man in a black shirt appears behind the music box. Behind his blond hair that looks like golden thin vines falling over his face, he smiles and raises both arms while the crowd cheers. He looks down at the console with lightning lanes and knobs that control the volume, tempo and sound effects. Listening through his headphones, he starts to turn knobs as if trying to unlock a safe; the tempo starts to speed up, ratcheting the intensity of the music until the safe opens up wide, releasing a beat drop. The energy is in the air while people dance and nod as if talking in a language that does not need words to be understood. Music and nature have had a happy, everlasting marriage. Whether as part of the creativity process or eventually by adding sounds that make up parts&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/meet-the-djs-of-nature-inspired-by-biodiversity/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/meet-the-djs-of-nature-inspired-by-biodiversity/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-306008</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Park guardians or destroyers? Study dissects 2 narratives of DRC’s Indigenous Batwa</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/park-guardians-or-destroyers-study-dissects-2-narratives-of-drcs-indigenous-batwa/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/park-guardians-or-destroyers-study-dissects-2-narratives-of-drcs-indigenous-batwa/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Sep 2025 19:05:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Blaise Kasereka Makuta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/11083545/1-Young-Grauers-Gorillas-in-Kahuzi-Biega-national-park-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305766</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, charcoal, Conflict, Conservation, Controversial, Fellows, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, National Parks, Population, Protected Areas, Rainforests, and Violence]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Long celebrated by some NGOs and Indigenous rights activists as the guardians of the forest, the Batwa of South Kivu had lived inside what is now Kahuzi-Biega National Park (KBNP) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) until the 20th century, when they were expelled by the Congolese government, at that time MPR (Popular Movement [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Long celebrated by some NGOs and Indigenous rights activists as the guardians of the forest, the Batwa of South Kivu had lived inside what is now Kahuzi-Biega National Park (KBNP) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) until the 20th century, when they were expelled by the Congolese government, at that time MPR (Popular Movement of Revolution), which demanded the creation of the park. As the park expanded into the mid-1970s, Batwa people were displaced from one location to another without their agreement or consent. According to their accounts and to those of researchers, evicted people suffered from a lack of support for their material needs, discrimination, social marginalization and poverty. “In October 2018, after multiple promises to provide them with land outside the park were broken … groups of Batwa started to return to the park’s highland sector,” write the authors of a recent study published in World Development. “Around 2,000 members of the Batwa community, including men, women and children, returned to the park over the following months.” “After we returned to the park, we relocated some of our former villages and began to rebuild our old houses, our churches, and prepare our former fields for cultivation,” Amos Bahiya Bikulo, a Batwa resident of Kalehe in South Kivu and secretary at the Center for Supporting People with Disabilities for Development, told Mongabay. In a forceful manner, Congolese authorities and park managers deployed military personnel to dislodge them from this land, deeply significant as the birthplace and burial ground&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/park-guardians-or-destroyers-study-dissects-2-narratives-of-drcs-indigenous-batwa/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305766</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How do we perceive biodiversity? We can see it &#038; hear it</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/how-do-we-perceive-biodiversity-we-can-see-it-hear-it/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/how-do-we-perceive-biodiversity-we-can-see-it-hear-it/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Sep 2025 16:54:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Blaise Kasereka Makuta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/04122951/Singing_in_the_Rain_16550311496-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305407</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Fellows, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the verdant and melodious depths of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where the songs of birds match the murmur of leaves, several Indigenous people affirm the results of research that emerged in July. Biodiversity scientists, intrigued by the human perception of nature, launched a study titled, “Perceived biodiversity: Is what we measure also [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the verdant and melodious depths of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where the songs of birds match the murmur of leaves, several Indigenous people affirm the results of research that emerged in July. Biodiversity scientists, intrigued by the human perception of nature, launched a study titled, “Perceived biodiversity: Is what we measure also what we see and hear?” The idea behind it was simple: In one phase, participants were asked to listen to sounds recorded in forests with varying levels of diversity, and in another phase, participants were shown images of natural environments. The goal? To find out what people perceive when they see or hear different levels of biodiversity and to what extent actual biodiversity and perceived biodiversity are consistent. Intriguing, isn’t it? To unravel this mystery, the researchers studied 48 participants in each group who were exposed to visual cues (57 photos taken in forests with varying levels of biodiversity) or audio cues (16 10-second recordings from natural environments) and then categorized the images and sounds based on the amount of biodiversity they perceived. Kevin Rozario, one of the authors, explained in a voice message to Mongabay: “We simply told them, ‘Look at these images, listen to these sounds. Tell us what you see and what you hear.’ And they began to compare freely, using their memories and experiences.” A forest in Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo. Community members living near Virunga say they are able to discern information about animals, time, weather and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/how-do-we-perceive-biodiversity-we-can-see-it-hear-it/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305407</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Green hydrogen development threatens wildlife in Chile</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/green-hydrogen-development-threatens-wildlife-in-chile/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/green-hydrogen-development-threatens-wildlife-in-chile/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Aug 2025 09:02:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manuel Fonseca]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/15171142/53691573799_41b200264f_6k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304393</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Chile, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Biodiversity, Business, Clean Energy, Conservation, Deserts, Ecosystems, Energy, Environment, Environmental Law, Fellows, Green, Greenwashing, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Politics, Renewable Energy, Solar Power, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Green hydrogen promoters tout it as the clean energy of the future. In 2020, Chile launched its National Green Hydrogen Strategy, looking to position the country as a leader in producing and exporting hydrogen by 2030 while reaching carbon neutrality. “Today we are taking a new step forward in producing clean energy, protecting nature and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Green hydrogen promoters tout it as the clean energy of the future. In 2020, Chile launched its National Green Hydrogen Strategy, looking to position the country as a leader in producing and exporting hydrogen by 2030 while reaching carbon neutrality. “Today we are taking a new step forward in producing clean energy, protecting nature and fighting climate change,” former President Sebastián Piñera said in 2021 at the moment Chile produced its first molecule of green hydrogen. Green hydrogen is a form of fuel produced using renewable energy sources (e.g., solar, wind) via water electrolysis, a chemical process that uses electricity to break the chemical bonds in water (H2O) and produce oxygen (O2) and hydrogen (H2) gas molecules. The industry sector sees this sort of hydrogen as a valuable tool that can help globally decarbonize or reduce the carbon emissions of mining, metal, chemical and fertilizer production, among others, which do not find another viable way of reducing their emissions. It has earned the nickname the “champagne of energies.” Detractors, however, note that despite being seen as a premium and versatile energy source, green hydrogen is highly expensive and inefficient. Most of the hydrogen produced worldwide is derived from natural gas, creating what is known as grey hydrogen, which releases significant volumes of CO2 into the atmosphere, contributing to the current climate crisis. Another alternative, blue hydrogen, is also produced from natural gas, while capturing CO2 and storing it underground. This can result in leaking high quantities of methane (CH4), a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/green-hydrogen-development-threatens-wildlife-in-chile/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304393</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A critical stopover for shorebirds awaits protection in Malaysia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/a-critical-stopover-for-shorebirds-awaits-protection-in-malaysia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/a-critical-stopover-for-shorebirds-awaits-protection-in-malaysia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Aug 2025 16:04:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lee Kwai Han]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/13143956/Spoon-billed-sandpiper-in-Tiaozini-China_Photo-by-Dongming-Li_202210151005153-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304221</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Malaysia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Fellows, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Mangroves, Migration, Protected Areas, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[TELUK AIR TAWAR, Malaysia — The tide is rising. On the Teluk Air Tawar-Kuala Muda coast (TAT-KM) of Penang state in Peninsular Malaysia, fishers are boating out to the sea for their morning catch. From afar, small brownish birds walk on the mudflat outside the mangrove-lined coast. When a boat gets closer, a flock of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[TELUK AIR TAWAR, Malaysia — The tide is rising. On the Teluk Air Tawar-Kuala Muda coast (TAT-KM) of Penang state in Peninsular Malaysia, fishers are boating out to the sea for their morning catch. From afar, small brownish birds walk on the mudflat outside the mangrove-lined coast. When a boat gets closer, a flock of about 100 birds soars at once, swirls in unison, and lands farther away. It’s early July when Mongabay visits, the quieter time of the year in the TAT-KM mudflat. Come December, this mudflat will turn into a crowded pit stop for the birds. More than 12,000 migratory shorebirds — common redshanks (Tringa totanus), bar-tailed godwits (Limosa lapponica), Asian dowitchers (Limnodromus semipalmatus) — from Siberia and Alaska, about 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles) away, will rest and feed here. Some birds will winter in TAT-KM, while others will stay long enough to refuel and continue their 20,000-km (12,400-mi) flight to Australia and New Zealand. Along this route, or flyway, they rely on a network of coastal wetlands like TAT-KM to support their journey. Among the birds that once stopped here is the critically endangered spoon-billed sandpiper (Calidris pygmaea), a small shorebird with a unique spatula-shaped bill. Of all eight global flyways, it flies only on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF), a migration route spanning 22 countries in Siberia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Spoon-billed sandpipers in Tiaozini, China. Image courtesy of Dongming Li. However, this sandpiper has been so severely impacted by habitat loss,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/a-critical-stopover-for-shorebirds-awaits-protection-in-malaysia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304221</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Culture &#038; nature are one’: Interview with Mudja Chief Bitini Ndiyanabo Kanane</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/culture-nature-are-one-interview-with-mudja-chief-bitini-ndiyanabo-kanane/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/culture-nature-are-one-interview-with-mudja-chief-bitini-ndiyanabo-kanane/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Jun 2025 18:24:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Blaise Kasereka Makuta]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/13064626/Virunga_Mountain_Gorilla_1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300733</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Fellows, Forests, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, National Parks, Traditional Knowledge, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Virunga is Africa’s first national park, created by Belgian royal decree in 1925. Named for the mountains that straddle the borders between modern-day Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Rwanda, the park spans 790,000 hectares (almost 2 million acres). It’s a biodiversity hotspot home to endangered and vulnerable wildlife species — lions (Panthera leo), hippopotamuses [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Virunga is Africa’s first national park, created by Belgian royal decree in 1925. Named for the mountains that straddle the borders between modern-day Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Rwanda, the park spans 790,000 hectares (almost 2 million acres). It’s a biodiversity hotspot home to endangered and vulnerable wildlife species — lions (Panthera leo), hippopotamuses (Hippopotamus amphibius), mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei), chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), okapis (Okapia johnstoni) and more. It is also the ancestral home of Indigenous peoples who, though the course of decades, have been forcibly evicted from these lands, dating back to colonial times. In 1994, Virunga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger due to the war in neighboring Rwanda and the massive influx of refugees from that country. This led to significant deforestation and poaching and the presence of armed militias. Today, rebel groups have infiltrated the area, as decades-old conflicts wage on. But dozens of Indigenous communities continue to live just inside and near the park as well. Currently, to the south, Virunga is bordered by a chiefdom called Bakumu, which includes a total of 58 villages in seven distinct groupings. One of those groupings is called Mudja, which currently has eight villages of 4,862 inhabitants who trace their origins to two villages, called Kishari and Toro, in the center of the park. According to the Mudja chief, the people lived there until they were expelled more than half a century ago. Mudja Chief&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/culture-nature-are-one-interview-with-mudja-chief-bitini-ndiyanabo-kanane/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300733</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Breathe … that&#8217;s nature within you’: Interview with Indigenous activist Taily Terena</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/breathe-thats-nature-within-you-interview-with-indigenous-activist-taily-terena/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/breathe-thats-nature-within-you-interview-with-indigenous-activist-taily-terena/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jun 2025 16:13:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda Biasoli]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/10231946/Taily-e1749631298731-768x457.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300509</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Fellows, Gender, and Indigenous Peoples]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Growing up, Taily Terena lived between two worlds: Brazil’s capital, Brasília, where she was born, and the Taunay Ipegue Indigenous Territory, more specifically in the Bananal community, located in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, in the Brazilian wetlands. Even spending most of her time in Brasília, Taily never stopped returning to the Indigenous [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Growing up, Taily Terena lived between two worlds: Brazil’s capital, Brasília, where she was born, and the Taunay Ipegue Indigenous Territory, more specifically in the Bananal community, located in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, in the Brazilian wetlands. Even spending most of her time in Brasília, Taily never stopped returning to the Indigenous land, which has always kept her connected to her Indigenous roots. She is Xané, better known as Terena, an ethnic group that lives mainly in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul but is also present in areas of the states of Mato Grosso and São Paulo. “A friend of mine says that we could be born far from the Indigenous territory, but our spirit calls us back. They call us to fight, and I feel this very strongly inside me, even being born in the city,” Taily says. She was born in 1993, the daughter of Emília Dulce Florentino, an environmental activist, and Marcos Terena, one of the pioneers of the country’s Indigenous movement. Today, she follows in the footsteps of her ancestors as a young activist whose main topics of work are human rights, gender issues, youth and environmental protection. She is internationally recognized for her work, and in 2025, she became the first-ever Brazilian Indigenous person to receive the Global Citizen Prize, which celebrates activists worldwide. Taily holds a degree in anthropology and in social sciences from the University of Brasília and today works at the International Indian Treaty Council, an organization&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/breathe-thats-nature-within-you-interview-with-indigenous-activist-taily-terena/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300509</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Uniting plantations to save Bornean elephants: Interview with Farina Othman</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/uniting-plantations-to-save-bornean-elephants-interview-with-farina-othman/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/uniting-plantations-to-save-bornean-elephants-interview-with-farina-othman/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jun 2025 14:34:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lee Kwai Han]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/09170118/borneo-elephants-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300428</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Malaysia, Sabah, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Deforestation, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environment, Fellows, Forests, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Human-wildlife Conflict, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Palm Oil, Plantations, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2006, Farina Othman heard a loud boom when she was observing a group of Bornean elephants in a forest in the Lower Kinabatangan area, one of the largest floodplains in Malaysia. She recognized that it was the sound from a bamboo cannon. It’s a type of homemade firecracker locals use to chase elephants away. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2006, Farina Othman heard a loud boom when she was observing a group of Bornean elephants in a forest in the Lower Kinabatangan area, one of the largest floodplains in Malaysia. She recognized that it was the sound from a bamboo cannon. It’s a type of homemade firecracker locals use to chase elephants away. At that time, she had just started her master’s studies, focusing on Bornean elephants (Elephas maximus borneensis). She felt humans were being unfair to the elephants. Determined to help, she decided to step in to be their voice. Today, only about 1,000 Bornean elephants remain in the wild, mainly in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. In 2024, the species was listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The plight of the Bornean elephants began in the 1970s. Between 1973 and 2010, Sabah lost more than 52% of its lowland forest (below 500 meters, or 1,640 feet, above sea level) to logging. Many of these lands were later converted into oil palm plantations. For the Bornean elephants, more than half of their ideal habitat is gone. Othman, now in her early 40s, has become a Bornean elephant conservationist and teaches at Universiti Malaysia Sabah. She told Mongabay that habitat loss and fragmentation fuel human-elephant conflict. “They don&#8217;t want to live or share the landscape with the elephants,” Othman said of some local communities. Despite being protected by law, the elephants face retaliatory killings by gun or poison. Farina Othman, a Bornean elephant conservationist who&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/uniting-plantations-to-save-bornean-elephants-interview-with-farina-othman/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300428</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Making nature a healing place: Interview with Colombia&#8217;s Enilda Jiménez</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/making-nature-a-healing-place-interview-with-colombias-enilda-jimenez/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/making-nature-a-healing-place-interview-with-colombias-enilda-jimenez/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jun 2025 13:04:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manuel Fonseca]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/09184105/MRB0799-e1749496315465-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300459</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Ecosystems, Fellows, and Indigenous Peoples]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Gulf of Urabá, on the northwestern coast of Colombia, is a territory living in a constant social, economic and environmental struggle for existence. Biologically, Urabá is a complex biodiversity hotspot where the Pacific and Caribbean fuse into one. The migration flow between Central and South America and the Caribbean&#8217;s unique ecosystems, such as mangroves, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Gulf of Urabá, on the northwestern coast of Colombia, is a territory living in a constant social, economic and environmental struggle for existence. Biologically, Urabá is a complex biodiversity hotspot where the Pacific and Caribbean fuse into one. The migration flow between Central and South America and the Caribbean&#8217;s unique ecosystems, such as mangroves, estuaries, wetlands and rainforests, hosts an immense variety of fauna and flora threatened by accelerated agricultural expansion, illicit crops, fires and the mega construction of a $672 million port, Puerto Antioquia. Plantations such as the banana industry extend to 46,500 hectares, producing around 64 million boxes of bananas annually, making it the base economy of the region and Colombia’s banana capital. According to the Colombian Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, around 80% is sent to the European Union, surpassing $1 billion globally in export revenue in 2024. It’s an industry also built on a para-economy relationship among banana plantation owners, paramilitary groups, drug traffickers, cattle ranchers and the Colombian military forces. The lack of Colombian government presence in decades of conflict with guerrillas left the perfect conditions for violence to thrive, leaving the region in a never-ending story of violence and forced displacement from different actors such as the guerrillas, paramilitaries, military forces and, currently, criminal organizations such as the Clan del Golfo. Urabá has suffered extortions, kidnappings, land dispossessions and drug trafficking, leaving an aftermath of more than 100 massacres. In 1995, a time when Urabá faced violence from different armed groups like&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/making-nature-a-healing-place-interview-with-colombias-enilda-jimenez/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/making-nature-a-healing-place-interview-with-colombias-enilda-jimenez/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300459</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Yaoundé, fecal sludge flows through ‘Caca Junction’ streets</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/in-yaounde-fecal-sludge-flows-through-caca-junction-streets/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/in-yaounde-fecal-sludge-flows-through-caca-junction-streets/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jun 2025 21:39:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fanta Mabo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/09130925/Biyem-Assi-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300403</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Cameroon, and Central Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities, Development, Environment, Environmental Law, Fellows, Health, Public Health, Social Justice, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Major streets of Yaoundé, the political capital of Cameroon, have turned into open sewers. Every day, hundreds of cubic meters of liquid waste — enough to fill more than an Olympic-sized swimming pool each a week — overwhelm the city&#8217;s only fecal sludge treatment plant. That plant exceeds its capacity by 100% almost every day. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Major streets of Yaoundé, the political capital of Cameroon, have turned into open sewers. Every day, hundreds of cubic meters of liquid waste — enough to fill more than an Olympic-sized swimming pool each a week — overwhelm the city&#8217;s only fecal sludge treatment plant. That plant exceeds its capacity by 100% almost every day. As a result, sewers clog, streets turn into foul-smelling rivers and residents suffocate from unbearable odors that have become part of daily life. In some neighborhoods, excessive human waste spills have turned into nightmares. Faced with this sanitary crisis, the city council is attempting to respond with promises of a new infrastructure — but the situation continues to deteriorate. Stepping through excrement and enduring its stench: this is the reality for residents of Biyem-Assi, one of the most populous neighborhoods, with nearly 49,000 inhabitants, not far from the city center. People are forced to walk through sewers overflown with black, viscous, foul-smelling liquids dribbling in the streets. Pedestrians pinch their noses due to the smell. A junction in this neighborhood has even earned the nickname “Carrefour Caca,” meaning “Excrement Junction.” These relentless waste spills present health risks to residents, as fecal sludge contaminates the environment and nearby drinking water sources, which originally hails from the public water utility, known as CAMWATER. Hence, there are increasing the risks of epidemics in an already vulnerable country like Cameroon. Nadine Pascaline Koagne, a call-box operator at Carrefour Caca, says she is compelled to wear a face mask all&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/in-yaounde-fecal-sludge-flows-through-caca-junction-streets/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/in-yaounde-fecal-sludge-flows-through-caca-junction-streets/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300403</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How trafficking &#038; misconceptions threaten Nigeria&#8217;s wildlife: Q&#038;A with Dr. Mark Ofua</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/how-trafficking-misconceptions-threaten-nigerias-wildlife-qa-with-dr-mark-ofua/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/how-trafficking-misconceptions-threaten-nigerias-wildlife-qa-with-dr-mark-ofua/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jun 2025 17:17:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Samuel Ogunsona]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/06155148/1000025286-e1749226419735-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300336</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Fellows, Pangolins, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a significant blow to wildlife trafficking, Nigerian authorities recently seized 2 metric tons of pangolin scales, worth tens of thousands of dollars on the black market, and arrested a suspect believed to be a key broker, according to a recent Mongabay report. This operation, carried out by the Nigeria Customs Service with intelligence from [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In a significant blow to wildlife trafficking, Nigerian authorities recently seized 2 metric tons of pangolin scales, worth tens of thousands of dollars on the black market, and arrested a suspect believed to be a key broker, according to a recent Mongabay report. This operation, carried out by the Nigeria Customs Service with intelligence from the Wildlife Justice Commission, highlights the country&#8217;s efforts to combat transnational wildlife trafficking networks, a growing concern in Nigeria, with many endangered species being hunted and traded for bushmeat or sold on the black market. Pangolins are listed as threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, with all eight species facing significant conservation challenges due to habitat loss, poaching and trade. In Nigeria, pangolins are protected under Schedule 1 of the Endangered Species (Control of International Trade and Traffic) Decree No. 11 (1985). Current population numbers are not readily available, though reports suggest their numbers are declining. Unfortunately, misconceptions and a lack of awareness about the importance of conservation have exacerbated the problem, contributing to the decline of not just pangolins, but many species in Nigeria. In this interview, Mongabay spoke with Dr. Mark Ofua, a dedicated Nigerian wildlife conservationist, popularly known as the “Snake Man of Lagos.” Interestingly, Ofua&#8217;s choice to study veterinary medicine defies Nigeria&#8217;s societal norms, in which parents often prioritize human medicine, engineering or nursing and students studying in unconventional fields could be made to feel shameful for their pursuits. Ofua shares his insights on these issues and his efforts&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/how-trafficking-misconceptions-threaten-nigerias-wildlife-qa-with-dr-mark-ofua/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300336</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Pakistan, desert irrigation plans spark protests &#038; fears among Sindh farmers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/in-pakistan-desert-irrigation-plans-spark-protests-fears-among-sindh-farmers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/in-pakistan-desert-irrigation-plans-spark-protests-fears-among-sindh-farmers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 May 2025 03:00:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Waqas Alam Angaria]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/27114704/A_semi-nomadic_man_carries_water_in_the_Cholistan_Desert-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299699</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Pakistan, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Deserts, Development, Drinking Water, Environment, Environmental Law, Farming, Fellows, Fish, Freshwater, Global Environmental Crisis, Industrial Agriculture, Protests, Rivers, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On April 6, Wajahat Hussain, a Sindhi human rights lawyer, spoke at a protest against the planned Cholistan Canal Project on the Indus River in Pakistan. “We will continue fighting against the recent canals and won’t let the state kill us by thirst,” he said. His words came in response to a 945 billion rupee [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On April 6, Wajahat Hussain, a Sindhi human rights lawyer, spoke at a protest against the planned Cholistan Canal Project on the Indus River in Pakistan. “We will continue fighting against the recent canals and won’t let the state kill us by thirst,” he said. His words came in response to a 945 billion rupee ($3.3 billion) project, the Green Pakistan Initiative (GPI), which would transform the Cholistan Desert with corporate farming, creating six canals to divert water from the river system, leaving small farmers without their farms and Sindh fishers more vulnerable to water scarcity and prolonged droughts. The Cholistan Canal Project is the biggest component of GPI, a joint effort of the Pakistan Army and government, launched in February. The project aims to irrigate 1.9 million hectares (4.8 million acres) of barren desert land in Pakistan’s most populous province, Punjab, to enhance food production and economic growth. The Cholistan Desert is not just a barren land but home to many local and endangered species like the caracal cat (Caracal caracal), chinkara gazelle (Gazella bennettii), houbara bustard (Chlamydotis undulata) and desert fox (Vulpes vulpes pusilla). Turning the desert green would contribute to the decline of these species. Corporate farming would use the latest modern techniques like AI-based disease, weed and pest detection, soil viability mapping, yield forecasting and monitoring. In this way, human labor would be minimized and production of wheat, cotton, rice and canola would likely increase substantially. Thousands of protesters have blocked the major highway in Sindh&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/in-pakistan-desert-irrigation-plans-spark-protests-fears-among-sindh-farmers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/in-pakistan-desert-irrigation-plans-spark-protests-fears-among-sindh-farmers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299699</doi>				</item>
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