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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?topic=food&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/food/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Thu, 06 Aug 2026 09:20:11 +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 Food</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/food/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Cheap coffee is killing Vietnam’s priceless tropical forests (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/cheap-coffee-is-killing-vietnams-priceless-tropical-forests-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/cheap-coffee-is-killing-vietnams-priceless-tropical-forests-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2026 20:45:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Etelle Higonnet]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/08/19233119/Vietnam-smallholder-coffee-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325233</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Business, Coffee, Commentary, Commodity agriculture, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Food, Food Industry, Food Vs Forests Debate, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Industrial Agriculture, Natural Resources, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Vietnam is now the world’s largest producer of robusta, the bitter, sturdy bean behind instant coffee, supermarket blends, and the overall global appetite for cheap caffeine. But behind its meteoric rise to No. 2 coffee producer in the world lies a story the industry has tried very hard to hide: forests are disappearing, wildlife is [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Vietnam is now the world’s largest producer of robusta, the bitter, sturdy bean behind instant coffee, supermarket blends, and the overall global appetite for cheap caffeine. But behind its meteoric rise to No. 2 coffee producer in the world lies a story the industry has tried very hard to hide: forests are disappearing, wildlife is vanishing, and rural communities are being pushed to the brink. As ecosystems start to collapse, coffee is getting harder and harder to grow, and the brands buying that coffee and filling supermarket shelves from Copenhagen to California are complicit every step of the way. Our new Coffee Watch investigation, “Vietnam: Robusta’s Reckoning,” reveals the scale of the crisis. Forests the size of Luxembourg have been wiped out for coffee. In biodiversity hotspots like Vietnam’s Central Highlands, wildlife like tigers, elephants, civets, sun bears, adorable flying squirrels, and delicate saola (sometimes referred to as the “Asian unicorn”), have been squeezed into ever‑smaller fragments of habitat, or just plain wiped out. Communities are losing the very ecosystems that sustain them, and this destruction is largely happening so the world can enjoy cheap robusta in instant coffee, capsules, and mass‑market blends. Typical landscape in Vietnam that&#8217;s suitable for growing robusta coffee. Image by Michael Tatarski for Mongabay. Vietnam’s rise as a coffee superpower is often framed as a rural development miracle, but the truth is far darker. Smallholder farmers, who grow the vast majority of Vietnam’s coffee, are trapped in a system that rewards expansion into forested land&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/cheap-coffee-is-killing-vietnams-priceless-tropical-forests-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/cheap-coffee-is-killing-vietnams-priceless-tropical-forests-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325233</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Land records reveal how Mennonites are reshaping Belize’s forests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/land-records-reveal-how-mennonites-are-reshaping-belizes-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/land-records-reveal-how-mennonites-are-reshaping-belizes-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jul 2026 18:45:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/31152733/1-FEATURE--768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324951</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Belize and Central America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Cattle, Conservation, Crops, Culture, Encroachment, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Farming, Food, Forest Fragmentation, Forests, Governance, Industrial Agriculture, Land Rights, Livestock, Monocultures, Plantations, Politics, Primary Forests, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Ranching, Regulations, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SPANISH LOOKOUT, Belize — When the Mennonite community here purchased a property four years ago in the middle of the Maya Forest Corridor, a government-recognized stretch of land designed to connect forests in the region, conservation groups were concerned. Community members began clearing land before completing an environmental impact assessment, resulting in fires and pollution, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SPANISH LOOKOUT, Belize — When the Mennonite community here purchased a property four years ago in the middle of the Maya Forest Corridor, a government-recognized stretch of land designed to connect forests in the region, conservation groups were concerned. Community members began clearing land before completing an environmental impact assessment, resulting in fires and pollution, according to one report. In addition, Mennonites beat a conservation coalition that had also wanted to purchase the land for the corridor. The battle for that piece of real estate is just one example of how Mennonites conduct business in Belize, and how those moves have led to extensive deforestation. The small Central American country, flanked by Mexico, Guatemala and the Caribbean Sea, is about the size of the U.S. state of New Jersey, but its dense jungle is now much smaller than it once was. The nation lost around 20% of its forest cover between 2001 and 2025 — more than 350,000 hectares (865,000 acres), similar to the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Much of the deforestation in Belize has been tied to Mennonites, the conservative and largely insular Christian denomination that began migrating to Belize more than six decades ago, cutting down the rainforest to establish new colonies. While reports documenting Mennonites and deforestation are common, far less understood is the corporate machinery they’ve put in place for this expansion. Mongabay conducted extensive interviews and reviewed dozens of land records to better understand the way Mennonites became one of the most prolific land&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/land-records-reveal-how-mennonites-are-reshaping-belizes-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/land-records-reveal-how-mennonites-are-reshaping-belizes-forests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324951</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sri Lanka prepares for impending El Niño with traditional and new approaches</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/sri-lanka-prepares-for-impending-el-nino-with-traditional-and-new-approaches/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/sri-lanka-prepares-for-impending-el-nino-with-traditional-and-new-approaches/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jul 2026 13:05:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kamanthi Wickramasinghe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/31104448/2-4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325032</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Agroecology, Conservation, Crops, Disasters, Drought, Environment, Extreme Weather, Farming, Food, Industrial Agriculture, Rice, Solutions, Subsistence Agriculture, Traditional Knowledge, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Even though Sri Lankan authorities are preparing to face an impending El Niño phenomenon, Rathnayaka Mudiyanselage Suwandarathne feels that the country may not be impacted as forecasted. A second generation farmer from Thalangama in the Colombo District, Suwandarathne knows about weather and has been leading an agricultural revolution by promoting the cultivation of heirloom varieties [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Even though Sri Lankan authorities are preparing to face an impending El Niño phenomenon, Rathnayaka Mudiyanselage Suwandarathne feels that the country may not be impacted as forecasted. A second generation farmer from Thalangama in the Colombo District, Suwandarathne knows about weather and has been leading an agricultural revolution by promoting the cultivation of heirloom varieties of rice. According to him, it is normal to experience a dry spell between July and September as forecasted. This period coincides with the Yala season, one of two paddy harvesting seasons in Sri Lanka. “By August, the dry period begins, and we need a dry season to obtain the harvest,” he told Mongabay. “We then conduct culturally significant events praying for rains. This is the cycle during the Yala season. Then again from December to March, there’s a drought season, which coincides with the Maha season. Long dry spells occur every four to seven years. But now, we have changed these harvesting cycles,” he said. The World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) monthly global seasonal climate update indicates an 80% probability of a rapid development into a strong El Niño event between July and September 2026. WMO Secretary General Celeste Saulo said that it would “intensify chances of drought and heavy rainfall and the risk of heatwaves on land and marine heatwaves in many regions of the world.” “When going by initial predictions, the time period for developing a very strong El Niño was between November 2026 and January 2027,” Ajith Wijemannage, head of the Meteorology&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/sri-lanka-prepares-for-impending-el-nino-with-traditional-and-new-approaches/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/sri-lanka-prepares-for-impending-el-nino-with-traditional-and-new-approaches/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325032</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Before giant meat producer JBS expands to Nigeria, people deserve answers (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/before-giant-meat-producer-jbs-expands-to-nigeria-people-deserve-answers-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/before-giant-meat-producer-jbs-expands-to-nigeria-people-deserve-answers-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jul 2026 00:17:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Felix Horne]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/02/01174203/Foto-3-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324939</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Global, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Business, Cattle, Climate, Climate Change, Commentary, Deforestation, Environment, Food, Food Industry, food security, Governance, Natural Resources, and Nutrition]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nigeria may soon become the site of one of the largest livestock investments in its history. JBS, the world&#8217;s largest meat company, is pursuing a reported $2.5 billion investment that could reshape parts of the country&#8217;s agricultural sector. The proposal has been welcomed by many for its potential economic benefits, but before it moves forward, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nigeria may soon become the site of one of the largest livestock investments in its history. JBS, the world&#8217;s largest meat company, is pursuing a reported $2.5 billion investment that could reshape parts of the country&#8217;s agricultural sector. The proposal has been welcomed by many for its potential economic benefits, but before it moves forward, Nigerians deserve clear answers about what it could mean for communities, land, water, and the climate. Much of the discussion around the project has focused on jobs, agricultural development, food security, and economic opportunity. Those are important goals. But there is another dimension that deserves far greater scrutiny: Methane. JBS is not simply the world&#8217;s largest meat producer. It is also responsible for more methane emissions than ExxonMobil and Shell combined, according to estimates published by Greenpeace in 2024. JBS undoubtedly disputes these figures, but the broader point is difficult to ignore: When measured by climate impact, the world&#8217;s largest livestock companies increasingly belong in the same conversation as the world&#8217;s largest fossil fuel companies. Methane rarely attracts the same public attention as carbon dioxide, yet it is responsible for roughly a third of the warming the world is experiencing today. Because it traps far more heat than carbon dioxide over the short term, cutting methane emissions is widely seen as one of the fastest ways to slow near-term climate change. Much of the public debate focuses on oil and gas. But industrial livestock production is also a major source, accounting for much of the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/before-giant-meat-producer-jbs-expands-to-nigeria-people-deserve-answers-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/before-giant-meat-producer-jbs-expands-to-nigeria-people-deserve-answers-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324939</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fishers fight for solutions as Brazil lists tambaqui as threatened</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/fishers-fight-for-solutions-as-brazil-lists-tambaqui-as-threatened/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/fishers-fight-for-solutions-as-brazil-lists-tambaqui-as-threatened/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jul 2026 19:34:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Karla Mendes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/28103545/a.-Tambaqui-Colossoma-macropomum-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324655</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Fishing, Food, food security, Freshwater Fish, Governance, Natural Resources, Overfishing, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Amazon fishers fear a total ban on their most iconic catch could favor industrial farms over local communities.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[An Amazon fisher for 38 years, Josué de Castro said he was very surprised when he learned that tambaqui, a fish that accounts for 20% of his income, is now a threatened species in Brazil, and he might not be allowed to fish it anymore. &#8220;It will ultimately have a big impact on the lives of the fishers and riverside communities who depend on fishing,&#8221; Castro, who lives in the São Raimundo do Jarauá community in northern Amazonas state, told Mongabay by phone. &#8220;In our area, I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s actually facing extinction yet; there are still plenty of them around.&#8221; One of the most consumed fish in the Brazilian Amazon, the tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) was included in the official national list of threatened fish and aquatic invertebrate fauna species published by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA) in April. Starting at the end of October, its fishing could be prohibited in the entire country if a recovery plan isn&#8217;t implemented by then, said Braulio Dias, MMA&#8217;s director of conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. &#8220;Inclusion on the list does not mean a fishing ban, provided that a population recovery plan — proposed by experts under MMA coordination — is approved,&#8221; Dias told Mongabay in a text message, adding that Ordinance Nº 1,666, published on the same day of the April 27 list, set a 180-day deadline for this to happen, which would be Oct. 25. Tambaqui, Manaus Fish Market, Brazil. Image by Thorke Østergaard via Wikimedia Commons&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/fishers-fight-for-solutions-as-brazil-lists-tambaqui-as-threatened/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/fishers-fight-for-solutions-as-brazil-lists-tambaqui-as-threatened/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324655</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Why Africa should link nutritional data with fisheries management (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-africa-should-link-nutritional-data-with-fisheries-management-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-africa-should-link-nutritional-data-with-fisheries-management-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2026 14:11:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Essam Yassin Mohammed]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/14134651/54324375381_0dfb827375_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323387</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and East Timor]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Environment, Environmental Policy, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Food, Governance, Marine, Marine Conservation, Natural Resources, Nutrition, Oceans, and Saltwater Fish]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Off the coast of Timor-Leste, fishers are building something many countries still lack: A clearer picture of how small-scale fishing nourishes people. For six years, fishers have logged their trips and recorded the gear used, the habitats visited and the catch brought home in a digital system built with the government of Timor-Leste. More than [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Off the coast of Timor-Leste, fishers are building something many countries still lack: A clearer picture of how small-scale fishing nourishes people. For six years, fishers have logged their trips and recorded the gear used, the habitats visited and the catch brought home in a digital system built with the government of Timor-Leste. More than 77,000 trips later, that data has produced a study that urges governments to change how they think about fisheries management. The value of a catch is not just measured in kilos; where people fish and the gear they use can shape the nutrients that end up in local diets. Small pelagic fish can be rich in iron, calcium, zinc and omega-3s, while marine invertebrates gathered by hand, often by women and usually overlooked in official statistics, can also be nutritionally important. That matters because fisheries are too often managed around what is landed and sold, not who is nourished. A session during the Our Ocean conference in Mombasa, Kenya. Image by Malavika Vyawahare/Mongabay. After the first Our Ocean Conference held on African soil, this evidence feels especially timely. That event in Mombasa in June put Africa’s ocean future in the global spotlight, but the real test now is whether new commitments help countries build the systems needed to manage aquatic foods for people and not just for production, trade and conservation. Now the question is what those commitments will deliver. For decades, fisheries management has been built around one question: How many tons were landed?&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/why-africa-should-link-nutritional-data-with-fisheries-management-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323387</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title> Seeking swordfish, catching dolphins and whales: EU pushes to rein in driftnets</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/seeking-swordfish-catching-dolphins-and-whales-eu-pushes-to-rein-in-driftnets/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/seeking-swordfish-catching-dolphins-and-whales-eu-pushes-to-rein-in-driftnets/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jul 2026 20:24:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/08160916/a.-BANNER-GP0156K-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322913</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, European Union, Mediterranean Sea, Morocco, and Spain]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Bycatch, Cetaceans, Dolphins, Elasmobranchs, Fisheries, Fishing, Food, Illegal Fishing, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Sharks, Tuna, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Driftnets, vertically hanging nets that drift with ocean currents and can stretch for kilometers, are used to catch large pelagic species such as swordfish and tuna. However, they have long drawn criticism from conservationists as they also capture and kill sharks, turtles, dolphins and other marine wildlife. For decades, debate has raged about use of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Driftnets, vertically hanging nets that drift with ocean currents and can stretch for kilometers, are used to catch large pelagic species such as swordfish and tuna. However, they have long drawn criticism from conservationists as they also capture and kill sharks, turtles, dolphins and other marine wildlife. For decades, debate has raged about use of the large nets. It’s a particularly contentious issue in the Mediterranean Sea, an important migration corridor that faces considerable pressure from overfishing, pollution and climate change. Now, international efforts to tighten legislation on driftnets in the Mediterranean have gained new momentum as member states of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) consider a proposal aimed at closing loopholes in existing rules. ICCAT is the world’s largest regional fisheries management organization, managing the stocks of highly migratory species, including tuna, swordfish (Xiphias gladius) and some shark species across the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas. At ICCAT’s technical meetings held in Brussels in June, the European Union presented a proposal (see IMM_09_ENG.docx in link) that seeks to strengthen current driftnet rules. Fishers haul an illegal driftnet in international waters west of Marettimo Island, near Sicily. Image © Gavin Parsons/Greenpeace. The EU proposal would establish clearer definitions for driftnets, prohibit their possession on vessels that target certain species, and extend restrictions beyond the Mediterranean to parts of the Atlantic Ocean. “The EU has the clear ambition to push for the adoption of this measure at this year’s annual meeting of ICCAT (in November),” an&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/seeking-swordfish-catching-dolphins-and-whales-eu-pushes-to-rein-in-driftnets/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/seeking-swordfish-catching-dolphins-and-whales-eu-pushes-to-rein-in-driftnets/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322913</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Zambia’s bumper harvest masks likely food insecurity amid geopolitics and climate threats</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/zambias-bumper-harvest-masks-likely-food-insecurity-amid-geopolitics-and-climate-threats/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/zambias-bumper-harvest-masks-likely-food-insecurity-amid-geopolitics-and-climate-threats/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jul 2026 13:12:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Chisapi Kumbutso]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/03133435/5433664321_547a088000_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322469</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Southern Africa, and Zambia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate, Climate Change Denial, Climate Science, El Nino, Environment, Fertilizers, Finance, Food, Food Industry, Food Prices, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Impact Of Climate Change, Natural Resources, Nature-based climate solutions, Nutrition, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LUSAKA, Zambia — The escalating conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran, has prompted warnings that disruptions to the supply of fuel and fertilizer shipped through the Strait of Hormuz could cause food insecurity in some African countries. While experts say it will take time for the effects of the conflict to be felt in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LUSAKA, Zambia — The escalating conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran, has prompted warnings that disruptions to the supply of fuel and fertilizer shipped through the Strait of Hormuz could cause food insecurity in some African countries. While experts say it will take time for the effects of the conflict to be felt in Zambia, they also point to vulnerabilities in the country&#8217;s food system and suggest greater resilience to possible stresses. Zambia&#8217;s food security is generally understood to rest on a single crop: maize. Zambia Statistics Agency reports that the price of a 25-kilogram bag of breakfast mealie meal declined slightly from April to May. In fact, the price of mealie meal is 15% lower than it was this time last year. The FAO&#8217;s April 2026 country briefing for Zambia said good rains since last October point to a second consecutive year of above-average harvests of maize. The rains are also expected to support a rebound of wheat harvest, as full reservoirs mean a steady supply of hydroelectric power that will allow the crop’s growers (primarily large-scale, industrial farmers) to irrigate their fields. The briefing reported that reference prices for maize were 25% lower year-on-year in March, thanks to plentiful domestic supply and a strengthening of the currency. Maize meal prices also declined by 15%, according to the Zambia Statistics Agency. Drawing on the IPC classification, the FAO said the number of Zambians facing &#8220;crisis&#8221; levels of acute food insecurity in the six months to March 2026 was&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/zambias-bumper-harvest-masks-likely-food-insecurity-amid-geopolitics-and-climate-threats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/zambias-bumper-harvest-masks-likely-food-insecurity-amid-geopolitics-and-climate-threats/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322469</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>What’s jimbu? The herb that bolsters an iconic Nepali dish could also help save snow leopards</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whats-jimbu-the-herb-that-bolsters-an-iconic-nepali-dish-could-also-help-save-snow-leopards/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whats-jimbu-the-herb-that-bolsters-an-iconic-nepali-dish-could-also-help-save-snow-leopards/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jun 2026 10:48:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bibek Bhandari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/30091143/jimbu-Allium-przewalskianum-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322085</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Himalayas, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Food, Habitat, Human-wildlife Conflict, Indigenous Peoples, Medicinal Plants, Natural Resources, Plants, Snow Leopards, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In Nepal, there&#8217;s a popular saying: “dal bhat power, 24 hour.” It refers to a humble plateful of rice and soupy lentils that Nepalis swear by, both at home and across the diaspora. It&#8217;s fuel for the body and a taste of home where it’s a staple meal for lunch and dinner. Now, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In Nepal, there&#8217;s a popular saying: “dal bhat power, 24 hour.” It refers to a humble plateful of rice and soupy lentils that Nepalis swear by, both at home and across the diaspora. It&#8217;s fuel for the body and a taste of home where it’s a staple meal for lunch and dinner. Now, an aromatic herb from the Himalayas that gives the Nepali staple its distinctive flavor offers Indigenous communities a potential promise: An alternative source of income and fewer conflicts with the iconic snow leopards that live in these mountain peaks. How so? The residents of Phu Valley who cultivate jimbu (Allium przewalskianum) in this high-altitude settlement, located in the trans-Himalayan region of Manang that borders China’s Tibet region will tell you. They grow this herb, also known as Himalayan chive, as a cash crop — and as a way to help save “the big cat of the mountains.” Dried jimbu is usually fried in ghee, or clarified butter, and poured over simmering dal for an earthy flavor. “Whenever we talk about dal bhat, the most famous of them all is the Thakali version prepared by the Thakali communities of the mountains,” said Shailendra Thakali, an expert in environmental conservation, tourism and livelihoods, referring to a version of the dish made by Indigenous people known for their traditional cuisines. “And the Thakali dal bhat owes its unique taste and aroma to jimbu,” Thakali added. Until recently, residents foraged this herb from steep, risky slopes. They used some&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whats-jimbu-the-herb-that-bolsters-an-iconic-nepali-dish-could-also-help-save-snow-leopards/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/whats-jimbu-the-herb-that-bolsters-an-iconic-nepali-dish-could-also-help-save-snow-leopards/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322085</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Aquatic animal and terrestrial meat trades now almost on par, FAO report finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/aquatic-animal-and-terrestrial-meat-trades-now-almost-on-par-fao-report-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/aquatic-animal-and-terrestrial-meat-trades-now-almost-on-par-fao-report-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jun 2026 18:55:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Fitt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/29161142/BANNER-8102094366_c8305d983d_o1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322025</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquaculture, Climate Change, Conservation, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Food, food security, Freshwater Fish, Impact Of Climate Change, Marine Animals, Overfishing, and Saltwater Fish]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Rapid aquaculture growth has pushed farmed aquatic animal production to more than 100 million metric tons per year for the first time ever, boosting the trade value of all aquatic animal products almost to parity with the trade value of land-produced meat. That’s according to the latest “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture” (SOFIA) report [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Rapid aquaculture growth has pushed farmed aquatic animal production to more than 100 million metric tons per year for the first time ever, boosting the trade value of all aquatic animal products almost to parity with the trade value of land-produced meat. That’s according to the latest “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture” (SOFIA) report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The 2026 installment of the report, a biennial collection of data that outlines FAO’s vision for the fishing and aquaculture sectors, was released June 16 at the 11th Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, Kenya. “The [aquaculture] sector is evolving very rapidly,” Manuel Barange, director of the FAO’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Division, told Mongabay. “It&#8217;s now achieving levels that fisheries never did. And that is positive because there&#8217;s no doubt about it that we&#8217;re going to be 10 billion in just a couple or three decades. And everyone has a right to food.” An FAO spokesperson discusses the SOFIA 2026 report during a session held at the 11th Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, Kenya, on June 16, 2026. Image by Malavika Vyawahare/Mongabay. Connecting science and policy SOFIA is “one of the most authoritative reports we have,” Paul Orina, director general of the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, said at a Mombasa press conference to launch the report. Its value lies in how it “connects science with policy,” he said. The FAO has been giving policymakers, scientists and civil society a deep dive into the global fisheries and aquaculture sectors&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/aquatic-animal-and-terrestrial-meat-trades-now-almost-on-par-fao-report-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/aquatic-animal-and-terrestrial-meat-trades-now-almost-on-par-fao-report-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322025</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Chewing sounds can help decode an animal’s diet using AI, new study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/chewing-sounds-can-help-decode-an-animals-diet-using-ai-new-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/chewing-sounds-can-help-decode-an-animals-diet-using-ai-new-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jun 2026 02:29:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhishyant Kidangoor]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhishyantkidangoor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/25202550/Banner-Image-C-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321853</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Artificial Intelligence, Biodiversity, Biology, Conservation, Conservation Technology, data, Ecosystems, Environment, Food, Marine, Marine Animals, Molluscs, Oceans, Predators, Rays, Research, Science, Software, Technology, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[What does an eagle ray’s menu look like? An artificial intelligence model can now answer that question by listening to sounds of the animal chewing on food. Scientists developed the machine learning algorithm to detect the sound of shells being crushed by predators when they feed on mollusks. According to a study published in the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[What does an eagle ray’s menu look like? An artificial intelligence model can now answer that question by listening to sounds of the animal chewing on food. Scientists developed the machine learning algorithm to detect the sound of shells being crushed by predators when they feed on mollusks. According to a study published in the journal Ecological Informatics, the model can also identify the prey based on the sounds. “A lot of animals out there, particularly marine animals, have the unique ability to crush shells open,” Matt Ajemian, assistant research professor at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University in the U.S. who was part of the research, told Mongabay in a video interview. “But we don’t know how much they eat and what they feed on. So we wanted to see if we could remotely detect an animal feeding on a clam versus a gastropod.” Keeping track of predator-prey interactions is crucial, especially in the face of rapidly changing marine habitats. Monitoring what and how much larger predators are eating is important to understand the resources they depend on and subsequently plan effective conservation action. Conversely, it’s also critical to have data on how much pressure there is on shellfish populations that serve as prey. “For example, in a clam bed or seagrass bed, we want to know how much prey is removed by a predator over the course of a year,” Ajemian said. However, gathering this data is not an easy task. Tracking predators underwater is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/chewing-sounds-can-help-decode-an-animals-diet-using-ai-new-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/chewing-sounds-can-help-decode-an-animals-diet-using-ai-new-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321853</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Amazon floodplains cocoa offers a climate-resilient and sustainable chocolate</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/amazon-floodplains-cocoa-offers-a-climate-resilient-and-sustainable-chocolate/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/amazon-floodplains-cocoa-offers-a-climate-resilient-and-sustainable-chocolate/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Jun 2026 18:10:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Cícero Pedrosa NetoSam Cowie]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/25143734/CPN_Chocolate_Mongabay-243-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321624</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Agriculture, Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Bioeconomy, Cacao, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Crops, Drought, Environment, Ethics, Extreme Weather, Food, Forest Products, Forestry, Global Environmental Crisis, Indigenous Peoples, Natural Resources, Sustainable Forest Management, and Traditional Knowledge]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A river community in Pará uses ancestral secrets to beat the climate crisis one chocolate bean at a time.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BACARENA, Brazil — Sunlight peeps through dense Amazonian foliage as Elene Elda Mota and her husband Giovanne guide their small motorboat down a narrow stream. Equipped with machetes and baskets, they disembark and make their way through the thick forest until they reach a tree bearing dozens of bright yellow cocoa pods. Here, in the Amazon floodplains of Barcarena, in northern Pará state, near where some Amazon rivers meet the Atlantic Ocean, cocoa grows in a natural agroforestry system. “Our cocoa is native cocoa,” Elene said. “We don’t plant our cocoa, we just manage it.” Protected and irrigated by the forest canopy of the floodplains, Elene’s cocoa is more resistant to pests like vassoura de bruxa, a fungus that devastated Brazilian crops in the 1980s, as well as climate change impacts like droughts and heavy rains. It also offers a diverse range of earthy, fruity and acidic flavors, which Elene has utilized to produce an expanding range of artisanal cocoa and chocolate products. Caramelized cocoa nibs are her best seller, she said, and she also produces artisanal chocolate bars, creams and other sweet spreads, cocoa powders and oils. Cocoa and chocolate producer Elene Elda Mota navigates an Amazon river and a new artisanal scene. Image by Cícero Pedrosa Neto. In recent years, the Amazon state of Pará, Brazil’s largest cocoa producer, has emerged as a new frontier, or terroir, for fine and artisanal chocolate. Like Burgundy wine from France or Ethiopian coffee, the concept of its terroir flavor is rooted&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/amazon-floodplains-cocoa-offers-a-climate-resilient-and-sustainable-chocolate/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/amazon-floodplains-cocoa-offers-a-climate-resilient-and-sustainable-chocolate/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321624</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New analysis breaks down 2025 Amazon deforestation, with good news and bad news</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/new-analysis-breaks-down-2025-amazon-deforestation-with-good-news-and-bad-news/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/new-analysis-breaks-down-2025-amazon-deforestation-with-good-news-and-bad-news/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jun 2026 15:40:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/24001802/AP26169513813986-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321708</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Beef, Deforestation, Degraded Lands, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Fires, Forest Destruction, Forests, Heatwave, Industrial Agriculture, Land Use Change, Logging, Meat, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Secondary Forests, Soy, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Each year, researchers at the University of Maryland’s GLAD Lab in the U.S. develop one of the most important data sets on global forest loss. The data is derived from NASA and European Space Agency satellite imagery and, in the Amazon Rainforest, often helps environmental groups and government officials make decisions about conservation. The figures [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Each year, researchers at the University of Maryland’s GLAD Lab in the U.S. develop one of the most important data sets on global forest loss. The data is derived from NASA and European Space Agency satellite imagery and, in the Amazon Rainforest, often helps environmental groups and government officials make decisions about conservation. The figures for 2025 were published at the end of April, following months of processing and quality checks. But a comprehensive analysis, highlighting year-on-year trends and hotspots, was only recently released by Mapping of the Andes Amazon Project (MAAP), an Amazon Conservation initiative to track forest loss in the Amazon basin. While the data suggests that several metrics for measuring forest loss are down from previous years, they’re still concerningly high overall, researchers said. Agriculture, cattle ranching and mining continue to destroy hundreds of thousands of hectares of primary forest, often in protected areas and Indigenous territory. “I have a hard time saying it’s good news if deforestation is lower than previous years, but was still a million [hectares],” Matt Finer, MAAP director and senior research specialist, told Mongabay. He said it’s far from the zero-deforestation rate needed in the region. A: Soy frontiers of southeast Brazil; B: Soy frontiers of southern Bolivia; C: Trans-Amazonian Highway; D: BR-364; E: Agricultural areas in central Peru; F: Arc of deforestation in northwest Colombia; G: Gold mining areas in southern and central Peru: H: Gold mining areas in northern Ecuador; I: Gold mining areas in Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname; J: Indigenous&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/new-analysis-breaks-down-2025-amazon-deforestation-with-good-news-and-bad-news/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/new-analysis-breaks-down-2025-amazon-deforestation-with-good-news-and-bad-news/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321708</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Protect Antarctic krill to preserve the health of Africa&#8217;s coastal communities (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/protect-antarctic-krill-to-preserve-the-health-of-africas-coastal-communities-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/protect-antarctic-krill-to-preserve-the-health-of-africas-coastal-communities-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jun 2026 16:06:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carmen dos Santos]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/10/19140157/16238835137_bc4b034208_h-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321376</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Angola, Central Africa, Global, and Southern Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquaculture, Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Commentary, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fisheries, Fishing, food security, Governance, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Overfishing, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This week, as governments of various coastal states gather in Mombasa, Kenya, for the Our Ocean Conference, Africa must demand an end to industrial krill fishing in the Southern Ocean before irreversible damage is done to Antarctica and the ocean systems upon which our continent depends. A clear call from Africa would bolster international calls [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This week, as governments of various coastal states gather in Mombasa, Kenya, for the Our Ocean Conference, Africa must demand an end to industrial krill fishing in the Southern Ocean before irreversible damage is done to Antarctica and the ocean systems upon which our continent depends. A clear call from Africa would bolster international calls for a ban on industrial krill fishing and support positive leadership developments like the European Parliament’s recent call for a moratorium on krill fishing. The Southern Ocean regulates global ocean circulation, absorbs enormous quantities of heat and carbon dioxide, and sustains marine life across the planet. At the center of this system is Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), the tiny crustacean that feeds whales, penguins, seals and seabirds while helping lock carbon into the deep ocean. Industrial krill fishing has expanded rapidly over the last few years, with the largest share of this extraction controlled by fleets linked to certain European and Asian countries. Most concerningly, fishing is intensifying precisely where Antarctic wildlife is most vulnerable: critical feeding grounds for whales, penguins and seals are actively targeted by the industry. A single adult Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) is usually just five centimeters long, but the importance of its massive populations to marine food chains, and the millions of people who depend on ocean protein as part of their daily diet, is major. Image courtesy of Uwe Kils via Wikimedia Commons. The damage is already visible. In April, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/protect-antarctic-krill-to-preserve-the-health-of-africas-coastal-communities-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321376</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How a popular spaghetti dish is threatening Italy’s marine ecosystem</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-a-popular-spaghetti-dish-is-threatening-italys-marine-ecosystem/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-a-popular-spaghetti-dish-is-threatening-italys-marine-ecosystem/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jun 2026 17:47:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manuela Callari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/16113722/Riccio_Viola_URCHIN-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321286</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, and Italy]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Consumption, Crime, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Food, Food Industry, Illegal Fishing, Invertebrates, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Overconsumption, Overfishing, Surveillance, Tourism, Wildlife, and Wildlife consumption]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NAPLES — On a warm, moonlit night in May, Maurizio Simeone sat in an ambush at his desk about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Naples, Italy. The marine scientist and director of the Marine Protected Area (MPA) Gaiola Underwater Park was watching the grainy live feed from cameras surveilling the MPA as poachers descended [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NAPLES — On a warm, moonlit night in May, Maurizio Simeone sat in an ambush at his desk about 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Naples, Italy. The marine scientist and director of the Marine Protected Area (MPA) Gaiola Underwater Park was watching the grainy live feed from cameras surveilling the MPA as poachers descended on the seafloor. “It was midnight. Here they were again,” Simeone told Mongabay. The poachers had come a few nights before to scout the area. Then a second time. This time, Simeone was waiting for them. He rushed to alert the Coast Guard. The poachers operated with ruthless efficiency, using a dangerous illegal method known as the hookah system. A compressor on a small boat pumps air through a hose to a diver, allowing them to stay underwater for hours and systematically strip the seabed. Every 20 minutes, the diver resurfaced to hand over a net full of purple sea urchins (Paracentrotus lividus), grab an empty net and then dive back down. When the authorities moved in, the two men on the boat began dumping hundreds of sea urchins and their gear into the sea, as the diver quickly resurfaced. The three men were old acquaintances of Simeone’s. “They are repeat offenders. It’s not the first time we’ve caught them,” Simeone said. Illegally harvested sea urchins seized in July 2024. Image courtesy of Maurizio Simeone. During a previous bust a year earlier, the vessel was apprehended with a staggering haul: 976 sea urchins pulled from&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-a-popular-spaghetti-dish-is-threatening-italys-marine-ecosystem/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-a-popular-spaghetti-dish-is-threatening-italys-marine-ecosystem/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321286</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Growing appetite for açaí is damaging bird diversity in the Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/growing-appetite-for-acai-is-damaging-bird-diversity-in-the-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/growing-appetite-for-acai-is-damaging-bird-diversity-in-the-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jun 2026 17:15:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Suzana Camargo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/15162629/17-white-throated-toucan-Ramphastos-tucanus-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321214</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Environment, Food, Food Industry, Industrial Agriculture, Monocultures, Plantations, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Your refreshing smoothie bowl might be silencing the white-throated toucan and the razor-billed curassow.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[&#8220;Ah-sigh-ee.” Perhaps you don’t yet know the correct pronunciation of this Amazonian fruit, but chances are high that you’ve already seen its name – açaí – on some menu, especially in cafes and small shops specializing in healthy eating, sold mainly as the primary ingredient in bowls, smoothies, ice creams or juices. In Brazil, about 95% of the production of this small, round and very dark-purple fruit is concentrated in the Amazonian state of Pará. It’s a staple of the local diet, where it’s consumed, blended, with fish, cassava flour and other Amazonian ingredients. But because of its nutritional benefits, being rich in antioxidants and fibers, and having high energy value, açaí’s fame as a “superfood” quickly reached other Brazilian regions and, eventually, other countries. But the increase in fruit production to meet both national and international demand is reducing bird diversity in the floodplain forests of the Amazon. According to a study recently published in the journal Biological Conservation, areas with a higher density of açaí palm trees show a 28% decline in the number of bird species. “Our goal was to understand the consequences of the expansion of açaí cultivation and its various forms of management on birds, with a primary focus on frugivores, those that feed on fruits,” study co-author Raphael de Vasconcelos Nunes, a biologist at the Federal University of Pará, told Mongabay. According to Nunes, floodplain forests are already among the most impacted forest environments in the Amazon. They’re located on riverbanks and undergo constant&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/growing-appetite-for-acai-is-damaging-bird-diversity-in-the-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321214</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Improved transport opens Mozambique’s forests to new pressures</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/improved-transport-opens-mozambiques-forests-to-new-pressures/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/improved-transport-opens-mozambiques-forests-to-new-pressures/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jun 2026 09:16:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mkhululi Chimoio]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/09002827/CoalTrain_MuitvazeMozambique2018_MatthiasHilleWikicommonsBY2.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320793</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Mozambique, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Deforestation, Dry Forests, Environment, Farming, Food, food security, Forests, Governance, Infrastructure, Logging, Politics, Roads, Trees, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Up until 10 years ago, large sections of the road linking Malawi and Zambia to the Indian Ocean port of Nacala would become nearly impassable during the rainy season, with potholes, damaged bridges and traffic bottlenecks causing long delays along this regional transport artery across northern Mozambique. The Mozambique government has carried out major upgrades [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Up until 10 years ago, large sections of the road linking Malawi and Zambia to the Indian Ocean port of Nacala would become nearly impassable during the rainy season, with potholes, damaged bridges and traffic bottlenecks causing long delays along this regional transport artery across northern Mozambique. The Mozambique government has carried out major upgrades to transport infrastructure, but this may have come at the cost of accelerating deforestation across the region. Between 2017 and 2022, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the World Bank financed major transportation upgrades along the Nacala Corridor, centered on the 912-kilometer (565-mile) rail line linking coal mines in western Mozambique with ports on the Indian Ocean, as well as road upgrades, to lower costs and improve regional trade connections with Malawi and Zambia. “This project reduces the ‘penalty of remoteness’ that poorer households pay,” Romulo Cunha Correa, Mozambique country manager for the African Development Bank, told Mongabay in an interview. The AfDB has prioritized improvements to road and rail infrastructure across the continent, also backing projects linking Cameroon to the cities of Brazzaville and Kinshasa on the Congo River, and South Sudan to Indian Ocean ports in Kenya. But researchers studying this expansion of infrastructure have warned that the road upgrades can intensify deforestation and habitat loss. Women walk past a fish pond in Moatize, in Mozambique’s western province of Tete, in 2011. Image by Peter Fredenburg via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Manuel Mario Nazare, a conservationist with&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/improved-transport-opens-mozambiques-forests-to-new-pressures/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/improved-transport-opens-mozambiques-forests-to-new-pressures/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320793</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Indonesia’s Lombok, fishers find food security tied to mangrove reforestation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-indonesias-lombok-fishers-find-food-security-tied-to-mangrove-reforestation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-indonesias-lombok-fishers-find-food-security-tied-to-mangrove-reforestation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jun 2026 08:51:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ahmad H. Ramdhani]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay User]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/11080656/IMG-20260419-WA0027-1536x1153-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320971</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Lombok, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquaculture, Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fishing, Food, food security, Landscape Restoration, Mangroves, Oceans, Restoration, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[EAST LOMBOK, Indonesia — Jamil stood at the water’s edge holding a bucket of fish guts and chicken heads, waiting for signs of life as the late-afternoon sun cast a sheen over the pond. “At this time of day, they’ll start becoming active and feeding,” said Jamil, 63, as the onshore breeze settled and the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[EAST LOMBOK, Indonesia — Jamil stood at the water’s edge holding a bucket of fish guts and chicken heads, waiting for signs of life as the late-afternoon sun cast a sheen over the pond. “At this time of day, they’ll start becoming active and feeding,” said Jamil, 63, as the onshore breeze settled and the light began to fade. “In the morning, they&#8217;re more likely to stay in their holes.” Until recently, the mud crabs (genus Scylla) were almost entirely a product of the wild here in Sugian village on the Indonesian island of Lombok. Fishers would set traps in the estuary and sell their catch to traders, with little incentive to spare juveniles or undersized animals. “If you sell them immediately when they’re small, they&#8217;re cheaper,” Jamil said. But when crab populations fell from overzealous fishing, so too did local earnings here in a region of Indonesia where many families struggle to remain together in the face of economic pressures. Mangrove roots provide shelter, stabilize temperatures, and support the microorganisms and nutrients on which mud crabs depend. Image by Nopri Ismi/Mongabay Indonesia. Few places in Indonesia endure more family separation than the district of East Lombok. Last year it topped the list of Indonesia’s more than 500 districts for the highest number of its residents who left for work overseas. The minimum wage set by the local government for this year is 2.7 million rupiah ($150), less than half that in the capital, Jakarta. Last year, around 14,000 people&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-indonesias-lombok-fishers-find-food-security-tied-to-mangrove-reforestation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320971</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New study suggests Ethiopia’s protected areas may be impacting local well-being</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/new-study-suggests-ethiopias-protected-areas-may-be-impacting-local-wellbeing/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/new-study-suggests-ethiopias-protected-areas-may-be-impacting-local-wellbeing/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jun 2026 18:24:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Solomon Yimer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/30135620/Rira-village-kids-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320933</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Ethiopia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Development, Conservation, Environment, food security, Governance, Poverty, Protected Areas, and Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new study published in the journal Nature shows that Ethiopia’s protected areas successfully slowed deforestation, limited agricultural expansion and helped maintain grasslands. But the study also suggests the same conservation gains may also be linked to declines in food security and well-being for nearby communities — while underlining some caveats in their findings. The [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new study published in the journal Nature shows that Ethiopia’s protected areas successfully slowed deforestation, limited agricultural expansion and helped maintain grasslands. But the study also suggests the same conservation gains may also be linked to declines in food security and well-being for nearby communities — while underlining some caveats in their findings. The study, conducted through collaboration between researchers in Ethiopia and the UK, and the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority, assessed both environmental and social outcomes across 25 protected areas in Ethiopia during the period 2000–2020. They measured forest cover, agricultural expansion, grasslands, food security, dietary diversity and material well-being. While protected areas were broadly effective at reducing environmental degradation despite mounting pressures from population growth, agricultural expansion, and land demand, the researchers found “trade-offs” between environmental and social outcomes in their assessments. Twelve of these protected areas experienced  positive environmental performance at the cost of social well-being. Meanwhile, five of the protected areas had “win-win” outcomes for biodiversity and social outcomes and three protected areas had “lose-lose” outcomes. “Ethiopia is exceptionally biodiverse, but also faces major challenges around poverty, food security and demand for land,” said Sophie Jago, lead author of the study and research assistant at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in the UK. “The fact that protected areas are delivering measurable benefits for nature in this context is important … The difficult finding is that these environmental gains have come with costs for nearby communities, particularly around food security.” A ranger discusses with community members&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/new-study-suggests-ethiopias-protected-areas-may-be-impacting-local-wellbeing/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320933</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Movement gives African rural women farmers a voice, but still battles landownership</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/movement-gives-african-rural-women-farmers-a-voice-but-still-battles-landownership/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/movement-gives-african-rural-women-farmers-a-voice-but-still-battles-landownership/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jun 2026 10:56:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Charles Mpaka]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/06094714/WomanWithLandCert_ChipataZambia2017_USAIDFlickrBYNCSA2.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320693</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Biodiversity, Community Development, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Farming, Food, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CHIRADZULU, Malawi — In Chiradzulu district in southern Malawi, 60 women who are members of the Rural Women’s Assembly grow fruits and vegetables alongside their staple crop, maize. In recent years, there’s been growing demand for their organically produced crops from buyers in the nearby city of Blantyre, Malawi’s commercial capital. The assembly’s chair in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CHIRADZULU, Malawi — In Chiradzulu district in southern Malawi, 60 women who are members of the Rural Women’s Assembly grow fruits and vegetables alongside their staple crop, maize. In recent years, there’s been growing demand for their organically produced crops from buyers in the nearby city of Blantyre, Malawi’s commercial capital. The assembly’s chair in Chiradzulu, Diana Sitima, runs a 3.5-hectare (8.6-acre) organic farm here. She says when she started the farm in 1993, she used to take the produce to consumers in Blantyre. “Now they are coming to us. They say our produce has a good taste,” Sitima says. According to the women, the biggest obstacles they face as farmers is that they lack land titles and capital to invest in their farming. As members of the RWA, these are the issues they discuss at their meetings and bring to their local council and central government for solutions. Ester Samuel spreads maize to dry in Balaka, Malawi. Image by CIMMYT via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) In 1998, not long after she got married, RWA member Lonely Kholowa’s parents gave her a piece of land to cultivate. But after her father passed away in 2009 — her mother had died seven years earlier — her father’s older brother grabbed the land, arguing that according to their culture, she belonged to the family of her mother who came from Machinga district in the east of the country. Today, Kholowa farms land in her husband’s village elsewhere in Chiradzulu. “I don’t have&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/movement-gives-african-rural-women-farmers-a-voice-but-still-battles-landownership/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320693</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Malawi, one woman’s farm shows what’s possible with land and support</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-malawi-one-womans-farm-shows-whats-possible-with-land-and-support/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-malawi-one-womans-farm-shows-whats-possible-with-land-and-support/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jun 2026 11:34:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Charles Mpaka]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/04111912/1-scaled-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320577</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Malawi, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Biodiversity, Community Development, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Farming, Food, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CHIRADZULU, Malawi — Diana Sitima’s farm on the outskirts of Malawi’s commercial capital, Blantyre, is both example and an exception. Where neighboring farmers have planted mostly maize for food and for sale in nearby markets, people drive out to buy sweet potato, pigeon peas and vegetables, bananas and avocado, and eggs produced on Sitima’s 3.5-hectare [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CHIRADZULU, Malawi — Diana Sitima’s farm on the outskirts of Malawi’s commercial capital, Blantyre, is both example and an exception. Where neighboring farmers have planted mostly maize for food and for sale in nearby markets, people drive out to buy sweet potato, pigeon peas and vegetables, bananas and avocado, and eggs produced on Sitima’s 3.5-hectare (8.6-acre) property. Sitima started farming in 1993. Unlike her neighbors, farming was a side hustle to begin with: she worked as an office assistant in Blantyre and her husband had a good job with a bank. Over the next seven years, she and her husband took out a series of micro-loans, renting small parcels of land and hiring people from the village to grow tomatoes for sale in the city. Sitima’s efforts went well, and because her family did not have to rely on their harvest for food or an income at that time, she was able to save the money she earned to take a next step. She quit her office job and acquired a farm of her own in Chiradzulu district, 15 kilometers (9 miles) east of the city. “That’s how I made money to be able to buy this land when it was put up for sale in 2006,” she says. While she was still a part-time farmer, Sitima attended several workshops, where she picked up ideas about agroecological farming — an approach combining crops, agroforestry, fish ponds, poultry and livestock, in a self-reinforcing system that protects soil health and reduces the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-malawi-one-womans-farm-shows-whats-possible-with-land-and-support/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-malawi-one-womans-farm-shows-whats-possible-with-land-and-support/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320577</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bangladesh salt farmers struggle as climate shifts disrupt harvests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/bangladesh-salt-farmers-struggle-as-climate-shifts-disrupt-harvests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/bangladesh-salt-farmers-struggle-as-climate-shifts-disrupt-harvests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 May 2026 14:59:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sifayet Ullah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/20144909/farmer-collects-mature-salt-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319814</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Justice, Environment, Food, Food Industry, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, and Impact Of Climate Change]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Bent over a salt bed, a 55-year-old farmer, Nasir Uddin, was scooping up and throwing out water with a hand-made pot from his field was flooded by a few hours of heavy overnight rain. On his 0.5 hectares (1.2 acres) of salt plot located in southeastern Bangladesh, nearly 18 maunds of salt (each maund is [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Bent over a salt bed, a 55-year-old farmer, Nasir Uddin, was scooping up and throwing out water with a hand-made pot from his field was flooded by a few hours of heavy overnight rain. On his 0.5 hectares (1.2 acres) of salt plot located in southeastern Bangladesh, nearly 18 maunds of salt (each maund is equal to 40 kilograms, or 88 pounds) had been washed away just a day before harvesting. “I was expecting to collect salt today [April 16]. But the rain has damaged all the salt,” said Nasir, a farmer from Moulabir Gona village of Kutubdia subdistrict in Cox’s Bazar district. The farmer said the rainfall on April 15 happened when production is usually at its peak. “We didn’t experience rainfall in March-April in the past. But over the last 8-10 years, rain has started occurring during this time, even in December and January, during winters,” said Nasir, who has been cultivating salt for around 28 years. Like Nasir, thousands of salt farmers across the coastal belt are now facing similar losses from unseasonal rain, as erratic weather increasingly disrupts production. A salt farmer carries harvested salt from the field, transporting it for storage in nearby pits. Image by Sifayet Ullah. Climate variability emerges as a growing threat Salt farming is one of the largest seasonal livelihoods in the country. In the ongoing season, farming has taken place on more than 27,520 hectares (68,000 acres) of land across Cox’s Bazar’s Sadar, Kutubdia, Maheshkhali, Chakaria, Pekua, Eidgaon and Teknaf&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/bangladesh-salt-farmers-struggle-as-climate-shifts-disrupt-harvests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/bangladesh-salt-farmers-struggle-as-climate-shifts-disrupt-harvests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319814</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rising waters and mounting pressures collide on Kenya’s Lake Turkana</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rising-waters-and-mounting-pressures-collide-on-kenyas-lake-turkana/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rising-waters-and-mounting-pressures-collide-on-kenyas-lake-turkana/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 May 2026 08:04:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Christopher Clark]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/18181814/061A2832-scaled-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319666</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Climate Change, Conservation, Drought, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Flooding, Food, food security, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Hunger, Lakes, Overfishing, Poverty, and Regulations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KALOKOL, Kenya — Rake-thin with teeth stained a deep brown from decades of drinking untreated lake water high in fluoride, 62-year-old John Esirite sits in the shade outside the small office of Kalokol’s Beach Management Unit, or BMU, the community-run body that oversees local fisheries. “The old office used to be down there,” the fisherman [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KALOKOL, Kenya — Rake-thin with teeth stained a deep brown from decades of drinking untreated lake water high in fluoride, 62-year-old John Esirite sits in the shade outside the small office of Kalokol’s Beach Management Unit, or BMU, the community-run body that oversees local fisheries. “The old office used to be down there,” the fisherman says, pointing toward the western shoreline of Lake Turkana, the world’s largest permanent desert lake, just visible a couple of kilometers away. “But now it’s underwater.” Over the last 15 years, Lake Turkana has risen by about 8-10 meters (26-33 feet). That’s increased its surface area by around 10%. In and around the fishing hub of Kalokol, hundreds of people have been displaced by this steady advance. In Esirite’s case, the village where he grew up, Natole, has long since been abandoned. The fisherman has had to relocate three times since 2014, pushed ever farther from his ancestral land and the nearshore breeding grounds he has fished for most of his life. “We are suffering, but no one is helping us,” he says. “We can only pray to God for assistance.” But even the church where Esirite used to pray is underwater. What is happening in Kalokol is part of a wider trend. Since the early 2010s, many lakes across Kenya’s Rift Valley have flooded, their expansion accelerating after particularly heavy rains in 2020, forcing tens of thousands from their homes. But here, in this long-neglected northern corner of the country, the human and environmental&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rising-waters-and-mounting-pressures-collide-on-kenyas-lake-turkana/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rising-waters-and-mounting-pressures-collide-on-kenyas-lake-turkana/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319666</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Turkana has always adapted to change’: Interview with environmentalist Ikal Angelei</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/turkana-has-always-adapted-to-change-interview-with-environmentalist-ikal-angelei/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/turkana-has-always-adapted-to-change-interview-with-environmentalist-ikal-angelei/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 May 2026 08:02:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Christopher Clark]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/18184413/061A3230-scaled-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319676</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Climate Change, Conservation, Drought, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Flooding, Food, food security, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Hunger, Lakes, Overfishing, Poverty, and Regulations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Lake Turkana in northern Kenya is often portrayed as a region in perpetual crisis due to climate change. But for the Indigenous groups who have lived here for centuries, environmental change is not new. Local livelihoods have long shifted between pastoralism, fishing, farming and trade as people adapt to a landscape defined by fluctuation. What [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Lake Turkana in northern Kenya is often portrayed as a region in perpetual crisis due to climate change. But for the Indigenous groups who have lived here for centuries, environmental change is not new. Local livelihoods have long shifted between pastoralism, fishing, farming and trade as people adapt to a landscape defined by fluctuation. What has changed is the scale and intensity of pressures now converging on and around the lake — from increasingly erratic climate patterns and mounting strain on fisheries, to oil development, resource conflict, and the political decisions now shaping the lake’s future. In 2008, Ikal Angelei was working as a program coordinator at the Turkana Basin Institute, a pioneering research center focused on human origins and the environment, when she first heard from visiting scientists about a huge hydroelectric dam being built across the border in Ethiopia. Concerned about the Gibe III Dam’s potentially devastating impact downstream, on Lake Turkana and the communities that depend on it, Angelei founded a grassroots organization called Friends of Lake Turkana to amplify the voices of people who had been excluded from the consultation process and fight the project. In 2012, Angelei was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for her advocacy. Her organization continues to work with and on behalf of communities within the greater Turkana Basin to demand collective social, economic, cultural, environmental and territorial justice. Mongabay spoke with Angelei about resilience, reductive narratives, and what Turkana’s history might reveal about its future. This interview has been lightly edited&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/turkana-has-always-adapted-to-change-interview-with-environmentalist-ikal-angelei/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/turkana-has-always-adapted-to-change-interview-with-environmentalist-ikal-angelei/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319676</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How grape farmers are restoring Armenia’s wine heritage while safeguarding ecosystems</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/how-grape-farmers-are-restoring-armenias-wine-heritage-while-safeguarding-ecosystems/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/how-grape-farmers-are-restoring-armenias-wine-heritage-while-safeguarding-ecosystems/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 May 2026 20:29:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kushane Chobanyan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/08140224/ZET_3113-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319015</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Armenia and Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Farming, Food, Food Industry, Traditional Knowledge, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[AGHAVNADZOR, Armenia — It’s 6 a.m. as the rising sun illuminates apricot-colored cliffs in central Armenia. It’s so still that even the distant buzz of a bee can be heard. Coca-Cola bottles filled with homemade wine for sale line the narrow road leading to acres of grapes growing quietly in an unusual vineyard. At 1,300 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[AGHAVNADZOR, Armenia — It’s 6 a.m. as the rising sun illuminates apricot-colored cliffs in central Armenia. It’s so still that even the distant buzz of a bee can be heard. Coca-Cola bottles filled with homemade wine for sale line the narrow road leading to acres of grapes growing quietly in an unusual vineyard. At 1,300 meters (about 4,300 feet) above sea level, Trinity Canyon Vineyards seems like it’s flirting with the sun. Located in Vayots Dzor province, where winters are bitterly cold and summers hot, Trinity Canyon and other vineyards use “vertical viticulture” to grow grapes among the mountains. Unlike many other wine-producing countries, where vineyards are cultivated horizontally on more level ground, in Armenia vineyards rise from 1,100-1,600 m (3,600-5,250 feet), with elevation affecting climate, soil and harvest timing. With the country’s rocky terrain, even terracing is difficult. “As a result, most Armenian vineyards, including those in Vayots Dzor, are planted on [natural] plateaus — flat elevated areas that allow the vines to thrive despite the challenging terrain,” Artem Parseghyan, the head winemaker at Trinity Canyon, tells Mongabay. Parseghyan spends his life on the road, driving between Yerevan, the capital, and Vayots Dzor. Born and raised in Russia, Parseghyan studied viticulture and enology (the science of winemaking) in France and Germany. In 2013, when Trinity Canyon was established, Parseghyan came to Armenia to work at what was then one of the country’s few vineyards. Vineyards in Vayots Dzor, the heartland of Armenian wine. Image courtesy of the Vine and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/how-grape-farmers-are-restoring-armenias-wine-heritage-while-safeguarding-ecosystems/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/how-grape-farmers-are-restoring-armenias-wine-heritage-while-safeguarding-ecosystems/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319015</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The world’s great deltas are sinking — and with them, a global food system</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-worlds-great-deltas-are-sinking-and-with-them-a-global-food-system/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-worlds-great-deltas-are-sinking-and-with-them-a-global-food-system/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 May 2026 19:54:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Petro Kotzé]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/06160303/2-with-people-in-water-BANNER-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318789</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Indonesia, Mekong Basin, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Conservation, Dams, Environment, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Food, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, Impact Of Climate Change, Mining, Oceans, Planetary Health, Rivers, Sea Levels, Sedimentation, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“I would like for me and my children to live here forever,” said Lâm Thu Sang, a resident of Vietnam’s Cần Thơ, a city of more than 2 million people located near the mouth of the Mekong River on one of the world’s largest river deltas. But that may not be possible. In the past, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“I would like for me and my children to live here forever,” said Lâm Thu Sang, a resident of Vietnam’s Cần Thơ, a city of more than 2 million people located near the mouth of the Mekong River on one of the world’s largest river deltas. But that may not be possible. In the past, about 160 million metric tons of sediment was annually funneled down the 4,300-kilometer (nearly 2,700-mile) Mekong River to form and nourish the vast delta where the river meets the sea. By 2024, that deposition rate had fallen by 70% per year — starving the delta of much of its source material. The Mekong flows through six Asian nations, draining a roughly 800,000-square-kilometer (309,000-square-mile) basin, until finally releasing its combined sediments into the 40,000-km2 (15,400-mi2) Mekong Delta — a complex ecological system of low-lying fertile lands and a web of waterways the size of the Netherlands, stretching from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to the South China Sea in Vietnam. Unfortunately, the future of Lâm Thu Sang’s community and this great delta are seriously in doubt, with the delta doubly threatened by land subsidence and sea level rise. Mekong Delta residents say life there is changing. For one, annual floods have become longer and more severe. Image courtesy of Anh Duong Community Development and Support Center. Sang, who helps run the Anh Duong Community Development and Support Center, an NGO focused on eradicating poverty in remote areas of Cần Thơ, said that people know their delta home is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-worlds-great-deltas-are-sinking-and-with-them-a-global-food-system/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/the-worlds-great-deltas-are-sinking-and-with-them-a-global-food-system/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318789</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Nepal’s plains, traditional bins help keep food safe from heat, floods</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-nepals-plains-traditional-bins-help-keep-food-safe-from-heat-floods/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-nepals-plains-traditional-bins-help-keep-food-safe-from-heat-floods/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 May 2026 17:22:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tanka Dhakal]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/04115851/02_Dehari-kitchen-2--768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318664</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate Change, Conservation, Culture, Extreme Weather, Food, food security, Indigenous Peoples, Temperatures, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional People, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[DANG, Nepal — With the start of the summer season in Nepal, farmers are worried about keeping their grain safe from extreme heat and insect infestation. But at Chattrapati Yadav’s home in Dang in western Nepal, that is not a concern thanks to handmade earthen pots passed down from previous generations. The 70‑year‑old learned the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[DANG, Nepal — With the start of the summer season in Nepal, farmers are worried about keeping their grain safe from extreme heat and insect infestation. But at Chattrapati Yadav’s home in Dang in western Nepal, that is not a concern thanks to handmade earthen pots passed down from previous generations. The 70‑year‑old learned the craft of making the pots from her mother. She eventually taught it to her daughters and granddaughters. “My granddaughter made this one, and that one was made by my mother‑in‑law,” Yadav said, pointing to the cylindrical and rectangular storage vessels. Across Nepal’s Terai, members of Indigenous communities, including the Tharu and Yadav, keep their grains safe using the dehari (traditional seed storage bins) secured by ancestral craftsmanship and Indigenous knowledge honed over centuries. These continue to stand the test of time even amid climatic stresses. “We use locally available mud and husk with some dung; we don’t use anything that isn’t available here,” Yadav said. “It takes around a week to make and a month to dry them.” If protected from water, a dehari can even outlast its maker. Dehari, traditional food grain and seed storage earthen pots made out of clay soil and husk inside Chattrapati Yadav’s family home in Dang, Nepal. These pots have been used to store grains for generations by Indigenous and local communities, including Tharu and Yadav. Image by Tanka Dhakal. A Tharu village in Chitwan, Nepal. Image by tearsxintherain via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). Climate-resilient storage In the Terai,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-nepals-plains-traditional-bins-help-keep-food-safe-from-heat-floods/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-nepals-plains-traditional-bins-help-keep-food-safe-from-heat-floods/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318664</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>With its first marine reserve, Ghana protects its ocean to secure its future (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/with-its-first-marine-reserve-ghana-protects-its-ocean-to-secure-its-future-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/with-its-first-marine-reserve-ghana-protects-its-ocean-to-secure-its-future-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 May 2026 13:20:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Emelia Arthur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/01204718/OceanImageBank_LiamMcGuire_03-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318614</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Ghana, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Biodiversity, Commentary, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Food, food security, Governance, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[How we feed the future is a critical challenge of our time. Yet too often, the focus remains on land, forgetting that the ocean is already a vital source of nutrition for billions of people. That oversight is costly. The ocean is under growing pressure, with an estimated 60% of the world’s marine ecosystems already [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[How we feed the future is a critical challenge of our time. Yet too often, the focus remains on land, forgetting that the ocean is already a vital source of nutrition for billions of people. That oversight is costly. The ocean is under growing pressure, with an estimated 60% of the world’s marine ecosystems already degraded or used unsustainably. This cannot continue. On April 14, Ghana put ocean protection on the map when the government officially declared the Greater Cape Three Points Marine Protected Area, our country’s first formally designated marine protected area (MPA). Covering 703.86 square kilometers (nearly 272 square miles) of coastal waters in the Western region, this landmark step will help restore precious marine ecosystems and protect the livelihoods of 21 coastal communities. It is a core element of Ghana’s vision for a “blue future” in which the ocean supports a diversified, sustainable economy. This is also a milestone in Ghana’s contribution to the global goal of protecting at least 30% of the ocean by 2030 (30&#215;30). With just 10% of the ocean currently designated for protection — and far less being effectively protected — scaling up action worldwide has never been more urgent. Ghana is proud to be stepping forward, and we urge other countries to do the same. The Greater Cape Three Points area is one of Ghana’s most ecologically and biologically significant marine environments. Its nutrient-rich upwelling waters host critical breeding and nursery grounds for fish species including sardinella, anchovy and mackerel, making the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/with-its-first-marine-reserve-ghana-protects-its-ocean-to-secure-its-future-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318614</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Migratory freshwater fish are in trouble: Will we act in time to save them?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/migratory-freshwater-fish-are-in-trouble-will-we-act-in-time-to-save-them/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/migratory-freshwater-fish-are-in-trouble-will-we-act-in-time-to-save-them/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 May 2026 13:41:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Stefan Lovgren]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/01124053/24-BANNER-IMAGE-IMG_9540-dorado-parana-river-argentina-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318549</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Brazil, Global, Latin America, Mekong Basin, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Food, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Migration, Planetary Boundaries, Planetary Health, Rivers, Tropics, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SALOBRA, Brazil — Life revolves around water in this quiet fishing village in Brazil’s southern Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland. Here, a clear tributary meets the broader Miranda River, part of a vast floodplain where multiple streams spill across the landscape and wildlife thrives. Jaguars prowl riverbanks, giant otters patrol the channels, parrots fill the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SALOBRA, Brazil — Life revolves around water in this quiet fishing village in Brazil’s southern Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland. Here, a clear tributary meets the broader Miranda River, part of a vast floodplain where multiple streams spill across the landscape and wildlife thrives. Jaguars prowl riverbanks, giant otters patrol the channels, parrots fill the skies, and beneath the rippling surface, fish of every size and shape swim through a shifting watery mosaic, tying a vast aquatic ecosystem together. For 72-year-old retired fisherman Alberto Oriozola, the Miranda River was once both livelihood and lifegiving. He recalls, as a young man, looking down from a hilltop and seeing the river bottom appear to move with swimming pintado — the spotted surubim catfish (Pseudoplatystoma corruscans), their jaguar-like markings visible in the clear water. “You could choose the size you wanted to catch,” he remembers. Fish 3 meters (10 feet) long were part of the catch. Now, the largest surubim are maybe half that length, and far less common. Maycon Lopes da Silva (left) and Alberto Oriozola (right), two generations of fishers from Salobra, Brazil, reflect on declining catches along the Miranda River. Image by Stefan Lovgren. These days, Oriozola’s grandson-in-law, Maycon Lopes da Silva, 26, works the same waters but in a different way. He guides sport fishers who come in search of surubim (in Portuguese, or sorubim in Spanish), along with other large species, and he shares the river with his more than 18,000 followers on Instagram. Bare-chested and quick to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/migratory-freshwater-fish-are-in-trouble-will-we-act-in-time-to-save-them/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318549</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Global trade in sea cucumbers ‘alarming’ with many species at risk: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/global-trade-in-sea-cucumbers-alarming-with-many-species-at-risk-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/global-trade-in-sea-cucumbers-alarming-with-many-species-at-risk-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Apr 2026 20:20:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/30161142/1-orange-footed-sea-cucumber-Cucumaria-frondosa-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318498</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[China and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Food, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Overconsumption, Overfishing, Trade, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The global trade in sea cucumbers has grown since 2013 and continues to decimate the populations of many species, according to a recent study that cites “escalating impacts” and calls for stronger conservation measures. “Nowadays it&#8217;s overexploited nearly all over in the world,” Chantal Conand, an emeritus associate at France’s National Museum of Natural History [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The global trade in sea cucumbers has grown since 2013 and continues to decimate the populations of many species, according to a recent study that cites “escalating impacts” and calls for stronger conservation measures. “Nowadays it&#8217;s overexploited nearly all over in the world,” Chantal Conand, an emeritus associate at France’s National Museum of Natural History and lead author of the study, told Mongabay, speaking of sea cucumbers generally. Conand and her co-authors write that the harvest of sea cucumbers is now “contagious” — spreading from place to place — and that the “continued growth and expansion of the global sea cucumber trade is alarming as the sustainability of many species-specific fisheries remains of great concern.&#8221; The paper, which was published Feb. 19 in the Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, follows other recent sea cucumber studies that also raise conservation concerns. Chantal Conand, lead author of a recent study on sea cucumbers, holds a pineapple sea cucumber (Thelenota ananas), amid the research collections of France’s National Museum of Natural History, where she is an emeritus associate. Image courtesy of Chantal Conand. Diving for good data Globally, there are roughly 1,800 species of sea cucumbers, which make up all of the taxonomic class Holothuroidea. Like starfish (class Asteroidea) and sea urchins (class Echinoidea), they sit in the phylum Echinodermata. Sea cucumbers act as recyclers and processors on the seafloor, eating detritus — decaying organic matter — and discharging it in a more aerated, nitrogen-rich form that helps&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/global-trade-in-sea-cucumbers-alarming-with-many-species-at-risk-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318498</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bangladesh struggles to choose between food security &#038; stable groundwater table</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/bangladesh-struggles-to-choose-between-food-security-stable-groundwater-table/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/bangladesh-struggles-to-choose-between-food-security-stable-groundwater-table/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Apr 2026 17:19:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/30163952/farmers-are-irrigating-their-land-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318504</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Drought, Extreme Weather, Farming, Food, food security, Freshwater, Global Environmental Crisis, Rice, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Considering the rapidly depleting groundwater table in Bangladesh’s northwestern zone, known as the Barind Tract, the country declared 25 subdistricts of the region as water crisis-prone areas in December 2025. In a circular, the government suggested that farmers immediately cut their cultivation of the high irrigation-intensive rice variety boro. At the same time, it directed [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Considering the rapidly depleting groundwater table in Bangladesh’s northwestern zone, known as the Barind Tract, the country declared 25 subdistricts of the region as water crisis-prone areas in December 2025. In a circular, the government suggested that farmers immediately cut their cultivation of the high irrigation-intensive rice variety boro. At the same time, it directed the state-owned Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA) to stop providing irrigation to the farmers. BMDA is an authority under the Ministry of Water Resources that oversees irrigation of extracted groundwater through roughly 16,000 deep tube wells to more than half a million hectares (1.2 million acres) of arable land in northern Bangladesh. “The water crisis is nothing new in the region. However, the sudden declaration of stopping irrigation and boro cultivation brought BMDA and the farmers into a confrontational situation,” said Md Abul Kasem, additional chief engineer of BMDA. “Later, we discussed the situation with the Water Resources Ministry and got a verbal direction to continue the irrigation till the next formal decision is made,” he added. The declaration came per the suggestion of the Bangladesh Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO), as it suggested the government take measures to curb groundwater depletion in the country. According to WARPO, five subdistricts of Chapai Nawabganj, 10 subdistricts of Rajshahi and 10 subdistricts of Naogaon are marked at different levels of groundwater scarcity, including high, medium and low. A 2024 study said the Barind Tract was the most drought-affected zone in the country due to its lesser rainfall,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/bangladesh-struggles-to-choose-between-food-security-stable-groundwater-table/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318504</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Heat, fires and agribusiness squeeze traditional Amazon açaí harvesters</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/heat-fires-and-agribusiness-squeeze-traditional-amazon-acai-harvesters/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/heat-fires-and-agribusiness-squeeze-traditional-amazon-acai-harvesters/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Apr 2026 07:00:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carla Ruas]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/23204151/e.-GP0STPODX_Low-res-800px-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318072</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bees, Bioeconomy, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Crops, Drought, El Nino, Environment, Farming, Fires, Food, Forests, Heatwave, Indigenous Peoples, Monocultures, Rainforests, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The global craze for açaí is driving a plantation boom that leaves the forest’s original harvesters behind.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ACARÁ, Brazil — “I’ve spent my whole life working with açaí,” said Eliseu Carvalho, 57, who cultivates the berry in a floodplain area next to his home in the municipality of Acará, in the Brazilian state of Pará. “I’ve always made a living from it.” But after a devastating wildfire near his community, Carvalho is now considering abandoning açaí harvesting altogether. Acará is one of the most productive açaí regions in the state of Pará, with thousands of small-scale producers working in forest patches and along riverbanks. In 2024, the municipality was severely affected by an intense wildfire season. More than 18 million hectares (44.5 million acres) — an area the size of Cambodia — burned in the Amazon that year, according to the Brazilian collaborative research network MapBiomas. Most of the burning occurred in forest areas, threatening frontline communities. Carvalho said he watched the flames burn for more than 20 days and consume almost 30 hectares (74 acres) of forestland. Prolonged drought conditions had left the humid vegetation unusually dry, leaving it much more susceptible to fire. “The flames spread through roots and organic matter,” he told Mongabay in Acará. “We would put them out on the surface, but they kept burning underground.” Açaí farmer Eliseu Carvalho shows his land in Acará, where a devastating wildfire burned down their açaí production in 2024. Image by Carla Ruas. When firefighters and volunteers finally managed to control the fire, about 2 hectares (5 acres) of açaí palms had burned to the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/heat-fires-and-agribusiness-squeeze-traditional-amazon-acai-harvesters/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318072</doi>				</item>
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