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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/foreign-aid/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<title>News on Foreign Aid</title>
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				<item>
					<title>‘Let’s understand the value of the forest’ says Liberia’s Silas Siakor</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/lets-understand-the-value-of-the-forest-says-liberias-silas-siakor/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/lets-understand-the-value-of-the-forest-says-liberias-silas-siakor/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2025 11:25:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/01093841/edb884ea-00f1-4a96-b10e-b1e414790373-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305234</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Liberia, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Community Forests, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Foreign Aid, Forests, Governance, Human Rights, Illegal Logging, Indigenous Peoples, Land Rights, Law, Law Enforcement, Logging, Plantations, Politics, Rainforests, Timber Laws, timber trade, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Rainforests have long played a central role in Liberia. Home to hundreds of thousands of people, they’re a source of sustenance, a site for cultural practice and habitat for forest elephants, western chimpanzees, and pygmy hippos. Massive rubber plantations carved out of them dominated the country’s economy for decades, and during the country’s civil war [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Rainforests have long played a central role in Liberia. Home to hundreds of thousands of people, they’re a source of sustenance, a site for cultural practice and habitat for forest elephants, western chimpanzees, and pygmy hippos. Massive rubber plantations carved out of them dominated the country’s economy for decades, and during the country’s civil war they provided timber that funded rebel groups. After the guns fell silent, Liberia overhauled its forestry laws to give communities a bigger role, with foreign donors pledging vast sums to support the reforms. Today, some of those donors are pulling back on their commitments, and new threats to Liberia’s forests are emerging. Nobody knows the importance of Liberia’s forests — or the challenges of protecting them — better than Silas Siakor. A prominent voice pushing for community rights in forest management, he was instrumental in designing the postwar legal reforms as well as the exposure of logging corruption scandals. In 2006, Siakor was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for his work investigating illegal logging under former President Charles Taylor. With the prize money, he set up an environmental watchdog group, the Sustainable Development Institute. Now, he’s helping to run an innovative pilot project in Liberia’s southeast Sinoe county, where 28 communities are set to begin receiving direct “area-based payments” from the Irish government in exchange for conserving their forests. “Two things came to mind when I first started to think about this approach,” he told Mongabay. “How do we incentivize forest owners to keep their&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/lets-understand-the-value-of-the-forest-says-liberias-silas-siakor/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/lets-understand-the-value-of-the-forest-says-liberias-silas-siakor/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305234</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Liberia has a new plan to protect its rainforests. Can it work?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/liberia-has-a-new-plan-to-protect-its-rainforests-can-it-work/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/liberia-has-a-new-plan-to-protect-its-rainforests-can-it-work/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2025 11:20:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/10/05104807/woman-in-a-liberian-forest-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305241</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Liberia, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Community Forests, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Foreign Aid, Forests, Governance, Human Rights, Illegal Logging, Indigenous Peoples, Land Rights, Law, Law Enforcement, Logging, Plantations, Politics, Rainforests, Timber Laws, timber trade, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Around half of West Africa’s remaining rainforests are in the small coastal nation of Liberia. They’re home to species like western chimpanzees and pygmy hippos, valuable stands of hardwood — and hundreds of thousands of people. Despite years of logging reforms backed by foreign aid, Liberia lost more than 38,000 hectares (94,000 acres) of humid [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Around half of West Africa’s remaining rainforests are in the small coastal nation of Liberia. They’re home to species like western chimpanzees and pygmy hippos, valuable stands of hardwood — and hundreds of thousands of people. Despite years of logging reforms backed by foreign aid, Liberia lost more than 38,000 hectares (94,000 acres) of humid primary forest in 2024 , driven by factors including agriculture, unsustainable logging and mining. A group of 28 communities in Liberia may have a solution, and it’s an elegantly straightforward one: Pay them to keep the forest standing. Under a new pilot project in southeastern Sinoe county, the government of Ireland is set to pay those communities $1.50 per hectare (2.5 acres) of forest they protect annually for the next two years. Fifty thousand hectares (124,000 acres) in two community-controlled rainforests are included in the pilot, with residents hoping to collectively receive $75,000 each year — about twice what a logging company would have paid them in land rental fees. Liberia’s Sapo National Park. Image by Rhett A. Butler for Mongabay. The money will be spent on development projects chosen and funded by the communities themselves, with some oversight by the Liberian organization managing the pilot. That organization, Integrated Development and Learning, hopes it can find enough funding to scale up the pilot to a total of 200,000 hectares (494,000 acres) of rainforest. “It’s taking some responsibility and saying these communities are doing something for all of us, for the planet and environment, and therefore&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/liberia-has-a-new-plan-to-protect-its-rainforests-can-it-work/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/liberia-has-a-new-plan-to-protect-its-rainforests-can-it-work/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305241</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>After USAID cut, Ethiopia&#8217;s largest community conservation area aims for self-sufficiency</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/after-usaid-cut-ethiopias-largest-community-conservation-area-aims-for-self-sufficiency/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/after-usaid-cut-ethiopias-largest-community-conservation-area-aims-for-self-sufficiency/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jun 2025 16:47:32 +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/20/2025/06/27164609/Capture-decran-le-2025-06-27-a-12.45.39-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301551</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Ethiopia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Community-based Conservation, Conflict, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Culture, Deforestation, Economics, Ecotourism, Elephants, Environment, Finance, Foreign Aid, Funding, Giraffes, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Natural Resources, Politics, Poverty, Sustainability, Tourism, Traditional Knowledge, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ADDIS ABABA — Local leaders at Ethiopia’s largest community conservation area are working to become financially self-sufficient and continue protecting land and wildlife independently, following the abrupt cut of funding from USAID earlier this year. The Tama Community Conservation Area (TCCA), started in 2022 with $8.5 million from the USAID’s BIOM project, had made progress [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ADDIS ABABA — Local leaders at Ethiopia’s largest community conservation area are working to become financially self-sufficient and continue protecting land and wildlife independently, following the abrupt cut of funding from USAID earlier this year. The Tama Community Conservation Area (TCCA), started in 2022 with $8.5 million from the USAID’s BIOM project, had made progress in environmental stewardship. It helped cut down illegal hunting and deforestation, according to the project office, while supporting local people to lead efforts to protect nature across 197,000 hectares (487,000 acres). The project also created jobs and gave several Indigenous communities in the region the legal right to manage their ancestral lands. As a result, wildlife populations of elephants and giraffes have increased, say conservationists. However, the sudden funding cut this January sparked pessimism among community members, many of whom returned to illegal hunting and deforestation, while fueling land-grab rumors that have left many fearful for their land rights. With external support dwindling, the project office, the TCCA council and community leaders are now working to establish independent offices and develop plans that will sustain conservation efforts while also benefiting the local community. Cool Ground, a nonprofit supporting the Indigenous community, has stepped in following the termination of the BIOM project with its own local funds to help manage the conservation effort and keep the project running until September. An aerial view of the Omo River, near the Tama Community Conservation Area. Image courtesy of the Oakland Institute. Barkede Kulumedere, a project manager at Cool&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/after-usaid-cut-ethiopias-largest-community-conservation-area-aims-for-self-sufficiency/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/after-usaid-cut-ethiopias-largest-community-conservation-area-aims-for-self-sufficiency/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301551</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>USAID cut curbs hopes at Ethiopia&#8217;s largest community conservation area</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/usaid-cut-curbs-hopes-at-ethiopias-largest-community-conservation-area/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/usaid-cut-curbs-hopes-at-ethiopias-largest-community-conservation-area/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 May 2025 10:50:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Solomon Yimer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/30100701/Giraffa_reticulata-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299924</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Ethiopia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Foreign Aid, Funding, Hunting, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Poaching, Politics, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ADDIS ABABA — Alawara Kolbala, 39, from the Mursi tribe, said he remembers the sense of pride and hope his community felt when they officially gained legal right to manage their land in the Tama Community Conservation Area (TCCA). “I was so happy when the land was finally recognized as ours,” he said. “We were [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ADDIS ABABA — Alawara Kolbala, 39, from the Mursi tribe, said he remembers the sense of pride and hope his community felt when they officially gained legal right to manage their land in the Tama Community Conservation Area (TCCA). “I was so happy when the land was finally recognized as ours,” he said. “We were filled with hope — hope to protect the plants and animals as our ancestors taught us, and to create a way to earn from the land.” This sense of hope is shared by thousands, said TCCA project organizers. The creation of the TCCA in southwestern Ethiopia’s Lower Omo River Valley two years ago marked a major milestone for the Indigenous Mursi, Bodi, Northern Kwegu and Ari communities. It introduced a structured, community-led system to manage wildlife and natural resources. Using governance rules agreed upon by the community, conservationists said the area was able to hull illegal hunting of animals, deforestation and use of the land for farming and grazing. “We’re seeing progress every day — illegal hunting is down, wildlife is returning, and deforestation is slowing,” said Alawara, also a scout in the conservation area. But that momentum is now at risk. Abrupt foreign aid funding cuts by the U.S. Trump administration have dealt a major setback to the once-promising conservation initiative, threatening both biodiversity and hard-won progress. Shortly after its launch, the TCCA received $8.5 million from USAID’s Biodiversity and Community Resilience in the Omo Valley (BIOM) project — funding that many environmentalists say&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/usaid-cut-curbs-hopes-at-ethiopias-largest-community-conservation-area/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/usaid-cut-curbs-hopes-at-ethiopias-largest-community-conservation-area/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299924</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>US funding shortfall halts Nepal’s rhino census, sparks debate over methods</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/us-funding-shortfall-halts-nepals-rhino-census-sparks-debate-over-methods/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/us-funding-shortfall-halts-nepals-rhino-census-sparks-debate-over-methods/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 May 2025 00:28:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Deepak Adhikari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/29000434/rhino-census-nepal-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299820</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Developing Countries, Elephants, Foreign Aid, Human-wildlife Conflict, Mammals, One-horned Rhinos, and Population]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In March 2021, dozens of elephants marched through the grasslands and sal (Shorea robusta) forests of Chitwan National Park, their riders armed with GPS devices and notebooks, searching for one of Asia’s most iconic megafauna: the greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis). The labor-intensive census mobilized more than 300 people and spanned three protected [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — In March 2021, dozens of elephants marched through the grasslands and sal (Shorea robusta) forests of Chitwan National Park, their riders armed with GPS devices and notebooks, searching for one of Asia’s most iconic megafauna: the greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis). The labor-intensive census mobilized more than 300 people and spanned three protected areas and 21 habitat blocks. It ended with a population estimate of 752 rhinos — a 16% increase from the last census in 2015, raising hope for the species classified as ‘vulnerable’ by IUCN, the global conservation authority. Now, for the first time in decades, Nepal has canceled its national rhino count, citing a lack of funds. “We’ve decided to carry out the census next year,” said Bed Kumar Dhakal, spokesperson for the country’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC). The quinquennial rhino census, which takes nearly a month, costs an estimated $115,000-155,000 (around 15-20 million Nepali rupees). Two one-horned rhinos seen in Nepal. Image courtesy of NTNC. Early this year, the Trump Administration in the U.S. launched a policy to reduce overseas spending, shutting down the activities of its main aid agency USAID. Nepal had anticipated support from USAID’s Jal Jungle project, with longtime conservation partners including WWF, Zoological Society of London and National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) also expected to share the rest of the expenses. After the USAID pullout, the government decided to cancel the census plans. Some conservationists, however, argue that this pause presents an opportunity to rethink&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/us-funding-shortfall-halts-nepals-rhino-census-sparks-debate-over-methods/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299820</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>USAID funding cuts jeopardize creation of Ghana’s first Marine Protected Area</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/usaid-funding-cuts-jeopardize-creation-of-ghanas-first-marine-protected-area/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/usaid-funding-cuts-jeopardize-creation-of-ghanas-first-marine-protected-area/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Mar 2025 16:46:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/13150052/2-fishers-ghana-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=295770</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Ghana, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Economics, Environment, Environmental Policy, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Food, food security, Foreign Aid, Funding, Global Environmental Crisis, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For more than 10 years, researchers, civil society and community members and government officials in Ghana worked to create the West African nation’s first marine protected area (MPA). In January, the newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly froze foreign aid, including to Ghana, jeopardizing the MPA’s establishment and dealing a blow to Ghana’s fisheries [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For more than 10 years, researchers, civil society and community members and government officials in Ghana worked to create the West African nation’s first marine protected area (MPA). In January, the newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly froze foreign aid, including to Ghana, jeopardizing the MPA’s establishment and dealing a blow to Ghana’s fisheries sector. Creating the MPA was a flagship initiative under the Ghana Fisheries Recovery Activity (GFRA) program, which was fully funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). “The USAID freeze sent shock waves around the world — and Ghana has also felt the impact,” Evans Kwasi Arizi, chairperson of the MPA technical committee, told Mongabay. He explained that Ghanaians rely heavily on small pelagic fisheries like sardinellas, anchovies and mackerel, and Ghana’s fisheries sector has, till now, benefited greatly from U.S. foreign aid. Without alternative funding, the sudden termination of the GFRA could create a lot of hardship for Ghanaians, Arizi, who is a fisheries scientist at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, told Mongabay. &#8220;If the fisheries collapse, it is going to inflict an economic crisis on the local people.&#8221; The funding contract between USAID and Tetra Tech, the U.S.-based engineering consultancy implementing the GFRA, was canceled in the last week of February, Tetra Tech employees, who were not authorized to speak to the media, told Mongabay. USAID had provided $750,000 in technical assistance to the MPA project, which Tetra Tech implemented in collaboration with local contractors and the Ghanaian government. The funding&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/usaid-funding-cuts-jeopardize-creation-of-ghanas-first-marine-protected-area/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-295770</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Across the world, conservation projects reel after abrupt US funding cuts</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/across-the-world-conservation-projects-reel-after-abrupt-us-funding-cuts/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/across-the-world-conservation-projects-reel-after-abrupt-us-funding-cuts/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Feb 2025 14:19:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/09/16150047/RangerUganda-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=294437</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Foreign Aid, Governance, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Conservation projects across the world are reeling from the Trump administration’s abrupt decision to shut down USAID and freeze foreign aid, as groups large and small scramble to fill sudden funding gaps for nature and wildlife protection. According to more than a dozen people interviewed by Mongabay this past week, the move could jeopardize hard-fought [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Conservation projects across the world are reeling from the Trump administration’s abrupt decision to shut down USAID and freeze foreign aid, as groups large and small scramble to fill sudden funding gaps for nature and wildlife protection. According to more than a dozen people interviewed by Mongabay this past week, the move could jeopardize hard-fought gains on problems like wildlife trafficking and deforestation. The U.S. government provides around $60 billion per year in nonmilitary foreign aid, much of which goes to emergency humanitarian relief, along with health and other assistance programs. A small but globally significant portion of that sum is spent on nature conservation. In 2023 alone, USAID provided $375.4 million to biodiversity projects, according to a report it submitted to the U.S. Congress last December, financing activities as varied as ranger patrols in protected areas, habitat restoration, and community conservancy operations. This funding has traditionally enjoyed broad bipartisan support in Congress, allocated through a “biodiversity earmark” in the annual appropriation bill for the Department of State. “Whoever’s at the level of president or in control of the House, it hasn’t really changed funding for biodiversity. Historically it’s something that both parties have rallied behind,” said one aid worker with experience in wildlife trafficking projects in Africa, who asked to remain anonymous. Last year’s bill directed $365 million toward conservation programs worldwide. With the decision to halt all existing foreign aid programs for at least 90 days, conservation workers say they’re not sure how much of that money —&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/across-the-world-conservation-projects-reel-after-abrupt-us-funding-cuts/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/across-the-world-conservation-projects-reel-after-abrupt-us-funding-cuts/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-294437</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Liberia puts a wartime logger in charge of its forests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/liberia-puts-a-wartime-logger-in-charge-of-its-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/liberia-puts-a-wartime-logger-in-charge-of-its-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Apr 2024 09:15:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/24213015/Logs_RivercessCountyLiberia2013_FloreDePreneufPROFORFlickrBYNC2.0-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=281358</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Liberia, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Forests, Conservation, Deforestation, Foreign Aid, Forests, and Governance]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The appointment of a logging executive with ties to former president and war criminal Charles Taylor has drawn fierce criticism by local environmental groups.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Liberia’s new president, Joseph Boakai, has appointed a timber trader linked to illegal logging to head the agency responsible for the country’s forests. Rudolph Merab, a longtime ally of Boakai’s, was tapped to lead the Forestry Development Authority in February, prompting alarm from environmental advocates in Liberia, who say Merab lacks the required qualifications for the job and is likely to prioritize timber extraction over conservation or community forestry. “He has been very critical of community participation in forest management,” said Jonathan Yiah, forest governance expert at Liberia’s Sustainable Development Institute. “More generally, he’s against the idea that communities should participate or give out concessions to logging companies, or even to manage forests.” Merab replaces former FDA boss Mike Doryen, whose tenure was marred by allegations of corruption and lawbreaking. Appointed by soccer star-turned-president George Weah, who was defeated by Boakai last October, Doryen ran the forestry agency from 2018-2023. In a leaked 2022 memo, the U.K. Foreign Office said that post-war regulations meant to protect Liberia’s rainforests and combat illegal logging virtually collapsed under Doryen. The memo described a “parallel system” for timber exports that bypassed legality checks and included the use of off-the-books accounts. In one widely publicized case, the FDA issued an export permit for millions of dollars’ worth of illegal logs, overriding the recommendations of a report from the country’s Department of Justice that accused Doryen and his staff of “serious breaches of Liberian law.” “Generally speaking, the Weah period is seen by almost everybody as&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/liberia-puts-a-wartime-logger-in-charge-of-its-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/liberia-puts-a-wartime-logger-in-charge-of-its-forests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-281358</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Sierra Leone’s fishing villages, a reality check for climate aid</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/in-sierra-leones-fishing-villages-a-reality-check-for-climate-aid/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/in-sierra-leones-fishing-villages-a-reality-check-for-climate-aid/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Dec 2022 13:29:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Ashoka]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/12/15090802/sierra-leone-fishing-village-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=263648</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering Climate Now]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Sierra Leone, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Biodiversity, Climate Change, climate finance, Climate Justice, Coastal Ecosystems, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Estuaries, Fishing, Flooding, Food, Foreign Aid, Forests, Global Warming, Impact Of Climate Change, Mangroves, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Politics, Reforestation, and Sea Levels]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BONTHE, Sierra Leone — As the sun rises over Bonthe, a small city on the coastline of Sierra Leone’s remote Sherbro Island, echoes of a not-so-distant colonial past bathe in the red glow of early morning. A crumbling stone warehouse, its façade scarred by years of salt and humidity, stands in front of a vast, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BONTHE, Sierra Leone — As the sun rises over Bonthe, a small city on the coastline of Sierra Leone’s remote Sherbro Island, echoes of a not-so-distant colonial past bathe in the red glow of early morning. A crumbling stone warehouse, its façade scarred by years of salt and humidity, stands in front of a vast, mangrove-laden riverine estuary. Above its doorway, faded lettering reads “Patterson, Zochonis” — two European traders who made their fortunes in what was once called British West Africa. Nearby, a worn white and gray church bearing the name Amistad watches over a quiet road. Sengbe Pieh, leader of the famous slave rebellion on the ship that the church was named for, was born on the island, and legend says his gravesite is hidden somewhere in the forest here. Bonthe, and the Sherbro estuary in general, was once a major trading outpost for the British Empire, feeding what was then an emergent global economy with slave labor and, later, tropical commodities like palm oil. Now it’s a sleepy fishing town of about 10,000 people. Even reaching Bonthe is no small feat — the journey from Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, involves a series of public buses, motorcycle rides down dirt highways, and a wooden public boat that ambles across the sprawling estuary, shuttling goods and travelers between the tiny fishing villages that dot its coastline. The city of Bonthe, Sierra Leone. Photo by Ashoka Mukpo for Mongabay. As the morning light shines on brightly painted fishing boats that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/in-sierra-leones-fishing-villages-a-reality-check-for-climate-aid/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/in-sierra-leones-fishing-villages-a-reality-check-for-climate-aid/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-263648</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In the DRC’s forests, a tug-of-war between oil and aid</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/in-the-drcs-forests-a-tug-of-war-between-oil-and-aid/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/in-the-drcs-forests-a-tug-of-war-between-oil-and-aid/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Jun 2022 12:28:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka Mukpo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Ashoka]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/12/16055317/ITPC-field-visit-Congo-peatlands-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=256903</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Congo Basin, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Developing Countries, Development, Environment, Foreign Aid, Forest Destruction, Forests, Peatlands, Politics, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It was a banner moment at COP26, one of the climate summit’s headline achievements. On stage, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson sat with President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo as the two put their pens to paper. As a part of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use — signed [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It was a banner moment at COP26, one of the climate summit’s headline achievements. On stage, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson sat with President Félix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo as the two put their pens to paper. As a part of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use — signed by more than 100 countries — a consortium of wealthy donors that included Norway, Germany and the U.K. were committing to a $500 million aid package meant to slow deforestation in the DRC. “With its forests, water and mineral resources, the Democratic Republic of Congo is a genuine ‘Solution Country’ to the climate crisis,” Tshisekedi said. But just a few short months later, the exuberant tone struck at COP26 has given way to a gloomier assessment of the DRC’s seriousness about the agreement’s intent, and whether it will ultimately prove compatible with the country’s efforts to tackle chronic poverty and manage its resource wealth. In April, the Ministry of Hydrocarbons shocked observers when it announced the auction of 16 new oil exploration blocs, including three that overlap with the Cuvette Centrale peatlands, which holds one of the largest carbon deposits on the planet. The announcement follows the DRC’s controversial decision to lift its moratorium on new logging concessions, which provoked an outcry from environmental NGOs last year. To some observers, the moves are a red flag for the DRC’s commitment to being a “solution country,” and raise questions about whether the expensive new aid package&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/in-the-drcs-forests-a-tug-of-war-between-oil-and-aid/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/in-the-drcs-forests-a-tug-of-war-between-oil-and-aid/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-256903</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Donors must rethink Africa’s flagging Green Revolution, new evaluation shows (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/donors-must-rethink-africas-flagging-green-revolution-new-evaluation-shows-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/donors-must-rethink-africas-flagging-green-revolution-new-evaluation-shows-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Mar 2022 15:30:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Timothy A. Wise]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/03/22150325/Blog_West_Africa_Seeds-1284x523-1-768x493.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=253982</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Commentary, Development, Foreign Aid, Funding, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Sustainability, and Sustainable Development]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A critical new donor-funded evaluation of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has confirmed what African civil society and faith leaders have claimed: “AGRA did not meet its headline goal of increased incomes and food security for 9 million smallholders.” The evaluation should be a wake up call, and not just for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A critical new donor-funded evaluation of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has confirmed what African civil society and faith leaders have claimed: “AGRA did not meet its headline goal of increased incomes and food security for 9 million smallholders.” The evaluation should be a wake up call, and not just for the private and bilateral donors that have bankrolled this 15-year-old effort to the tune of $1 billion. It should also rouse African governments to repurpose their agricultural subsidies from the Green Revolution package of commercial seeds and fertilizers to agroecology and other low-cost, low-input approaches. They have been providing as much as $1 billion per year for such input subsidies. Failing Africa’s farmers Carried out by consulting firm Mathematica, the evaluation confirms that the Green Revolution has failed to achieve AGRA’s stated goal to “catalyze a farming revolution in Africa.&#8221; Wambui Mwihaki, a farmer from central Kenya, takes stock of her thriving maize crop following adoption of agroecology. Image by David Njagi for Mongabay. The assessment was funded by AGRA’s primary sponsor, the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation, on behalf of other lead donors in AGRA’s Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa (PIATA): the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth &amp; Development Office; the Rockefeller Foundation; the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID); and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. The evaluation includes a summary of findings, a statistical appendix, and AGRA’s formal responses to the findings, all available publicly. Such transparency is welcome. AGRA&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/donors-must-rethink-africas-flagging-green-revolution-new-evaluation-shows-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/donors-must-rethink-africas-flagging-green-revolution-new-evaluation-shows-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-253982</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Revealed: Timber giant quietly converts Congo logging sites to carbon schemes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/revealed-timber-giant-quietly-converts-congo-logging-sites-to-carbon-schemes/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/revealed-timber-giant-quietly-converts-congo-logging-sites-to-carbon-schemes/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2022 10:43:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gloria Pallares]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Daniel]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/02/28135422/IMG_3644-min-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=253203</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Offset Markets and Investigation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Credits, Carbon Market, Carbon Offsets, Climate, Climate Change, Corruption, Deforestation, Environment, Foreign Aid, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Logging, Mongabay investigation, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KISANGANI, Congo — A major European logging firm may have illegally converted more than a dozen of its timber concessions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo into so-called conservation concessions, a new investigation can reveal. After harvesting the most valuable timber from the 15 concessions — covering an area the size of Belgium — [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KISANGANI, Congo — A major European logging firm may have illegally converted more than a dozen of its timber concessions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo into so-called conservation concessions, a new investigation can reveal. After harvesting the most valuable timber from the 15 concessions — covering an area the size of Belgium — Portuguese-owned Norsudtimber is now eyeing European investment in carbon credit schemes it will operate from the former logging sites. Since late 2020, the DRC has assigned 24 new conservation concessions, as investors seek to benefit from rising interest in carbon-trading initiatives in the world’s second-largest rainforest. A seven-month investigation by El País/Planeta Futuro has obtained unpublished documents showing that, in December 2020, the outgoing environment minister, Claude Nyamugabo, signed contracts transferring millions of hectares of Norsudtimber concessions from its logging subsidiaries, Sodefor and Forabola, to Kongo Forest Based Solutions (KFBS), another Norsudtimber subsidiary set up to manage its carbon-trading operations. The concessions were reassigned without public oversight or consultation with people who will be affected. Several of the concessions overlap with a protected area and the ancestral lands of the Bambuti, Bacwa and Batwa peoples, and nearly a third of the area covers climate-critical peatlands. Former Norsudtimber logging concessions transferred to its KBFS subsidiary to be used for carbon-trading initiatives overlap with Indigenous land and a protected area. Image by Kuang Keng Kuek Ser/Pulitzer Center. As tenants of conservation concessions, entities such as KFBS are entrusted with protecting precious ecosystems and the livelihoods of forest-dependent&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/revealed-timber-giant-quietly-converts-congo-logging-sites-to-carbon-schemes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/revealed-timber-giant-quietly-converts-congo-logging-sites-to-carbon-schemes/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-253203</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>France contributes to protection of Amazon stronghold, Yasuní National Park</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/france-contributes-to-protection-of-amazon-stronghold-yasuni-national-park/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/france-contributes-to-protection-of-amazon-stronghold-yasuni-national-park/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jan 2021 19:54:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vincent Ricci]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Genevieve Belmaker]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/07/05122307/002_Yasuni_KB_web-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=238938</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Ecuador and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation Finance, Environment, Foreign Aid, Forests, Governance, National Parks, Protected Areas, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[France has rolled out a new initiative to fight deforestation and promote sustainable development. Under the initiative, announced in Ecuador in early December 2020, the South American country will be the first regional beneficiary of the related pilot project, dubbed TerrAmaz. The overall initiative is backed by $11.48 million in funding to be divided between [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[France has rolled out a new initiative to fight deforestation and promote sustainable development. Under the initiative, announced in Ecuador in early December 2020, the South American country will be the first regional beneficiary of the related pilot project, dubbed TerrAmaz. The overall initiative is backed by $11.48 million in funding to be divided between Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, with support from the French Development Agency (AFD). The project in Ecuador will tackle deforestation in Yasuní National Park and nearly $1.5 million in dedicated funding. The protected area has long faced myriad environmental threats, including recent approvals for oil exploration and drilling. The French government also wants to help promote better controls over agricultural and forestry systems. “In Ecuador, the objective is to strengthen the governance of biodiversity and life to sustainably develop the conservation of nature,” AFD project manager Charlotte Venturini told Mongabay in a recent interview. “However, each country has a different focus.” Future announcements for Colombia will be made at the end of January according to Venturini. For years, the Yasuní reserve has been mired in oil industry battles, as extractive interests have worked to inch deeper into the park’s oil-rich zone within the ITT (Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini) project. Base Map of oil exploitation in Yasuní National Park, based on data from EcoCiencia, the Ministry of the Environment, Esri, Planet, and DigitalGlobe. Ecuador’s Ministry of Environment and Water pointed out in the AFD investment that more than 82,000 hectares (203,000 acres) of forest were lost between 2017 and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/france-contributes-to-protection-of-amazon-stronghold-yasuni-national-park/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-238938</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Liberia gave villagers control over their forests. Then a mining company showed up</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/liberia-gave-villagers-control-over-their-forests-then-a-mining-company-showed-up/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/liberia-gave-villagers-control-over-their-forests-then-a-mining-company-showed-up/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Dec 2020 10:20:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashoka MukpoJames Giahyue]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Ashoka]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/12/21132908/CF207-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=238115</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Investigation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Liberia, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Development, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Deforestation, Foreign Aid, Forests, Governance, Law, Mining, Mongabay investigation, Poverty, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Liberia’s Nimba county lies about an eight-hour drive north of the capital, Monrovia. In the dry season, the road leading into the far-flung region kicks up swirling clouds of red dust. Once the rains come, stretches turn into a near impassable moat of knee-high mud, enveloped on either side by dense jungles that chirp and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Liberia’s Nimba county lies about an eight-hour drive north of the capital, Monrovia. In the dry season, the road leading into the far-flung region kicks up swirling clouds of red dust. Once the rains come, stretches turn into a near impassable moat of knee-high mud, enveloped on either side by dense jungles that chirp and buzz with the sounds of wildlife. At the county’s northern edge, the Nimba Range’s jagged green peaks crisscross the horizon before spilling over the border into neighboring Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire. Nestled among the mountains are lush valleys with rainforests that contain some of the rarest species of wildlife on the planet, including tool-using western chimpanzees, the diminutive pygmy hippopotamus, and the Nimba toad — the only toad that gives birth to live young. The area is near-mythical for conservationists. In 1981, a sprawling 17,540-hectare (43,340-acre) strict nature reserve on the Guinean and Ivorian side of the border was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. While the Nimba Range is renowned for its biodiversity and pristine forests, it’s also home to a different type of natural wealth. Some of the largest and most lucrative deposits of iron ore are peppered throughout the mountains, making it a magnet for mining companies from around the world. Before Liberia descended into civil war in 1990, Nimba was home to LAMCO, a Swedish-U.S. iron-mining company that was one of Liberia’s flagship foreign investments, bringing in a sizable chunk of the small country’s revenue for decades. The ruins&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/liberia-gave-villagers-control-over-their-forests-then-a-mining-company-showed-up/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/12/liberia-gave-villagers-control-over-their-forests-then-a-mining-company-showed-up/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-238115</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Despite foreign aid, Colombia struggles to rein in Amazon deforestation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/01/despite-foreign-aid-colombia-struggles-to-rein-in-amazon-deforestation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/01/despite-foreign-aid-colombia-struggles-to-rein-in-amazon-deforestation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jan 2020 09:45:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Taran Volckhausen]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Genevieve Belmaker]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/01/29093025/Chiribiquete2_Amazon_Conservation_Team-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=226671</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation, Foreign Aid, forest degradation, Forests, Rainforests, Saving Rainforests, Solutions, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Three European countries have put up $366 million in foreign aid to fight deforestation in Colombia’s Amazon. The region’s rate of forest loss remains stubbornly high, up 97% since the 2016 demobilization of the FARC rebels. The Colombian government signed a landmark peace agreement with the formerly largest rebel group, the FARC, ending a half-century [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Three European countries have put up $366 million in foreign aid to fight deforestation in Colombia’s Amazon. The region’s rate of forest loss remains stubbornly high, up 97% since the 2016 demobilization of the FARC rebels. The Colombian government signed a landmark peace agreement with the formerly largest rebel group, the FARC, ending a half-century of conflict in 2016, but also creating a power vacuum that allowed small and large-scale landholders to engage in rampant land-grabbing and forest clearing in the Amazon region. In 2019, the country’s meteorological institute, IDEAM, released a report based on satellite images showing 138,176 hectares (341,440 acres) of Colombia’s Amazon rainforest were cut down in 2018, a 97% increase compared to 2016 when the FARC demobilized. Despite the exploding deforestation in the Amazon, Norway, Germany and the United Kingdom recently announced the renewal of an agreement, Joint Declaration of Intent, pledging $366 million to support a reduction of “greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+) and on promoting sustainable development in Colombia.” The renewed Joint Declaration of Intent agreement aims to cut rainforest clearing back by 21% in 2022, and 50% by 2025. Further, they confirmed a joint commitment to bring Colombia’s natural forest loss down to zero by 2030 as a signatory of the New York Declaration on Forests and the Bonn Challenge. “The goals were reached through a negotiation process with Colombian government. We put funding on the table and the Colombian government proposed new more ambitious, deforestation goals,” said Ole Reidar&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/01/despite-foreign-aid-colombia-struggles-to-rein-in-amazon-deforestation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/01/despite-foreign-aid-colombia-struggles-to-rein-in-amazon-deforestation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-226671</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Philippines freezes climate studies loan over scrutiny of Duterte drug war</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/philippines-freezes-climate-studies-loan-over-scrutiny-of-duterte-drug-war/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/philippines-freezes-climate-studies-loan-over-scrutiny-of-duterte-drug-war/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Oct 2019 12:21:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Leilani]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/09/14130139/Philipines-typhoon-768x511.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=223155</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate Change, Foreign Aid, Politics, and Storms]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[4127-1 SEA-ENV-SIDA]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MANILA – Negotiations over a $36 million loan on climate change studies in the Philippines, one of the countries most at risk from the impacts of global warming, have bogged down as President Rodrigo Duterte lashes out against international scrutiny of his human rights record. The loan was committed by Germany, one of 18 countries [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MANILA – Negotiations over a $36 million loan on climate change studies in the Philippines, one of the countries most at risk from the impacts of global warming, have bogged down as President Rodrigo Duterte lashes out against international scrutiny of his human rights record. The loan was committed by Germany, one of 18 countries on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that voted on July 11 to set up an investigation into killings linked to Duterte’s massive and long-running drug war that has claimed more than 6,600 lives. Duterte slammed the resolution, saying on July 12 that “they don’t understand the social, economic, political problems of the Philippines.” He later welcomed the probe and ensured that visiting representatives would get to see the effects of narcotics on local communities. On Sept. 20, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported on a “confidential memorandum” signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and ordering cabinet and agency heads to terminate foreign loans and aid from the countries that backed the resolution. Dated Aug. 27, 2019, the resolution reads: “In light of the administration’s strong rejection of the Resolution of the United Nations Human Rights Council, which carried through by the votes of a minority of the Council members of 11 July 2019 and calls upon the Philippines to take certain actions in relation to alleged human rights violations in the country, all concerned officials are DIRECTED to suspend negotiations for and signing of all loan and grant agreements with the government of the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/philippines-freezes-climate-studies-loan-over-scrutiny-of-duterte-drug-war/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/philippines-freezes-climate-studies-loan-over-scrutiny-of-duterte-drug-war/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-223155</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>15 years after tsunami, Aceh reckons with an inconsistent fisheries recovery</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/15-years-after-tsunami-aceh-reckons-with-a-faltering-fisheries-recovery/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/15-years-after-tsunami-aceh-reckons-with-a-faltering-fisheries-recovery/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Sep 2019 01:14:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonali Prasad]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2019/09/17211408/IMG_7058-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=222589</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Aceh, Asia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Development, Culture, Disasters, Environment, Fishing, Foreign Aid, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[2018-67916, 2163-3717]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — Aceh is one of those destinations that glimmer chimerically on the horizon, alluring with its newness, but ever receding, ever retreating in memory with the passage of time. There are picturesque cliffs to the west if you drive on the coastal highway from capital city of Banda Aceh to the town [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — Aceh is one of those destinations that glimmer chimerically on the horizon, alluring with its newness, but ever receding, ever retreating in memory with the passage of time. There are picturesque cliffs to the west if you drive on the coastal highway from capital city of Banda Aceh to the town of Calang, with the pristine, azure sea swirling foam to the east. Against the backdrop of colorful jetties are small shops decorated with curtains made by dangling threads of dried fish, octopuses splayed out like kites, and even stingrays. The threads twist and sway in the salty breeze like wind charms, the more browned portions of seafood skin shimmering in the sunlight, as humming women with infants tied in slings around their chests dole out anchovies on tarp-lined wooden tables. The older children run around their fishermen fathers closer to the water, unable to recall a time of catastrophe. Nearly 15 years ago, Aceh, a province on the northwestern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, was severely hit by a 9.1 magnitude undersea earthquake that triggered one of the world&#8217;s biggest natural disasters. Massive waves rose up to 30 meters (100 feet) the day after Christmas in 2004, just 255 kilometers (160 miles) southeast of Banda Aceh. Nearly 230,000 people were reported dead or missing across a dozen countries; Indonesia itself accounted for nearly 168,000 of them. Much of Aceh was flattened, and television crews from around the world arrived to broadcast mountains of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/15-years-after-tsunami-aceh-reckons-with-a-faltering-fisheries-recovery/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/15-years-after-tsunami-aceh-reckons-with-a-faltering-fisheries-recovery/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-222589</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Trump to allow elephant and lion trophies on case-by-case basis</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/03/trump-to-allow-elephant-and-lion-trophies-on-case-by-case-basis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/03/trump-to-allow-elephant-and-lion-trophies-on-case-by-case-basis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Mar 2018 10:33:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/03/07164441/FEATURED-trophy-hunting-768x449.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=204435</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Environmental Impacts of US Policy]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, North America, United States, Zambia, and Zimbabwe]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Carnivores, Cats, Conservation, Controversial, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Ethics, Extinction, Foreign Aid, Global Environmental Crisis, Globalization, Green, Habitat Degradation, Human-wildlife Conflict, Hunting, Law, Lions, Mammals, Mass Extinction, Over-hunting, Politics, Trade, Trophy Hunting, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a decision conservationists say could potentially invite corruption, the Trump administration will allow trophy hunting imports from Africa on a case-by-case basis.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Trump administration has been mired in a controversy for months over its policy toward importing hunting trophies from Zambia and Zimbabwe. Photo by Rhett A. Butler / Mongabay After months of indecision and confusion, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) says that it will now allow the importation of elephant and lion trophies on an “application-by-application” basis, according to a new memorandum. In November of last year, the Department of the Interior announced it would end Obama era elephant protections in Zimbabwe and Zambia. Protections for lions had already been quietly taken away the previous month. But two days later President Trump himself interjected via Twitter, dubbing trophy hunting a “horror show” and putting the decision on hold. Trump said a decision would come a week later – it never did. “If anything, this new announcement deepens the confusion over the Trump Administration&#8217;s position on trophy hunting,” said Niall McCann, who works on the ground in Africa as the Director of Conservation for National Park Rescue. “Chaos and confusion is, of course, the modus operandi of the Trump administration, but when the lives of thousands of threatened animals, and the livelihoods of hundreds of honest safari operators are on the line, what is required is clarity.” But a spokesperson for the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC), an international not-for-profit group that promotes hunting, welcomed the announcement so long as it led to additional hunting. They argue that the U.S. ban on elephant and lion trophies for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/03/trump-to-allow-elephant-and-lion-trophies-on-case-by-case-basis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/03/trump-to-allow-elephant-and-lion-trophies-on-case-by-case-basis/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-204435</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Trumping Colombia’s peace: U.S. drug war threatens fragile accord, forests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/02/trumping-colombias-peace-u-s-drug-war-threatens-fragile-accord-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/02/trumping-colombias-peace-u-s-drug-war-threatens-fragile-accord-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Feb 2018 15:25:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/02/05145458/FEATURED-1-768x493.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=203517</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Environmental Impacts of US Policy]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Controversial, Drug Trade, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Ethics, Extinction, Foreign Aid, Global Environmental Crisis, Globalization, Green, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Health, Herbicides, Illegal Trade, Pesticides, Politics, Pollution, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Public Health, Sustainable Development, War, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[KW2017]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As Colombia seeks peace with FARC rebels, Trump wants to cut funds for urgently needed social and rural development programs, with a return to aerial spraying and militaristic War on Drugs.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The source of the souring of U.S.-Colombia political relations: a coca plant. The Colombian government recently sought to combine eradication with alternative rural development to break the cycle of coca growing. The U.S. under Trump wants a return to the drug war, including aerial spraying, which Colombia has banned for health and safety reasons. Photo by Enn1.jpg: Dbotany /  Ilmari Karonen CC-BY-SA-3.0. Plan Colombia pumped nearly ten billion U.S. dollars into the South American nation to fight drug trafficking, and is lauded as a drug interdiction success story by some experts. For others, the program is seen as a disaster, a socially and environmentally destructive game of cat and mouse between law enforcement and traffickers, with farms, farmers and ecosystems sprayed aerially and widely with fumigants, especially Monsanto’s controversial glyphosate. Under President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the U.S. appears to be renewing its international War on Drugs, just as Colombia is gearing up for peace, implementing a fragile peace accord that also offers a rare opportunity to protect the country’s extraordinary biodiversity. Deforestation in Colombia. Since peace was achieved between the Colombian government and FARC, both legal and illegal activities have ramped up, and deforestation has soared in former rebel held areas, threatening the country’s fragile biodiversity. Photo credit: Matt-Zimmerman on VisualHunt / CC BY Trump tough on crime, tough on Colombia During a first meeting last May, Trump congratulated Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos for a “magnificent job” in crafting a peace accord with the FARC, Colombia’s foremost&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/02/trumping-colombias-peace-u-s-drug-war-threatens-fragile-accord-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/02/trumping-colombias-peace-u-s-drug-war-threatens-fragile-accord-forests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-203517</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A tale of two policies: climate change, Trump, and the U.S. military</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/a-tale-of-two-policies-climate-change-trump-and-the-u-s-military/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/a-tale-of-two-policies-climate-change-trump-and-the-u-s-military/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jan 2018 13:09:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/01/17171557/FEAATURED-USE-THIS-ONE-768x453.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=202948</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Environmental Impacts of US Policy]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Clean Energy, Climate, Climate Change Denial, Energy, Energy Efficiency, Environment, Environmental Policy, Flooding, Foreign Aid, Fossil Fuels, Global Warming, Green, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Military, Oil, Politics, Renewable Energy, Sea Levels, and Sustainability]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
											<grant>
							<![CDATA[KW2017]]>
						</grant>
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Even as Donald Trump calls climate change a hoax, the U.S. military is recognizing it as a national security threat, and revving up to protect its bases and operations in a climate destabilized world.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The U.S. war with Iraq was responsible for a vast amount of carbon pollution. A great deal of oil was burned as U.S. forces were rushed from around the globe to the Middle East, with more burned as waves of tanks and other vehicles surged across the desert. Photo by U.S. army CC BY 2.0 via Flickr The U.S. government appears to be of two minds, with utterly opposing worldviews, on climate change policy. On one hand, the Trump Administration has pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement, has proposed eliminating three vital new climate satellites, reneged on an Obama era $2 billion commitment to the Green Climate Fund, and wants to slash funding to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency domestic climate programs and State Department USAID climate programs around the globe. The President has also denounced global warming as a hoax and a Chinese plot. On the other hand, the Republican-dominated Congress has affirmed that climate change is a prominent national security threat and mandated that the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) look closely at how climate change is going to affect key installations, while also addressing the need to boost the military’s finances considerably to deal with global warming threats. When Trump’s National Security Strategy – announced in January – erased climate change as a threat to U.S. security, that decision drew the ire of a bipartisan group of congressional legislators. As a result of this dichotomy, the DoD has emerged as an unlikely champion of climate action in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/a-tale-of-two-policies-climate-change-trump-and-the-u-s-military/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/a-tale-of-two-policies-climate-change-trump-and-the-u-s-military/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-202948</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>IUCN, UN, global NGOs, likely to see major budget cuts under Trump</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/iucn-other-global-ngos-un-likely-to-see-major-budget-cuts-under-trump/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/iucn-other-global-ngos-un-likely-to-see-major-budget-cuts-under-trump/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jan 2018 12:01:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/01/08112611/FEATURED-iucn-768x456.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=202739</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Environmental Impacts of US Policy]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Animals, Biodiversity, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Change Denial, Climate Science, Conservation, Controversial, Ecology, Ecosystems, Energy, Environment, Environmental Policy, Ethics, Extinction, Foreign Aid, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Globalization, Green, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, International Trade, Mitigation, Overpopulation, Politics, Population, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Public Health, Trade, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[While Pres. Trump’s 2018 budget remains in limbo, international environmental organizations and the UN stand to lose big if Congress okays his cuts. Still, global momentum is building for conservation and climate action, say policymakers.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[IUCN Director General Inger Andersen fears that cuts to the organization’s funding could have a knock-on effect for TRAFFIC, which monitors the illegal trade in wildlife species that is driving many species, like the pangolin, to the brink of extinction. Photo by David Brossard CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr Donald Trump’s 2018 budget remains in limbo – the U.S. Congress has now kicked a budget vote down the road four times, moving it from September 2017, passed two missed December dates, and now to 19 January 2018. And the longer the delays, the more concern there is internationally. That’s because those final budget numbers aren’t only important to Americans, they are also key to global conservation efforts. In March, the Trump administration laid out proposed draconian foreign aid funding cuts, slashing spending by 32 percent, or around $19 billion. Included were reductions in aid to a raft of nations and inter-governmental organizations with major implications for conservation, women’s rights and climate change adaptation. One organization that relies on annual U.S. funding is the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, which celebrates its seventieth anniversary in 2018. The IUCN has long been at the forefront of the conservation movement and is likely best known for its global Red List, the go-to resource for the status of endangered species planet-wide. “If there were to be significant cuts, for example, to IUCN’s core support… that would be very unfortunate,” says Inger Andersen, IUCN’s director general. Over the past four years&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/iucn-other-global-ngos-un-likely-to-see-major-budget-cuts-under-trump/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2018/01/iucn-other-global-ngos-un-likely-to-see-major-budget-cuts-under-trump/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-202739</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>So long, UNESCO! What does U.S. withdrawal mean for the environment?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/12/so-long-unesco-what-does-u-s-withdrawal-mean-for-the-environment/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/12/so-long-unesco-what-does-u-s-withdrawal-mean-for-the-environment/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Dec 2017 11:17:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Giovanni Ortolani]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/12/26104429/FEATURED-UN-768x458.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=202446</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Environmental Impacts of US Policy]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Animals, Biodiversity, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Controversial, Culture, Drinking Water, Earth Science, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Extinction, Foreign Aid, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Globalization, Green, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Health, Interviews with conservation players, Mangroves, Mining, Mitigation, Oceans, Politics, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Protected Areas, Public Health, Rainforests, Sustainability, Water, Water Scarcity, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In an uncertain world, UNESCO’s environmental, sustainability and peace programs benefit all nations; Trump’s U.S. pullout most deeply hurts Americans, say experts.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Saint Mary Lake and Wildgoose Island, Glacier National Park, USA, a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site. Photo courtesy of US National Park Service The U.S. is quitting UNESCO, the United Nations organization that coordinates international efforts to foster peace and sustainable development, and to eradicate poverty. The Trump administration made the announcement on 12 October. The withdrawal takes effect December 31, 2018, and the U.S. will remain a full member until then. “This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO,” said Heather Nauert, a U.S. State Department spokesperson in a press statement. The U.S. does, however, say it will seek to stay engaged with the organization as a non-member observer state in order to “contribute U.S. views, perspectives and expertise on some of the important issues undertaken by the organization,” including the protection of World Heritage Sites and the promotion of scientific collaboration. Trump isn’t the first U.S. president to have antagonism toward the organization. Although America has played an important role in UNESCO since its creation after World War II, Trump&#8217;s predecessors have been quarreling with it since the 1970s. “We were in arrears to the tune of $550 million or so, and so the question is, do we want to pay that money?” Nauert said at a news briefing, making clear that “with this anti-Israel bias that’s long documented on the part of UNESCO, that [U.S. relationship]&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/12/so-long-unesco-what-does-u-s-withdrawal-mean-for-the-environment/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/12/so-long-unesco-what-does-u-s-withdrawal-mean-for-the-environment/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-202446</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Trump family planning policy may increase population, hurt women and environment</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/11/trump-family-planning-policy-may-up-population-hurt-women-environment/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/11/trump-family-planning-policy-may-up-population-hurt-women-environment/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Nov 2017 11:07:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tina Deines]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/11/10105234/FEATURED-women-768x448.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=201053</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Environmental Impacts of US Policy]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Democratic Republic Of Congo, Global, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate Change, Conservation, Controversial, Diseases, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Ethics, Food, food security, Foreign Aid, Global Environmental Crisis, Globalization, Green, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Health, Overconsumption, Overpopulation, Politics, Population, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Public Health, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[One of the Trump administration’s first acts was to reinstate the global gag rule, with repercussions for women’s health and empowerment, population and the environment.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Katoyo Women&#8217;s Group in the Democratic Republic of Congo leads a procession through their village in proud celebration of International Women&#8217;s Day, 2017. The empowerment of women is good for communities and the environment, say researchers and activists. Photo courtesy of Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education Center In January, President Donald Trump re-instated the global gag rule with sweeping consequences for women’s health and the environment globally. President Ronald Reagan first introduced the rule — also known as the Mexico City Policy — in 1984. It requires foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) receiving U.S. global family planning assistance to certify they will not “perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning” with non-U.S. funds. The rule has been rescinded and re-instated multiple times, and has been an active policy for 17 of the past 32 years. According to Serra Sippel, president of the Center for Health and Gender Equity in Washington D.C., the Trump administration policy — which she says is “rolling out as we speak,” — has created confusion on the ground and funding cuts for many organizations. Two of the world’s largest family planning organizations, the International Planned Parenthood Foundation and Marie Stopes International (MSI), will be stripped of U.S. funds because they offer abortions in countries where it is legal to do so. A memo released by the U.S.-based Guttmacher Institute asserts that the gag rule increases unwanted pregnancies and back street abortions. And according to Marie Stopes International, the gag rule could result in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/11/trump-family-planning-policy-may-up-population-hurt-women-environment/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/11/trump-family-planning-policy-may-up-population-hurt-women-environment/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-201053</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Trump budget undercuts U.S. commitment to global wildlife conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/trump-budget-undercuts-u-s-commitment-to-global-wildlife-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/trump-budget-undercuts-u-s-commitment-to-global-wildlife-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Oct 2017 18:13:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[William H. Funk]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/10/30180100/FEATURED-wild-768x494.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=200590</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Environmental Impacts of US Policy]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Global, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Carnivores, Cats, Conservation, Crime, Ecology, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Policy, Ethics, Extinction, Foreign Aid, Global Environmental Crisis, Globalization, Green, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Hunting, Mammals, Mass Extinction, Over-hunting, Overconsumption, Overpopulation, Pangolins, Politics, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Primates, Rainforests, Restoration, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Congress is locked in a heated debate over the 2018 budget, but if the GOP follows Trump’s lead, they could do extensive harm to the world’s wildlife and to developing nations.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A black rhino. U.S. wildlife conservation efforts have contributed much to the preservation of animals worldwide in past years. Those efforts are now threatened by the Trump administration. Photo by John and Karen Hollingsworth, US Fish and Wildlife Service Proposed funding cuts to environmental programs in President Trump’s proposed 2018 budget have drawn anxious attention from around the world. But while the biggest numbers deal with rolling back the Obama administration’s climate change initiatives, more subtle withdrawals of federal support from lesser known international programs threaten the continued existence of some of the planet’s most iconic animals. President Trump’s 2018 budget proposes a 32 percent across-the-board shrinkage of U.S. foreign assistance, affecting hundreds of sustainability, health and environmental programs. As comparatively paltry as a few million dollars retracted here and there from a $1.15 trillion federal budget may seem, for those desperately striving through underfunded programs to preserve the world’s wildlife, the loss of monetary and moral support from the U.S. could be devastating. And wildlife wouldn’t be the only victims. The societal havoc wreaked by unchallenged trafficking cartels, and the loss of important tourist income due to vanished elephants, lions and giraffes resulting in abandoned safaris, could directly impact poor communities in Africa and Asia. It remains to be seen if the U.S. Congress will embrace Trump’s draconian cuts for 2018. But even if the legislature disallows the reductions next year, the administration still has between three and seven years left to run. And it seems unlikely that the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/trump-budget-undercuts-u-s-commitment-to-global-wildlife-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/trump-budget-undercuts-u-s-commitment-to-global-wildlife-conservation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-200590</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Even as Trump and Modi clash on energy, India and U.S. are partnering</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/even-as-trump-and-modi-clash-on-energy-india-and-u-s-are-partnering/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/even-as-trump-and-modi-clash-on-energy-india-and-u-s-are-partnering/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Oct 2017 10:04:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Raksha Kumar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/10/03095009/FEATURED-india-trump-768x455.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=199587</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Environmental Impacts of US Policy]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Clean Energy, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Change Denial, Energy, Environment, Environmental Policy, Foreign Aid, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Globalization, Green, Mitigation, Politics, Renewable Energy, Solar Power, Sustainability, and Sustainable Development]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[While Trump loudly trumpets coal, he clears way for U.S. firms to partner with India on natural gas and nuclear plants. Other needed clean energy cooperation is lacking.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[President Trump and Prime Minister Modi talk at the G20 summit in Germany this summer. Photo courtesy of the White House India and the United States have traditionally not seen eye-to-eye on climate change and energy policies. Since the Kyoto Protocol negotiations of the 1990s, diplomats of the two nations have fought many a fierce battle in air-conditioned rooms during international summits arguing over emission cuts and their cost to both economies. And they haven’t come away with much to show for their work. Recent political events have done little to reveal any new common ground between two of the world’s largest democracies, and carbon polluters. Two days before President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would pull out of the Paris agreement, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned him that “playing with the wellbeing of future generations would be an immoral and criminal act,” emphasizing the need for the world’s nations — including the U.S. — to strive towards protecting the planetary environment. On the 1st of June, President Trump showed that, to his mind, calls to morality and shared responsibility, did not hold water: &#8220;The bottom line is that the Paris Accord is very unfair at the highest level to the United States,” said Trump in his White House Rose Garden speech. “India will be allowed to double its coal production by 2020. Think of it. India can double their coal production. We&#8217;re supposed to get rid of ours!” In essence, not a lot has changed diplomatically between&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/10/even-as-trump-and-modi-clash-on-energy-india-and-u-s-are-partnering/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-199587</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Kenyans fear proposed Trump cuts could threaten elephants, ranger jobs</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/08/kenyans-fear-proposed-trump-cuts-could-threaten-elephants-ranger-jobs/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/08/kenyans-fear-proposed-trump-cuts-could-threaten-elephants-ranger-jobs/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Aug 2017 11:19:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gitonga Njeru]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/08/18111657/FEATURED-kenya-768x458.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=198444</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Environmental Impacts of US Policy]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Drought, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Ethics, Foreign Aid, Global Environmental Crisis, Globalization, Green, Mammals, Politics, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[If Congress okays Trump’s USAID cuts, Kenyans worry the only wildlife forensics lab in East Africa will close and ranger jobs vanish, threatening the environment.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A worker at the Kenya Wildlife Service forensics lab. Kenyans fear that USAID cuts could shut the lab down, but there has been no indication so far that these funds will be withdrawn. Photo courtesy of Kenya Wildlife Service President Donald Trump’s “skinny budget,” made public in March, has not yet been approved, and still awaits a response by a Congress highly skeptical of the administration’s proposed draconian U.S. foreign aid reductions. But environmentalists in Kenya are already feeling the heat, with some concerned that successful wildlife protection efforts could be at risk due to potential aid cuts. Paul Gathitu, spokesperson for the government’s Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said that a lot of gains would be reversed if the funding disappears: “The U.S has been giving Kenya money for many years to help decrease poaching — mostly of elephants. And yes, the numbers of elephants has been increasing over time. A recent census we conducted found that elephant numbers have grown by eight percent over a four-year period to 27,000.” Gathitu emphasizes the stability provided by a cordial long-term relationship between the two nations: “Kenya has been receiving U.S funding for many decades. The relationship between the two countries has [been strong, with the] signing of bilateral agreements to extradite wildlife smugglers, drug traffickers, and other criminals.” While President Trump has proposed slashing the US Agency for International Development (USAID) by up to 40 percent, Kenya looks like it would face only a 10 percent aid cut, if Congress allows&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/08/kenyans-fear-proposed-trump-cuts-could-threaten-elephants-ranger-jobs/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/08/kenyans-fear-proposed-trump-cuts-could-threaten-elephants-ranger-jobs/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-198444</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Trump budget threatens Zimbabwe climate change resilience programs</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/trump-budget-threatens-zimbabwe-climate-change-resilience-programs/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/trump-budget-threatens-zimbabwe-climate-change-resilience-programs/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Jul 2017 12:21:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andrew Mambondiyani]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/07/31121242/FEATURED-zim-768x447.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=197909</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Environmental Impacts of US Policy]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Zimbabwe]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Change Denial, Dams, Drinking Water, Drought, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Ethics, Food, food security, Foreign Aid, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Globalization, Green, Mitigation, Politics, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[USAID has improved rural climate change resilience since 2013; now the U.S. may cut that lifeline, with dire results for Zimbabwe’s poorest.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Representatives from government and traditional community leadership inspect the Birirano village dam constructed last year under the ESNURE program funded by USAID. Photo by Munyaradzi Nkomo courtesy of World Vision Zimbabwe A narrow dirt road snakes along the banks of a small river and leads to the remote village of Birirano. Marked by baobab trees and drought tolerent shrubs, this small community is sandwiched between desolate mountains in Zimbabwe’s eastern district of Chipinge. Far from the main highway, it is largely cut off from the rest of the country and the world. With limited livelihood possibilities, villagers here have long been locked in an unending cycle of poverty. Over the past decade, their hard scrabble lives have grown even harder as lengthy and intensifying climate change-induced droughts have made rain-fed agriculture increasingly unsustainable, with crops repeatedly withering and dying. Then, over the last few years, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) stepped in and became synonymous with hope in Birirano, as the agency funded projects to build resilience against escalating global warming threats. USAID’s ENSURE program (Enhancing Nutrition, Stepping UP Resilience and Enterprise), for example, funded the construction of a weir dam that feeds water to new irrigation infrastructure, bringing the promise of a healthy harvest to thousands of local residents. While USAID provides the capital, a variety of NGOs pitch in to manage the actual work. In the case of Birirano, World Vision, a humanitarian nonprofit, oversaw the project. Thousands of livestock in Chipinge district, Manicaland province,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/trump-budget-threatens-zimbabwe-climate-change-resilience-programs/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-197909</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Trump’s policies could put Cambodia’s environment on chopping block</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/trumps-policies-could-put-cambodias-environment-on-chopping-block/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/trumps-policies-could-put-cambodias-environment-on-chopping-block/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jul 2017 12:32:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Logan Connor]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2017/07/11122755/FEATURED-2-cam-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=197191</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Global Environmental Impacts of US Policy]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, China, Mekong Basin, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Clean Energy, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Change Denial, Dams, Energy, Environment, Environmental Policy, Ethics, Foreign Aid, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Globalization, Green, Illegal Logging, Logging, Mitigation, Natural Resources, Politics, Rainforests, Renewable Energy, Rivers, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Traditional People, and Tropics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” U.S. President Donald Trump declared during a speech announcing his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement. In so doing, Trump sent a message to the world: that his administration — as promised during his campaign — was putting [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump rally in Washington, D.C. against the Paris Climate Agreement. Trump’s drastic cuts to USAID in Cambodia and other countries, if approved by Congress, would end projects aimed at increasing carbon sequestration and decreasing deforestation, contributing to a rise in global carbon emissions. Photo by Stephen D. Melkisethian via Visualhunt “I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” U.S. President Donald Trump declared during a speech announcing his decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement. In so doing, Trump sent a message to the world: that his administration — as promised during his campaign — was putting America first, and prioritizing American economic prosperity over everything, including the collective environmental preservation efforts of nearly the entire planet. But the U.S. remains — at least for now — the world’s foremost power, so the economic impacts of Trump’s policies will reverberate around the globe, affecting nations big and small, such as the burgeoning Southeast Asian nation of Cambodia. Though the six month old Trump administration has barely begun engaging Southeast Asia even on a nominal level — with Trump speaking to leaders of the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore in recent months — Cambodia is already preparing itself for the environmental ramifications of the U.S. leader’s isolationist agenda. A village meeting in Takeo Province, Cambodia. Rural populations could be hurt by deep USAID and U.S. State Department cuts, and by an influx of large infrastructure projects including dams, roads and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/trumps-policies-could-put-cambodias-environment-on-chopping-block/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-197191</doi>				</item>
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					<title>The lemur end-game: scientists propose ambitious plan to save the world&#8217;s most imperiled mammal family</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/02/the-lemur-end-game-scientists-propose-ambitious-plan-to-save-the-worlds-most-imperiled-mammal-family/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2014/02/the-lemur-end-game-scientists-propose-ambitious-plan-to-save-the-worlds-most-imperiled-mammal-family/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Feb 2014 19:14:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2014/02/the-lemur-end-game-scientists-propose-ambitious-plan-to-save-the-worlds-most-imperiled-mammal-family/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Madagascar]]>
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											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Critically Endangered Species, Deforestation, Developing Countries, Endangered Species, Environment, Evolution, Extinction, Foreign Aid, Forests, Funding, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Green, Habitat Loss, Illegal Logging, Islands, Lemurs, Logging, Mammals, Mass Extinction, Parks, Politics, Poverty, Primates, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Traditional People, and Tropical Forests]]>
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											<description>
							<![CDATA[Verreaux&#8217;s Sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi), listed as Vulnerable, in a heated chase. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Due to the wonderful idiosyncrasies of evolution, there is one country on Earth that houses 20 percent of the world&#8217;s primates. More astounding still, every single one of these primates&#8212;an entire distinct family in fact&#8212;are found no-where else. The [&#8230;]]]>
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							<![CDATA[Verreaux&#8217;s Sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi), listed as Vulnerable, in a heated chase. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Due to the wonderful idiosyncrasies of evolution, there is one country on Earth that houses 20 percent of the world&#8217;s primates. More astounding still, every single one of these primates&#8212;an entire distinct family in fact&#8212;are found no-where else. The country is, of course, Madagascar and the primates in question are, of course, lemurs. But the far-flung island of Madagascar, once a safe haven for wild evolutionary experiments, has become an ecological nightmare. Overpopulation, deep poverty, political instability, slash-and-burn agriculture, illegal logging for lucrative woods, and a booming bushmeat trade has placed 94 percent of the world&#8217;s lemurs under threat of extinction, making this the most imperiled mammal group on the planet. In order to stem a rapid march toward extinction, conservationists today publicized an emergency three year plan to safeguard 30 important lemur forests in the journal Science. &#8220;Existing protected areas need to be more effectively protected, and additional protected areas need to be set up in order to ensure that most species&#8217; distribution ranges are covered,&#8221; lead author of the paper, Christoph Schwitzer, with the Bristol Zoo Gardens told mongabay.com. &#8220;Environmental law needs to be enforced. Communities living in the peripheries of protected areas need to be involved with the management of their natural resources much more than what we are seeing at the moment.&#8221; Lemur crisis A male blue-eyed black lemur (Eulemur flavifrons), listed as Critically Endangered, in Sahamalaza–Iles Radama National Park.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/02/the-lemur-end-game-scientists-propose-ambitious-plan-to-save-the-worlds-most-imperiled-mammal-family/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-25674</doi>				</item>
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