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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/forestry/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2026 20:43:03 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>News on Forestry</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/forestry/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Logging still threatens Bornean forest once envisioned as an Indigenous-led peace park</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/logging-still-threatens-bornean-forest-once-envisioned-as-an-indigenous-led-peace-park/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/logging-still-threatens-bornean-forest-once-envisioned-as-an-indigenous-led-peace-park/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Sep 2026 16:52:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Danielle Keeton-Olsen]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/26192853/20230826_085717-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330551</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Malaysia, Sarawak, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Business, Conservation, Forest Products, Forestry, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Law, Logging, Protected Areas, and Timber]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A conservation park that Indigenous communities from the Malaysian state of Sarawak believed they could co-manage and self-govern has been transformed into a timber concession and stripped of critical tree cover, according to a recently published report. A group of civil society organizations based in Malaysia and abroad launched the report, “Plundering the Baram Peace [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A conservation park that Indigenous communities from the Malaysian state of Sarawak believed they could co-manage and self-govern has been transformed into a timber concession and stripped of critical tree cover, according to a recently published report. A group of civil society organizations based in Malaysia and abroad launched the report, “Plundering the Baram Peace Park,” with a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 27, calling on other NGOs and the Malaysian government to recognize the logging of primary forest as well as alleged irregularities in the process of granting the concession and informing affected communities. The report, led by Swiss-based nonprofit Bruno Manser Fonds with participation from other NGOs, also raises concern that the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), an international organization that aims to promote sustainable use of forests, has continued funding projects in the region, even after the 2024 collapse of a coalition between Indigenous community members, the Sarawak government, and civil society. A fragile coalition The Upper Baram Forest Area was initially proposed as a community-led conservation project, an idea going back more than 15 years. From 2009 to 2024, the area was proposed to be conserved as the Baram Peace Park, with Indigenous villages and the Sarawak forest department working together to protect the forest. The project gained steam in 2021 after the forest department submitted a project proposal to the ITTO and raised a total of $1.4 million to develop a park program in cooperation with 32 Indigenous Penan, Kenyah, Kelabit, and Saban&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/logging-still-threatens-bornean-forest-once-envisioned-as-an-indigenous-led-peace-park/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/logging-still-threatens-bornean-forest-once-envisioned-as-an-indigenous-led-peace-park/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330551</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Peru’s high Andes, restoring ancient ecosystems could help protect water security</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-perus-high-andes-restoring-ancient-ecosystems-could-help-protect-water-security/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-perus-high-andes-restoring-ancient-ecosystems-could-help-protect-water-security/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Sep 2026 10:30:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Euan Wallace]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/22202412/Wetlands-of-Huancavelica-in-the-Yaku-Pacha-project-Peru.-April-2026.-Credit_-Alan-Chamorro-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330474</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agroforestry, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Nature-based climate solutions, Reforestation, Restoration, Solutions, and Sustainable Forest Management]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the highlands above Villa de Arma, community leaders once walked through ice and snow. They still remember the stories told by their grandparents of the Apus, high-mountain spirits that guard the Andean landscape. Locals in this central-Andean community, which sits around 3,200 meters (10,500 feet) above sea level in central-southern Peru’s Huancavelica region, say [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the highlands above Villa de Arma, community leaders once walked through ice and snow. They still remember the stories told by their grandparents of the Apus, high-mountain spirits that guard the Andean landscape. Locals in this central-Andean community, which sits around 3,200 meters (10,500 feet) above sea level in central-southern Peru’s Huancavelica region, say that much of the ice has since given way to rock. In the last six decades, climate change has erased about 56% of Peru’s glacier mass, a critical water reservoir that feeds the country’s cities and arid regions. Locals fear the changing landscape of the Peruvian Andes heralds a broader pattern of climate change that threatens to tip the country’s high-altitude regions into a water security crisis. “Their worry is that later on they could be left without water,” Edison Sánchez Toscano, a field technician working in Villa de Arma for Peruvian NGO Asociación Ecosistemas Andinos (ECOAN) and a local of the Huancavelica region, tells Mongabay in a video call. “If they are left without water, they are left with nothing.” According to ECOAN, Villa de Arma sits at a critical watershed feeding the Chincha Valley, which runs from the high Andes to Peru&#8217;s arid Pacific coast and depends largely on water descending from the mountains. With glacial ice rapidly disappearing across the country, conservationists are increasingly looking to ancient Andean ecosystems, such as wetlands and native forests, that can store and release water. In 2025, ECOAN partnered with a new project designed to secure&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-perus-high-andes-restoring-ancient-ecosystems-could-help-protect-water-security/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-perus-high-andes-restoring-ancient-ecosystems-could-help-protect-water-security/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330474</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As fires spread in Indonesia, Bornean orangutans run out of forest to flee</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-fires-spread-in-indonesia-bornean-orangutans-run-out-of-forest-to-flee/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-fires-spread-in-indonesia-bornean-orangutans-run-out-of-forest-to-flee/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Sep 2026 05:21:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/09065744/Orangutan-kalimantan-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330531</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Kalimantan, Southeast Asia, and West Kalimantan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Business, Climate, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Critically Endangered Species, Disasters, El Nino, Endangered Species, Extreme Weather, Fires, Forest Products, Forestry, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Great Apes, Mammals, National Parks, Orangutans, Parks, Primates, Protected Areas, Pulp And Paper, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Rescues]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — As fires continue to engulf large swaths of forest in Indonesian Borneo, orangutans have increasingly fewer places to flee, with fires either surrounding them or eliminating the forest on which they depend. Fires are spreading across a connected but heavily fragmented forest landscape and the habitat of critically endangered Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — As fires continue to engulf large swaths of forest in Indonesian Borneo, orangutans have increasingly fewer places to flee, with fires either surrounding them or eliminating the forest on which they depend. Fires are spreading across a connected but heavily fragmented forest landscape and the habitat of critically endangered Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) in West Kalimantan, including Gunung Palung National Park and the Mendawak Biodiversity Corridor. Gunung Palung National Park is one of the most important remaining strongholds for the Central Bornean orangutan, supporting a population historically estimated at around 2,500 animals and hosting one of the world’s longest-running studies of wild orangutans. Its importance derives from both its population size and its unusually diverse forest habitats, which support long-term ecological research and a range of other species. The adjacent Mendawak Biodiversity Corridor has a complementary role. Although it is not yet a continuous or fully secured corridor, it encompasses additional orangutan habitat outside the national park and provides a framework for maintaining, restoring and reconnecting forest patches across a fragmented landscape. Despite their ecological importance, both areas have been burning during this year’s dry season, as an exceptionally strong El Niño has contributed to hot and dry conditions across Indonesia. A Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus). Photo by Rhett A. Butler National park on fire Spatial analysis by technology consultancy TheTreeMap shows that hotspots started appearing in Gunung Palung National Park on Aug. 27. TheTreeMap has also identified hotspots that appear to overlap with the park’s core zone,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-fires-spread-in-indonesia-bornean-orangutans-run-out-of-forest-to-flee/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330531</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Now exempt from EU deforestation rules, leather industry moves to repair reputation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/now-exempt-from-eu-deforestation-rules-leather-industry-moves-to-repair-reputation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/now-exempt-from-eu-deforestation-rules-leather-industry-moves-to-repair-reputation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Sep 2026 04:30:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elisângela Mendonça]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/18012102/IMG_2200-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330162</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cattle, Forestry, Governance, leather, and Regulations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PARIS — The prestigious Maison de la Chimie in central Paris hummed with confidence as leather representatives gathered to discuss the industry’s next steps to tackle what they call an unfair “negative perception” attributed to the material. On Sept. 7, around 400 international tanners, luxury-brand representatives and meatpacking executives gathered for the eighth Sustainable Leather [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PARIS — The prestigious Maison de la Chimie in central Paris hummed with confidence as leather representatives gathered to discuss the industry’s next steps to tackle what they call an unfair “negative perception” attributed to the material. On Sept. 7, around 400 international tanners, luxury-brand representatives and meatpacking executives gathered for the eighth Sustainable Leather Forum. Speaking to their peers, panelists presented leather as a cornerstone of the circular economy: A way to make use of bovine hides that might otherwise go to waste. Beyond the ornate halls of the 18th-century mansion, after intense lobbying, the EU has exempted leather from its landmark deforestation law while simultaneously keeping restrictions on beef. Critics say this creates a regulatory contradiction: Products from the same cow will be allowed to enter Europe under two very different sets of rules. This juxtaposition has sharpened a long-simmering debate: If beef importers must prove their products are deforestation-free, why would hides from the same animals enter Europe with no equivalent oversight? Environmental and supply chain researchers argue the exemption creates a loophole that effectively splits responsibility for a single production system and this ultimately weakens the law. For industry representatives interviewed by Mongabay, the sector faces a reputational crisis. The EUDR did a “disservice” to a well-intentioned sector that benefits the environment by recycling a byproduct that otherwise would be discarded, a tannery executive said. Indeed, according to the Leather and Hide Council of America (LHCA), a U.S. trade association, around 40% of cowhides produced globally&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/now-exempt-from-eu-deforestation-rules-leather-industry-moves-to-repair-reputation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330162</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Community-based conservation is a good climate investment in Brazil &#038; beyond (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/community-based-conservation-is-a-good-climate-investment-in-brazil-beyond-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/community-based-conservation-is-a-good-climate-investment-in-brazil-beyond-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Sep 2026 14:39:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ana Cristina BarrosCarlos Eduardo Viveiros GrelleKatia Ribeiro Torres]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/29122935/Fisher-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330134</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[climate finance, Commentary, Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Development, Finance, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, and Sustainable Forest Management]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[More than half a century has passed since Garrett Hardin published The Tragedy of the Commons in Science in 1968. In that influential article, he argued that human greed and short-term thinking would drive societies toward collapse. Hardin illustrated his argument with the well-known example of herders sharing a pasture: each herder would receive all [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[More than half a century has passed since Garrett Hardin published The Tragedy of the Commons in Science in 1968. In that influential article, he argued that human greed and short-term thinking would drive societies toward collapse. Hardin illustrated his argument with the well-known example of herders sharing a pasture: each herder would receive all the income from adding another animal, while the cost of consuming the grass would be shared by all. The path toward pasture depletion was therefore set, as some herders would keep adding animals for their own benefit rather than restrain themselves in the name of an abstract collective good. For Hardin, there was no way to change this equation; the solution for the sustainability of life on the planet was population control. Two decades later, and not by chance, it was a woman who challenged this foretold tragedy, showing that, under certain conditions, human beings can be organized and perceptive enough to cooperate and avert collective failure. Elinor Ostrom developed a theory of cooperation applied to the use of common-pool resources, explaining how locally agreed rules can enable shared benefits. It was an expression of confidence in human social intelligence. The point is not to decide who was right or wrong. Hardin’s argument helps us understand why reducing greenhouse gas emissions remains so difficult, as do countless examples of the degradation of humanity’s natural heritage and, consequently, of the foundations of our future. Ostrom, in turn, helps explain many successful cases of collective natural resource&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/community-based-conservation-is-a-good-climate-investment-in-brazil-beyond-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330134</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Biodiversity corridor payments boost household incomes in Vietnam’s Annamite mountains</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/biodiversity-corridor-payments-boost-household-incomes-in-vietnams-annamite-mountains/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/biodiversity-corridor-payments-boost-household-incomes-in-vietnams-annamite-mountains/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2026 02:00:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/13113754/Banner_Original_WW1304086-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329528</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Community Forests, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Forest Fragmentation, Fragmentation, Funding, Governance, Habitat, Indigenous Peoples, Payments For Ecosystem Services, Protected Areas, Research, Sustainable Forest Management, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Conservationists say connecting existing protected areas through biodiversity corridors is vital in many landscapes to prevent further loss of species and habitats. Yet the households living inside conservation areas often face stark financial tradeoffs associated with lost access to resources, sometimes making new designations controversial. A recent study from the rugged mountains of central Vietnam, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Conservationists say connecting existing protected areas through biodiversity corridors is vital in many landscapes to prevent further loss of species and habitats. Yet the households living inside conservation areas often face stark financial tradeoffs associated with lost access to resources, sometimes making new designations controversial. A recent study from the rugged mountains of central Vietnam, however, suggests that biodiversity corridors can bring significant economic benefits to the households who live inside them. The study, published in Conservation Science and Practice, analyzed interviews with 120 families living in four villages in Quang Nam and Thua Thien provinces within the Annamite mountain range to find out how financial incentives tied to two biodiversity corridors connecting isolated protected areas affected people’s lives and livelihoods. Households inside biodiversity corridors earned substantially more, mainly from conservation-linked payments, than those outside them. However, they also made less money from forest resources due to greater restrictions on how they could use their land. The researchers say their findings underscore how conservation-linked payments and other longer-term benefits from living near flourishing forests, such as water purification, healthy pollinator populations and conservation-based jobs, can help communities recoup income they once derived from forest exploitation. “By providing regular financial benefits from forest protection, programs like PFES [Payment for Forest Ecosystem Services] create incentives for communities to maintain forest cover and reduce pressures on critical habitats,” study lead author Nguyen Van Tri Tin, a conservation scientist at Southern Cross University in Australia at the time of the study, told Mongabay in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/biodiversity-corridor-payments-boost-household-incomes-in-vietnams-annamite-mountains/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329528</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Lack of data hinders fight against environmental crimes in Angola, says environmentalist</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/lack-of-data-hinders-fight-against-environmental-crimes-in-angola-says-environmentalist/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/lack-of-data-hinders-fight-against-environmental-crimes-in-angola-says-environmentalist/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Sep 2026 12:02:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Tjyakala]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/11072035/image2_DesmatamentoAngola1.CreditoAcervoEcoAngola-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329430</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Angola]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Deforestation Alert System, forest degradation, Forest Loss, Forestry, NGOs, Parks, Science, Sustainable Forest Management, and timber trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Angola faces severe environmental challenges, and the govern has signed international commitments, such as the Montreal Protocol and the Kigali Amendment, to phase out hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) by 2030 and cut hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by 80% by 2045. However, climate crises such as prolonged droughts affecting the country’s southern region, soil degradation, and floods caused by heavy [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Angola faces severe environmental challenges, and the govern has signed international commitments, such as the Montreal Protocol and the Kigali Amendment, to phase out hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) by 2030 and cut hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by 80% by 2045. However, climate crises such as prolonged droughts affecting the country’s southern region, soil degradation, and floods caused by heavy rains continue to have significant social and economic impacts. It is estimated that more than 2.2 million people are affected by these phenomena. It is against this backdrop that the voice of a new generation of Angolan environmentalists is gaining prominence. Among them is 29-year-old Érica Tavares. She studied Environmental Biology at the University of Nottingham in the UK and now works with environmental conservation and youth mobilization in Angola. She is a co-founder of the NGO EcoAngola and has been at the forefront of forest advocacy, environmental education and youth participation in sustainability debates. In an interview with Mongabay Brazil, Tavares discusses her journey as an environmentalist and the issues that concern her most. Érica Tavares, co-founder of the NGO EcoAngola. Image by EcoAngola Image Bank. Mongabay: How would you describe the state of the environment in Angola in 2026? Is it better or worse than five years ago? Érica Tavares: It’s always difficult to answer that question — which I am often asked — because one of our major challenges is the analysis of [nonexistent] data and information. To conduct a comparative analysis between now and five years ago, we would need to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/lack-of-data-hinders-fight-against-environmental-crimes-in-angola-says-environmentalist/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/lack-of-data-hinders-fight-against-environmental-crimes-in-angola-says-environmentalist/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329430</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous land back in Chile brings mixed bag of environmental outcomes: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-land-back-in-chile-brings-mixed-bag-of-environmental-outcomes-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-land-back-in-chile-brings-mixed-bag-of-environmental-outcomes-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Sep 2026 18:59:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/09154250/Pictures-of-the-Week-Latin-America-and-Caribbean-Photo-Gallery-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329292</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Chile, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Degraded Lands, forest degradation, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Land Rights, Land Use Change, Livestock, Payments For Ecosystem Services, Plantations, Protected Areas, and Timber]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous land restitution in Chile came with a mixed bag of environmental outcomes and did not boost natural forest cover, according to a new study published in Nature Sustainability. While the return of ancestral lands gave the Indigenous Mapuche communities in southern Chile greater control over how their land was used — leading to an [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous land restitution in Chile came with a mixed bag of environmental outcomes and did not boost natural forest cover, according to a new study published in Nature Sustainability. While the return of ancestral lands gave the Indigenous Mapuche communities in southern Chile greater control over how their land was used — leading to an increase in grasslands for livestock production and a reduction in non-native tree plantations — it did not improve biodiversity, carbon sequestration or erosion control. Researchers say these findings challenge long-held assumptions that Indigenous self-determination automatically equates to positive changes in natural forests, carbon sequestration or biodiversity. “In the past, conservation advocates have at times adopted romanticized views of what such self-determination would mean, assuming that Indigenous communities will always choose to allocate land towards more ‘natural’ uses,” said study co-author Robert Heilmayr, an associate professor at the University of California Santa Barbara in the U.S. He told Mongabay over email that the new research “complicates this narrative,” arguing that true self-determination only emerges when Indigenous communities define for themselves what land uses align with their needs and values. The study set out to understand how Indigenous land restitution in Biobío, Araucanía, Los Ríos and Los Lagos reshapes the environment. It did so by analyzing satellite and administrative data from 1,577 properties across 36 communities to compare land use and environmental outcomes before and after land restitution. Researchers focused on what happened after a Chilean land restitution program, known as the Chilean Indigenous Land and Water&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-land-back-in-chile-brings-mixed-bag-of-environmental-outcomes-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-land-back-in-chile-brings-mixed-bag-of-environmental-outcomes-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329292</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sickles, sarees and smoke: Women on the frontlines of Uttarakhand forest fires</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/sickles-sarees-and-smoke-women-on-the-frontlines-of-uttarakhand-forest-fires/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/sickles-sarees-and-smoke-women-on-the-frontlines-of-uttarakhand-forest-fires/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Sep 2026 20:50:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Swati Thapa]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/08160244/Lila-Devi-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329123</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Himalayas, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fires, Forestry, Forests, Gender, Governance, and Mountains]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the village forests of Uttarakhand, in the Himalayan region of northern India, a tree can be charred at its base while maintaining a green canopy at its peak. The distinct separation between burnt and unburnt wood is a physical marker of how high the flames reached. For the local women who rely on these [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the village forests of Uttarakhand, in the Himalayan region of northern India, a tree can be charred at its base while maintaining a green canopy at its peak. The distinct separation between burnt and unburnt wood is a physical marker of how high the flames reached. For the local women who rely on these woods for survival, the aftermath of wildfire means their daily chores take twice as long, forcing them deeper into the forest just to gather basic fodder and firewood when those closer to home are unusable. Uttarakhand is the most fire-prone state in the Indian Western Himalayas, with increased fire incidence in the region coinciding with high-altitude warming that exceeds the global rate. Beyond individual fire events, the fire season itself is expanding. While the season usually lasts for about 12 weeks starting in mid-March, Uttarakhand now experiences winter fires, an alarming shift from what was previously snow season, hinting at a deeper ecosystem-level impact. This trend has only escalated, with the state recording a sharp spike in forest fire activity during the first four months of 2026. This period is not just witnessed but experienced through each of the human senses. Trails of grey smoke engulf the bright blue sky. Along with the fog-like situation, the air carries soot, sometimes covering the roofs of houses with snow-like ash. “We are all coughing our lungs out; during that time, our eyes are bloodshot, irritated by all the smoke, and it’s hard to breathe in the thick&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/sickles-sarees-and-smoke-women-on-the-frontlines-of-uttarakhand-forest-fires/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/sickles-sarees-and-smoke-women-on-the-frontlines-of-uttarakhand-forest-fires/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329123</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous peoples near Congo parks propose diverse solutions for the future of conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-peoples-near-congo-parks-propose-diverse-solutions-for-the-future-of-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-peoples-near-congo-parks-propose-diverse-solutions-for-the-future-of-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Sep 2026 20:50:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Blaise Kasereka MakutaLatoya Abulu]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/08204653/image1__20648409894_e4b04e9e1b_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329161</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Congo Basin, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Community Forests, Conflict, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Governance, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Law, Primary Forests, Rainforests, Resource Conflict, Saving Rainforests, Solutions, Sustainable Forest Management, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo — High above the lush forests of protected areas in the Congo Basin in eastern Congo, the calls of endemic birds and monkeys echo through the trees. Beneath the canopy, the Maiko, Salonga, Kahuzi-Biega, and Virunga National Parks sprawl across millions of hectares. For millennia, long before these protected areas [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo — High above the lush forests of protected areas in the Congo Basin in eastern Congo, the calls of endemic birds and monkeys echo through the trees. Beneath the canopy, the Maiko, Salonga, Kahuzi-Biega, and Virunga National Parks sprawl across millions of hectares. For millennia, long before these protected areas were established, Indigenous peoples lived in, roamed and shaped these lands, only to be expelled during the 20th century. “We lived in harmony with the forest,” says Julien Basimika, a young Mutwa man, one of the Indigenous Twa people in Congo. “We protected everything that needed protecting, because our lives depended on it. If we had started destroying the forest, we would have suffered the consequences.” Today, many descendants of those who were displaced live in extreme poverty owing to lack of land, armed conflicts and discrimination. Discussions on how to better involve these communities in conservation fuel passionate debates among protected area managers, environmentalists, lawyers and human rights advocates: Should they return to their ancestral lands or not? Should they be part of environmental projects? If so, which ones? How can we mitigate armed conflicts and the involvement of Indigenous peoples in illegal logging, which complicate the situation? Among the communities living near these four national parks, views vary on how to address these issues. Meanwhile, policymakers are discussing how best to involve communities in the Belém Call to Action, announced in November 2025, which aims to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-peoples-near-congo-parks-propose-diverse-solutions-for-the-future-of-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-peoples-near-congo-parks-propose-diverse-solutions-for-the-future-of-conservation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329161</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Panama’s Darién, Indigenous communities test a new way to fund conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-panamas-darien-indigenous-communities-test-a-new-way-to-fund-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-panamas-darien-indigenous-communities-test-a-new-way-to-fund-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Sep 2026 15:10:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[María Paula Rubiano A.]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/15163740/panama_240512162306_0722-e1768495168974-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328986</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, North America, and Panama]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity credits, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Ecosystems, Finance, In-situ Conservation, Indigenous Peoples, Jaguars, Monitoring, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Elsa Quiroz saw the spotted body of a jaguar appear on her son’s computer screen, she couldn’t believe her eyes. “I’d only seen them in books,” she said. In late 2025, a camera captured the animal crossing a semi-abandoned path in Puerto Lara, a an Indigenous Wounaan village north of Panama’s Darien forest, close [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When Elsa Quiroz saw the spotted body of a jaguar appear on her son’s computer screen, she couldn’t believe her eyes. “I’d only seen them in books,” she said. In late 2025, a camera captured the animal crossing a semi-abandoned path in Puerto Lara, a an Indigenous Wounaan village north of Panama’s Darien forest, close to the Pan-American Highway, an area known for its rich biodiversity. The community was aware of how many birds lived around them, but not of the jaguars. Samuel Cheucarama, Quiroz’s son, reviews each photo taken by the two cameras installed in Puerto Lara every two weeks. He was as astonished as his mom when he first saw the extent of the biodiversity concealed within Puerto Lara’s forest, which covers an area less than twice the size of New York City’s Central Park. He reels off the list: agoutis, spotted rabbits, turkeys, margays, white-headed monkeys, among others, all found within this wilderness of just 600 hectares, or less than 1,500 acres. Cheucarama’s work is a small part of a wider project promoting nature-based economic alternatives in four communities managing a combined 18,000 hectares (about 44,500 acres) of tropical forest in eastern Panama. Although the Panamanian government has made efforts to reduce deforestation in Darién National Park, deforestation from illegal logging and agricultural expansion has increasingly been putting communities under pressure, with little to no support from local and national authorities. As a result, communities have been exploring alternatives to make their conservation efforts economically viable. In&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-panamas-darien-indigenous-communities-test-a-new-way-to-fund-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-panamas-darien-indigenous-communities-test-a-new-way-to-fund-conservation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328986</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Key tree species boost Amazon forest restoration, new study shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/key-tree-species-boost-amazon-forest-restoration-new-study-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/key-tree-species-boost-amazon-forest-restoration-new-study-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 18:55:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Fernanda Wenzel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/03074352/1.-LEAF-MPEG_Centro-Capoeira-cortado-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328521</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Biodiversity, Biology, Business, Carbon Credits, Carbon Market, Carbon Sequestration, Climate, Climate Change, climate finance, Climate Science, Conflict, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Culture, Drones, Earth Science, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Finance, Forest Regeneration, Forestry, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Land Grabbing, Mitigation, Plants, Research, Resource Conflict, Restoration, Science, Secondary Forests, Solutions, Species, Sustainability, Sustainable Forest Management, Technology, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Regrowing Amazon forests face a quiet collapse if fast pioneer trees die without stronger successors.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A few tree species are key to restoring biodiversity and carbon storage in deforested areas of the Brazilian Amazon, suggests an article published in June in Global Change Biology. Researchers examined 102 plots under natural regeneration in four municipalities in Pará state — Bragantina, Marabá, Paragominas and Santarém — and concluded that a range of 15 to 25 species accounted for nearly half of the trees present and half of the plots’ carbon stocks. ​Among these species are the embaúba (Cecropia palmata), the tatapiririca (Tapirira guianensis), the ingá-vermelho (Inga alba), and the araticum-bravo (Annona exsucca). ​This relatively short list of hyperdominant species could “guide assisted restoration and enrichment strategies” in the Amazon, the researchers said, and help Brazil meet the goal of restoring 12 million hectares (30 million acres) of forests by 2030, an area roughly the size of North Korea. ​“These areas are already restoring [ecological] services and biodiversity,” Fernando Elias, a researcher in Pará&#8217;s Emílio Goeldi Museum and the coordinator of the study, told Mongabay. “That is why it is so important to understand how these forests behave.” According to Elias, the Brazilian Amazon has more than 140,000 square kilometers (around 57,000 square miles) of regrowing forests in areas previously deforested, known as secondary forests. In many cases, these lands have been abandoned after being used for cattle ranching. ​Most of it has the potential to recover naturally, without the need to plant a single seed. Close monitoring, however, is necessary to control fires, cattle ranching and land&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/key-tree-species-boost-amazon-forest-restoration-new-study-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/key-tree-species-boost-amazon-forest-restoration-new-study-shows/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328521</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Repeal of US Roadless Rule could threaten drinking water for 25 million people</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/repeal-of-u-s-roadless-rule-could-threaten-drinking-water-for-25-million-people/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/repeal-of-u-s-roadless-rule-could-threaten-drinking-water-for-25-million-people/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 13:57:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/10/17175633/Ron-and-Sonny-fishing-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328497</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America, Southwest United States, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Development, Fires, Forestry, Infrastructure, Logging, National Parks, Parks, Protected Areas, and Roads]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The drinking water for about 25 million Americans starts in the backcountry of the national forests, on land where roads are few by design. A change proposed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump could open that land to possible roads and logging. On Aug. 18, the U.S. Department of Agriculture filed a proposed [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The drinking water for about 25 million Americans starts in the backcountry of the national forests, on land where roads are few by design. A change proposed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump could open that land to possible roads and logging. On Aug. 18, the U.S. Department of Agriculture filed a proposed rule to fully rescind the U.S. Forest Service&#8217;s 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which bars new road construction and commercial logging on about 45 million acres (18 million hectares) of national forest. It was published in the Federal Register on Aug. 20, opening a 30-day public comment period that closes at midnight on Sept. 21. The proposed rule has drawn widespread criticism among wildland firefighters, environmental organizations, lawmakers and scientists. Much of the debate has centered on logging and fire. But researchers say some of the largest costs run downstream, into the taps of people’s homes. Wilder Mountain Inventoried Roadless Area ,Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont. Photo courtesy of Zack Porter / Standing Trees. Forests work as natural filters. They intercept rain, slow runoff, and trap sediment before water reaches streams, rivers and reservoirs. Roads and logging can undo that work, casting off sediment that utility companies must clean and driving up water treatment costs. A 2024 study published in Forests found that forest roads contribute up to 90% of sediment loads in streams and are “seriously disrupting the safety and stability of watersheds.” A study published in July in PLOS Water estimated that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/repeal-of-u-s-roadless-rule-could-threaten-drinking-water-for-25-million-people/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328497</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Logging operations uncovered at Cambodian senator’s dam in the Cardamoms</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/logging-operations-uncovered-at-cambodian-senators-dam-in-the-cardamoms/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/logging-operations-uncovered-at-cambodian-senators-dam-in-the-cardamoms/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 01:30:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/10/09140647/Lutrogale_perspicillata_-_Jurong_Eco_Garden-harrison-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328129</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Global, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Carbon Credits, Carbon Market, Carbon Sequestration, climate finance, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corruption, Crime, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Energy, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Habitat Loss, Hydroelectric Power, Illegal Logging, Logging, Natural Resources, Old Growth Forests, Rainforests, Selective Logging, and Threats To Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“They are clearing the forest for the reservoir,” said Phan, a resident of O’Soam commune in Cambodia’s western province of Pursat. “These days, every few days, there is only one timber truck because it is the raining season, but during the dry season, there are three or four timber trucks [per day].” Phan, who spoke [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“They are clearing the forest for the reservoir,” said Phan, a resident of O’Soam commune in Cambodia’s western province of Pursat. “These days, every few days, there is only one timber truck because it is the raining season, but during the dry season, there are three or four timber trucks [per day].” Phan, who spoke to Mongabay by phone, requested that neither his full name nor his village name be published for fear of retribution from the developers of the 70-megawatt (MW) Stung Russei Chrum Kandal hydropower dam, also known as the Middle Russei Chrum River dam. Construction on the dam, which spans the Russei Chrum River in neighboring Koh Kong province, began in 2023 inside Phnom Kravanh National Park, one of Cambodia’s largest protected rainforests. The dam is one of many being built in the Cardamoms as Cambodia pushes for “clean” energy security, but recent satellite imagery indicates that large-scale logging is happening beyond the authorized construction sites. This map shows where the two dams are being built inside Cambodia&#8217;s protected Kravanh National Park. Image by Emilie Languedoc/Mongabay. Access to the site, Phan added, has been restricted and checkpoints are closely guarded by armed men in Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) uniforms. “We used to enter for fishing and laying fishing equipment, yet we are not allowed to enter anymore,” he said. “They have checkpoints, they have troops — they say the troops came to protect the forests. But the company set them up as security guards; we cannot&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/logging-operations-uncovered-at-cambodian-senators-dam-in-the-cardamoms/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/logging-operations-uncovered-at-cambodian-senators-dam-in-the-cardamoms/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328129</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Community programs linked to lower forest loss in Indonesia’s Borneo during COVID-19</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/community-programs-linked-to-lower-forest-loss-in-indonesias-borneo-during-covid-19/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/community-programs-linked-to-lower-forest-loss-in-indonesias-borneo-during-covid-19/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Aug 2026 02:03:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/12/12215106/kalbar_drone_190946a_sungai_utik-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327673</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and West Kalimantan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Avoided Deforestation, Biodiversity, Community Development, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, COVID-19, Deforestation, Environment, Forest Loss, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Illegal Logging, Logging, NGOs, Pandemics, Protected Areas, Reduced Impact Logging, Research, Solutions, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Villages in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan saw less forest loss during the COVID-19 pandemic when conservation groups provided health and livelihood support, a new study has found, suggesting social safety nets can help protect forests during economic crises. The peer-reviewed study, published last month in Lancet Planetary Health, suggests forest loss in West Kalimantan province on [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Villages in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan saw less forest loss during the COVID-19 pandemic when conservation groups provided health and livelihood support, a new study has found, suggesting social safety nets can help protect forests during economic crises. The peer-reviewed study, published last month in Lancet Planetary Health, suggests forest loss in West Kalimantan province on the Indonesian part of Borneo fell sharply during the pandemic, as weak timber demand and travel restrictions made logging less profitable and harder to carry out. At the same time, villages with access to alternative livelihoods and other support were less reliant on forests for income, the paper adds. The researchers say their study is among the first to combine household surveys with detailed satellite data to examine how the pandemic affected rural livelihoods and forest loss in the same communities, offering a closer look at how economic shocks and social support can influence pressure on tropical forests. “As the pandemic started, we expected economic hardships to cause illegal logging to increase again,” Skylar Hopkins, an assistant professor at North Carolina State University and the lead author for the new study, said in a statement. Mapping deforestation trends Before the pandemic, average forest loss was 52% lower in NGO-affiliated villages than in unaffiliated villages, the study finds. Indonesia has the world’s third-largest tropical forest area, a major store of biodiversity and carbon, long threatened by logging, agricultural expansion and fires. The researchers surveyed 10 villages in West Kalimantan in late 2021: six communities supported by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/community-programs-linked-to-lower-forest-loss-in-indonesias-borneo-during-covid-19/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/community-programs-linked-to-lower-forest-loss-in-indonesias-borneo-during-covid-19/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327673</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As hay fever sufferers grow in Japan, the country is looking to plant no-pollen trees</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/as-hay-fever-sufferers-grow-in-japan-the-country-is-looking-to-plant-no-pollen-trees/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/as-hay-fever-sufferers-grow-in-japan-the-country-is-looking-to-plant-no-pollen-trees/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Aug 2026 16:09:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jonathan Vit]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/17115248/Japan-hay-fever-02-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326395</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Asia, and Japan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Conservation, Diseases, Environment, Farming, Health, Plants, Reforestation, Solutions, Timber, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[TOKYO — For Mariko Aoki, the new year began with an itch. “Right after the New Year in January, my nose starts to get a little itchy,” Aoki said. “It peaks in March, and the sneezing, runny nose, itchy throat and itchy eyes are really bad. It lasts all the way until just before Golden [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[TOKYO — For Mariko Aoki, the new year began with an itch. “Right after the New Year in January, my nose starts to get a little itchy,” Aoki said. “It peaks in March, and the sneezing, runny nose, itchy throat and itchy eyes are really bad. It lasts all the way until just before Golden Week [April 29-May 5].” Aoki, like many in Japan, suffers from hay fever, or kafunsho, an annual affliction that affects more than 40% of the population — nearly double the rate in the U.S. The seasonal allergies leave many with red eyes, a stuffy nose, a sore throat and feelings of exhaustion. The combined lassitude annually costs Japan an estimated 245 billion yen ($1.5 billion) in economic losses per day during hay fever season, according to one survey. “My head feels so foggy that I can’t concentrate,” said Aoki, who works as a secretary at the National Diet — Japan’s legislature. “When it gets really bad, I go to the doctor.” In Japan, hay fever has been called a national disease. But it’s a man-made one. The majority of Japan’s hay fever sufferers are allergic to the pollen of two trees: sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) and hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa). Both trees were widely planted in the years following World War II as a much-needed source of timber. Sugi cones. Image by Plant Image Library via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0). The trees helped fuel Japan’s post-war recovery. Now, decades later, they’re fuelling a national health crisis. “People&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/as-hay-fever-sufferers-grow-in-japan-the-country-is-looking-to-plant-no-pollen-trees/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/as-hay-fever-sufferers-grow-in-japan-the-country-is-looking-to-plant-no-pollen-trees/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326395</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘They will do it legally or illegally’: Interview with James Giahyue on Liberia’s cocoa boom</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/they-will-do-it-legally-or-illegally-interview-with-james-giahyue-on-liberias-cocoa-boom/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/they-will-do-it-legally-or-illegally-interview-with-james-giahyue-on-liberias-cocoa-boom/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Aug 2026 11:05:06 +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/20/2026/08/23115512/James-QA-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327377</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Chasing Deforestation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Liberia, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Economics, Ecosystems, Environment, forest degradation, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Natural Resources, Rainforest Destruction, and Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2024, the price of cacao on world markets spiked dramatically, nearly quintupling from what it had been a year earlier. Prices have since dropped, but along with a land crunch in Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s top producer of the commodity, the prospect of high financial rewards have helped to drive a rapid expansion of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2024, the price of cacao on world markets spiked dramatically, nearly quintupling from what it had been a year earlier. Prices have since dropped, but along with a land crunch in Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s top producer of the commodity, the prospect of high financial rewards have helped to drive a rapid expansion of new plantations in the forests of southeastern Liberia. This region contains some of West Africa’s last intact rainforest. The land on which these plantations are being developed is customarily owned by local communities, and many of their residents have been eager to reap the rewards of the cacao market. Handshake deals between them and migrants from neighboring Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso is now driving a wave of deforestation. “The people of the southeast, where you have a lot of forests, have realized or seen that cocoa can give them more money than they get from other traditional things like charcoal burning and subsistence farming,” says Liberian journalist James Giahyue. “It’s like a new phenomenon, and a new opportunity.” As editor-in-chief of news outlet The DayLight, Giahyue has guided extensive coverage of environmental issues in Liberia. He was an integral member of a Mongabay reporting team that published an investigation into deforestation there this past July. He spoke to Ashoka Mukpo from his base in Monrovia. The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity. &nbsp; Mongabay: A big part of the cocoa story in Liberia is migration. So many of these cocoa workers that&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/they-will-do-it-legally-or-illegally-interview-with-james-giahyue-on-liberias-cocoa-boom/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/they-will-do-it-legally-or-illegally-interview-with-james-giahyue-on-liberias-cocoa-boom/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327377</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In South Africa, renewable energy latest part of timber industry’s green efforts</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-south-africa-renewable-energy-latest-part-of-timber-industrys-green-efforts/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-south-africa-renewable-energy-latest-part-of-timber-industrys-green-efforts/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Aug 2026 10:09:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mkhululi Chimoio]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/26100828/HarvestingTimber_MpumalangaSouthAfrica_YorkTimbersFairUse-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327323</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Emission Reduction, Energy, Environment, Forests, Governance, Renewable Energy, Timber, and timber trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — York Timber Holdings signed a 10-year renewable electricity agreement with electricity trader Discovery Green for power for its Jessievale sawmill in June 2026. Renewables will now make up approximately 90% of the mill’s electricity use, and the agreement is a trend that is spreading amongst commercial users in South Africa. “The [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — York Timber Holdings signed a 10-year renewable electricity agreement with electricity trader Discovery Green for power for its Jessievale sawmill in June 2026. Renewables will now make up approximately 90% of the mill’s electricity use, and the agreement is a trend that is spreading amongst commercial users in South Africa. “The 10-year agreement gives York Timbers access to renewable electricity at scale, while improving long-term certainty regarding electricity costs,” said Linmari Pelser, the company’s group risk and compliance officer. Discovery Green is a subsidiary of one of South Africa’s largest health insurance schemes; Discovery’s renewable energy division works with companies that want to increase energy efficiency and shift to renewables, including “wheeling” agreements like the one with York Timber. Under the agreement, York Timber’s electricity will still arrive over the same infrastructure, but Discovery Green will coordinate the equivalent amount of power being fed into the national grid from a range of solar and wind producers across the country. York Timber also operates a 700 kW solar farm at the mill. Pelser said the agreement will reduce the sawmill’s greenhouse gas emissions, while reducing its exposure to electricity tariff hikes and potential future carbon-based costs, such as South Africa’s Carbon Tax. This tax on greenhouse gas emissions was introduced in 2019, and generous allowances that allowed most polluters to pay only a fraction of their assessed costs are scheduled to be lifted this year. Dan Ginsberg, head of actuarial and research and development at Discovery Green,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-south-africa-renewable-energy-latest-part-of-timber-industrys-green-efforts/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-south-africa-renewable-energy-latest-part-of-timber-industrys-green-efforts/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327323</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Spain &#038; South Africa, communities use restoration to &#8216;grow&#8217; fire insurance (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-spain-south-africa-communities-use-restoration-to-grow-fire-insurance-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-spain-south-africa-communities-use-restoration-to-grow-fire-insurance-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Aug 2026 19:24:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claire PattersonPenelope Choussat]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/24184231/Screenshot-2026-07-14-at-18.24.44-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327163</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Europe, Global, South Africa, Southern Africa, and Spain]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystem Services, Ecosystems, Environment, Finance, Fires, Forests, Landscape Restoration, Nature-based climate solutions, Restoration, Solutions, and Sustainable Forest Management]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Huddled shoulder to shoulder, a flicker of glowing orange illuminates the faces gathered around. The world quiets. The dark presses in from every side, and the cold with it. At the center of it all, a fire is roaring. Fire warmed us, fed us, and kept the dark at bay long after the sun went [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Huddled shoulder to shoulder, a flicker of glowing orange illuminates the faces gathered around. The world quiets. The dark presses in from every side, and the cold with it. At the center of it all, a fire is roaring. Fire warmed us, fed us, and kept the dark at bay long after the sun went down, allowing us to gather together when solitude was the alternative. But the same flames that draw people together can just as easily tear through a landscape, destroying livelihoods and communities. Whether they do depends on the condition of the land itself. In some cases, fires are a natural part of the ecosystem. But when forests are poorly managed they become fuel waiting for a spark. Invasive vegetation, in particular, can burn hotter and more explosively than the indigenous ecosystems it displaces, turning a landscape adapted to survive fire into one that is destroyed by it. Restore the landscape, and you don&#8217;t eliminate fire, but you can change how fire behaves. In that sense, healthy landscapes act as vital risk infrastructure, reducing the likelihood that a spark becomes a catastrophe. The landscapes of Spain&#8217;s Muga Valley and South Africa&#8217;s Langkloof share a history of poor management that has left them degraded and exposed to wildfire. Today, both areas are discovering that managing fire as a part of restoring ecosystems is vital to protecting both communities and economies from disaster. Two hours north of Barcelona, the Muga Valley is verdant but increasingly vulnerable to fire after&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-spain-south-africa-communities-use-restoration-to-grow-fire-insurance-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-spain-south-africa-communities-use-restoration-to-grow-fire-insurance-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327163</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Elders, conservationists race to record fading sacred ties to Philippines’ endemic birds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/elders-conservationists-race-to-record-fading-sacred-ties-to-philippines-endemic-birds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/elders-conservationists-race-to-record-fading-sacred-ties-to-philippines-endemic-birds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Aug 2026 19:55:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/18111008/Mindoro-boobook-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326488</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Citizen Science, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Education, Endangered Species, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Medicinal Plants, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Medicine, Traditional People, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PUERTO GALERA, Philippines — The forest settles into a gentle rhythm as the trail climbs into the Iraya Mangyan ancestral domain in Puerto Galera town, on the Philippines’ Mindoro Island. Only birdsong breaks the silence as towering trees sway overhead. A clear stream tumbles across the trail over smooth rocks. Ahead walks 43-year-old Lenito Pampilo. Every [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PUERTO GALERA, Philippines — The forest settles into a gentle rhythm as the trail climbs into the Iraya Mangyan ancestral domain in Puerto Galera town, on the Philippines’ Mindoro Island. Only birdsong breaks the silence as towering trees sway overhead. A clear stream tumbles across the trail over smooth rocks. Ahead walks 43-year-old Lenito Pampilo. Every few steps, he stops — not because the climb is difficult, but because the forest is speaking, he says. He points to an unseen bird in the canopy. Another answers from farther uphill. For him, each call carries meaning. “Our elders taught us these birds,” he tells Mongabay. Pampilo, an Iraya community leader and ecotrail guide, has spent much of his life in these mountains. His knowledge goes beyond recognizing species. “Some birds signal changing weather, warn of danger or carry messages between the living and spirit worlds,” he says. “Trees, streams and ridges also hold stories passed from one generation to the next.” For the Iraya, the forest is a largely unwritten living archive. Lenito Pampilo, an Iraya community leader and ecotrail guide, has spent much of his life in the mountains located in the Iraya Mangyan ancestral lands. Image by Keith Anthony Fabro. For the Iraya, the forest is a largely unwritten living archive. Image courtesy of Center for Conservation Innovations PH Inc. As elders age and fewer young people learn beside them, the Center for Conservation Innovations Philippines (CCIPH) is helping Iraya knowledge holders document wildlife, medicinal plants and culturally important places&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/elders-conservationists-race-to-record-fading-sacred-ties-to-philippines-endemic-birds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/elders-conservationists-race-to-record-fading-sacred-ties-to-philippines-endemic-birds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326488</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Logging and the slow disappearance of Australia&#8217;s large old trees (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/logging-and-the-slow-disappearance-of-australias-large-old-trees-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/logging-and-the-slow-disappearance-of-australias-large-old-trees-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Aug 2026 00:43:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Lindenmayer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/16122929/Wollert-Leadbeaters-Possum-on-Wurundjeri-Country-Steven-Kuiter-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326317</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Commentary, Ecosystems, Environment, forest degradation, Forestry, Forests, Logging, Old Growth Forests, Primary Forests, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Large old trees are among the most important structures in native forests, in Australia and around the world. They store disproportionately large amounts of carbon relative to small, young trees, and they provide the nesting and denning hollows that hundreds of animal species depend on. A single large old tree can take two or three [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Large old trees are among the most important structures in native forests, in Australia and around the world. They store disproportionately large amounts of carbon relative to small, young trees, and they provide the nesting and denning hollows that hundreds of animal species depend on. A single large old tree can take two or three centuries to grow. There is a persistent claim that logging does little or no lasting harm to these trees. It is worth examining what the evidence actually shows. I have studied populations of thousands of large old trees for more than four decades and published that work in the international peer-reviewed literature. I have also written a series of global reviews on large old trees and co-edited an international book on the subject – so the issue of logging effects on large old trees can be examined from data rather than assertion. Our long-term research has shown quite clearly that logged and regenerated forests have far fewer large old trees than places that have not been logged. There are several reasons for this – some obvious and some not so obvious. First, most trees are removed in a logging operation. Second, trees that are retained in logged areas are very exposed to increased windspeeds – the previous tree cover is not there to slow air movement. Third, the debris left on the forest floor after logging is burnt in a fire lit deliberately to help regenerate the forest. These are very high severity fires which&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/logging-and-the-slow-disappearance-of-australias-large-old-trees-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/logging-and-the-slow-disappearance-of-australias-large-old-trees-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326317</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How women farmers are helping elephants and forests in a Sumatran national park</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/how-women-farmers-are-helping-elephants-and-forests-in-a-sumatran-national-park/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/how-women-farmers-are-helping-elephants-and-forests-in-a-sumatran-national-park/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Aug 2026 14:22:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[SuryadiYenni Kwok]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/14132827/Ernita-farmer-and-member-of-womens-group-Perbani-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326257</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Riau, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Culture, Elephants, Environment, Gender, Human-wildlife Conflict, National Parks, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LUBUK KEMBANG BUNGA, Indonesia — Tesso Nilo National Park, located on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, often makes headlines due to human-wildlife conflict — a byproduct of illegal encroachment and deforestation by oil palm plantations. However, there is a ray of hope, thanks to female farmers who live in a buffer zone of the national [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LUBUK KEMBANG BUNGA, Indonesia — Tesso Nilo National Park, located on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, often makes headlines due to human-wildlife conflict — a byproduct of illegal encroachment and deforestation by oil palm plantations. However, there is a ray of hope, thanks to female farmers who live in a buffer zone of the national park. In the village of Lubuk Kembang Bunga, in the buffer zone next to the park, women are leading an initiative to plant fruit trees that both serve a conservation purpose and provide extra income. To prevent elephants from destroying their fruit plantations, the villagers plant citrus trees, which repel the pachyderms. Elsewhere, they also plant fruits beloved by these large animals, such as jackfruit, its cousin cempedak, and stink beans, known in Indonesian as petai. Ernita, a 33-year-old farmer, said she can now breathe easy after planting citrus trees on the perimeter of her oil palm farm. “Before we had the citrus trees, elephants always ate our oil palm fruits,” she told Mongabay Indonesia. “We had to replant the trees four or five times … Praise be to God, since we planted the citrus trees, the elephants haven’t eaten our oil palm fruits.” Ernita’s farm lies just outside Tesso Nilo, so she can grow various crops, including oil palm. But other parts of Lubuk Kembang Bunga village fall within the park’s borders, where, technically at least, oil palm cultivation isn’t permitted. Ernita, a farmer and member of Perbani, grows citrus trees on the perimeter&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/how-women-farmers-are-helping-elephants-and-forests-in-a-sumatran-national-park/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/how-women-farmers-are-helping-elephants-and-forests-in-a-sumatran-national-park/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326257</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Decades after religions shaped China’s Tianmushan, authorities tackle protecting reserve</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/decades-after-religions-shaped-chinas-tianmushan-authorities-tackle-protecting-reserve/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/decades-after-religions-shaped-chinas-tianmushan-authorities-tackle-protecting-reserve/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2026 16:11:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony FabroLatoya Abulu]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/10155939/1-deer-in-snow-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325787</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, China, and East Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Law, Protected Areas, Religions, Research, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[HANGZHOU, China — On a misty morning in Zhejiang province, the peaks of Tianmu Mountain rise like sentinels above the forest canopy, their slopes wrapped in shifting veils of cloud. For centuries, monks and many villagers revered every tree and stream as sacred, a belief that researchers say has guided protection long before the word [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[HANGZHOU, China — On a misty morning in Zhejiang province, the peaks of Tianmu Mountain rise like sentinels above the forest canopy, their slopes wrapped in shifting veils of cloud. For centuries, monks and many villagers revered every tree and stream as sacred, a belief that researchers say has guided protection long before the word “conservation” entered common use. “This place is special not only because of its nature,” Lu Senhong, head of the publicity and education division at the Tianmu National Nature Reserve Administration Bureau, told Mongabay. “It is also because people here have long believed that every tree, flower, and bird carries a spirit. That respect has kept the mountain alive.” For more than a millennium, a mix of Buddhist, Daoist and Confucian traditions guided protection of plants and wildlife in this lush reserve, which recently extended twelvefold to create a 54,700-hectare (135,170-acre) Tianmushan–Qingliangfeng UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve — the first such expansion in China. In the past, temples that dotted the land imposed strict punishments on anyone caught cutting trees or damaging parts of the old-growth forest — fines in rice or silver, or even expulsion from the monastery. The same rules bound monks themselves to strict conduct, ensuring they upheld the forest’s sanctity. Today, it is state regulations that provide the legal framework for protection and, along with a management plan developed with local communities, that try to tackle challenges the rich ecosystem faces and negotiate a sustainable development model following earlier community land use conflicts.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/decades-after-religions-shaped-chinas-tianmushan-authorities-tackle-protecting-reserve/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/decades-after-religions-shaped-chinas-tianmushan-authorities-tackle-protecting-reserve/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325787</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>On fragile Sumatran peatland, a farmer fights to bring back lost mangroves</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-fragile-sumatran-peatland-a-farmer-fights-to-bring-back-lost-mangroves/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-fragile-sumatran-peatland-a-farmer-fights-to-bring-back-lost-mangroves/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2026 11:44:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Suryadi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/12113532/Harisyah-measures-the-distance-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326031</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Riau, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Mangroves, Marine, Peatlands, Solutions, Tropical Forests, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SUNGAI APIT, Indonesia — Harisyah was still knee-deep in the peatland as the light faded over the mouth of Indonesia&#8217;s Siak River. The 53-year-old palm oil and pineapple grower had been cutting back weeds since morning, clearing the riverbank on the north coast of Sumatra island before driving wooden stakes into the peat at 1.5-meter [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SUNGAI APIT, Indonesia — Harisyah was still knee-deep in the peatland as the light faded over the mouth of Indonesia&#8217;s Siak River. The 53-year-old palm oil and pineapple grower had been cutting back weeds since morning, clearing the riverbank on the north coast of Sumatra island before driving wooden stakes into the peat at 1.5-meter (5-feet) intervals. “We’re going to use this location as a nursery for the new seedlings,” Harisyah told Mongabay Indonesia. “This new generation will grow up close to mangroves, and they can learn more about them through playing and activities.” Harisyah and others who live in Tanjung Kuras, a coastal village in Siak district, say the weather has become increasingly erratic in recent years. Researchers, meanwhile, have documented a rapidly retreating coastline as the area&#8217;s peat soils continue to subside. Residents also contend with frequent tidal flooding, which many blame on the loss of the mangrove forests that once fortified the shoreline. Last Ramadan, the Islamic holy month observed by millions in the world&#8217;s largest Muslim-majority nation, strong winds lifted off the dome from the village mosque. “It’s because there’s no mangrove forest as a buffer to block the wind,” Harisyah said. “It&#8217;s been turned into an oil palm plantation — so the wind from the sea blows straight onto land.” Harisyah plants a marker stake at the mangrove planting site. Image by Suryadi/Mongabay Indonesia. World’s largest mangroves Indonesia&#8217;s more than 17,000 islands contain the world&#8217;s largest mangrove forest estate, covering about 3.3 million hectares (8.2&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-fragile-sumatran-peatland-a-farmer-fights-to-bring-back-lost-mangroves/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-fragile-sumatran-peatland-a-farmer-fights-to-bring-back-lost-mangroves/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326031</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Meet the Indigenous women restoring Kenya’s Mau Forest — and reshaping gender roles</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/meet-the-indigenous-women-restoring-kenyas-mau-forest-and-reshaping-gender-roles/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/meet-the-indigenous-women-restoring-kenyas-mau-forest-and-reshaping-gender-roles/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Aug 2026 19:41:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Juliet Akoth Ojwang]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/10080513/13-Ntoiye-Kimorgo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325754</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Culture, Environment, Forests, Gender, Indigenous Peoples, Landscape Restoration, Restoration, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Before dawn breaks over Eor Ewaso, a village in southwestern Kenya, Judy Mukut is already awake. By 6:30 a.m., she has fetched water, milked the family&#8217;s cattle, prepared breakfast, cleaned the house and seen her children off to school. Only then does she leave home for a resource center run by the Paran Indigenous women&#8217;s [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Before dawn breaks over Eor Ewaso, a village in southwestern Kenya, Judy Mukut is already awake. By 6:30 a.m., she has fetched water, milked the family&#8217;s cattle, prepared breakfast, cleaned the house and seen her children off to school. Only then does she leave home for a resource center run by the Paran Indigenous women&#8217;s organization, where another day&#8217;s conservation work begins. For Mukut, conservation of the Mau Forest is squeezed into the few hours left after fulfilling the responsibilities expected of her as a Maasai wife and mother. Yet it is this balancing act that reflects a quieter transformation taking place across one of Kenya&#8217;s most important forest ecosystems. As Indigenous women restore degraded sections of the Mau Forest, they are also earning independent incomes, participating in household decisions and reviving traditional ecological knowledge that once sustained their communities for generations before going dormant. Founded in 2005, the Paran Women Group has grown into a network of 64 registered Indigenous women&#8217;s groups, mostly drawn from Maasai and Ogiek communities in Narok county, as well as communities in West Pokot and Samburu counties. Through community-managed tree nurseries, kitchen gardens, village savings groups, beekeeping and landscape restoration, the organization has linked environmental conservation with women&#8217;s empowerment. To coordinate its expanding network, Paran established seven community resource centers. Rather than functioning as offices, the centers serve as demonstration sites where women raise seedlings, receive technical training and exchange traditional knowledge. &#8220;The work has taught us how to organize ourselves,&#8221; Mukut said. &#8220;Even&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/meet-the-indigenous-women-restoring-kenyas-mau-forest-and-reshaping-gender-roles/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325754</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘This is what’s working’: Indigenous leaders on environment solutions in their communities</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/this-is-whats-working-indigenous-leaders-on-environment-solutions-in-their-communities/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/this-is-whats-working-indigenous-leaders-on-environment-solutions-in-their-communities/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Aug 2026 04:00:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/08172408/Mongabay-final-indigenous-people-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325687</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Community Forests, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Forestry, Indigenous Peoples, Nature-based climate solutions, Solutions, Sustainable Forest Management, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Eriberto throws his head back with a laugh and shakes it as he tills his plot of land in the Peruvian Amazon, near the Cordillera Azul National Park in central Peru. “That does not work here,” he says with a chuckle, responding to a question about why he doesn’t call his diverse forest garden “agroforestry”. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Eriberto throws his head back with a laugh and shakes it as he tills his plot of land in the Peruvian Amazon, near the Cordillera Azul National Park in central Peru. “That does not work here,” he says with a chuckle, responding to a question about why he doesn’t call his diverse forest garden “agroforestry”. In the past, government officials promoted planting coffee or cacao in agroforestry systems near his community. But Eriberto Guerra and other Indigenous farmers in the town of Lamas say it hasn’t been effective enough and some have rejected the sustainable farming label. “They promoted growing just one or two other food crops with some trees,” Guerra tells Mongabay. “But you need to plant dozens of species along with traditional plants. When one crop fails or doesn’t perform well in the local market, you need to have others to make up for it. And those others need to be the right crops, planted the right way, near the right plants.” His forest garden attracts endemic bird species and wildlife researchers, and has sustained his family for a decade, he says. “This is what is working,” Eriberto says. To mark the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples and better understand the subtleties in biodiversity conservation and climate solutions implemented by people living at the frontlines, Mongabay interviewed nine Indigenous representatives from around the world. Dami Tateburuk, Frengky Sabbattilat, Ismael Saumanuk and Vincent Tateburuk (left to right), part of Malinggai Uma Tradisional Mentawai, a grassroots, Indigenous-led organization&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/this-is-whats-working-indigenous-leaders-on-environment-solutions-in-their-communities/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325687</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Suriname moves to evict Mennonites and illegal Amazon settlers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/suriname-moves-to-evict-mennonites-and-illegal-amazon-settlers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/suriname-moves-to-evict-mennonites-and-illegal-amazon-settlers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Aug 2026 23:52:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/03214304/Atjoni_en_Pokigron_Surinamerivier-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325650</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Global, South America, and Suriname]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Business, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Sequestration, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Farming, Food, Forest Carbon, Forest Destruction, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Industrial Agriculture, Land Conflict, Law, Logging, Politics, Primary Forests, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Sustainable Forest Management, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The government in Suriname has started toughening up on land developers who illegally clear the Amazon Rainforest for agriculture and cattle ranching, according to Suriname President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, speaking at an Aug. 4 press briefing. In recent months, officials have started investigating illegal settlements and revising zoning for hundreds of thousands of hectares of mostly [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The government in Suriname has started toughening up on land developers who illegally clear the Amazon Rainforest for agriculture and cattle ranching, according to Suriname President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, speaking at an Aug. 4 press briefing. In recent months, officials have started investigating illegal settlements and revising zoning for hundreds of thousands of hectares of mostly primary forest, previously set aside for agribusiness. Many areas under development are connected to Mennonites, a conservative Christian group who migrated to the country from other parts of the region, with plans to establish religious farming communities. “The people who are active there in the interior and have cleared land to live there, are there illegally,” Geerlings-Simons said during the briefing. “And that means that we’re going to take measures against them.” In 2023, Mongabay revealed that private agribusiness investors were working with the government to develop a Mennonite pilot program, in which around 1,000 families would be relocated from Bolivia — and possibly other parts of the region — onto as much as 30,000 hectares (about 74,000 acres) of land in interior departments of Suriname. In 2023 and 2024, Mongabay also published stories detailing the government’s plan to transfer around 467,000 hectares (1,153,982 acres) of mostly primary rainforest from the Ministry of Land Policy and Forest Management to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (LVV) for future agribusiness development projects. Geerlings-Simons during the press briefing Aug 4. Image courtesy of Key tv 8.2 Backlash to the plans focused on Suriname’s 93% forest cover&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/suriname-moves-to-evict-mennonites-and-illegal-amazon-settlers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325650</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>On the frontlines of conservation in Sumatra: Rangers safeguard Batutegi forest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-the-front-lines-of-conservation-in-sumatra-rangers-safeguard-batutegi-forest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-the-front-lines-of-conservation-in-sumatra-rangers-safeguard-batutegi-forest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Aug 2026 02:21:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/07021006/IMG_5641-copy-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325509</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Lampung, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agroecology, Agroforestry, Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Camera Trapping, Coffee, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Habitat, Human-wildlife Conflict, In-situ Conservation, Monitoring, NGOs, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Slow Loris, Tigers, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, Wildlife Corridors, and Wildlife Rangers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[TANGGAMUS, Indonesia — For more than a decade and a half, forest ranger Wandi Harmoko has walked the ridges and valleys of Batutegi, a landscape in southern Sumatra. He is one of only a handful of officers tasked with patrolling almost 60,000-hectares (148,300 acres) of forest that is not only ecologically significant but also economically [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[TANGGAMUS, Indonesia — For more than a decade and a half, forest ranger Wandi Harmoko has walked the ridges and valleys of Batutegi, a landscape in southern Sumatra. He is one of only a handful of officers tasked with patrolling almost 60,000-hectares (148,300 acres) of forest that is not only ecologically significant but also economically vital to Lampung province. The forest Wandi protects today has been shaped by decades of disturbance. Since the turn of the century, waves of encroachment cleared large areas of forest to accelerate conversion to coffee plantations. Nevertheless, the forests here still harbors endangered wildlife, including Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae), siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus), pangolins (Manis javanica), Sumatran slow lorises (Nycticebus coucang) and sun bears (Helarctos malayanus). The survival and recovery of what remains in Batutegi depend on a fragile collaboration between a limited number of rangers, technology-driven monitoring systems, and social forestry farmers whose livelihoods are tied to the landscape. “What affects me most are the moments when we still encounter forest encroachment,” Wandi told Mongabay after joining his team for a day patrol inside Batutegi’s core zone. “It creates an inner conflict, because sometimes we have to arrest people and see them go to prison, even though we understand their situation.” Wandi Harmoko has patrolled the forest of Batutegi for over a decade. Image by Basten Gokkon. The Batutegi landscape, including a reservoir with the same name, stretches across 81,741 hectares (202,000 acres) jointly overseen by two forest management units (KPH), namely KPH Batutegi&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-the-front-lines-of-conservation-in-sumatra-rangers-safeguard-batutegi-forest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325509</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Carbon markets alone won’t keep Southeast Asia’s forests standing, study says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/carbon-markets-alone-wont-keep-southeast-asias-forests-standing-study-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/carbon-markets-alone-wont-keep-southeast-asias-forests-standing-study-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2026 02:00:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/02095503/Banner_Pied-hornbill_RAB-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325137</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Biodiversity, Business, Carbon Credits, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Market, Carbon Sequestration, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Finance, Forest Carbon, Forestry, Forests, Funding, Mitigation, Rainforests, Research, Secondary Forests, Solutions, Sustainable Forest Management, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Lush, leafy and luxuriantly diverse, tropical forests are home to an immense array of plants, animals and fungi. They also provide humanity with water, clean air and flood protection, and lock vast amounts of carbon in their tree trunks, roots and soils. Yet, forest conservation often loses out to extractive industries and agribusiness when valued [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Lush, leafy and luxuriantly diverse, tropical forests are home to an immense array of plants, animals and fungi. They also provide humanity with water, clean air and flood protection, and lock vast amounts of carbon in their tree trunks, roots and soils. Yet, forest conservation often loses out to extractive industries and agribusiness when valued through a purely economic lens. As a result, forests across the planet continue to be cleared in pursuit of financial profits. Across Southeast Asia alone, nearly 68 million hectares (168 million acres) of forest was lost between 2001 and 2023, much of it cleared to make way for logging, plantations and agriculture, according to researchers. However, new research indicates “massive and untapped” conservation potential remains within commercial concessions across the region. The study, published in Nature Communications, analyzed satellite data from 3,754 logging, oil palm, timber and rubber plantation concessions across four countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar. Roughly 42 million hectares (104 million acres) of intact forest was identified inside these concessions — an area larger than the entire country of Malaysia. Losing these forests could lead to emissions in the range of 1.2 gigatons of carbon dioxide over the next three decades, the study says, equivalent to 20% of all industrial carbon dioxide emissions across all 11 ASEAN countries between 2000 and 2023. Protection of forests inside production landscapes, therefore, presents a significant opportunity for conservation, the study authors say, if concession holders could be incentivized to switch from converting land to protecting it.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/carbon-markets-alone-wont-keep-southeast-asias-forests-standing-study-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325137</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Costa Rica banana plantation destroyed protected wetland, complaint alleges</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/costa-rica-banana-plantation-destroyed-protected-wetland-complaint-alleges/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/costa-rica-banana-plantation-destroyed-protected-wetland-complaint-alleges/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jul 2026 19:09:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/30184410/1_Banana_plantain_in_Costa_Rica-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324864</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Business, Conservation, Crops, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Farming, Forest Fragmentation, Forests, Fragmentation, Freshwater, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Industrial Agriculture, Land Use Change, Monocultures, Natural Resources, Plantations, Protected Areas, Sustainable Forest Management, Water, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A legal complaint in Costa Rica has alleged that a banana plantation destroyed parts of a protected wetland in Bananito Sur, located in the Valle La Estrella district in the central province of Limón. Workers on the La Paz banana plantation, owned by Standard Fruit Company de Costa Rica, a subsidiary of Dole, cut down [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A legal complaint in Costa Rica has alleged that a banana plantation destroyed parts of a protected wetland in Bananito Sur, located in the Valle La Estrella district in the central province of Limón. Workers on the La Paz banana plantation, owned by Standard Fruit Company de Costa Rica, a subsidiary of Dole, cut down and burned vegetation inside an area listed on the country’s National Wetlands Registry, according to several complaints and a June 23 Supreme Court filing. In addition to environmental impacts, the dispute has raised questions about government transparency, with several agencies allegedly failing to provide information about what was happening in the area. “The government has to draw a line and say enough is enough, and stop the company. It hasn’t done that,” Marco Levy Virgo, president of the Association for the Development of Ecology, an environmental advocacy group, told Mongabay. Alleged destruction from the plantation. Image by Marco Levy Virgo. Banana plantations often require extensive pesticide use, as well as complex drainage systems with channels that transport water away from crops. Levy said he noticed damage related to that work at the start of the year. He submitted formal requests for information and technical data to the authorities, including the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE). In April, MINAE’s Caribbean Hydrological Unit, responsible for managing the country’s largest watersheds, published two reports describing an agricultural drainage channel passing through the wetland from the plantation, with cutting and burning running parallel to it. The cleared area measured between&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/costa-rica-banana-plantation-destroyed-protected-wetland-complaint-alleges/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324864</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>For Brazil&#8217;s Xokleng people, saving a sacred tree means saving their culture</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/for-brazils-xokleng-people-saving-a-sacred-tree-means-saving-their-culture/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/for-brazils-xokleng-people-saving-a-sacred-tree-means-saving-their-culture/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jul 2026 13:17:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Letícia Klein]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/20151307/8C9A8751-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324056</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Community Forests, Conservation, Culture, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Habitat Degradation, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Plants, Protected Areas, Sustainable Forest Management, Trees, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[IBIRAMA-LA KLÃNÕ INDIGENOUS TERRITORY, Brazil — Zág, pronounced “zã,” is the Xokleng word for the Brazilian pine. This tree species, Araucaria angustifolia, is typical of the Atlantic Forest that runs along Brazil’s south and southeastern coast, and has been evolving on the planet for about 200 million years. Each female tree produces dozens of cones, which [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[IBIRAMA-LA KLÃNÕ INDIGENOUS TERRITORY, Brazil — Zág, pronounced “zã,” is the Xokleng word for the Brazilian pine. This tree species, Araucaria angustifolia, is typical of the Atlantic Forest that runs along Brazil’s south and southeastern coast, and has been evolving on the planet for about 200 million years. Each female tree produces dozens of cones, which in turn carry hundreds of seeds. Known in Brazil as pinhão, the Brazilian pine seed is a nut eaten by at least 22 animal species as well as humans, who rely on it for both nutrition and income. For some Indigenous peoples, however, it means more than food. It’s part of their culture, history, and origin myths. That’s the case for the Xokleng people, also known as the Laklãnõ, in what is today Santa Catarina state. In their villages, people are even named after the tree. “Brazilian pines are sacred to us,” says Carl Gakran, executive director of the Zág Institute. “You can’t tell the story of our people without speaking of them. Our creation myth says the protective animal was made from that tree, so it appears in the very first story.” Carl decided to do something for the pines in 2016, after learning that the species was critically endangered as a result of deforestation, urban expansion, and logging. Currently, Brazilian pine forests are estimated to cover less than 3% of their original range, which once stretched across much of the states of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, with small patches&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/for-brazils-xokleng-people-saving-a-sacred-tree-means-saving-their-culture/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324056</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Renato Moraes de Jesus was a pioneer of Atlantic Forest restoration in Brazil</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/renato-moraes-de-jesus-obituary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/renato-moraes-de-jesus-obituary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jul 2026 00:41:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/19024914/renato-moraes-de-jesus-bw-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323955</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Forests, Landscape Restoration, Nature-based climate solutions, Obituary, Reforestation, Restoration, Tropical Forests, and Tropical hardwoods]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 1977 a young forest engineer arrived at a neglected tract of Atlantic Forest in northern Espírito Santo. A mining company had acquired the property as a source of hardwood for railway sleepers. Two hundred hectares had already been cut. Some specialists proposed harvesting more of the forest or replacing it with eucalyptus. The new [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 1977 a young forest engineer arrived at a neglected tract of Atlantic Forest in northern Espírito Santo. A mining company had acquired the property as a source of hardwood for railway sleepers. Two hundred hectares had already been cut. Some specialists proposed harvesting more of the forest or replacing it with eucalyptus. The new arrival found little infrastructure and no settled plan for the land. He moved alone into a deteriorating house inside the forest. At night he heard animals moving through the roof. The supposed ghosts proved to be opossums. One of his first ambitions was to obtain a working telephone. Renato Moraes de Jesus, who died on May 23rd, aged 74, stayed for more than three decades. The property at Linhares became the Vale Natural Reserve, a major center for Atlantic Forest research and restoration. He helped protect almost 23,000 hectares, established biological collections and laboratories, brought scientists into the reserve, and developed methods for returning native trees to land damaged by mines, roads, farms, and industry.  Vale gave him no precise instructions. He decided that the first tasks were to prevent fires and hunting, document the forest’s species, and apply what was learned there to damaged land elsewhere. He later joked that the company had forgotten him at Linhares. Its limited attention gave him considerable freedom.  The early years could be dangerous. The region was violent, and he dismissed many workers during a reorganization. He carried a revolver for a time and later recalled receiving death&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/renato-moraes-de-jesus-obituary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323955</doi>				</item>
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