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		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?topic=freshwater&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/freshwater/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Thu, 12 Nov 2026 13:22:12 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Freshwater</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/freshwater/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Vietnam’s freshwater obsession leaves decades-long scars for Mekong Delta farmers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/vietnams-freshwater-obsession-leaves-decades-long-scars-for-mekong-delta-farmers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/vietnams-freshwater-obsession-leaves-decades-long-scars-for-mekong-delta-farmers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Nov 2026 09:45:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nguyen Tra My]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Yenni Kwok]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/12105012/17196457289_ef08c0aa7a_coconuts-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=335735</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Mekong Basin, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Farming, Freshwater, Law, Natural Resources, Pollution, Rice, Rivers, Water, Water Pollution, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BÌNH ĐẠI, Vietnam — For centuries, the Mekong River emptied into the South China Sea through nine vast estuaries, earning it the name Cửu Long, Vietnamese for “Nine Dragons.” In the 1960s, natural deposition of sand swallowed the first dragon, the Bassac River. Now, human-made infrastructure is choking the second, the Ba Lai River. More than [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BÌNH ĐẠI, Vietnam — For centuries, the Mekong River emptied into the South China Sea through nine vast estuaries, earning it the name Cửu Long, Vietnamese for “Nine Dragons.” In the 1960s, natural deposition of sand swallowed the first dragon, the Bassac River. Now, human-made infrastructure is choking the second, the Ba Lai River. More than two decades after a sluice gate began operating near the mouth of the Ba Lai River in southern Vietnam, the river has turned into a stagnant lake, trapping pollutants and accelerating coastal erosion. Intended to protect the region from salinity, the megastructure has created problems and triggered conflicts between local farmers and authorities, sparking semi-open resistance that further destabilizes this already climate-vulnerable area. On a cloudy day in September, Nguyên, a shrimp farmer in Bình Đại commune in Vĩnh Long province, calculates when he should harvest his shrimp as he prepares to feed his two ponds. During the rainy season, water pollution is his primary concern, and a miscalculation can wipe out his entire stock. “This month, the sluice discharges water on the eighth, ninth, 21st, and 22nd, so I will harvest my shrimp on the fifth or sixth,” says Nguyên, which is not his real name. He asks to use a pseudonym due to the sensitive nature of the issue. “Fruit farmers in the freshwater zone use tons of pesticides and herbicides,” Nguyên tells Mongabay. “The chemicals linger on the ground. When it rains, the runoff flows into canals and the river, heavily contaminating&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/vietnams-freshwater-obsession-leaves-decades-long-scars-for-mekong-delta-farmers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/vietnams-freshwater-obsession-leaves-decades-long-scars-for-mekong-delta-farmers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-335735</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Angolan hunters protect Southern Africa’s internationally important wetland</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/angolan-hunters-protect-southern-africas-internationally-important-wetland/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/angolan-hunters-protect-southern-africas-internationally-important-wetland/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Nov 2026 13:30:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ryan Truscott]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/11131517/Tunyiungi_2-CONTRAST-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=335463</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Angola, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Degraded Lands, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forest Destruction, Governance, Hunting, Indigenous Peoples, Peatlands, Poaching, Rivers, Tropics, Water, Wetlands, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Four years ago, elders from several different communities in Angola’s southeastern highlands approached environmental anthropologist Kerllen Costa, saying they’d noticed an influx of people from outside the highlands coming there to hunt for bushmeat without obtaining permission from local chiefs. Sometimes the outsiders recruited locals to hunt on their behalf. These hunting parties were disregarding [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Four years ago, elders from several different communities in Angola’s southeastern highlands approached environmental anthropologist Kerllen Costa, saying they’d noticed an influx of people from outside the highlands coming there to hunt for bushmeat without obtaining permission from local chiefs. Sometimes the outsiders recruited locals to hunt on their behalf. These hunting parties were disregarding local hunting rules, the elders told Costa. They weren’t following traditional leaders’ prescriptions on where and when to hunt, how many animals to kill, or how much of their haul to share with villagers. “They asked for help to reinforce the traditional ways,” said Costa, who is Angola director of the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project (NGOWP) and co-founder of Fundação Lisima, a conservation group. Months of discussions ensued, at the end of which each village across the landscape nominated one Watcher. Their job is to keep watch over their woodlands, monitor popular hunting trails, and ensure that the animals are hunted in line with traditional rules. “They have a concept that every single person in the landscape is a watcher,” Costa said. “The farmer, the fisherman, the beekeeper — they&#8217;re always watching what&#8217;s happening, whether it be what a person is doing or a change in the ecosystem.” The source lake of the Cuito river, in Moxico province. The Cuito is one of two major rivers feeding the Okavango river and Botswana’s giant Okavango delta. Image courtesy of Kostadin Luchansky/AIB/NGOWP. The landscape they’re watching over is the Lisima Lya Mwono, or “the source of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/angolan-hunters-protect-southern-africas-internationally-important-wetland/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-335463</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Peru’s drive for critical minerals threatens a disappearing glacier</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/perus-drive-for-critical-minerals-threatens-a-disappearing-glacier/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/perus-drive-for-critical-minerals-threatens-a-disappearing-glacier/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2026 18:21:03 +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/20/2026/11/06181811/IMG_7140-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334959</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Critical Minerals, Ecosystems, Energy Transition, Freshwater, Glaciers, Governance, Health, Lithium, Mining, Natural Resources, Regulations, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Like many in the community of Phinaya, in southeastern Peru, Donato Bermúdez makes his living from alpacas. His flock of 500 roams the slopes beneath the vast Quelccaya glacier, the site of the second-largest tropical ice cap in the world. Reaching 5,600 meters (18,400 feet), its white peak is home to centuries of tradition. “We [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Like many in the community of Phinaya, in southeastern Peru, Donato Bermúdez makes his living from alpacas. His flock of 500 roams the slopes beneath the vast Quelccaya glacier, the site of the second-largest tropical ice cap in the world. Reaching 5,600 meters (18,400 feet), its white peak is home to centuries of tradition. “We believe the glacier is essentially alive,” Bermúdez, a lifelong resident and former community president of Phinaya, told Mongabay by phone. “We say it gives us the water, the lifeblood that flows to the community.” But he and other Phinaya locals now fear that a threat may be looming from the other side of the mountain. In the shadow of Quelccaya, long-delayed lithium and uranium mining projects are gaining fresh momentum under President Keiko Fujimori, who is determined to put transition minerals firmly on Peru’s economic agenda. “Lithium and uranium mining would be catastrophic for the Quelccaya glacier,” said Yolanda Quispe, 44, a community leader and park ranger from Phinaya, who has spent a lifetime beneath the glacier. “The fauna and flora that exist around it, the people — all of this would be destroyed,” she told Mongabay over the phone. Through Peruvian subsidiary Macusani Yellowcake, Canadian firm American Lithium controls major deposits of lithium and uranium — two minerals the Peruvian government describes as critical to the clean energy transition — across at least 174 concessions covering more than 1,090 square kilometers (421 square miles) in the department of Puno, beneath the Quelccaya glacier. The&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/perus-drive-for-critical-minerals-threatens-a-disappearing-glacier/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/perus-drive-for-critical-minerals-threatens-a-disappearing-glacier/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334959</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Singapore sand imports threaten an already sinking Cambodian fishing community, again</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/singapore-sand-imports-threaten-an-already-sinking-cambodian-fishing-community-again/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/singapore-sand-imports-threaten-an-already-sinking-cambodian-fishing-community-again/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2026 00:15:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andy Ball]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/05234928/DSC09394-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=335113</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Ecosystems, Environment, extractives, Fish, Fisheries, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Governance, Mining, Natural Resources, Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Editor’s note: *Cambodian fishers who spoke to Mongabay asked that pseudonyms be used, fearing reprisals. BANGKOK, Thailand — Sand mining vessels were once a familiar sight to residents of Koh Sralao, a fishing village in Cambodia’s Koh Kong province. But it had been a decade since anyone had seen them. That changed in June. “I [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Editor’s note: *Cambodian fishers who spoke to Mongabay asked that pseudonyms be used, fearing reprisals. BANGKOK, Thailand — Sand mining vessels were once a familiar sight to residents of Koh Sralao, a fishing village in Cambodia’s Koh Kong province. But it had been a decade since anyone had seen them. That changed in June. “I started seeing lots of sand-mining barges lined up, probably around 10, when I go out to fish,” said Rithy,* who spotted them in a nearby waterway. The barges are part of a mining operation 10 kilometers (6 miles) upstream of Koh Sralao on the Trapeang Rung River, which provincial authorities say they’ve approved to extract sand for export to Singapore. Official data show that since June, sand exports have been underway to the city-state, where a Mongabay investigation found it is likely being used in a government-backed reclamation project. It comes a decade after the Cambodian government banned the trade in 2017, following dredging by politically connected companies that stripped hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of sand from the surrounding estuaries, damaging ecosystems and livelihoods in the process. Now, communities, conservationists and activists are warning it could happen again. A sand mining operation runs along the Trapeang Rung River in Koh Kong Knong village, Koh Kong province, Cambodia, in September 2026. For Rithy, the operation has already blocked his access to a stretch of river where he used to fish. “It’s impossible to go now because they will destroy my nets,” he said. “Since&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/singapore-sand-imports-threaten-an-already-sinking-cambodian-fishing-community-again/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-335113</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Between revered and hunted: The journey of human-otter coexistence in the Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/between-revered-and-hunted-the-journey-of-human-otter-coexistence-in-the-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/between-revered-and-hunted-the-journey-of-human-otter-coexistence-in-the-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Oct 2026 16:21:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sarah Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/29131318/pteronura-brasiliensis-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334366</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Food, food security, Freshwater, Human-wildlife Conflict, Indigenous Peoples, Mammals, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional People, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On a warm, humid morning, along the Içana River in Brazil’s upper Rio Negro Basin, researchers saw a group of Baniwa men heading to the river to check the fishing traps they left in shallow, fast-moving waters. Slightly further downstream, a group of giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis) was also hunting. They stayed in the water [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On a warm, humid morning, along the Içana River in Brazil’s upper Rio Negro Basin, researchers saw a group of Baniwa men heading to the river to check the fishing traps they left in shallow, fast-moving waters. Slightly further downstream, a group of giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis) was also hunting. They stayed in the water by the riverbank, their heads popping through the surface and dipping back down like a wild version of the arcade game Whack-A-Mole. One resurfaced with a striped fish held between its front paws before it climbed onto the bank to eat. The sound of it eating carried across the water; sharp cracks as it worked through the bones and wet chomps as it tore through scales and flesh. The otters’ feeding site along the bank was littered with fish bones and reeked of feces. “They&#8217;re almost impossible to ignore,” Jansen Zuanon, ecologist and fish specialist who contributed to a 2026 study about Baniwa people and otters, told Mongabay. Giant otters tend to live in groups of between nine and 12 family members. Image by Allan Hopkins via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). The Içana flows into the Rio Negro, a major tributary in the Amazon with dark, tea-colored, naturally acidic water. Its rivers and tributaries are home to diverse fish species — though they are not especially abundant. For the Indigenous Baniwa people, who live along the Içana’s banks and tributaries in northwestern Brazil near the Colombian border, fishing is an essential source of protein. But&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/between-revered-and-hunted-the-journey-of-human-otter-coexistence-in-the-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334366</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Kashmir’s springs are drying up. Scientists say saving them starts uphill</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/kashmirs-springs-are-drying-up-scientists-say-saving-them-starts-uphill/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/kashmirs-springs-are-drying-up-scientists-say-saving-them-starts-uphill/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Oct 2026 22:19:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hashim Quraishi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/26144728/AP21173191783476-kashmir-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333899</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Himalayas, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Fellows, Freshwater, Mongabay.org, Natural Resources, Restoration, Rivers, Solutions, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Shafeeqa, a 40-year-old resident of Cherwan village in Ganderbal district, north of Srinagar in Kashmir Valley, remembers a spring that once flowed with enough force to make diverting its water toward agricultural fields a difficult task. During her teenage years, she recalls, the water rushed so powerfully that her brother was once carried along by [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Shafeeqa, a 40-year-old resident of Cherwan village in Ganderbal district, north of Srinagar in Kashmir Valley, remembers a spring that once flowed with enough force to make diverting its water toward agricultural fields a difficult task. During her teenage years, she recalls, the water rushed so powerfully that her brother was once carried along by the current. Over the past 5-6 years, however, Shafeeqa said the spring’s flow has diminished step by step. What was once a dependable source of water has become a reminder of how much the village may be losing. “Nature has blessed us with a great source, but it is we who have destroyed it with our own hands,” she said. Shafeeqa says she believes climate change has contributed to the spring’s decline. Research in the Sindh Basin lends support to her concern, although the reasons springs lose their flow can vary from one location to another. The answer may lie some distance uphill, beyond the spring’s visible outlet and in the landscapes where rainwater and melting snow seep into the ground. Springs are an essential water source for communities in the Kashmir Himalaya, particularly in mountain settlements where rivers run through deep valleys and are difficult to access. Their water supports households, livestock and agriculture. But changes in spring flow can threaten all three. A Kashmiri Muslim man prays beside a stream on the outskirts of Srinagar, 2020. Image by AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan. A 2023 study in Environment, Development and Sustainability by researchers at the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/kashmirs-springs-are-drying-up-scientists-say-saving-them-starts-uphill/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333899</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Five new mussel species reveal how much biodiversity US rivers still conceal</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/five-new-mussel-species-reveal-how-much-biodiversity-us-rivers-still-conceal/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/five-new-mussel-species-reveal-how-much-biodiversity-us-rivers-still-conceal/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Oct 2026 11:39:31 +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/20/2026/10/27053936/Shedd_048A1940_hpr-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333981</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Endangered Species, Freshwater, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Invertebrates, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For 20 years, researchers snorkeled through rivers across the southern U.S., feeling along muddy bottoms for mussels. Many of the shells they pulled up looked like familiar species, but their DNA told a different story. Scientists from Shedd Aquarium, Arkansas State University, and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have described five new species of freshwater [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For 20 years, researchers snorkeled through rivers across the southern U.S., feeling along muddy bottoms for mussels. Many of the shells they pulled up looked like familiar species, but their DNA told a different story. Scientists from Shedd Aquarium, Arkansas State University, and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have described five new species of freshwater mussels from rivers in the states of Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas, in a study published in Zootaxa. Several are rare and confined to single river basins, the authors write. &#8220;Our discovery and descriptions of these new freshwater mussel species demonstrate how much we still have to learn about the biodiversity in our rivers,&#8221; Nathan Johnson, a study co-author and research biologist at the USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center, said in a press release. Mussels are hard to identify from their shells. For example, mussels in headwater streams tend to grow flatter shells, while the same species downstream grow rounder ones. Males and females differ as well. So the researchers turned to genetics. In many cases, they clipped a bit of tissue or took a swab, then returned the mussel alive to the river, according to the study. The team sequenced three genes and compared more than 440 shell outlines. Each major river basin turned out to hold its own genetic lineage. Researchers named the new species for where they live. The Mobile hickorynut (Obovaria sipseyensis) is named for Alabama&#8217;s Sipsey River, from a Choctaw word meaning &#8220;swamp.&#8221; It now survives only&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/five-new-mussel-species-reveal-how-much-biodiversity-us-rivers-still-conceal/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/five-new-mussel-species-reveal-how-much-biodiversity-us-rivers-still-conceal/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333981</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Canadian-backed potash mine in Brazil has dried up sacred Amazon springs, say residents</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/canadian-backed-potash-mine-in-brazil-has-dried-up-sacred-amazon-springs-say-residents/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/canadian-backed-potash-mine-in-brazil-has-dried-up-sacred-amazon-springs-say-residents/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Oct 2026 20:28:16 +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/20/2026/10/26133313/AP25066522713919-Mura-Amazonas-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333876</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Canada, Latin America, North America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Environmental Law, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Governance, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Industry, Law, Law Enforcement, Mining, Natural Resources, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The construction of an access road for a potash mining project in Autazes, in Brazil’s Amazonas state, has caused at least two sacred springs to dry up, according to the Indigenous Mura people. It is the latest in a series of controversies spanning a decade that has plagued the Potássio Autazes project. “There is a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The construction of an access road for a potash mining project in Autazes, in Brazil’s Amazonas state, has caused at least two sacred springs to dry up, according to the Indigenous Mura people. It is the latest in a series of controversies spanning a decade that has plagued the Potássio Autazes project. “There is a profound sense of loss,” Filipe Mura, chief of the affected Lago do Soares village, told Mongabay via WhatsApp. “We realize we may be losing what belongs to us — our territory, our culture, and, above all, the very life that exists in this place.” In Mura traditional cosmology, all springs, rivers, lakes and forests have a guardian, or owner, who must be treated with respect, residents tell Mongabay. “If a spring dries up, it means its keeper has departed — and when the keeper leaves, they take with them the animals, the fertility of the soil, and all the blessings of that region,” Willian Rodrigues Filgueira, a professor from the Mura Baixo Madeira Indigenous territory, which neighbors the affected Lago do Soares/Urucurituba territory, and member of the Organization of Mura Indigenous Leaders of Careiro da Várzea (OLIMCV), told Mongabay via WhatsApp. The loss of a spring, therefore, disrupts the spiritual balance that sustains life in the territory. Residents also said that the company behind the project has begun to clear-cut the area — the process of cutting down all trees in a section of forest at the same time — where it intends to build&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/canadian-backed-potash-mine-in-brazil-has-dried-up-sacred-amazon-springs-say-residents/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/canadian-backed-potash-mine-in-brazil-has-dried-up-sacred-amazon-springs-say-residents/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333876</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Amazon communities lose water as mining and deforestation reshape rivers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/amazon-communities-lose-water-as-mining-and-deforestation-reshape-rivers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/amazon-communities-lose-water-as-mining-and-deforestation-reshape-rivers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Oct 2026 18:15:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vanessa Romo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexa]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/23193910/Arazaire_community_bisected_by_Inambari_River_Vico_Mendez-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333623</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Bolivia, Colombia, Global, Latin America, Peru, South America, and Venezuela]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Culture, Deforestation, Drinking Water, Earth Science, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Freshwater, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Health, Human Rights, Impact Of Climate Change, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Law, Livestock, Mapping, Natural Resources, Pollution, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Research, Rivers, Science, Technology, Tropical Forests, Water, Water Pollution, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“People think that because we live in the forest we have plenty of water, but this is the reality,” Erick Tijé, an Indigenous Harakmbut resident of the southern Peruvian Amazon, says in a tone of disappointment, pointing to the murky water flowing down the Inambari River. That river isn’t what it was five years ago, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“People think that because we live in the forest we have plenty of water, but this is the reality,” Erick Tijé, an Indigenous Harakmbut resident of the southern Peruvian Amazon, says in a tone of disappointment, pointing to the murky water flowing down the Inambari River. That river isn’t what it was five years ago, when fishing and life along its banks were very different for residents of the Arazaire Indigenous community. Illegal mining stole their water, only to return it to them polluted. Today, they have to buy the water they drink. On the other side of the Peruvian border, in the Colombian Amazon, Lázaro Ibañez, an elder of the Coreguaje people who live in the Jácome Indigenous Reserve, blames cattle ranching and climate change for reducing water availability around their territory. “The cattle have been destroying everything, and now all you can see is pastureland; there are hardly any trees left,” he says, having witnessed how deforestation to create grazing for cattle has gone hand in hand with the drying up of their water sources. Inhabitants of parts of the world’s greatest rainforest face a paradox: they’re surrounded by water, but can’t use it. For Indigenous peoples, it’s also the loss of the spirits that guard their water sources, driven away by the advance of logging and cattle ranching. Reporters from Mongabay, Colombian news outlet El Espectador, and Venezuela’s El Correo del Caroní, in partnership with scientists from Brazil’s Serrapilheira Institute, analyzed more than two decades of satellite&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/amazon-communities-lose-water-as-mining-and-deforestation-reshape-rivers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/amazon-communities-lose-water-as-mining-and-deforestation-reshape-rivers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333623</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>South African coal mine advances amid legal challenge and mounting water concerns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/south-african-coal-mine-advances-amid-legal-challenge-and-mounting-water-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/south-african-coal-mine-advances-amid-legal-challenge-and-mounting-water-concerns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Oct 2026 12:31:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elaine Mills]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/14111040/1_Coal-plant-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332558</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coal, Economics, Environment, Environmental Policy, Governance, Illegal Mining, Mining, Natural Resources, Politics, Rivers, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A Chinese-controlled coal mine in South Africa’s Limpopo province is moving toward full production even as a legal challenge mounted by a coalition of community members and environmental groups remains unresolved amid concerns about water security in the region. Kinetic Development Group controls MC Mining, whose Makhado hard-coking-coal project is expected to reach steady-state operation [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A Chinese-controlled coal mine in South Africa’s Limpopo province is moving toward full production even as a legal challenge mounted by a coalition of community members and environmental groups remains unresolved amid concerns about water security in the region. Kinetic Development Group controls MC Mining, whose Makhado hard-coking-coal project is expected to reach steady-state operation by the end of the year. Earlier this year, the Hong Kong-listed Kinetic group acquired a 51% stake in MC Mining for $90 million. The open-cast mine lies within the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, which includes the Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Ramsar-designated Makuleke wetlands. Environmental groups say clearing for the mine has destroyed sensitive habitat, including protected baobab and marula trees native to the region’s savannas and woodlands. The Makhado mine’s coal-handling and processing plant (CHPP). Image courtesy of MC Mining. Contested environmental authorization Makhado’s developers first received an environmental authorization, or EA, in August 2013. This original authorization has been amended several times over the years, and one such amendment has become highly controversial. In May 2021, the then-Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) amended the Makhado EA to remove a condition that required mining to begin by a fixed deadline. In June 2021, a coalition of community, farming, and environmental groups appealed the decision to remove the deadline. (The DMRE has since become the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources.) The appellants argued the DMRE had effectively given the project an open-ended authorization without proper public participation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/south-african-coal-mine-advances-amid-legal-challenge-and-mounting-water-concerns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/south-african-coal-mine-advances-amid-legal-challenge-and-mounting-water-concerns/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332558</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous women bring leadership, creativity &#038; joy to clean water action (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indigenous-women-bring-leadership-creativity-joy-to-clean-water-action-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indigenous-women-bring-leadership-creativity-joy-to-clean-water-action-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Oct 2026 16:23:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Justine Apodaca]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/12160042/Indigenous-woman-and-daughter-with-water-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332259</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Commentary, Culture, Drinking Water, Environment, Freshwater, Gender, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Natural Resources, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On Indigenous Peoples Day, let’s honor the leadership and contributions of Indigenous women in water. Women – and particularly Indigenous women – are underrepresented in the water workforce and make up less than one in three voices in water governance. Yet, the water sector has much to learn from women&#8217;s leadership. Women have always led, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On Indigenous Peoples Day, let’s honor the leadership and contributions of Indigenous women in water. Women – and particularly Indigenous women – are underrepresented in the water workforce and make up less than one in three voices in water governance. Yet, the water sector has much to learn from women&#8217;s leadership. Women have always led, and women get things done. Across the water community, women bring people together, build partnerships, solve problems, and move important work forward every day. Their leadership takes many forms. Some lead through community engagement and relationship building. Others advance technical solutions, policy, research, infrastructure, public health, or education. Many do all of these things at once. Different perspectives help turn vision into action. Women lead in complementary ways, and that collaboration often drives meaningful progress. Indigenous women and girls gather stones to make water filters to provide their community with safe water in Ecuador. Image courtesy of Yachana Foundation. In working alongside Indigenous leaders such as Emma Robbins and Crystal Tulley-Cordova, I have seen how community knowledge, technical expertise, and relationship-building complement one another. Throughout this work, women continue to champion Indigenous knowledge, environmental stewardship, water justice, and community resilience. They advance conversations about water rights, water hauling, universal access to clean water, public health, policy, research, and infrastructure. They also recognize that solving water challenges requires more than technical expertise: Real progress happens when communities, researchers, educators, advocates, and decision-makers come together around shared goals. Women play a leading role in creating and sustaining&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indigenous-women-bring-leadership-creativity-joy-to-clean-water-action-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-332259</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Myanmar’s polluting mines selling to China through Thai companies</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/myanmars-polluting-mines-selling-to-china-through-thai-companies/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/myanmars-polluting-mines-selling-to-china-through-thai-companies/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 02:04:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/30171109/IMG_0238-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331322</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Crime, Drinking Water, Ecosystems, Environment, extractives, Fish, Freshwater, Global Environmental Crisis, Gold Mining, Governance, Health, Illegal Mining, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, Public Health, Rivers, Trade, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[UMPHANG, Thailand — At 8 a.m. on June 26, at least 13 double-trailer trucks were lined up at the Pheung Khleung border crossing in northern Thailand — one of the few places where minerals can be legally transported overland from Myanmar into Thailand. Tensions were running high under the sun. The border gate had not [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[UMPHANG, Thailand — At 8 a.m. on June 26, at least 13 double-trailer trucks were lined up at the Pheung Khleung border crossing in northern Thailand — one of the few places where minerals can be legally transported overland from Myanmar into Thailand. Tensions were running high under the sun. The border gate had not yet opened and irate mineral merchants were yelling at reporters, demanding that no photos be taken. The previous day, the Thai military personnel that oversee the cross-border mineral trade had granted Mongabay permission to document the hundreds of tons of antimony expected to be delivered from Myanmar’s Karen state to Thailand’s Tak province, some 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of the city of Mae Sot. Reporters were forbidden from photographing soldiers’ involvement in the trade or the minerals themselves. It wasn’t until 10 a.m. that the border gates opened and the first truck from Karen state bearing antimony, a silvery mineral used in bullets, bombs, armor, semi-conductors and other defense, aerospace and tech industries, crossed into Thai territory. Bars of processed antimony were hoisted from Myanmar trucks into Thai trucks at the Pheung Khleung border crossing in June 2026. Image by Gerald Flynn / Mongabay. A crane, followed by a parade of battered trucks, rolled over from Myanmar and instantly workers from both sides frantically began attaching hoisting cables to 1-ton bags of what reporters were told was antimony ore and stacked bars of antimony ingot. Drivers sheltered from the heat as bags and bars&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/myanmars-polluting-mines-selling-to-china-through-thai-companies/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331322</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pakistan expands protected habitat for Indus River dolphin as recovery offers hope</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/pakistan-expands-protected-habitat-for-indus-river-dolphin-as-recovery-offers-hope/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/pakistan-expands-protected-habitat-for-indus-river-dolphin-as-recovery-offers-hope/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Sep 2026 21:28:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Muhammad Talal]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/24130618/%D9%BE%D8%A7%DA%A9%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86_%DA%A9%D8%A7_%D9%82%D9%88%D9%85%DB%8C_%D8%A2%D8%A8%DB%8C_%D8%B3%D9%85%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%B1%DB%8C_%D9%85%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%84%DB%8C%DB%81-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330706</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Pakistan, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Fellows, Freshwater, Habitat, Mammals, Mongabay.org, Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Between 11 million and 16 million years ago, during the high sea levels of the middle Miocene period, the ancestors of the Indus River dolphin entered the muddy waters of what is the Indus Basin today. Over millennia, they adapted to their new environment through extraordinary evolutionary shifts, developing sophisticated echolocation while gradually losing their [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Between 11 million and 16 million years ago, during the high sea levels of the middle Miocene period, the ancestors of the Indus River dolphin entered the muddy waters of what is the Indus Basin today. Over millennia, they adapted to their new environment through extraordinary evolutionary shifts, developing sophisticated echolocation while gradually losing their eyesight. Today, these blind mammals, living mostly in Pakistan (with a small population in northwestern India), navigate the river&#8217;s shallow, dry-season waters by swimming on their sides. Yet, these evolutionary marvels offer little defense against the modern transformation of their habitat. That habitat is fragmented by vast networks of dams, human-made canals and irrigation barrages. Consequently, the Indus River dolphin (Platanista minor), locally known as the bhulan, has seen its historical range slashed by approximately 80%. The species, which boasted an estimated population of 10,000 in the late 19th century, plummeted to just 617 individuals by 2001 before rebounding to around 2,000 over the next decade. The Indus River dolphin is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List. In response, Pakistan&#8217;s government has officially created the Punjnad Indus River Dolphin Sanctuary in June 2026, safeguarding nearly 200 kilometers (123 miles) of the river in Punjab. This new zone connects with an existing protected area in Sindh province, southeastern Pakistan, that creates a contiguous 400-km (249-mi) stretch of legally protected habitat, offering a critical lifeline to one of the world&#8217;s rarest freshwater dolphins. The timing of this legal protection is of the essence, as a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/pakistan-expands-protected-habitat-for-indus-river-dolphin-as-recovery-offers-hope/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/pakistan-expands-protected-habitat-for-indus-river-dolphin-as-recovery-offers-hope/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330706</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>For wild rivers like the Karnali, Nepal&#8217;s disaster is a warning and an answer (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/for-wild-rivers-like-the-karnali-nepals-disaster-is-a-warning-and-an-answer-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/for-wild-rivers-like-the-karnali-nepals-disaster-is-a-warning-and-an-answer-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Sep 2026 21:55:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gary WocknerMegh Ale]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/21210715/Karnali_river-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330371</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Clean Energy, Commentary, Dams, Development, Ecosystems, Ecotourism, Energy, Environment, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Governance, Infrastructure, Natural Resources, Rivers, Tourism, Travel, Water, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Recently, a glacial collapse on the Tibetan Plateau sent a wall of water and debris roaring across the Nepal-China border. As of this publication, more than 1,000 people are confirmed dead and over 4,000 remain missing in Nepal and China combined. Rescue crews are still digging through mud to find hundreds of workers believed trapped [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Recently, a glacial collapse on the Tibetan Plateau sent a wall of water and debris roaring across the Nepal-China border. As of this publication, more than 1,000 people are confirmed dead and over 4,000 remain missing in Nepal and China combined. Rescue crews are still digging through mud to find hundreds of workers believed trapped inside the tunnels of hydropower projects on the Trishuli River — tunnels large enough to drive trucks through, now choked with silt. This is not simply a natural disaster. It is a preview of what climate change has in store for the Himalaya, and a wakeup call for Nepal&#8217;s headlong rush to dam nearly every river in the country. One of us has spent three decades running rivers and building river-conservation movements from a basecamp in Kathmandu. The other has spent an equal number of years fighting to protect rivers in the American West and around the world. We come from different countries and different rivers, but we have arrived at the same conclusion: Nepal&#8217;s flood catastrophe is a warning that must change how the country — and the international financiers underwriting its hydropower boom — think about all of our rivers, but especially the Karnali River, the last major river in Nepal that has never been dammed. The Karnali is one of the world’s top rivers for whitewater rafting, as it is un-dammed and features many class 5 rapids. Image courtesy of International Rafting Federation. Disaster written in the mountains The floods that just&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/for-wild-rivers-like-the-karnali-nepals-disaster-is-a-warning-and-an-answer-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/for-wild-rivers-like-the-karnali-nepals-disaster-is-a-warning-and-an-answer-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330371</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mekong’s Irrawaddy dolphins find cautious hope amid a river in crisis</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/mekongs-irrawaddy-dolphins-find-cautious-hope-amid-a-river-in-crisis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/mekongs-irrawaddy-dolphins-find-cautious-hope-amid-a-river-in-crisis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Sep 2026 20:59:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Eung Sea]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/17123401/WWF-Cambodia01-dolphin-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329840</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Mekong Basin, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Culture, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Ecotourism, Endangered Species, Environment, Fishing, Freshwater, Illegal Fishing, Mammals, Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KAMPI, Cambodia — At nine in the morning, the sun beats down on the Mekong River as Heang Koeurn turns off the motor of his boat and bobs on the water. He has done this every morning for 11 years, and he still leans forward the same way when he waits: elbows on his knees, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KAMPI, Cambodia — At nine in the morning, the sun beats down on the Mekong River as Heang Koeurn turns off the motor of his boat and bobs on the water. He has done this every morning for 11 years, and he still leans forward the same way when he waits: elbows on his knees, eyes scanning the water for a gray curve to break the surface. Finally, he spots what he’s looking for: Irrawaddy dolphins, the river’s sole cetaceans. Just meters away, a boat carries about half a dozen foreign tourists who squint and point as, one after another, the dorsal fins of a group of Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris) crest above the water. “Irrawaddy dolphins are very important for our community,” Koeurn says, drifting his boat slowly on the water. “People here can make more income from tourists by driving them to see the beauty of Irrawaddy dolphins.” But the Mekong River, a lifeline for millions of people across Southeast Asia, is in ecological crisis, threatening the survival of Irrawaddy dolphins — and with it the livelihoods and traditions of communities along the river. Every morning, boat driver Heang Koeurn takes tourists for dolphin sightseeing at Kampi pool. Image by Eung Sea for Mongabay. Habitat in tatters The Mekong River cuts through northern Stung Treng province along Cambodia’s border with Laos, where deep pools shelter unique aquatic species such as the giant freshwater stingray. The Kampi pool, a 60-meter- (nearly 200-feet-) deep stretch of the river in Cambodia’s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/mekongs-irrawaddy-dolphins-find-cautious-hope-amid-a-river-in-crisis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329840</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Against the odds, endangered dolphins survive in Bangladesh’s polluted river</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/against-the-odds-endangered-dolphins-survive-in-bangladeshs-polluted-river/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/against-the-odds-endangered-dolphins-survive-in-bangladeshs-polluted-river/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2026 10:11:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Md Jahidul Islam]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/14095844/ganges-river-dolphin-bangladesh-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329579</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Freshwater, Mammals, Pollution, Rivers, Waste, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Buriganga River, which flows by Dhaka city, is one of Bangladesh’s most polluted waterways and ranks among the most contaminated urban rivers in the world. Every day, the 29-kilometre- (18-mile-) long Buriganga River absorbs toxic industrial effluent from hundreds of factories, continuous tannery discharges, untreated sewage and solid waste, leaving much of the river [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Buriganga River, which flows by Dhaka city, is one of Bangladesh’s most polluted waterways and ranks among the most contaminated urban rivers in the world. Every day, the 29-kilometre- (18-mile-) long Buriganga River absorbs toxic industrial effluent from hundreds of factories, continuous tannery discharges, untreated sewage and solid waste, leaving much of the river virtually lifeless for fish. However, in the Buriganga, where native fish species have essentially vanished, endangered Ganges river dolphins (Platanista gangetica) continue to persist. A recent study published in the Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity found that around 20 dolphins live in the river. Researchers conducted the study for 12 months, from September 2023 to August 2024, and systematically surveyed a 27-km (16.7-mi) stretch of this heavily polluted river that skirts the southern edge of Dhaka. “The Buriganga is not a usual place for dolphins, where native fishes have largely vanished. Leaving the river full of invasive suckermouth catfish [Hypostomus Plecostomus, locally called sakar fish],” one of the researchers, Md. Aminur Rahman, told Mongabay. “When we found [the dolphins], we were amazed at how it was possible. Because the river is not livable for fish. Around the year, we didn’t track any dolphins only during two of the months, but all the other 10 months we tracked them.” The highest number of dolphins were seen in December, and throughout the winter season, and none were seen in October 2023 or between July and August of 2024. The dolphin groups averaged 4.18 individuals, higher than in earlier&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/against-the-odds-endangered-dolphins-survive-in-bangladeshs-polluted-river/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329579</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As saltwater advances, Gambian farmers rethink how to protect rice fields</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-saltwater-advances-gambian-farmers-rethink-how-to-protect-rice-fields/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-saltwater-advances-gambian-farmers-rethink-how-to-protect-rice-fields/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2026 15:42:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Yero S. Bah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/10141500/TombongBarrow_KiangJifarongGambia_YeroBah-WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-06-at-12.20.50-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329393</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Gambia, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Coastal Ecosystems, Environment, Flooding, Freshwater, Global Environmental Crisis, Impact Of Climate Change, Oceans, Sea Levels, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Every year, the villagers of Kiang Jifarong contribute labor and money to build earthen dikes using clay and mud in an effort to keep seawater out of their farms. Rice fields once stretched unbroken for 5 kilometers, about 3 miles, along the Bintang Bolong estuary here in western Gambia. For generations, families cultivated rice on [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Every year, the villagers of Kiang Jifarong contribute labor and money to build earthen dikes using clay and mud in an effort to keep seawater out of their farms. Rice fields once stretched unbroken for 5 kilometers, about 3 miles, along the Bintang Bolong estuary here in western Gambia. For generations, families cultivated rice on these fertile lowlands, relying on seasonal floods and freshwater to sustain one of the country&#8217;s oldest farming traditions. There are now worrying gaps in this productive landscape. For 10 years now, many of the villagers have retreated inland, away from the coastline, as saltwater transforms once-productive rice fields into barren land. Farmers say saltwater stress is easy to recognize: rice leaves turn yellow, while harvested grains become light and hollow because the plants fail to develop properly. &#8220;The grains become almost empty,&#8221; says Tombong Barrow from the Kiang Jifarong village development committee, a statutory body responsible for identifying local development needs at the village level and coordinating responses to them. &#8220;The salt makes them useless.&#8221; Aerial view of the Bintang Bolong estuary at Kiang Sankandi, the Gambia. Image courtesy of Ansumana Darboe. Jonni Kinteh and Mama Njie, both veteran rice farmers, say they abandoned their fields eight years ago after repeated crop failures linked to salinity. &#8220;We have farmed these fields since childhood alongside our mothers,&#8221; Kinteh says. &#8220;Now we can no longer use them.&#8221; &#8220;Our parents farmed much closer to the river,&#8221; Barrow says. &#8220;Now those fields have been completely taken over by salt.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-saltwater-advances-gambian-farmers-rethink-how-to-protect-rice-fields/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329393</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Kashmir’s water bodies have declined for decades. Is conservation keeping pace?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/kashmirs-water-bodies-have-declined-for-decades-is-conservation-keeping-pace/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/kashmirs-water-bodies-have-declined-for-decades-is-conservation-keeping-pace/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Sep 2026 17:58:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hashim Quraishi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/09082340/Wular-Lake-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329254</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Ecosystems, Environment, Fellows, Freshwater, Global Environmental Crisis, Impact Of Climate Change, Lakes, Research, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For generations, Kashmir’s wetlands, lakes and rivers have been woven into the landscape around its towns and villages. Paddy fields once stretched across parts of the valley, while canals and springs were familiar features of everyday life. But much of that landscape has changed. A new study published in Water Science assessing six decades of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For generations, Kashmir’s wetlands, lakes and rivers have been woven into the landscape around its towns and villages. Paddy fields once stretched across parts of the valley, while canals and springs were familiar features of everyday life. But much of that landscape has changed. A new study published in Water Science assessing six decades of land use and land cover change in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir in the northernmost part of India finds that the extent of water bodies declined between 1960 and 2020, while built-up areas expanded markedly, particularly after the 1990s. The researchers found that socioeconomic factors including urbanization, population growth, literacy, per capita income and passenger and freight traffic were more strongly associated with many of these changes than the climatic variables they examined, including annual precipitation and mean maximum and minimum temperatures. The findings raise a broader question for Jammu and Kashmir: As development continues to reshape the landscape, are conservation initiatives and land use planning keeping pace with the pressures on the region’s water bodies? The authors caution that the study is not based on primary field surveys. Because land use records were available mainly at decadal intervals, the researchers interpolated data between those years to create an annual data set for their statistical analysis. They acknowledge that this approach can inflate some statistical measures and say the results should be interpreted primarily as associations rather than precise predictions. Still, the broad direction of change is clear. The sun peeks through a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/kashmirs-water-bodies-have-declined-for-decades-is-conservation-keeping-pace/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329254</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cherokee youth win legal rights for waterway in first all-female U.S. effort</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/cherokee-girls-win-legal-rights-for-waterway-in-first-all-female-u-s-effort/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/cherokee-girls-win-legal-rights-for-waterway-in-first-all-female-u-s-effort/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Sep 2026 18:26:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/03041259/EBCI_NAIWADaughtersinLongperson-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328483</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Freshwater, Governance, Green, Law, and Rivers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Before the proceedings began, the young women carried Longperson into the room with them, water gathered from the mountain headwaters and held in traditional pottery. The chamber filled beyond capacity, supporters spilling into the lobby. When the vote came, the council passed the resolution unanimously. The crowd and the council rose in standing ovation. On [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Before the proceedings began, the young women carried Longperson into the room with them, water gathered from the mountain headwaters and held in traditional pottery. The chamber filled beyond capacity, supporters spilling into the lobby. When the vote came, the council passed the resolution unanimously. The crowd and the council rose in standing ovation. On Jan. 8, 2026, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) Tribal Council convened in Cherokee, in what is today the U.S. state of North Carolina, to consider a resolution brought forward by the NAIWA Daughters, the youth arm of the North American Indian Women&#8217;s Association, made up of a group of Indigenous girls between the ages of 10 and 17. The resolution recognizes the inherent legal rights of the Longperson, or vwi Ganvhida, the interconnected waterway system whose headwaters rise in the Great Smoky Mountains and travel more than 1,270 kilometers (790 miles), branching through multiple states before its &#8220;feet,&#8221; as the Cherokee describe it, reach the Gulf of Mexico. To the Tribe, Longperson (formerly Long Man) is a living entity of great cultural and spiritual significance. Zailiana Blythe, from NAIWA Daughters, speaks to the Council at the podium. Image from EBCI Tribal Council live-stream recording. &#8220;The room was heavy with the presence of Ancestors and community alike,&#8221; said Jasmine Smith, NAIWA Daughters chair and co-founder, describing the moment in a keynote speech at the Bioneers Conference in Berkeley, California. She delivered her speech wearing the moccasins of her Ancestor Ruth Littlejohn. &#8220;That day crystallized&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/cherokee-girls-win-legal-rights-for-waterway-in-first-all-female-u-s-effort/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328483</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal’s flood disaster puts its hydropower-first strategy, exports to the test</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/nepals-flood-disaster-puts-its-hydropower-first-strategy-exports-to-the-test/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/nepals-flood-disaster-puts-its-hydropower-first-strategy-exports-to-the-test/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Sep 2026 16:12:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rudra Pangeni]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/02160152/nepal-flood-2026-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328384</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Disasters, Energy, Environment, Flooding, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Hydroelectric Power, Industry, Natural Resources, Renewable Energy, and Rivers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal&#8217;s long-held policy of harnessing hydroelectricity and using it for economic growth has met new challenges: potential catastrophic floods in the snow-fed rivers amid rising global temperatures. The Aug. 26 floods that originated on the Nepal-China border, and which knocked out around 10% of installed power from the national grid, has prompted a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal&#8217;s long-held policy of harnessing hydroelectricity and using it for economic growth has met new challenges: potential catastrophic floods in the snow-fed rivers amid rising global temperatures. The Aug. 26 floods that originated on the Nepal-China border, and which knocked out around 10% of installed power from the national grid, has prompted a debate on whether Nepal should rethink its overall strategy or just adopt better-engineered plants. Amid this, the flood could jeopardize the country&#8217;s clean energy targets and push it to adopt more solar power. Immediate impacts The flashflood crippled a combined installed generation capacity of 281 megawatts, including a solar power plant, and damaged four other under-construction projects, totaling a capacity of 700 MW. One of the oldest hydroelectric plants, the 14.1-MW Devighat Hydroelectric Plant, commissioned 42 years ago, was wiped out. Further downstream, the flood badly damaged a 25-MW solar power plant, according to data compiled by Mongabay from official sources. Similarly, with a hub of a transmission line washed away on the Trishuli River’s banks, another 150 MW of power from different power plants is cut off from the national grid system. Transmission lines, including a substation on the Trishuli riverbank, were also destroyed. While officials are assessing the damage, estimates put losses at hundreds of billions of Nepali rupees, according to media reports. They say they can’t yet provide timelines for when the affected projects will resume generation. Around 983 engineers and workers are feared trapped inside the tunnels or power houses and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/nepals-flood-disaster-puts-its-hydropower-first-strategy-exports-to-the-test/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328384</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A sea cucumber venture in Zanzibar seeks to balance business and conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-sea-cucumber-venture-in-zanzibar-seeks-to-balance-business-and-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-sea-cucumber-venture-in-zanzibar-seeks-to-balance-business-and-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Aug 2026 14:45:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/28133301/005-Mpogo1-2-1200x800-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327729</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Business, Conservation, Economics, Ecosystems, Environment, Freshwater, Marine, Natural Resources, Oceans, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PEMBA, Tanzania — Like many coastal communities across East Africa, the residents of Shamiani have grown accustomed to watching the sea yield less and less. Warming waters, degraded marine habitats and decades of fishing pressure have all taken a toll on the resources that once sustained local livelihoods, according to community members. On Tanzania&#8217;s Pemba [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PEMBA, Tanzania — Like many coastal communities across East Africa, the residents of Shamiani have grown accustomed to watching the sea yield less and less. Warming waters, degraded marine habitats and decades of fishing pressure have all taken a toll on the resources that once sustained local livelihoods, according to community members. On Tanzania&#8217;s Pemba Island, a part of the semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar, Shamiani is no exception. Here, however, residents are trying something different. Ropes now mark out protected sections of shallow seagrass meadows, the result of months of community meetings and negotiations over how the area should be managed. For generations, the island&#8217;s coastal waters have supported fishing families. But in recent years, many residents say nearshore resources have steadily declined. Sea cucumbers, once abundant enough to be harvested and processed locally, have become increasingly scarce. Fishers and gleaners now work harder for smaller returns, trying to make a living from coastal waters that many say are less productive than they once were. A view of the no-take zone operated by Asili in Shamiani, on Pemba Island, where protected sections of shallow seagrass meadows are used to grow sea cucumbers. The area was established following months of community meetings and negotiations over its management. Image by David Akana/Mongabay. That decline is what led Asili, a Tanzania-based aquaculture company working with communities in Pemba since 2022 to ranch sea cucumbers inside locally protected marine areas. The model aims to restore depleted coastal ecosystems, generate income from a high-value export&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-sea-cucumber-venture-in-zanzibar-seeks-to-balance-business-and-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327729</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous water systems gain ground as climate pressures intensify in Bolivia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-water-systems-gain-ground-as-climate-pressures-intensify-in-bolivia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-water-systems-gain-ground-as-climate-pressures-intensify-in-bolivia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Aug 2026 10:00:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anastasia Austin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/25151101/restoring-pauros-credit-MAPEKO-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327250</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Bolivia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate Change, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Drinking Water, Ecosystems, Freshwater, Impact Of Climate Change, Indigenous Peoples, Landscape Restoration, Natural Resources, Nature-based climate solutions, Restoration, Solutions, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SANTA CRUZ DE LA SIERRA, Bolivia — When Rolando Ágreda was 16, a severe drought hit his community of Ascensión de Guarayos in the Bolivian Amazon in 2022. Rumors spread that the municipality’s only water reservoir was dwindling. But it was the communal spring-fed pool, or paúro, that Ágreda had been visiting since childhood that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SANTA CRUZ DE LA SIERRA, Bolivia — When Rolando Ágreda was 16, a severe drought hit his community of Ascensión de Guarayos in the Bolivian Amazon in 2022. Rumors spread that the municipality’s only water reservoir was dwindling. But it was the communal spring-fed pool, or paúro, that Ágreda had been visiting since childhood that evaporated first. “Confusion was the strongest feeling,” Ágreda says in a video call. “But also sadness, because for everyone I know that place represents joy.” According to the Guarayú Indigenous People, who settled the area around Ágreda’s village of Ascensión de Guarayos in the 18th and 19th centuries, woodland spirits guard the paúros, and the community is responsible for maintaining them. But with urbanization, the arrival of non-indigenous Bolivians, and modern water infrastructure, this Indigenous knowledge had nearly disappeared. Ágreda says only three of his 28 classmates knew about paúros. “The others didn’t. It was easy not to know because [the paúros] had been neglected: The grass was so overgrown that they looked like abandoned lots. You would never imagine that there was a pool of water in the middle,” he says. A mural in Ascensión de Guarayos, where ranching is putting pressure on nature. Image by Douwe den Held. With help from his teachers, Ágreda launched a districtwide competition during the spring semester of 2022 to restore paúros across the municipality, which involved locating them, removing trash and clearing vegetation from the walls so water could filter through. By June 2022, they had restored&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-water-systems-gain-ground-as-climate-pressures-intensify-in-bolivia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-water-systems-gain-ground-as-climate-pressures-intensify-in-bolivia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327250</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Polluted waterways and water shortages complicate the fight against Ebola in the DRC</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/polluted-waterways-and-water-shortages-complicate-the-fight-against-ebola-in-the-drc/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/polluted-waterways-and-water-shortages-complicate-the-fight-against-ebola-in-the-drc/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Aug 2026 05:30:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/21153424/002-IMG_9540-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326929</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Economics, Ecosystems, Environment, Freshwater, Governance, Health, One Health, Planetary Health, Pollution, Public Health, Research, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Ndrele, a commercial center in Ituri with nearly 40,000 inhabitants, there is virtually no access to safe drinking water. Children leave home at 5:30 a.m. to fetch water for their families and often spend hours doing this activity. They usually don&#8217;t return before 11 a.m. or noon. “It&#8217;s a serious problem, and it&#8217;s the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Ndrele, a commercial center in Ituri with nearly 40,000 inhabitants, there is virtually no access to safe drinking water. Children leave home at 5:30 a.m. to fetch water for their families and often spend hours doing this activity. They usually don&#8217;t return before 11 a.m. or noon. “It&#8217;s a serious problem, and it&#8217;s the same everywhere,” Jacques Pithua, deputy coordinator of civil society group “Forces vives des Djukoth,” told Mongabay by phone. Pithua lives near Ndrele, in Mahagi, in Ituri province bordering Lake Albert in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In May 2026, the DRC declared its 17th Ebola outbreak in the province. To prevent Ebola transmission, health authorities recommend frequent handwashing, among other measures, but in many parts of Ituri, clean water remains scarce. The current Ebola outbreak is the largest in terms of case numbers for the DRC, and it is also the fastest spreading. The rising number of cases, over 5,000 recorded as of Aug 17 and more than 2,400 deaths in three months, has prompted health agencies including the Africa CDC to adapt its strategy. A joint response plan also calls for an assessment and strengthening of water, sanitation and hygiene services in health facilities within communities and provides training. Oxfam, a confederation of NGOs, which is also involved in the response to the outbreak, warned in a statement that “most health facilities in the areas hardest hit by Ebola still lack access to safe water and adequate sanitation facilities.” Ebola is not&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/polluted-waterways-and-water-shortages-complicate-the-fight-against-ebola-in-the-drc/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326929</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Local knowledge guides rediscovery of spinach pipefish, not seen in four decades</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/local-knowledge-guides-rediscovery-of-spinach-pipefish-not-seen-in-four-decades/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/local-knowledge-guides-rediscovery-of-spinach-pipefish-not-seen-in-four-decades/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Aug 2026 17:19:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/24155007/Spinach_Pipefish_iv_%C2%A9_New_Guinea_Binatang_Research_Center_edit-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327148</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Melanesia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, and Papua New Guinea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biology, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Fish, Fishing, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Indigenous Peoples, Rediscovered Species, Species, Surveying, Traditional Knowledge, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[By mid-June, Jerrica Agebigo was staring at disappointment. Her nearly two-week-long, exhausting search for a mysterious fish that hasn’t been seen by scientists for nearly four decades was drawing to a close. Her team of researchers had braved Papua New Guinea’s hot, humid summer days, meandering along the Sepik River’s course by boat and canoe [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[By mid-June, Jerrica Agebigo was staring at disappointment. Her nearly two-week-long, exhausting search for a mysterious fish that hasn’t been seen by scientists for nearly four decades was drawing to a close. Her team of researchers had braved Papua New Guinea’s hot, humid summer days, meandering along the Sepik River’s course by boat and canoe — but the spinach pipefish still eluded them. “We had spent days travelling through the Lower Sepik, talking with communities and looking for information about the pipefish,” Agebigo, a researcher at the Papua New Guinea University of Technology and the New Guinea Binatang Research Centre, wrote in an email. “We had almost given up hope.” The spinach pipefish (Microphis spinachioides) is a small, slender pipefish with an elongated snout it uses to capture small prey, reaching maybe 15 centimeters (6 inches) in length. This greenish-brown freshwater creature, a close relative of seahorses and seadragons, is well camouflaged in its only known home here in the Sepik River — the country’s longest waterway — hiding among water lilies and other plants near riverbanks. Just like seahorses, pipefish males carry their embryos in a brood pouch for weeks until the young are born. Much about the spinach pipefish has remained an enigma, because scientists haven’t seen it since 1985. It was last assessed for the IUCN Red List in 2016, and at the time, was classified as data deficient by IUCN, the global conservation authority. The only known museum specimen, on which the taxonomy of the species&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/local-knowledge-guides-rediscovery-of-spinach-pipefish-not-seen-in-four-decades/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327148</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Dragonflies help protect water and ancestral Indigenous languages in Colombia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/dragonflies-help-protect-water-and-ancestral-indigenous-languages-in-colombia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/dragonflies-help-protect-water-and-ancestral-indigenous-languages-in-colombia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Aug 2026 12:22:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manuel Fonseca]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/24120153/Hylaeonympha-magoi-1-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326671</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity Hotspots, Citizen Science, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Ecosystems, Ecotourism, Freshwater, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Indigenous Peoples, Insects, Research, Tourism, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Every dragonfly story starts in the water, and Guainía, known as the land of many waters, should be the Olympus of these insects. The mix of waters from the Orinoquia and the Amazon with the vast pristine rainforest should make this region a dragonfly biodiversity hotspot. But little to nothing is known about the diversity [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Every dragonfly story starts in the water, and Guainía, known as the land of many waters, should be the Olympus of these insects. The mix of waters from the Orinoquia and the Amazon with the vast pristine rainforest should make this region a dragonfly biodiversity hotspot. But little to nothing is known about the diversity of these flying predators in this remote part of eastern Colombia. “When we started, very little was known; there were about 10 reported species,” Yiselle Cano, a doctoral candidate at the National University of La Plata, Argentina, and biodiversity leader of the project Dragones Guainía, told Mongabay in a video call. With rubber boots, long-sleeved shirts, hats and sweeping nets, Cano and her colleague Jenilee Montes go out every day and explore the waters of the Guainía in search of these insects. From small puddles to the deep-red waters of the Inirida River, these Colombian researchers have spent the last three years collecting and identifying dragonflies and damselflies in order to understand what is still left to protect, according to Cano. “I think we must be close to 120 species by now,” Cano said. “It’s a hugely diverse group, because it includes dragonflies native to the Orinoco, Amazonas and dragonflies that are endemic to the Guiana Shield.” Guainía, also known as the land of many waters, is a remote biodiversity hotspot at the meeting point of the Amazon Rainforest, the Orinoco River basin and the Guyana Shield. Image courtesy of Jenilee Montes. This discovery is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/dragonflies-help-protect-water-and-ancestral-indigenous-languages-in-colombia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/dragonflies-help-protect-water-and-ancestral-indigenous-languages-in-colombia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326671</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Angola’s peatlands highly underestimated, new study suggests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/angolas-peatlands-highly-underestimated-new-study-suggests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/angolas-peatlands-highly-underestimated-new-study-suggests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Aug 2026 17:28:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/21170945/NS111981040_NGSOWP16_Zach-Vincent_0316_River-Expedition_Days-12-13-14_DJI_0023-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326922</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Angola, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Economics, Ecosystems, Environment, Freshwater, Governance, Industrial Agriculture, Natural Resources, Oceans, Research, Subsistence Agriculture, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Southwestern African nation of Angola has much more peatland than previously thought, new research suggests. In a study published on August 20 in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, researchers mapped out peatlands in the Angolan Highlands Water Tower (AHWT). This vast landscape stores and regulates freshwater in central Angola and feeds freshwater systems [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Southwestern African nation of Angola has much more peatland than previously thought, new research suggests. In a study published on August 20 in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, researchers mapped out peatlands in the Angolan Highlands Water Tower (AHWT). This vast landscape stores and regulates freshwater in central Angola and feeds freshwater systems across southern Africa including the Okavango Basin. The researchers estimate that overall peatlands cover between 2.28–2.94 % of the of the AHWT. They found 8,662 km² (3,344 square miles) of peatland cover with high certainty (81–100% probability) and 11,167 km² (4,311 square miles) with low certainty (51–100% probability). Peatlands are areas of land where the surface layer consists of plant material that has partially decomposed. According to the study, they cover around three per cent of the world’s land surface but are estimated to store up to a third of the world’s soil carbon. In October 2025, Angola designated an area of 53,000 km² (20,463 square miles) in the AHWT as the country’s first Ramsar Site or Wetland of International Importance. The site was selected due to its sponge effect which absorbs, retains, filters, and ultimately supplies freshwater into the rivers that carry water to wetlands far and wide. A water tower is a highland area that produces a large amount of water, relative to its spatial scope. Study author Mauro Lourenço collecting the peat material during the research for this study. Image courtesy of Jennifer Guyton. One of them is the Okavango Delta in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/angolas-peatlands-highly-underestimated-new-study-suggests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326922</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fatal barge crashes fuel fear over Madeira River waterway expansion in Brazil</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/fatal-barge-crashes-fuel-fear-over-madeira-river-waterway-expansion-in-brazil/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/fatal-barge-crashes-fuel-fear-over-madeira-river-waterway-expansion-in-brazil/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Aug 2026 19:21:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Karla Mendes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/17140812/DJI_0060-river-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326412</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Disasters, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Health, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Infrastructure, Law, Pollution, Rivers, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With an election looming, Amazon communities worry their safety will be traded for faster agribusiness growth.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CALAMA AND PARAÍSO GRANDE, Brazil — A mother and her three kids died after a barge loaded with soybeans collided with a floating structure and completely destroyed their stilt house on Jan. 17, 2025,  in the Urumatuba riverine community along the Madeira River, in the Brazilian Amazon. Four months later, another freight vessel hit three mining barges anchored in the neighboring Nova Catarina riverine community, in the Manicoré municipality, in Amazonas state. The owner of one of the mining barges was the husband of the woman and father of the three kids who died in the January accident, according to a local news outlet. Mongabay was reporting in riverine communities in the region of the city of Humaitá, 190 kilometers (118 miles) southeast and downstream from Manicoré, when the second accident happened. All those interviewed on that day and the following days said they were terrified by the event — and knew someone who suffered losses or even died in collisions involving grain barges in the Madeira River. &#8220;We are very worried here in our community about these vessels,&#8221; smallholder Maria Delci Barros de Morais, 59, told Mongabay on the balcony of her house in the riverine community of Paraíso Grande, located 30 minutes by fast boat from Humaitá. &#8220;They&#8217;ve already run over someone we know.&#8221; The barge smashed the boat used by the family as a home, she recalled. &#8220;Thank God no one died.&#8221; According to Morais, the risk increases during the Madeira River&#8217;s high-water season, between December and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/fatal-barge-crashes-fuel-fear-over-madeira-river-waterway-expansion-in-brazil/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326412</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Land rights and mangroves entwine in a Brazilian quilombo’s resistance</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/land-rights-and-mangroves-entwine-in-a-brazilian-quilombos-resistance/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/land-rights-and-mangroves-entwine-in-a-brazilian-quilombos-resistance/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Aug 2026 15:29:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolina de Marchi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/11152728/20260402-PXL_20260402_191844572.PANO_-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325902</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bioeconomy, Coastal Ecosystems, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Philosophy, Culture, Ecosystems, Environment, Estuaries, Freshwater, Mangroves, Marine Conservation, Protected Areas, Religions, Rivers, Social Justice, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BREJÃO DOS NEGROS, Brazil — It’s hard to tell where one ends and the other starts. Here on Brazil’s Atlantic coast, where the São Francisco River meets the sea, waves ripple across the crystal-clear water. In the vast blue expanse, the green of islands and islets blends with fertile lands covered in Atlantic Forest remnants, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BREJÃO DOS NEGROS, Brazil — It’s hard to tell where one ends and the other starts. Here on Brazil’s Atlantic coast, where the São Francisco River meets the sea, waves ripple across the crystal-clear water. In the vast blue expanse, the green of islands and islets blends with fertile lands covered in Atlantic Forest remnants, white dunes, small docks, marginal lagoons, and mangroves — a biological heritage that serves as a nursery for countless marine species. But this beauty has not always belonged to those who lived there. Remnants of cotton plantations and more than 20 mills tell of an era before the so-called Golden Law of 1888 abolished slavery in Brazil. This region once held the largest number of enslaved people in the lower catchment area of the São Francisco River. Because of its dense native forests, it was also an ideal refuge for those who managed to escape, which earned it the name Refúgio dos Negros. Even after abolition, the people who lived off artisanal fishing and farming here enjoyed little real freedom. The land where they had lived on and worked for generations was claimed by local landowners who, with or without legal titles, exercised uncontested dominance. According to residents of the Brejão dos Negros Quilombola Territory — a group of traditional communities, or quilombos, founded by formerly enslaved Afro-Brazilians — fences and cattle grids went up everywhere, making them feel like prisoners in their own land. “It was like this: if you harvested a field of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/land-rights-and-mangroves-entwine-in-a-brazilian-quilombos-resistance/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/land-rights-and-mangroves-entwine-in-a-brazilian-quilombos-resistance/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325902</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cambodia’s banned sand trade with Singapore appears to be back</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/cambodias-banned-sand-trade-with-singapore-appears-to-be-back/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/cambodias-banned-sand-trade-with-singapore-appears-to-be-back/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Aug 2026 22:18:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andy Ball]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/11152720/Mekong-Sand-Mining_Credit-Andy-Ball_00002-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325924</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Mekong Basin, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Business, Coastal Ecosystems, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Environment, Environmental Law, extractives, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Illegal Mining, International Trade, Law, Mining, Natural Resources, Oceans, Rivers, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Authorities in Cambodia&#8217;s Koh Kong province say they&#8217;ve approved a sand mining operation exporting to Singapore, despite an export ban imposed by national authorities a decade ago after large-scale dredging was found to be damaging riverine and coastal ecosystems. The dredging is occurring in an area of the Trapeang Rung River that falls within the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Authorities in Cambodia&#8217;s Koh Kong province say they&#8217;ve approved a sand mining operation exporting to Singapore, despite an export ban imposed by national authorities a decade ago after large-scale dredging was found to be damaging riverine and coastal ecosystems. The dredging is occurring in an area of the Trapeang Rung River that falls within the boundaries of Tatai Wildlife Sanctuary and Botum Sakor National Park. Khlem Yonviseth, director of the Koh Kong provincial mining department, told Mongabay that the 2017 sand export ban had been lifted, and that his office had given a permit to the dredging operation and approved the exports. Yonviseth did not respond to a request to provide documentation of the ban being lifted. Mongabay was unable to locate any official announcement regarding the ban, and the relevant national agencies did not respond to requests for comment. Yonsiveth’s comments come after activist group Mother Nature Cambodia exposed the dredging operation in a video published July 14. In a subsequent video, published Aug. 8, the group tracked multiple cargo ships heading from Koh Kong Krao, Cambodia’s largest island, to Singapore’s Tuas Port. “How many more tons of Cambodian sand will be lost?” asks Lisa Mean, an activist with Mother Nature Cambodia, in the latest video. Analysis by Mongabay confirms that four of the ships identified by the group traveled to the Tuas Port, where a state-backed land reclamation project is currently underway. Mongabay has also found that the company Yonviseth said had been given a dredging license, Catalyst&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/cambodias-banned-sand-trade-with-singapore-appears-to-be-back/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/cambodias-banned-sand-trade-with-singapore-appears-to-be-back/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325924</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Amazon rivers, fish breathe and ingest plastics</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-amazon-rivers-fish-breathe-and-ingest-plastics/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-amazon-rivers-fish-breathe-and-ingest-plastics/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Aug 2026 10:36:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tiago da Mota e Silva]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/07154836/AP23317052192860-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325602</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Microplastics in the Amazon]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Health, Microplastics, Plastic, Pollution, Rivers, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For Amazon fish, oxygen now comes with microplastics.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is the second story in a special three-part series on microplastics in the Amazon. Read the first part here. MANAUS, Brazil — In Amazonian waters, the pirarucu lives between two worlds. In the oxygen-depleted waters typical of floodplain lakes, this giant fish rises to the surface to breathe air. Over an evolutionary history spanning at least 100 million years, it developed a modified swim bladder that functions as a primitive lung. This rare adaptation has allowed it to thrive in environments that are too harsh for other fish species. Today, however, the very adaptation that ensures its survival makes it vulnerable to a new threat: Microplastic pollution. “Amazonian environment is already highly challenging,” said Adalberto Val, a biologist and head of the National Institute of Science and Technology for Adaptations of Aquatic Biota of the Amazon (INCT-Adapta). “Here we have high temperatures, low oxygen levels in the water … Organisms already respond to these challenges as they learned during the evolutionary process. Then we start adding new challenges, like plastic.” When breathing becomes a risk Pirarucus (Arapaima gigas) cannot survive for more than 10 minutes without surfacing for air. They rely on an air-breathing organ connected to their modified swim bladder, a necessity that puts them in direct contact with microplastics floating at the surface. Drawing on established knowledge about the species, Val and researchers from the University of British Columbia in Canada published an article outlining the dangers of this exposure. When microplastics enter the pirarucu’s air-breathing organ,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/in-amazon-rivers-fish-breathe-and-ingest-plastics/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325602</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>Proposed mine expansion raising pollution concerns in Canada and US</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/proposed-mine-expansion-raising-pollution-concerns-in-canada-and-us/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/proposed-mine-expansion-raising-pollution-concerns-in-canada-and-us/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jul 2026 22:31:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/29150845/Image-4-Castle-Mountain-Grasslands-Siobhan-Williams-1-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324789</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coal, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Freshwater, Governance, Health, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Elk Valley in southeast British Columbia is home to Canada’s four largest coal mines. With a proposed mine expansion moving through environmental assessment, people on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border worry the valley’s decades-old pollution problem could get even worse. Industrial coal mining in the Elk Valley goes back more than 50 years. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Elk Valley in southeast British Columbia is home to Canada’s four largest coal mines. With a proposed mine expansion moving through environmental assessment, people on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border worry the valley’s decades-old pollution problem could get even worse. Industrial coal mining in the Elk Valley goes back more than 50 years. The valley’s mines, currently owned by Elk Valley Resources (EVR), supply 77% of Canada’s metallurgical coal, a grade of coal used in steel making, according to a 2024 report produced for EVR. The vast majority of this coal was exported to Asia. EVR’s largest mine, Fording River Operations (FRO), is expected to run out of coal within a decade. The proposed Fording River Extension (FRX) would open 2,031 hectares (5,019 acres) on Castle Mountain, adjacent to the existing mine, and operate for about 35 years. The FRX is currently moving through a coordinated federal-provincial environmental impact assessment. Three proposed new coal mines, not linked to EVR, are also currently in the environmental assessment process. The Fording River Operations mine, in the Elk Valley, British Columbia. The mountain top removal mining process dramatically alters topography and drainage patterns, and creates large volumes of waste rock. Image by Siobhán Winters/Wildsight. Proponents maintain the FRX is necessary to sustain economic benefits post FRO-closure, such as gross domestic product contributions, payments to governments and jobs. Others question the wisdom of expanding mining whilst unabated pollution threatens ecosystems, wildlife and livelihoods across the region. The Ktunaxa Nation Council, representing Ktunaxa&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/proposed-mine-expansion-raising-pollution-concerns-in-canada-and-us/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324789</doi>				</item>
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