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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?topic=green&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/green/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Tue, 22 Sep 2026 10:21:49 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
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	<title>News on Green</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/green/</link>
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				<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>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/cherokee-girls-win-legal-rights-for-waterway-in-first-all-female-u-s-effort/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328483</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous rangers pull killer ‘ghost nets’ from Australia’s northern coast</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-rangers-pull-killer-ghost-nets-from-northern-australias-coast/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-rangers-pull-killer-ghost-nets-from-northern-australias-coast/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 20:02:22 +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/20/2026/08/31195439/aad44e0a-4b0b-4d7d-8261-c4daa88bad1d-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328070</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Green, Oceans, Sea Turtles, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On a remote beach on Groote Eylandt, a large island in Australia&#8217;s Gulf of Carpentaria, Kirsten Eden and her colleagues found a fishing net that someone had tried to make disappear. It had been burned and melted into a lump while at sea, and thrown overboard. It didn&#8217;t sink, but floated to shore as a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On a remote beach on Groote Eylandt, a large island in Australia&#8217;s Gulf of Carpentaria, Kirsten Eden and her colleagues found a fishing net that someone had tried to make disappear. It had been burned and melted into a lump while at sea, and thrown overboard. It didn&#8217;t sink, but floated to shore as a wheel of hard plastic — once a net perhaps 60 meters (about 197 feet) long, now breaking into the microplastics that will outlast us all. “So, the entire Groote Eylandt is Aboriginal freehold land,” Eden, who manages the Anindilyakwa Land and Sea rangers, told Mongabay. “It&#8217;s spoken for by Indigenous Australians. So, they&#8217;re not beaches that anyone can just go to. There&#8217;s so much cultural value to these beaches. There&#8217;s so much significance. There are songlines, there are art sites … And I guess that&#8217;s the drive to try and protect it and move this debris. And it&#8217;s such an eyesore.” Aside from general cleanup, the team has its eyes on ghost nets: Discarded fishing nets that end up floating adrift, entangling sea life and gathering trash along their paths. Across northern Australia, Indigenous rangers are the working to retrieve the lost and abandoned fishing gear that keeps killing long after it is retired. Removing a ghost net on Australian beach. Photo courtesy of Timothy Hillier/Agency Project. Getting a net off a beach is slow, physical work. Some have sat for years, buried deep or wound around driftwood and rock. One net can take hours,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-rangers-pull-killer-ghost-nets-from-northern-australias-coast/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indigenous-rangers-pull-killer-ghost-nets-from-northern-australias-coast/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328070</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Why conservation urgently needs acoustic baselines</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-sound-can-reveal-what-satellite-images-miss/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-sound-can-reveal-what-satellite-images-miss/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jun 2026 00:32:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/29222541/SBP-photos-header-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320333</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bioacoustics, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Conservation Technology, Ecology, Environment, Green, Monitoring, Remote Sensing, Solutions, Technology, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[From above, an intact forest can look reassuringly complete. A satellite image may show an unbroken canopy, a block of green still standing amid plantations, roads or logged land. For many conservation programs, that view has become the starting point for measurement. If the canopy remains, the forest is often treated as if much of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[From above, an intact forest can look reassuringly complete. A satellite image may show an unbroken canopy, a block of green still standing amid plantations, roads or logged land. For many conservation programs, that view has become the starting point for measurement. If the canopy remains, the forest is often treated as if much of its ecological value remains as well. The forest itself may tell a more complicated story. Birds, insects, frogs and primates divide the day among them. Some call at dawn, others at night. Some occupy narrow frequency bands; others fill the background with a steady rasp. A forest that looks intact can still lose part of this living structure. The canopy may close after logging. Carbon may remain on a balance sheet. The animal community may not return in the same form. Garnet Pitta. Photo by Hanyrol Hanyzan Ahmad Sah A new paper in Global Change Biology, by Zuzana Buřivalová and colleagues, examines that problem through sound. The study describes the Soundscape Baselines Project, an effort to record the acoustic signatures of some of the world’s remaining intact forests before those reference points become harder to find. The idea is straightforward. To know whether a forest has changed, one needs to know what it sounded like before the change. That baseline is not only a technical convenience. It is a guard against a familiar problem in conservation: each generation tends to accept the nature it first encountered as normal. Daniel Pauly called this shifting baseline syndrome&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-sound-can-reveal-what-satellite-images-miss/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/how-sound-can-reveal-what-satellite-images-miss/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320333</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Taiwan’s tallest tree found with help of citizen science</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/taiwans-tallest-tree-found-with-help-of-citizen-science/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/taiwans-tallest-tree-found-with-help-of-citizen-science/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 19:46:44 +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/20/2026/06/08192242/Team_climbing_The_Heaven_Sword-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320778</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[East Asia and Taiwan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forests, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Peoples, Old Growth Forests, Rainforests, Research, Trees, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Deep in Taiwan&#8217;s misty mountains, researchers have confirmed the tallest tree in the country: a thousand-year-old fir tree higher than a 20-story building, which they’ve named &#8220;the heaven sword of the Da&#8217;an River.&#8221; Climbers scaled the tree and dropped a measuring tape from the top to the forest floor during the Lunar New Year holiday [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Deep in Taiwan&#8217;s misty mountains, researchers have confirmed the tallest tree in the country: a thousand-year-old fir tree higher than a 20-story building, which they’ve named &#8220;the heaven sword of the Da&#8217;an River.&#8221; Climbers scaled the tree and dropped a measuring tape from the top to the forest floor during the Lunar New Year holiday in January 2023. The tree measured 84.1-meters (276-feet). The findings have been published in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. A team of ecologists, geologists, remote-sensing specialists, professional climbers and Indigenous people that calls itself the &#8220;Taiwan tree seekers” began the search in 2014. “The common characteristics [of the team] are probably that we are all tree lovers and like adventures,” Rebecca Chia-Chun Hsu, lead author from Division of Forest Ecology, Institute of Taiwan Forestry Research, told CNN. &#8216;The Heaven Sword&#8217;, Taiwan&#8217;s tallest tree, measures 84.1 meters. Photo courtesy of Steven Pearce. Taiwan is one of the few places on Earth where trees can grow this tall. The island sits where the tropics meet the subtropics, and its mountains host several giant conifer species. The species behind the new record, Taiwania cryptomerioides, is known to the Indigenous Rukai people as &#8220;the tree that hits the moon.&#8221; Although nearly 60% of Taiwan is covered in forest, loggers cleared much of the island&#8217;s old-growth forest between 1912 and 1991. However, its steep slopes were too dangerous to reach, and pockets of ancient forest survived. Still, finding the tallest tree amid the rugged terrain was a task. Taiwan&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/taiwans-tallest-tree-found-with-help-of-citizen-science/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/taiwans-tallest-tree-found-with-help-of-citizen-science/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320778</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Humanity’s ancient bond with biodiversity is visible in rock art (analysis)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/humanitys-ancient-bond-with-biodiversity-is-visible-in-rock-art-analysis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/humanitys-ancient-bond-with-biodiversity-is-visible-in-rock-art-analysis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 May 2026 21:22:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kerry Bowman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/20204407/ancient-rock-art-e1779309915617-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319834</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Analysis, Animals, Arts, Biodiversity, Commentary, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Ethics, Green, Indigenous Peoples, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Across continents and cultures, one of the most striking features of ancient rock art is how often it places the natural world at its center. Whether etched into sandstone cliffs in the Sahara, painted in hidden shelters in Southern Africa, or drawn on stone faces deep in the Amazon, the recurring subject is not architecture, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Across continents and cultures, one of the most striking features of ancient rock art is how often it places the natural world at its center. Whether etched into sandstone cliffs in the Sahara, painted in hidden shelters in Southern Africa, or drawn on stone faces deep in the Amazon, the recurring subject is not architecture, warfare or abstract political power. It is animals, forests, rivers, spirits of the land and the intimate relationship between people and the living world around them. I have seen rock art in remote regions of the Amazon, left by ancient San communities in Angola, across the Ennedi Plateau in Chad, and in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, I have come to believe that these works reveal something profound: long before the language of “biodiversity” existed, many human societies understood that their survival, identity and spirituality were inseparable from the ecosystems that sustained them. Modern conservation discourse often treats biodiversity as a scientific concept — a measurable index of species richness, ecological resilience and genetic variation. This framing is useful, but it can obscure an older and deeper truth. For much of human history, biodiversity was not an abstraction. It was immediate, sacred and embedded in daily life. The extraordinary prevalence of animal and ecological imagery in rock art across the world suggests that early human societies recognized, at minimum intuitively, the centrality of the natural world to both material survival and cultural meaning. Ancient rock art depicting wildlife and humans, Ennedi Plateau, Chad. Image courtesy&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/humanitys-ancient-bond-with-biodiversity-is-visible-in-rock-art-analysis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/humanitys-ancient-bond-with-biodiversity-is-visible-in-rock-art-analysis/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319834</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Smallholders are not the weak link in forest protection (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/smallholders-are-not-the-weak-link-in-forest-protection-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/smallholders-are-not-the-weak-link-in-forest-protection-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 May 2026 02:24:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aida Greenbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/20021450/kalbar_drone_190243-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319771</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Commentary, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Green, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In general, plantation companies view local communities and smallholders as obstacles to expanding operations and to securing social licenses. In deforestation-free supply chains, smallholders are also often treated as a risk. In my experience, this is one reason forest protection efforts fail: we don’t want to understand why smallholders are perceived as a risk. Yet [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In general, plantation companies view local communities and smallholders as obstacles to expanding operations and to securing social licenses. In deforestation-free supply chains, smallholders are also often treated as a risk. In my experience, this is one reason forest protection efforts fail: we don’t want to understand why smallholders are perceived as a risk. Yet many of the people closest to the forest are also the ones with the strongest reason to keep it standing. That was not how I saw things at the start of my career. Years inside corporate sustainability changed my view, as did many difficult conversations with communities. Customary forest behind smallholders oil palm plantation in Sanggau, West Kalimantan. Photo by Aida Greenbury. People often asked me, “How did someone like you, a corporate slave, end up working for smallholders?” It’s a long story. I worked for corporations for many years. Some people might remember me as Managing Director of Sustainability at one of the largest integrated forestry, pulp and paper companies headquartered in Indonesia. A forest-based company of that size in Indonesia is frequently criticized for deforestation. More than a decade ago, before I left the company, that work led me to help develop the High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA), a multistakeholder initiative to develop a deforestation-free methodology for extractive companies operating in humid tropical regions. With many existing deforestation standards unclear and rife with loopholes, adopting a clear, science-based deforestation-free methodology, supported by companies, NGOs, and other global stakeholders, was what I needed to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/smallholders-are-not-the-weak-link-in-forest-protection-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-319771</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Light pollution reshapes predator-prey dynamics at California&#8217;s urban edge, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/light-pollution-reshapes-predator-prey-dynamics-at-californias-urban-edge-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/light-pollution-reshapes-predator-prey-dynamics-at-californias-urban-edge-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 May 2026 19:28:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/15191816/puma-dark-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319568</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Environment, Green, Mammals, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new study from two California counties finds that artificial light at night is a stronger driver of wildlife behavior at the edge of urban environments than noise. This has ripple effects for predators and prey. Researchers analyzed more than 35,000 camera-trap days from 61 stations in San Mateo county, on California&#8217;s central coast, and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new study from two California counties finds that artificial light at night is a stronger driver of wildlife behavior at the edge of urban environments than noise. This has ripple effects for predators and prey. Researchers analyzed more than 35,000 camera-trap days from 61 stations in San Mateo county, on California&#8217;s central coast, and Orange county, in Southern California, between 2022 and 2024. They tracked an apex predator, the puma (Puma concolor); the bobcat (Lynx rufus); and an ungulate prey species, the mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus). The paper was published in Urban Ecosystems. “While scientists have known for a while that wildlife change their behavior around cities, often becoming more nocturnal to avoid humans, our study isolated one part of the urban environment that is driving this,”co-author Zara McDonald, biologist and president of the Felidae Conservation Fund, told Mongabay by email. “Our key finding is that artificial light pollution is actually altering the predator-prey dynamic.” Predators like pumas and bobcats avoided bright lights at night, such as areas lit by streetlights and other electric lighting. Mule deer, however, were more active in those same areas, though they avoided bright moonlight and noisy areas. The authors say the deer use human-modified spaces that predators avoid. A puma on the urban edge in California. Camera trap image courtesy of Felidae Conservation Fund “Essentially, artificial light is acting as a spatial barrier for carnivores and a &#8216;protective shield&#8217; for prey,” McDonald said. The contrast was visually striking in the images and footage&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/light-pollution-reshapes-predator-prey-dynamics-at-californias-urban-edge-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319568</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Marine conservation suffers when the ocean is not accessible to all, especially on remote islands (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/marine-conservation-suffers-when-the-ocean-is-not-accessible-to-all-especially-on-remote-islands-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/marine-conservation-suffers-when-the-ocean-is-not-accessible-to-all-especially-on-remote-islands-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 May 2026 16:54:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elsie Gabriel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/15163150/pexels-lucasandrade-20340263-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319520</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Communication, Conservation, Ecosystems, Education, Environment, Green, Marine, Marine Conservation, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The global push to protect oceans is gaining momentum, from coral reef restoration to ambitious targets under the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Yet one critical dimension remains largely overlooked: accessibility. If the ocean is to be protected, it must first be experienced. Today, for millions of people, it remains fundamentally out of reach. This [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The global push to protect oceans is gaining momentum, from coral reef restoration to ambitious targets under the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Yet one critical dimension remains largely overlooked: accessibility. If the ocean is to be protected, it must first be experienced. Today, for millions of people, it remains fundamentally out of reach. This is not just a social gap. It is a conservation failure. Ocean conservation depends on connection. People protect what they value, and they value what they can experience. Research shows that direct interaction with natural environments strengthens long-term environmental stewardship. Yet coastal and marine systems across much of the world remain structurally inaccessible to persons with disabilities, older populations, and marginalized communities. Workshop for residents of Lakshadweep, India, on accessible diving and ocean literacy. Image courtesy of Accessible Ocean Tourism. Beaches lack barrier-free access. Transport systems remain exclusionary. Marine experiences such as snorkeling and diving are rarely adapted. The result is a quiet but widespread exclusion from the ecosystems conservation seeks to protect. Globally, governments have committed to ensuring that no one is left behind under the Sustainable Development Goals. Yet in ocean spaces, exclusion persists. Accessibility is still treated as an afterthought, added through isolated initiatives rather than embedded into planning and conservation systems. This has direct consequences. When access to the ocean is limited, ocean literacy declines, while public understanding of marine ecosystems is a key driver of conservation outcomes. Communities that cannot engage with the ocean are less likely to participate in citizen science, conservation dialogue, or local stewardship. Conservation becomes something done for people,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/marine-conservation-suffers-when-the-ocean-is-not-accessible-to-all-especially-on-remote-islands-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/marine-conservation-suffers-when-the-ocean-is-not-accessible-to-all-especially-on-remote-islands-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319520</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>What Indigenous youth filmmaking reveals about environmental communication (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/what-indigenous-youth-filmmaking-reveals-about-environmental-communication-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/what-indigenous-youth-filmmaking-reveals-about-environmental-communication-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 May 2026 16:38:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jamille Pinheiro Dias]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/07162429/DSC_1829-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318951</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Arts, Commentary, Communication, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Film, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Peoples, Rainforests, and Traditional Knowledge]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A machete is typically an instrument for clearing dense brush or, in a certain kind of movie, for fending off a terrifying monster. Yet, deep in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil’s Bahia state, I learned that a machete is also used for a much friendlier purpose: slicing green mangoes to eat with salt. That simple, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A machete is typically an instrument for clearing dense brush or, in a certain kind of movie, for fending off a terrifying monster. Yet, deep in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil’s Bahia state, I learned that a machete is also used for a much friendlier purpose: slicing green mangoes to eat with salt. That simple, unexpected twist — where anticipated horror dissolves into communal joy — captures exactly what happened when we asked the students in the Indigenous Tupinambá villages of Serra do Padeiro and Tukum what kind of movies they liked. The room immediately buzzed with a rapid-fire list: K-dramas, slapstick comedies, high-speed action, or blood-chilling horror. Before anyone had even picked up a camera, the space was already overflowing with a multiplicity of cinematic worlds and different ideas about what a story could be. I had traveled to southern Bahia in March 2026 with Indigenous filmmaker Olinda Tupinambá and a group of creatives. As a researcher at the University of London’s School of Advanced Study, I am co-developing our project titled “Environmental Education and Film in the Atlantic Forest: Eco-Activism Through Indigenous Perspectives” with support from the British Academy. Our goal was simple: to demystify filmmaking by using everyday smartphones as creative tools, and to challenge what audiences often assume about Indigenous cinema. Students, project leads, and facilitators during the workshop in the Serra do Padeiro village, Tupinambá de Olivença Territory (Bahia, Brazil), part of the British Academy–funded Environmental Education and Film in the Atlantic Forest: Eco-Activism Through&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/what-indigenous-youth-filmmaking-reveals-about-environmental-communication-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/what-indigenous-youth-filmmaking-reveals-about-environmental-communication-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318951</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Climate change could erase most South American cloud forests, study warns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/climate-change-could-erase-most-south-american-cloud-forests-study-warns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/climate-change-could-erase-most-south-american-cloud-forests-study-warns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 May 2026 14:15:11 +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/20/2022/08/15172640/03-manu_0230_22-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318942</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Cloud Forests, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forests, Green, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Up in the misty mountains, teems a kaleidoscope of life: trees drip with epiphytes, hummingbirds sip from bright blossoms, and rare creatures occupy every nook in the cloud forests, which scientists have likened to terrestrial coral reefs. But a new study warns that climate change could strip away the conditions that make cloud forests possible, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Up in the misty mountains, teems a kaleidoscope of life: trees drip with epiphytes, hummingbirds sip from bright blossoms, and rare creatures occupy every nook in the cloud forests, which scientists have likened to terrestrial coral reefs. But a new study warns that climate change could strip away the conditions that make cloud forests possible, and in the worst case, erase nearly all of them within 50 years. The research, published in the Journal for Nature Conservation, used machine learning and modeling to project how cloud forest distribution in South America could shift under two different climate scenarios by 2070. The study reports that under a high-emissions pathway, up to 91% of cloud forest area could be lost. Even under the most optimistic scenario, researchers calculate a 12% reduction, roughly 21,000 square kilometers (8,100 square miles), an area the size of El Salvador. Cloud forests occupy a narrow band of land, typically between 1,000 and 3,000 meters (about 3,300-10,000 feet) above sea level, and are defined by persistent fog, cool temperatures and high humidity. That humidity shapes everything, from the mosses and orchids draped across surfaces, to the birds and amphibians found nowhere else on Earth. Epiphytes in the cloud forest of Peru&#8217;s Kosñipata valley. Image credit: Rhett A. Butler The study notes these ecosystems harbor some 1,946 restricted-range species, representing roughly 8% of the world&#8217;s mammals, birds, amphibians and tree ferns. Among the species endemic to South American cloud forests are the flamboyant Andean cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola peruvianus), whose brilliant&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/climate-change-could-erase-most-south-american-cloud-forests-study-warns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/climate-change-could-erase-most-south-american-cloud-forests-study-warns/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318942</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>At 100, David Attenborough’s message is no longer just about wonder</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/at-100-david-attenboroughs-message-is-no-longer-just-about-wonder/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/at-100-david-attenboroughs-message-is-no-longer-just-about-wonder/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 May 2026 00:24:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/04030152/Sir-David-Attenborough-By-BBC-Passion-Planet-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318643</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Communication, Conservation, Environment, Green, Journalism, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As his 100th birthday approaches, David Attenborough occupies an unusual place in public life: not a practicing scientist, not quite a conventional journalist, and no longer only a broadcaster. His voice, familiar from decades of natural history programming, has become one of the most recognizable ways the public hears about the state of the living [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As his 100th birthday approaches, David Attenborough occupies an unusual place in public life: not a practicing scientist, not quite a conventional journalist, and no longer only a broadcaster. His voice, familiar from decades of natural history programming, has become one of the most recognizable ways the public hears about the state of the living world. That was not always the role he played. When Attenborough began his career at the BBC in the 1950s, the task was more modest. Television was still finding its footing, and natural history programming largely meant showing audiences what they could not otherwise see. Early series such as Zoo Quest were shaped by that spirit. They were exploratory, sometimes improvised, and often framed around the thrill of encountering unfamiliar species. The tone was one of discovery. The unspoken assumption was that the natural world, vast and varied, would endure. Attenborough in Borneo, 1982. Photo by Rex Features As his work evolved, so did the technology that made it possible. Color film, lightweight cameras and, later, digital imaging expanded what could be captured. Attenborough used those tools with unusual patience. His programs lingered on behavior as much as spectacle. Courtship rituals, feeding strategies, and migrations were given time to unfold. His programs did more than show animals; they asked viewers to notice how they lived. This attention to detail became one of his signatures. It reflected a view that understanding begins with careful seeing. Attenborough rarely made himself the story. His narration was measured and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/at-100-david-attenboroughs-message-is-no-longer-just-about-wonder/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/at-100-david-attenboroughs-message-is-no-longer-just-about-wonder/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318643</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Tierney Thys, marine biologist and interpreter of the sunfish</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/tierney-thys-marine-biologist-and-interpreter-of-the-sunfish/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/tierney-thys-marine-biologist-and-interpreter-of-the-sunfish/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 May 2026 00:22:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/02151218/Tierney-Thys-with-sunfish-bw-banner-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318622</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California, Pacific Ocean, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Communication, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Green, Hope and optimism, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Obituary, Oceans, Plastic, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the open ocean, far from coasts and categories, there is a fish that seems to defy the logic of design. It is round where others are tapered, truncated where others trail into a tail. It drifts and dives, basks and vanishes, a presence that appears accidental until one looks more closely. For those who [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the open ocean, far from coasts and categories, there is a fish that seems to defy the logic of design. It is round where others are tapered, truncated where others trail into a tail. It drifts and dives, basks and vanishes, a presence that appears accidental until one looks more closely. For those who did, the giant ocean sunfish became less an oddity than a set of questions—about form, movement, and how life adapts to a vast and changing sea. A sunfish (Mola mola). Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler/Mongabay. Tierney M. Thys, who died in March at 59, spent much of her life asking those questions, and then finding ways to share them. She was a marine biologist by training, though that title alone does not quite capture her range. She was also a filmmaker, a science editor, a National Geographic Explorer, and an advocate for the ocean who moved between research, storytelling, and public engagement. Her work, much of it beyond the ocean, was anchored in curiosity, and in a conviction that understanding the natural world required both analysis and attention. Her fascination with the ocean began early. Born in California, she was put into a homemade wetsuit by her parents so she could stay longer in cold water. She later moved to Vermont, where she learned to explore the outdoors on her own, and to see nature as both playground and teacher. That sense of immersion stayed with her. She studied biology at Brown University, returned to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/tierney-thys-marine-biologist-and-interpreter-of-the-sunfish/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318622</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A “good year” for forests changes less than it seems</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-good-year-for-forests-changes-less-than-it-seems/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-good-year-for-forests-changes-less-than-it-seems/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Apr 2026 17:55:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/29175125/drc_2606697x-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318421</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Amazon, Asia, Congo Basin, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Analysis, Climate Change, Conservation, data, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, El Nino, Environment, Fires, Forests, Green, Impact Of Climate Change, Rainforests, Remote Sensing, Satellite Imagery, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The rate of tropical primary forest loss fell sharply in 2025, reversing the record highs of the year before. On paper, it looks like progress. In reality, the dip is likely only a temporary reprieve. The decline followed an exceptional year for wildfires. In 2024, drought helped drive some of the largest fire-related losses on [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The rate of tropical primary forest loss fell sharply in 2025, reversing the record highs of the year before. On paper, it looks like progress. In reality, the dip is likely only a temporary reprieve. The decline followed an exceptional year for wildfires. In 2024, drought helped drive some of the largest fire-related losses on record. In 2025, those climatic pressures eased, and the area lost to fire dropped with them. But the root causes—commodity-driven agricultural expansion, patchy enforcement, and growing climate stress—remain stubbornly in place. A single year’s improvement does not shift that fundamental footing. Tropical primary forest loss by year since 2002 What stands out is the pattern of loss. Forest loss is becoming less predictable, moving in sharper swings tied to weather as much as policy. Fire now accounts for a large share of global tree cover loss, and its behavior tracks temperature and rainfall extremes. When conditions align, losses surge. When they do not, they fall back. But the needle barely moves on the long-term trend: forest loss remains persistently high. Fire does not simply clear land; it hollows out forests in ways that make further loss more likely. Repeated burns thin canopies and dry the forest floor, eroding the processes that allow forests to recover. In parts of the Amazon, clearing has given way to a self-reinforcing cycle of decay, where degradation serves as a precursor to total forest loss. Climate is an increasingly active factor. Forecasts point to a likely El Niño in 2026,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-good-year-for-forests-changes-less-than-it-seems/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318421</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Young conservationists are building hope &#038; optimism despite challenging times (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/young-conservationists-are-building-hope-optimism-despite-challenging-times-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/young-conservationists-are-building-hope-optimism-despite-challenging-times-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Apr 2026 16:49:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Erfan FirouziMaria HashmiQazi Hammad MueenTaras Bains]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/28160642/IMG-20240919-WA0013-e1777392643191-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318238</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Commentary, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, and Health]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Several recent articles at Mongabay regarding mental health in the conservation sector provide a much-needed overview of an issue not talked about enough: that conservationists face a mental health crisis, an “epidemic of suffering” that is nestled within a complex biodiversity crisis. We are in a profession in which loss is a normal, everyday occurrence. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Several recent articles at Mongabay regarding mental health in the conservation sector provide a much-needed overview of an issue not talked about enough: that conservationists face a mental health crisis, an “epidemic of suffering” that is nestled within a complex biodiversity crisis. We are in a profession in which loss is a normal, everyday occurrence. The foundation of this sector lies in the passion of conservationists working tirelessly to understand, document and mitigate biodiversity and its loss. With that passion comes a job profile that is marked by exploitative practices, low wages and a general lack of support for dealing with mental well-being. Coupled with few benefits and a front-row seat to biodiversity loss and de-prioritization of conservation actions, a pertinent question arises: Is there a reason for hope? As young conservationists starting out in the field, following “conservation optimism” as a philosophy, we think so! Sometimes conservation work can make one feel like a lone tree on a mountain, but young conservationists say there&#8217;s a lot of room for hope and optimism amid the challenges. Image courtesy of Qazi Hammad Mueen. Language matters Conservation is marred by a language of crisis. This might not be the root of the mental health crisis in the field, but it is a major contributor. Hope is a delicate word to use in a field riddled with anxiety and despair. Its power, nonetheless, can be an enabling force for rebalancing the discourse around conservation and what it can achieve. How then do we&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/young-conservationists-are-building-hope-optimism-despite-challenging-times-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-318238</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Peru bets on bamboo to restore nature in its main coca-growing region</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/peru-bets-on-bamboo-to-restore-nature-in-its-main-coca-growing-region/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/peru-bets-on-bamboo-to-restore-nature-in-its-main-coca-growing-region/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Apr 2026 14:48:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anastasia AustinDouwe den Held]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/27100809/DSC06579-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318101</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bamboo, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crops, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Farming, Forest Loss, Forests, Governance, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Plantations, Protected Areas, Reforestation, Tropical Deforestation, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PICHARI, Peru — It’s nearly 5 p.m., and the bamboo grove is filled with children. In silence, they’re looking up in awe. The monkeys have arrived. They jump from stalk to bamboo stalk and skitter down trees, not approaching the humans below but sometimes pausing to stare back. Monkey sightings are rare in Peru’s Valley [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PICHARI, Peru — It’s nearly 5 p.m., and the bamboo grove is filled with children. In silence, they’re looking up in awe. The monkeys have arrived. They jump from stalk to bamboo stalk and skitter down trees, not approaching the humans below but sometimes pausing to stare back. Monkey sightings are rare in Peru’s Valley of the Rivers Apurímac, Ene and Mantaro, also known as VRAEM. Deforestation, much of it to make way for coca crops, has pushed wildlife to the margins of populated areas. But here, in the bamboo forest planted by Yuri Paredes just a few kilometers outside Pichari, VRAEM’s de facto capital, monkeys are coming back. For decades, illegal coca cultivation has dominated the region, clearing its primary forests and stripping the soil of nutrients. To restore local ecosystems, in the last three years Peruvian authorities have been counting on expanding bamboo plantations, which they say will also bring back wildlife and allow farmers to profit from the crop. Yet some farmers and experts remain critical. In 2023, PROVRAEM, a Ministry of Agriculture initiative for sustainable rural development in the region, launched the Bamboo Sustainable Development Project to help more than 2,400 local farming families and boost the industry. So far, it has spent approximately 16.7 million soles ($4.9 million) to plant nearly 1,300 hectares (about 3,200 acres)  of bamboo. The agency hopes to extend the project for at least another three years. Paredes’s 6-hectare (15-acre) bamboo forest, the biggest of its kind in the region, has&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/peru-bets-on-bamboo-to-restore-nature-in-its-main-coca-growing-region/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/peru-bets-on-bamboo-to-restore-nature-in-its-main-coca-growing-region/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318101</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>We can navigate conservation’s ‘epidemic of suffering’ by building a culture of care (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/we-can-navigate-conservations-epidemic-of-suffering-by-building-a-culture-of-care-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/we-can-navigate-conservations-epidemic-of-suffering-by-building-a-culture-of-care-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Apr 2026 14:03:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jen MillerKelly Guilbeau]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/21133102/redwoods_YosemiteUSA_creditJenMiller-e1776778567738-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317870</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Commentary, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Endangered Environmentalists, Environment, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, and Health]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Recent Mongabay articles by Jeremy Hance, Vik Mohan and Nerissa Chao, and Rhett Butler have laid bare a painful reality in conservation: the emotional price of witnessing biodiversity loss, the “epidemic of suffering” and burnout, and the psychological stresses assailing professionals on the frontlines. These articles document eco-grief, compassion fatigue, isolation, and moral injury with [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Recent Mongabay articles by Jeremy Hance, Vik Mohan and Nerissa Chao, and Rhett Butler have laid bare a painful reality in conservation: the emotional price of witnessing biodiversity loss, the “epidemic of suffering” and burnout, and the psychological stresses assailing professionals on the frontlines. These articles document eco-grief, compassion fatigue, isolation, and moral injury with clarity and urgency, giving voice to struggles that many conservationists have carried in silence. What these pieces don&#8217;t fully highlight is that conservationists are not standing idly by. Just as we dedicate ourselves to protecting ecosystems and species under pressure, we are simultaneously advocating for our own well-being by stepping up to support one another by building practical solutions from within the field itself. In early 2025, amid growing global instability for conservationists — job losses, funding shortfalls, and relentless ecological decline — we founded Revive, a global working group of the Society for Conservation Biology. Revive is a community of practice created by conservationists, for conservationists. Our approach is simple yet potent, and informed by more than 100 working group members in 30 countries as well as peer-reviewed evidence: equip individuals, teams, and organizations with evidence-based resilience tools to reshape the norms of our workforce. Together, we are building a culture of care that supports an inspired, emotionally resilient conservation community where well-being is valued and nourished as a foundational part of our work. Co-author Kelly Guilbeau with a graphic facilitator’s depiction of a keynote address on creating a culture of care for a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/we-can-navigate-conservations-epidemic-of-suffering-by-building-a-culture-of-care-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/we-can-navigate-conservations-epidemic-of-suffering-by-building-a-culture-of-care-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317870</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>What the grim outlook for Alpine Ash forests tells us about forestry dogma (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/what-the-grim-outlook-for-alpine-ash-forests-tell-us-about-forestry-dogma-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/what-the-grim-outlook-for-alpine-ash-forests-tell-us-about-forestry-dogma-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Apr 2026 02:23:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Chris TaylorDavid Lindenmayer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/16183627/1-header-Alpine-Ash-forest-Chris-Taylor-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317672</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Conservation, Environment, Fires, Forestry, Forests, Green, and Logging]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In March, the Australian Government announced that the Alpine Ash forests of mainland Australia have been listed as an Endangered Ecological Community under national environmental law. The Australian Government made the decision based on the recommendations of the independent Threatened Species Scientific Committee, although it has been opposed by logging lobby interests such as the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In March, the Australian Government announced that the Alpine Ash forests of mainland Australia have been listed as an Endangered Ecological Community under national environmental law. The Australian Government made the decision based on the recommendations of the independent Threatened Species Scientific Committee, although it has been opposed by logging lobby interests such as the Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA). Australian Alpine Ash forests are extraordinary places; they support trees up to 60 meters tall and provide habitat for a range of threatened species such as the critically endangered Leadbeater’s possum. Alpine Ash forests have been listed as an Endangered Ecological Community for several key reasons, the primary ones being widespread logging, recurrent high-severity wildfire, and the fact that logged and regenerated forests are more flammable than intact forests. Importantly, young Alpine Ash trees have a prolonged juvenile period during which they do not produce viable seeds. As a result, repeated fires at short intervals have the potential to eliminate stands of Alpine Ash altogether. Clearfell logging in Alpine Ash forest March 2018, Royston Range, Victoria. Photo by Chris Taylor There is great urgency to protect Alpine Ash forests as an iconic and important ecosystem. Robust ecological science is needed to do this. An example that underscores this urgency is the Alpine Ash forests in the Central Highlands of Victoria, where only 0.47% of their extent remains as old-growth forest. Extensive logging practices have also resulted in the death of many Alpine Ash trees, which are becoming increasingly rare However,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/what-the-grim-outlook-for-alpine-ash-forests-tell-us-about-forestry-dogma-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-317672</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Can nature outcompete war in Eastern Congo?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/can-nature-outcompete-war-in-eastern-congo/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/can-nature-outcompete-war-in-eastern-congo/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Apr 2026 23:26:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David AkanaRhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/10225923/drc_260324_103134432-EMMANUEL-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317207</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Congo Basin, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Forests, Governance, Green, Interviews, Landscape Restoration, Parks, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Sustainability, Tropical Forests, Violence, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, discussion of conservation often centers on loss: forests cleared, wildlife depleted, conflict spreading across landscapes that once supported some of the richest ecosystems on Earth. At Virunga National Park, those pressures are concentrated. The park, Africa’s oldest, contains glaciers, volcanoes, forests, and wetlands within a single protected area. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, discussion of conservation often centers on loss: forests cleared, wildlife depleted, conflict spreading across landscapes that once supported some of the richest ecosystems on Earth. At Virunga National Park, those pressures are concentrated. The park, Africa’s oldest, contains glaciers, volcanoes, forests, and wetlands within a single protected area. It also sits within a region shaped by decades of instability, where armed groups, informal economies, and weak governance are part of daily life. Virunga National Park. Image courtesy of Bitini Ndiyanabo Kanane. Emmanuel de Merode, who has led Virunga since 2008, does not begin with ecology. His training is in anthropology, and that shapes how he describes the park. The condition of wildlife, he suggests, follows from deeper forces. Forest loss, poaching, and insecurity are not simply environmental problems. They emerge from how people earn a living, how authority functions, and how money and resources circulate. In eastern Congo, conservation cannot be separated from the economy. For many communities around Virunga, the choices are immediate. Clearing forest for agriculture or producing charcoal can generate income that supports a household. The benefits of conservation are harder to see and often accrue far beyond the region. The imbalance shows up in daily decisions about fuel, food, and access to land. As de Merode describes it, the system asks some of the poorest populations to bear the cost of protecting assets valued globally. The pressure on the park is reinforced by conflict. Since the mid-1990s, eastern Congo&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/can-nature-outcompete-war-in-eastern-congo/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/can-nature-outcompete-war-in-eastern-congo/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317207</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Christianity can be an ally for Kenyan conservation (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/christianity-can-be-an-ally-for-kenyan-conservation-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/christianity-can-be-an-ally-for-kenyan-conservation-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Apr 2026 15:25:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Peter Rowe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/10145100/PRowe_HeaderImage-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317342</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Green, and Religions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The influence of Christianity in public life in Kenya is undisputed. Indeed, for more than a century, everyday life in the country — from education to health care and politics — has, in many ways, been shaped by the faith. From missionary origins to indigenous expressions, Christianity has been, and remains, “one of the most [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The influence of Christianity in public life in Kenya is undisputed. Indeed, for more than a century, everyday life in the country — from education to health care and politics — has, in many ways, been shaped by the faith. From missionary origins to indigenous expressions, Christianity has been, and remains, “one of the most powerful sociocultural forces” in Kenya. Interestingly, however, despite the prominent place of Christianity, the entanglements between Christianity and conservation — itself a major sociopolitical contour in Kenya — have been sorely understudied. In this sense, Stuart Butler’s 2024 article for Mongabay exploring the dynamic intersection of Maasai traditional religion, Christianity, land privatization, and conservation in the Naimina Enkiyioo (Loita) Forest is, in part, a breath of fresh air. For too long, religious faith (of any kind) has been on the margins of mainstream conservation thinking and practice. While some major players in conservation have begun to increasingly partner with faith communities and faith-based organizations (see for example WWF and UNEP), the task of getting (mainly Western) conservation practitioners and organizations to take faith seriously remains an uphill battle. Perhaps part of the difficulty in mainstreaming religious faith into conservation thinking and practice are the popular, but often partial, narratives concerning how faith — and for the purposes of this piece, Christianity — relate to conservation. In particular, the narrative concerning the negative impact of Christianity on the environment has been well-circulated for over a half-century, popularized and propelled most notably by the publication of Lynn&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/christianity-can-be-an-ally-for-kenyan-conservation-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-317342</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A Congo Basin-led bioeconomy could boost Central Africa’s green transition (analysis)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-congo-basin-led-bioeconomy-could-boost-central-africas-green-transition-analysis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-congo-basin-led-bioeconomy-could-boost-central-africas-green-transition-analysis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Apr 2026 16:27:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Metolo Foyet]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/05115844/ForestElephant.Loxodonta.cyclotis_NgounieGabon_marcusgmeineriNaturalistBYNC4.0-BANNER-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317006</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo Basin, Democratic Republic Of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Republic of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Analysis, Biodiversity, Bioeconomy, Commentary, Community Development, Environment, Forest Products, Forests, Green, Rainforests, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Trade, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Medicine, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Congo Basin, often referred to as the “second lungs of Earth,” holds immense potential for leading Central Africa’s green transition. Home to the world’s second-largest tropical rainforest and second-largest reserve of drinkable water (holding 50% of all of Africa’s water resources), the region covers more than 3.7 million square kilometers (nearly 1.5 million square [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Congo Basin, often referred to as the “second lungs of Earth,” holds immense potential for leading Central Africa’s green transition. Home to the world’s second-largest tropical rainforest and second-largest reserve of drinkable water (holding 50% of all of Africa’s water resources), the region covers more than 3.7 million square kilometers (nearly 1.5 million square miles), absorbs more carbon dioxide than any other region in the world — with an annual net carbon dioxide absorption six times that of the Amazon Rainforest — and spans six countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon), storing around 30 billion metric tons of carbon. This critical ecological zone harbors immense biodiversity and natural resources, making it a strategic hub for the emerging global bioeconomy. However, learning from the Eastern African experience, realizing this potential requires a shift from extractive industries to sustainable, nature-based economies that prioritize long-term ecological health and local prosperity. Beyond its ecological importance — containing more than 10,000 species of plants, 1,000 species of birds, and 400 species of mammals, including iconic ones like the forest elephant and the critically endangered western lowland gorilla — the region stands at a critical juncture in the global minerals race, holding a significant share of the world&#8217;s strategic assets like lithium, cobalt, gold, and rare earth elements — key components shaping global power and the future of the energy transition. Despite this wealth, the Congo Basin’s economic strategies have often relied on the “dig&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-congo-basin-led-bioeconomy-could-boost-central-africas-green-transition-analysis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317006</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Laos, ancestral spirits are helping save one of the world&#8217;s rarest crocodiles</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-laos-ancestral-spirits-are-helping-save-one-of-the-worlds-rarest-crocodiles/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-laos-ancestral-spirits-are-helping-save-one-of-the-worlds-rarest-crocodiles/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Mar 2026 13:36:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/24223626/Monks-at-Crocodile-release--768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316206</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Laos, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Charismatic Animals, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Herps, Indigenous Peoples, Tropical Forests, Water, Wetlands, Wildlife, and Wildlife Rescues]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When village conservation teams find a Siamese crocodile nest in the Xe Champhone wetlands of central Laos, they move fast, collecting eggs within 24 hours before poachers, predators or floods can reach them. But before they touch the eggs, there’s a ritual, and offerings are made to the spirits. With the spirits appeased, villagers carry [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When village conservation teams find a Siamese crocodile nest in the Xe Champhone wetlands of central Laos, they move fast, collecting eggs within 24 hours before poachers, predators or floods can reach them. But before they touch the eggs, there’s a ritual, and offerings are made to the spirits. With the spirits appeased, villagers carry the eggs to hatch in the village, where the baby crocs&#8217; chances of hatching are nearly five times higher than in the wild. Oudomxay Thongsavath, program manager at Wildlife Conservation Society and a native of the region, has been involved with the program since its start. He told Mongabay that locals make an offering and explain to the spirits, “We collect the egg, we incubate it in the village, and we return your children back to your area … Please take care of them. Make sure they are safe in the future when they go back to their habitat.&#8221; Fewer than 1,000 though Siamese crocodiles (Crocodylus siamensis) are estimated to survive on Earth.  Photo courtesy of WCS Of the world&#8217;s 27 crocodilian species, the Siamese crocodile (Crocodylus siamensis) is among just four classified as critically endangered. Fewer than 1,000 are thought to survive on Earth. Locals say that to harm a Siamese crocodile is to risk illness, misfortune or death. Not because the crocodiles are particularly dangerous (as crocodiles go), but because these scaly beings are the living embodiment of their ancestors. That spiritual connection to crocodiles, upheld for generations in a landscape stripped of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-laos-ancestral-spirits-are-helping-save-one-of-the-worlds-rarest-crocodiles/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-laos-ancestral-spirits-are-helping-save-one-of-the-worlds-rarest-crocodiles/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316206</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>California condors nesting in Pacific Northwest for first time in a century, on Yurok territory</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/california-condors-nesting-in-pacific-northwest-for-first-time-in-a-century-on-yurok-territory/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/california-condors-nesting-in-pacific-northwest-for-first-time-in-a-century-on-yurok-territory/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Mar 2026 13:05:48 +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/20/2026/03/20041329/1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316022</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Peoples, Raptors, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A pair of California condors reintroduced to the Pacific Northwest by the Yurok Tribe appears to have established the species’ first nest in the region in more than 100 years, program officials announced in early March. Based on shifts in behavior and satellite flight data, biologists with the Northern California Condor Restoration Program (NCCRP) determined [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A pair of California condors reintroduced to the Pacific Northwest by the Yurok Tribe appears to have established the species’ first nest in the region in more than 100 years, program officials announced in early March. Based on shifts in behavior and satellite flight data, biologists with the Northern California Condor Restoration Program (NCCRP) determined that the female condor, known by her Yurok name Ney-gem&#8217; Ne-chween-kah (&#8220;She carries our prayers&#8221;), likely laid an egg inside a hollow in an old-growth redwood tree along Redwood Creek drainage in early February. Her mate, called Hlow Hoo-let (&#8220;At last I fly&#8221;), has been sharing incubation duties. Both birds are roughly 6 years and 10 months old, right at the cusp of sexual maturity for the species, which typically begins breeding between the ages of 6 and 7. &#8220;This is a huge moment for our Northern California flock,&#8221; said Chris West, the NCCRP program manager and Yurok Wildlife Department senior biologist. &#8220;It is important to remember that these are wild birds. We trap them occasionally for health monitoring, but if they nest, and how successful they are, is totally up to them, with as little interference from us as possible.&#8221; The nest site is too remote for direct visual confirmation, so staff are relying on wing-mounted transmitters and field observations to monitor the pair&#8217;s progress. The program is exploring the use of drones to get a look at the nest. The egg, if present, would take 55-58 days to hatch, with both parents taking&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/california-condors-nesting-in-pacific-northwest-for-first-time-in-a-century-on-yurok-territory/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/california-condors-nesting-in-pacific-northwest-for-first-time-in-a-century-on-yurok-territory/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316022</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Should potentially harmful chemicals be appraised by class, not one at a time?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/should-potentially-harmful-chemicals-be-appraised-by-class-not-one-at-a-time/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/should-potentially-harmful-chemicals-be-appraised-by-class-not-one-at-a-time/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Mar 2026 20:16:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/19192519/6C_metals-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316002</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Chemicals, Environment, forever chemicals, Green, Health, Mammals, Regulations, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Look around your home. A food wrapper, a shampoo bottle, a couch cushion and many other items very likely contain synthetic chemicals that were never tested for long-term safety before reaching store shelves. In most countries, chemicals are assumed safe until proven harmful, and companies don’t have to demonstrate their products are safe before selling [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Look around your home. A food wrapper, a shampoo bottle, a couch cushion and many other items very likely contain synthetic chemicals that were never tested for long-term safety before reaching store shelves. In most countries, chemicals are assumed safe until proven harmful, and companies don’t have to demonstrate their products are safe before selling them. Instead, the responsibility falls on regulators to prove the harmfulness after chemicals are already in widespread use, a process that is expensive and slow. In many cases, regulators spend years building a case against one harmful chemical, only for manufacturers to then swap it for a structurally similar substitute that starts the process over. This pattern has a name: “regrettable substitution,” or the “toxic treadmill,” a cycle in which one harmful chemical is replaced by a structurally similar one that turns out to be equally problematic, requiring years of new research to prove. For example, when bisphenol A (BPAs), a synthetic compound used to make plastic, was found to interact with the human endocrine system, product manufacturers began to remove it from their products and replace it with BPS, a similar set of compounds that have also been linked to endocrine and estrogen disruption. PFAS (forever chemicals) have been found in the bodies of North Atlantic long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) thousands of miles from any factory. They are also found in human bodies. Image by Vsevolod Rudyi via iNaturalist. CC BY 4.0. “As a consumer we think, these people are taking care of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/should-potentially-harmful-chemicals-be-appraised-by-class-not-one-at-a-time/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/should-potentially-harmful-chemicals-be-appraised-by-class-not-one-at-a-time/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316002</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Facebook shuts Indonesia groups after Mongabay and Bellingcat report illegal wildlife trade</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/facebook-shuts-indonesia-groups-after-mongabay-and-bellingcat-report-illegal-wildlife-trade/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/facebook-shuts-indonesia-groups-after-mongabay-and-bellingcat-report-illegal-wildlife-trade/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Mar 2026 09:48:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Achmad Rizki MuazamFoeke Postma]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/19094632/20251014_153119-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315939</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Jakarta, Southeast Asia, and West Java]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Crime, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Gibbons, Green, Illegal Trade, Law, Law Enforcement, Mammals, Monkeys, Pet Trade, Poaching, Social Media, Trade, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This story was produced in collaboration with Bellingcat. Read their version here, and Mongabay-Indonesia&#8217;s version here. JAKARTA — A new report by Mongabay and independent journalism organization Bellingcat has uncovered several Facebook groups selling protected species in Indonesia, one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. In a Facebook group whose Indonesian name translates [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story was produced in collaboration with Bellingcat. Read their version here, and Mongabay-Indonesia&#8217;s version here. JAKARTA — A new report by Mongabay and independent journalism organization Bellingcat has uncovered several Facebook groups selling protected species in Indonesia, one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. In a Facebook group whose Indonesian name translates to “West Bogor Animal Selling and Trading Forum,” reporters last year found a member of that group advertising a rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) for sale. In Indonesia, all hornbill species are protected by law. In comments below the post advertising the caged bird, one member warns: “Careful not to get caught.” “That’s the risk,” replied the seller. Another advertisement featured two infant Javan silvery gibbons (Hylobates moloch), fewer than 2,500 mature individuals of which are left in the wild. This species is also protected by law. The West Bogor Animal Selling and Trading Forum group on Facebook added more than 200 advertisements in just one week. Eighteen of them were for threatened species. In total, reporters uncovered a total of nine Facebook groups selling animals like these threatened apes and hornbills. Three of the groups have been active for more than five years. Meta, Facebook’s parent company, states that trade of animals on its platforms is prohibited. Among thousands of adverts posted in the nine groups were a handful of animal photos with the same poster in frame, giving away the location as Station Sato, a quiet pet store in Cibinong, a southern suburb of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/facebook-shuts-indonesia-groups-after-mongabay-and-bellingcat-report-illegal-wildlife-trade/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/facebook-shuts-indonesia-groups-after-mongabay-and-bellingcat-report-illegal-wildlife-trade/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315939</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The Wild League aims to turn sports mascots into conservation champions</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-wild-league-aims-to-turn-sports-mascots-into-conservation-champions/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-wild-league-aims-to-turn-sports-mascots-into-conservation-champions/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2026 01:15:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/09120840/Indochinese-tiger_RAB-768x512-1.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315542</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, India, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Mammals, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Lions, tigers and bears aren&#8217;t just among the world&#8217;s most iconic wildlife. They&#8217;re also among the most popular mascots in professional sports. A new study published in BioScience finds that across 50 countries and 10 team sports, 727 professional organizations use wild animals in their names, logos or fan nicknames. The most frequently represented species [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Lions, tigers and bears aren&#8217;t just among the world&#8217;s most iconic wildlife. They&#8217;re also among the most popular mascots in professional sports. A new study published in BioScience finds that across 50 countries and 10 team sports, 727 professional organizations use wild animals in their names, logos or fan nicknames. The most frequently represented species — lions, tigers, grey wolves, leopards and brown bears — are all  threatened in the wild. The research, led by Ugo Arbieu, a postdoctoral researcher at Paris-Saclay University in France, identified 161 distinct animal taxa represented across those teams, spanning mammals, birds, insects, sharks and more. Threatened species and those with declining populations were selected as mascots significantly more than other animals or symbols. Mascots for rival teams Auburn University (tiger) and University of Alabama (elephant). Photo by Adam Brasher&#8217;s via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0). With these clubs social media followers totaling more than a billion combined, the authors argue that there&#8217;s an enormous untapped opportunity to channel the emotional bond between fans and mascots into real conservation action. &#8220;Animal imagery is everywhere,&#8221; Arbieu told Mongabay. &#8220;Across the five continents and across all sports, and both for men and women teams.&#8221; Beyond the big cats and wolves, he said, there is a long tail of unique species represented. &#8220;There is so much potential to communicate, educate about biodiversity and what it is, but also to engage people in a different way of looking at nature.&#8221; The idea came to Arbieu while playing the video game&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-wild-league-aims-to-turn-sports-mascots-into-conservation-champions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-wild-league-aims-to-turn-sports-mascots-into-conservation-champions/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315542</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Works on planned luxury resort on Pemba island go ahead despite concerns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/works-on-planned-luxury-resort-on-pemba-island-go-ahead-despite-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/works-on-planned-luxury-resort-on-pemba-island-go-ahead-despite-concerns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 16:39:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/10163217/9B-Road-building-VC-scaled-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315515</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Corporate Social Responsibility, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Green, Insects, Islands, Mammals, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Earlier this year, workers built a concrete perimeter wall for a planned resort on Pemba Island off the coast of Tanzania. There’s scant public information about the Mantuli development, but the wall is just a few hundred meters west of the 1,440-hectare (3,558-acre) Ngezi-Vumawimbi Nature Forest Reserve, where scientists have identified more than 80 new [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Earlier this year, workers built a concrete perimeter wall for a planned resort on Pemba Island off the coast of Tanzania. There’s scant public information about the Mantuli development, but the wall is just a few hundred meters west of the 1,440-hectare (3,558-acre) Ngezi-Vumawimbi Nature Forest Reserve, where scientists have identified more than 80 new species of plants in recent years — some of which they fear would be driven to extinction by the development. According to a noticeboard near the forest and plans previously published on the website of South Africa-based Acoarch Architects, the luxury resort’s chalets, pools, fitness center and coffee lounge will stretch along 3 kilometers (nearly 2 miles) of Vumawimbi Beach, denying residents of nearby Makangale village access to the sea. Some of the online content has since been removed, and the architecture firm didn’t respond to Mongabay’s inquiries. Tim Caro is an evolutionary ecologist who has conducted research in the area and is a member of U.K.-registered charity Friends of Ngezi, which works with communities and promotes conservation of the forest. He said around a third of Makangale residents are involved in fishing, launching their boats from Vumawimbi Beach, which is also a popular recreational spot for island residents. &#8220;According to weekly reports we receive from members of the community, the perimeter wall blocks Makangale villagers&#8217; access to their fishing sites, to the graves of their ancestors, to their football field, and to paths to other villages,&#8221; a representative of Friends of Ngezi told Mongabay&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/works-on-planned-luxury-resort-on-pemba-island-go-ahead-despite-concerns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315515</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Can Singapore rewild its lost reptiles?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/can-singapore-rewild-its-lost-reptiles/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/can-singapore-rewild-its-lost-reptiles/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 02:06:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/04171924/Gimlett-s-reed-snake-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315032</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Green, Herps, Lizards, Reintroductions, Reptiles, Restoration, Rewilding, Snakes, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the older quarters of Singapore, fragments of forest persist like memories that refuse to fade. Within them live creatures that few residents ever see, and some that no longer exist there at all. The disappearance of species on an island is not always dramatic. Often it happens quietly, in decades of thinning habitat and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the older quarters of Singapore, fragments of forest persist like memories that refuse to fade. Within them live creatures that few residents ever see, and some that no longer exist there at all. The disappearance of species on an island is not always dramatic. Often it happens quietly, in decades of thinning habitat and interrupted life cycles, until absence becomes normal. A snake not recorded since 1904 leaves no trace in the soil, only a line in an archive. Selangor mud snake (Raclitia indica), which was rediscovered in Singapore in 2020 after an absence of 106 years. Photo credit: the Law Brothers Singapore’s ecological history is one of compression. Since the 19th century, most primary forest has been cleared for plantations, industry, and housing. Today only a sliver of original forest remains, surrounded by a landscape remade for human needs. Such transformation has exacted a toll on wildlife, especially terrestrial vertebrates. Estimates suggest that roughly a third of species across several groups have disappeared locally over two centuries. Snakes and lizards, however, tell a more complicated story. A recent analysis of Singapore’s squamates, the group that includes snakes and lizards, reconstructs a timeline of loss using historical records and statistical modeling. The pattern resembles two pulses of erosion. The first, in the early 1900s, coincides with the near-total conversion of primary forest. A second, smaller wave arrives late in the 20th century, as remaining secondary forests give way to rapid urbanization. Primary-forest specialists suffered most. Species able to tolerate&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/can-singapore-rewild-its-lost-reptiles/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/can-singapore-rewild-its-lost-reptiles/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315032</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cambodian market survey a snapshot of a resilient — but stressed — Mekong</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cambodian-market-survey-a-snapshot-of-a-resilient-but-stressed-mekong/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cambodian-market-survey-a-snapshot-of-a-resilient-but-stressed-mekong/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Mar 2026 01:59:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Stefan Lovgren]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/09230405/DSC00753-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315459</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Mekong Basin, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquaculture, Biodiversity, Conservation, Dams, Endangered Species, Environment, Fish, Freshwater Fish, Green, Rivers, Tropics, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[STUNG TRENG, Cambodia — Sunrise is still a long way off when the first fishing boats slip into the landing site at this provincial town along the Mekong River in northern Cambodia. The night’s catch is hauled ashore and moved in tubs and woven baskets to a nearby side street off the town’s main boulevard. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[STUNG TRENG, Cambodia — Sunrise is still a long way off when the first fishing boats slip into the landing site at this provincial town along the Mekong River in northern Cambodia. The night’s catch is hauled ashore and moved in tubs and woven baskets to a nearby side street off the town’s main boulevard. By daylight, vendors have arranged the fish across tarps and reed mats laid directly on the street. Snakeheads, catfish, barbs and loaches lie in dense, gleaming rows as the market swells into a blur of motion and sound. Motorcycles crowd the edges while buyers weave through narrow passageways. Vendors weigh, sort and pack fish for kitchens, restaurants and traders heading off to Phnom Penh. On this morning in early February, a team of Cambodian and international researchers also converged on the fish markets here and in Kratie, a town about 140 kilometers (87 miles) downstream, to begin a two-week survey documenting the aquatic wealth of the world’s most productive river system. More than 2 million tons of fish are harvested from the Mekong each year. Biologist and survey member Sudeep Chandra observes Chitala ornata for sale at the Stung Treng market. Image © Chhut Chheana/Wonders of the Mekong. The survey builds on a rare historical benchmark. In 1994, the late ichthyologist Tyson Roberts conducted a detailed inventory of fish species appearing in the main Stung Treng market. Three decades later, researchers are replicating that work, returning in the same seasons, to enable a direct comparison&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cambodian-market-survey-a-snapshot-of-a-resilient-but-stressed-mekong/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cambodian-market-survey-a-snapshot-of-a-resilient-but-stressed-mekong/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315459</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Precision conservation: the rise of place-specific strategies where protection works best</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/where-conservation-works-best-the-rise-of-place-specific-strategies/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/where-conservation-works-best-the-rise-of-place-specific-strategies/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Mar 2026 00:04:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/04/28211141/st_pl_raja-ampat_230617-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315006</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Analysis, Conservation, Environment, Green, Remote Sensing, and Satellite Imagery]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Conservation has long wrestled with a deceptively simple question: not whether to act, but where action will matter most. Forest restoration, protected areas, wildlife corridors, and enforcement patrols all compete for limited funding across landscapes that differ enormously in ecology, governance, and human pressures. A growing body of research argues that improving outcomes depends less [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Conservation has long wrestled with a deceptively simple question: not whether to act, but where action will matter most. Forest restoration, protected areas, wildlife corridors, and enforcement patrols all compete for limited funding across landscapes that differ enormously in ecology, governance, and human pressures. A growing body of research argues that improving outcomes depends less on inventing new tools than on deploying existing ones more selectively — directing interventions to places where they are most likely to deliver benefits relative to doing nothing. A 2025 perspective by Rebecca Spake and colleagues, published in Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution, describes this idea using a new label: “precision ecology.” The authors argue conservation science should move beyond estimating average effects of interventions. The goal is to predict site-specific outcomes, allowing managers to tailor actions to local conditions. The proposal draws inspiration from precision medicine, which uses patient-level data to match treatments to individuals. At its core, the argument is pragmatic. Conservation operates in heterogeneous systems, where the same intervention can succeed in one place and fail in another. As Spake and colleagues note, implementation outcomes vary across landscapes due to complex ecological and social factors, making “one-size-fits-all” strategies unreliable. The paper outlines statistical approaches — many adapted from economics and machine learning — designed to estimate how the impact of a treatment varies with environmental context. In principle, such methods could identify which forest stands would gain the most carbon from restoration, which rivers would benefit most from buffer zones, or where invasive-species&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/where-conservation-works-best-the-rise-of-place-specific-strategies/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315006</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Climate or biodiversity? Global study maps out forestation’s dilemma</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/climate-or-biodiversity-global-study-maps-out-forestations-dilemma/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/climate-or-biodiversity-global-study-maps-out-forestations-dilemma/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Mar 2026 02:45:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/05160753/5343928380_7661771c5f_o-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315265</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Degraded Lands, Earth Science, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forestry, Forests, Fungi, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Green, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Landscape Restoration, Logging, Mitigation, National Parks, Oceans, Parks, Plants, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Research, Restoration, Saving Rainforests, Solutions, Threats To Rainforests, Timber, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Planting trees is a vital strategy to combat both climate change and the biodiversity crisis. As forests grow, they sponge carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and provide renewed habitat for threatened animals, plants, fungi and countless unseen lifeforms. That ability of forests to help slow climate change has driven a push to reforest degraded lands [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Planting trees is a vital strategy to combat both climate change and the biodiversity crisis. As forests grow, they sponge carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and provide renewed habitat for threatened animals, plants, fungi and countless unseen lifeforms. That ability of forests to help slow climate change has driven a push to reforest degraded lands or even plant new forests where none existed before. It’s also spurred other strategies, like the cultivation of bioenergy crops coupled with carbon capture. But these approaches require a lot of land, and they could potentially put pressure on the species that live in these spots — if a forestation project or hectares of bioenergy row crops subsume native grasslands, for example. A recent analysis shows that around 13% of globally important, biodiversity-rich land overlaps with areas earmarked for these types of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) projects. “It&#8217;s unfortunate that we face multiple global problems all at once, including both climate change and biodiversity loss,” said Mark Urban, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut in the U.S., who wasn’t involved in the research. “When we try to fix one, we can make things worse for the other.” Agroforestry in Ethiopia. Image by Trees ForTheFuture via Flickr (CC BY 2.0). The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, used five existing models that guide climate action in line with the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting warming to 1.5° Celsius (2.7° Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels to map out locations tabbed&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/climate-or-biodiversity-global-study-maps-out-forestations-dilemma/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315265</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Birds are changing — and Indigenous memory is the longest record we have</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/birds-are-changing-and-indigenous-memory-is-the-longest-record-we-have/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/birds-are-changing-and-indigenous-memory-is-the-longest-record-we-have/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 15:37:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/02034439/Royal-Flycatcher-16x9-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315034</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Anthropology, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Culture, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Green, Indigenous Peoples, Monitoring, Rainforests, Research, Traditional Knowledge, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Conservation has long depended on measurement. Populations are counted, habitats mapped, trends plotted against baselines that often extend back only a few decades. Yet many ecosystems began changing long before systematic monitoring began. In much of the world, the longest continuous records of environmental change reside not in databases but in memory, language, and daily [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Conservation has long depended on measurement. Populations are counted, habitats mapped, trends plotted against baselines that often extend back only a few decades. Yet many ecosystems began changing long before systematic monitoring began. In much of the world, the longest continuous records of environmental change reside not in databases but in memory, language, and daily practice. A growing body of research suggests that these forms of knowledge are not merely anecdotal supplements to science; they can reveal patterns otherwise invisible, including shifts in species composition, behavior, and condition. A recent global study illustrates the point with clearly. Researchers worked with ten Indigenous and local communities across three continents, asking adults to recall the most common birds around their territories today and during their childhoods. The survey produced nearly 7,000 reports covering 283 species over roughly eighty years. When matched with scientific data on body size, the responses indicated a consistent shift toward smaller-bodied birds, amounting to an estimated 72% reduction in average body mass across sites. Locations of the 10 study sites. Figure from Fernández-Llamazares, Á. et al. (2025) This finding echoes scientific literature documenting widespread avian decline. Long-term studies in tropical forests, for example, have recorded large drops in abundance even in areas with little direct disturbance, with capture rates in some Amazonian sites falling by about half over two decades. What is striking in the new work is not only the pattern itself but the method. The signal emerges from lived experience accumulated across generations, a type of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/birds-are-changing-and-indigenous-memory-is-the-longest-record-we-have/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315034</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>America’s national parks face an uncertain future as climate risks mount</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/americas-national-parks-face-an-uncertain-future-as-climate-risks-mount/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/americas-national-parks-face-an-uncertain-future-as-climate-risks-mount/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Mar 2026 17:21:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/28172224/yosemite_141024-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315008</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Drought, Environment, Fires, Forests, Fragmentation, Green, Impact Of Climate Change, National Parks, Parks, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#160; America’s national parks were conceived as sanctuaries from the forces remaking the rest of the continent. Climate change is now breaching that boundary. A recent assessment of park vulnerability suggests that many of these landscapes are not simply warming or drying in familiar ways. They are being pushed toward ecological states that may be [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[&nbsp; America’s national parks were conceived as sanctuaries from the forces remaking the rest of the continent. Climate change is now breaching that boundary. A recent assessment of park vulnerability suggests that many of these landscapes are not simply warming or drying in familiar ways. They are being pushed toward ecological states that may be fundamentally different from those they were created to preserve. The study, published in Conservation Letters, evaluates 259 park units across the contiguous United States using a framework common in climate science: exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. Exposure measures the scale of climatic change; sensitivity captures how strongly ecosystems respond; adaptive capacity reflects the ability of landscapes and species to adjust. Taken together, these dimensions describe not just how much parks will change, but how likely they are to experience transformation. By that measure, vulnerability is widespread. Two-thirds of parks were identified as highly exposed to at least one potentially transformative threat, including wildfire, drought, forest pests, or sea-level rise. In total, 77% ranked as highly vulnerable either overall or to a specific high-impact hazard. The implication is not that all parks face catastrophe, but that few can expect stability. Priority parks at the national scale, which were identified as those ranking at or above the 75th percentile in total cumulative vulnerability scores. Caption and image from Michalak et al (2026). Geography matters. Parks in the Midwest and eastern United States tend to have the highest cumulative vulnerability. These landscapes are often embedded within heavily modified&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/americas-national-parks-face-an-uncertain-future-as-climate-risks-mount/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315008</doi>				</item>
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