<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" >

	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?topic=mangroves&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/mangroves/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2026 14:32:13 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
		<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
		<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
		<generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.4</generator>

<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Mangroves</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/mangroves/</link>
	<width>32</width>
	<height>32</height>
</image> 
				<item>
					<title>Aztec methods and crocodiles: How biologists are restoring mangroves in Mexico</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/aztec-techniques-and-crocodiles-how-biologists-are-restoring-mangroves-in-mexico/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/aztec-techniques-and-crocodiles-how-biologists-are-restoring-mangroves-in-mexico/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Oct 2026 17:05:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Laura Allen]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/30152724/Cocodrilo4-Morelets-crocodile--768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334543</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Mexico and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Habitat, Herps, Mangroves, Reptiles, Restoration, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2017, Omar Trujillo Santos was sitting in a small wooden boat holding a crocodile, its skin soft like a snake. He helped untie the reptile, a juvenile Morelet’s crocodile, and carefully guided it into the dark water. It swam off to find a new home in the Alvarado Lagoons System in Veracruz, southeastern Mexico, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2017, Omar Trujillo Santos was sitting in a small wooden boat holding a crocodile, its skin soft like a snake. He helped untie the reptile, a juvenile Morelet’s crocodile, and carefully guided it into the dark water. It swam off to find a new home in the Alvarado Lagoons System in Veracruz, southeastern Mexico, completing the final phase of a mangrove restoration project. Studies suggest Mexico, a country rich in mangroves, has experienced the highest degree of mangrove loss in the Americas. Conservation and reforestation efforts seek to reverse this loss, yet many projects fail to restore a mature forest. Seedlings and young trees too often die due to improper planting techniques or unsuitable sites. Led by REVIVE, a nonprofit that works to boost biodiversity in the region, the Veracruz project aims to restore not just trees, but the mangrove ecosystem as a whole by employing Aztec-inspired planting methods to rebuild forests and using crocodiles to help maintain them. According to REVIVE, this technique has resulted in a fully restored forest. Conservationists involved in the project say they hope this success encourages others to consider how crocodiles could be used to benefit future mangrove restoration projects. Omar Trujillo Santos stands in front of a chinampa planted with mangrove seedings grown in a nursery. Image from Soto et al., 2026 (preprint) (CC BY 4.0). An ancient technique In 2006 when biologist Aníbal Ramírez Soto began working with mangroves in the wetlands around the Alvarado lagoons, he planted mangrove seedlings in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/aztec-techniques-and-crocodiles-how-biologists-are-restoring-mangroves-in-mexico/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/aztec-techniques-and-crocodiles-how-biologists-are-restoring-mangroves-in-mexico/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334543</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Critics call for halt to road construction in Mexico’s Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/critics-call-for-halt-to-road-construction-in-mexicos-sian-kaan-biosphere-reserve/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/critics-call-for-halt-to-road-construction-in-mexicos-sian-kaan-biosphere-reserve/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Oct 2026 18:47:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/23172145/32498588713_1c22e72954_3k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333741</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Caribbean, Global, Latin America, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Development, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Infrastructure, Law, Mangroves, Marine, Protected Areas, and Roads]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MEXICO CITY — In early October, Mexico’s environment ministry published a statement about minimizing infrastructure development inside the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, a protected area on the Caribbean coast. But environmental groups say road construction continues to move forward there, threatening mangroves, cenote sinkholes, and dunes. The courts should address a lawsuit filed by local [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MEXICO CITY — In early October, Mexico’s environment ministry published a statement about minimizing infrastructure development inside the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, a protected area on the Caribbean coast. But environmental groups say road construction continues to move forward there, threatening mangroves, cenote sinkholes, and dunes. The courts should address a lawsuit filed by local communities to halt the road construction and repair ecological damage, they said. They added that while the statement by the ministry, formally the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), is hopeful, it doesn’t provide the same legal guarantees as a court ruling. “We want certainty for the communities that, first, the project is canceled, and second, that they repair the damage already done,” Viridiana Maldonado, co-coordinator with Territorios Diversos para la Vida, an environmental NGO that supports Indigenous peoples defending the environment, told Mongabay. “Because a good part of the project is already built, the damage is done. They cut down mangroves, they cut down forest, they interrupted hydrological flows.” The Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve covers more than 528,000 hectares (1.3 million acres) of mangroves, rainforests, and dunes in the southern state of Quintana Roo. It received UNESCO World Heritage status in 1987 and provides extensive habitat to jaguars (Panthera onca), Central American tapirs (Tapirus bairdii), and hundreds of migratory birds, among other species. The reserve also has 47 community-based tourism initiatives and 140 permits for tourism and recreational activities, according to Semarnat. The Puerta al Mar (“Door to the Sea”) project underway in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/critics-call-for-halt-to-road-construction-in-mexicos-sian-kaan-biosphere-reserve/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/critics-call-for-halt-to-road-construction-in-mexicos-sian-kaan-biosphere-reserve/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333741</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesian women cash in on mangrove restoration: Interview with community leader Wisye Sahambangung</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesian-women-cash-in-on-mangrove-restoration-interview-with-community-leader-wisye-sahambangung/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesian-women-cash-in-on-mangrove-restoration-interview-with-community-leader-wisye-sahambangung/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Oct 2026 07:57:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Annisa Dinulislam]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Yenni Kwok]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/16144823/Photo-2-Wisye-Sahambangung-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332892</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, North Sulawesi, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Conservation Solutions, Culture, Ecosystems, Environment, Fellows, Gender, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Landscape Restoration, Mangroves, Marine, Restoration, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Wisye Sahambangung is a fisher, community leader, and mangrove conservationist from Sarawet, a coastal Indonesian village in North Sulawesi province. Since 2022, the 45-year-old has led Rhizopora, a women’s group that restores mangroves and helps create economic opportunities for women in the village. Rhizopora, named after the Rhizophora genus of mangrove trees, has [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Wisye Sahambangung is a fisher, community leader, and mangrove conservationist from Sarawet, a coastal Indonesian village in North Sulawesi province. Since 2022, the 45-year-old has led Rhizopora, a women’s group that restores mangroves and helps create economic opportunities for women in the village. Rhizopora, named after the Rhizophora genus of mangrove trees, has become a community-based conservation movement. Its members collect mangrove propagules and seedlings, support restoration projects, monitor coastal areas, and teach other villagers how to plant mangroves. They revive the mangrove forest that is home to crabs and fish, which are their primary source of income. In collaboration with the NGOs Yayasan Bumi Tangguh and CARE Indonesia, Rhizopora helped plant 30,000 mangrove trees during an eight-month restoration project this year. For Wisye, protecting mangroves is about protecting the people who depend on the coast. The group sells seedlings, collects and sells mud crabs, and runs savings-and-loans activities that boost their incomes. Her work has taken her from Sarawet’s muddy coastal areas to an international forum in Australia, where she shared the women’s experiences of protecting their coastal environment. “Since Rhizopora was established, Sarawet has become more widely known nationally and internationally,” she said proudly. Wisye Sahambangung in Australia during her trip to Melbourne for Women Deliver 2026. Image courtesy of Wisye Sahambangung. Wisye spoke with Mongabay via video call about how she leads Rhizopora in protecting coastal ecosystems while creating income opportunities for women in the community, the challenges of community-led conservation, and the impact on&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesian-women-cash-in-on-mangrove-restoration-interview-with-community-leader-wisye-sahambangung/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesian-women-cash-in-on-mangrove-restoration-interview-with-community-leader-wisye-sahambangung/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332892</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Enclosed river:’ Women shellfish gatherers fight for access to mangroves in Brazil</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/enclosed-river-women-shellfish-gatherers-fight-for-access-to-mangroves-in-brazil/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/enclosed-river-women-shellfish-gatherers-fight-for-access-to-mangroves-in-brazil/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Oct 2026 15:38:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolina de Marchi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/16152749/adriana_cata_ostras-1800x1012-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332916</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Culture, Development, Environment, Food, Gender, Governance, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Law, Mangroves, Natural Resources, and Oceans]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Adriana Hora dos Santos stands waist-deep in the water. Her dark hair is tied in a single braid; her arms and torso covered by a pink Lycra shirt. The thick mangrove mud reaches her thighs. Using a machete just over 40-centimeters (16-inches) long, she pries dozens of oysters from the twisted roots with a steady [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Adriana Hora dos Santos stands waist-deep in the water. Her dark hair is tied in a single braid; her arms and torso covered by a pink Lycra shirt. The thick mangrove mud reaches her thighs. Using a machete just over 40-centimeters (16-inches) long, she pries dozens of oysters from the twisted roots with a steady cadence: Not too fast, not too slow. Across the Vaza-Barris river, the buildings of Sergipe’s state capital Aracaju seem otherworldly. Here, one hears the lapping of the water, the strike of the blade and Santos’s voice: “I am, I am a shellfish gatherer / Queen of the mangrove, I am a warrior! / I am, I am a shellfish gatherer / A fighting woman, a striver / It’s the wind that gives it to me / It’s the river, it’s the mangrove, it’s the sea / My chest aches, enclosed river / My chest aches with no fish caught / Come, woman, fight, emancipate yourself / We are Sergipe’s shellfish gatherers!” This is the anthem of the Movement of Women Shellfish Gatherers of Sergipe (MMS), a grassroots collective that has resisted continuous environmental degradation and cultural erasure for decades. Acting as guardians of the mangrove, they do environmental protection work while facing pressures that put their own survival at risk. To hear one of these women is to hear many: Their verbs almost always come in the plural. “We are always in a flock,” Santos says. And it was as a flock that they introduced&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/enclosed-river-women-shellfish-gatherers-fight-for-access-to-mangroves-in-brazil/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/enclosed-river-women-shellfish-gatherers-fight-for-access-to-mangroves-in-brazil/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332916</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>From paper parks to lasting protection, here’s what works in marine conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/from-paper-parks-to-lasting-protection-heres-what-works-in-marine-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/from-paper-parks-to-lasting-protection-heres-what-works-in-marine-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Oct 2026 03:23:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/12123146/64-Peruvian-artisanal-fisher-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332276</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Mesoamerica, Mexico, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Fisheries, Fishing, Mangroves, Marine, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Restoration, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In recent years, there has been a steady stream of ocean conservation pledges, from French Polynesia extending marine protection across its nearly 5 million-square-kilometer exclusive economic zone, including more than 1 million square kilometers of highly or fully protected waters, to the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR), where Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In recent years, there has been a steady stream of ocean conservation pledges, from French Polynesia extending marine protection across its nearly 5 million-square-kilometer exclusive economic zone, including more than 1 million square kilometers of highly or fully protected waters, to the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR), where Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Panama agreed to establish a contiguous, transboundary safe passage of more than 500,000 square kilometers (193,000 square miles) for migratory species. There is also much greater recognition of the contributions made by traditional stewards, including Indigenous communities, artisanal fishers, and other coastal communities. On paper, at least, this would seem to bode well for progress toward protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030. Yet at the same time that these announcements are being made, we also hear about “paper parks” — those protected in name only — industrial fishing vessels entering protected areas, boats turning off their transponders, and abandoned fishing gear drifting through supposedly protected waters. Coral reef in the Pacific. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler / Mongabay Over the summer, looking across academic literature and Mongabay’s multilingual coverage, I tried to pin down what the evidence actually shows about marine conservation outcomes in the Americas. Merging peer-reviewed datasets with field reporting has its limitations, but it helps bridge a common divide: studies document broader ecological trends, while journalists track the political compromises and enforcement lapses that shape what happens on the water. Unsurprisingly, the central takeaway is that marine conservation is most likely to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/from-paper-parks-to-lasting-protection-heres-what-works-in-marine-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/from-paper-parks-to-lasting-protection-heres-what-works-in-marine-conservation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332276</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Artificial mangrove roots offer a stopgap for Thailand’s eroding coastline</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/artificial-mangrove-roots-offer-a-stopgap-for-thailands-eroding-coastline/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/artificial-mangrove-roots-offer-a-stopgap-for-thailands-eroding-coastline/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Oct 2026 02:01:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/14130912/CP_01-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332587</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Erosion, Infrastructure, Mangroves, Nature-based climate solutions, Oceans, Research, Sea Levels, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Residents of Phra Samut Chedi, one of Thailand’s most erosion-prone districts, have long struggled against coastal erosion. It’s located in the muddy heart of the Chao Phraya River Delta, where Bangkok’s major watercourse empties into the Gulf of Thailand. Here, roughly 20-60 meters (about 66-200 feet) of land is claimed by the sea annually, eating [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Residents of Phra Samut Chedi, one of Thailand’s most erosion-prone districts, have long struggled against coastal erosion. It’s located in the muddy heart of the Chao Phraya River Delta, where Bangkok’s major watercourse empties into the Gulf of Thailand. Here, roughly 20-60 meters (about 66-200 feet) of land is claimed by the sea annually, eating into farmland and forcing families to relocate their homes. However, a new study suggests a new coastal defense system based on artificial mangrove roots could offer struggling communities some respite. Trialed at 11 sites in Phra Samut Chedi and other parts of Samut Prakan province over 15 months, the nature-inspired system encouraged a varying amount of sediment deposition at 10 of the sites, according to the study published in Ocean &amp; Coastal Management. Success varied by site, ranging from 16-88 centimeters (6-35 inches) of sediment retention, depending on localized conditions. By helping stabilize the shoreline, the researchers say the system could potentially function as an effective hybrid nature-based solution — a mechanism whereby engineered or “bioinspired” structures work in consort with natural ecological processes, such as mangrove restoration. Butsawan Bidorn, senior author of the study and an assistant professor of coastal engineering at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, said the dynamic nature of the Chao Phraya Delta means rapid and accessible solutions are key. “Aquaculture farmers sent us a video of the waves hitting their dikes,” Butsawan told Mongabay in an interview. “By the next day, the dike had collapsed and they’d lost everything. They need&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/artificial-mangrove-roots-offer-a-stopgap-for-thailands-eroding-coastline/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/artificial-mangrove-roots-offer-a-stopgap-for-thailands-eroding-coastline/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332587</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mangroves gain ground globally, marking turnaround after decades of loss</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/mangroves-gain-ground-globally-marking-turnaround-after-decades-of-loss/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/mangroves-gain-ground-globally-marking-turnaround-after-decades-of-loss/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Oct 2026 16:54:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Samuel Ogunsona]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/14134939/a.-cymatics-in-IgPRUfFP6sU-unsplash-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332579</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forest Loss, Habitat Loss, Mangroves, Marine, Marine Conservation, Nature-based climate solutions, Oceans, Research, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[After decades of losses, new data show the world’s mangrove forests are beginning to rebound. It marks a modest but significant turnaround for the salt-tolerant coastal trees and shrubs, which provide vital ecosystem services, including carbon storage, habitat for thousands of species and protection from storms and erosion. Global mangrove cover increased by 477 square [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[After decades of losses, new data show the world’s mangrove forests are beginning to rebound. It marks a modest but significant turnaround for the salt-tolerant coastal trees and shrubs, which provide vital ecosystem services, including carbon storage, habitat for thousands of species and protection from storms and erosion. Global mangrove cover increased by 477 square kilometers (184 square miles) between 1985 and 2025, according to the latest Global Mangrove Watch (GMW) data released in July. Restoration and stronger protections drove the modest net gains, which represent a 0.3% increase over four decades. The new assessment follows a separate study, published in June, that reached a similar conclusion about overall growth in mangrove cover. GMW, a mapping initiative of the NGO consortium known as the Global Mangrove Alliance, has tracked mangrove gains and losses since 2011. In this third update, researchers used 10-meter (33-foot) resolution satellite imagery and machine learning to map changes in mangrove cover across 108 countries. It’s the first of the updates to span a 39-year period, from 1985 to 2024, according to Lammert Hilarides, the GMW program lead at the Netherlands-based NGO Wetlands International. The previous version only tracked changes in the data since 1996, covering about 24 years. “The importance of tracking changes in mangroves lies in the need to have accurate information if you want to successfully halt loss, protect and restore mangroves,” Hilarides told Mongabay by email. He added that the new data show significant differences between regions, countries and the timing of gains&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/mangroves-gain-ground-globally-marking-turnaround-after-decades-of-loss/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/mangroves-gain-ground-globally-marking-turnaround-after-decades-of-loss/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332579</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mangroves keep waves at bay. A new study helps scientists predict how</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/mangroves-keep-waves-at-bay-a-new-study-helps-scientists-predict-how/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/mangroves-keep-waves-at-bay-a-new-study-helps-scientists-predict-how/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 23:29:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Isabel Gil]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/01133108/OceanImageBank_MPA25_AlexPike-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331416</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Disasters, Ecosystems, Environment, Extreme Weather, Forests, Mangroves, Marine, Oceans, Research, Sea Levels, and Storms]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Existing at the junction of land and sea, mangrove forests have long been heralded for their ecosystem services, including their ability to buffer coastal areas against storm surges and rising seas. Now, new research has found a way to predict just how much mangroves can diminish waves associated with severe storms. When a wave hits [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Existing at the junction of land and sea, mangrove forests have long been heralded for their ecosystem services, including their ability to buffer coastal areas against storm surges and rising seas. Now, new research has found a way to predict just how much mangroves can diminish waves associated with severe storms. When a wave hits an outcrop of mangroves, its energy is absorbed by the plants’ dense network of twisted roots. When the wave comes out on the other side, its intensity is often decreased, acting as a natural buffer for shorelines — sometimes even shielding shoreside communities from water damage or severe floods. This ability for mangroves to curb wave intensity — a property called attenuation — is well known among scientists. However, much of the data supporting this was collected by measuring mangrove attenuation during mild, calm periods of weather. Quantifying mangrove attenuation during storms or typhoons is trickier — it’s harder to gather data, and there are more factors dominating wave motion, like turbulence. Because of this, “existing models do not always perform so well to predict the wave attenuation by mangroves during storms,” Stijn Temmerman, a professor at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, told Mongabay by video call. This is especially important, researchers told Mongabay, as climate change is linked to severe weather systems. More than 87 million people were impacted by climate-related disasters in 2025, including flooding events and severe storms. Because of this, the development of new methods to model worst-case scenario climate and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/mangroves-keep-waves-at-bay-a-new-study-helps-scientists-predict-how/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/mangroves-keep-waves-at-bay-a-new-study-helps-scientists-predict-how/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331416</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia’s new peatland agency faces questions over what it will do differently</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesias-new-peatland-agency-faces-questions-over-what-it-will-do-differently/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesias-new-peatland-agency-faces-questions-over-what-it-will-do-differently/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 04:19:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/25175923/AP26223596463482-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331364</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation Solutions, Disasters, Ecosystems, Extreme Weather, Fires, Global Environmental Crisis, Landscape Restoration, Mangroves, Marine, Peatlands, Restoration, Solutions, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — In 2016, following the most devastating land and forest fires in its recorded history the previous year, the Indonesian government set up an agency to restore peatlands, among the worst-hit biomes during the disaster. A decade later, following the most devastating land and forest fires since the 2015 season, the current government has [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — In 2016, following the most devastating land and forest fires in its recorded history the previous year, the Indonesian government set up an agency to restore peatlands, among the worst-hit biomes during the disaster. A decade later, following the most devastating land and forest fires since the 2015 season, the current government has once again set up an agency to restore peatlands — prompting questions over what impact, if any, this new body will have. The National Peatland and Mangrove Management Agency, or BPGMN, was announced by Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni following a meeting at the State Palace in Jakarta on Sept. 24 between President Prabowo Subianto and a group of 22 experts. Like the earlier Peatland and Mangrove Restoration Agency (BRGM) established by Prabowo’s predecessor, Joko Widodo, which was shuttered in December 2024, the new agency will report directly to the president and be staffed by scientists and professionals, according to Raja Juli. For some observers, that begs the question of why Prabowo didn’t renew the BRGM’s mandate and instead let it expire, and what the BPGMN will do differently. “The BPGMN must not stop at changing the institution’s name,” said Uli Arta Siagian, national campaign coordinator for Walhi, Indonesia’s biggest environmental advocacy group. “The experience of the BRGM, which was disbanded at the end of 2024 after operating for nearly a decade, shows that changing the institutional structure does not automatically guarantee better governance. “The BPGMN must have a mandate, authority, success indicators, and working&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesias-new-peatland-agency-faces-questions-over-what-it-will-do-differently/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesias-new-peatland-agency-faces-questions-over-what-it-will-do-differently/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331364</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous knowledge helps reveal the ties between reefs and mangroves</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-knowledge-helps-reveal-the-ties-between-reefs-and-mangroves/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-knowledge-helps-reveal-the-ties-between-reefs-and-mangroves/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Sep 2026 07:00:38 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anthony Ham]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/04165859/l.-Phillip-Bibido-McCarthy-%C2%A9ABC-Kimberley-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328795</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Culture, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Fisheries, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Mangroves, Marine, Protected Areas, Research, Science, Solutions, and Traditional Knowledge]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a recent scientific article in the journal Ocean &#38; Coastal Management, alongside the list of scientist-authors were the Bardi Jawi and Oorany Rangers and the Bardi Jawi Traditional Owners. For the past decade, Bardi Jawi rangers and traditional owners have been working with the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) to study and protect [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In a recent scientific article in the journal Ocean &amp; Coastal Management, alongside the list of scientist-authors were the Bardi Jawi and Oorany Rangers and the Bardi Jawi Traditional Owners. For the past decade, Bardi Jawi rangers and traditional owners have been working with the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) to study and protect their mangrove and reef ecosystems, as well as their traditional Indigenous fishing grounds. The Bardi Jawi, according to Phillip “Bibido” McCarthy, are a “Saltwater People” whose traditional diet revolves around healthy oceans. Their land, located in the Kimberley region of northwestern Australia, is of “red earth, blue ocean, and green mangroves,” Bibido, the 59-year-old coordinator of the Bardi Jawi men’s ranger program, tells Mongabay. Bardi Jawi Country forms part of the 95,000-hectare (235,000-acre) Bardi Jawi Indigenous Protected Area (declared in 2013 and administered by the Bardi Jawi) and the 204,000-hectare (504,000-acre) Bardi Jawi Gaarra Marine Park (established in 2022, with a zoning scheme that came into force in July 2026). Among the most important findings in the study was the interconnectedness between reef and mangrove ecosystems for sustaining fisheries — an aspect long recognized in Bardi Jawi traditional ecological knowledge. The overall project and its findings also guided the design of both the IPA and marine park. Cape Leveque on the Dampier Peninsula in Western Australia. Image by Marty Southwell via Unsplash. Goldlined rabbitfish (Siganus lineatus). Image by © Kristin Anderson via iNaturalist. CC BY-NC 4.0. Much scientific work in recent years has focused on&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-knowledge-helps-reveal-the-ties-between-reefs-and-mangroves/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-knowledge-helps-reveal-the-ties-between-reefs-and-mangroves/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328795</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A ‘leading’ Chinese miner of Mozambique’s heavy sands linked to environmental destruction</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-leading-chinese-miner-of-mozambiques-heavy-sands-linked-to-environmental-destruction/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-leading-chinese-miner-of-mozambiques-heavy-sands-linked-to-environmental-destruction/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Aug 2026 08:35:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawahare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/26134735/1-heavy-sand-mining-site-off-the-coast-of-Mozambique-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327406</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Mozambique, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Business, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Environment, Forest Destruction, Governance, Industry, Mangroves, Marine, Marine Conservation, Mining, and Natural Resources]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A sand mining operation along the coast of central Mozambique’s Zambezia Province decimated hundreds of hectares of mangroves in just a few years, a Mongabay investigation has found. The area is under the control of Mozambique Heavy Sand Company VIII, part-owned by the Jinan Yuxiao Group, an influential Chinese mining group claiming to hold more than [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A sand mining operation along the coast of central Mozambique’s Zambezia Province decimated hundreds of hectares of mangroves in just a few years, a Mongabay investigation has found. The area is under the control of Mozambique Heavy Sand Company VIII, part-owned by the Jinan Yuxiao Group, an influential Chinese mining group claiming to hold more than 500,000 hectares (1.24 million acres) of land in mining concessions in Mozambique. That’s an area larger in size than 700,000 soccer fields. These concessions mostly target heavy mineral sands that primarily yield titanium ores that are used in the production of everything from paints to plastics and sunscreen. Environmental activists are raising the alarm about the risks from heavy minerals mining along Mozambique’s coast and local media has documented the growing threat from it. “All of our coastal zones have these heavy mineral sands projects,” Fatima Mimbire, an advocate for transparency in Mozambique’s mining sector, told Mongabay, adding that. most mineral sand mining companies in Mozambique were Chinese. “These companies are destroying without concern for the environment, without concern for the people.” Global Mangrove Watch (GMW), a platform built to track where mangroves are recovering and where they are in retreat, first signaled the losses in the Chinde district of Zambezia. Lammert Hilarides, an earth observation specialist at Wetlands International (WI), told Mongabay how he started noticing an uptick in mangrove deforestation alerts from the region in late 2023. WI is one of the organizations that designed and now helps run GMW. In the years&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-leading-chinese-miner-of-mozambiques-heavy-sands-linked-to-environmental-destruction/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/a-leading-chinese-miner-of-mozambiques-heavy-sands-linked-to-environmental-destruction/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327406</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nigeria can build the new coastal highway and also protect natural areas (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nigeria-can-build-the-new-coastal-highway-and-also-protect-natural-areas-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nigeria-can-build-the-new-coastal-highway-and-also-protect-natural-areas-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Aug 2026 16:03:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mahmoud Ibrahim Mahmoud]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/28203550/CrossRiverMonument_CalabarCrossRiverNigeria_KoutchikaLihouenouGaspardWikicommonsBYSA4.0-e1787757447155-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327410</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Commentary, Development, Drivers Of Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forests, Governance, Infrastructure, Mangroves, Marine, Roads, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nigeria needs road infrastructure for improved living conditions. Anyone who has watched trucks crawl out of Lagos, farmers and fishermen struggle to reach markets, or small coastal businesses lose value to poor logistics, knows that road infrastructure in Nigeria is not a luxury. The proposed Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway, running roughly 700 kilometers (about 435 miles) [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nigeria needs road infrastructure for improved living conditions. Anyone who has watched trucks crawl out of Lagos, farmers and fishermen struggle to reach markets, or small coastal businesses lose value to poor logistics, knows that road infrastructure in Nigeria is not a luxury. The proposed Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway, running roughly 700 kilometers (about 435 miles) from Badagry toward Calabar, is therefore easy to sell as a nation-building project: faster trade, more jobs, increased tourism, port access, socioeconomic development, and a stronger southern economic corridor. However, the same road could also become a long concrete trigger for ecological loss. Nigeria’s coast is not empty land waiting for asphalt. It is a living system of mangroves, freshwater swamps, tidal channels, floodplains, fishing settlements, and remnant forests. These ecosystems store carbon, buffer storms, nurse fisheries, serve as breeding grounds for marine life, and support livelihoods that rarely appear in road-cost spreadsheets. The question is not whether Nigeria should develop. It is whether development will be intelligent enough to avoid destroying the natural infrastructure that already protects coastal communities. The answer depends on whether environmental and social impact assessments, or ESIAs, are treated as honest decision-making tools rather than administrative rituals. A mona monkey (Cercopithecus mona), is one of the many species inhabiting Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve, which the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway is proposed to be routed through. Image courtesy of AlexisENVN via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). Recent developments have already raised serious concerns. Mongabay has noted that the highway passes through or&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nigeria-can-build-the-new-coastal-highway-and-also-protect-natural-areas-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nigeria-can-build-the-new-coastal-highway-and-also-protect-natural-areas-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327410</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Land rights and mangroves entwine in a Brazilian quilombo’s resistance</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/land-rights-and-mangroves-entwine-in-a-brazilian-quilombos-resistance/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/land-rights-and-mangroves-entwine-in-a-brazilian-quilombos-resistance/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Aug 2026 15:29:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolina de Marchi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/11152728/20260402-PXL_20260402_191844572.PANO_-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325902</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bioeconomy, Coastal Ecosystems, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Philosophy, Culture, Ecosystems, Environment, Estuaries, Freshwater, Mangroves, Marine Conservation, Protected Areas, Religions, Rivers, Social Justice, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BREJÃO DOS NEGROS, Brazil — It’s hard to tell where one ends and the other starts. Here on Brazil’s Atlantic coast, where the São Francisco River meets the sea, waves ripple across the crystal-clear water. In the vast blue expanse, the green of islands and islets blends with fertile lands covered in Atlantic Forest remnants, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BREJÃO DOS NEGROS, Brazil — It’s hard to tell where one ends and the other starts. Here on Brazil’s Atlantic coast, where the São Francisco River meets the sea, waves ripple across the crystal-clear water. In the vast blue expanse, the green of islands and islets blends with fertile lands covered in Atlantic Forest remnants, white dunes, small docks, marginal lagoons, and mangroves — a biological heritage that serves as a nursery for countless marine species. But this beauty has not always belonged to those who lived there. Remnants of cotton plantations and more than 20 mills tell of an era before the so-called Golden Law of 1888 abolished slavery in Brazil. This region once held the largest number of enslaved people in the lower catchment area of the São Francisco River. Because of its dense native forests, it was also an ideal refuge for those who managed to escape, which earned it the name Refúgio dos Negros. Even after abolition, the people who lived off artisanal fishing and farming here enjoyed little real freedom. The land where they had lived on and worked for generations was claimed by local landowners who, with or without legal titles, exercised uncontested dominance. According to residents of the Brejão dos Negros Quilombola Territory — a group of traditional communities, or quilombos, founded by formerly enslaved Afro-Brazilians — fences and cattle grids went up everywhere, making them feel like prisoners in their own land. “It was like this: if you harvested a field of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/land-rights-and-mangroves-entwine-in-a-brazilian-quilombos-resistance/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/land-rights-and-mangroves-entwine-in-a-brazilian-quilombos-resistance/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325902</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>On fragile Sumatran peatland, a farmer fights to bring back lost mangroves</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-fragile-sumatran-peatland-a-farmer-fights-to-bring-back-lost-mangroves/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-fragile-sumatran-peatland-a-farmer-fights-to-bring-back-lost-mangroves/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2026 11:44:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Suryadi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/12113532/Harisyah-measures-the-distance-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326031</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Riau, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Mangroves, Marine, Peatlands, Solutions, Tropical Forests, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SUNGAI APIT, Indonesia — Harisyah was still knee-deep in the peatland as the light faded over the mouth of Indonesia&#8217;s Siak River. The 53-year-old palm oil and pineapple grower had been cutting back weeds since morning, clearing the riverbank on the north coast of Sumatra island before driving wooden stakes into the peat at 1.5-meter [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SUNGAI APIT, Indonesia — Harisyah was still knee-deep in the peatland as the light faded over the mouth of Indonesia&#8217;s Siak River. The 53-year-old palm oil and pineapple grower had been cutting back weeds since morning, clearing the riverbank on the north coast of Sumatra island before driving wooden stakes into the peat at 1.5-meter (5-feet) intervals. “We’re going to use this location as a nursery for the new seedlings,” Harisyah told Mongabay Indonesia. “This new generation will grow up close to mangroves, and they can learn more about them through playing and activities.” Harisyah and others who live in Tanjung Kuras, a coastal village in Siak district, say the weather has become increasingly erratic in recent years. Researchers, meanwhile, have documented a rapidly retreating coastline as the area&#8217;s peat soils continue to subside. Residents also contend with frequent tidal flooding, which many blame on the loss of the mangrove forests that once fortified the shoreline. Last Ramadan, the Islamic holy month observed by millions in the world&#8217;s largest Muslim-majority nation, strong winds lifted off the dome from the village mosque. “It’s because there’s no mangrove forest as a buffer to block the wind,” Harisyah said. “It&#8217;s been turned into an oil palm plantation — so the wind from the sea blows straight onto land.” Harisyah plants a marker stake at the mangrove planting site. Image by Suryadi/Mongabay Indonesia. World’s largest mangroves Indonesia&#8217;s more than 17,000 islands contain the world&#8217;s largest mangrove forest estate, covering about 3.3 million hectares (8.2&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-fragile-sumatran-peatland-a-farmer-fights-to-bring-back-lost-mangroves/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-fragile-sumatran-peatland-a-farmer-fights-to-bring-back-lost-mangroves/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326031</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bangladesh gets ready for its first release of tiger rescued from poachers’ trap</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/bangladesh-gets-ready-for-its-first-release-of-tiger-rescued-from-poachers-trap/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/bangladesh-gets-ready-for-its-first-release-of-tiger-rescued-from-poachers-trap/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jul 2026 09:00:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/10084029/upscalemedia-transformed-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323027</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Crime, Endangered Species, Environment, Hope and optimism, Mangroves, Monitoring, Poaching, Tigers, Trapping, Wildlife, Wildlife Rehabilitation, and Wildlife Rescues]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In a first, Bangladesh is preparing to release a tiger back into the wild after it was rescued from a poacher’s trap and provided with medical treatment. On Jan. 4 this year, the Forest Department rescued the female tiger (Panthera tigris), estimated to be around 10 years old, from the Chandpai and Sarankhola forest range [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In a first, Bangladesh is preparing to release a tiger back into the wild after it was rescued from a poacher’s trap and provided with medical treatment. On Jan. 4 this year, the Forest Department rescued the female tiger (Panthera tigris), estimated to be around 10 years old, from the Chandpai and Sarankhola forest range in the Sundarbans East division. The critically injured tiger was taken to the Khulna Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, a facility of the Bangladesh Forest Department, for treatment. “We rescued the tiger from a snare set for deer poaching. After receiving adequate care, the tiger is now ready to return to the wild. We are planning to release her in a few days,” said Md Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, divisional forest officer, Sundarbans East division. According to the latest tiger census, conducted in 2024, Bangladesh is home to 125 globally endangered Bengal tigers living in the Sundarbans mangrove forest. The rescued tiger&#8217;s left foreleg, which was caught in the snare, was severely injured. Image courtesy of the Bangladesh Forest Department. Covering 6,017 square kilometers (2,323 square miles), the mangrove forest is administratively divided into Sundarbans East and Sundarbans West. It is also divided into three blocks — Chandpai-Sarankhola, Khulna and Satkhira. As per the census, the highest number of Bengal tigers is found in the Chandpai-Sarankhola block. “This indicates that the density of other wildlife, including deer and wild boars, is also higher in this block because the forest’s top predators are more concentrated here,” Chowdhury&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/bangladesh-gets-ready-for-its-first-release-of-tiger-rescued-from-poachers-trap/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/bangladesh-gets-ready-for-its-first-release-of-tiger-rescued-from-poachers-trap/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323027</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A coastal Philippine farm offers a blueprint for farming with wetlands</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-coastal-philippine-farm-offers-a-blueprint-for-farming-with-wetlands/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-coastal-philippine-farm-offers-a-blueprint-for-farming-with-wetlands/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jun 2026 23:46:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mavic Conde]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/26091213/Nenieveh-Glinoga-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321890</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Agroforestry, Coastal Ecosystems, Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Environment, Farming, Mangroves, Marine, and Sustainable Forest Management]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PITOGO, Philippines — The Glinoga Integrated Farm in Quezon province sits among brackish fishponds, some active, others long abandoned and slowly reclaimed by the landscape. About a four-hour drive from Manila, the farm in Pitogo municipality can be reached by land or sea. Both routes pass through mangroves. “We raised the embankment and kept the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PITOGO, Philippines — The Glinoga Integrated Farm in Quezon province sits among brackish fishponds, some active, others long abandoned and slowly reclaimed by the landscape. About a four-hour drive from Manila, the farm in Pitogo municipality can be reached by land or sea. Both routes pass through mangroves. “We raised the embankment and kept the mangroves, because the lowest part often floods,” Ninieveh Glinoga, who manages the farm, told Mongabay during a visit in May. The farm’s coconut-covered slopes lead to tidal rice paddies below and wetlands beyond, reflecting the mosaic landscape found across many Philippine coastal communities. As coastal developments across the Philippines erase wetlands that once buffered communities and sustained marine biodiversity, the farm offers a different model: food production intertwined with the coastal ecosystem rather than apart from it. Nipa is seen growing alongside mangroves, during low tide. Image by Mavic Conde for Mongabay. Working with water and natural topography Glinoga’s husband’s family has owned the land for generations. The coconut, cacao and sugarcane that once grew here abundantly sustained the family. But in 2008, the family visited the farm and found it nearly unrecognizable. Years of slash-and-burn farming by a tenant had stripped the land bare. Smoke rose from the ground. “The first thing the tenant fed us was native chicken. There were no greens, just salt,” Glinoga recalled. Her grandmother-in-law, who once managed the farm, could no longer visit due to old age. The relative who next took charge fell ill, leaving the tenant in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-coastal-philippine-farm-offers-a-blueprint-for-farming-with-wetlands/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-coastal-philippine-farm-offers-a-blueprint-for-farming-with-wetlands/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321890</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Kenya’s Mida Creek, fishers confront a changing ocean with hope</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-kenyas-mida-creek-fishers-confront-a-changing-ocean-with-hope/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-kenyas-mida-creek-fishers-confront-a-changing-ocean-with-hope/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Jun 2026 09:24:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/24205351/20260620_131355-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321793</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Freshwater Fish, Mangroves, Marine, Oceans, Research, Science, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[WATAMU, Kenya — By midday, the fish still hadn’t arrived. Since 8 a.m., Alice Kazungu had been sitting at the Mida Creek landing site on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast, waiting for fishers to return from the water. Hours later, she was still waiting. Around her, another woman scanned the creek for signs of approaching canoes. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[WATAMU, Kenya — By midday, the fish still hadn’t arrived. Since 8 a.m., Alice Kazungu had been sitting at the Mida Creek landing site on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast, waiting for fishers to return from the water. Hours later, she was still waiting. Around her, another woman scanned the creek for signs of approaching canoes. Some fishers had already returned empty-handed. Others had not returned at all. For Kazungu, a fishmonger and vice chair of the newly formed Mida Beach Management Unit (BMU), the long wait has become part of daily life. BMUs are the building blocks of fisheries co-management in Kenya, bringing together stakeholders in the sector including fishers, fish sellers and traders. Alice Kazungu, a fishmonger and vice chair of the newly formed Mida Beach Management Unit (BMU), in Watamu, Kenya. Image by David Akana/Mongabay. “There was a time when there was so much fish around here,” she says, pointing to the creek around her. “Now they [the fishers] bring back only two or three kilograms.” For Kazungu, the dwindling catch has become a question of survival. Married and raising children, she depends almost entirely on selling fish for income. When there is no fish, she occasionally sells palm wine tapped from coconut trees. But that is not enough to replace a livelihood built around the ocean. “When I go home, the children ask for food,” she says. “That is what worries me.” Her story echoes across Mida Creek, a sprawling network of mangroves, mudflats and tidal channels&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-kenyas-mida-creek-fishers-confront-a-changing-ocean-with-hope/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-kenyas-mida-creek-fishers-confront-a-changing-ocean-with-hope/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321793</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Can globally essential mangroves bounce back from deforestation? New study gives hope</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/can-globally-essential-mangroves-bounce-back-from-deforestation-new-study-gives-hope/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/can-globally-essential-mangroves-bounce-back-from-deforestation-new-study-gives-hope/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jun 2026 15:17:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Schell]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/23114608/mangroves-and-corals-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321654</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Mangroves, Marine, Marine Conservation, Research, Satellite Imagery, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The world’s mangrove forests, critical coastal ecosystems feared to be on the brink of collapse, are making an unexpected recovery overall, according to research published in June 2026 by scientists at Tulane University in New Orleans in the U.S. The study found that as deforestation and degradation have slowed down over the past decade around [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The world’s mangrove forests, critical coastal ecosystems feared to be on the brink of collapse, are making an unexpected recovery overall, according to research published in June 2026 by scientists at Tulane University in New Orleans in the U.S. The study found that as deforestation and degradation have slowed down over the past decade around the globe, the woody plants have managed to bounce back in many areas. The study analyzed satellite data from the past four decades. It found that unexpected expansion and regrowth across the world began counterbalancing mangrove forest loss around 2010. The rate of gain has nearly outpaced losses, resulting in about a cumulative 1% global decline since the 1980s. The recovery is predominantly driven by expansion of mangroves into new areas rather than recovery of existing forests. Most previous studies on the issue have used radar, which struggles to distinguish mangroves from other ecosystems. This research created a 30-meter resolution annual data set from Landsat satellite images to more accurately identify mangroves around the world from 1984 to 2023. The study also found that mangroves are becoming less degraded. Within mangroves, a greater proportion are closed-canopy forests, which means they are denser, retain more carbon and help secure shorelines. These closed-canopy sections increased from about 50% of mangroves worldwide in the 1980s, to about 58% by 2023. “Our study shows some new ideas about [mangrove] recovery. We find that deforestation and degradation rates are slowing down,” said lead author of the study Zhen Zhang, a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/can-globally-essential-mangroves-bounce-back-from-deforestation-new-study-gives-hope/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/can-globally-essential-mangroves-bounce-back-from-deforestation-new-study-gives-hope/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321654</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Africa’s community-led marine organizations on which 30&#215;30 depends</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/africas-community-led-marine-organizations-on-which-30x30-depends/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/africas-community-led-marine-organizations-on-which-30x30-depends/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jun 2026 10:45:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/17102647/486611801_1125966072908240_4237381363299060798_n-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321349</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Activism, Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, climate finance, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Economics, Environment, Finance, Fish, Freshwater Fish, Mangroves, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Plants, Research, Science, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This week, thousands of delegates are gathered in Mombasa, Kenya, for the first Our Ocean Conference to be hosted on African soil. As expected, much of the conversation will focus on the global &#8220;30&#215;30&#8221; target — protecting 30% of the world&#8217;s land, freshwater and oceans by 2030. Yet, far from the conference halls, the big [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This week, thousands of delegates are gathered in Mombasa, Kenya, for the first Our Ocean Conference to be hosted on African soil. As expected, much of the conversation will focus on the global &#8220;30&#215;30&#8221; target — protecting 30% of the world&#8217;s land, freshwater and oceans by 2030. Yet, far from the conference halls, the big pledges and state commitments, many of the people doing the daily work of marine conservation are community organizations operating on modest budgets along Africa’s coastlines. They often do so far from the spotlight, but their contribution is vital for the global ambition to conserve ocean spaces. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), under whose Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework the 2030 targets were adopted, highlights that success hinges heavily on community involvement. Across Kenya, Tanzania and Namibia, four such groups — Coastal and Marine Resource Development (COMRED), Action for Ocean, Mwambao Coastal Community Network and the Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF) — offer a window into what community-led marine conservation looks like in practice. Their work might be underfunded, uneven and sometimes slow, but are increasingly central to how marine protection is imagined on the continent. Marine ecosystems in Africa support fisheries, tourism, transport, carbon storage and coastal protection while sustaining millions of livelihoods from the Western Indian Ocean to Africa’s Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts. In East Africa in particular, mangroves, coral reefs, seagrass meadows and nearshore fisheries underpin food systems and local economies even as they face pressure from overfishing, habitat degradation, climate change and pollution.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/africas-community-led-marine-organizations-on-which-30x30-depends/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/africas-community-led-marine-organizations-on-which-30x30-depends/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321349</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Indonesia’s Lombok, fishers find food security tied to mangrove reforestation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-indonesias-lombok-fishers-find-food-security-tied-to-mangrove-reforestation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-indonesias-lombok-fishers-find-food-security-tied-to-mangrove-reforestation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Jun 2026 08:51:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ahmad H. Ramdhani]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay User]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/11080656/IMG-20260419-WA0027-1536x1153-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320971</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Lombok, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquaculture, Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fishing, Food, food security, Landscape Restoration, Mangroves, Oceans, Restoration, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[EAST LOMBOK, Indonesia — Jamil stood at the water’s edge holding a bucket of fish guts and chicken heads, waiting for signs of life as the late-afternoon sun cast a sheen over the pond. “At this time of day, they’ll start becoming active and feeding,” said Jamil, 63, as the onshore breeze settled and the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[EAST LOMBOK, Indonesia — Jamil stood at the water’s edge holding a bucket of fish guts and chicken heads, waiting for signs of life as the late-afternoon sun cast a sheen over the pond. “At this time of day, they’ll start becoming active and feeding,” said Jamil, 63, as the onshore breeze settled and the light began to fade. “In the morning, they&#8217;re more likely to stay in their holes.” Until recently, the mud crabs (genus Scylla) were almost entirely a product of the wild here in Sugian village on the Indonesian island of Lombok. Fishers would set traps in the estuary and sell their catch to traders, with little incentive to spare juveniles or undersized animals. “If you sell them immediately when they’re small, they&#8217;re cheaper,” Jamil said. But when crab populations fell from overzealous fishing, so too did local earnings here in a region of Indonesia where many families struggle to remain together in the face of economic pressures. Mangrove roots provide shelter, stabilize temperatures, and support the microorganisms and nutrients on which mud crabs depend. Image by Nopri Ismi/Mongabay Indonesia. Few places in Indonesia endure more family separation than the district of East Lombok. Last year it topped the list of Indonesia’s more than 500 districts for the highest number of its residents who left for work overseas. The minimum wage set by the local government for this year is 2.7 million rupiah ($150), less than half that in the capital, Jakarta. Last year, around 14,000 people&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-indonesias-lombok-fishers-find-food-security-tied-to-mangrove-reforestation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-indonesias-lombok-fishers-find-food-security-tied-to-mangrove-reforestation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320971</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Despite oil spills in Nigeria&#8217;s mangrove forests, Shell continued operations, documents show</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/despite-oil-spills-in-nigerias-mangrove-forests-shell-continued-operations-documents-show/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/despite-oil-spills-in-nigerias-mangrove-forests-shell-continued-operations-documents-show/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jun 2026 14:28:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David AkanaVictoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/05232017/AP788278067772-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320681</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Forest Loss, Forests, Industry, Law, Mangroves, Marine, Oil, Oil Spills, Pollution, Water, Water Pollution, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Global oil giant Shell continued operating a compromised pipeline in Nigeria’s Niger Delta despite knowing it posed a pollution risk in the surrounding coastal wetland environment, newly disclosed internal company communications reveal. The emails and memos, reviewed by Mongabay, show senior leadership knew of the poor conditions of the 97-kilometer (60-mile) Nembe Creek Trunk Line [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Global oil giant Shell continued operating a compromised pipeline in Nigeria’s Niger Delta despite knowing it posed a pollution risk in the surrounding coastal wetland environment, newly disclosed internal company communications reveal. The emails and memos, reviewed by Mongabay, show senior leadership knew of the poor conditions of the 97-kilometer (60-mile) Nembe Creek Trunk Line as early as 2008. Despite concerns it was operating outside technical integrity standards and proposals to shut it down, a top executive decided to keep pumping oil through the line. Carrying 150,000 barrels of oil per day to the export terminal at Bonny Island Rivers state, the Nembe Creek Trunk Line is a critical oil artery in Nigeria. Throughout the years, theft from the pipeline using illegal connections caused spills into the vast mangrove ecosystem of true (Rhizophora sp.) and flowering black (Avicennia sp.) tree species. An internal 2013 Shell document coded such tampered lines as “red,” requiring either their immediate shutdown or immediate action to remove all illegal connections. Locals from the nearby riverine Bille community said the oil spills killed about 2,000 hectares (4,900 acres) of mangrove swamps around the village while impacting an area of 13,200 hectares (32,600 acres). The contaminated waterways and degraded ecosystem, they told Mongabay, killed fish and other aquatic life. Satellite imagery surrounding the village shows massive degradation of the mangroves. &#8220;The aquatic life is gone. Our people can no longer go to the river and catch reasonable fish — they can&#8217;t even find the fish in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/despite-oil-spills-in-nigerias-mangrove-forests-shell-continued-operations-documents-show/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/despite-oil-spills-in-nigerias-mangrove-forests-shell-continued-operations-documents-show/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320681</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Genetic study reveals extinction risk for unique mangrove-adapted pampas cat</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/genetic-study-reveals-extinction-risk-for-unique-mangrove-adapted-pampas-cat/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/genetic-study-reveals-extinction-risk-for-unique-mangrove-adapted-pampas-cat/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2026 16:09:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/05134141/1-desert-pampas-cat-Leopardus-garleppi-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320650</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Forest, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cats, Conservation, Deserts, Dry Forests, Environment, Extinction, Genetics, Habitat, Mammals, Mangroves, Research, Science, Small Cats, Wildlife, Wildlife Corridors, and Zoonotic Diseases]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[More than a decade ago, conservationists began working to preserve a unique population of desert pampas cats that has adapted to the mangroves of Peru’s northern coast. This small, isolated population roams the San Pedro de Vice dry mangroves, a Ramsar Site and South America’s southernmost mangrove ecosystem. “This is a very unique population, because [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[More than a decade ago, conservationists began working to preserve a unique population of desert pampas cats that has adapted to the mangroves of Peru’s northern coast. This small, isolated population roams the San Pedro de Vice dry mangroves, a Ramsar Site and South America’s southernmost mangrove ecosystem. “This is a very unique population, because as far as we know, [it] is the only Pampas cat population that lives in a mangrove [habitat],” Alvaro Garcia, co-coordinator of the Pampas Cat Working Group and the Peruvian Desert Cat Project, told Mongabay in an email. The desert pampas cat (Leopardus garleppi), distinctive for its broad face, ranges along a relatively thin band snaking southward from Colombia through Peru and Bolivia, to northern Chile and Argentina. The species is acclimated to dry conditions, so inhabits deserts, grasslands and dry forests, and isn’t found living in mangroves anywhere else aside from this region of Peru. Dry mangrove forests, also called scrub or dwarf mangrove forests, grow in highly saline soils in upper intertidal zones, so lack regular daily flushing by ocean tides. At first, it was thought the dry mangrove-acclimated cats were faring well: “[I]n the mangrove [habitat], we put cameras out for a week, and we got tons of photos,” whereas in other parts of the felid’s range, conservationists barely capture one desert pampas cat image per month, said Cindy Hurtado, co-coordinator of the Pampas Cat Working Group and the Peruvian Desert Cat Project. Based on the photos, the research team assumed the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/genetic-study-reveals-extinction-risk-for-unique-mangrove-adapted-pampas-cat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/genetic-study-reveals-extinction-risk-for-unique-mangrove-adapted-pampas-cat/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320650</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In eastern Indonesia, communities revive customary systems to protect the seas</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-eastern-indonesia-communities-revive-customary-systems-to-protect-the-seas/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-eastern-indonesia-communities-revive-customary-systems-to-protect-the-seas/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 May 2026 11:19:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/13111549/Memanen-kepiting-di-hutan-mangrove-Desa-Ambelang-Banggai-Kepulauankredit_-Arise-IndonesiaJPG-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319302</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Central Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, South Sulawesi, Southeast Asia, Southeast Sulawesi, and Sulawesi]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquaculture, Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Fish, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Landscape Restoration, Mangroves, Marine, Marine Conservation, Rehabilitation, and Restoration]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — On small islands across eastern Indonesia, coastal communities are reviving customary rules, seasonal fishing closures, turtle protection and mangrove stewardship to protect marine ecosystems threatened by blast fishing, turtle hunting and habitat loss. Their efforts are the focus of Jejak Wallacea, a new documentary produced by Burung Indonesia and Arise! Indonesia as part [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — On small islands across eastern Indonesia, coastal communities are reviving customary rules, seasonal fishing closures, turtle protection and mangrove stewardship to protect marine ecosystems threatened by blast fishing, turtle hunting and habitat loss. Their efforts are the focus of Jejak Wallacea, a new documentary produced by Burung Indonesia and Arise! Indonesia as part of the Wallacea Partnership Program II, a conservation initiative supported by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund. The film follows communities in the provinces of East Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi that use locally rooted systems to manage coastal ecosystems. These include customary sanctions, community patrols, octopus fishing closures, coral reef restoration, turtle hatcheries and mangrove-based livelihoods. For Burung Indonesia, the local affiliate of BirdLife International, the film is also an attempt to show that conservation in the eastern Indonesian islands that make up the Wallacea region, one of the world’s richest marine biodiversity regions, cannot depend only on formal protected areas or top-down enforcement. “The Wallacea Partnership Program is essentially aimed at strengthening the capacity of civil society in site-level conservation,” said Angga Yoga, a terrestrial program specialist at Burung Indonesia. “That’s why the NGOs are not very visible in the film, because the communities themselves are the ones we empower.” Angga contrasted the approach with more exclusionary conservation models, saying the initiatives featured in the film were designed by communities themselves through customary systems rather than imposed mainly through prohibitions. “Instead, it works through customary systems, meaning the communities themselves&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-eastern-indonesia-communities-revive-customary-systems-to-protect-the-seas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/in-eastern-indonesia-communities-revive-customary-systems-to-protect-the-seas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319302</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Green and gray: Mangroves and dikes show potential in protecting shorelines together</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/green-and-gray-mangroves-and-dikes-show-potential-in-protecting-shorelines-together/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/green-and-gray-mangroves-and-dikes-show-potential-in-protecting-shorelines-together/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Apr 2026 20:25:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claudia Geib]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Nandithachandraprakash]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/02115615/AP24312517472072-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316819</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Flooding, Forests, Impact Of Climate Change, Landscape Restoration, Mangroves, Restoration, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With their dense mats of submerged roots, mangrove forests hold down shorelines worldwide like a coastal Swiss Army knife. They’re a nursery for juvenile fish and a home for important species in and out of the water. They’re also a filtration system for pollution, a holdfast against erosion, and a speed bump that slows incoming [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With their dense mats of submerged roots, mangrove forests hold down shorelines worldwide like a coastal Swiss Army knife. They’re a nursery for juvenile fish and a home for important species in and out of the water. They’re also a filtration system for pollution, a holdfast against erosion, and a speed bump that slows incoming waves. But even the best of tools could occasionally use backup. A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examines how combining mangrove restoration with water-directing dikes might multiply these ecosystems’ protective abilities even further, particularly as climate change worsens storm surges and raises sea levels. As a hydrologist by training, Timothy Tiggeloven, lead author and environmental researcher at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, is particularly interested in how to manage unruly water by combining natural defenses (“green” infrastructure) with manmade creations (“gray” infrastructure) like dikes and levees. Though mangroves naturally reduce the height and power of waves, they don’t stop all of the water from a storm or flood from moving inland. “So here comes this synergy of combination,” Tiggeloven said. “If you have a dike behind a mangrove, it will prevent the water from flowing over [onto land]. While if you only have dikes, they will be hit by the waves and there will be an overtopping. Having those two together is actually a very smart idea.” So, Tiggeloven and his colleagues developed a computer model to assess where this combination would be most effective, and how the hybrid defenses might&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/green-and-gray-mangroves-and-dikes-show-potential-in-protecting-shorelines-together/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/green-and-gray-mangroves-and-dikes-show-potential-in-protecting-shorelines-together/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316819</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bangladesh sees rise in ray, shark fishing as traditional seafood species dwindle</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/bangladesh-sees-rise-in-ray-shark-fishing-as-traditional-seafood-species-dwindle/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/bangladesh-sees-rise-in-ray-shark-fishing-as-traditional-seafood-species-dwindle/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Mar 2026 07:50:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Khadijatul Kobra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/12073924/Stingray-04-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315636</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Ecosystems, Elasmobranchs, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Food Industry, Illegal Fishing, Law, Mangroves, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Overfishing, Rays, Saltwater Fish, and Sharks]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Though seafood is a prevalent protein source in Bangladesh, some fishes, like stingrays and sharks, never appealed to most of the population here, barring a few coastal Indigenous groups. However, the illegal fishing of such species has become common in the country in recent years. In a recent incident on Feb. 21, authorities detained 22 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Though seafood is a prevalent protein source in Bangladesh, some fishes, like stingrays and sharks, never appealed to most of the population here, barring a few coastal Indigenous groups. However, the illegal fishing of such species has become common in the country in recent years. In a recent incident on Feb. 21, authorities detained 22 fishers and confiscated around 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of stingray from the coasts of Sundarbans mangroves. Conservationists and experts working in fishery sectors blame poor law enforcement, lack of awareness among fishers, rising illegal demands and poverty of the fishing community as some of the reasons behind the exploitation of such protected marine species in Bangladesh. Data from WCS Bangladesh’s research shows the country’s waters are home to 10 families of sharks and 12 families of rays. Of them, stingrays and whiprays (Dasyatidae family), locally known as shapla pata, are the most common. More than half the shark and ray species found in Bangladesh are threatened with the risk of extinction, according to the research. A 2018 study shows that in Bangladesh stingrays are mainly harvested by artisanal fishers using gillnets, set bag nets (a low-cost, artisanal commercial method in coastal and estuarine waters) and longline hooks between depths of 5 meters (16 feet) and 40 m (130 ft) by the seashore and in coastal rivers in coastal districts like Noakhali, Bhola, Patuakhali, Khulna and Bagerhat. Fishers collect their catch of stingrays together. Image by Muhammad Mostafigur Rahman. Stingrays have become popular among the poorer&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/bangladesh-sees-rise-in-ray-shark-fishing-as-traditional-seafood-species-dwindle/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/bangladesh-sees-rise-in-ray-shark-fishing-as-traditional-seafood-species-dwindle/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315636</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Panama NGOs face lawsuits, asset seizures in fight over port construction</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/panama-ngos-face-lawsuits-asset-seizures-in-fight-over-port-construction/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/panama-ngos-face-lawsuits-asset-seizures-in-fight-over-port-construction/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Feb 2026 22:07:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/23213301/manglares_david_chiriqui_panama-scaled-2-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314668</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Panama]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Birds, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Infrastructure, Mangroves, Marine, Marine Conservation, Politics, Protected Areas, Sharks, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For more than a year, dozens of environmental groups have been fighting the construction of a controversial port in Panama, arguing that it will harm marine life and the mangroves they depend on. Now, two of those groups have had their assets seized amid lawsuits filed by the port’s developer — a move environmental advocates [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For more than a year, dozens of environmental groups have been fighting the construction of a controversial port in Panama, arguing that it will harm marine life and the mangroves they depend on. Now, two of those groups have had their assets seized amid lawsuits filed by the port’s developer — a move environmental advocates say is highly unusual. The Puerto Barú project, located in Panama’s northwestern Chiriquí province, has been stalled by legal challenges filed by a coalition of environmental groups, which have also led public campaigns claiming the port could damage the breeding grounds of sharks, rays and other marine life. In response, the port’s developer, Ocean Pacific Financial Services Corp., has filed criminal and civil lawsuits against two of the groups, and a court has ordered the seizure of some of their assets. “It’s a very worrying precedent that the judicial system is being used in this way against actions to defend the environment,” said Joana Abrego, legal manager at the Environmental Advocacy Center of Panama (CIAM), a nonprofit and one of the defendants in the lawsuits. Puerto Barú is designed to improve connectivity with the nearby town of David and the Pan-American Highway while also strengthening tourism and agribusiness, according to developers. But the project also includes a 31-kilometer (19-mile) navigation channel to the Pacific coast that must be dredged deep enough for large merchant ships. The area is home to around 25% of Panama’s mangroves, and parts of it are considered an Important Shark and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/panama-ngos-face-lawsuits-asset-seizures-in-fight-over-port-construction/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/panama-ngos-face-lawsuits-asset-seizures-in-fight-over-port-construction/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314668</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How intermediaries are reshaping mangrove restoration</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/california-ngo-uses-science-storytelling-to-boost-global-mangrove-restoration/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/california-ngo-uses-science-storytelling-to-boost-global-mangrove-restoration/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Feb 2026 16:25:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Marina Martinez]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/06094551/1-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313853</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Forest Restoration Solutions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, East Africa, Florida, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, North America, Southeast Asia, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Illegal Logging, Mangroves, Restoration, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Mangrove forests, located along tropical and subtropical coastlines, are increasingly recognized for their role in buffering climate disasters, storing carbon, supporting wildlife and livelihoods. Yet even as interest in mangrove conservation and restoration has surged in recent years, many projects fail — seedlings die, sites degrade further or communities disengage. One reason, according to Catherine [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Mangrove forests, located along tropical and subtropical coastlines, are increasingly recognized for their role in buffering climate disasters, storing carbon, supporting wildlife and livelihoods. Yet even as interest in mangrove conservation and restoration has surged in recent years, many projects fail — seedlings die, sites degrade further or communities disengage. One reason, according to Catherine Lovelock, professor in the School of the Environment at the University of Queensland in Australia and expert in mangrove ecology, is that restoration efforts are often led by small community groups with limited resources and expertise. In fact, studies have shown that around 70% of mangrove restoration projects in some regions, particularly Southeast Asia and Latin America, have low rates of success. To bridge this gap, a growing number of environmental nonprofits are tapping into their experience with fundraising and resource mobilization to help local communities more effectively conduct restoration. Seatrees, a California-based NGO (formerly known as Sustainable Surf), is one such organization. Rather than running projects itself, the organization partners with local community groups and other NGOs, providing funding, scientific expertise and media support to boost coastal and marine restoration efforts worldwide, including mangroves. Over the past five years, Seatrees has supported mangrove restoration projects in Kenya, Mexico, the U.S. and Indonesia “by providing much needed funds to scale up tree planting, produce storytelling materials and build capacity in science, monitoring and impact measurement,” Leah Hays, the program director, told Mongabay. Seatrees is one of nearly 130 organizations worldwide identified by researchers at the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/california-ngo-uses-science-storytelling-to-boost-global-mangrove-restoration/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/california-ngo-uses-science-storytelling-to-boost-global-mangrove-restoration/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313853</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>More than 5 years after Wakashio oil spill, questions linger in Mauritius</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/more-than-5-years-after-wakashio-oil-spill-questions-linger-in-mauritius/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/more-than-5-years-after-wakashio-oil-spill-questions-linger-in-mauritius/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jan 2026 14:36:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawahare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/26124245/1_wakashio-aground-Wikipedia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313334</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Mauritius, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Mangroves, Marine, Marine Animals, and Oil Spills]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[POINTE D’ESNY, Mauritius — In August 2020, Vikash Tatayah at the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation made a phone call he never expected to make. He had “an unusual request,” he recounts telling friends in the U.K. who owned a private jet: A bunch of geckos needed to be evacuated. Mauritius had just entered COVID-19 lockdown, its [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[POINTE D’ESNY, Mauritius — In August 2020, Vikash Tatayah at the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation made a phone call he never expected to make. He had “an unusual request,” he recounts telling friends in the U.K. who owned a private jet: A bunch of geckos needed to be evacuated. Mauritius had just entered COVID-19 lockdown, its airspace was closed, so it would have to be a special flight. Amid the chaos of the pandemic, the island nation had been hit by one of the worst environmental disasters in its history. On July 25, the MV Wakashio crashed onto coral reefs off Mauritius’ southeastern coast, later spilling around 1,000 metric tons of oil. In time, the slick spread north, creeping to the islets that line the coast. These are home to threatened lesser night geckos (Nactus coindemirensis), prompting Tatayah to call for their evacuation. The oil spill occurred near Blue Bay Marine Park, a coral hotspot, and two other protected sites: the Pointe d&#8217;Esny Wetland (a Ramsar site blessed with rich mangroves ) and the Ile aux Aigrettes Nature Reserve. Oil started leaking from the ship in the first week of August. On Aug. 15, the Wakashio broke in two. In the days following the spill, ocean currents nudged the floating oil northward toward Vieux-Grand-Port. At its most expansive, the oil spill covered nearly 30 square kilometers (11.6 square miles) of coastal waters. A government-appointed group estimated that the shipwreck and oil spill affected 96 km2 (37 mi2) of coastal and marine&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/more-than-5-years-after-wakashio-oil-spill-questions-linger-in-mauritius/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/more-than-5-years-after-wakashio-oil-spill-questions-linger-in-mauritius/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313334</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>From south to north, Sri Lanka’s cricket dreams undermine fragile ecosystems</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/from-south-to-north-sri-lankas-cricket-dreams-undermine-fragile-ecosystems/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/from-south-to-north-sri-lankas-cricket-dreams-undermine-fragile-ecosystems/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Jan 2026 13:51:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/19123959/1-Mandathivu-island-c-Muhunthan-Balachandiran-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313088</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Development, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Fishing, Forest Destruction, Governance, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Infrastructure, Islands, Mangroves, Marine, Planetary Boundaries, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Cricket is more than a sport in Sri Lanka. It is woven into the country’s postindependence identity, a unifying passion that cuts across class, ethnicity and geography. Yet in recent years, the push to expand cricket infrastructure has increasingly collided with fragile ecosystems, triggering uncomfortable questions about development priorities, environmental governance and climate [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Cricket is more than a sport in Sri Lanka. It is woven into the country’s postindependence identity, a unifying passion that cuts across class, ethnicity and geography. Yet in recent years, the push to expand cricket infrastructure has increasingly collided with fragile ecosystems, triggering uncomfortable questions about development priorities, environmental governance and climate resilience. The latest controversy centers around plans to build an international cricket stadium on Mandaitivu, a small island off the Jaffna Peninsula in Sri Lanka’s Northern province. Environmentalists warn that the proposal threatens a sensitive coastal ecosystem already under pressure from sea-level rise, flooding and postwar development. Mandaitivu Island has a traditional fishing community that relies on prawns and crabs for its livelihood, and the mangrove ecosystems are their breeding ground. Image courtesy of Muhunthan Balachandiran. In September, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake launched the construction, stating that the Jaffna International Cricket Stadium will not merely be a venue for cricket, but a symbol of national unity. Prasanna Rodrigo, media spokesperson for Sri Lanka Cricket, confirms a delay in commencing construction due to Cyclone Ditwah but says development work is being carried out as planned to have the project commissioned for international matches by 2027. This international cricket ground is part of Sri Lanka Cricket’s broader initiative to develop a modern sports city in Jaffna covering a total area of 56 hectares (138 acres), Rodrigo told Mongabay. Mandaitivu is a low-lying island of 7.6 square kilometers (2.9 square miles), rising only about 5 meters (16 feet) above sea&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/from-south-to-north-sri-lankas-cricket-dreams-undermine-fragile-ecosystems/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/from-south-to-north-sri-lankas-cricket-dreams-undermine-fragile-ecosystems/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313088</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Democratizing AI for conservation: Interview with Ai2’s Ted Schmitt and Patrick Beukema</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/democratizing-ai-for-conservation-interview-with-ai2s-ted-schmitt-and-patrick-beukema/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/democratizing-ai-for-conservation-interview-with-ai2s-ted-schmitt-and-patrick-beukema/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jan 2026 07:29:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhishyant Kidangoor]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhishyantkidangoor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/15065525/a.-BANNER-Mangrove_Islet-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312972</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence, Conservation, Conservation Technology, data, Environment, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Mangroves, Technology, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Environmental data-gathering technology has proliferated in recent years. But how do you derive meaningful insights from myriad data sources? A new AI-powered platform aims to solve this problem. OlmoEarth, developed by the nonprofit Allen Institute for AI (Ai2), is a platform that integrates multiple artificial intelligence models that have been trained on approximately 10 terabytes [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Environmental data-gathering technology has proliferated in recent years. But how do you derive meaningful insights from myriad data sources? A new AI-powered platform aims to solve this problem. OlmoEarth, developed by the nonprofit Allen Institute for AI (Ai2), is a platform that integrates multiple artificial intelligence models that have been trained on approximately 10 terabytes of environment observation data. The open-source platform, launched in November, helps extract actionable insights from satellite as well as sensor data. The platform allows researchers as well as organizations to use their own data to customize a foundational model and use it to monitor trends such as forest loss or mangrove health without having to build models from scratch. “It&#8217;s intended to democratize access to this kind of technology in a no-code kind of way,” Patrick Beukema, the OlmoEarth lead at Ai2, told Mongabay in a video interview. The motivation behind building the platform was to drastically reduce the time scientists spent parsing through humongous volumes of data to get meaningful information from it. “What we set out to do was to flip that on its head and really go from them spending months to literally days to get the same sort of information,” Ted Schmitt, senior director of conservation at Ai2, told Mongabay in a video interview. Mangrove tree rising out of crystal clear turquoise water on the tropical beach of Havelock Island, Andaman Sea, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. Image by Vyacheslav Argenberg via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0). Beukema and Schmitt spoke&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/democratizing-ai-for-conservation-interview-with-ai2s-ted-schmitt-and-patrick-beukema/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/democratizing-ai-for-conservation-interview-with-ai2s-ted-schmitt-and-patrick-beukema/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312972</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Huge ‘blue carbon’ offsetting project takes root in the mangroves of Sierra Leone</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/huge-blue-carbon-offsetting-project-takes-root-in-the-mangroves-of-sierra-leone/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/huge-blue-carbon-offsetting-project-takes-root-in-the-mangroves-of-sierra-leone/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Dec 2025 20:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward CarverMohamed Fofanah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/23151914/4-Community-members-plant-red-mangrove-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311956</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Sierra Leone, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Blue Carbon, carbon, Carbon Credits, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Offsets, Carbon Sequestration, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forest Carbon, Governance, Islands, Mangroves, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Restoration, and Soil Carbon]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BONTHE, Sierra Leone — On the island of Sherbro in Sierra Leone, as in much of the country, there’s limited access to vital services needed to make ends meet. “Here our people only rely on fishing and a few on agriculture and have nothing else to occupy our children, our youths,” Nenneh Sumaila, the chief [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BONTHE, Sierra Leone — On the island of Sherbro in Sierra Leone, as in much of the country, there’s limited access to vital services needed to make ends meet. “Here our people only rely on fishing and a few on agriculture and have nothing else to occupy our children, our youths,” Nenneh Sumaila, the chief of Gbomgboma, a village of about 300 people on the island, told Mongabay. “There are no good roads, no proper health facilities, there’s poor housing, electricity is a dream and the standard of living is poor.” One of the ways to make ends meet in Gbomgboma is by cultivating oil palm trees. But to process the fruit into palm oil, they need fuel for fire, which often comes from mangroves — one of many local uses for the wood. Cutting mangroves unsustainably turns them from a carbon sink into a source of greenhouse gas emissions and hurts their ability to foster biodiversity and provide other ecosystem services. “Blue carbon” projects aim to reverse this trend, and one called the Sherbro River Estuary Project has just been launched with more than 124 communities there. A wholly owned subsidiary of West Africa Blue, a Mauritius-based company, reportedly signed a deal with the communities in October that will reward them financially for conserving and restoring their mangroves. Company representatives told Mongabay that the funds will be generated by selling offsets on the voluntary carbon credit market, with revenues shared between West Africa Blue, the communities and the government&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/huge-blue-carbon-offsetting-project-takes-root-in-the-mangroves-of-sierra-leone/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/huge-blue-carbon-offsetting-project-takes-root-in-the-mangroves-of-sierra-leone/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311956</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As fish catches fall and seas rise, Douala’s residents join efforts to restore mangroves</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/as-fish-catches-fall-and-seas-rise-doualas-residents-join-efforts-to-restore-mangroves/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/as-fish-catches-fall-and-seas-rise-doualas-residents-join-efforts-to-restore-mangroves/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Dec 2025 16:18:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ngala Chimtom]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/09073438/Manoka-Island-mangroves-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310842</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Cameroon, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Justice, Coastal Ecosystems, Community Development, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Forestry, Governance, Landscape Restoration, Mangroves, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Reforestation, Restoration, Sea Levels, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[DOUALA, Cameroon — Henry Belle Ekam, 37, cuts a frustrated figure as he paddles his boat to the shore in the Bojongo neighborhood of Cameroon’s largest city, Douala. The fisherman has been out on the waters of the Wouri Estuary for hours, and all he’s brought back to show for his effort is a tiny [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[DOUALA, Cameroon — Henry Belle Ekam, 37, cuts a frustrated figure as he paddles his boat to the shore in the Bojongo neighborhood of Cameroon’s largest city, Douala. The fisherman has been out on the waters of the Wouri Estuary for hours, and all he’s brought back to show for his effort is a tiny catfish. “It’s so frustrating,” he says, putting away the empty net. “A few years back, you didn’t need to go far to have a good harvest. Everything has changed.” The coastal landscape here has changed, and with it the fishing fortunes of resident communities. Experts point to retreating mangrove forests as one of the reasons for the troubles Ekam and other fishers here are facing. The Cameroon Mangrove Ecosystem Restoration and Resilience (CAMERR) project, launched in November 2022 by a group of international NGOs in partnership with the Cameroonian government and local organizations, is one of the largest mangrove restoration projects in the country. It aims to restore 1,000 hectares (nearly 2,500 acres) of mangroves over 30 years. The focus of the initiative is the estuary of the Wouri River, with the city of Douala on its southeastern shore. The Watershed Task Group (WTG), a local nonprofit leading the effort, says it has restored more than 100 hectares (250 acres) of mangroves in the Cameroon and Ntem river estuaries. In Bojongo (part of the Douala or Cameroon estuary), under another initiative of the local administrative council and with funding from the United Nations Environment Programme&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/as-fish-catches-fall-and-seas-rise-doualas-residents-join-efforts-to-restore-mangroves/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/as-fish-catches-fall-and-seas-rise-doualas-residents-join-efforts-to-restore-mangroves/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310842</doi>				</item>
			</channel>
</rss>