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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<title>News on Pesticides</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/pesticides/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Ancient Maya knowledge helps Guatemalan farmers cut agrochemical use</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/ancient-maya-knowledge-helps-guatemalan-farmers-cut-agrochemical-use/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/ancient-maya-knowledge-helps-guatemalan-farmers-cut-agrochemical-use/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jun 2026 11:05:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mark Hillsdon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[agroecology]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/09105544/Actividad-control-de-plagas-y-preparacion-de-insecticidas-caseros-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320767</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Guatemala, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Agroecology, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Crops, Farming, Indigenous Peoples, Pesticides, Pollinators, Soil Carbon, Solutions, and Traditional Knowledge]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the mountain villages of Guatemala’s Western Highlands, farmers are combining ancient Maya knowledge with modern sustainable farming techniques to protect their crops from pests and disease. Smallholders are creating homemade biopesticides using plants with strong smells and flavors to deter pests on their family plots. This is helping to cut back on the use [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the mountain villages of Guatemala’s Western Highlands, farmers are combining ancient Maya knowledge with modern sustainable farming techniques to protect their crops from pests and disease. Smallholders are creating homemade biopesticides using plants with strong smells and flavors to deter pests on their family plots. This is helping to cut back on the use of increasingly expensive agrochemicals, many of which have been labeled as dangerous to human health and linked to soil degradation. About 60 Guatemalan communities in the Western Highland departments of Sololá and Huehuetenango, as well as Chiquimula in the east, are working to revive these traditional techniques with support from the international development organization World Neighbors. Their focus is to restore and strengthen traditional knowledge, combining it with agroecological practices that help families produce surplus food they can sell to boost household incomes. “Traditional farming techniques are becoming popular because they are simple practices to apply, use local resources, and have proven to be effective,” Dayani Roche, a program associate at World Neighbors, told Mongabay via email. Rather than a single ancient recipe, farmers are using “a living combination of ancestral knowledge, local experimentation and more recent agroecological practices,” he said, which are “safer for families, soil, water and biodiversity than many chemical alternatives.” The Maya civilization, which once stretched across modern-day Central America, had a rich history of farming dating back to 2000 B.C.E. Its most celebrated agriculture system is the milpa, a form of intercropping that involves a mix of maize, beans and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/ancient-maya-knowledge-helps-guatemalan-farmers-cut-agrochemical-use/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/ancient-maya-knowledge-helps-guatemalan-farmers-cut-agrochemical-use/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320767</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As EU-Mercosur agreement goes into effect, environmentalists raise red flags</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/as-eu-mercosur-agreement-goes-into-effect-environmentalists-raise-red-flags/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/as-eu-mercosur-agreement-goes-into-effect-environmentalists-raise-red-flags/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Apr 2026 21:56:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ramana Rech]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/08214604/07_05_2022_Ato_alusivo_a_visita_a_23a_Feira_Nacional_da_Soja_52057648056-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317212</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, European Union, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Commodity agriculture, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Economics, Environment, Environmental Law, Law, Law Enforcement, Mining, Pesticides, Rainforest Destruction, Saving Rainforests, Solutions, and Soy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In March, after decades of negotiations, the free trade agreement between Mercosur nations and the European Union (EU) was ratified by Paraguay, the last founding member of the Latin American bloc to give the green light to the deal. Already in its final stage, the document will be provisionally implemented in May, 2026, according to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In March, after decades of negotiations, the free trade agreement between Mercosur nations and the European Union (EU) was ratified by Paraguay, the last founding member of the Latin American bloc to give the green light to the deal. Already in its final stage, the document will be provisionally implemented in May, 2026, according to the European Commission. The agreement is being hailed as an economic boon for both EU and Latin American nations. However, it may cause a series of environmental impacts. According to various NGOs and environmental advocates, major problems for Latin America could include expansion of deforestation, mining, and pesticide imports and use. Other experts argue that the agreement could impose a series of environmental rules on already existing global trade – in addition to facilitating knowledge exchange among the parties. Good for trade, bad for the environment? Mercosur, as it’s known in Spanish, and Mercosul, in Portuguese, has been dubbed the Southern Common Market. It represents one of the world’s leading economic blocs, and its fifth-largest economy. It is composed of five member countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bolivia) and seven associate members (Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and most recently Panama). In general terms, the treaty between Mercosur nations and the European Union provides for gradual reduction of import tariffs between the two continental blocs. In late February, the Brazilian government stated that the EU “commits to eliminating import tariffs on approximately 95% of goods that account for 92% of the value of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/as-eu-mercosur-agreement-goes-into-effect-environmentalists-raise-red-flags/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/as-eu-mercosur-agreement-goes-into-effect-environmentalists-raise-red-flags/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317212</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Railroad &#038; tariff war boost soy in Brazil’s Cerrado, endangering Indigenous lands</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/railroad-tariff-war-boost-soy-in-brazils-cerrado-endangering-indigenous-lands/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/railroad-tariff-war-boost-soy-in-brazils-cerrado-endangering-indigenous-lands/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Apr 2026 16:29:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kevin Damasio]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/02155029/08-05102025-Z08_2257-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316840</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon and Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commodity agriculture, Conservation, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Pesticides, and Soy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MATO GROSSO, Brazil — In 2025, soy farmers in Brazil saw a new boost caused by the tariff war between the United States and China. Brazilian soy exports to the Chinese market reached a record high: 85.4 million metric tons, almost 80% of total soy shipments. In Mato Grosso, soy production had already seen a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MATO GROSSO, Brazil — In 2025, soy farmers in Brazil saw a new boost caused by the tariff war between the United States and China. Brazilian soy exports to the Chinese market reached a record high: 85.4 million metric tons, almost 80% of total soy shipments. In Mato Grosso, soy production had already seen a boost in 2019, partly due to trade tensions between the Chinese and the first U.S. President Donald Trump administration. In addition to China’s demand for the product, new agricultural frontiers were opened for soy farmers after the BR-163 federal road was paved, connecting them to ports in Pará state. Since then, soy plantations in Mato Grosso have increased by 3.4 million hectares (8.4 million acres), according to Brazil’s National Supply Company (CONAB), while their output went from 33 million metric tons in the 2018-19 harvest to 51 million metric tons in 2024-25 – a 54.5% increase. Soy plantations are advancing mainly in the Cerrado, the most biodiverse savanna on the planet, which is essential to Brazil’s water supply, since its sources provide it to eight of the country’s 12 hydrographic regions. In the Juruena River Basin, in western Mato Grosso, consolidation of monocultures — not only soy but also corn and cotton — is a matter of concern to people in the Tirecatinga Indigenous Land. They report that the surrounding farms have been contaminating water bodies, plants and fruit with pesticides and are blocking the rivers with small hydroelectric plants. Located between the Buriti and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/railroad-tariff-war-boost-soy-in-brazils-cerrado-endangering-indigenous-lands/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316840</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Brazil, regenerative farming advances, but deforestation still pressures ecosystems</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-brazil-regenerative-farming-advances-but-deforestation-still-pressures-ecosystems/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-brazil-regenerative-farming-advances-but-deforestation-still-pressures-ecosystems/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Mar 2026 16:58:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mie Hoejris Dahl]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[agroecology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/17165558/BANNER-UF17MGJ-25178_0047-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315826</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Agroecology, Biodiversity, Cattle, Climate Change, Commodity agriculture, Conservation, Crops, Deforestation, Degraded Lands, Ecosystems, Farming, Forest Destruction, Habitat Degradation, Industrial Agriculture, Pesticides, Ranching, Restoration, and Soil Carbon]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SINOP, Brazil — In Brazil’s Mato Grosso state, the country’s agricultural heartland, vast stretches of lush Amazon rainforest and Cerrado savanna give way to seemingly endless fields of soy. Located in a transition zone where the Amazon and Cerrado meet the Pantanal wetlands, about 90% of the state’s area was once covered in native vegetation. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SINOP, Brazil — In Brazil’s Mato Grosso state, the country’s agricultural heartland, vast stretches of lush Amazon rainforest and Cerrado savanna give way to seemingly endless fields of soy. Located in a transition zone where the Amazon and Cerrado meet the Pantanal wetlands, about 90% of the state’s area was once covered in native vegetation. But from the 1970s onward, agricultural innovation and public policies — including subsidies that encouraged farmers to settle and clear land in Mato Grosso — allowed the agricultural frontier to advance rapidly, turning Mato Grosso into one of Brazil’s main farming powerhouses. The Amazon, the world’s largest tropical rainforest, covers about 60% of Brazil. The Cerrado, one of the world’s most expansive savannas, spans some 2 million square kilometers (772,000 square miles) of tropical grasslands, trees and watersheds that regulate rainfall patterns and temperatures. About a fifth of the Brazilian Amazon has been deforested since monitoring began in 1985, and nearly half of the native vegetation of the Cerrado biome has been cleared for cattle and soy. Some of Mato Grosso’s former vast soy fields and cattle pasture have been left degraded — eroded grasslands that function neither as forest nor productive farmland. At a Biancon Group farm in Mato Grosso’s Itaúba municipality, Ivan Biancon, co-owner of the family-owned agribusiness group, scoops soil into his hands and lets it fall. The soil, he says, is now healthy enough to grow cotton, corn and soy beans. When he and his brother, Igor, first arrived, “these were&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-brazil-regenerative-farming-advances-but-deforestation-still-pressures-ecosystems/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/in-brazil-regenerative-farming-advances-but-deforestation-still-pressures-ecosystems/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315826</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nations not on track to meet UN 2030 pesticide risk reduction targets: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/nations-not-on-track-to-meet-un-2030-pesticide-risk-reduction-targets-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/nations-not-on-track-to-meet-un-2030-pesticide-risk-reduction-targets-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Mar 2026 16:46:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/01/16203216/pexels-gilmer-diaz-estela-6345502-scaled-e1673901240276-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315348</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Agroecology, Biology, Chemicals, Conservation, Crops, Environment, Environmental Policy, Food, Food Industry, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Industrial Agriculture, Industry, Pesticides, Pollution, Public Health, and Regulations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The world’s nations committed to halving overall threats to biodiversity from pesticides and other highly hazardous chemicals by 2030 at the 15th United Nations Biodiversity Conference in 2022. But new research finds most countries are trending in the wrong direction when it comes to ecological risks from pesticides, with the U.N.’s global risk reduction target [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The world’s nations committed to halving overall threats to biodiversity from pesticides and other highly hazardous chemicals by 2030 at the 15th United Nations Biodiversity Conference in 2022. But new research finds most countries are trending in the wrong direction when it comes to ecological risks from pesticides, with the U.N.’s global risk reduction target unlikely to be met without substantial changes to agricultural systems. In fact, only one country, Chile, is currently on track to meet the U.N. target of reducing pesticide risk by 50% by 2030, according to recent findings by a team of environmental scientists from German university RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, and published in the journal Science. Pesticide risk in this context is defined as the probability of chemical compounds — including insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides — used to control agricultural pests having adverse effects on species not directly targeted by the pesticides and, thus, on ecosystems more broadly — and ultimately on humans. The new study found that the applied toxicity of insecticides has increased for pollinating insects such as honey bees. Image by Louise Docker via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0). To determine global pesticide risk, the study researchers looked at data on pesticide use from 2013 to 2019 in 65 nations that collectively represent nearly 80% of global crop acreage. They then combined these statistics with data on the toxicity of 625 pesticides for eight different species groups, including aquatic invertebrates and plants, fish, pollinating insects, soil organisms, and terrestrial arthropods, plants and vertebrates. This&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/nations-not-on-track-to-meet-un-2030-pesticide-risk-reduction-targets-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315348</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pesticides found in 70% of European soils, harming beneficial life: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/pesticides-found-in-70-of-european-soils-harming-beneficial-life-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/pesticides-found-in-70-of-european-soils-harming-beneficial-life-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Feb 2026 19:29:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/06190852/header-Plump_Springtail_iNat_105831052_-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313903</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Chemicals, Environment, Fungi, Green, Insects, Pesticides, and Soil Carbon]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For farmers, sometimes the easiest way to save a crop or prevent catastrophic insect damage is to spray a pesticide. But this common practice is wreaking havoc on the soil, according to new research published recently in the journal Nature. The study examined soil from 26 European countries, finding that pesticide contamination is widespread beyond [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For farmers, sometimes the easiest way to save a crop or prevent catastrophic insect damage is to spray a pesticide. But this common practice is wreaking havoc on the soil, according to new research published recently in the journal Nature. The study examined soil from 26 European countries, finding that pesticide contamination is widespread beyond agricultural lands and substantially damages the beneficial soil organisms essential for healthy ecosystems. Researchers found pesticide residues in 70% of the 373 soil samples collected from agricultural fields, grasslands and forests. The contamination emerged as the second-strongest factor shaping soil biodiversity patterns, surpassed only by basic soil properties like texture and pH. &#8220;This contamination has a major impact on various beneficial soil organisms, such as mycorrhizal fungi and nematodes, impairing their biodiversity,&#8221; Marcel van der Heijden, a professor at the University of Zurich&#8217;s Department of Plant and Microbial Biology and one of the study&#8217;s lead authors, said in a statement. Mycorrhizal fungi form partnerships with the roots of plants and generally help plants obtain minerals and water from soil. Image by Wilhelm Zimmerling PAR via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Mycorrhizal fungi, which form partnerships with plant roots to help crops absorb water and nutrients, were among the organisms most affected by pesticide exposure. The fungicide bixafen, commonly used to combat harmful fungi on cereal crops, proved especially damaging to multiple types of soil organisms studied. The harmful effects of pesticides on birds, bees and other insects have been well documented. However, impacts on soil&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/pesticides-found-in-70-of-european-soils-harming-beneficial-life-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313903</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Banned for years, dangerous pesticides persist in Nigerian farming</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/banned-for-years-dangerous-pesticides-persist-in-nigerian-farming/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/banned-for-years-dangerous-pesticides-persist-in-nigerian-farming/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Dec 2025 20:15:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Samuel Ogunsona]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/12115728/Nigeria-women-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311227</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Chemicals, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Farming, Health, Pesticides, Pollution, Public Health, and Soil Carbon]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The sun rises over lush farm fields of on the outskirts of Lagos. For more than 20 years, a farmer named Joe has tilled the land, coaxing life from the earth and reaping bountiful harvests. But here, beneath the surface of this idyllic scene, lies a complex web of challenges — chief among them, the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The sun rises over lush farm fields of on the outskirts of Lagos. For more than 20 years, a farmer named Joe has tilled the land, coaxing life from the earth and reaping bountiful harvests. But here, beneath the surface of this idyllic scene, lies a complex web of challenges — chief among them, the relentless threat of pests. Joe’s story is one of trial and error, of desperation and loss, and of the unintended consequences of relying on chemical pesticides. “I planted scent leaf [African basil] on my farmland, it started germinating … that was the beginning and first time planting such seedlings, so I didn’t know how tough it could be,” Joe recalls, his voice laced with a mix of frustration and resignation while speaking to Mongabay. He notes an abundance of aphids and caterpillars on his plants, which present a constant challenge. “I came to my farmland one fateful morning and I saw a lot of insects flying around my farm,” he says. “They have taken over my scent leaf. That incident resulted in total loss of my investment because no one could buy that produce.” That experience marked a turning point in his farming career. Desperate to protect his livelihood, Joe turned to chemical pesticides, convinced they held the key to safeguarding his crops. But the pesticides that promised to save Joe’s crops have become a double-edged sword for him. The substances he used are called organochlorine pesticides, which have been linked to soil degradation, the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/banned-for-years-dangerous-pesticides-persist-in-nigerian-farming/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311227</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Silent epidemic of chemical pollution’ demands radical regulatory redo, say scientists</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/silent-epidemic-of-chemical-pollution-demands-radical-regulatory-redo-say-scientists/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/silent-epidemic-of-chemical-pollution-demands-radical-regulatory-redo-say-scientists/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Dec 2025 20:28:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/03085540/Image-3-Pesticide-spray-in-a-field-63313-pixahive-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310482</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, Global, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Agroecology, Animals, Biology, Chemicals, Climate, Conservation, Crops, Diseases, Environment, Food, Food Industry, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Industrial Agriculture, Industry, Mammals, Oil, Pesticides, Planetary Health, Plastic, Pollution, Public Health, Regulations, and Toxicology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[An international team of scientists has issued a stark warning that current toxicology and chemical regulatory regimes are failing to protect public health and the environment from a host of toxins found in pesticides and other petrochemical-based compounds. In an article published in November in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Sciences Europe, 43 researchers from five [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[An international team of scientists has issued a stark warning that current toxicology and chemical regulatory regimes are failing to protect public health and the environment from a host of toxins found in pesticides and other petrochemical-based compounds. In an article published in November in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Sciences Europe, 43 researchers from five continents, including leading experts in toxicology, biology, public health and environmental sciences, began by pointing out severe lapses in current regulatory systems for evaluating the safety of products derived from petrochemical byproducts. They note, for example, that the full commercial formulations of common petrochemical-based pesticides used in global agriculture have never been subjected to long-term tests on mammals. They also note that only the active ingredients declared by makers of pesticides and plasticizers (a type of chemical additive used to increase pliability) have been assessed for human health risks. In fact, the full ingredient lists for these commercial chemical compounds are often proprietary — not publicly disclosed by the companies that develop them. And yet, the article’s authors found that these pesticides and plasticizers contain petroleum-based waste and heavy metals such as arsenic that could make them “at least 1000 times more toxic at low environmentally relevant doses than the active ingredients alone under conditions of long-term exposure.” As a result of these regulatory failings, “We are facing a silent epidemic of chemical pollution,” said article co-author Angelika Hilbeck, a biologist at ETH Zürich. “Chronic diseases are surging, biodiversity is collapsing, and public trust in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/silent-epidemic-of-chemical-pollution-demands-radical-regulatory-redo-say-scientists/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310482</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As Singapore heats up, pests are seeking refuge indoors</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/as-singapore-heats-up-pests-are-seeking-refuge-indoors/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/as-singapore-heats-up-pests-are-seeking-refuge-indoors/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Oct 2025 07:08:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Robin Hicks]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/09070714/Dorsal_view_of_Papilio_demoleus_Linnaeus_1758_%E2%80%93_Lime_Swallowtail_02-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307253</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animal Welfare, Cities, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Global Warming, Insects, Pesticides, Rodents, Temperatures, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SINGAPORE — Singapore’s reputation as one of the world’s cleanest cities is being put to the test by a surge in rodent and insect infestations that experts say is being fueled by climate change and heat stress. At Changi Airport, famous for its indoor gardens that embody the “City in Nature” image Singapore markets to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SINGAPORE — Singapore’s reputation as one of the world’s cleanest cities is being put to the test by a surge in rodent and insect infestations that experts say is being fueled by climate change and heat stress. At Changi Airport, famous for its indoor gardens that embody the “City in Nature” image Singapore markets to the world, lush plant displays have been succumbing to disease and insect attacks. In the last two years, swaths of greenery have had to be replaced. It’s a similar story at the iconic floating Apple Store at Marina Bay Sands, where a circle of Chinese banyan trees lines the interior of its glass dome, encircling the latest iPhones, iPads and MacBooks. Last year, the trees had to be replaced because of insect infestations. “The insects are coming inside — to escape the heat,” says Veera Sekaran, a botanist at the National University of Singapore and founder of Greenology, the firm that manages landscaping at both Changi and Apple’s flagship store. “Heat stress doesn’t just affect people.” Biological markers for heat stress Plants grown in artificial indoor environments are already vulnerable to disease. When insects move in to feed on sap or build nests, they become even more susceptible, Sekaran tells Mongabay. “The best biological markers are the little creatures, because their tolerance to extremes is very low,” he tells Mongabay. “This is especially true in the tropics, where temperatures are usually stable. For a butterfly, a 1-degree [Celsius, or 1.8° Fahrenheit] temperature rise is very&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/as-singapore-heats-up-pests-are-seeking-refuge-indoors/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307253</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Agencies race to prevent new food crisis as locusts return to northern Africa</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/agencies-race-to-prevent-new-food-crisis-as-locusts-return-to-northern-africa/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/agencies-race-to-prevent-new-food-crisis-as-locusts-return-to-northern-africa/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jul 2025 17:25:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Stephanie Achieng’]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/03085409/Driving-through-a-Desert-Locust-swarm-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301865</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Algeria, Chad, East Africa, Niger, North Africa, and Tunisia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Chemicals, Climate Change, Conservation, Crops, Disasters, Environment, Farming, Food, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Human-wildlife Conflict, Insects, Monitoring, Pesticides, Poisoning, Pollution, Weather, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI — Swarms of desert locusts are moving across parts of North Africa. With unusually heavy rains in late 2024 supporting growth of vegetation, and rising temperatures since February 2025 speeding their reproductive cycle, ideal breeding conditions for locusts are in place. Significant outbreaks have already been reported in Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, while smaller [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI — Swarms of desert locusts are moving across parts of North Africa. With unusually heavy rains in late 2024 supporting growth of vegetation, and rising temperatures since February 2025 speeding their reproductive cycle, ideal breeding conditions for locusts are in place. Significant outbreaks have already been reported in Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, while smaller bands have appeared elsewhere across the Sahara Desert’s northern boundary, and in Saudi Arabia. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and its regional partners have issued caution-level alerts for Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, Chad, and Niger. The FAO is coordinating efforts with national authorities to prevent the insects from spreading south into the Sahel, where further rains could trigger a new wave of breeding. “The current outbreaks are due to very favorable breeding conditions over a six-month period in the northern Sahel, following significant rainfall in August and September 2024,” said Cyril Piou of FAO’s Desert Locust Information Service (DLIS). Newly hatched desert locusts near Medenine, Tunisia. Image © Cyril Piou/FAO. Map of desert locusts&#8217; breeding and invasion areas courtesy of FAO. For now, these outbreaks are significant, but not on the scale of those that preceded swarms that devastated East Africa in 2019 and 2020. That earlier crisis affected more than 20 countries, with swarms covering hundreds of square kilometers and threatening the food security of more than 20 million people. It was triggered by an unusual combination of cyclones and sustained rains that enabled desert locusts to breed rapidly&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/agencies-race-to-prevent-new-food-crisis-as-locusts-return-to-northern-africa/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301865</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Invasive whiteflies pose a new threat to Bangladesh’s cash crops</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/invasive-whiteflies-pose-a-new-threat-to-bangladeshs-cash-crops/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/invasive-whiteflies-pose-a-new-threat-to-bangladeshs-cash-crops/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 May 2025 08:14:06 +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/20/2025/05/15081035/original-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299131</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Conservation, Crops, Diseases, Environment, Farming, Insects, Invasive Species, Pesticides, Plants, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The mass invasion of a new insect, the whitefly, in Bangladesh’s agricultural farms — especially in coconut, banana and guava farms — has put farmers at risk due to its devastating effects on crops. How the insects are entering the country is yet to be confirmed, but researchers suggest the pest may have spread in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The mass invasion of a new insect, the whitefly, in Bangladesh’s agricultural farms — especially in coconut, banana and guava farms — has put farmers at risk due to its devastating effects on crops. How the insects are entering the country is yet to be confirmed, but researchers suggest the pest may have spread in the country via the high-yielding coconut imported in 2014 and 2015. According to a 2022 study, the whiteflies (Aleurodicus rugioperculatus) were first identified in Bangladesh in 2019 on coconut in the southwest. Since then, the insect’s presence has spread across the country with different levels of infestation. “The insect can damage a plant in many ways, including removing nutrients and water from leaves and disrupting the photosynthesis process,” the study states. “Initially, we found the pest in coconut trees; however, now the insect has already made 61 types of plants as their hosts,” said Gopal Das, lead author of the study and an entomology professor at Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU). He added that coconut, banana and guava are the most affected crops by the pest. Rice, wheat and maize are the primary crops grown in Bangladesh while other crops like jute, tea, banana, guava and coconut are grown as cash crops. According to media reports, in 2023, Bangladesh was the 12th highest coconut-producing country in the world with a yield of 442,700 tons from 25,335 hectares (62,00 acres) of land, while, in 2021-22, the country produced 430,000 tons of guavas from around 89,000 hectares (219,920&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/invasive-whiteflies-pose-a-new-threat-to-bangladeshs-cash-crops/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299131</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Solutions needed as climate change &#038; land use fuel global crop pest menace</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/solutions-needed-as-climate-change-land-use-fuel-global-crop-pest-menace/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/solutions-needed-as-climate-change-land-use-fuel-global-crop-pest-menace/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 May 2025 16:56:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/07144031/army-fallworm-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=298733</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Agriculture, Agroecology, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Farming, Food, Food Industry, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Insects, Land Use Change, Pesticides, Solutions, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Climate change, land use change and biodiversity loss are combining to drive an increase in agricultural pests and expansion of their ranges with concerning implications for future global food security. In a recent paper published in the journal Nature Reviews Earth &#38; Environment, an international team led by researchers at China’s Hebei University assessed that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Climate change, land use change and biodiversity loss are combining to drive an increase in agricultural pests and expansion of their ranges with concerning implications for future global food security. In a recent paper published in the journal Nature Reviews Earth &amp; Environment, an international team led by researchers at China’s Hebei University assessed that 2° Celsius (3.6° Fahrenheit) warming over preindustrial levels could lead to increased pest damage and global crop yield losses of 46% for wheat, 19% for rice and 31% for maize. The complex causes for this pest population explosion: Temperature increases are enabling crop pests to move from the subtropics into higher latitudes and to higher ground, while agricultural expansion and biodiversity loss drives down natural pest controls. International trade networks are also exacerbating the introduction of destructive invasive species, with major economic consequences, the researchers write. “Crop pests are increasing in abundance, geographical range and reproductive capacity due to climate warming, land conversion and agricultural intensification,” Daniel Bebber, an ecology professor at the University of Exeter and a study author, told Mongabay. It is estimated that 40% of crops may already be destroyed before harvest due to pests globally, resulting in billions of dollars in losses annually. “Anything that&#8217;s going to increase that loss is problematic,” says Sanford Eigenbrode, distinguished professor of entomology, plant pathology and nematology at the University of Idaho, U.S., and a study author. Unpacking the implications of these projected large-scale staple crop losses on global food security and food prices is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/solutions-needed-as-climate-change-land-use-fuel-global-crop-pest-menace/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-298733</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indiscriminate pesticide use threatens Bangladesh honey bees</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/indiscriminate-pesticide-use-threatens-bangladesh-honeybees/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/indiscriminate-pesticide-use-threatens-bangladesh-honeybees/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Mar 2025 07:11:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sadiqur Rahman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/27064423/beekeepers-bangladesh-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=296568</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bees, Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Farming, Food Industry, Insects, Pesticides, Poisoning, Pollinators, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In February, during the flowering time of black cumin (Nigella sativa), beekeeper Pavel Hossen set up an apiary on leased barren land adjacent to farmer Abdul Hakim’s crop field in Kazirhat of Shariatpur, a district under Dhaka division and an emerging hub of spices, including the black cumin seeds. Pavel deployed Apis mellifera honey bees [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In February, during the flowering time of black cumin (Nigella sativa), beekeeper Pavel Hossen set up an apiary on leased barren land adjacent to farmer Abdul Hakim’s crop field in Kazirhat of Shariatpur, a district under Dhaka division and an emerging hub of spices, including the black cumin seeds. Pavel deployed Apis mellifera honey bees to collect nectar from the blooming cumin flowers. However, the hive boxes didn’t yield as much honey as expected. “Bees cannot forage freely across insecticide-treated crop fields. Their population growth is also slowing down,” Pavel recently told Mongabay. During a visit to Kazirhat in late February, the village’s agricultural landscape appeared fragmented by plots of different crops, including rice, wheat, coriander, black cumin, garlic, mustard and other vegetables. The use of agricultural chemicals like neonicotinoids as insecticides is popular with the cultivation of most of the mentioned crops. However, very few farmers know the permissible doses or potential effects of excessive use of insect killers on bees. Most of the farmers, like Abdul Hakim, said, “I spray the amount of chemicals that the sellers advise.” In a village market, agricultural chemical sellers with expertise in conservation of biodiversity is a rare thing. Entomologists and apiculturists have observed that rampant use of agricultural chemicals like neonicotinoids, present in different doses in nearly 600 brand products in Bangladesh, poses serious threats to bee colonies and other pollinators. “Because of food shortages, limited foraging grounds and frequent poisoning from insecticides, the population of honey bees is decreasing alarmingly,” said&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/indiscriminate-pesticide-use-threatens-bangladesh-honeybees/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-296568</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Grassroots efforts sprout up to protect Central America’s Trifinio watershed</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/grassroots-efforts-sprout-up-to-protect-central-americas-trifinio-watershed/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/grassroots-efforts-sprout-up-to-protect-central-americas-trifinio-watershed/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Dec 2024 16:21:33 +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/20/2024/12/13213804/WhatsApp-Image-2024-12-13-at-2.32.57-PM-1-768x450.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=291605</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Cattle, Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Drinking Water, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Lakes, Pesticides, Politics, Pollution, Protected Areas, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Ranching, Rivers, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, Water, Water Pollution, Wildlife, and Women In Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ESQUIPULAS, Guatemala — An estimated 8 million migrants have entered the U.S. during the Biden administration, the highest number in centuries. Many still come from the so-called Northern Triangle, made up of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, as they seek to escape gang violence and a lack of employment. But there’s another driver of migration [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ESQUIPULAS, Guatemala — An estimated 8 million migrants have entered the U.S. during the Biden administration, the highest number in centuries. Many still come from the so-called Northern Triangle, made up of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, as they seek to escape gang violence and a lack of employment. But there’s another driver of migration that officials sometimes overlook: climate change. Dry seasons in Central America are getting longer and hotter all the time, and rural families can’t grow enough crops to feed their families. More than 3 million people were expected to face crisis-level food insecurity earlier this year, potentially driving them out of the region. They also lack access to clean drinking water. “The problems of extreme poverty, low access to services, a highly aggravated and vulnerable population — all of that is made worse by the consequences of climate change,” said Berta Medrano, head of the Gaia Association, a conservation group that works in all three countries. Governments in the region are still working to develop policies that address crop failure and climate change-resilient jobs in hopes of slowing migration. The international community, whether in the form of NGOs or government agencies like USAID, are also very present in the region. But some parts of the problem may not be receiving enough attention. One major watershed running through Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador has been so polluted and industrialized that 20% of it could dry up by 2050, according to a U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/grassroots-efforts-sprout-up-to-protect-central-americas-trifinio-watershed/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-291605</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pesticide exposure drives up rural women’s cancer risk in Brazil farming belt</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/pesticide-exposure-drives-up-rural-womens-cancer-risk-in-brazil-farming-belt/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/pesticide-exposure-drives-up-rural-womens-cancer-risk-in-brazil-farming-belt/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Dec 2024 15:22:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mayala Fernandes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/05155726/Foto-IDR-Parana-scaled-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=291234</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Conservation, Environment, Health, Pesticides, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Women farmers living in Brazil’s Paraná state run a 60% chance of developing breast cancer and a 220% increase in the risk of metastasis, according to a new study. Breast cancer risk in the region, which is dominated by family farms with intensive use of pesticides, is 41% higher than the average for Brazil; the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Women farmers living in Brazil’s Paraná state run a 60% chance of developing breast cancer and a 220% increase in the risk of metastasis, according to a new study. Breast cancer risk in the region, which is dominated by family farms with intensive use of pesticides, is 41% higher than the average for Brazil; the mortality rate from the disease is 14% higher. The recent study, published in the journal Environmental Science &amp; Technology, is the first of its kind conducted with women in the country; it included 758 subjects, split between those who had been exposed to pesticides and those who hadn’t. “The research shows the direct link between exposure to pesticides and high incidence of breast cancer in the farmers,” said study lead author Carolina Panis, from the tumor biology lab at Western Paraná State University. “Although they do not spray the pesticides, those women are responsible for decontaminating the protective equipment and washing the clothes used to do it. Doing that without gloves is enough to cause contamination.” Brazil, a global agricultural powerhouse, also has one of the most permissive pesticide regimes of any country. There are 42 active pesticide ingredients considered probably carcinogenic that are licensed for sale in the country; 27 of these are classified as possibly carcinogenic by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). In Paraná, a state in southern Brazil, glyphosate stands out among the top 10 most used pesticides from 2013&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/pesticide-exposure-drives-up-rural-womens-cancer-risk-in-brazil-farming-belt/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-291234</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Climate change and agrochemicals pose lethal combo for Amazonian fish</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/climate-change-and-agrochemicals-pose-lethal-combo-for-amazonian-fish/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/climate-change-and-agrochemicals-pose-lethal-combo-for-amazonian-fish/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Oct 2024 09:13:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tiago da Mota e Silva]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/10/17085919/Colossoma_macropomum_Melbourne_Aquarium-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=288871</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agrochemicals, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Fish, Food, Pesticides, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Among the labs of Brazil’s National Institute of Amazonian Research, or INPA, is what’s known as the “room of the future.” Here, an extreme climate change scenario is being simulated according to projections by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The temperature is around 5° Celsius (9° Fahrenheit) hotter than the average [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Among the labs of Brazil’s National Institute of Amazonian Research, or INPA, is what’s known as the “room of the future.” Here, an extreme climate change scenario is being simulated according to projections by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The temperature is around 5° Celsius (9° Fahrenheit) hotter than the average for Manaus, capital of the state of Amazonas and the largest city in the Brazilian Amazon, and atmospheric CO2 level is higher, at 708 parts per million, than the around 420 ppm level of today. In this room of the future, biologist Samara Souza has carried out an experiment with tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum), exposing these Amazonian freshwater fish not only to these climatic extremes but also to a mix of pesticides that have been found in the rivers and lakes around Manaus. “With climate change, increasing temperatures are not the only factor we need to pay attention to,” says Adalberto Val, coordinator of INPA’s Adapta program, which studies how the Amazon’s aquatic life is coping with climate change. “We should also evaluate the ways in which the temperature and carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere interact with other degrading factors in the environment like pesticides, forming dangerous synergies.” Souza is a specialist in the effects of contaminants on Amazonian fish, and already had a solid understanding of the ways in which different pesticides affect the animals. Combining these with an extreme climate change scenario is, for her, one way to gain a better understanding of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/climate-change-and-agrochemicals-pose-lethal-combo-for-amazonian-fish/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-288871</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Minerals for agricultural use can already be found in Amazonia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/minerals-for-agricultural-use-can-already-be-found-in-amazonia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/minerals-for-agricultural-use-can-already-be-found-in-amazonia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Jul 2024 13:25:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Timothy J. Killeen]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mayra]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/07/17223436/PORTADA-Manu_1024_2553-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=284502</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Perfect Storm in the Amazon]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Deforestation, Fertilizers, Gold Mining, Mining, and Pesticides]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The ongoing expansion of Brazil’s industrial farms has created a robust market for the mineral feedstocks used for the manufacture of chemical fertilisers. Historically, demand was met largely by imports, but a combination of cost and geopolitical considerations has motivated agribusiness and government to invest in domestic fertiliser production. Most of this investment will be [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The ongoing expansion of Brazil’s industrial farms has created a robust market for the mineral feedstocks used for the manufacture of chemical fertilisers. Historically, demand was met largely by imports, but a combination of cost and geopolitical considerations has motivated agribusiness and government to invest in domestic fertiliser production. Most of this investment will be in mines and manufacturing plants in other parts of Brazil; however, the Brazilian Amazon has mineral resources that are cost-competitive and strategically vital. Andean countries also rely on imports and, although there is interest in Peru to enhance domestic sources, fertiliser feedstocks would not be of Amazonian origin. The Guianas do not have agricultural economies sufficient to justify investment in fertiliser factories, nor, apparently, sufficient mineral reserves to create an export industry. Potash: A New Mineral Resource in the Heart of the Amazon Brazil is the world’s largest single importer of potash fertiliser and it is almost entirely dependent (95 per cent) upon imports from three countries: Canada, Belarus and Russia. The fertiliser supply chain is about to undergo radical change, however, because of an ongoing effort to develop a world-class potash reserve located directly underneath the Amazon River floodplain. The potash was discovered by Petrobras geologists when they were exploring for oil in the Amazon and Solimões basins in the 1980s. The deposit consists of a 400-kilometre-long band of sedimentary rock that is one to four metres thick buried 650 to 900 metres below the surface of the Amazon floodplain. The ore body is&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/minerals-for-agricultural-use-can-already-be-found-in-amazonia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-284502</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Study finds best plants for bee health and conservation in North America</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/its-the-bees-needs-study-finds-best-plants-for-bee-health-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/its-the-bees-needs-study-finds-best-plants-for-bee-health-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jul 2024 16:48:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/10134637/bee-in-tokyo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=284102</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Bees, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Crops, Diseases, Drones, Environment, Food, Food Industry, Green, Habitat Degradation, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Industrial Agriculture, Industry, Insects, Monocultures, Pesticides, Pollinators, Trees, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[What&#8217;s on the menu for a healthy bee? A team of researchers has delved into the world of bee nutrition, analyzing pollen to identify the best food sources for these vital pollinators. Their findings could have implications for bee conservation efforts and pollinator-friendly landscaping. The research, published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, analyzed the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[What&#8217;s on the menu for a healthy bee? A team of researchers has delved into the world of bee nutrition, analyzing pollen to identify the best food sources for these vital pollinators. Their findings could have implications for bee conservation efforts and pollinator-friendly landscaping. The research, published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, analyzed the nutritional content of pollen collected from 57 plant species native to North America. The study team, led by Sandra Rehan of York University in Canada, examined levels of essential fatty acids, amino acids and other key nutrients in the pollen samples. &#8220;Despite public interest and a rise in pollinator plantings, little is known about which plant species are best suited for bee health,&#8221; Rehan said. &#8220;This study aimed to better understand the nutritional value of plant species.&#8221; Based on their findings, the researchers recommend emphasizing roses (Rosa sp.), clovers (Trifolium sp.), red raspberry (Rubus idaeus), tall buttercup (Ranunculus acris), and Tara vine (Actinidia arguta) in wildflower restoration projects, citing their ideal protein-to-lipid ratios in pollen for wild bee nutrition. They found that tall buttercup (Ranunculus acris) was the most aligned with honey bee dietary requirements, closely followed by hardy kiwi (Actinidia arguta), bird&#8217;s-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus), red osier dogwood (Cornus sericea), multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora), red raspberry (Rubus idaeus), Virginia rose (Rosa virginiana), rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus), staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina), and European cranberrybush (Viburnum opulus). When comparing native and introduced plant species, the study found no significant differences in the overall nutritional content of their&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/its-the-bees-needs-study-finds-best-plants-for-bee-health-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-284102</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazil’s new pro-agribusiness pesticide law threatens Amazon biodiversity</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/brazils-new-pro-agribusiness-pesticide-law-threatens-amazon-biodiversity/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/brazils-new-pro-agribusiness-pesticide-law-threatens-amazon-biodiversity/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jul 2024 07:00:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[André Schröder]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/07/02184815/02_aircraft_pesticides_ibama-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=284000</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Cerrado, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Agroforestry, Climate Change, Conflict, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Pesticides, Politics, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, and Threats To Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The bill went into effect as the use of pesticides banned long ago in the European Union exploded in the Brazilian Amazon.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The agribusiness caucus in the Brazilian Congress has pushed several new bills since President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office in January 2023. Taking advantage of a conservative majority in Congress, it has approved long-dreamed legislation slashing environmental regulations in favor of cattle ranching and farming, despite Lula’s green promises. One of them took effect in late 2023: The so-called Poison Bill, which opened new doors for the approval, retail and use of pesticides by the world’s largest buyer of pesticides — including several substances banned in the European Union. In discussion since 1991, the Brazilian Congress approved the bill in November 2023. The new pro-agribusiness regulation assigns exclusively to Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply the analysis of which pesticides can be used in the country. It also weakens the role of health and environmental agencies, relaxes the use of agrochemicals under consideration and establishes shorter registration deadlines. President Lula signs new Indigenous territories with Brazil&#8217;s Environmental minister, Marina Silva, (left), Indigenous Peoples minister, Sonia Guajajara (at his right) and Funai&#8217;s president, Joenia Wapichana. The new pesticides law clashes with Lula’s green agenda. Image courtesy of Joédson Alves/Agência Brasil. Pedro Lupion, the deputy coordinator of the agriculture caucus, the FPA, endorsed the new law as a way to &#8220;reduce bureaucracy and modernize pesticide policy.&#8221; During Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency (2019-22), the agribusiness caucus set the bill as a priority, enjoying the favorable scenario as the far-right president backed any pro-agribusiness legislation. However, it didn’t go into a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/brazils-new-pro-agribusiness-pesticide-law-threatens-amazon-biodiversity/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-284000</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Kenyan farmers turn to WhatsApp &#038; AI tools to combat crop diseases</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/kenyan-farmers-turn-to-whatsapp-ai-tools-to-combat-crop-diseases/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/kenyan-farmers-turn-to-whatsapp-ai-tools-to-combat-crop-diseases/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jun 2024 05:00:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Juliet Akoth Ojwang]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/06/26174659/maize-farmer-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=283717</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellowship]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Artificial Intelligence, Conservation, Crops, Diseases, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Farming, Fellows, Governance, Pesticides, Politics, Social Media, Technology, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As millions of farmers suffer each year from crop and livestock deaths due to pests and diseases, some growers in Africa are turning to a host of advanced technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and online tools to complement the services offered by extension agents in helping farmers combat these losses. PlantVillage (PV), a U.S.-based nonprofit that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As millions of farmers suffer each year from crop and livestock deaths due to pests and diseases, some growers in Africa are turning to a host of advanced technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and online tools to complement the services offered by extension agents in helping farmers combat these losses. PlantVillage (PV), a U.S.-based nonprofit that aims to improve the lives of farmers and agricultural productivity globally through knowledge and technology, is one key example. The organization’s eponymous AI PlantVillage app uses a technology called TensorFlow to identify objects on plant leaves and patterns indicating disease outbreaks. The tool, which is developed by using images of both healthy and diseased crop leaves, can therefore help with detecting diseases and pest symptoms for crops such as maize, cassava, Irish potatoes, finger millet and many others. &#8220;We integrated AI into our programs because relying solely on extension officers in the field for surveillance often isn&#8217;t sufficient,&#8221; Lawrence Ombwayo, the associate director of PlantVillage Kenya, told Mongabay in an interview. He explained that the app was developed to enhance the organization’s extension system, given that agricultural extension services in Kenya and across Africa are under-resourced. The organization found that relying exclusively on its extension officers limited its reach to farmers, hindering PV’s ability to disseminate information about current and emerging crop threats and reducing surveillance of the challenges farmers face, Ombwayo added. Smallholder women farmers grow maize along with oranges, avocados and a variety of vegetables in Machakos, Kenya. Image by McKay Savage via&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/kenyan-farmers-turn-to-whatsapp-ai-tools-to-combat-crop-diseases/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-283717</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As coffee expands in Bangladesh hills, conservationists worry about ecosystems</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/as-coffee-expands-in-bangladesh-hills-conservationists-worry-about-ecosystems/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/as-coffee-expands-in-bangladesh-hills-conservationists-worry-about-ecosystems/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 May 2024 13:49:35 +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/20/2024/05/21133640/coffee-beans-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=282329</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Coffee, Conservation, Consumption, Ecosystems, Environment, Farming, Food, Food Industry, Industrial Agriculture, Industry, Monocultures, and Pesticides]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Tea&#8217;s history in Bangladesh as a popular recreational drink is almost a hundred years old. However, with economic development, the popularity of coffee is growing gradually in urban areas of the country. According to data, the projected revenue in the coffee market in Bangladesh would be $48.97 million in 2029, with an annual growth rate [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Tea&#8217;s history in Bangladesh as a popular recreational drink is almost a hundred years old. However, with economic development, the popularity of coffee is growing gradually in urban areas of the country. According to data, the projected revenue in the coffee market in Bangladesh would be $48.97 million in 2029, with an annual growth rate of 13.52%, up from the figure of $25.98 million in 2024. Most of the current demand for coffee is met through exports from different countries. Considering this, the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and various nongovernmental organizations, including Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation known as PKSF and USAID Bangladesh, have been promoting coffee cultivation among farmers under their programs, creating livelihood options through cultivating cash crops like coffee and others. According to DAE, two varieties of coffee, arabica and robusta, are cultivated in Bangladesh. Due to favorable weather conditions, cultivation is mainly focused on the Chittagong Hill Tracts, comprising of three hill districts — Bandarban, Khagrachari and Rangamati — located in the southeastern part of the country. Meanwhile, DAE has initiated a project titled Research, Development and Extension of Cashew Nut &amp; Coffee, which will cost 158.54 crore taka ($13.5 million) from 2021-25. Project data show that coffee cultivation currently occupies around 2,000 hectares (4,940 acres) of land. Of these, around 1,800 hectares (4,450 acres) are in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. All these plantations were in the last three years. Shahidul Islam, director of the cashew nut and coffee project, told Mongabay, “We are expecting to increase&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/05/as-coffee-expands-in-bangladesh-hills-conservationists-worry-about-ecosystems/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-282329</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Afro-Brazilian communities fight a rain of pesticides &#038; the company behind it</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/afro-brazilian-communities-fight-a-rain-of-pesticides-the-company-behind-it/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/afro-brazilian-communities-fight-a-rain-of-pesticides-the-company-behind-it/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Apr 2024 00:16:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vitor Alexandre Araujo Prado dos Anjos]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/24130842/MIUDA12-e1712691343567-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=281306</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment, Pesticides, Plantations, Pollution, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CONCEIÇÃO DA BARRA, Espírito Santo — Beatriz Cassiano was working in her vegetable garden when she suddenly heard her grandson yelling, “Grandma, get out of there, get out, come in the house! The plane!” In an interview with Mongabay, Cassiano recalls being caught off guard by an airplane dropping pesticides as it flew over the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CONCEIÇÃO DA BARRA, Espírito Santo — Beatriz Cassiano was working in her vegetable garden when she suddenly heard her grandson yelling, “Grandma, get out of there, get out, come in the house! The plane!” In an interview with Mongabay, Cassiano recalls being caught off guard by an airplane dropping pesticides as it flew over the homes in her community. “We didn’t know, [nobody] let us know it would happen. They were dumping the poison out, but they were turning in the air over our people’s properties,” she says. At a certain point, Cassiano was hit by the pesticides. “I was powdered with it, and my arm started to itch.” Her garden didn’t withstand the impact of the pesticides. “I lost our pumpkin plants, our corn …” The community of Linharinho lies in the municipality of Conceição da Barra, a part of Espírito Santo state known as Sapê do Norte. It is a quilombo, a traditional Brazilian community originally formed by runaway enslaved people. There are 32 quilombos in Sapê do Norte officially recognized by the government’s Palmares Cultural Foundation. According to reports from the community, global pulp and paper giant Suzano has in recent years been using aerial application of pesticides on its eucalyptus plantations that surround the community. Statements say there is no prior communication and that the safe distance limit of 250 meters (820 feet) from isolated homes regulated by the Ministry of Agriculture’s Normative Instruction 2/2008 is not being respected. Community members tell Mongabay that the plane&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/afro-brazilian-communities-fight-a-rain-of-pesticides-the-company-behind-it/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-281306</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Tapirs in Brazil’s Cerrado inspire research on human health &#038; pesticides</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/tapirs-in-brazils-cerrado-inspire-research-on-human-health-pesticides/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/tapirs-in-brazils-cerrado-inspire-research-on-human-health-pesticides/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Apr 2024 16:49:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Michael Esquer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/10152938/A-tapir-Victor-Sanches-INCAB-IPE-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=280810</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellowship]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Cerrado, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Animals, Chemicals, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Farming, Fellows, Habitat Loss, Pesticides, Poisoning, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It was in 2015 when researchers were attempting to capture tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) in the Brazilian Cerrado to install monitoring collars so they could study the species. While trying to complete the anesthetic procedure, they noticed that the anesthesia was not working, and as a result, they had to supplement the doses for the procedure [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It was in 2015 when researchers were attempting to capture tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) in the Brazilian Cerrado to install monitoring collars so they could study the species. While trying to complete the anesthetic procedure, they noticed that the anesthesia was not working, and as a result, they had to supplement the doses for the procedure to take effect. This was the catalyst for research that revealed years later that tapirs in the region were contaminated with various types of pesticides and had alterations in organs important for metabolism. At the time, researchers hypothesized that something in the tapirs’ bodies was interfering with the anesthesia. One possibility was pesticide exposure, which is linked to changes in the metabolic process. Now, another hypothesis raised by the researchers back then has recently been confirmed: Residents of the same region also show contamination by pesticides. The tapir findings prompted researchers to collect biological samples from roughly 100 nearby residents, and more than 30 people tested positive for some form of pesticide, with more than one chemical present in some cases. The most widely used pesticide in Brazil, glyphosate, was found in more than 20 people. The work, released in a technical report in February, was conducted by researchers from the National Initiative for the Brazilian Tapir Conservation (INCAB) of the Institute of Ecological Research (IPÊ), who are preparing a paper on the research for publication in a scientific journal. This research shows how animals are providing information and inspiration for studies with humans, which&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/tapirs-in-brazils-cerrado-inspire-research-on-human-health-pesticides/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-280810</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists and doctors raise global alarm over hormone-disrupting chemicals</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/scientists-and-doctors-raise-global-alarm-over-hormone-disrupting-chemicals/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/scientists-and-doctors-raise-global-alarm-over-hormone-disrupting-chemicals/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2024 19:53:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alden Wicker]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/03/01112044/rice-pesticide-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=279359</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Chemicals, Conservation, Diseases, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Food Industry, Health, Herbicides, Law, Novel Entities, Pesticides, Plastic, Poisoning, Pollution, and Public Health]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new report strongly links endocrine disruptors to diseases, from the devastating, like infertility, to the deadly, like cancer and heart disease. The report calls for global treaties to restrict and ban their production and use.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new report makes the strong case that a class of industrial chemicals called endocrine disruptors are behind many diseases on the rise globally. The report calls for stronger global regulations controlling their use and release into the environment. A joint effort by the Endocrine Society and the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), the report includes fresh research from the past decade documenting evidence that endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) contribute to reproductive disorders, cancer, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, neurological conditions, reduced immune function, chronic inflammation, and other serious health conditions. Research shows the chemicals to be especially dangerous to pregnant women and to children. Endocrine disruptors interfere with natural human hormones and disrupt the smooth functioning of the endocrine system, which governs everything from fetal development and fertility to skin appearance, metabolism, and immune function. Some endocrine-related disorders can lead to death. More than 24% of human diseases and disorders globally are attributable to environmental factors such as pollutants and hazardous chemical exposure, the report says, and those environmental factors play a role in 80% of the deadliest diseases, including cancer and heart disease. There are an estimated 350,000 manufactured chemicals and polymers used worldwide, and thousands of those may be endocrine disruptors. Most have not been studied for their effects on human health before being released onto the market. Research shows endocrine-disrupting chemicals to be especially dangerous to pregnant women and to children. Image by Anna Dubuis/DFID via Flickr (CC BY 2.0). Lagging EDC regulation, growing concern Current global legislation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/scientists-and-doctors-raise-global-alarm-over-hormone-disrupting-chemicals/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-279359</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Night light, habitat loss &#038; pesticides threaten Brazil’s bioluminescent insects</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/night-light-habitat-loss-pesticides-threaten-brazils-bioluminescent-insects/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/night-light-habitat-loss-pesticides-threaten-brazils-bioluminescent-insects/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Mar 2024 12:38:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bernardo Araujo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/03/01122249/E-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=279365</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Fellows, Habitat Loss, Insects, Pesticides, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“Be honest with me: Now you want to study fireflies too, right?” said Luiz Felipe Silveira, a professor at Western Carolina University and one of the world’s leading experts in — of course — fireflies. At that point in our online conversation, Silveira was enthusiastically showing me the results of a study he published with [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“Be honest with me: Now you want to study fireflies too, right?” said Luiz Felipe Silveira, a professor at Western Carolina University and one of the world’s leading experts in — of course — fireflies. At that point in our online conversation, Silveira was enthusiastically showing me the results of a study he published with seven other Brazilian scientists in 2022. The article, published in Zoologica Scripta, focused on the evolution of a single genus of firefly (Luciuranus), but it spoke volumes about the diversity of the entire group in the Atlantic Forest. “Of all eight species we studied here,” Silveira explained, “none co-occur at a fine scale. That is, they can inhabit the same mountain, for example, but they are never really occupying the same spaces at the same time.” Each firefly lives in its own little niche, a specific set of preferred climatic conditions, such as temperature and humidity. Many species have wingless females, a trait that restricts their mobility and further ties them to their particular environment. They are, as ecologists put it, habitat specialists. Not every firefly fits this lifestyle, but many in South America do. Scientists have catalogued around 350 fireflies in Brazil alone, a number Silveira guaranteed was a drastic underestimation. Fireflies lighting up the night at Serra dos Órgãos National Park, Teresópolis, Rio de Janeiro. Image courtesy of André Alves. “Brazil has an incredible diversity of habitats. It is very likely that many endemic species are just waiting to be discovered,” he said.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/03/night-light-habitat-loss-pesticides-threaten-brazils-bioluminescent-insects/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-279365</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Agroecological solutions better than pesticides in fighting fall armyworm, experts say</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/agroecological-solutions-better-than-pesticides-in-fighting-fall-armyworm-experts-say/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/agroecological-solutions-better-than-pesticides-in-fighting-fall-armyworm-experts-say/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Feb 2024 16:21:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[agroecology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/02/29135321/maize-in-zambia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=279327</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Farming, Health, Insects, Pesticides, Solutions, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2016, an infestation of fall armyworms hit a vast swath of Africa, alarming farmers and governments. Eight years on, experts say that crop losses from the agricultural pest are less severe than initially feared. A key lesson learned is that an agroecological approach to pest control — and not the indiscriminate use of pesticides [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2016, an infestation of fall armyworms hit a vast swath of Africa, alarming farmers and governments. Eight years on, experts say that crop losses from the agricultural pest are less severe than initially feared. A key lesson learned is that an agroecological approach to pest control — and not the indiscriminate use of pesticides — is the best option for limiting damage, according to a recent guide by the Center for Tropical Forest Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF). A type of moth, the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) came from the Americas and feeds on a wide variety of crops, including maize and rice. Populations can swell and spread incredibly quickly: female moths lay more than 1,500 eggs during their three-week life span, and a single moth can fly more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) in a single day. Fall armyworms arrived in West Africa in 2016, then spread quickly throughout the sub-Saharan region and into the Middle East, Asia and Australia. In Africa, fall armyworm mostly endangers maize, a staple for many smallholder farmers. The first signs of an infestation are transparent patches on young leaves. As the plant grows, the developing caterpillars move inside the whorls, excreting a yellow-brown frass as they feed. Eventually they attack the maize ear. Fall armyworm damage on maize. Fall armyworm typically targets fresh leaves and fruit of crops like maize, with its appetite waning as the crop matures. Image by Lydia Amanzi / CIFOR-ICRAF. A fall armyworm burrows into a maize stalk.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/agroecological-solutions-better-than-pesticides-in-fighting-fall-armyworm-experts-say/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-279327</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Shocking’ mortality of infant macaques points to dangers of oil palm plantations</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/shocking-mortality-of-infant-macaques-points-to-dangers-of-oil-palm-plantations/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/shocking-mortality-of-infant-macaques-points-to-dangers-of-oil-palm-plantations/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Feb 2024 17:36:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/02/27081720/southern-pig-tailed-macaque-infant-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=279213</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Fragmentation, Human-wildlife Conflict, Mammals, Monkeys, Palm Oil, Pesticides, Plantations, Poisoning, Primates, Rainforests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For 12 years, primatologist Nadine Ruppert and her colleagues have had one recurring task on their calendar: tagging along with a group of southern pig-tailed macaques in Segari, Peninsular Malaysia, as these primates hop between native rainforests and the neighboring oil palm plantations. Over the years, the researchers successfully habituated the group: they named every [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For 12 years, primatologist Nadine Ruppert and her colleagues have had one recurring task on their calendar: tagging along with a group of southern pig-tailed macaques in Segari, Peninsular Malaysia, as these primates hop between native rainforests and the neighboring oil palm plantations. Over the years, the researchers successfully habituated the group: they named every individual, discerned their life histories, and watched their behavior to understand how these monkeys adapt to human-modified landscapes such as agricultural plantations. Southern pig-tailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina), an endangered species native to the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia, live in groups of up to 60 individuals and feed primarily on fruits. With oil palm plantations encroaching on their natural habitats, these primates increasingly venture into plantations to feed on palm fruits and rats. In the process, they risk being eaten by feral dogs, hunted by humans, or caught by traffickers for the pet trade. When Ruppert and her colleagues noticed that in 10 years, more than half of the baby pig-tailed macaques born in the group died before they turned a year old, they knew something was off. &#8220;When we looked into birth rates and survival rates of these infants, in some years, there were shockingly not a single individual baby surviving,&#8221; Ruppert told Mongabay. After analyzing the behavior and movements of the macaques for a study published in the journal Current Biology, the researchers identified the culprit: exposure to oil palm plantations. Infant southern pig-tailed macaque feeding on an oil palm fruit. Image courtesy&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/shocking-mortality-of-infant-macaques-points-to-dangers-of-oil-palm-plantations/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-279213</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Agrochemicals take a big toll on Global South, new Atlas of Pesticides shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/agrochemicals-take-a-big-toll-on-global-south-new-atlas-of-pesticides-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/agrochemicals-take-a-big-toll-on-global-south-new-atlas-of-pesticides-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Feb 2024 15:41:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Matheus Lopes Quirino]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/02/22155433/Pulverizacao-aerea-de-agrotoxicos-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=279084</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Health, and Pesticides]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Brazil tops the list of the countries that import and consume the most pesticides in the world. At the end of 2023, Bill 1459/2022, known among environmentalists as the &#8220;Poison Bill,&#8221; was approved, making the use of pesticides more flexible throughout the country. More than 3,000 agrochemicals are registered in Brazil today, a figure that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Brazil tops the list of the countries that import and consume the most pesticides in the world. At the end of 2023, Bill 1459/2022, known among environmentalists as the &#8220;Poison Bill,&#8221; was approved, making the use of pesticides more flexible throughout the country. More than 3,000 agrochemicals are registered in Brazil today, a figure that doubled between 2010 and 2021. Of this total, 49% are considered highly dangerous, as shown by data published in the recently released Atlas of Pesticides, published by the Brazilian branch of the German Heinrich Böll Foundation. By compiling unprecedented data on effects of certain products in the soil, air and water, the atlas sheds light on mainly community issues, such as food insecurity, poverty and the influence of companies in the industry on public policies — as well as studies on the impact of pesticides in various fields, such as economic, ecological and social. The graph above shows that pesticide residues were found in more than half of the samples of 14 foods; 23% are above the maximum residue limit allowed by Anvisa, the Brazilian Regulatory Health Agency. Among the most contaminated are peppers, carrots and tomatoes. Image reproduced from the Atlas of Pesticides. &#8220;One of the objectives of the map is to make the work of researchers from all over the country visible,&#8221; says Marcelo Montenegro, coordinator of the foundation&#8217;s socioenvironmental justice programs and projects in Brazil. For him, the paradigm shift can happen when the regional perspective is taken into account. &#8220;We have&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/agrochemicals-take-a-big-toll-on-global-south-new-atlas-of-pesticides-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-279084</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Herbicide used in Bangladesh tea production threatens biodiversity &#038; health</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/pesticide-used-in-bangladesh-tea-production-threatens-biodiversity-health/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/pesticide-used-in-bangladesh-tea-production-threatens-biodiversity-health/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Feb 2024 13:27:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Farhana Parvin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[agroecology]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/02/19130623/hoolock-gibbons-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=278985</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Animals, Biodiversity, Chemicals, Conservation, Environment, Food, Food Industry, Health, Industrial Agriculture, Industry, Pesticides, Poisoning, Pollution, Rainforests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Tea has been an integral part of Bangladeshi life for long. From breakfast to evening chat, tea is a favorite drink to serve. Besides Bangladesh, tea is among the most popular drinks in countries like India, China, Japan and the United Kingdom. During British colonial rule, the first tea production in Bangladesh started in 1840 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Tea has been an integral part of Bangladeshi life for long. From breakfast to evening chat, tea is a favorite drink to serve. Besides Bangladesh, tea is among the most popular drinks in countries like India, China, Japan and the United Kingdom. During British colonial rule, the first tea production in Bangladesh started in 1840 on the slopes of the Chittagong hills. However, the first commercial tea garden was established in 1857 in Malnicherra, in the eastern city of Sylhet. Due to the drink’s popularity, tea production as well as the number of commercial gardens increased over time. According to the Bangladesh Tea Board, the country currently has 168 commercial tea estates and tea gardens with an area of 113,112 hectares (279,506 acres), which produce more than 60,000 tons of tea annually, making the country the world’s 12th-largest tea producer. At the same time, concern over the environmental and ecological damages of tea production has come to the forefront as tea producers have been using the harmful chemical glyphosate as an herbicide, as a quick remedy to rid tea gardens of weeds and other unwanted plants. In order to find out the volume of glyphosate used in Bangladesh’s tea gardens, Mongabay talked to several workers. A tea plantation in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Image by Tareq Uddin Ahmed via Flickr (CC BY 2.0). “We use medicine [herbicide] in the tea garden to kill the grass [weeds]. After spraying, all the grass melts into the soil within 15 days,” said one tenured employee&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/pesticide-used-in-bangladesh-tea-production-threatens-biodiversity-health/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-278985</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Climate change, extreme weather &#038; conflict exacerbate global food crisis</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/climate-change-extreme-weather-conflict-exacerbate-global-food-crisis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/climate-change-extreme-weather-conflict-exacerbate-global-food-crisis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Feb 2024 07:00:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abdulkareem MojeedPriscilla Misiekaba-KiaVitor Alexandre Araujo Prado dos Anjos]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/02/16130453/nigeria-farmers-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=278895</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering Climate Now and Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellowship]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Brazil, Global, Nigeria, South America, and Suriname]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Agriculture, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Conflict, Drought, Environment, Environmental Law, Extreme Weather, Fellows, Food, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Health, Mongabay Data Studio, Pesticides, Politics, Resource Conflict, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the past year, international agencies worldwide have continued to sound an alarm over surges in food insecurity that are plunging millions of people into extreme hunger, malnutrition and threats to their overall health. The U.N.’s World Food Program (WFP) calls it “a hunger crisis of unprecedented proportions.” This worrying trend has been exacerbated by [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the past year, international agencies worldwide have continued to sound an alarm over surges in food insecurity that are plunging millions of people into extreme hunger, malnutrition and threats to their overall health. The U.N.’s World Food Program (WFP) calls it “a hunger crisis of unprecedented proportions.” This worrying trend has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, climate shocks and conflicts including the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 2023 report on global food security and nutrition — released in July, months before the conflict in Gaza — some 735 million people faced hunger in 2022, an increase of 122 million people compared with 2019 pre-pandemic levels. The Caribbean, Western Asia and all subregions of Africa experienced the most alarming increases in these hunger levels. Worldwide, more than 3.1 billion people could not afford a healthy diet, according to the report. That’s 42% of the world’s population, and a significant increase over pre-COVID levels. Since the Russia-Ukraine crisis began in February 2022, many countries that had relied substantially on Ukrainian grains for years have since borne the brunt of food price inflation due to significant supply shortfalls. Russia is a major exporter of wheat, and Ukraine is a significant producer of corn; prices for both crops spiked with the Russian invasion, and the destruction of ports sent further shocks throughout global markets. The war prompted other countries producing large amounts of staple foods to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/climate-change-extreme-weather-conflict-exacerbate-global-food-crisis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-278895</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Prevention is best defense against Bangladesh crop diseases, researchers say</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/prevention-is-best-defense-against-bangladesh-crop-diseases-researchers-say/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/prevention-is-best-defense-against-bangladesh-crop-diseases-researchers-say/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jan 2024 13:14:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Farhana Parvin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/01/15130923/bangladesh-farmer-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=277663</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Conservation, Crops, Diseases, Environment, Farming, Food, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Medicine, Pesticides, and Rice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Bangladeshi farmers are struggling with five major crop diseases, likely reducing the crop yield by up to 62% annually. Researchers suggest no effective insecticides for these diseases except for taking precautions and preventive measures. Rice blast disease, rice tungro disease, wheat blast disease, jute stem rot and powdery mildew are the five major types of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Bangladeshi farmers are struggling with five major crop diseases, likely reducing the crop yield by up to 62% annually. Researchers suggest no effective insecticides for these diseases except for taking precautions and preventive measures. Rice blast disease, rice tungro disease, wheat blast disease, jute stem rot and powdery mildew are the five major types of crop diseases in Bangladesh, according to researchers and the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI). Bangladesh, the fourth-highest rice-producing country in the world, produces around 39 million tons of rice and around 1.1 million tons of wheat annually to feed its 170 million people, according to the government. In addition, it produces 1.6 million tons of jute annually. However, researchers say that while some diseases are old, their types change over time. The three important crops scientists in Bangladesh research are paddy, wheat and jute. As an example, Shamim Shamsi, a botany professor at the University of Dhaka, said rice blast disease is not new, but in the case of new types or variants that have come, pesticides no longer work. Terming it a severe disease, BRRI said rice blast is a fungal disease very common in two major rice-producing seasons: Boro (January to April) and Amon (August to November). The disease can appear in favorable weather, from seedlings to the ripening stage. It can attack rice leaves, necks, panicles, collars and other parts of the plant; the yield could eventually be completely destroyed. Terming it a severe disease, BRRI said rice blast is a fungal&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/01/prevention-is-best-defense-against-bangladesh-crop-diseases-researchers-say/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-277663</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Study links pesticides to child cancer deaths in Brazilian Amazon &#038; Cerrado</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/study-links-pesticides-to-child-cancer-deaths-in-brazilian-amazon-cerrado/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/study-links-pesticides-to-child-cancer-deaths-in-brazilian-amazon-cerrado/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Nov 2023 17:30:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shi En Kim]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/11/10151036/pesticide-in-bahia-cerrado-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275270</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Chemicals, Conservation, Controversial, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Farming, Food, Food Industry, Green, Health, Indigenous Peoples, Industrial Agriculture, Pesticides, Planetary Health, Plantations, Poisoning, Pollution, Public Health, Soy, Sugar, Threats To Rainforests, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The researchers estimate that 123 childhood deaths during the 2008-19 period are associated with exposure to pesticides from the soy fields, amounting to half the deaths of children under 10 from lymphoblastic leukemia in the region.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When Marin Elisabeth Skidmore visited Brazil in 2019, she heard rumblings among the locals about elevated childhood cancers and tragic premature deaths. At that time, she was conducting research in the state of Rondônia, a sparsely populated area in west Brazil that was pressing up against the edge of the Amazon Rainforest. The region, like many other locales encroaching upon the rainforest stronghold, was facing a boom in soybean production. Cleared tracts that were once used for livestock grazing were rapidly repurposed for growing soybeans. With this transition from pastureland into cropland came a spike in pesticide use over the years. These pesticides, the community leaders bemoaned, were likely behind the rise in pediatric cases of leukemia. The link between agricultural chemicals and cancer risk has been previously established by medical experts. But few studies had mapped these substances’ footprint at a population level in Brazil. After Skidmore returned home to the United States, she crunched the numbers. Her latest study in the journal PNAS reports that Brazil’s rise in soybean production may have come at a cost: between 2008 and 2019, an estimated half of the leukemia deaths of children under 10 in soy-expansion regions were connected with pesticide exposure. “We&#8217;re just seeing new populations being exposed to these pesticides that have not been exposed in years prior,” Skidmore tells Mongabay, now an applied economist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “We want to shed light on the costs and benefits of this [agricultural] intensification.” Brazil is the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/study-links-pesticides-to-child-cancer-deaths-in-brazilian-amazon-cerrado/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-275270</doi>				</item>
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