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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/pollution/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2026 05:28:15 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Pollution</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/pollution/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Microplastics pollute nearly two-thirds of corals in Malaysia’s marine protected area, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/microplastics-pollute-nearly-two-thirds-of-corals-in-malaysias-marine-protected-area-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/microplastics-pollute-nearly-two-thirds-of-corals-in-malaysias-marine-protected-area-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Nov 2026 09:33:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashley Yeong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Yenni Kwok]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/04090518/coral-sampling-by-SCUBA-diving-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334938</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Environment, Fellows, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Microplastics, Oceans, Plastic, Pollution, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KUALA LUMPUR — Microplastics, tiny plastic particles about 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) or smaller, have settled into the skeletons of corals in a marine protected area in Malaysia, according to a recent study. The study, published in the journal Regional Studies in Marine Science, focused on Pulau Redang Marine Park, in the southern South China [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KUALA LUMPUR — Microplastics, tiny plastic particles about 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) or smaller, have settled into the skeletons of corals in a marine protected area in Malaysia, according to a recent study. The study, published in the journal Regional Studies in Marine Science, focused on Pulau Redang Marine Park, in the southern South China Sea. Known for its turquoise blue waters and rich coral reefs, Pulau Redang has been designated as a marine protected area since 1985. Researchers from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) collected 200 coral fragments from five reef sites around the marine park, off the eastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia, and found that 64% of the fragments contained microplastics. Microplastics come from intentionally manufactured particles like industrial pellets and microbeads in personal care products, as well as the breakdown of larger plastic items such as plastic bottles and fishing gear. These tiny particles can be found everywhere, from mountaintops to seabeds. Once they enter the ocean, they can travel far and wide. “I was a bit surprised that I could find microplastics in the corals so easily,” lead author Ong Chai Kee told Mongabay in a video call. “The ocean is so big, and I was thinking, ‘What are the chances that these little plastics could enter so many corals?’” Malaysian marine biologist Ong Chai Kee wraps the sample containers in foil to prevent airborne contamination and prepare them for analysis. Image courtesy of Ong Chai Kee. The team sampled from two dominant hard corals: the branching&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/microplastics-pollute-nearly-two-thirds-of-corals-in-malaysias-marine-protected-area-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/microplastics-pollute-nearly-two-thirds-of-corals-in-malaysias-marine-protected-area-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334938</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cyanide ponds from illegal mining threaten Amazon Indigenous territory</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/cyanide-ponds-from-illegal-mining-threaten-amazon-indigenous-territory/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/cyanide-ponds-from-illegal-mining-threaten-amazon-indigenous-territory/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Nov 2026 14:12:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Oliveira]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/20111822/Ibama-2026_03_25_Op_Xapiri_capa-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333213</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Chemicals, Conflict, Conservation, Crime, Culture, Degraded Lands, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, extractives, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Gold Mining, Governance, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Health, Human Rights, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Land Grabbing, Law, Law Enforcement, Mercury, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, Protected Areas, Public Health, Rainforests, Resource Conflict, Water, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With mercury increasingly hard to get, illegal gold miners have turned to a cheaper, deadlier alternative.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Cyanide use in illegal gold mining in the Brazilian Amazon is posing a new threat to people and animals in the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Territory. The territory, in the state of Roraima, has been invaded by illegal miners who use cyanide to dissolve gold out of crushed ore, leaving behind ponds of cyanide-contaminated water. In July, the Federal Police arrested two men and seized from them approximately 375 kilograms (827 pounds) of a “chemical compound with characteristics consistent with cyanide,” as well as 1,250 kg (2,756 lb) of activated charcoal — another substance used in gold processing in Roraima. According to the police, the seizures are linked to illegal gold mining in the Indigenous territory. A year earlier, in July 2025, the Federal Police closed down an illegal laboratory in Boa Vista, the state capital, where rocks thought to have come from gold mining and areas of water contaminated with cyanide were found. According to the G1 news outlet, the rocks reportedly came from Raposa Serra do Sol, with miners sending them to the capital for the gold-washing and separation process. Traditionally, illegal miners extract gold from ore using mercury — a toxic substance whose trade is illegal in Brazil. With intensified environmental raids, mercury availability on the informal market has fallen dramatically, according to Brazil’s environmental agency, IBAMA. Because no companies are authorized to legally sell mercury in the country, the product has become significantly more expensive on the black market, where a 1.5-liter (50-ounce) bottle can&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/cyanide-ponds-from-illegal-mining-threaten-amazon-indigenous-territory/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/cyanide-ponds-from-illegal-mining-threaten-amazon-indigenous-territory/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333213</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Experts warn of long-term health risks as Indonesia’s wildfire haze takes a growing toll</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/experts-warn-of-long-term-health-risks-as-indonesias-wildfire-haze-takes-a-growing-toll/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/experts-warn-of-long-term-health-risks-as-indonesias-wildfire-haze-takes-a-growing-toll/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Nov 2026 08:31:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Yenni Kwok]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/10131647/warga-Kalsel-saat-kabut-asap-1200x800-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334640</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Kalimantan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Climate, Disasters, El Nino, Extreme Weather, Fires, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, One Health, Peatlands, Planetary Health, Pollution, and Public Health]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Michael’s 20-month-old daughter began coughing and had shortness of breath in early October, as thick haze from wildfires blanketed Balikpapan, the capital of Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province. He and his wife took the toddler to a private hospital, where she was diagnosed with pneumonia. An X-ray showed an infiltrate in the upper part [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Michael’s 20-month-old daughter began coughing and had shortness of breath in early October, as thick haze from wildfires blanketed Balikpapan, the capital of Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province. He and his wife took the toddler to a private hospital, where she was diagnosed with pneumonia. An X-ray showed an infiltrate in the upper part of the girl’s left lung. “We were told that one factor that could have contributed to the illness was the smoke, which has also been getting thicker in Balikpapan,” Michael told Mongabay Indonesia on Oct. 14, 2026. With the air quality index reaching “unhealthy” levels in the city, the couple limited their daughter’s time outdoors. A day later, more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) away, in the East Kalimantan city of Samarinda, a 14-month-old baby died after suddenly experiencing shortness of breath. The family of the toddler, Yazlyn Syanindita, suspects she died because of the thick smog enveloping the city. “Her shortness of breath was so sudden,” Yazlyn’s grandfather, Sarno, told Mongabay Indonesia. “She had no previous illnesses.” Her mother Cindy, 25, said what happened to her daughter shouldn&#8217;t happen to other children and urged the government not to downplay the impact of fires. “The government must not turn a blind eye,” she said, as quoted by BBC Indonesia. “Don’t say the haze isn’t severe. Many people are suffering from acute respiratory infections. Yesterday, in the inpatient ward, I saw three toddlers struggling to breathe.” Health risks also extend to those fighting the fires. At&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/experts-warn-of-long-term-health-risks-as-indonesias-wildfire-haze-takes-a-growing-toll/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/experts-warn-of-long-term-health-risks-as-indonesias-wildfire-haze-takes-a-growing-toll/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334640</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Environmental defenders testify about attacks in Latin America linked to Canadian mining companies</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/environmental-defenders-testify-about-attacks-in-latin-america-linked-to-canadian-mining-companies/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/environmental-defenders-testify-about-attacks-in-latin-america-linked-to-canadian-mining-companies/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Oct 2026 18:16:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Annie Burns-Pieper]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/31174758/a.-Photo-3-Earthworks-Mayerly-IACHR-Hearing-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334622</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada, Colombia, and Panama]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples, Mining, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights heard testimony Oct. 27 from representatives of six countries alleging harm linked to Canadian mining companies&#8217; operations, including four alleged attacks on environmental defenders. The regional agency gathered in Panama to examine Canada’s obligations with respect to its extractive companies and their impact overseas on human rights and the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights heard testimony Oct. 27 from representatives of six countries alleging harm linked to Canadian mining companies&#8217; operations, including four alleged attacks on environmental defenders. The regional agency gathered in Panama to examine Canada’s obligations with respect to its extractive companies and their impact overseas on human rights and the environment. Canada is home to about half of the world’s publicly listed mining and mineral exploration companies with operations both in Canada and abroad. The latest revelations add to long-standing concerns about the conduct of Canadian mining companies overseas. Marco Manobanda, an Indigenous fish-farmer from Las Naves, Ecuador, testified that the El Domo copper and gold mine, owned by two Vancouver-based companies, Silvercorp Metals Inc. and Salazar Resources Ltd., is causing deforestation and water contamination where he lives, impacting the ecosystem and his livelihood. “If this mining continues, they&#8217;re going to keep polluting our water, and we&#8217;ll run out of resources. And since we make our living from that land and its resources, where are we supposed to go?” Manobanda said. The hearing comes about four months after the government eliminated the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE), which was created to investigate complaints about human rights abuses and environmental harm linked to Canadian companies in the garment, mining and oil and gas sectors operating outside of Canada. In the wake of this decision, advocates say they have been left with limited options to seek meaningful redress. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is an&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/environmental-defenders-testify-about-attacks-in-latin-america-linked-to-canadian-mining-companies/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/environmental-defenders-testify-about-attacks-in-latin-america-linked-to-canadian-mining-companies/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334622</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Philippines halts U.S. e-waste imports but struggles to police customs-free zones</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/philippines-halts-u-s-e-waste-imports-but-struggles-to-police-customs-free-zones/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/philippines-halts-u-s-e-waste-imports-but-struggles-to-police-customs-free-zones/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Oct 2026 16:13:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Biena MagbitangGabriele Di DonfrancescoHelena Rodríguez GómezLouis Boyd-Madsen]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/23181923/GP0STPYT3_Low-res-800px-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333738</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, North America, Philippines, Southeast Asia, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[E-waste, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, International Trade, Pollution, Trade, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[After months of scrutiny, the Philippines has closed its doors to electronic waste from the United States, ending, for now, a stream of shipments that environmental groups have tracked since March 2025. This move marks the clearest government response yet to controversy over suspected U.S. e-waste shipments entering the Philippines via the Subic Bay freeport, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[After months of scrutiny, the Philippines has closed its doors to electronic waste from the United States, ending, for now, a stream of shipments that environmental groups have tracked since March 2025. This move marks the clearest government response yet to controversy over suspected U.S. e-waste shipments entering the Philippines via the Subic Bay freeport, with environmental groups questioning whether cargoes were being properly screened and regulated. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) told Mongabay on Oct. 12 the restriction is not a new U.S.-specific ban. Instead, it said, the policy, which was publicly announced on Sept. 22, will see customs officials enforcing existing rules under the Basel Convention. The convention, an international treaty governing cross-border waste shipments, prohibits e-waste imports from the five countries that are not parties to the treaty — including the United States. Michael Drake Matias, who heads the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau, said customs has stopped allowing waste shipments from all nonparty countries to be unloaded at Philippine ports. Aerial photo obtained by the Basel Action Network on April 27, 2026 of the discarded electronics piling up outside of Jack Electronics, one of the recovery facilities northeast of Subic Bay. Photo credit: Basel Action Network, 2026. Customs-free zones? It remains unclear whether the reinforced restriction resolves a broader enforcement problem created by a 2025 Manila court ruling that disrupted normal pre-shipment controls in the Subic Bay freeport. The case began in 2024, when the customs bureau held shipments belonging to three recycling companies&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/philippines-halts-u-s-e-waste-imports-but-struggles-to-police-customs-free-zones/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/philippines-halts-u-s-e-waste-imports-but-struggles-to-police-customs-free-zones/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333738</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Suriname&#8217;s rich archaeological history may hold keys to conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/surinames-rich-archaeological-history-may-hold-keys-to-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/surinames-rich-archaeological-history-may-hold-keys-to-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Oct 2026 18:37:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Peter Speetjens]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/27170358/h-watercolor-by-the-Indigenous-Wayana-banner-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332904</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, South America, and Suriname]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Anthropology, Archeology, Conservation, Culture, Ecology, Ecosystems, Education, Environment, Forests, History, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Mining, Pollution, Research, and Traditional Knowledge]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Suriname pledges to save its forests but neglects the ancient human history hidden within them, experts say.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2004, archaeological anthropologist Renzo Duin joined an expedition into the mountainous tri-border area where Brazil, Suriname and Guyana meet alongside French botanists and ecologists. While the scientific team focused on mapping the biodiversity of what appeared to be untouched vegetation, Duin noticed that the ground told a very different story, rich with traces of pre-Columbian human occupation. “While they investigated what they perceived as pristine rainforest, I found the area dotted with fragments of pottery and other archaeological indications, including a site surrounded by a ditch,” Duin told Mongabay in a video call from The Hague, Netherlands. The evidence uncovered by Duin was one of many showing that the Amazon rainforest of Suriname and the Guianas region has been shaped and inhabited by people for millennia. Over the years, the researcher returned regularly to the region, making him one of the leading Amazon archaeologists, reshaping the knowledge about human occupation in the rainforest. “In the last three decades, archaeological knowledge of the Amazon has made a great stride forward in Brazil, Ecuador and Bolivia,” Duin said. &#8220;In Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, the picture of the past has improved along the coast and major rivers. Yet, in the inland-uplands we have barely scratched the surface regarding the long-time histories of the Indigenous peoples.&#8221; Renzo Duin in the Tumuc-Humac Mountains. Image by © 2004, Renzo Duin /AMIK. As elsewhere in the Amazon, archaeological research in the region has unveiled a wealth of ancient rock art sites, stone tools, pottery and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/surinames-rich-archaeological-history-may-hold-keys-to-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-332904</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Pakistan’s Punjab, toxic air threatens wildlife amid a monitoring blind spot</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/in-pakistans-punjab-toxic-air-threatens-wildlife-amid-a-monitoring-blind-spot/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/in-pakistans-punjab-toxic-air-threatens-wildlife-amid-a-monitoring-blind-spot/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Oct 2026 17:58:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Muhammad Talal]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/27162536/AP19355292524142-pakistan-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334074</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Pakistan, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Animal Rights, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, data, Environment, Fellows, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Monitoring, Planetary Boundaries, Pollution, Public Health, Research, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Each November, a suffocating blanket of particulate matter envelops Pakistan&#8217;s Punjab province, turning the sky into a hazardous grey canopy. While the public health catastrophe for more than 20 million residents rightfully dominates headlines, a silent crisis unfolds across the region&#8217;s agricultural fields, urban green spaces and remaining wetlands. We know exactly what this toxic [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Each November, a suffocating blanket of particulate matter envelops Pakistan&#8217;s Punjab province, turning the sky into a hazardous grey canopy. While the public health catastrophe for more than 20 million residents rightfully dominates headlines, a silent crisis unfolds across the region&#8217;s agricultural fields, urban green spaces and remaining wetlands. We know exactly what this toxic air does to human lungs, and we even track its precise impact on agricultural assets. A 2023 baseline study closely monitored 10 livestock farms, each housing 90-275 animals across the Lahore and Kasur districts, tracking the exact micrograms of fine particulate matter, carbon dioxide and potentially toxic trace elements inside cattle sheds. Researchers even screened the air for opportunistic bacterial pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus to safeguard the health of livestock. Yet, if a wild bird or mammal landed directly outside those monitored facilities, science would suddenly turn a blind eye. In a region choked by seasonal pollution, wildlife is suffering in a massive monitoring void. Sidra Safdar, associate professor of Wildlife and Ecology at the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) in Pakistan and a co-author of the 2023 livestock study, explicitly identifies the root of this discrepancy: lack of funding and political will. &#8220;One reason for a massive data gap in wildlife monitoring associated with poor air quality is the lack of suitable resources and specialized equipment,&#8221; Safdar notes, emphasizing that real-time air quality tracking demands costly annual calibration. Pakistani farmers working in their field blanketed by smog in Peshawar, November 2019. Image&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/in-pakistans-punjab-toxic-air-threatens-wildlife-amid-a-monitoring-blind-spot/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/in-pakistans-punjab-toxic-air-threatens-wildlife-amid-a-monitoring-blind-spot/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334074</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Global framework urgently needed to assess emerging health risks of novel chemicals, experts say</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/global-framework-urgently-needed-to-assess-emerging-health-risks-of-novel-chemicals-experts-say/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/global-framework-urgently-needed-to-assess-emerging-health-risks-of-novel-chemicals-experts-say/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Oct 2026 15:37:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claire Asher]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/22121844/1-4986464658_800cca2a0b_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333552</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Dioxide, Chemicals, Climate Change, Environment, forever chemicals, Global Environmental Crisis, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health, Microplastics, Planetary Boundaries, Plastic, Pollution, Public Health, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Over the past century, humanity has invented a dizzying array of novel chemicals for industrial, commercial and domestic use. These synthetic chemicals have been manufactured and released into the world with little caution for the harm they might cause to human health or to ecosystems that we depend on for life as we know it. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Over the past century, humanity has invented a dizzying array of novel chemicals for industrial, commercial and domestic use. These synthetic chemicals have been manufactured and released into the world with little caution for the harm they might cause to human health or to ecosystems that we depend on for life as we know it. An estimated 350,000 synthetic chemicals had been registered for production as of 2020, and for the vast majority, we know next to nothing about their health effects. Even their chemical compositions are often hidden as proprietary trade secrets. “The world today is full of manufactured chemicals,” says Philip Landrigan, public health physician and director of the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good at Boston College in the U.S., who spoke to Mongabay via video call. But “we have really good data on the health effects for only 30 or 40 of these chemicals,” he warns. Only a handful of chemicals have been banned or restricted in U.S. markets in the last 50 years. The evidence base for some classes of chemicals is more developed than others, but what we know so far gives serious cause for concern, experts say. From thalidomide-induced birth defects to the pesticide DDT’s ecological impacts and cancers linked to polychlorinated biphenyls, the chemical industry has a long history of rushing new synthetics to market while largely asking questions about toxicity later. “I would think of it as an iceberg — there&#8217;s a little bit of ice visible above&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/global-framework-urgently-needed-to-assess-emerging-health-risks-of-novel-chemicals-experts-say/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/global-framework-urgently-needed-to-assess-emerging-health-risks-of-novel-chemicals-experts-say/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333552</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Influence without enforcement’: Indonesia’s fires test Singapore’s anti-haze law</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/influence-without-enforcement-indonesias-fires-test-singapores-anti-haze-law/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/influence-without-enforcement-indonesias-fires-test-singapores-anti-haze-law/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Oct 2026 11:11:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gabrielle See]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/27100929/AP26282576385450-singapore-haze-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334000</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Disasters, Environment, Environmental Law, Extreme Weather, Fires, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Health, Industry, Law, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SINGAPORE — As Singapore comes off its longest streak of unhealthy air since the 2015 Southeast Asian haze crisis, authorities have served notices to 20 firms linked to Indonesia’s fires, but have stopped short of taking further legal action. Half of the notices were sent to concession holders in Sumatra and Kalimantan where the fires [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SINGAPORE — As Singapore comes off its longest streak of unhealthy air since the 2015 Southeast Asian haze crisis, authorities have served notices to 20 firms linked to Indonesia’s fires, but have stopped short of taking further legal action. Half of the notices were sent to concession holders in Sumatra and Kalimantan where the fires originated, while the other half went to Singapore-based entities with ties to them. Of the 10 Indonesian plantation companies identified, three of them — PT Bumi Andalas Permai, PT Bumi Mekar Hijau and PT SBA Wood Industries — have had separate investigations open against them by Singaporean authorities since 2015, with no public outcome. All three are tied to the Asia Pulp &amp; Paper (APP) conglomerate, as is PT Buana Megatama Jaya, which was also issued a notice to extinguish fires in its concession. The other six companies issued the notices requiring them to act against fires are PT Paramitra Mulia Langgeng, PT Sumatera Alam Anugerah, PT Hutan Lestari Raya, PT Bangkanesia, PT Mananjung Hayak and PT Baratama Putra Perkasa. A spokesperson from Singapore’s National Environmental Agency told Mongabay by email it could not disclose further details into existing investigations. The agency did not respond to questions as to whether it would escalate against repeat offenders. Based on the government’s current investigations, Singapore-headquartered APP, Singapore-listed First Resources and Bumitama Agri, and privately held First Borneo Plantations, whose ownership is tied to Singapore, already appear to be linked to the haze-causing fires in Indonesia, Singapore’s senior&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/influence-without-enforcement-indonesias-fires-test-singapores-anti-haze-law/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/influence-without-enforcement-indonesias-fires-test-singapores-anti-haze-law/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334000</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>5 million Nigerians gain clean cooking access annually, but it&#8217;s not enough, experts say</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/5-million-nigerians-gain-clean-cooking-access-annually-but-its-not-enough-experts-say/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/5-million-nigerians-gain-clean-cooking-access-annually-but-its-not-enough-experts-say/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Oct 2026 06:40:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ini Ekott]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/25192259/cooking-gas-cylinder-drawing-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333820</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, charcoal, Clean Energy, Economics, Energy, Environment, Food, Fuelwood, Governance, Natural Resources, Pollution, and Population]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[UYO, Nigeria — Before dawn, Happiness Emmanuel is already at the fire. She crouches beside a three-legged metal stand outside her home in Uyo city, southeastern Nigeria, splashing kerosene over damp firewood before striking a match. By sunrise, she is selling akara, a popular bean fritter, to commuters and schoolchildren stopping at her roadside stall. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[UYO, Nigeria — Before dawn, Happiness Emmanuel is already at the fire. She crouches beside a three-legged metal stand outside her home in Uyo city, southeastern Nigeria, splashing kerosene over damp firewood before striking a match. By sunrise, she is selling akara, a popular bean fritter, to commuters and schoolchildren stopping at her roadside stall. Emmanuel’s wood-fired setup is a familiar sight across this oil-rich region and Nigeria at large. The West African nation has spent more than a decade trying to shift households away from traditional cooking fuels such as firewood, charcoal and kerosene and by one measure it is succeeding. Between 2020 and 2024, an average of 5.4 million Nigerians a year gained access to clean cooking, more than in any other African country, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The share of the population with access rose by 2.3 percentage points a year, the third-fastest improvement on the continent after Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya. Those gains have only just kept pace with the population growth. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, added about 4.8 million people a year between 2022 and 2025, according to Worldometer estimates. In 2024, about 168 million Nigerians, nearly three in four people in the country, still cooked with polluting fuels, making Nigeria home to the world&#8217;s second-largest biomass-dependent population after India, according to the latest joint U.N. and World Bank tracking report on global energy access. What’s more, the trend in actual fuelwood consumption is moving in the opposite direction. U.N. energy&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/5-million-nigerians-gain-clean-cooking-access-annually-but-its-not-enough-experts-say/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/5-million-nigerians-gain-clean-cooking-access-annually-but-its-not-enough-experts-say/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333820</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Amazon communities lose water as mining and deforestation reshape rivers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/amazon-communities-lose-water-as-mining-and-deforestation-reshape-rivers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/amazon-communities-lose-water-as-mining-and-deforestation-reshape-rivers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Oct 2026 18:15:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vanessa Romo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexa]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/23193910/Arazaire_community_bisected_by_Inambari_River_Vico_Mendez-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333623</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Bolivia, Colombia, Global, Latin America, Peru, South America, and Venezuela]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Culture, Deforestation, Drinking Water, Earth Science, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Freshwater, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Health, Human Rights, Impact Of Climate Change, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Law, Livestock, Mapping, Natural Resources, Pollution, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Research, Rivers, Science, Technology, Tropical Forests, Water, Water Pollution, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“People think that because we live in the forest we have plenty of water, but this is the reality,” Erick Tijé, an Indigenous Harakmbut resident of the southern Peruvian Amazon, says in a tone of disappointment, pointing to the murky water flowing down the Inambari River. That river isn’t what it was five years ago, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“People think that because we live in the forest we have plenty of water, but this is the reality,” Erick Tijé, an Indigenous Harakmbut resident of the southern Peruvian Amazon, says in a tone of disappointment, pointing to the murky water flowing down the Inambari River. That river isn’t what it was five years ago, when fishing and life along its banks were very different for residents of the Arazaire Indigenous community. Illegal mining stole their water, only to return it to them polluted. Today, they have to buy the water they drink. On the other side of the Peruvian border, in the Colombian Amazon, Lázaro Ibañez, an elder of the Coreguaje people who live in the Jácome Indigenous Reserve, blames cattle ranching and climate change for reducing water availability around their territory. “The cattle have been destroying everything, and now all you can see is pastureland; there are hardly any trees left,” he says, having witnessed how deforestation to create grazing for cattle has gone hand in hand with the drying up of their water sources. Inhabitants of parts of the world’s greatest rainforest face a paradox: they’re surrounded by water, but can’t use it. For Indigenous peoples, it’s also the loss of the spirits that guard their water sources, driven away by the advance of logging and cattle ranching. Reporters from Mongabay, Colombian news outlet El Espectador, and Venezuela’s El Correo del Caroní, in partnership with scientists from Brazil’s Serrapilheira Institute, analyzed more than two decades of satellite&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/amazon-communities-lose-water-as-mining-and-deforestation-reshape-rivers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/amazon-communities-lose-water-as-mining-and-deforestation-reshape-rivers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333623</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesians allege social media posts on wildfires and haze are being censored</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesians-allege-social-media-posts-on-wildfires-and-haze-are-being-censored/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesians-allege-social-media-posts-on-wildfires-and-haze-are-being-censored/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Oct 2026 14:33:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Winda Charmila]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Yenni Kwok]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/23140606/AP26296399833675-indonesia-haze-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333661</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Communication, Controversial, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fires, Governance, Health, Law, Media, Pollution, and Social Media]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — On Oct. 15, as thick smog continued to choke millions of people, Indonesian health policy research and advocacy organization the Nalar Rawat Institute shared a post on TikTok and Instagram about the health effects of the country’s wildfires. Little did it know what problems the innocuous posts would create. The TikTok post featured [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — On Oct. 15, as thick smog continued to choke millions of people, Indonesian health policy research and advocacy organization the Nalar Rawat Institute shared a post on TikTok and Instagram about the health effects of the country’s wildfires. Little did it know what problems the innocuous posts would create. The TikTok post featured NASA satellite imagery of carbon monoxide covering the Indonesian archipelago, superimposed on footage of an orange sky in Palangka Raya in Central Kalimantan province. The provincial capital has been one of the areas worst hit by months-long wildfires and haze in 2026. “All of Indonesia&#8217;s sky is covered by carbon monoxide,” the text on the video and the post’s caption read. “The air pollution index reaches 1,200, our living space is no longer habitable.” The figure of 1,200 — four times the hazardous threshold of 300 — came from Ministry of Environment data on the air pollution index in Central Kalimantan on Oct. 14. Not long after, the post, which garnered 500,000 views and 17,500 likes, was removed from TikTok, the NGO said. The Nalar Rawat Institute receives a notice from TikTok, saying its Oct. 15, 2026, post “has been removed for violating our community guidelines”. Image courtesy of Nalar Rawat Institute. According to Fatus Sahara, Nalar Rawat’s communications officer, on the evening of Oct. 15, TikTok notified the NGO that the post violated its community guidelines. The following day, the post vanished and the NGO’s appeal to reinstate it was rejected. “There was no&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/indonesians-allege-social-media-posts-on-wildfires-and-haze-are-being-censored/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333661</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Large animals are living carbon stores. Does that make saving them a climate solution?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/large-animals-are-living-carbon-stores-does-that-make-saving-them-a-climate-solution/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/large-animals-are-living-carbon-stores-does-that-make-saving-them-a-climate-solution/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Oct 2026 02:47:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/16155427/c.-Julie-Larsen-_6422_African-Elephants_KEN_03-09-14-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332957</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, carbon, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Sequestration, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Earth Science, Elephants, Environment, Forest Carbon, Global Environmental Crisis, Research, Science, Whales, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Great herds of elephants once crisscrossed Africa, and scientists have no doubt that they shaped the landscape, ecosystems and — as recent science has shown — the balance of carbon. Though it&#8217;s difficult to be certain of exact numbers, some scientists muse that over the past five centuries, humans have driven a loss of 98% [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Great herds of elephants once crisscrossed Africa, and scientists have no doubt that they shaped the landscape, ecosystems and — as recent science has shown — the balance of carbon. Though it&#8217;s difficult to be certain of exact numbers, some scientists muse that over the past five centuries, humans have driven a loss of 98% of the continent’s elephants. A more recent, often-cited figure from the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, put the continent&#8217;s elephant population at 1.3 million in the 1970s. Research since then has suggested that overall numbers of savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) have dropped by 70%, driven by hunting and habitat loss. Their forest cousins, Loxodonta cyclotis, have likely slid by 90%. As scientists have begun to uncover the interactions between carbon and big animals like elephants, there&#8217;s a been a push to &#8220;rewild&#8221; landscapes for the benefit of the climate. The ocean&#8217;s massive whales similarly offer that potential. As the largest animals that have ever existed on Earth, their bodies alone serve as substantial reservoirs that could keep climate-warming carbon out of the atmosphere over the course of the decades (or more) that they live. Other research has sketched out a whale pump: Whales’ nutrient-rich waste also supports phytoplankton, which absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide. Cetacean contributions to carbon sequestration continue even after they die, as their bodies sometimes sink to the ocean floor, where a range of deep-sea organisms feed on them, keeping that carbon out of the atmosphere. Centuries of hunting have&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/large-animals-are-living-carbon-stores-does-that-make-saving-them-a-climate-solution/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/large-animals-are-living-carbon-stores-does-that-make-saving-them-a-climate-solution/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332957</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Farmworkers’ health matters: South Africa looks to alternatives for chemical pesticides</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/farmworkers-health-matters-south-africa-looks-to-alternatives-for-chemical-pesticides/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/farmworkers-health-matters-south-africa-looks-to-alternatives-for-chemical-pesticides/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Oct 2026 06:22:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anna Weekes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/15093158/1128207757_ddbb6e382f_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332706</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Environment, Farming, Food, Food Industry, Health, Poisoning, Pollution, Public Health, Solutions, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Insects like fall armyworm or mealybugs can decimate food and commercial crops; like their counterparts elsewhere in the world, South Africa’s small and large farmers alike use synthetic chemical pesticides to control these and other pests. But about 385 million cases of unintentional acute pesticide poisoning are reported worldwide each year, according to the Pesticide [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Insects like fall armyworm or mealybugs can decimate food and commercial crops; like their counterparts elsewhere in the world, South Africa’s small and large farmers alike use synthetic chemical pesticides to control these and other pests. But about 385 million cases of unintentional acute pesticide poisoning are reported worldwide each year, according to the Pesticide Action Network, an umbrella group of more than 600 NGOs in 90 countries campaigning to reduce the use of chemical pesticides. As researchers look for alternatives, new pesticides that use genetic technologies are raising questions about what should replace hazardous agricultural chemicals. Colette Solomon, co-director of Women on Farms Project, an organization that advocates for farm workers and farm dwellers in South Africa, says pesticides are often sprayed while female farm workers are harvesting crops. In many cases, these workers, mostly women, are not provided with gloves or other protective equipment, she told Mongabay, as hand protection is seen as impractical for the handling of delicate fruit such as grapes. “[The workers] are not provided with PPE, such as hand protection, or they&#8217;re not practical for the delicate types of work they do, leaving them to handle contaminated vines barehanded, as well as breathing in these chemicals” Solomon said. Even when agrochemicals aren&#8217;t sprayed while women are working, they must often re-enter vineyards soon after they have been sprayed, she added in an email interview, and because farm workers&#8217; homes are often located next to vineyards, pesticides can also drift into their houses. Led by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/farmworkers-health-matters-south-africa-looks-to-alternatives-for-chemical-pesticides/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/farmworkers-health-matters-south-africa-looks-to-alternatives-for-chemical-pesticides/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332706</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Plastic industry bookkeeping plans hide chemical recycling harms, critics say</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/plastic-industry-bookkeeping-plans-hide-chemical-recycling-harms-critics-say/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/plastic-industry-bookkeeping-plans-hide-chemical-recycling-harms-critics-say/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Oct 2026 15:54:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claire Asher]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/15224641/1_B_Plastic_pollution_crisis_UNEP-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332808</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California, Canada, Global, North America, North Carolina, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Business, Chemicals, Circular Economy, Conservation, Energy, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Natural Resources, Plastic, Pollution, Public Health, Recycling, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Plastic pollution has rapidly escalated into a global environmental crisis that threatens ecosystem function and human health at an epic scale. Solutions are urgently needed, but while scientists, conservationists and more than 75 nations have called for binding limits on fossil fuel-driven plastic production, the plastics industry is opposed to all limits and is instead [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Plastic pollution has rapidly escalated into a global environmental crisis that threatens ecosystem function and human health at an epic scale. Solutions are urgently needed, but while scientists, conservationists and more than 75 nations have called for binding limits on fossil fuel-driven plastic production, the plastics industry is opposed to all limits and is instead pushing a collection of technologies known as ‘chemical recycling.’ Critics say the industry is utilizing deceptive accounting practices and marketing jargon to rebrand polluting plastic incineration disposal methods. To date, chemical recycling facilities have created a relatively miniscule amount of recycled plastic, according to industry critics. But consumer product labels claiming “20% recycled plastic” have become an increasingly common sight on single-use plastic items. Reading such labels, consumers might logically assume that the product contains 20% recycled material, but that might not be the case. In addition, that potentially misleading label could be greenwashing environmentally damaging plastic incineration. Chemical recycling: Cutting-edge solution or sleight of hand? Chemical recycling, also dubbed ‘advanced recycling’ by the industry, uses chemicals, intense heat and/or pressure to break down plastic waste into its molecular building blocks. This contrasts with traditional ‘mechanical’ recycling methods which shred plastic waste into tiny flakes that can be melted and re-molded into new products. The most common form of chemical recycling, called ‘pyrolysis,’ uses high temperatures and pressure to convert waste plastic into an oil, which can be further processed into a variety of chemicals, some of which can be used to create new plastics.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/plastic-industry-bookkeeping-plans-hide-chemical-recycling-harms-critics-say/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/plastic-industry-bookkeeping-plans-hide-chemical-recycling-harms-critics-say/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332808</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Climate change could send more toxic mining waste into coastal waters, study warns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/climate-change-could-send-more-toxic-mining-waste-into-coastal-waters-study-warns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/climate-change-could-send-more-toxic-mining-waste-into-coastal-waters-study-warns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Oct 2026 09:45:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Madeline Shaw]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/15115700/a.-BANNER-Mariana-dam-disaster-Brazil-23147142874_7e86046655_o1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332723</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Dams, Drinking Water, Drought, extractives, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Infrastructure, Marine, Mining, Oceans, Pollution, Sea Levels, Storms, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Demand for metals has exploded in recent decades, thanks to population growth, technological innovation, and economic development. The volume of metal ores like iron and copper extracted globally quadrupled during the last half-century, and the trillion-dollar industry shows no signs of slowing down. But the growing demand comes with environmental risks. Both metal mines and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Demand for metals has exploded in recent decades, thanks to population growth, technological innovation, and economic development. The volume of metal ores like iron and copper extracted globally quadrupled during the last half-century, and the trillion-dollar industry shows no signs of slowing down. But the growing demand comes with environmental risks. Both metal mines and the storage facilities that hold vast amounts of toxic mining waste, known as tailings, can release pollution into the surrounding environment, contaminating land and water with heavy metals and harmful chemicals. This pollution can eventually wash downstream, affecting coastal communities and marine ecosystems. An analysis recently published in the journal Earth-Science Reviews warns that climate change could exacerbate the risks of metal mining pollution on marine environments. Researchers examined areas where compounding risks from warmer temperatures, rising seas, and changing weather patterns could release more toxic waste into the landscape over the next century, highlighting the need for remediation and monitoring. They identified the six regions where overlapping hazards pose the highest risk: North America, South America, Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, East Asia, and Australia. “We isolate six hotspots, but that makes up a large part of the world,” study lead author Adam Sproson, a research scientist at the National Oceanography Centre in the U.K., told Mongabay. “There’s quite a lot of coastline to cover.” The coastal Levant Mine in Cornwall, U.K., in 2008. This tin and copper mine operated from the 18th century until the 1930s, and its workings extended under the sea. Legacy&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/climate-change-could-send-more-toxic-mining-waste-into-coastal-waters-study-warns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/climate-change-could-send-more-toxic-mining-waste-into-coastal-waters-study-warns/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332723</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Act before El Niño: Expert worries about deepening hunger in East and South Africa</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/act-before-el-nino-expert-worries-about-deepening-hunger-in-east-and-south-africa/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/act-before-el-nino-expert-worries-about-deepening-hunger-in-east-and-south-africa/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Oct 2026 19:46:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/14194014/Banner-image-vehicule-et-inondation-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332647</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and South Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate, Climate Change, climate finance, Climate Science, Development, Earth Science, Economics, Environment, Food, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Health, Hunger, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Research, Science, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[El Niño, a naturally occurring climate pattern that involves unusually warm surface waters in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean can alter atmospheric circulation and significantly influence rainfall and temperatures patterns far beyond the ocean, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The WMO, the United Nations’ weather agency, says this warming is already [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[El Niño, a naturally occurring climate pattern that involves unusually warm surface waters in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean can alter atmospheric circulation and significantly influence rainfall and temperatures patterns far beyond the ocean, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The WMO, the United Nations’ weather agency, says this warming is already underway and getting stronger. In an Oct. 8 update, it put the chance of an El Niño continuing through February 2027 at nearly 100%. It expects the event to be strongest in December. Regional forecasters predict a 90% chance of heavier-than-usual rain in southern Ethiopia, central to southern Somalia and northeastern Kenya between October and December 2026. Excessive rainfall could cause flooding, destroy crops, spread disease and make health services inaccessible in some areas, depending on local conditions and the season. A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) map illustrates typical seasonal rainfall shifts associated with El Niño, rather than a specific forecast for 2026. Graphic courtesy of NOAA. Action Against Hunger, an international aid organization, says families in southern Madagascar are enduring food shortages earlier than usual following a season of poor harvests. Its teams are treating children for malnourishment, as households continue to endure worsening food insecurity. Cuts in aid are also making help to tackle malnourishment harder to obtain. The United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported on Aug. 21 that 205 health and nutrition facilities in Somalia had closed because of funding cuts, forcing families to travel farther to find care.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/act-before-el-nino-expert-worries-about-deepening-hunger-in-east-and-south-africa/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/act-before-el-nino-expert-worries-about-deepening-hunger-in-east-and-south-africa/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332647</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As Colombo heats up, passive cooling offers a low-energy solution — but at a cost</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-colombo-heats-up-passive-cooling-offers-a-low-energy-solution-but-at-a-cost/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-colombo-heats-up-passive-cooling-offers-a-low-energy-solution-but-at-a-cost/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Oct 2026 11:26:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kamanthi Wickramasinghe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/11152758/10-High-rise-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332188</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Cities, Development, Energy Security, Environment, Governance, Health, Pollution, and Poverty]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Fathima Rinoza lives on the fourth floor of a 14-story apartment block in Dematagoda, a suburb of Sri Lanka’s commercial capital, Colombo. She rarely keeps the two windows in her house open for long. The heat becomes unbearable by midday, she says, and the surrounding buildings obstruct wind flowing in the direction of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Fathima Rinoza lives on the fourth floor of a 14-story apartment block in Dematagoda, a suburb of Sri Lanka’s commercial capital, Colombo. She rarely keeps the two windows in her house open for long. The heat becomes unbearable by midday, she says, and the surrounding buildings obstruct wind flowing in the direction of her home. In addition, the stench from littered surroundings discourages residents like Rinoza from keeping their windows open. “Fresh air is a luxury for us because we can’t keep windows open for too long. By noon the heat becomes unbearable. If I keep the windows open till evening, there’ll be a lot of dust inside the house,” she tells Mongabay. Rinoza keeps the two fans in her house working almost the entire day to cool the house. The heat and poor ventilation make people like Rinoza who live in cramped urban settings heavily dependent on mechanical or active-cooling methods such as fans and air conditioners. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the urban residential sector accounts for nearly a third of Sri Lanka’s total energy consumption: to heat and cool buildings, and to run lights, devices, and appliances. As heat and energy demand rise, Sri Lanka is actively exploring the adoption of traditional and modern passive-cooling methods, primarily in the residential sector. Passive-cooling strategies In passive cooling, the building design approach uses natural energy flows like wind and shade to lower indoor temperatures. Research by Sri Lankan engineers in 2021 on natural ventilation for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-colombo-heats-up-passive-cooling-offers-a-low-energy-solution-but-at-a-cost/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/as-colombo-heats-up-passive-cooling-offers-a-low-energy-solution-but-at-a-cost/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332188</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Lawmakers in Suriname call for investigation, stricter oversight amid new mining activity</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/lawmakers-in-suriname-call-for-investigation-stricter-oversight-amid-new-mining-activity/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/lawmakers-in-suriname-call-for-investigation-stricter-oversight-amid-new-mining-activity/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Oct 2026 16:18:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/09154037/a.-Banner-%C2%A9-marccharron-original-1-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331661</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, South America, and Suriname]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Chemicals, Conservation, Critical Minerals, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Loss, Forests, Gold Mining, Governance, Health, Illegal Mining, Law, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Lawmakers in Suriname are calling for a formal investigation into mining activity that allegedly uses heavily restricted chemicals like cyanide, and risks creating runoff and pollution in the surrounding ecosystem. On Sept. 19, two members of the National Assembly, Rabindre Parmessar and Michael Marengo, visited an area in Pelin Bergi, near Kwakoegron, in northern Suriname, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Lawmakers in Suriname are calling for a formal investigation into mining activity that allegedly uses heavily restricted chemicals like cyanide, and risks creating runoff and pollution in the surrounding ecosystem. On Sept. 19, two members of the National Assembly, Rabindre Parmessar and Michael Marengo, visited an area in Pelin Bergi, near Kwakoegron, in northern Suriname, and said they discovered “substantial” mining activity that raised legal questions about permitting. Now, the two lawmakers are calling on President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons to launch an immediate investigation and temporarily halt all mining activity in the area. “The situation on-site raises fundamental questions about the nature, duration, permitting, oversight and the fiscal and environmental controls on these activities,” the lawmakers said in a letter, reviewed by Mongabay, to the president’s office last month. It added, “[It’s] necessary to establish how activities of this scale have been able to take place over an extended period and to what extent the state’s interests and revenues have been protected in the process.” The lawmakers, who traveled with a group of local journalists and an environmental activist, observed “deep excavations” at the site and materials being transported to processing locations. There were also indications of cyanide use via heap leaching, a process in which the chemical is sprayed onto rock to dissolve gold, making it easier to collect smaller particles. The import and use of cyanide is heavily restricted in Suriname. Geerlings-Simons is trying to phase out imports and implement a registry system for the chemical, which is still&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/lawmakers-in-suriname-call-for-investigation-stricter-oversight-amid-new-mining-activity/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/lawmakers-in-suriname-call-for-investigation-stricter-oversight-amid-new-mining-activity/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331661</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A chemical kept fishmeal from catching fire. Then scientists raised cancer concerns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-chemical-kept-fishmeal-from-catching-fire-then-scientists-raised-cancer-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-chemical-kept-fishmeal-from-catching-fire-then-scientists-raised-cancer-concerns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Oct 2026 13:01:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ian Urbina]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/08040418/b.-54476493970_8b5ce03b55_o-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331923</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Chemicals, Fisheries, Fishing, Health, Oceans, Overfishing, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This article is from Food for Feed, a series investigating the global fishmeal industry. It is produced by the Outlaw Ocean Project, a news organization based in Washington, D.C., and excerpted by Mongabay. On Jan. 8, 1966, a South African ship caught fire at sea. At port in Bristol, in the U.K., firefighters pried open [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This article is from Food for Feed, a series investigating the global fishmeal industry. It is produced by the Outlaw Ocean Project, a news organization based in Washington, D.C., and excerpted by Mongabay. On Jan. 8, 1966, a South African ship caught fire at sea. At port in Bristol, in the U.K., firefighters pried open the smoking container, and the conflagration spread and burned for five days. A little over a month later, on Feb. 11, a Liberian steamship caught fire near Rotterdam. The blaze spread and ignited a storage area with barrels of petrol, raging for several days, before melting the deck and mast, and eventually sinking the vessel. Then, on March 19 that same year, a Danish ship caught fire off Long Beach, California, injuring three firefighters and killing a longshoreman, and causing more than $1 million in estimated damages. These were far from isolated incidents. Fishmeal powder is known for spontaneously combusting as it decays and oxidizes. From the 1950s through the 1970s, fishmeal cargo ignited at least 90 fires on ships and in plants around the world, according to a review of historical news coverage by the Outlaw Ocean Project, a news organization based in Washington, D.C. The culprit in each fire was fishmeal, a dark-yellow powder made by drying and pulverizing fish. More than half of the seafood consumed around the world is from aquafarms. Fishmeal or fish is crucial for farm-raised salmon, shrimp, tilapia, and other species. Fishmeal. Image by Phu Thinh Co via&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-chemical-kept-fishmeal-from-catching-fire-then-scientists-raised-cancer-concerns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/a-chemical-kept-fishmeal-from-catching-fire-then-scientists-raised-cancer-concerns/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331923</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The Indonesians facing El Nino’s fires have lessons to teach us (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-indonesians-facing-el-ninos-fires-have-lessons-to-teach-us-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-indonesians-facing-el-ninos-fires-have-lessons-to-teach-us-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Oct 2026 14:17:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Akane Nishimura]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/22123507/borneo-Dayak-fire-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331681</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Climate Change, Commentary, Conservation, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fires, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Peatlands, Pollution, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In October 2006, I was supposed to be starting my dissertation research on tropical reforestation in Indonesia. Instead, I found myself in the forests of Tanjung Puting National Park in Central Kalimantan helping locals to fight fires with brooms, backpack pumps, and hoses connected to hand-dug water wells. It was an ‘all hands-on deck’ moment [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In October 2006, I was supposed to be starting my dissertation research on tropical reforestation in Indonesia. Instead, I found myself in the forests of Tanjung Puting National Park in Central Kalimantan helping locals to fight fires with brooms, backpack pumps, and hoses connected to hand-dug water wells. It was an ‘all hands-on deck’ moment for the local NGO I was working with then — Friends of Nature, People and Forests (FNPF) — including Basuki Santoso, FNPF’s Kalimantan program manager, alongside Adut and Isam, who were teenagers at the time. On our first night of firefighting, we slept in the forest on a raised platform that would later become part of a field station. I was awoken in the middle of the night by a sun bear rifling through our makeshift kitchen about 20 feet away. I sat frozen, watching this wild animal who was fleeing the fires while everyone else slept soundly. It was a surreal and humbling moment. Twenty years ago, these severe forest and peatland fires were due to a dangerous combination of El Niño-induced drought, slash-and-burn agriculture and other land clearing, and the grass-fire cycle. Much of Southeast Asia was left choking on the haze, and that was a weak El Niño year. Firefighting in Indonesia often requires resourcefulness as well as resilience and fortitude. Image courtesy of Basuki Santoso. History keeps repeating itself, and it’s hard to watch. Experts say we are now facing a Super El Niño. For the past three months, millions of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-indonesians-facing-el-ninos-fires-have-lessons-to-teach-us-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-indonesians-facing-el-ninos-fires-have-lessons-to-teach-us-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331681</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Myanmar’s polluting mines selling to China through Thai companies</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/myanmars-polluting-mines-selling-to-china-through-thai-companies/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/myanmars-polluting-mines-selling-to-china-through-thai-companies/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Oct 2026 02:04:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/30171109/IMG_0238-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331322</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Crime, Drinking Water, Ecosystems, Environment, extractives, Fish, Freshwater, Global Environmental Crisis, Gold Mining, Governance, Health, Illegal Mining, Illegal Trade, International Trade, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, Public Health, Rivers, Trade, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[UMPHANG, Thailand — At 8 a.m. on June 26, at least 13 double-trailer trucks were lined up at the Pheung Khleung border crossing in northern Thailand — one of the few places where minerals can be legally transported overland from Myanmar into Thailand. Tensions were running high under the sun. The border gate had not [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[UMPHANG, Thailand — At 8 a.m. on June 26, at least 13 double-trailer trucks were lined up at the Pheung Khleung border crossing in northern Thailand — one of the few places where minerals can be legally transported overland from Myanmar into Thailand. Tensions were running high under the sun. The border gate had not yet opened and irate mineral merchants were yelling at reporters, demanding that no photos be taken. The previous day, the Thai military personnel that oversee the cross-border mineral trade had granted Mongabay permission to document the hundreds of tons of antimony expected to be delivered from Myanmar’s Karen state to Thailand’s Tak province, some 200 kilometers (124 miles) south of the city of Mae Sot. Reporters were forbidden from photographing soldiers’ involvement in the trade or the minerals themselves. It wasn’t until 10 a.m. that the border gates opened and the first truck from Karen state bearing antimony, a silvery mineral used in bullets, bombs, armor, semi-conductors and other defense, aerospace and tech industries, crossed into Thai territory. Bars of processed antimony were hoisted from Myanmar trucks into Thai trucks at the Pheung Khleung border crossing in June 2026. Image by Gerald Flynn / Mongabay. A crane, followed by a parade of battered trucks, rolled over from Myanmar and instantly workers from both sides frantically began attaching hoisting cables to 1-ton bags of what reporters were told was antimony ore and stacked bars of antimony ingot. Drivers sheltered from the heat as bags and bars&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/myanmars-polluting-mines-selling-to-china-through-thai-companies/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/myanmars-polluting-mines-selling-to-china-through-thai-companies/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331322</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Copper boom fueling energy transition puts Earth’s wildlands at risk</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/copper-boom-fueling-energy-transition-puts-earths-wildlands-at-risk/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/copper-boom-fueling-energy-transition-puts-earths-wildlands-at-risk/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Sep 2026 14:19:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerry McGovernSue Branford]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/22082311/Vicugna_vicugna_Salar_de_Chalviri-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330409</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Business, Copper, Critical Minerals, Ecosystems, Energy, Energy Transition, Environment, Health, Industry, Mining, Natural Resources, Planetary Boundaries, Pollution, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the high Andes of Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, you can still find the vicuña, a shy, elusive camelid, revered by Indigenous people. It has reasons to be cautious of humans. Long-prized for its fine wool, European colonists hunted it relentlessly. Flocks in the millions were reduced to 6,000 individuals by the 1960s. Indigenous-driven [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the high Andes of Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, you can still find the vicuña, a shy, elusive camelid, revered by Indigenous people. It has reasons to be cautious of humans. Long-prized for its fine wool, European colonists hunted it relentlessly. Flocks in the millions were reduced to 6,000 individuals by the 1960s. Indigenous-driven conservation efforts helped bring the species back from the brink, but the vicuña (Vicugna vicugna) still walks a knife-edge. “Its survival remains precarious due to a complex interplay of threats to its habitat,” James Murray wrote for the U.S. Institute for Environmental Research and Education. The vicuña today is a victim of a Latin America biodiversity crisis that has seen a 95% decline in wildlife between 1970 and 2020, according to the WWF’s 2024 Living Planet Report. A key driver of that decline is mineral extraction. During the Inca empire, an estimated two million vicuñas roamed the Andes. The population fell to 6,000 by 1974 primarily due to intensive hunting for wool. Today’s numbers have risen to about 350,000 due to legal protections, community-based conservation, and bans on international trade. The species’ namesake, the proposed Vicuña mining district, if not managed properly, could reverse that recovery. Image by Renzo Tirado via Wikipedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Vicuña is also the name given to a vast $18 billion metallurgical planning district that could devastate and transform endangered vicuña habitat. Straddling the border of Argentina’s San Juan province and Chile’s Atacama region, this high-altitude Andes region represents&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/copper-boom-fueling-energy-transition-puts-earths-wildlands-at-risk/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/copper-boom-fueling-energy-transition-puts-earths-wildlands-at-risk/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330409</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Illegal mines threaten biodiversity and drinking water in Ghana’s Atewa Forest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/illegal-mines-threaten-biodiversity-and-drinking-water-in-ghanas-atewa-forest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/illegal-mines-threaten-biodiversity-and-drinking-water-in-ghanas-atewa-forest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Sep 2026 14:28:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mabel Adorkor Annang]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/21135635/IllegalMiners_AtewaGhana_ARochaGhana-11_20260919_122540_0010-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330304</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Ghana, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conflict, Conservation, Crime, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forests, Gold Mining, Governance, Illegal Mining, Law, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Every day, scores of illegal miners on motorbikes swarm into the Atewa Forest Reserve, in eastern Ghana — ignoring the handful of Forestry Commission guards charged with keeping them out. Inside the reserve, the miners have stripped forest cover and excavated pits, their passage marked by abandoned equipment and temporary camps and muddy and polluted [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Every day, scores of illegal miners on motorbikes swarm into the Atewa Forest Reserve, in eastern Ghana — ignoring the handful of Forestry Commission guards charged with keeping them out. Inside the reserve, the miners have stripped forest cover and excavated pits, their passage marked by abandoned equipment and temporary camps and muddy and polluted streams. Their actions jeopardize the drinking water of as many as five million Ghanaians. “We say this based on a lot of records coming from the Forestry Commission staff, some court records as well,” says Daryl Bosu, deputy national director of operations at conservation initiative A Rocha Ghana, which has been monitoring Atewa and other forested areas for a decade. A Rocha played a key role in a civil society coalition opposing government plans to mine for bauxite in the reserve. Bosu says A Rocha has observed that many of the rivers and streams in the area, which previously ran clear, have turned brown with sediment since the miners overran the reserve. Miners, he says, have cut down trees along water courses, which he fears have been contaminated with mercury, cyanide and arsenic  — all widely used in illegal mining operations. “The Forestry Commission team is complaining of the unprecedented attack on the Atewa forest because of mining and how they are seriously overwhelmed as a result of pressure which they have never experienced,” he tells Mongabay. Aerial view of a mine site in Atewa. Image courtesy of A Rocha Ghana. The critically endangered Atewa&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/illegal-mines-threaten-biodiversity-and-drinking-water-in-ghanas-atewa-forest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/illegal-mines-threaten-biodiversity-and-drinking-water-in-ghanas-atewa-forest/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330304</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Southeast Asia, residents grapple with life under Indonesia’s wildfire haze</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-southeast-asia-residents-grapple-with-life-under-indonesias-wildfire-haze/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-southeast-asia-residents-grapple-with-life-under-indonesias-wildfire-haze/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Sep 2026 04:05:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Choo Ching YeeIrfan MaulanaKrismes Santo HalohoOliver Samson]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Yenni Kwok]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/17023732/Asap-Pontianak-Tursih-1-1200x800-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329910</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Brunei, Central Kalimantan, Global, Indonesia, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia, Philippines, Sabah, Sarawak, Singapore, Southeast Asia, Vietnam, and West Kalimantan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Climate, Climate Change, Disasters, El Nino, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fires, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KUALA LUMPUR — Video editor Mohamad Haazim has lost count of how many times he refreshes Malaysia’s Air Pollutant Index (API) website every day to check air quality in the city where he lives. It’s been hovering between “unhealthy” and “hazardous” in recent weeks. Haazim, who asked to be identified only by his given names for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KUALA LUMPUR — Video editor Mohamad Haazim has lost count of how many times he refreshes Malaysia’s Air Pollutant Index (API) website every day to check air quality in the city where he lives. It’s been hovering between “unhealthy” and “hazardous” in recent weeks. Haazim, who asked to be identified only by his given names for privacy reasons, lives in Kuching, the capital of Malaysia’s Sarawak state. It is known as one of the cities with the cleanest air quality in the country, but since last month, Kuching has earned a dubious distinction of being the world’s “most polluted major city,” according to IQAir, a Swiss-based air quality technology company. The culprit? Smog from Indonesia’s wildfires. “It has deeply disrupted my daily routine,” Haazim said of the haze. “Outdoor routines are completely on hold; morning and evening walks are out of the question.” An avid marathon runner, Haazim no longer runs five times a week outdoors. “I am now down to just two indoor runs,” he told Mongabay last week. At home and at work, he said he ensures windows are shut tight, with air purifiers running at full blast. Kuching riverside in the city center is shrouded in thick haze in Kuching, Sarawak state, Malaysia, on Sept. 4, 2026. Image by AP Photo/Xpin Voon. He can’t forget his long drive home from Lawas, a Sarawak town located between Sabah and Brunei, on Aug. 31. “The haze became much thicker as we went back to Kuching,” he said. “As we arrived&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-southeast-asia-residents-grapple-with-life-under-indonesias-wildfire-haze/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329910</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fishers bear deep costs of plastic pollution in Vietnam, but could help turn the tide</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/fishers-bear-deep-costs-of-plastic-pollution-in-vietnam-but-could-help-turn-the-tide/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/fishers-bear-deep-costs-of-plastic-pollution-in-vietnam-but-could-help-turn-the-tide/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Sep 2026 08:40:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/16081601/Banner-Repairing-fishing-nets-in-coastal-Vietnam.-Image-courtesy-of-3SIP2C-project-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329844</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Health, Marine, Oceans, Plastic, Pollution, Solutions, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Plastic bags and bottles, aquaculture feed bags, nylon netting and ropes don’t sound like the makings of a healthy fishing haul. However, nets replete with these items are a near-daily reality for the majority of fishers interviewed by researchers during a recent study in Vietnam. Plastic waste causes small-scale fishers in Vietnam to lose an [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Plastic bags and bottles, aquaculture feed bags, nylon netting and ropes don’t sound like the makings of a healthy fishing haul. However, nets replete with these items are a near-daily reality for the majority of fishers interviewed by researchers during a recent study in Vietnam. Plastic waste causes small-scale fishers in Vietnam to lose an average of $3,421 per vessel, per year, in lost fishing time, reduced catch efficiency and damaged gear, the study assessing the economic impacts of plastic debris on fishing livelihoods found. This represents a 10-25% reduction in the annual income of vessel owners. Fishers interviewed for the study reported that they had significantly increased their fishing efforts in recent years in response to the combined pressures of overexploited fish stocks and plastic pollution. “Before, 6-7 hauls were enough [to turn a profit],” one interviewee told the researchers. “Now it takes 20-25 hauls.” The study also highlights how fishers could play a significant role in solutions tackling the plastic pollution crisis, including through “fishing for litter” programs that pay fishers modest financial incentives to bring back plastic bycatch for disposal and processing on land. “When you see firsthand the sheer volume of [plastic waste] in Southeast Asia, and how it directly impacts people’s lives and livelihoods, it crystallizes very clearly why we need to address this,” study co-author Michel Kaiser, a professor of fisheries conservation at Heriot-Watt University in the U.K., told Mongabay in an interview. “Fundamentally, turning off the source of the plastic is key, but&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/fishers-bear-deep-costs-of-plastic-pollution-in-vietnam-but-could-help-turn-the-tide/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329844</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Venezuela’s historic oil deal with the US reignites environmental, human rights concerns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/venezuelas-historic-oil-deal-with-the-us-reignites-environmental-human-rights-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/venezuelas-historic-oil-deal-with-the-us-reignites-environmental-human-rights-concerns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Sep 2026 08:30:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/15175444/Clouds-form-over-pumpjacks-and-power-transmission-towers-on-Lake-Maracaibo-in-Cabimas-Venezuela-Tuesday-Sept.-1-2026.-AP-PhotoAriana-Cubillos-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329807</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Conservation, Energy, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forests, Fossil Fuels, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health, International Trade, Natural Resources, Oil, Oil Drilling, Oil Spills, Politics, Pollution, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In late August, the U.S. announced a historic oil deal that gives it access to more than 65 billion barrels of proven reserves in Venezuela, with investment of up to $100 billion in new oil infrastructure across the country. The deal has been billed as a way to secure “energy dominance” for the U.S. while [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In late August, the U.S. announced a historic oil deal that gives it access to more than 65 billion barrels of proven reserves in Venezuela, with investment of up to $100 billion in new oil infrastructure across the country. The deal has been billed as a way to secure “energy dominance” for the U.S. while driving Venezuela’s economic recovery. But observers say they’re concerned about the climate impact of fossil fuels, the deal’s lack of transparency, potential oil spills and other environmental risks. “Economic recovery cannot come at the expense of human rights relating to the environment,” said a Sept. 9 joint statement from the Venezuelan Program for Education-Action on Human Rights (Provea) and Clima21, an environmental NGO. “No economic interest takes precedence over the constitutional and internationally recognized right to a healthy, safe and sustainable environment.” The deal is structured through private company North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), the second-largest Venezuelan oil producer, which has “100-year concessions for 17 oil fields,” according to the U.S. government. The U.S. has a “35% equity stake” in the company and can purchase 20% of its production, with a right of first refusal for the remaining 80% throughout the 25-year agreement. It’s part of an attempt by the U.S. to increase involvement in Venezuela following a January military operation to remove President Nicolás Maduro, who has been accused of narco-terrorism and cocaine trafficking. Throughout 2026, U.S. officials have visited Venezuela to discuss investment in the country’s natural resources, most notably oil and gas. Venezuela has one&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/venezuelas-historic-oil-deal-with-the-us-reignites-environmental-human-rights-concerns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329807</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Since US intervention, Venezuela’s illegal mining crisis has only worsened, critics say</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/since-us-intervention-venezuelas-illegal-mining-crisis-has-only-worsened-critics-say/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/since-us-intervention-venezuelas-illegal-mining-crisis-has-only-worsened-critics-say/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Sep 2026 17:13:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/14212951/AP26023620981888-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329729</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Global, Latin America, South America, and Venezuela]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Chemicals, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Gold Mining, Governance, Human Rights, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Law, Mercury, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum traveled to Venezuela in March with over a dozen mining company executives, holding a meeting in Caracas with local officials to discuss creating a “legitimate mining sector” and removing the criminal groups that currently operate at many mine sites. The economic potential of Venezuela’s mining sector, he said, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum traveled to Venezuela in March with over a dozen mining company executives, holding a meeting in Caracas with local officials to discuss creating a “legitimate mining sector” and removing the criminal groups that currently operate at many mine sites. The economic potential of Venezuela’s mining sector, he said, could be worth billions. Burgum’s trip came just a few months after a U.S. military operation removed then-President Nicolás Maduro and transported him to a detention center in the U.S. state of New York. Since then, officials have heralded a new era for Venezuela, and tried to make the mining sector more attractive to foreign investment: Passing mining reform laws, taking down leaders of criminal groups involved in mining, and raiding illegal mining sites. The U.S. is also considering an executive order aimed at improving access to critical minerals, Reuters reported. Yet at the same time, observers say the illegal mining crisis is getting worse, not better. Illegal mining has expanded this year, in some cases in protected areas, and criminal groups involved in mining have tightened their hold in many parts of the country, according to sources contacted by Mongabay. “[Since Maduro’s capture], nothing has changed in the criminal and legal ecosystem,” Cristina Burelli, founder of SOSOrinoco, an advocacy group studying the social and environmental impacts of mining in Venezuela, told Mongabay. “If anything, we have seen an increase in certain areas.” Vendors weigh and trade gold at gold-buying shops in El Callao, Venezuela.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/since-us-intervention-venezuelas-illegal-mining-crisis-has-only-worsened-critics-say/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329729</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Dhaka’s waste-to-energy project faces opposition from pollution-weary residents</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/dhakas-waste-to-energy-project-faces-opposition-from-pollution-weary-residents/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/dhakas-waste-to-energy-project-faces-opposition-from-pollution-weary-residents/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Sep 2026 16:30:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Eyamin Sajid]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/15152846/Aminbazar-landfill-Photo-07-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329776</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Energy, Environment, Health, Pollution, Recycling, Solutions, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[At 40 years old, Yeasmin Begum has lived near the Amin Bazar landfill on the outskirts of Dhaka her whole life. She says the stench often triggers allergies, including colds and coughing. “Sometimes it is quite difficult for us to breathe when waste collectors burn the waste under the open sky. Smoke and ashes envelop [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[At 40 years old, Yeasmin Begum has lived near the Amin Bazar landfill on the outskirts of Dhaka her whole life. She says the stench often triggers allergies, including colds and coughing. “Sometimes it is quite difficult for us to breathe when waste collectors burn the waste under the open sky. Smoke and ashes envelop our home and surroundings,” she says. That’s a problem that could get worse under a plan by municipal authorities to burn trash on a much larger scale. A so-called waste-to-energy project would incinerate up to 3,0000 metric tons of trash daily to heat a boiler, which would then produce steam to drive a turbine, thereby generating electricity. This would be the first-ever waste-to-energy project in Bangladesh, part of an effort to tackle the increasing volume of municipal waste. But the 42.5-megawatt North Dhaka project has raised concerns among nearby communities that have long suffered from exposure to polluted air, water, and soil. Dhaka North City Corporation is the municipal authority overseeing the project, which is owned by the China Machinery Engineering Corporation. Some of the total $467 million in total funding has been pledged by multilateral lenders including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank, both headquartered in China. The project is due to be completed by December 2028, four years later than initially planned. For nearby residents like Yeasmin, the prospect of thousands of tons of municipal waste every being burned every day, potentially releasing toxic substances like heavy metals and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/dhakas-waste-to-energy-project-faces-opposition-from-pollution-weary-residents/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329776</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Against the odds, endangered dolphins survive in Bangladesh’s polluted river</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/against-the-odds-endangered-dolphins-survive-in-bangladeshs-polluted-river/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/against-the-odds-endangered-dolphins-survive-in-bangladeshs-polluted-river/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Sep 2026 10:11:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Md Jahidul Islam]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/14095844/ganges-river-dolphin-bangladesh-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329579</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Cetaceans, Conservation, Dolphins, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Freshwater, Mammals, Pollution, Rivers, Waste, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Buriganga River, which flows by Dhaka city, is one of Bangladesh’s most polluted waterways and ranks among the most contaminated urban rivers in the world. Every day, the 29-kilometre- (18-mile-) long Buriganga River absorbs toxic industrial effluent from hundreds of factories, continuous tannery discharges, untreated sewage and solid waste, leaving much of the river [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Buriganga River, which flows by Dhaka city, is one of Bangladesh’s most polluted waterways and ranks among the most contaminated urban rivers in the world. Every day, the 29-kilometre- (18-mile-) long Buriganga River absorbs toxic industrial effluent from hundreds of factories, continuous tannery discharges, untreated sewage and solid waste, leaving much of the river virtually lifeless for fish. However, in the Buriganga, where native fish species have essentially vanished, endangered Ganges river dolphins (Platanista gangetica) continue to persist. A recent study published in the Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity found that around 20 dolphins live in the river. Researchers conducted the study for 12 months, from September 2023 to August 2024, and systematically surveyed a 27-km (16.7-mi) stretch of this heavily polluted river that skirts the southern edge of Dhaka. “The Buriganga is not a usual place for dolphins, where native fishes have largely vanished. Leaving the river full of invasive suckermouth catfish [Hypostomus Plecostomus, locally called sakar fish],” one of the researchers, Md. Aminur Rahman, told Mongabay. “When we found [the dolphins], we were amazed at how it was possible. Because the river is not livable for fish. Around the year, we didn’t track any dolphins only during two of the months, but all the other 10 months we tracked them.” The highest number of dolphins were seen in December, and throughout the winter season, and none were seen in October 2023 or between July and August of 2024. The dolphin groups averaged 4.18 individuals, higher than in earlier&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/against-the-odds-endangered-dolphins-survive-in-bangladeshs-polluted-river/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/against-the-odds-endangered-dolphins-survive-in-bangladeshs-polluted-river/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329579</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Children’s health at risk in south Borneo as El Niño intensifies Indonesia wildfires</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/childrens-health-at-risk-in-south-borneo-as-el-nino-intensifies-indonesia-wildfires/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/childrens-health-at-risk-in-south-borneo-as-el-nino-intensifies-indonesia-wildfires/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2026 13:22:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Riyad Dafhi Rizki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/10131034/Raina-dan-Raihan-2-1200x800-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329368</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Indonesia, South Kalimantan, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Climate, El Nino, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fires, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Heatwave, Pollution, and Public Health]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANJARMASIN, Indonesia — Siti Sarah slept in fits and starts through August as the fires broke out around her village and surrounding peatlands. One fire on Aug. 18 at first seemed a safe distance away, but in a heartbeat the flames were within 100 meters (330 feet) of her home in Pengayuan, a village in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANJARMASIN, Indonesia — Siti Sarah slept in fits and starts through August as the fires broke out around her village and surrounding peatlands. One fire on Aug. 18 at first seemed a safe distance away, but in a heartbeat the flames were within 100 meters (330 feet) of her home in Pengayuan, a village in Indonesia’s South Kalimantan province. “The fire seemed to leap up,” Siti told Mongabay Indonesia. “All of a sudden it was right there — it grew so fast.” Cries for help echoed around the village as Siti joined the community’s firefighting press. “I also helped put out a fire,” she said. “By whacking it with a piece of wood.” Two days later, firefighters scrambled to extinguish yet another blaze in the village grounds, dousing the flames before they could reach any homes. Across Indonesia, community and government firefighters have been battling fires like this since the main dry season began in July, many of them burning across carbon-rich peatlands in the low-lying deltas and plains of Borneo and Sumatra. In recent decades, Borneo’s peatlands have been drained for oil palm plantations to meet rising global consumer demand for palm oil. Fire is often used as a cheap way to clear land, but the flames can quickly run out of control across drained peatlands, which become a tinderbox when desiccated by El Niño-fueled drought. Commuters on the road try to shield their noses from the thick haze as they drive. Image by Riyad Dafhi Rizki/Mongabay Indonesia. In&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/childrens-health-at-risk-in-south-borneo-as-el-nino-intensifies-indonesia-wildfires/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/childrens-health-at-risk-in-south-borneo-as-el-nino-intensifies-indonesia-wildfires/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329368</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Plastic pollution hotspots’ spawn a public health crisis across Latin America</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/plastic-pollution-hotspots-spawn-a-public-health-crisis-across-latin-america/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/plastic-pollution-hotspots-spawn-a-public-health-crisis-across-latin-america/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Sep 2026 13:33:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mark Hillsdon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/08133303/AP21097556420581-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329024</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Dominican Republic, Global, Guatemala, Honduras, Latin America, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Paraguay]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Circular Economy, Governance, Health, International Trade, Microplastics, Planetary Health, Plastic, Pollution, Public Health, Recycling, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Since China banned the import of plastic waste in 2018, plastic pollution has been having a growing impact on the people and ecosystems of Latin America. As the region imports an increasing amount of the world’s used and discarded plastic, new research shows that waste infrastructure in many countries is already buckling under the strain [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Since China banned the import of plastic waste in 2018, plastic pollution has been having a growing impact on the people and ecosystems of Latin America. As the region imports an increasing amount of the world’s used and discarded plastic, new research shows that waste infrastructure in many countries is already buckling under the strain of dealing with domestic trash. As a result, much of the imported plastic is leaking out into the environment, with experts and the U.N. warning of major consequences for human health. A study published in April found that seven countries in the region — the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Paraguay — have become plastic pollution hotspots, or PPHs, where high imports of low-quality plastics meet high rates of mismanaged waste. Global plastic waste generation reached 353 million metric tons in 2019 alone, of which 72% ended up being landfilled or dumped and just 9% was recycled, according to an OECD report. Much of the world’s plastic waste was previously destined for China, but in 2018 the country banned those imports. While Malaysia and Thailand took up much of the slack, Latin America also started importing more plastic waste, although the region has historically been an importer of difficult-to-recycle plastics. “Certain countries in Latin America have started importing more waste but they haven’t actually got the capacity to deal with [it],” Veronica Herrera, lead author of April study and an associate professor at the Luskin School of Public Affairs at the University&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/plastic-pollution-hotspots-spawn-a-public-health-crisis-across-latin-america/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329024</doi>				</item>
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