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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/poverty/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Wed, 07 Oct 2026 02:21:12 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Poverty</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/poverty/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Urban heat islands have solutions; many tropical cities can’t afford them</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/urban-heat-islands-have-solutions-many-tropical-cities-cant-afford-them/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/urban-heat-islands-have-solutions-many-tropical-cities-cant-afford-them/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Aug 2026 00:34:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Adam Litchkofski]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/12214622/5-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326095</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, China, East Asia, Global, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Jakarta, Nigeria, Singapore, Southeast Asia, Tropics, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Biodiversity, Cities, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Development, Disasters, Earth Science, Economics, El Nino, Energy, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fossil Fuels, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Heatwave, Impact Of Climate Change, Infrastructure, Natural Resources, Planetary Boundaries, Planetary Health, Plants, Poverty, Public Health, Research, Science, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Temperatures, Trees, Tropical Conservation Science, urban ecology, Weather, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Urban heat islands pose a growing global health threat. But in tropical cities, the peril is surging. Already burdened by hot-humid equatorial weather, global warming, intense poverty, rapid urbanization, and a lack of cooling infrastructure, tropical city officials now face a powerful 2026-2027 El Niño that could put millions of vulnerable urban dwellers at risk. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Urban heat islands pose a growing global health threat. But in tropical cities, the peril is surging. Already burdened by hot-humid equatorial weather, global warming, intense poverty, rapid urbanization, and a lack of cooling infrastructure, tropical city officials now face a powerful 2026-2027 El Niño that could put millions of vulnerable urban dwellers at risk. Heat islands form because artificial surfaces, like roads and rooftops, trap heat by day and release it by night, never giving highly-urbanized spaces time to cool. When climate change-induced heat domes stall over cities, temperatures can soar for weeks into the triple digits. Every “city has a rhythm, it has a metabolism,” Matthias Roth, a National University of Singapore researcher, told Mongabay in a video interview. “The metabolism of each city — especially how incoming solar energy is divided between heating surfaces, warming the air, evaporating water, and being stored in the ground and buildings — influences how much energy heats up buildings, surfaces, and air. The prevalence of concrete and asphalt and the absence of vegetation creates a heat island.” But not all tropical urban heat islands (UHIs) are created equally, with the severity of their heat burdens dependent on innovative city planning and the financial clout to keep pace with global warming. In wealthy Singapore (which has devoted high levels of funding to curb UHI effects), air temperatures can still swell; compact high-rise building complexes there can see outdoor temperatures 4.3° Celsius (7.9° Fahrenheit) above rural areas. But in poorer cities, like Lagos,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/urban-heat-islands-have-solutions-many-tropical-cities-cant-afford-them/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/urban-heat-islands-have-solutions-many-tropical-cities-cant-afford-them/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326095</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Can a new methodology save the carbon market?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/can-a-new-methodology-save-the-carbon-market/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/can-a-new-methodology-save-the-carbon-market/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jun 2026 10:22:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhishyant Kidangoor]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhishyantkidangoor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/18093229/Banner-Image-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321423</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe and United Kingdom]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Carbon Credits, Carbon Market, Climate, climate finance, Conservation, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Finance, Forests, Funding, Greenwashing, Human Rights, and Poverty]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[How can the beleaguered carbon market be saved? Carbon market pioneer Daniel Morrell’s solution is straightforward: Go back to the market&#8217;s roots by focusing less on carbon and more on biodiversity generation and community welfare. It might be easier said than done; nonetheless, he is giving it a shot. Morrell recently launched Balance, a new [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[How can the beleaguered carbon market be saved? Carbon market pioneer Daniel Morrell’s solution is straightforward: Go back to the market&#8217;s roots by focusing less on carbon and more on biodiversity generation and community welfare. It might be easier said than done; nonetheless, he is giving it a shot. Morrell recently launched Balance, a new avatar of the carbon credit that puts the focus primarily on biodiversity protection and generating new sources of income for local communities. With a three-pillared methodology, he plans to address biodiversity loss, poverty and climate breakdown with the aim of keeping forests intact long after projects have wrapped up. “Tackling any one of these in isolation is ineffective as they are structurally linked,” Morrell, CEO of Balance and climate advisor to the U.K. Prime Minister&#8217;s Office, 10 Downing Street, told Mongabay in an email interview. He said he wants Balance units to address these issues simultaneously rather than allowing people and companies to purchase “a ‘get out of jail free’ card to excuse emissions.” Dan Morrell launched Balance credits with the aim of saving the beleaguered carbon market by putting the spotlight on biodiversity protection and community welfare. Image courtesy of John Nguyen. For years, carbon offset projects have allowed people and companies to invest in forest restoration projects to cancel out, or offset, emissions they produce. However, the voluntary carbon market has faced widespread scrutiny for lacking transparency on how it measures the success of projects, leading to allegations of greenwashing. Many projects have&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/can-a-new-methodology-save-the-carbon-market/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/can-a-new-methodology-save-the-carbon-market/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321423</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New study suggests Ethiopia’s protected areas may be impacting local well-being</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/new-study-suggests-ethiopias-protected-areas-may-be-impacting-local-wellbeing/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/new-study-suggests-ethiopias-protected-areas-may-be-impacting-local-wellbeing/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jun 2026 18:24:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Solomon Yimer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/30135620/Rira-village-kids-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320933</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Ethiopia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Development, Conservation, Environment, food security, Governance, Poverty, Protected Areas, and Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new study published in the journal Nature shows that Ethiopia’s protected areas successfully slowed deforestation, limited agricultural expansion and helped maintain grasslands. But the study also suggests the same conservation gains may also be linked to declines in food security and well-being for nearby communities — while underlining some caveats in their findings. The [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new study published in the journal Nature shows that Ethiopia’s protected areas successfully slowed deforestation, limited agricultural expansion and helped maintain grasslands. But the study also suggests the same conservation gains may also be linked to declines in food security and well-being for nearby communities — while underlining some caveats in their findings. The study, conducted through collaboration between researchers in Ethiopia and the UK, and the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority, assessed both environmental and social outcomes across 25 protected areas in Ethiopia during the period 2000–2020. They measured forest cover, agricultural expansion, grasslands, food security, dietary diversity and material well-being. While protected areas were broadly effective at reducing environmental degradation despite mounting pressures from population growth, agricultural expansion, and land demand, the researchers found “trade-offs” between environmental and social outcomes in their assessments. Twelve of these protected areas experienced  positive environmental performance at the cost of social well-being. Meanwhile, five of the protected areas had “win-win” outcomes for biodiversity and social outcomes and three protected areas had “lose-lose” outcomes. “Ethiopia is exceptionally biodiverse, but also faces major challenges around poverty, food security and demand for land,” said Sophie Jago, lead author of the study and research assistant at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in the UK. “The fact that protected areas are delivering measurable benefits for nature in this context is important … The difficult finding is that these environmental gains have come with costs for nearby communities, particularly around food security.” A ranger discusses with community members&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/new-study-suggests-ethiopias-protected-areas-may-be-impacting-local-wellbeing/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/new-study-suggests-ethiopias-protected-areas-may-be-impacting-local-wellbeing/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320933</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>IMF lending programs linked with deforestation should be rethought (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/imf-lending-programs-causing-deforestation-should-be-rethought-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/imf-lending-programs-causing-deforestation-should-be-rethought-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 May 2026 15:34:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kevin P. GallagherRishikesh Ram BhandaryTimon Forster]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/23151222/kalbar_drone_190742-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320324</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Avoided Deforestation, Community Development, Deforestation, Development, Environment, Environmental Policy, Finance, Forests, Governance, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Research, Trees, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The price of financial stability should not be environmental destruction. Yet when countries turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for help, their forests may quietly suffer. The IMF is currently reviewing the design of its lending programs, and it is time for change. Its recipe for getting economies back on track often features required [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The price of financial stability should not be environmental destruction. Yet when countries turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for help, their forests may quietly suffer. The IMF is currently reviewing the design of its lending programs, and it is time for change. Its recipe for getting economies back on track often features required reforms such as cutting government expenditure, increasing revenue collection through taxes or utility tariff increases, winding down public ownership of state-owned enterprises and encouraging the private sector to step up: austerity in other words. These policies are meant to restore stability in times of crisis, but growing evidence shows that IMF programs often fall short in helping countries break out of the cycle of economic and financial distress. Instead, they can trigger collateral damage in the form of negative health outcomes, worsened poverty and inequality and eroded social protection. Image by Forster et al., 2026 (CC BY 4.0). Our new research provides evidence that these programs also have an important and often overlooked environmental dimension, revealing that countries experience 9.2% higher annual tree cover loss during years in which they are under an IMF program. In a typical three-year IMF program, this amounts to forest loss the size of Barbados. This finding comes as no surprise as IMF programs are known to generally cut government spending, and environmental protections are often the first to go. These conditions that come in exchange for financial assistance are a major shortcoming when it comes to effects on forests,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/imf-lending-programs-causing-deforestation-should-be-rethought-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/imf-lending-programs-causing-deforestation-should-be-rethought-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320324</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rising waters and mounting pressures collide on Kenya’s Lake Turkana</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rising-waters-and-mounting-pressures-collide-on-kenyas-lake-turkana/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rising-waters-and-mounting-pressures-collide-on-kenyas-lake-turkana/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 May 2026 08:04:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Christopher Clark]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/18181814/061A2832-scaled-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319666</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Climate Change, Conservation, Drought, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Flooding, Food, food security, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Hunger, Lakes, Overfishing, Poverty, and Regulations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KALOKOL, Kenya — Rake-thin with teeth stained a deep brown from decades of drinking untreated lake water high in fluoride, 62-year-old John Esirite sits in the shade outside the small office of Kalokol’s Beach Management Unit, or BMU, the community-run body that oversees local fisheries. “The old office used to be down there,” the fisherman [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KALOKOL, Kenya — Rake-thin with teeth stained a deep brown from decades of drinking untreated lake water high in fluoride, 62-year-old John Esirite sits in the shade outside the small office of Kalokol’s Beach Management Unit, or BMU, the community-run body that oversees local fisheries. “The old office used to be down there,” the fisherman says, pointing toward the western shoreline of Lake Turkana, the world’s largest permanent desert lake, just visible a couple of kilometers away. “But now it’s underwater.” Over the last 15 years, Lake Turkana has risen by about 8-10 meters (26-33 feet). That’s increased its surface area by around 10%. In and around the fishing hub of Kalokol, hundreds of people have been displaced by this steady advance. In Esirite’s case, the village where he grew up, Natole, has long since been abandoned. The fisherman has had to relocate three times since 2014, pushed ever farther from his ancestral land and the nearshore breeding grounds he has fished for most of his life. “We are suffering, but no one is helping us,” he says. “We can only pray to God for assistance.” But even the church where Esirite used to pray is underwater. What is happening in Kalokol is part of a wider trend. Since the early 2010s, many lakes across Kenya’s Rift Valley have flooded, their expansion accelerating after particularly heavy rains in 2020, forcing tens of thousands from their homes. But here, in this long-neglected northern corner of the country, the human and environmental&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rising-waters-and-mounting-pressures-collide-on-kenyas-lake-turkana/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/rising-waters-and-mounting-pressures-collide-on-kenyas-lake-turkana/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319666</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Turkana has always adapted to change’: Interview with environmentalist Ikal Angelei</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/turkana-has-always-adapted-to-change-interview-with-environmentalist-ikal-angelei/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/turkana-has-always-adapted-to-change-interview-with-environmentalist-ikal-angelei/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 May 2026 08:02:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Christopher Clark]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/18184413/061A3230-scaled-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319676</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Climate Change, Conservation, Drought, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Flooding, Food, food security, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Hunger, Lakes, Overfishing, Poverty, and Regulations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Lake Turkana in northern Kenya is often portrayed as a region in perpetual crisis due to climate change. But for the Indigenous groups who have lived here for centuries, environmental change is not new. Local livelihoods have long shifted between pastoralism, fishing, farming and trade as people adapt to a landscape defined by fluctuation. What [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Lake Turkana in northern Kenya is often portrayed as a region in perpetual crisis due to climate change. But for the Indigenous groups who have lived here for centuries, environmental change is not new. Local livelihoods have long shifted between pastoralism, fishing, farming and trade as people adapt to a landscape defined by fluctuation. What has changed is the scale and intensity of pressures now converging on and around the lake — from increasingly erratic climate patterns and mounting strain on fisheries, to oil development, resource conflict, and the political decisions now shaping the lake’s future. In 2008, Ikal Angelei was working as a program coordinator at the Turkana Basin Institute, a pioneering research center focused on human origins and the environment, when she first heard from visiting scientists about a huge hydroelectric dam being built across the border in Ethiopia. Concerned about the Gibe III Dam’s potentially devastating impact downstream, on Lake Turkana and the communities that depend on it, Angelei founded a grassroots organization called Friends of Lake Turkana to amplify the voices of people who had been excluded from the consultation process and fight the project. In 2012, Angelei was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for her advocacy. Her organization continues to work with and on behalf of communities within the greater Turkana Basin to demand collective social, economic, cultural, environmental and territorial justice. Mongabay spoke with Angelei about resilience, reductive narratives, and what Turkana’s history might reveal about its future. This interview has been lightly edited&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/turkana-has-always-adapted-to-change-interview-with-environmentalist-ikal-angelei/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319676</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In northern Kenya, a shifting Lake Turkana reshapes traditional livelihoods</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-northern-kenya-a-shifting-lake-turkana-reshapes-traditional-livelihoods/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-northern-kenya-a-shifting-lake-turkana-reshapes-traditional-livelihoods/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2026 11:18:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Christopher Clark]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/14102303/Kute-Hero-right-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317473</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Climate Change, Conservation, Drought, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Flooding, Food, food security, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Hunger, Lakes, Overfishing, Poverty, and Regulations]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KOMOTE, Kenya — At sunrise on Komote Island, 36-year-old James Lekubo walks his two children down a rocky hillside to the water’s edge, where they clamber into a small fishing boat with a couple of dozen others to journey across a stretch of lake that didn’t exist a few years ago. On the other side [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KOMOTE, Kenya — At sunrise on Komote Island, 36-year-old James Lekubo walks his two children down a rocky hillside to the water’s edge, where they clamber into a small fishing boat with a couple of dozen others to journey across a stretch of lake that didn’t exist a few years ago. On the other side lie their school and the nearest clinic — services that were previously within walking distance. Lekubo is a member of the El Molo, Kenya’s smallest and most marginalized ethnic group, who have lived here along the stark eastern shores of Lake Turkana for centuries. But in more recent years, the world’s largest desert lake has begun to turn against them, threatening not only their traditional livelihood but the very fabric of their cultural identity. According to a 2021 report by Kenya’s environment ministry, over the preceding decade, Turkana’s water levels rose by several meters, expanding the lake’s total surface area by around 10%, largely due to heavier rainfall in the Ethiopian highlands that feed it via the Omo River. Since then, the lake has continued to grow, submerging up to 1,000 square kilometers (about 390 square miles) of the surrounding landscape — an area half the size of London — including roads, grazing land, ancient burial sites, and even entire villages. Primary school children getting off the boat that now ferries them to school. Image by Christopher Clark for Mongabay. Lekubo watched helplessly as Komote was gradually cut off from the mainland. “Most people left&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-northern-kenya-a-shifting-lake-turkana-reshapes-traditional-livelihoods/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317473</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Shipping’s biofuel gamble could deepen Africa’s land squeeze and food insecurity (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/shippings-biofuel-gamble-could-deepen-africas-land-squeeze-and-food-insecurity-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/shippings-biofuel-gamble-could-deepen-africas-land-squeeze-and-food-insecurity-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Mar 2026 15:10:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Million BelaySusan Chomba]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/07145348/container-ship-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316050</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Biofuels, Business, carbon, Climate, Climate Change, Commentary, Farming, Food, food security, International Trade, Land Rights, Mitigation, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Shipping, Social Justice, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Africa&#8217;s future prosperity depends on how fast we can reduce emissions, especially from large polluting sectors like shipping. But using crops as fuel to cut emissions risks causing more harm than good. As countries gather at the UN&#8217;s International Maritime Organization (IMO) meeting in April to lay down the rules for future clean energy to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Africa&#8217;s future prosperity depends on how fast we can reduce emissions, especially from large polluting sectors like shipping. But using crops as fuel to cut emissions risks causing more harm than good. As countries gather at the UN&#8217;s International Maritime Organization (IMO) meeting in April to lay down the rules for future clean energy to power shipping, African governments must ensure that crop-based biofuels are not part of the solution. If that does happen, Africa might once again find itself paying the price for a transition from which it may not benefit. Shipping, as with other heavily polluting sectors, must decarbonize. But not all climate solutions are equal. The expansion of biofuels, often portrayed as ‘green’ in international shipping dialogues, could intensify pressures on land and food systems that are already stretched to the limit. As our work has shown, competition for land has reached a breaking point across Africa. Since 2000, hundreds of large-scale land deals have been recorded for industrial farming, carbon credits, mining, and biofuels. What is often presented as ‘unused’ or ‘marginal’ land is, in reality, the basis of livelihoods for small-scale farmers and Indigenous communities who are being displaced or stripped of control over their territories, which drives land inequality, rural poverty, and food insecurity. Biofuels for shipping risks accelerating this trajectory. Farmers at Yangambi, Democratic Republic of Congo. Image by Axel Fassio/CIFOR via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). Shipping consumes roughly 300 million tons of fuel each year, and is responsible for 3% of global&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/shippings-biofuel-gamble-could-deepen-africas-land-squeeze-and-food-insecurity-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/shippings-biofuel-gamble-could-deepen-africas-land-squeeze-and-food-insecurity-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316050</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Climate-resilient housing models slow to gain ground in disaster-prone Bangladesh</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/climate-resilient-housing-models-slow-to-gain-ground-in-disaster-prone-bangladesh/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/climate-resilient-housing-models-slow-to-gain-ground-in-disaster-prone-bangladesh/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Mar 2026 06:06:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sadiqur Rahman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/13192957/Billal-Hossain-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315738</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Community Development, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Governance, Impact Of Climate Change, Infrastructure, NGOs, Poverty Alleviation, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Bangladesh’s low-lying terrain combined with the crisscrossed river network, which is cause for recurring floods, tidal surges and river erosion, and frequent cyclones make it vulnerable to climate change-related devastations. Between 2008 and 2024, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) recorded 123 disaster events that triggered huge displacement, including about 11.3 million people who experienced [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Bangladesh’s low-lying terrain combined with the crisscrossed river network, which is cause for recurring floods, tidal surges and river erosion, and frequent cyclones make it vulnerable to climate change-related devastations. Between 2008 and 2024, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) recorded 123 disaster events that triggered huge displacement, including about 11.3 million people who experienced pre-emptive evacuations during cyclones. IDMC assessed that many such movements, however, only last for a short period of time, but every year disasters still leave tens of thousands of people without hope of returning to their homes immediately after. In such a context, safe housing is a survival need instead of merely an infrastructural demand. However, the concept of safe or sustainable housing for the disaster victims still remains a donor-funded matter, as the use of climate-and-disaster-resilient construction plans and materials are not popular in Bangladesh. “Sustainable and safe housing is the first line of defense in disaster risk reduction,” says Mohammad Abu Sadeque, executive director of Centre for Housing and Building Research (HBRC), a private sector research hub focused on creating sustainable, affordable, and climate-resilient housing solutions. Sadeque has observed that conventional housing, especially in Bangladesh’s rural and low-income areas, often lacks structural safety and durability against cyclones and tidal surges, riverbank erosion, flooding, flash floods, salinity intrusion, earthquakes and heat stress. According to the government’s disaster-related statistics of 2021, more than half of the country’s households are non-concrete. Living in fragile tin-roofed or mud-walled structures, millions of families are exposed to the mounting&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/climate-resilient-housing-models-slow-to-gain-ground-in-disaster-prone-bangladesh/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315738</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Growing number of Indigenous Twa forced out of DRC’s forests and into towns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/growing-number-of-indigenous-twa-forced-out-of-drcs-forests-and-into-towns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/growing-number-of-indigenous-twa-forced-out-of-drcs-forests-and-into-towns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2026 21:13:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jackson Muhindo SivulyamwengeJérémie Kyaswekera]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/11210132/Untitled-design-e1773263427861-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315597</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Congo Basin, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Economics, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Land Conflict, Politics, Poverty, and Protected Areas]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NORTH KIVU, Democratic Republic of Congo — Over the last decade, towns in the north of North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have seen the increasing migration of Indigenous Batwa people, according to censuses seen by Mongabay. Traditionally living by hunting and gathering in the Congo Basin forests, many Twa people (also [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NORTH KIVU, Democratic Republic of Congo — Over the last decade, towns in the north of North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have seen the increasing migration of Indigenous Batwa people, according to censuses seen by Mongabay. Traditionally living by hunting and gathering in the Congo Basin forests, many Twa people (also known as Batwa) have now abandoned their forest-based livelihoods to settle in towns, far from ecosystems their ancestors relied on and developed deep knowledge about. According to Batwa people who spoke to Mongabay, the reasons are various. Some have long been expelled from protected areas, while others are fleeing the growing insecurity in the region. Other groups of Batwa are seeking to escape land conflicts with neighboring Bantu communities, or to find alternative livelihoods in the face of difficulties accessing forest resources, thus severing their ties with the forest. Filipo Anania, one of the Twa community leaders we met in Mavivi, at the Ngite camp, says the outmigration from the forest began with the expulsion of his community from Virunga National Park around 1994. He says they hadn’t initially planned to live in the city and that this move to an urban environment was by no means a conscious choice, but a decision linked to a series of events that forced them to relocate several times. “At first, we were asked to leave the area around the park. We went to settle in Kubeti, near PK25 [in the middle of the forest in outside the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/growing-number-of-indigenous-twa-forced-out-of-drcs-forests-and-into-towns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315597</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>São Tomé and Príncipe commits to creating a marine protected area network</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/sao-tome-and-principe-commits-to-creating-a-marine-protected-area-network/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/sao-tome-and-principe-commits-to-creating-a-marine-protected-area-network/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Sep 2025 07:07:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/18140348/37954751862_3aae019c28_3k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=306174</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Atlantic Ocean, Central Africa, and Sao Tome And Principe]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Policy, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Food, Islands, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Poverty, and Saltwater Fish]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe has taken a significant step in marine conservation, announcing that it will establish eight marine protected areas in its coastal waters. The declaration is the country’s first formal commitment to marine protection. The law designating the MPAs has been approved by the Council of Ministers and is [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe has taken a significant step in marine conservation, announcing that it will establish eight marine protected areas in its coastal waters. The declaration is the country’s first formal commitment to marine protection. The law designating the MPAs has been approved by the Council of Ministers and is expected to be published in September, João Pessoa, the government’s director of fisheries and aquaculture, told Mongabay. “[The designation of the MPAs] is not only about protecting biodiversity. It is also about ensuring food security, preserving our traditional fishing culture, and strengthening resilience to climate change,” Pessoa said. Pedro Ramos, project officer at U.K.-based nature conservation NGO Fauna &amp; Flora, told Mongabay by email that for the first time, there will be laws that prohibit or restrict certain fishing activities in specific locations. Local fishers will face such restrictions for the first time. Flying fish for sale at a market in São Tomé. Image courtesy of Rede De Áreas Marinhas Protegidas De STP (RSTP)/Fauna &amp; Flora. Fishing is predominantly artisanal in the country, with fishers using small boats and nonselective gear. They land whatever they can net, regardless of species or size. “This lack of selectivity, combined with the proximity to sensitive coastal zones, has had serious consequences for critical habitats such as nurseries and breeding grounds,” Ramos said. São Tomé and Príncipe comprises two islands in the Gulf of Guinea located 200 kilometers (about 120 miles) off the coast of the Central African nation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/sao-tome-and-principe-commits-to-creating-a-marine-protected-area-network/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/sao-tome-and-principe-commits-to-creating-a-marine-protected-area-network/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-306174</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>24 years on, part one of WTO treaty curbing fisheries subsidies takes effect</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/24-years-on-part-one-of-wto-treaty-curbing-fisheries-subsidies-takes-effect/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/24-years-on-part-one-of-wto-treaty-curbing-fisheries-subsidies-takes-effect/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Sep 2025 18:57:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Fitt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/17163647/20351613932_41fd7d540a_3k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=306156</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Global Environmental Crisis, Law, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Overfishing, Poverty, and Saltwater Fish]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Part one of the World Trade Organization (WTO)’s treaty to ban harmful fisheries subsidies finally came into force Sept. 15. WTO member states adopted the treaty in June 2022 following a grueling 21-year negotiation. The agreement, dubbed “Fish One,” aims to improve ocean sustainability by banning government subsidies that support the fishing of already-overfished stocks [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Part one of the World Trade Organization (WTO)’s treaty to ban harmful fisheries subsidies finally came into force Sept. 15. WTO member states adopted the treaty in June 2022 following a grueling 21-year negotiation. The agreement, dubbed “Fish One,” aims to improve ocean sustainability by banning government subsidies that support the fishing of already-overfished stocks and curbing those that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. “There are weaknesses and gaps, and there’s still work to be done, but this is the start of the WTO trying to have a positive impact on environmental sustainability,” Daniel Skerritt, a senior analyst at U.S.-based conservation NGO Oceana, told Mongabay via email. The WTO had to split its effort to ban harmful fisheries subsidies into two parts in order to reach any agreement at all. The body requires full consensus to strike any deal, and its member states could not iron out their differences over subsidies that contribute to building fleets with capacity to fish unsustainably and other forms of overfishing. They decided in 2022 to leave these crucial issues for later in the interest of breaking the deadlock to agree on part one. It took the required two-thirds, or 111 of 166 member states, more than three years to ratify Fish One — a milestone achieved when Brazil, Kenya, Tonga and Vietnam submitted their acceptances to the WTO on Sept. 15. A special meeting of the WTO general council in Geneva marked the occasion. The WTO had previously failed to seal&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/24-years-on-part-one-of-wto-treaty-curbing-fisheries-subsidies-takes-effect/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/24-years-on-part-one-of-wto-treaty-curbing-fisheries-subsidies-takes-effect/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-306156</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How will fisheries change in a hotter world? Experts share</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/how-will-fisheries-change-in-a-hotter-world-experts-share/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/how-will-fisheries-change-in-a-hotter-world-experts-share/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Aug 2025 20:40:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claudia Geib]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/13104006/Banc_de_thons_albacores_Thunnus_albacares_Ifremer_00568-68027_-_25195-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304197</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Cameroon, Central Africa, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Pacific Islands, and Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquaculture, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Hunger, Marine Protected Areas, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Overfishing, Poverty, Saltwater Fish, Tuna, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Lake Chad is nearly 1,130 kilometers (700 miles) from the ocean, but Nwamaka Okeke-Ogbuafor fears it is a preview of what’s ahead for African and other tropical fisheries. Straddling four countries on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, Lake Chad began drying up dramatically during a series of droughts in the 1970s and ‘80s. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Lake Chad is nearly 1,130 kilometers (700 miles) from the ocean, but Nwamaka Okeke-Ogbuafor fears it is a preview of what’s ahead for African and other tropical fisheries. Straddling four countries on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, Lake Chad began drying up dramatically during a series of droughts in the 1970s and ‘80s. While the lake stopped shrinking in the 1990s — and it appears to be stable or even growing over the last 20 years — many fishing communities on the lake never recovered. Facing poverty and starvation, some former fishers and their families live in U.N.-funded camps for displaced people, which are running out of aid. Some struck out for a new life in other countries. Others joined Boko Haram, an Islamic insurgency organization, in a final act of desperation. “Communities are no longer cohesive — it’s a total disaster,” says Okeke-Ogbuafor, a marine social scientist focusing on tropical African fisheries. “It’s not just about food poverty, it’s the erosion of community and cultural knowledge.” Fish provide essential protein for an estimated 3.2 billion people across the world. In some developing tropical countries, fish can make up some 70% of the diet. But over the next 50 years, warming waters are certain to upend fishing communities — and rewrite the rules of ecosystems and industries worldwide. Mongabay asked five experts how fisheries will change by 2075, and what solutions could help prevent the worst outcomes. Women in Sierra Leone selling fish at the market in Mama&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/how-will-fisheries-change-in-a-hotter-world-experts-share/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304197</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In western Nepal, farmers switch to growing turmeric; elephants stay away</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/in-western-nepal-farmers-switch-to-growing-turmeric-elephants-stay-away/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/in-western-nepal-farmers-switch-to-growing-turmeric-elephants-stay-away/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Aug 2025 02:39:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Deepak Adhikari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/13021727/bardiya-elephants-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304182</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Crops, Ecology, Elephants, Endangered Species, Fences, Food, Human-wildlife Conflict, Mammals, Mitigation, Poverty, Protected Areas, Rivers, Solutions, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nayaram Sunar vividly remembers the day at the end of monsoon season in 2019, when rain was pouring in relentlessly on his sister’s corn field in the village of Madhuwan in western Nepal’s Bardiya district. A wild elephant (Elephas maximus) not only feasted on the harvest but smashed the family’s modest house. His [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nayaram Sunar vividly remembers the day at the end of monsoon season in 2019, when rain was pouring in relentlessly on his sister’s corn field in the village of Madhuwan in western Nepal’s Bardiya district. A wild elephant (Elephas maximus) not only feasted on the harvest but smashed the family’s modest house. His sister and her children fled to a neighbor’s home for safety. “I felt terrible,” Sunar recalls. “That’s when I thought: Something must be done.” Sunar, 48, lives in Kailashi, a village nestled between Bardiya National Park and the Kailashi Mid-Hill Community Forest in Nepal’s Lumbini province. Here, human-wildlife conflict is part of everyday life. “We couldn’t even earn 5,000 rupees [$36] from 5 kattha [6,800 square feet] of land,” he says. “The crops didn’t survive. Elephants, wild boars, deer, monkeys — they destroyed everything.” A 2023 study in Bardiya’s Khata corridor, a critical elephant migration route, found that up to 45% of annual crop yield was lost to raids in some settlements, particularly those near rivers and forests. Households closer to park headquarters or protected by patrols experienced significantly less damage. Sabitri Sunar, secretary of the Sahara Farmers’ Group, at her  turmeric-plantation. Image by Prem Bishowkarma. A year after the incident, Sunar mobilized his neighbors to form the Sahara Farmers’ Group, now 40 members strong and made up mostly of Dalit and Indigenous families from Madhuwan and Thakurbaba municipalities. With training and turmeric seeds provided by the Dalit Women’s Upliftment Association, a local nonprofit, they&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/in-western-nepal-farmers-switch-to-growing-turmeric-elephants-stay-away/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304182</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Displaced and dispossessed, Cambodia’s ethnic Cham fishers struggle to survive</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/displaced-and-dispossessed-cambodias-ethnic-cham-fishers-struggle-to-survive/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/displaced-and-dispossessed-cambodias-ethnic-cham-fishers-struggle-to-survive/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Aug 2025 20:28:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Daniel ZakVutha Srey]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/06080118/fishing-net-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=303758</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Mekong Basin, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Development, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Fishing, Governance, Land Rights, Poverty, Rivers, Saltwater Fish, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — Mao Man, a 65-year-old ethnic Cham fisher in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh,  says he isn’t sure how many times he’s had to relocate in his life, but he thinks he’ll be evicted again before the Water Festival this November. Today, he and his neighbors live on small wooden boats, which they [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — Mao Man, a 65-year-old ethnic Cham fisher in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh,  says he isn’t sure how many times he’s had to relocate in his life, but he thinks he’ll be evicted again before the Water Festival this November. Today, he and his neighbors live on small wooden boats, which they moor behind a luxury hotel. Like many Chams, being relocated is a constant part of his life, and the lives of his ancestors. But now, the pressures to relocate come wrapped in the language of environmental protection. “When I move, I float like a water hyacinth down the river,” Mao told Mongabay on July 6. Mao Man sits on the shore of the Mekong River near his boat in July, 2025. Image by Vutha Srey for Mongabay. The Chams are one of Cambodia’s largest ethnic minorities, though they aren’t technically Indigenous people. They’re descendants of Champa, a collection of city-states that once ruled parts of southern Vietnam. After the last Cham state was annexed by the Đại Việt monarchy in 1835, and a campaign to forcibly assimilate and dispossess the Chams was instituted, many fled to Cambodia and settled along the Mekong River, converting to a unique form of Islam and taking up fishing. Today, about two-thirds of all Chams live in Cambodia. Mao, like many others, has lived through decades of upheaval. During the Cambodian civil war, he had to flee his village in Kampong Cham, the province with the highest concentration of Chams.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/displaced-and-dispossessed-cambodias-ethnic-cham-fishers-struggle-to-survive/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/displaced-and-dispossessed-cambodias-ethnic-cham-fishers-struggle-to-survive/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-303758</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Encouraging signs from a no-fishing zone in Comoros could inspire others</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/encouraging-signs-from-a-no-fishing-zone-in-comoros-could-inspire-others/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/encouraging-signs-from-a-no-fishing-zone-in-comoros-could-inspire-others/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Aug 2025 16:47:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawahare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/06085148/3_IMG_7209-20-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=303814</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Comoros, East Africa, and Indian Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Food, Hunger, Islands, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Poverty, and Saltwater Fish]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The phrase malezi mema in Comorian loosely translates to “parenting well.” A fishers’ group of the same name on the island of Anjouan in Comoros is trying to provide a nurturing environment. In their case, for marine life, by creating a small sanctuary in the sea that’s closed to fishing. Ansoya Ahmed, Malezi Mema’s president, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The phrase malezi mema in Comorian loosely translates to “parenting well.” A fishers’ group of the same name on the island of Anjouan in Comoros is trying to provide a nurturing environment. In their case, for marine life, by creating a small sanctuary in the sea that’s closed to fishing. Ansoya Ahmed, Malezi Mema’s president, told Mongabay during a call that he was inspired by no-take zones implemented in neighboring Mayotte, a French overseas department that’s also claimed by Comoros, and Madagascar. Comoros, an archipelagic nation off the eastern coast of Africa, lies at the mouth of the Mozambique Channel. All of its three main island groups are of volcanic origin and fringed by coral reefs. Scientists consider the reefs in this region some of the richest and most imperiled marine habitats in the world. Branched coral growing over other corals off of Le Galawa Beach in Comoros. Image by Derek Keats via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). About 80% of Anjouan’s coastline is ringed by reefs. In 2021, Malezi Mema set up the no-take zone (NTZ) on the reef flat in the island’s southwest corner with the support of nearly 60 fishers from three nearby villages and the nonprofit Dahari. The NTZ is a speck of ocean just 10 hectares (25 acres) in size, situated inside Shisiwani National Park off Sima Peninsula in western Anjouan. The park, established in 2022, is one of four marine protected areas (MPAs) in Comoros today. All of these MPAs allow some human activities, given&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/encouraging-signs-from-a-no-fishing-zone-in-comoros-could-inspire-others/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/encouraging-signs-from-a-no-fishing-zone-in-comoros-could-inspire-others/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-303814</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A forest garden project attempts to expand into the Sahel</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/a-forest-garden-project-attempts-to-expand-into-the-sahel/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/a-forest-garden-project-attempts-to-expand-into-the-sahel/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jul 2025 06:00:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/24214056/20231115_UNEP_Decade-on-Ecosystem-Restoration_African-Farmers-Transforming-Food-System_Senegal_Todd-Brown_14-e1753393737352-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=303161</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Kenya, Mali, Sahel, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Adaptation To Climate Change, Agriculture, Agroforestry, Climate Change, Conservation, Crops, Degraded Lands, Drought, Dry Forests, Erosion, Extreme Weather, Farming, Food, Hunger, Land Use Change, Monocultures, Natural Resources, Plants, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Reforestation, Trees, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Drought, irregular rainfall, deforestation, and the legacy of unsustainable human activities have left vast areas across the arid and semiarid regions of sub-Saharan Africa degraded, causing major challenges for the human population. According to environmentalists, one solution to this problem might be forest gardens. These “gardens” use regenerative agroforestry to revive patches of degraded agricultural [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Drought, irregular rainfall, deforestation, and the legacy of unsustainable human activities have left vast areas across the arid and semiarid regions of sub-Saharan Africa degraded, causing major challenges for the human population. According to environmentalists, one solution to this problem might be forest gardens. These “gardens” use regenerative agroforestry to revive patches of degraded agricultural land. In 2024, the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) selected a project led by Trees for the Future (TREES), a U.S.-based NGO, as one of seven world restoration flagships for its “forest garden approach” used in five countries in sub-Saharan Africa. These flagships promote restoration projects around the world that show potential to tackle challenges at scale and provide financial support. “Forest gardens promote healthy soil and diverse crops, leading to increased income and access to healthier food,” Enoch Makobi, country director for TREES in Uganda, told Mongabay. “Farmers are fighting climate change and can overcome poverty and hunger.” While NGO leaders say they’re optimistic about the outcomes of the project so far and their plans for expansion, some other conservationists have expressed skepticism, pointing to a lack of scientific evidence on impacts and the difficulty international NGOs face in tackling local problems and needs. A forest garden is a modern term for an ancient agroforestry model that mixes shrubs, herbs, vines, fruit and nut trees, and perennial vegetables, with the aim of supplying communities with food, medicine and animal feed. According to scientists, forest gardens can have significant&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/a-forest-garden-project-attempts-to-expand-into-the-sahel/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/a-forest-garden-project-attempts-to-expand-into-the-sahel/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-303161</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>After USAID cut, Ethiopia&#8217;s largest community conservation area aims for self-sufficiency</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/after-usaid-cut-ethiopias-largest-community-conservation-area-aims-for-self-sufficiency/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/after-usaid-cut-ethiopias-largest-community-conservation-area-aims-for-self-sufficiency/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jun 2025 16:47:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Solomon Yimer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/27164609/Capture-decran-le-2025-06-27-a-12.45.39-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301551</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Ethiopia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Community-based Conservation, Conflict, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Culture, Deforestation, Economics, Ecotourism, Elephants, Environment, Finance, Foreign Aid, Funding, Giraffes, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Natural Resources, Politics, Poverty, Sustainability, Tourism, Traditional Knowledge, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ADDIS ABABA — Local leaders at Ethiopia’s largest community conservation area are working to become financially self-sufficient and continue protecting land and wildlife independently, following the abrupt cut of funding from USAID earlier this year. The Tama Community Conservation Area (TCCA), started in 2022 with $8.5 million from the USAID’s BIOM project, had made progress [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ADDIS ABABA — Local leaders at Ethiopia’s largest community conservation area are working to become financially self-sufficient and continue protecting land and wildlife independently, following the abrupt cut of funding from USAID earlier this year. The Tama Community Conservation Area (TCCA), started in 2022 with $8.5 million from the USAID’s BIOM project, had made progress in environmental stewardship. It helped cut down illegal hunting and deforestation, according to the project office, while supporting local people to lead efforts to protect nature across 197,000 hectares (487,000 acres). The project also created jobs and gave several Indigenous communities in the region the legal right to manage their ancestral lands. As a result, wildlife populations of elephants and giraffes have increased, say conservationists. However, the sudden funding cut this January sparked pessimism among community members, many of whom returned to illegal hunting and deforestation, while fueling land-grab rumors that have left many fearful for their land rights. With external support dwindling, the project office, the TCCA council and community leaders are now working to establish independent offices and develop plans that will sustain conservation efforts while also benefiting the local community. Cool Ground, a nonprofit supporting the Indigenous community, has stepped in following the termination of the BIOM project with its own local funds to help manage the conservation effort and keep the project running until September. An aerial view of the Omo River, near the Tama Community Conservation Area. Image courtesy of the Oakland Institute. Barkede Kulumedere, a project manager at Cool&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/after-usaid-cut-ethiopias-largest-community-conservation-area-aims-for-self-sufficiency/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/after-usaid-cut-ethiopias-largest-community-conservation-area-aims-for-self-sufficiency/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301551</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Extreme heat, violent storms: How Rio de Janeiro is facing its new climate reality</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/extreme-heat-violent-storms-how-rio-de-janeiro-is-facing-its-new-climate-reality/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/extreme-heat-violent-storms-how-rio-de-janeiro-is-facing-its-new-climate-reality/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 May 2025 14:40:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ambiental Media]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/21173136/1_vidigal_favela_rio_2014-1-e1747848933701-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299444</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Flooding, Politics, and Poverty]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Judging by the last few summers, Rio de Janeiro’s residents should be preparing for the worst. On March 17, 2024, the neighborhood of Guaratiba, in the city’s West Zone, recorded the highest apparent temperature in the last 10 years: 62.3° Celsius (144.14° Fahrenheit), according to data from Alerta Rio, a system run by the municipal [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Judging by the last few summers, Rio de Janeiro’s residents should be preparing for the worst. On March 17, 2024, the neighborhood of Guaratiba, in the city’s West Zone, recorded the highest apparent temperature in the last 10 years: 62.3° Celsius (144.14° Fahrenheit), according to data from Alerta Rio, a system run by the municipal government. On Feb. 20, 2025, the thermometer in Guaratiba hit 44°C (111°F), the highest temperature in the historical series, which began in 2014. 2024 was also the wettest summer in Brazil’s second-largest city since measurements began in 1997. In January, the average rainfall reached 349 millimeters (13.74 inches), surpassing the previous record from 2013 (347 mm, or 13.66 in), and nearly 200 mm (7.87 in) higher than the historical average for the month (161 mm, or 6.34 in). In other words, the intensity of the rains and the heat has been progressively increasing in recent years in Rio de Janeiro — two manifestations of global climate change with a high potential for disaster. Consider what happened between April and early May 2024 in the city of Porto Alegre, in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, where heavy rains caused floods that affected 2.4 million people, with 183 confirmed deaths. But Rio de Janeiro is no Porto Alegre: Rio has hills. The city sprawls around the bases and creeps up the slopes of three mountain ranges — Tijuca, Pedra Branca and Gericinó-Mendanha — making for thousands of precariously installed homes in defiance of the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/extreme-heat-violent-storms-how-rio-de-janeiro-is-facing-its-new-climate-reality/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299444</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Viral standoff at Philippines’ Mt. Pinatubo exposes decades of Indigenous exclusion</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/viral-standoff-at-philippines-mt-pinatubo-exposes-decades-of-indigenous-exclusion/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/viral-standoff-at-philippines-mt-pinatubo-exposes-decades-of-indigenous-exclusion/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 May 2025 05:10:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Michael Beltran]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/08094040/aeta-women-read-book-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=298758</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Forests, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Poverty, Protests, Tourism, and Volcanoes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Avid hiker Maria* and her boyfriend were among the dozens of travelers who booked a tour of the Philippines’ Mount Pinatubo for April 18. Pinatubo, an active volcano, had its last major eruption in 1991, altering the surrounding landscape and producing a scenic crater lake that has since become popular with hikers and travelers. At [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Avid hiker Maria* and her boyfriend were among the dozens of travelers who booked a tour of the Philippines’ Mount Pinatubo for April 18. Pinatubo, an active volcano, had its last major eruption in 1991, altering the surrounding landscape and producing a scenic crater lake that has since become popular with hikers and travelers. At Pinatubo’s jump-off point, more than a dozen vehicles packed with tourists, including Maria and her boyfriend, were suddenly blocked by a crowd of locals. “They started shouting their frustrations,” says Maria, 23, who asked that her real name be withheld after experiencing backlash and online harassment from tour companies after she posted about the incident on social media. The Indigenous Aetas were protesting their long-standing exclusion from Pinatubo’s tourism gains. Despite the volcano area being recognized as Aeta ancestral land, private tour operators and the local government tourism office have managed sightseeing almost exclusively, with Indigenous locals only employed as occasional freelance guides. According to tourism officials, standard Pinatubo tours cost about $125 for a group of five. This includes a $12 environmental protection fee for the local tourism office and $8 for an Aeta guide for the day. That latter number is less than the minimum wage, and Aeta protesters say they often receive less, as little as $6. At Pinatubo’s jump-off point, more than a dozen vehicles packed with tourists were suddenly blocked by a crowd of locals. Image courtesy of Maria. Tens of thousands of Aetas live in the Central Luzon region&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/viral-standoff-at-philippines-mt-pinatubo-exposes-decades-of-indigenous-exclusion/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-298758</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Palm oil company uses armed forces, tear gas against protesting villagers in Cameroon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/palm-oil-company-uses-armed-forces-tear-gas-against-protesting-villagers-in-cameroon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/palm-oil-company-uses-armed-forces-tear-gas-against-protesting-villagers-in-cameroon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Apr 2025 19:32:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria SchneiderYannick Kenné]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/04160612/Villager-protest_ApouhCameroon_Ngo-Bissou-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=297093</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Cameroon, and Central Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Conflict, Conservation, Crime, Economics, Environmental Law, Governance, Indigenous Rights, Industrial Agriculture, Industry, Land Conflict, Palm Oil, Plantations, Poverty, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Villagers in Cameroon have denounced the use of tear gas by authorities to break up their protest on March 25 against the replanting of oil palm trees by the plantation company Socapalm on disputed land in the country’s southwest. Residents of the village of Apouh à Ngog say the land should have been returned to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Villagers in Cameroon have denounced the use of tear gas by authorities to break up their protest on March 25 against the replanting of oil palm trees by the plantation company Socapalm on disputed land in the country’s southwest. Residents of the village of Apouh à Ngog say the land should have been returned to them, and that 6,000 young banana trees they had planted to assert their claim have now been uprooted. Félicité Ngo Bissou, president of the Association of Women Residents of Socapalm- Édéa (known by its French acronym, AFRISE), accused Socapalm’s Luxembourg-based owner, Socfin, of “using a strategy of intimidation and beatings to prevent us from accessing our lands.” “That’s why they came armed to the teeth, uprooted all the bananas, and are planting oil palm trees everywhere,” she told Mongabay by telephone on Apr. 3. AFRISE members and others from the village of Apouh protesting the re-planting of a section of the Socapalm plantation that they say should be returned to them. Image courtesy Félicité Ngo Bissou/AFRISE. Apouh à Ngog is is one of several villages at the center of a long-standing land conflict between residents of the Édéa commune and Socapalm. Villagers say that since the plantation was established in 1969, the company’s activities have steadily encroached upon their ancestral lands, leaving them with little space for farming, housing, or burials. In the case of Apouh, villagers say Socapalm has occupied almost all of their land. Ngo Bissou told Mongabay that the piece of land&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/palm-oil-company-uses-armed-forces-tear-gas-against-protesting-villagers-in-cameroon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-297093</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New allegations of abuse against oil palm giant Socfin in Cameroon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/new-allegations-of-abuse-against-oil-palm-giant-socfin-in-cameroon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/new-allegations-of-abuse-against-oil-palm-giant-socfin-in-cameroon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Mar 2025 14:42:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Yannick Kenné]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/03/24142733/AFRISE_EdeaCameroon_AFRISE-CROP-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=296369</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Cameroon, and Central Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Conservation, Crime, Economics, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Indigenous Rights, Industrial Agriculture, Industry, Plantations, Pollution, Poverty, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[YAOUNDÉ — In the village of Apouh, in southwestern Cameroon’s Edéa municipality, a group of women has remained steadfast in its fight against palm oil giant Socapalm. For several years, members of the Association of Women Residents of Socapalm-Edéa (AFRISE) have firmly opposed the Socapalm plantation on the village’s outskirts, and say they’re determined to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[YAOUNDÉ — In the village of Apouh, in southwestern Cameroon’s Edéa municipality, a group of women has remained steadfast in its fight against palm oil giant Socapalm. For several years, members of the Association of Women Residents of Socapalm-Edéa (AFRISE) have firmly opposed the Socapalm plantation on the village’s outskirts, and say they’re determined to reclaim their land from the company. On Feb. 17, 2025, they sent an open letter to Socapalm, and its parent companies Socfinaf and Socfin, in which Bolloré holds a stake, to demand access to their traditional lands. The letter was co-signed by some 60 environmental and human rights organizations from Cameroon and around the world. Luxembourg-based holding company Socfin operates more than 58,000 hectares (143,000 acres) of oil palm and rubber plantations in Cameroon, through its subsidiaries Socapalm and Safacam, respectively. Almost everywhere it operates in the country, the company’s relationship with local communities bordering its plantations has been contentious. The Earthworm Foundation (EF), an environmental consulting firm commissioned by Socfin to investigate accusations of serious human rights violations on plantations that the holding company controls in West Africa, Central Africa and Asia, published the latest in a series of reports on Feb. 14. The consultancy found grounds to uphold communities’ complaints about land grabbing, sexual abuse and the occupation of sacred sites in Socapalm plantations in Cameroon’s coastal areas of Edéa, Mbambou and Mbongo. The EF report highlights an amendment to the long-term lease granted to Socapalm that stipulates that 3,712 hectares (9,173 acres)&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/03/new-allegations-of-abuse-against-oil-palm-giant-socfin-in-cameroon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-296369</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Coffee companies are readier for the EUDR than they claim (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/coffee-companies-are-readier-for-the-eudr-than-they-claim-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/coffee-companies-are-readier-for-the-eudr-than-they-claim-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Feb 2025 11:13:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Etelle Higonnet]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/12/21105318/Floating-and-sorting-the-coffee.-Photo-by-Jo-Anne-McArthur-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=294941</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, European Union, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Coffee, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, EUDR, Forest Loss, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, International Trade, Politics, Poverty, Slavery, Supply Chain, Trade, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The battle over the fate of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) was arguably the biggest forest story in 2024. It turns out, coffee played a dark and bitter role in that struggle. Under the EUDR, companies wanting to sell to the EU market products containing coffee, wood, cattle, cocoa, soy, palm oil or rubber [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The battle over the fate of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) was arguably the biggest forest story in 2024. It turns out, coffee played a dark and bitter role in that struggle. Under the EUDR, companies wanting to sell to the EU market products containing coffee, wood, cattle, cocoa, soy, palm oil or rubber must prove that they are deforestation-free. The law, the first of its kind globally, aimed to tackle the impacts of these seven commodities on forests and peoples’ rights. It was approved with an overwhelming democratic mandate in 2023, sending a clear signal about the EU’s determination to drastically reduce its contribution to clearing land for agriculture.  The law was initially greeted as a breakthrough in the global battle against forest loss, and seen as a template for others to follow around the world.   But after the breakthrough came the “greenlash.”   Lobbyists, politicians (some of whom received more than €1.7 million, or $1.8 million, from industry players facing regulation) and industry forces like coffee companies tried to sabotage Europe’s efforts to end deforestation in its supply chains — disregarding democratic principles, threatening the EU’s credibility with its trading partners, and undermining those companies that had already spent tens of millions of euros preparing for EUDR implementation.  Coffee plantation in the Andes. Image by Morley Read. At the forefront of some of the most bitter, groundless attacks on the EUDR were major coffee companies and EU coffee industry lobby groups. Letters shared by insider sources reveal the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/coffee-companies-are-readier-for-the-eudr-than-they-claim-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-294941</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Environmental &#038; rights activists flee and hide as M23 captures DRC’s cities</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/environmental-rights-activists-flee-and-hide-as-m23-captures-drcs-cities/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/environmental-rights-activists-flee-and-hide-as-m23-captures-drcs-cities/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Feb 2025 05:00:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/17232217/8.-20140329-171047-2-1-e1739834552646-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=294556</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Endangered Environmentalists]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Democratic Republic Of Congo, East Africa, and Rwanda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Conflict, Conservation, Critical Minerals, Environment, Forests, Human Rights, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Mining, Poverty, Rainforests, Resource Conflict, and War]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“Since Goma fell, I&#8217;ve lived in fear. I don&#8217;t dare leave my house.” These are the words of Justin Shamutwa Masumbuko, general coordinator of the Indigenous rights NGO ADELIPO-Congo. For several months now, he and his organization have been visiting camps for internally displaced people in and around the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) eastern [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“Since Goma fell, I&#8217;ve lived in fear. I don&#8217;t dare leave my house.” These are the words of Justin Shamutwa Masumbuko, general coordinator of the Indigenous rights NGO ADELIPO-Congo. For several months now, he and his organization have been visiting camps for internally displaced people in and around the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) eastern city of Goma. They were there to help Indigenous Batwa people, who, according to him, continue to face discrimination, segregation and lack of social services while they fled armed conflict. But today, among those fleeing conflict and hiding in the region are activists like Shamutwa and environmentalists, who were among the few to denounce illegal extractive activities and protect natural resources in the mineral-rich region. Their work, they say, puts them in jeopardy. A recent freezing of foreign aid, like USAID, has also left some Congolese conservationists without salaries and wary of how they will support themselves and their families during the conflict. Since the resurgence of the armed group M23 (March 23 Movement) in 2021, fighting with other armed groups and the DRC’s military forced people throughout the eastern North Kivu province to escape. Over time, at least nine displacement camps sprung up in the province’s capital, Goma, sheltering hundreds of thousands of people in extremely poor conditions. In January, fighting intensified and forced another 400,000 people to flee, according to the United Nations refugee agency. On Jan. 21, the M23, in association with Rwanda’s military (the Rwanda Defence Force), seized Minova (a town&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/environmental-rights-activists-flee-and-hide-as-m23-captures-drcs-cities/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-294556</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Amid bombs and chaos, Goma’s displaced residents share their fears and hopes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/amid-bombs-and-chaos-gomas-displaced-residents-share-their-fears-and-hopes/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/amid-bombs-and-chaos-gomas-displaced-residents-share-their-fears-and-hopes/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Feb 2025 18:32:36 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ajabu Adolphe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Ochieng' Ogodo]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/17165512/8068469904_5c8ddb3b6c_c-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=294546</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic Of Congo, East Africa, and Rwanda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Conservation, Critical Minerals, Environment, Forests, Illegal Mining, Mining, Poverty, and Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo — “I fled the fighting in Bweremana between the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo [FARDC] and the M23 armed group. I saw how a whole family was [wiped out] when a bomb exploded,” says Viviane Muteule, a mother of six. Muteule was an internally displaced person at [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo — “I fled the fighting in Bweremana between the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo [FARDC] and the M23 armed group. I saw how a whole family was [wiped out] when a bomb exploded,” says Viviane Muteule, a mother of six. Muteule was an internally displaced person at the Rusayo camp northwest of Goma in January but was forced to flee with her family into the middle of Goma, to avoid being killed during bombardments of the camps at a time when fighting was raging in Sake, 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) west of Goma. A recent onslaught on the city of Goma by M23, a Rwanda-backed rebel force, displaced hundreds of thousands of people in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which has witnessed armed conflicts for decades. An M23 fighter near the border between Rwanda and DRC at La Corniche Stop Border. Image by Ajabu Adolphe. “I was forced to become a double war displaced person within 20 days. I fled misery at home in Bweremana, but it pursued me right into the camp. I saw the bodies of people who had died from bomb shrapnel not far from my tent,” she recalls, full of remorse. Since Jan. 27, M23 fighters, who, according to the United Nations, are backed by Rwanda, have seized the city of Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu province, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Shortly before the city fell, intense military movements that had lasted about&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/amid-bombs-and-chaos-gomas-displaced-residents-share-their-fears-and-hopes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-294546</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The key factors fueling conflict in eastern DRC</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/in-eastern-drc-the-history-of-conflicts-is-fueled-by-new-factors/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/in-eastern-drc-the-history-of-conflicts-is-fueled-by-new-factors/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Feb 2025 17:02:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Ochieng' Ogodo]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/14131619/4.-FARDC-MONUSCO-Goma-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=294440</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Democratic Republic Of Congo, East Africa, and Rwanda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Conservation, Critical Minerals, Environment, Forests, Green, Illegal Mining, Mining, Poverty, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The past three years have been turbulent for the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a region that has experienced prolonged conflict for many years. The recent advancement of M23, a Rwanda-backed rebel force, has displaced hundreds of thousands of people. The militia has captured key sites, including Goma, the region&#8217;s largest city, and, on Feb. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The past three years have been turbulent for the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a region that has experienced prolonged conflict for many years. The recent advancement of M23, a Rwanda-backed rebel force, has displaced hundreds of thousands of people. The militia has captured key sites, including Goma, the region&#8217;s largest city, and, on Feb. 14, the airport in Bukavu, a city to the south. The underlying causes of the conflict stem from a complex interplay of ethnic tensions linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, political and corporate corruption, and the lingering effects of Western colonialism in Africa. Throughout this turmoil, the quest to profit from natural resources has exacerbated violence and poverty, in sharp contrast with the technological progress the minerals have enabled in other parts of the world. The disparity, between the richness of the DRC in coltan, cobalt, gold, diamonds and other valuable minerals and the often-crippling poverty that besets many Congolese people, is striking. According to the World Bank, nearly three-quarters of the country’s 102.3 million citizens live on less than $2.15 a day. The country’s GDP per capita, at less than $630, ranks among the lowest globally, even as the companies that rely heavily on Congolese minerals rake in trillion dollars annually. The majority of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo live in poverty. Image by Emilie Languedoc for Mongabay. The DRC is also home to verdant lowland and mountain rainforests, expansive green savannas, and swampy wetlands, all supporting human communities and a unique array&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/in-eastern-drc-the-history-of-conflicts-is-fueled-by-new-factors/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-294440</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Uganda community group restores shea groves and livelihoods</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/uganda-community-group-restores-shea-groves-and-livelihoods/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/uganda-community-group-restores-shea-groves-and-livelihoods/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Feb 2025 11:00:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Pat LarubiSam Schramski]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/10101428/Photo-5-Sorting-from-the-pan-fried-sheanut-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=294176</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Agroforestry, Culture, Development, Gender, Poverty Alleviation, Sustainable Development, Traditional Knowledge, Tropical Forests, and Women In Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PADER DISTRICT, Uganda —  As the early morning mist lifts over the plains of northern Uganda, women gather at the Pader Shea Nut and Agro-processing Society&#8217;s nursery. Grown from seeds collected across the parkland landscape that dominates this district, hundreds of shea seedlings stand in neat, carefully tended rows under thatched shelters to protect them [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PADER DISTRICT, Uganda —  As the early morning mist lifts over the plains of northern Uganda, women gather at the Pader Shea Nut and Agro-processing Society&#8217;s nursery. Grown from seeds collected across the parkland landscape that dominates this district, hundreds of shea seedlings stand in neat, carefully tended rows under thatched shelters to protect them from the harsh sun that will soon burn through the morning&#8217;s mist. The women are here to collect seedlings to transplant into their fields. As part of a larger effort to restore Uganda&#8217;s shea parklands, the cooperative has successfully rehabilitated more than 500 hectares (1,240 acres) of degraded land, integrating shea trees (Vitellaria paradoxa) and other native species with maize and sunflower crops. The shea nut cooperative&#8217;s story began in 2004, during one of the darkest periods of Uganda&#8217;s modern history. &#8220;The group started with six members,&#8221; says Sarah Norah, one of the cooperative&#8217;s leaders. &#8220;By then we were in the [internally displaced people&#8217;s] camp. So life was not easy. We were being given food by the United Nations besides cooking oil and corn flour. And sometimes we could run out of those things.&#8221; A shea sapling: members of the Pader Shea Nut and Agro-processing Society are protecting and nurturing young trees like these to ensure their survival. Image by Pat Larubi for Mongabay. Shea parklands The fruit of the shea tree has long formed a key part of food systems in northern Uganda. A mature tree produces 15-20 kilograms (33-44 pounds) of green, egg-shaped&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/uganda-community-group-restores-shea-groves-and-livelihoods/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-294176</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Shea&#8217;s silent guardians restore Uganda&#8217;s traditional parklands</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/sheas-silent-guardians-restore-ugandas-traditional-parklands/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/sheas-silent-guardians-restore-ugandas-traditional-parklands/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Feb 2025 17:33:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Pat LarubiSam Schramski]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/02/07090926/Photo-X-Maureen-Otika-Kanya-Akanya-Shea-Growers-Group-in-Latanya-sub-county-Pader-district-Uganda-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=294071</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Agroforestry, Culture, Development, Gender, Poverty Alleviation, Sustainable Development, Traditional Knowledge, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PADER DISTRICT, Uganda — In northern Uganda&#8217;s Pader district, farmers are working to preserve agricultural landscapes that have fed their communities for generations. These shea parklands, where carefully maintained trees grow among food crops, represent centuries of agricultural knowledge at risk of being lost. Unlike natural forests, these parklands are agricultural landscapes shaped by generations [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PADER DISTRICT, Uganda — In northern Uganda&#8217;s Pader district, farmers are working to preserve agricultural landscapes that have fed their communities for generations. These shea parklands, where carefully maintained trees grow among food crops, represent centuries of agricultural knowledge at risk of being lost. Unlike natural forests, these parklands are agricultural landscapes shaped by generations of farmers. According to research submitted to the Global Shea Alliance, communities historically created landscapes that balanced crop production with ecological diversity by selecting which trees to preserve during field clearing, and encouraging their natural regeneration on fallow land. The shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa) is central to this system. &#8220;The shea nut tree and its products have been very significant in our traditional culture from time immemorial,&#8221; says Gillian Josephine P&#8217;Ochen in Lapaya village. &#8220;In our parklands, we have more than 50 other tree species that are also very significant in the ecosystem. I prefer to call this a paradise in the woods and a pharmaceutical arena. Because when you look at all the tree species, they are medicinal in one way or the other.&#8221; She points to a mature African cherry (Prunus africana) growing alongside shea trees. &#8220;This tree&#8217;s bark has been used to treat fevers for generations,&#8221; she says. &#8220;Its thick leaves fall and decompose slowly, enriching the soil for our crops. This is how our ancestors designed these parklands — every species has multiple purposes.&#8221; Passion fruit and jackfruit trees add to the landscape&#8217;s diversity, providing additional food crops. The integration of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/02/sheas-silent-guardians-restore-ugandas-traditional-parklands/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-294071</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In the Pan Amazon, inequality and informality fuel informal economies</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/in-the-pan-amazon-inequality-and-informality-fuel-informal-economies/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/in-the-pan-amazon-inequality-and-informality-fuel-informal-economies/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jan 2025 18:00:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Timothy J. Killeen]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mayra]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/22054810/brasil_055-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
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											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Perfect Storm in the Amazon]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Farming, Forest Destruction, Governance, Land Rights, Land Use Change, Law Enforcement, Migration, Mining, Poverty, Rainforests, Subsistence Agriculture, and Threats To Rainforests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[One of the main social and economic challenges facing Amazonian countries is inequality.  Although the standard of living of the lower economic strata is better now than at any time in history, tens of millions of people in Amazonian countries are either poor or live on the margin of poverty. Worse still, they face real [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[One of the main social and economic challenges facing Amazonian countries is inequality.  Although the standard of living of the lower economic strata is better now than at any time in history, tens of millions of people in Amazonian countries are either poor or live on the margin of poverty. Worse still, they face real and palpable barriers to improving their economic situation. The recent pandemic and subsequent economic turmoil have constrained the ability of governments to pursue policies that mitigate inequality via revenue transfers and subsidies and, more importantly, to invest in educational reforms that might change the structural impediments to social mobility. Poverty in Latin America is a legacy of a deeply stratified society that is a product of class, ethnicity and geography. In Brazil, people of color from the northeast (Nordestinos) are much more likely to be poorer and less educated than their white compatriots from the south and southeast. In the Andes, elites tend to be of European extraction or have a mixed ethnic background and a strong identification with Western cultures, while the less affluent are Quechua or Aymara communities from the high Andes. In the mid-twentieth century, poverty and inequality led to political instability that spawned socialist and nationalist political movements. Economic experimentation and mediocre governance worsened the situation, and the subsequent economic volatility caused poverty levels to increase over several decades. Entrenched poverty and the lack of opportunity drove millions of people to seek a better life on the Amazonian frontier. The offer&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/in-the-pan-amazon-inequality-and-informality-fuel-informal-economies/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-293227</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In the battle against plastic pollution, Asia&#8217;s informal workers are critical allies (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/in-the-battle-against-plastic-pollution-asias-informal-workers-are-critical-allies-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/in-the-battle-against-plastic-pollution-asias-informal-workers-are-critical-allies-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Oct 2024 17:14:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Annerieke Douma]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=288110</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, Indonesia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Development, Ecosystems, Environment, Marine, Oceans, Plastic, Pollution, Poverty, Poverty Alleviation, Sustainable Development, Waste, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, a waste worker from Binh Dinh, Vietnam, has worked in the waste collection industry for four decades. She has spent every day at the landfill – her home and source of income – since she was a child. Like many developing economies in the region, Vietnam has limited household waste separation. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, a waste worker from Binh Dinh, Vietnam, has worked in the waste collection industry for four decades. She has spent every day at the landfill – her home and source of income – since she was a child. Like many developing economies in the region, Vietnam has limited household waste separation. Informal workers like Thuy support 90% of plastics recycling in the country, separating materials by hand and delivering them to collection centers. Southeast Asia is the source of over half of the world&#8217;s ocean plastic, due to inadequate waste management infrastructure in many emerging economies. But these rapidly developing markets also present huge potential for impact when it comes to the global fight against plastic pollution, and harnessing the informal workforce will be a central part of the solution. While a patchwork of solutions is emerging across Asia, greater collaboration between the public, private and nonprofit sectors can tap into this critical global workforce while also providing opportunities to protect livelihoods for informal workers on a much larger scale. Thuy and her counterparts in other developing countries form a vast network of approximately 20 million workers who contribute to almost 60% of global plastics recycling. Despite the critical role they play, their contributions are often overlooked, and they endure deplorable conditions with inadequate pay, child labor, and health risks. But experience shows us that integrating informal workers, harnessing their specific skills and contributions, can result in more transparent and efficient value chains for recycled plastics in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/10/in-the-battle-against-plastic-pollution-asias-informal-workers-are-critical-allies-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-288110</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Global ‘Slow Food’ movement embraces agroecology (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/global-slow-food-movement-embraces-and-advances-agroecology-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/global-slow-food-movement-embraces-and-advances-agroecology-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Sep 2024 19:06:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Mukiibi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/04/12215035/13992749734_744c0a0a2a_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=287783</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, European Union, Global, Italy, Malawi, Southern Africa, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, agribusiness, Agriculture, Agroecology, Commentary, Environment, Food, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, Poverty, and Poverty Alleviation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[I have spent more than 20 years visiting communities and working with farmers around Uganda and across East and southern Africa. I have come to realize that there are many farmers who are trying their best to produce food in a way that harms neither the environment nor consumers. But many of these farmers are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[I have spent more than 20 years visiting communities and working with farmers around Uganda and across East and southern Africa. I have come to realize that there are many farmers who are trying their best to produce food in a way that harms neither the environment nor consumers. But many of these farmers are trapped in a corrupt system designed to benefit those who provide – and profit – from chemical inputs. How do we help them to break out of this bubble, and how do we create a network where they can share their motivations, their feelings, their practical knowledge and their experiences? Farmers need to be brought together so that they help each other move towards good, clean and fair production of food. And they need to be brought together because farmers are also bearers of knowledge. Uniting them in a network is the best way to free themselves from the trap of growing input-heavy, export-focused monocultures. My name is Edward Mukiibi. Since 2022 I have served as the president of the world’s largest food movement, Slow Food. In 2007 I was just an agriculture student at Makerere University in Kampala, but I was already working closely with farmers. I volunteered for a project to promote a new hybrid maize variety, supposedly drought-resistant, in western Uganda. I was convinced that this was the right way to produce more food: more high-yielding varieties grown with more external inputs like fertilizers. Edward Mukiibi in the field. Image courtesy of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/09/global-slow-food-movement-embraces-and-advances-agroecology-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-287783</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>$35m debt-for-nature deal aims to protect Indonesia’s coral reefs</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/35m-debt-for-nature-deal-aims-to-protect-indonesias-coral-reefs/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/35m-debt-for-nature-deal-aims-to-protect-indonesias-coral-reefs/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Aug 2024 16:51:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[M Ambari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/08/30154104/terumbu-karang-raja-ampat-KI-Ronal-scaled_LARGE-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=286782</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Coral Reefs, Debt-for-nature, Ecosystems, Finance, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Monitoring, Oceans, and Poverty Alleviation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — A milestone debt-for-nature agreement to conserve coral reefs in Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelagic country, has drawn a mix of optimism and skepticism from environmentalists. While welcoming the flush of funding and attention to the country’s imperiled reef ecosystems, some warn that to be successful, the agreement must reshape the way reef conservation [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — A milestone debt-for-nature agreement to conserve coral reefs in Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelagic country, has drawn a mix of optimism and skepticism from environmentalists. While welcoming the flush of funding and attention to the country’s imperiled reef ecosystems, some warn that to be successful, the agreement must reshape the way reef conservation is practiced, in particular by enhancing monitoring of project outcomes. “If we want to continue coral reef restoration and conservation projects over the next nine years in the same way as before, then we will repeat the same failures,” Parid Ridwanuddin, oceans lead at the Indonesian Forum for the Environment, a prominent national pressure group known as Walhi, told Mongabay Indonesia. The $35 million debt-for-nature swap between Indonesia and the U.S. aims to conserve coral reefs in eastern Indonesia over the next nine years, with the funding offset by canceled sovereign debt payable to the U.S. On Aug. 8 the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) formally announced the deal, although the governments of Indonesia and the U.S. had sealed it in July. The GFCR, an international public-private finance body, provided financial and technical support for the debt swap, according to the announcement. “This agreement helps reinforce the idea that a healthy ocean is in the global interest and a shared responsibility,” said Victor Gustaaf Manoppo, director-general of marine management at Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries. Indonesian conservation organizations Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara (YKAN) and Yayasan Konservasi Cakrawala Indonesia (YKCI), along with their&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/35m-debt-for-nature-deal-aims-to-protect-indonesias-coral-reefs/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-286782</doi>				</item>
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