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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/religions/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Tue, 08 Sep 2026 07:38:38 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>News on Religions</title>
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				<item>
					<title>Land rights and mangroves entwine in a Brazilian quilombo’s resistance</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/land-rights-and-mangroves-entwine-in-a-brazilian-quilombos-resistance/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/land-rights-and-mangroves-entwine-in-a-brazilian-quilombos-resistance/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Aug 2026 15:29:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolina de Marchi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/11152728/20260402-PXL_20260402_191844572.PANO_-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325902</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Bioeconomy, Coastal Ecosystems, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Philosophy, Culture, Ecosystems, Environment, Estuaries, Freshwater, Mangroves, Marine Conservation, Protected Areas, Religions, Rivers, Social Justice, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BREJÃO DOS NEGROS, Brazil — It’s hard to tell where one ends and the other starts. Here on Brazil’s Atlantic coast, where the São Francisco River meets the sea, waves ripple across the crystal-clear water. In the vast blue expanse, the green of islands and islets blends with fertile lands covered in Atlantic Forest remnants, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BREJÃO DOS NEGROS, Brazil — It’s hard to tell where one ends and the other starts. Here on Brazil’s Atlantic coast, where the São Francisco River meets the sea, waves ripple across the crystal-clear water. In the vast blue expanse, the green of islands and islets blends with fertile lands covered in Atlantic Forest remnants, white dunes, small docks, marginal lagoons, and mangroves — a biological heritage that serves as a nursery for countless marine species. But this beauty has not always belonged to those who lived there. Remnants of cotton plantations and more than 20 mills tell of an era before the so-called Golden Law of 1888 abolished slavery in Brazil. This region once held the largest number of enslaved people in the lower catchment area of the São Francisco River. Because of its dense native forests, it was also an ideal refuge for those who managed to escape, which earned it the name Refúgio dos Negros. Even after abolition, the people who lived off artisanal fishing and farming here enjoyed little real freedom. The land where they had lived on and worked for generations was claimed by local landowners who, with or without legal titles, exercised uncontested dominance. According to residents of the Brejão dos Negros Quilombola Territory — a group of traditional communities, or quilombos, founded by formerly enslaved Afro-Brazilians — fences and cattle grids went up everywhere, making them feel like prisoners in their own land. “It was like this: if you harvested a field of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/land-rights-and-mangroves-entwine-in-a-brazilian-quilombos-resistance/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325902</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Decades after religions shaped China’s Tianmushan, authorities tackle protecting reserve</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/decades-after-religions-shaped-chinas-tianmushan-authorities-tackle-protecting-reserve/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/decades-after-religions-shaped-chinas-tianmushan-authorities-tackle-protecting-reserve/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2026 16:11:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony FabroLatoya Abulu]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/10155939/1-deer-in-snow-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325787</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, China, and East Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Law, Protected Areas, Religions, Research, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[HANGZHOU, China — On a misty morning in Zhejiang province, the peaks of Tianmu Mountain rise like sentinels above the forest canopy, their slopes wrapped in shifting veils of cloud. For centuries, monks and many villagers revered every tree and stream as sacred, a belief that researchers say has guided protection long before the word [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[HANGZHOU, China — On a misty morning in Zhejiang province, the peaks of Tianmu Mountain rise like sentinels above the forest canopy, their slopes wrapped in shifting veils of cloud. For centuries, monks and many villagers revered every tree and stream as sacred, a belief that researchers say has guided protection long before the word “conservation” entered common use. “This place is special not only because of its nature,” Lu Senhong, head of the publicity and education division at the Tianmu National Nature Reserve Administration Bureau, told Mongabay. “It is also because people here have long believed that every tree, flower, and bird carries a spirit. That respect has kept the mountain alive.” For more than a millennium, a mix of Buddhist, Daoist and Confucian traditions guided protection of plants and wildlife in this lush reserve, which recently extended twelvefold to create a 54,700-hectare (135,170-acre) Tianmushan–Qingliangfeng UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve — the first such expansion in China. In the past, temples that dotted the land imposed strict punishments on anyone caught cutting trees or damaging parts of the old-growth forest — fines in rice or silver, or even expulsion from the monastery. The same rules bound monks themselves to strict conduct, ensuring they upheld the forest’s sanctity. Today, it is state regulations that provide the legal framework for protection and, along with a management plan developed with local communities, that try to tackle challenges the rich ecosystem faces and negotiate a sustainable development model following earlier community land use conflicts.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/decades-after-religions-shaped-chinas-tianmushan-authorities-tackle-protecting-reserve/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325787</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sacred places &#038; living lands: How Indigenous Sámi peoples steward biodiversity (analysis)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/sacred-places-living-lands-how-indigenous-sami-peoples-steward-biodiversity-analysis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/sacred-places-living-lands-how-indigenous-sami-peoples-steward-biodiversity-analysis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Aug 2026 17:00:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Emil Siekkinen]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/02/20210251/42563317632_160197344f_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325594</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, Finland, Global, Norway, and Sweden]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Analysis, Biodiversity, Commentary, Conservation, Culture, Indigenous Peoples, Land Rights, Religions, Sustainability, Traditional Knowledge, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Modern conservation is often traced to the establishment of Yellowstone National Park in the U.S. in 1872. In Sweden, a similar milestone came with the founding of Sarek National Park in 1909, partly intended to protect the endangered brown bear of the far north. Yet, long before states established national parks and environmental agencies, people [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Modern conservation is often traced to the establishment of Yellowstone National Park in the U.S. in 1872. In Sweden, a similar milestone came with the founding of Sarek National Park in 1909, partly intended to protect the endangered brown bear of the far north. Yet, long before states established national parks and environmental agencies, people across the world protected landscapes through religion, customary law, and Indigenous stewardship. In Japan, Shinto shrine forests have been preserved for centuries. In India, villagers continue to maintain sacred groves. Ethiopia’s churches and monasteries are often encircled by protected forests, while parts of rural Italy still contain sacred landscapes rooted in traditions older than Christianity itself. Some are associated with Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and ecology; others may descend from sites once dedicated to Jupiter. A growing body of research suggests that such places have often functioned — intentionally or otherwise — as informal systems of conservation. In 2021, the researcher Piero Zannini and his colleagues published a systematic review of sacred natural sites and biodiversity conservation. Examining studies from around the world, they found that sacred natural sites frequently contained greater biodiversity, more intact vegetation, and better-preserved ecosystems than surrounding landscapes. Sacred places, they argued, often operate as effective forms of conservation grounded not in state bureaucracy or scientific management, but in cosmology, ritual, and local tradition. Sami people in Enontekiö, Finland, at the summit of Saana Fell, which they consider sacred. Image by Ninara via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/sacred-places-living-lands-how-indigenous-sami-peoples-steward-biodiversity-analysis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325594</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Father Robert Athickal asked children to protect the living world</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/father-robert-athickal-asked-children-to-protect-the-living-world/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/father-robert-athickal-asked-children-to-protect-the-living-world/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jul 2026 12:32:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/27002049/Father-Robert-Athickal-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324535</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation and Religion and Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Culture, Education, Obituary, and Religions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#160; The first members had no office, no money, and little authority. They were schoolchildren in Patna, a crowded city on the Ganges, worried about the trees being cut around them. They met after class, visited other schools, planted saplings, and spoke to anyone willing to listen. Some traveled by bicycle to carry their message [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[&nbsp; The first members had no office, no money, and little authority. They were schoolchildren in Patna, a crowded city on the Ganges, worried about the trees being cut around them. They met after class, visited other schools, planted saplings, and spoke to anyone willing to listen. Some traveled by bicycle to carry their message farther. Their organization had a name, Tarumitra, meaning “Friends of Trees,” though for a time it consisted mainly of students and a small circle of adults helping them. Among those adults was a Jesuit priest who believed that children could be trusted with serious work. Father Robert Athickal, who died on July 19th, aged 73, spent nearly four decades developing that idea. From its beginnings in Patna in 1988, Tarumitra grew into one of India’s largest student environmental movements. It established groups in schools and colleges across the country, trained generations of young campaigners, and created a reserve for threatened plants from the Gangetic plain. &nbsp; Athickal had few of the resources usually available to someone building a national organization. There was no large funder behind the project and no government mandate. He relied on his position as a Jesuit teacher, the cooperation of schools, and his ability to persuade students and adults that local environmental problems deserved their attention. Tarumitra’s early campaigns were designed to be practical and easy to reproduce. Students cleaned neglected plots, planted roadside gardens, and turned former garbage dumps into what they called “Oxygen Belts.” Other school groups could follow&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/father-robert-athickal-asked-children-to-protect-the-living-world/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324535</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In India’s Western Ghats, sacred groves are better at growing future forests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-indias-western-ghats-sacred-groves-are-better-at-growing-future-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-indias-western-ghats-sacred-groves-are-better-at-growing-future-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 16:07:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/08/04133403/Female_Great_Hornbill_carrying_food_1210px-768x451.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323594</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Fragmentation, Habitat, Habitat Loss, Indigenous Reserves, Religions, Traditional People, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the villages of India&#8217;s Western Ghats, some of the oldest and tallest trees do not grow inside a national park. They grow in sacred groves, small patches of old, mostly untouched forest that local communities have protected for generations, because they believe the trees belong to their deities and ancestors. A new study published [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the villages of India&#8217;s Western Ghats, some of the oldest and tallest trees do not grow inside a national park. They grow in sacred groves, small patches of old, mostly untouched forest that local communities have protected for generations, because they believe the trees belong to their deities and ancestors. A new study published in the journal PLOS One found that young trees regenerate far more successfully in these groves. Seeds dropped by fruit-eating birds are much likelier to survive and grow there than in surrounding farms and villages. India has more than 100,000 sacred groves, which are recognized as essential to community-based conservation. The Western Ghats is a mountain range that runs about 1,600 kilometers (nearly 1,000 miles) down India’s west coast, across six states. The study began there by chance. A team from the Applied Environmental Research Foundation (AERF), which runs a giant-tree program, had signed up a man in Vanzole village with a huge Terminalia bellirica (beheda) tree in his yard. Visiting, they saw giant trees all over the village. “It sparked a series of questions,” study co-author Kevin Matteson, associate director of Project Dragonfly at Miami University in the U.S. state of Ohio, told Mongabay in an email. How many giant trees were hiding in plain sight, and were birds like hornbills really using trees in such busy places? To find out, the team walked the whole village with two local experts, Namdev and Anant Shivgan, who mapped the land, identified the trees and led&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-indias-western-ghats-sacred-groves-are-better-at-growing-future-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323594</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Global pressure on ayahuasca threatens Amazonian plants and knowledge systems</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/global-pressure-on-ayahuasca-threatens-amazonian-plants-and-knowledge-systems/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/global-pressure-on-ayahuasca-threatens-amazonian-plants-and-knowledge-systems/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jun 2026 20:38:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carlos Minuano]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/23203123/AP18157600830602-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321692</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biocultural Diversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Community Forests, Conservation, Consumption, Controversial, Culture, Globalization, Indigenous Peoples, International Trade, Medicinal Plants, Overconsumption, Overexploitation, Plants, Rainforests, Religions, Traditional Medicine, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“One of the world’s largest pharmacies is being destroyed,” says Benki Piyãko, a leader of the Ashaninka Indigenous people in the Brazilian state of Acre. The warning points to multiple threats advancing on the Amazon but also to growing debate surrounding one of the so-called forest medicines: ayahuasca. This Indigenous beverage with psychedelic properties is [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“One of the world’s largest pharmacies is being destroyed,” says Benki Piyãko, a leader of the Ashaninka Indigenous people in the Brazilian state of Acre. The warning points to multiple threats advancing on the Amazon but also to growing debate surrounding one of the so-called forest medicines: ayahuasca. This Indigenous beverage with psychedelic properties is usually prepared from two native plants: the caapi vine or mariri (Banisteriopsis caapi) and the leaves of the chacrona plant (Psychotria viridis). According to Indigenous leaders and experts, these species are facing increasing pressure and signs of scarcity in some areas. Called kamarãpe by the Ashaninka people, ayahuasca has been used by Indigenous peoples across the Amazon for centuries. It has crossed borders for decades, ceasing to circulate exclusively in its original contexts. Today, it can be found in urban religious centers, therapeutic retreats, and international psychedelic tourism circuits. Scientists and pharmaceutical companies are also turning their attention to this ancestral beverage, which already shows evidence of therapeutic potential for different mental health disorders such as depression and substance addiction. But increasing global interest is also creating concerns. As demand grows, so has the ayahuasca supply chain, without a corresponding growth in management or oversight. In different parts of the Amazon, there are signs of pressure on the species used to prepare the beverage, often collected without planning. At the same time, increasing consumption in nontraditional contexts raises concerns about ancestral knowledge being commodified for the market. The main problem seems to lie in how&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/global-pressure-on-ayahuasca-threatens-amazonian-plants-and-knowledge-systems/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321692</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous people in Cambodia claim they’re blocked from sacred sites</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/indigenous-people-in-cambodia-claim-theyre-blocked-from-sacred-sites/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/indigenous-people-in-cambodia-claim-theyre-blocked-from-sacred-sites/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jun 2026 09:04:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andy BallPhoung VanthaRoun Ry]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/17103412/Ruos-Lim-71-a-Kuy-Indigenous-community-leader-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321346</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community Forests, Conservation, Culture, Deforestation, Encroachment, Environment, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Industrial Agriculture, Law, Protected Areas, Religions, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia — Ruos Lim knows what is at stake as he sets off with 10 men to patrol the Chom Penh forest. Lim is part of the Kuy people who have relied on the forests in northern Cambodia for generations. Despite being in his 70s, Lim leads the men along windy trails as [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia — Ruos Lim knows what is at stake as he sets off with 10 men to patrol the Chom Penh forest. Lim is part of the Kuy people who have relied on the forests in northern Cambodia for generations. Despite being in his 70s, Lim leads the men along windy trails as they look for signs of illegal logging and land clearing. “If we lose this sacred place, it’s like losing our Indigenous identity,” he said. The Kuy fear they are at risk of seeing hard-won safeguards stripped away in Chom Penh, and they allege that Santana Agro Products Co. Ltd., one of Cambodia’s leading cashew companies, is encroaching onto their land to expand its farming operations. The company refutes the allegations. The accusations have run so high that, in January 2025, about 200 Kuy people reportedly protested by blocking Santana Agro tractors being driven to clear forests on disputed land in another part of Cambodia. This was not the first time they massed to protest Santana’s activities, and Mongabay detailed Santana Agro’s expansion and deforestation in the region in a 2024 investigation. For Lim and his team of volunteers, the effort to save the forest and take matters in their own hands began a quarter of a century ago. They began patrols and other efforts to protect the forest, in the hope the government would officially recognize their people’s rights to the land. “At that time, patrolling was very difficult and chaotic. The loggers had machetes&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/indigenous-people-in-cambodia-claim-theyre-blocked-from-sacred-sites/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321346</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>It&#8217;s time to engage Mennonite communities in reducing deforestation across Latin America (analysis)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/its-time-to-engage-mennonite-communities-to-reduce-deforestation-in-latin-america-analysis/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/its-time-to-engage-mennonite-communities-to-reduce-deforestation-in-latin-america-analysis/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jun 2026 21:16:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Timothy J. Killeen]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/12/08174714/CH_20220608_0015-Edit-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320555</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Analysis, Avoided Deforestation, Commentary, Community Development, Deforestation, Development, Forests, Governance, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Rainforests, Religions, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the global debate over tropical deforestation, the usual cast of villains is well established: agribusiness, global supply chains, cattle ranchers, and governments granting land concessions for political support. One actor rarely appears in this narrative yet has played a consequential role in transforming the South American lowland frontier: The Mennonite agricultural colonist. For more [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the global debate over tropical deforestation, the usual cast of villains is well established: agribusiness, global supply chains, cattle ranchers, and governments granting land concessions for political support. One actor rarely appears in this narrative yet has played a consequential role in transforming the South American lowland frontier: The Mennonite agricultural colonist. For more than five decades, Mennonite communities have functioned as systematic agents of agricultural frontier expansion in the Gran Chaco and Andean Amazon, methodically clearing forests, draining wetlands, and catalyzing waves of deforestation that extend far beyond any individual colony. Mennonite communities operate within the law. They purchase land through formal channels, build permanent communities, and transfer agronomic knowledge to surrounding populations. Their values emphasize hard work, communal solidarity, and a theological relationship to land as stewardship. None of this changes the ecological outcome: Wherever a Mennonite colony is established, forests fall. Faith, mobility and colony formation Mennonites are an Anabaptist denomination rooted in the 16-century Reformation, distinguished by pacifism, communal life, and cultural separation from mainstream society. Conservative congregations — whose ancestors moved from Russia to Canada, then to Mexico, Belize and South America — are organized around a local congregation that functions simultaneously as a religious community, governance structure, credit cooperative and social welfare system. When a colony is established, it is an orderly community with collective decision-making, shared infrastructure, and a coherent plan for the future. Forest being cut, burned, and prepared by a Mennonite colony before planting crops. Image courtesy of Mario Silvero.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/its-time-to-engage-mennonite-communities-to-reduce-deforestation-in-latin-america-analysis/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320555</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Using songlines, elders codify traditional knowledge to care for Country</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/using-songlines-elders-codify-traditional-knowledge-to-care-for-country/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/using-songlines-elders-codify-traditional-knowledge-to-care-for-country/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 May 2026 16:35:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anthony Ham]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/07001403/DSC_8090-scaled-e1778171080149-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318952</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous-led conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Culture, Deserts, Indigenous Peoples, Protected Areas, Religions, Solutions, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional People, and Wildlife Rangers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LAJAMANU, Australia — A group of Warlpiri men and women gathered along one of the most remote tracks in Australia and stared intently at the ground. Here in the Tanami Desert, along the dirt back road between Lajamanu and Tennant Creek, they all agreed that the tracks they could see told a story: A dingo, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LAJAMANU, Australia — A group of Warlpiri men and women gathered along one of the most remote tracks in Australia and stared intently at the ground. Here in the Tanami Desert, along the dirt back road between Lajamanu and Tennant Creek, they all agreed that the tracks they could see told a story: A dingo, a black-headed python and a hopping mouse had all passed this way. They argued over the finer points — when exactly the animals had left these signs, whether the python was pursuing the mouse or whether it was an adult or juvenile dingo. But from these seemingly random marks in the sand, they were able to piece together a picture of what had occurred, in what order or when. These were the Warlpiri’s kuyu pungu (expert trackers), capable of reading the deserts of Australia in precise detail. Everyone here was born, and has lived, in the desert for most of their lives. They learned the essential skills of a self-sufficient desert life as their ancestors had, by observing their elders out in the desert. They have a profound connection with the land, and from that flows an intimate understanding of their world, one that encompasses everything from ecology to spirituality. Footprints in the sand along a sandy track outside Lajamanu. Image by Anthony Ham. And yet, often for a younger generation of Warlpiri, many of whom lived in towns with only irregular excursions into the countryside, such opportunities are rare. Which is why the Warlpiri&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/using-songlines-elders-codify-traditional-knowledge-to-care-for-country/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/using-songlines-elders-codify-traditional-knowledge-to-care-for-country/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318952</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Christianity can be an ally for Kenyan conservation (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/christianity-can-be-an-ally-for-kenyan-conservation-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/christianity-can-be-an-ally-for-kenyan-conservation-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Apr 2026 15:25:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Peter Rowe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/10145100/PRowe_HeaderImage-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317342</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Green, and Religions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The influence of Christianity in public life in Kenya is undisputed. Indeed, for more than a century, everyday life in the country — from education to health care and politics — has, in many ways, been shaped by the faith. From missionary origins to indigenous expressions, Christianity has been, and remains, “one of the most [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The influence of Christianity in public life in Kenya is undisputed. Indeed, for more than a century, everyday life in the country — from education to health care and politics — has, in many ways, been shaped by the faith. From missionary origins to indigenous expressions, Christianity has been, and remains, “one of the most powerful sociocultural forces” in Kenya. Interestingly, however, despite the prominent place of Christianity, the entanglements between Christianity and conservation — itself a major sociopolitical contour in Kenya — have been sorely understudied. In this sense, Stuart Butler’s 2024 article for Mongabay exploring the dynamic intersection of Maasai traditional religion, Christianity, land privatization, and conservation in the Naimina Enkiyioo (Loita) Forest is, in part, a breath of fresh air. For too long, religious faith (of any kind) has been on the margins of mainstream conservation thinking and practice. While some major players in conservation have begun to increasingly partner with faith communities and faith-based organizations (see for example WWF and UNEP), the task of getting (mainly Western) conservation practitioners and organizations to take faith seriously remains an uphill battle. Perhaps part of the difficulty in mainstreaming religious faith into conservation thinking and practice are the popular, but often partial, narratives concerning how faith — and for the purposes of this piece, Christianity — relate to conservation. In particular, the narrative concerning the negative impact of Christianity on the environment has been well-circulated for over a half-century, popularized and propelled most notably by the publication of Lynn&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/christianity-can-be-an-ally-for-kenyan-conservation-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/christianity-can-be-an-ally-for-kenyan-conservation-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317342</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Staggering’ trade for belief-based use drives hooded vultures to near-extinction in Benin</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/staggering-trade-for-belief-based-use-drives-hooded-vultures-to-near-extinction-in-benin/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/staggering-trade-for-belief-based-use-drives-hooded-vultures-to-near-extinction-in-benin/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Mar 2026 16:38:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Spoorthy Raman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/24130527/1-Vautours_charognards_au_repos-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316180</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Benin, Guinea-Bissau, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Birds, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Environment, Habitat Loss, Illegal Trade, Poisoning, Raptors, Religions, Trade, Vultures, Wildlife, Wildlife consumption, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The hooded vulture, a small, scruffy-looking raptor native to sub-Saharan Africa, gets its name from a patch of beige feathers on its head: It appears to be wearing a hood. Unlike other vulture species, hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) love human hubbub more than forests. They’re often seen around villages, scavenging for meat and garbage near [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The hooded vulture, a small, scruffy-looking raptor native to sub-Saharan Africa, gets its name from a patch of beige feathers on its head: It appears to be wearing a hood. Unlike other vulture species, hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) love human hubbub more than forests. They’re often seen around villages, scavenging for meat and garbage near abattoirs and landfills. “They&#8217;ve always been close to people &#8230; they&#8217;re kind of like the pigeons of West Africa,” said Nico Arcilla, president and research director at the International Bird Conservation Partnership (IBCP). Arcilla has studied many West African bird species, including hooded vultures. But that proximity to people has cost the birds a great deal. Since they don’t shy away from humans, they’re easily caught — often with poisoned or tobacco-laced bait on a fishhook — and sold. In parts of Nigeria, people eat hooded vultures. But the greatest demand comes from belief-based users such as practitioners of Vodún, a traditional religion that gave rise in the Western Hemisphere to voodoo. Many believers hold that vultures have magical superpowers that can influence luck, act as harbingers of rain, or signify misfortune. They use powdered vulture parts to make soaps to wash, and some display dried vulture carcasses or heads in their homes to bring good fortune, wealth and protection against witchcraft. Others say the birds have medicinal properties. There’s no recent estimate on the demand, but somewhere between 5,800 and 8,700 birds were traded illegally between 2008 and 2013 across West and Central Africa.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/staggering-trade-for-belief-based-use-drives-hooded-vultures-to-near-extinction-in-benin/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/staggering-trade-for-belief-based-use-drives-hooded-vultures-to-near-extinction-in-benin/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316180</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazil’s Atlantic Forest Indigenous lands show strong restoration gains</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/brazils-atlantic-forest-indigenous-lands-show-strong-restoration-gains/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/brazils-atlantic-forest-indigenous-lands-show-strong-restoration-gains/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Feb 2026 17:34:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/11230520/DJI_0154-e1770851184733-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314108</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Land Reform, Land Rights, Land Use Change, Law, Rainforests, Reforestation, Religions, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“The land is the greatest asset we have,” said Luzineth Pataxó, a Pataxó leader from the Caramuru-Paraguaçu Indigenous Territory, in the Atlantic forests of Brazil’s Bahia state. “Our people have always taken care of our territory and forests because it is from them that we derive our livelihoods … and connect with the sacred beings [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“The land is the greatest asset we have,” said Luzineth Pataxó, a Pataxó leader from the Caramuru-Paraguaçu Indigenous Territory, in the Atlantic forests of Brazil’s Bahia state. “Our people have always taken care of our territory and forests because it is from them that we derive our livelihoods … and connect with the sacred beings that inhabit them.” These efforts have paid off, some research suggests. A recent study comparing different land tenure regimes in the Brazil’s Atlantic Forest found that Indigenous lands and agrarian-reform settlements have greater restoration gains than private properties. “As part of the study, we isolated and compared many different land tenure regimes to private properties through our analysis design, and the staggering result was for Indigenous lands,” said Rayna Benzeev, one of the study authors. The research comparison included Indigenous lands, territories of descendants of Afro-Brazilian runaway enslaved people (Quilombola), agrarian-reform settlements, protected areas and private properties. “There are [on average] 189 hectares [467 acres] more long-term restoration gains on Indigenous lands compared to private properties.” While the study found positive outcomes on Indigenous lands, Benzeev noted that the study did not directly measure the factors driving these results. After analyzing restoration gains and reversals across 1.9 million territories in the Atlantic Forest from 1985 to 2022, the authors also found that Indigenous lands and agrarian-reform settlements had higher rates of restoration reversals (restored forests later deforested). Each had 21 hectares (52 acres) and roughly 4.5 hectares (11 acres) more restoration reversals than private properties,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/brazils-atlantic-forest-indigenous-lands-show-strong-restoration-gains/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314108</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>José Zanardini, the priest who tried to reconcile faith and Indigenous autonomy</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/jose-zanardini-the-priest-who-tried-to-reconcile-faith-and-indigenous-autonomy/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/jose-zanardini-the-priest-who-tried-to-reconcile-faith-and-indigenous-autonomy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jan 2026 00:59:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/24134322/260124-FATHER-GIUSEPPE-ZANARDINI-OBIT-1811567-e1769006160838-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313292</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America, Paraguay, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Anthropology, Environment, Green, Indigenous Peoples, Obituary, and Religions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For much of South America’s history, the arrival of a missionary has carried two reputations at once. One is charitable: a figure with medicine, schooling, and a language of human dignity that can be useful in a state that is often absent. The other is coercive: an agent of conversion and acculturation, sometimes entangled with [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For much of South America’s history, the arrival of a missionary has carried two reputations at once. One is charitable: a figure with medicine, schooling, and a language of human dignity that can be useful in a state that is often absent. The other is coercive: an agent of conversion and acculturation, sometimes entangled with land seizures, forced settlement, and abuses that Indigenous communities still live with. Among the peoples of the Gran Chaco, the story of “contact” is still unfolding, with some groups settled and others choosing isolation. In that setting, the line between accompaniment and intrusion has never been simple. Anthropology, too, has had its double role. At its best it records languages, histories, and ways of seeing that outsiders once dismissed as obstacles to “progress.” At its worst it becomes another instrument for ordering Indigenous people into categories designed by others. The most careful scholars learn to doubt their own categories. They also learn that a field notebook can outlast a sermon. That tension framed the life of Father José (Giuseppe) Zanardini, a Salesian priest and anthropologist who arrived in Paraguay in 1978 and spent decades working among Indigenous communities, especially the Ayoreo in the Chaco. He died on January 19th 2026, aged 83. Zanardini was born in Brescia, Italy, in 1942. He studied engineering in Milan before turning to philosophy and theology. The Salesians chose him for Paraguay, and he chose, in turn, to study anthropology, completing a doctorate in social anthropology in England. He would&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/jose-zanardini-the-priest-who-tried-to-reconcile-faith-and-indigenous-autonomy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313292</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Flores’ geothermal ambitions collide with justice, culture &#038; local resistance</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/flores-geothermal-ambitions-collide-with-justice-culture-local-resistance/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/flores-geothermal-ambitions-collide-with-justice-culture-local-resistance/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jan 2026 08:50:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/13024510/Photo-3-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312892</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Southeast Asian infrastructure]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Nusa Tenggara, Flores, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Climate Change, Conservation, Development, Energy, Energy Efficiency, Environment, Environmental Law, Geothermal Energy, Politics, Religions, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Indonesia designated Flores a “geothermal island” in 2017, identifying up to 21 geothermal sites, the policy was framed as a cornerstone of the country’s renewable energy transition. Backed by international lenders and enshrined as a &#8220;national strategic project,&#8221; Flores was positioned as a global showcase for clean energy. Eight years later, key geothermal projects [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When Indonesia designated Flores a “geothermal island” in 2017, identifying up to 21 geothermal sites, the policy was framed as a cornerstone of the country’s renewable energy transition. Backed by international lenders and enshrined as a &#8220;national strategic project,&#8221; Flores was positioned as a global showcase for clean energy. Eight years later, key geothermal projects on the island remain suspended, derailed by sustained resistance from Manggarai communities who argue that the transition has come at the expense of justice, safety and cultural survival, found a study published Nov. 13 in the journal Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space. Locator map of Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara. Image by Gunkarta via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). Flores of East Nusa Tenggara province is a rugged and mountainous island where electricity access remains uneven. As of 2025, parts of the island were still not connected to the grid, which relies heavily on imported diesel and coal, both costly and polluting. Citing energy insecurity and the nearly 1 trillion rupiah ($59 million) spent annually on electricity subsidies, the government has argued that geothermal power could meet all of the island’s electricity needs. “Flores has become a uniquely distinctive case in Indonesia’s geothermal energy transition. It may even be unprecedented globally, as an entire island has been designated a “geothermal island,” with exploration occurring simultaneously across multiple sites,” Cypri Jehan Paju Dale, a social anthropologist with Kyoto University and University of Wisconsin-Madison who is a corresponding author of the study, told Mongabay in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/flores-geothermal-ambitions-collide-with-justice-culture-local-resistance/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312892</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Taboo against harming strangler fig spirits protects forests in Indonesian Borneo</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/taboo-against-harming-strangler-fig-spirits-protects-forests-in-indonesian-borneo/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/taboo-against-harming-strangler-fig-spirits-protects-forests-in-indonesian-borneo/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Dec 2025 22:37:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/22221311/Copy-of-IMG_7244-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=311796</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation and Religion]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Indonesia, Kalimantan, Southeast Asia, and West Kalimantan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forests, Habitat, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Peoples, Rainforests, Religions, Traditional Knowledge, Trees, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When a young boy went missing near his mother&#8217;s rice field in Indonesian Borneo, the entire village searched for him. After nearly a day, he was found near a large strangler fig tree. The boy insisted he hadn&#8217;t been hiding. Spirits living in the fig tree had called his name and lured him away, he [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When a young boy went missing near his mother&#8217;s rice field in Indonesian Borneo, the entire village searched for him. After nearly a day, he was found near a large strangler fig tree. The boy insisted he hadn&#8217;t been hiding. Spirits living in the fig tree had called his name and lured him away, he said, then prevented his mother from seeing him even as she walked around the tree looking for him. The family took him to a shaman, who confirmed the boy had been targeted by spirits dwelling in the strangler fig. To protect him from future encounters, they changed his name entirely. This story, shared with researcher Ditro Wibisono Wardi Parikesit during interviews with an Iban Indigenous community in Sungai Utik, West Kalimantan, illustrates a powerful belief among the community. Almost all (30 out of 32) community members considered large strangler figs to host supernatural entities that may be dangerous if disturbed. New research published in the journal Biotropica reveals that this belief system has measurable ecological benefits. Photo of the largest strangler fig recorded which found in the farmland area. It consists of three different species and stands more than 40 meters tall. Photo by Ditro Wibisono Wardi Parikesit Strangler figs grow by depositing their seeds in the canopy of another tree. Their aerial roots grow downward, surrounding and squeezing the host tree until eventually dies. Once the host dies and decays, a hollow root structure supports the fig tree above. When farmers in the Iban&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/taboo-against-harming-strangler-fig-spirits-protects-forests-in-indonesian-borneo/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/taboo-against-harming-strangler-fig-spirits-protects-forests-in-indonesian-borneo/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-311796</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Healing life on Earth begins with healing our bonds: Voices from the land (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/healing-life-on-earth-begins-with-healing-our-bonds-voices-from-the-land-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/healing-life-on-earth-begins-with-healing-our-bonds-voices-from-the-land-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Nov 2025 07:00:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Brianna Fruean]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/08055517/IMG_1500-e1762581676531-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=309138</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Voices from the Land]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Culture, Environment, and Religions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This series, Voices from the Land, brings together opinion pieces led and written by Indigenous peoples from around the world. Through these commentaries, we share our lived realities and reflections on urgent issues shaping our time — environmental destruction, our relationship with nature, and systemic injustice. We write from the heart of our communities, where [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This series, Voices from the Land, brings together opinion pieces led and written by Indigenous peoples from around the world. Through these commentaries, we share our lived realities and reflections on urgent issues shaping our time — environmental destruction, our relationship with nature, and systemic injustice. We write from the heart of our communities, where the impacts of these urgent crises are deeply felt, but also where solutions are rooted. Through this series, we speak from our territories, and ensure our truths are part of the global conversation. While the world searches for solutions in carbon credits, experimental energy and piling on pledges, beneath all this noise a quieter truth has always existed. The answers to our planet’s issues already live within the wisdom of those who never forgot how to live in reciprocal harmony with the Earth and those who call her home. Many Indigenous peoples across the world have been practicing sustainability since long before the word existed. Many of our elders’ teachings are rooted not in ownership, but in kinship. Not in dominance, but in care. For us in Samoa, this balance is guided by the sacred understanding of vā. What to us is the “space between.” In Western thinking, space often separates. But in our world, space connects. The vā is the invisible thread between people, land, ocean, ancestors and future generations. It is the pulse of a relationship and our responsibility is to teu le vā, to tend to it with care. When we talk&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/healing-life-on-earth-begins-with-healing-our-bonds-voices-from-the-land-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/healing-life-on-earth-begins-with-healing-our-bonds-voices-from-the-land-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-309138</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Women can help rebuild our relationship with lions: Voices from the land (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/women-can-help-rebuild-our-relationship-with-lions-voices-from-the-land-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/women-can-help-rebuild-our-relationship-with-lions-voices-from-the-land-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2025 03:31:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mama SimbaVictoria Wanjohi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/06031845/Mama-Simba-Image-by-Anthony-Ochieng-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308927</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Voices from the Land]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Big Cats, Cats, Commentary, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Culture, Gender, Human-wildlife Conflict, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Lions, Mammals, Religions, Solutions, Wildlife, and Women In Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This series, Voices from the Land, brings together opinion pieces led and written by Indigenous peoples from around the world. Through these commentaries, we share our lived realities and reflections on urgent issues shaping our time — environmental destruction, our relationship with nature, and systemic injustice. We write from the heart of our communities, where [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This series, Voices from the Land, brings together opinion pieces led and written by Indigenous peoples from around the world. Through these commentaries, we share our lived realities and reflections on urgent issues shaping our time — environmental destruction, our relationship with nature, and systemic injustice. We write from the heart of our communities, where the impacts of these urgent crises are deeply felt, but also where solutions are rooted. Through this series, we speak from our territories, and ensure our truths are part of the global conversation. We, the Mama Simba (&#8220;Mothers of Lions&#8221; in Kiswahili) from Samburu, Kenya, have come a long way since we first approached the organization Ewaso Lions to become actively involved in its conservation work. Since 2007, Ewaso Lions has been working to support human-lion coexistence in a region of northern Kenya, today home to nearly 60 lions. When they were approached by us women from the Samburu community in 2013, it was a sign that a shift was about to happen — we wanted to be decision-makers in conservation efforts that concern us. However, with every new initiative comes a new challenge. Would we be accepted as decision makers? The program, Mama Simba, was built on the premise that if women, historically excluded from conservation decisions despite bearing its greatest burdens, were encouraged to lead conservation efforts, we could transform our community&#8217;s relationship with lions from conflict to coexistence. It acknowledged that lasting change requires shifting power, not just perceptions. This sounds good&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/women-can-help-rebuild-our-relationship-with-lions-voices-from-the-land-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/women-can-help-rebuild-our-relationship-with-lions-voices-from-the-land-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308927</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Forest sanctuaries and spiritual balance in the Karen highlands of Thailand</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/forest-sanctuaries-and-spiritual-balance-in-the-karen-highlands-of-thailand/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/forest-sanctuaries-and-spiritual-balance-in-the-karen-highlands-of-thailand/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Oct 2025 23:32:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/22122519/Banner-image_Noraeri-Thungmueangthong-is-a-village-leader-in-Huay-Ee-Khang-village-in-northern-Thailand-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308116</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation and Religion]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Botany, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Culture, Environment, Environmental Law, Food, food security, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Protected Areas, Religions, Sustainable Forest Management, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Medicine, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[HUAY EE KHANG, Thailand — “Do you hear the birds calling?” asks Noraeri Thungmueangthong, as the vibrant trill of a blue-throated barbet rings through the pine trees looming up ahead. “That’s a sign we’re entering the sacred forest.” Noraeri is a leader in Huay Ee Khang village, an Indigenous Pgaz K&#8217;Nyau Karen community of 125 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[HUAY EE KHANG, Thailand — “Do you hear the birds calling?” asks Noraeri Thungmueangthong, as the vibrant trill of a blue-throated barbet rings through the pine trees looming up ahead. “That’s a sign we’re entering the sacred forest.” Noraeri is a leader in Huay Ee Khang village, an Indigenous Pgaz K&#8217;Nyau Karen community of 125 households nestled between undulating hills in the highlands of northern Thailand’s Chiang Mai province. Within the sanctuary of the forest, she points out a wooden receptacle attached to the trunk of a tree. “When a baby is born, we place its umbilical cord in a bamboo container like this one and hang it on a young tree in this forest,” Noraeri explains. The ritual establishes a spiritual link between the child and the tree, she says. And because their souls effectively grow together, it is understood that any harm to one equates to comparable ill for the other. This acts as a powerful deterrent against cutting the trees, she notes. “In our culture, we live our lives together with the forest and the trees,” Noraeri says. “Our beliefs protect the forest and all of its resources.” Traditional Pgaz K&#8217;Nyau ways of managing the land are underpinned by Karen animist beliefs, where people, plants and animals each possess a spirit and are inseparably linked through their inner nature. Living in balance with nature is considered paramount to maintain harmony between all beings, ensuring people’s health, food security and environmental stability. With a population of 500,000 spread&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/forest-sanctuaries-and-spiritual-balance-in-the-karen-highlands-of-thailand/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/forest-sanctuaries-and-spiritual-balance-in-the-karen-highlands-of-thailand/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308116</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Putumayo’s women guardians defend land and culture amid Colombia’s deforestation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/putumayos-women-guardians-defend-land-and-culture-amid-colombias-deforestation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/putumayos-women-guardians-defend-land-and-culture-amid-colombias-deforestation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Oct 2025 20:24:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Natalia Arbelaez]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/15133452/PORTADA-Mujeres-de-Sibundoy-_-Sara-Arredondo-Baudo-Agencia-Publica-1200x675-1-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307688</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Women Defenders of the Colombian Amazon]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Gender, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Religions, Roads, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional People, and Women In Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Sibundoy Valley in Putumayo, southwestern Colombia, is an ancestral territory inhabited by two sister ethnic groups: the Kamëntšá and the Inga, descendants of the Peruvian Incas. It is also the place where at least four rivers originate, including the Putumayo, which later joins the Caquetá before flowing into the Amazon. The valley is situated [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Sibundoy Valley in Putumayo, southwestern Colombia, is an ancestral territory inhabited by two sister ethnic groups: the Kamëntšá and the Inga, descendants of the Peruvian Incas. It is also the place where at least four rivers originate, including the Putumayo, which later joins the Caquetá before flowing into the Amazon. The valley is situated in a region of the Andes known as Nudo de los Pastos, before it branches into three separate mountain ranges, with peaks measuring up to 3,500 meters (11,400 feet) above the sea level and several páramos (high-altitude Andean ecosystems) surrounding it. Although far from the Amazonian lowlands, it is an essential part of the territory, providing water to the rest of Putumayo. Due to its climate, the Sibundoy Valley does not face the same challenges — such as illicit coca cultivation and armed groups — as the lower Putumayo, but it is threatened by cattle ranching and extensive plantations of beans, corn and lulo, which were established in the territory decades ago. Large-scale infrastructure projects such as the new road between San Francisco and Mocoa municipalities also pose a risk to conservation in the area. The Sibundoy Valley as seen from the mountains. Image by Laura Niño/La Silla Vacía. As part of a special on Indigenous guardians coordinated by Mongabay Latam, Colombia’s independent online news platform La Silla traveled to the Sibundoy Valley to learn about the work of three Indigenous women in the defense of this territory, who embody the efforts of many others.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/putumayos-women-guardians-defend-land-and-culture-amid-colombias-deforestation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/putumayos-women-guardians-defend-land-and-culture-amid-colombias-deforestation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307688</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As the Andes’ glaciers melt, our values can help: Voices from the land (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/voices-from-the-land-as-the-andes-glaciers-melt-our-values-can-help-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/voices-from-the-land-as-the-andes-glaciers-melt-our-values-can-help-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Oct 2025 20:05:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Yesid Achicue]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/06153917/C78B864E-CC37-41D0-AA35-364F92291911-5382-000005CD3E60FB7E-rotated-e1760472988787-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307630</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Voices from the Land]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Andes, Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Commentary, Culture, Environment, Glaciers, Global Warming, Indigenous Peoples, Mountains, and Religions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This series, Voices from the Land, brings together opinion pieces led and written by Indigenous peoples from around the world. Through these commentaries, we share our lived realities and reflections on urgent issues shaping our time — environmental destruction, our relationship with nature, and systemic injustice. We write from the heart of our communities, where [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This series, Voices from the Land, brings together opinion pieces led and written by Indigenous peoples from around the world. Through these commentaries, we share our lived realities and reflections on urgent issues shaping our time — environmental destruction, our relationship with nature, and systemic injustice. We write from the heart of our communities, where the impacts of these urgent crises are deeply felt, but also where solutions are rooted. Through this series, we speak from our territories, and ensure our truths are part of the global conversation. In the Colombian Andes, on the highest points above sea level, I have seen white masses that dazzle and spread life. Up here, I have been able to truly feel the water, smell the pristine air and experience the pulse of the Earth while contemplating the glories of a life cycle where the destiny of the planet seems to rest. It is no wonder that many years ago, when my older brother took me to see the sunrise that broke over braided mountain peaks in changing light, I was able to understand how one of the most amazing creations on Earth began to rise: the Andes mountain range, a serene place that has been part of a perfect balance, where symbiotic bonds are created with all that exists. The Andes, the longest continental mountain range in the world, stretches like a giant snake embracing all of South America. Throughout its immense presence, it winds through various territories and countries, including my own&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/voices-from-the-land-as-the-andes-glaciers-melt-our-values-can-help-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/voices-from-the-land-as-the-andes-glaciers-melt-our-values-can-help-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307630</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Indonesia’s Mentawai Islands, youths blend ancestral and world faiths to protect forests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/in-indonesias-mentawai-islands-youths-blend-ancestral-and-world-faiths-to-protect-forests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/in-indonesias-mentawai-islands-youths-blend-ancestral-and-world-faiths-to-protect-forests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Oct 2025 15:53:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/13141219/Sikerei-mentawai-explore-the-jungle-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307509</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation and Religion]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Culture, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Islands, Land Rights, Logging, Religions, Sustainable Forest Management, Traditional Knowledge, and Traditional People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Off the western coast of Sumatra, the Mentawai Islands rise from the Indian Ocean in a patchwork of emerald forests and winding rivers. The canopy shelters endemic macaques and gibbons, hornbills and orchids, while coastal villages still echo with rituals that tie people to the land and sea. Among the younger generation of Indigenous Mentawai, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Off the western coast of Sumatra, the Mentawai Islands rise from the Indian Ocean in a patchwork of emerald forests and winding rivers. The canopy shelters endemic macaques and gibbons, hornbills and orchids, while coastal villages still echo with rituals that tie people to the land and sea. Among the younger generation of Indigenous Mentawai, an ancestral belief system known as Arat Sabulungan continues to influence how forests are understood and used. The cosmology teaches that every tree, river and animal is alive with spirits whose balance must be honored. Although the influence of world religions is eroding these beliefs, researchers have found that Indigenous youths are balancing the two. Young islanders who grow up attending church services or mosque prayers still join their elders in ritual clearings, offering chants and tokens before cutting trees or casting fishing nets. “Mentawai youth today reinterpret their ancestral heritage in diverse ways,” researcher Dwi Wahyuni from Imam Bonjol State Islamic University in Padang, on the Sumatran mainland, told Mongabay. This practice remains central to their identity — but it is also under strain. Logging, modernization and shifting values test how faithfully this balance and the traditional beliefs are carried forward. In a recently published study, Dwi and colleagues from Imam Bonjol set out to understand this tension. Conducted in five villages on the Mentawai islands of Siberut and Sipora, the ethnographic work examined how Mentawai youth are blending Arat Sabulungan with Christianity and Islam, and what this means for both culture and conservation.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/in-indonesias-mentawai-islands-youths-blend-ancestral-and-world-faiths-to-protect-forests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/in-indonesias-mentawai-islands-youths-blend-ancestral-and-world-faiths-to-protect-forests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307509</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Photos: Indigenous elders push for comeback of the revered Philippine crocodile</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/indigenous-elders-push-for-comeback-of-the-revered-philippine-crocodile-photos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/indigenous-elders-push-for-comeback-of-the-revered-philippine-crocodile-photos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Sep 2025 19:45:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Giacomo d’Orlando]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/13115247/10-releasing-a-juvenile-specimen-e1757620072498-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304195</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Culture, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Peoples, Monocultures, Photos, Religions, Reptiles, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[DUNOY, Philippines — In the dense, tropical rainforests of the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park, an ancient predator drifts silently beneath the surface of still rivers. For Indigenous Agta elders, this reptile is not a menace, but a guardian. “We have always coexisted peacefully with crocodiles, and today I am passing on to my grandchildren [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[DUNOY, Philippines — In the dense, tropical rainforests of the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park, an ancient predator drifts silently beneath the surface of still rivers. For Indigenous Agta elders, this reptile is not a menace, but a guardian. “We have always coexisted peacefully with crocodiles, and today I am passing on to my grandchildren the same advice my parents gave me,” says Olalia Infiel, an Agta elder of Dunoy. “I often encountered crocodiles while washing clothes or bathing in the river. My parents always told me to speak to the crocodiles first and ask for their permission to share the same space.” The Philippine crocodile (Crocodylus mindorensis), a severely threatened crocodile species, is staging a slow but hopeful comeback in the wild, thanks to an alliance between science, tradition and community-led conservation. Once widespread across the Philippine archipelago, the species is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Fewer than 250 individuals survive in the wild today, local conservationists say, and most are confined to these rivers and wetlands of northeast Luzon. According to local conservationists, the Philippine crocodile’s survival in recent decades is highlighting how Indigenous knowledge, when integrated with conservation science, can support efforts to protect even the most endangered species. In the mythology and folklore of Indigenous peoples such as the Agta, crocodiles play a prominent role. In many cases, crocodiles are regarded as the embodiment of benevolent ancestors, known as anito, who are venerated as personal guardians and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/09/indigenous-elders-push-for-comeback-of-the-revered-philippine-crocodile-photos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304195</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal’s Supreme Court halts industrial development in Buddha’s birthplace</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/nepals-supreme-court-halts-industrial-development-in-buddhas-birthplace/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/nepals-supreme-court-halts-industrial-development-in-buddhas-birthplace/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Aug 2025 15:48:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/29151536/%C2%A9-WWF-Nepal-Samir-Jung-Thapa-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=305178</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Birds, Buddhism, Conservation, Environmental Law, Noise Pollution, Pollution, and UNESCO World Heritage Site]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Whenever Chandra Prakash Pathak visits neighboring farms in his hometown of Lumbini, in southwestern Nepal, he sees a thick blanket of black smog. The problem is more severe in winter, when the country doesn’t receive much rainfall. “The farmland is also covered in dust from the manufacturing plants and industries in the area,” [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Whenever Chandra Prakash Pathak visits neighboring farms in his hometown of Lumbini, in southwestern Nepal, he sees a thick blanket of black smog. The problem is more severe in winter, when the country doesn’t receive much rainfall. “The farmland is also covered in dust from the manufacturing plants and industries in the area,” Pathak told Mongabay by phone. It’s not just people who are affected, he added: birds, rivers and farms are also impacted by the industrial pollution from factories churning out everything from cement and steel to liquor. “The farmers can’t grow rice, wheat, mustard, canola, potatoes or lentils, and have to feed their livestock contaminated water from the Tinau River,” he said. There’s also a spiritual dimension to the problem: Lumbini is famed as the birthplace of the Buddha, and is also home to a population of sarus cranes (Grus antigone) a threatened species closely associated with the Buddhist faith. Relief on all those fronts could soon arrive as Nepal’s Supreme Court has ordered the government to strictly implement a decade-old guideline to halt industrial development around Lumbini to protect its heritage and biodiversity — a move welcomed by local communities and conservationists, but one that has also raised concerns over jobs, investment and the impact on the local economy. Winter smog in Lumbini. ACS Earth Space Chem. 2021, 5, 2, 226-238. CC BY ND 4.0 Responding to a public interest litigation petition, Justices Kumar Regmi and Sunil Kumar Pokharel also imposed restrictions on heavy truck&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/nepals-supreme-court-halts-industrial-development-in-buddhas-birthplace/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-305178</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ancient eco-friendly pilgrimage brings modern threats to Sri Lanka wildnerness</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/ancient-eco-friendly-pilgrimage-brings-modern-threats-to-sri-lanka-wildnerness/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/ancient-eco-friendly-pilgrimage-brings-modern-threats-to-sri-lanka-wildnerness/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Jul 2025 11:55:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/01104303/10-Veddah-in-Kataragama-c-Kalana-Jayan-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301732</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Culture, Environment, Human-wildlife Conflict, Pollution, Protected Areas, Religions, Traditional People, Waste, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Kataragama, SRI LANKA — For centuries, barefoot pilgrims have walked through the arid jungles and lush forests of Sri Lanka’s east and south, following a sacred route to a fabled shrine in Kataragama in the deep south, in what is popularly known as a pilgrimage on foot, or Pada Yatra. What began as an eco-friendly [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Kataragama, SRI LANKA — For centuries, barefoot pilgrims have walked through the arid jungles and lush forests of Sri Lanka’s east and south, following a sacred route to a fabled shrine in Kataragama in the deep south, in what is popularly known as a pilgrimage on foot, or Pada Yatra. What began as an eco-friendly tradition with just a few hundred devotees of the deity Skanda, who is believed to reside within the famous shrine, has now grown significantly in scale, with this year’s turnout already surpassing 2024’s record of 31,000, sparking concerns over the pilgrimage’s growing ecological footprint. Pada Yatra is a spiritual journey and a nature trail, tracing the path of the deity Skanda-Kumara, believed to protect the Kataragama region. The image shows devotees seeking his blessing at the commencement for a safe journey. Image by Nilanka Wijesooriya. Pada Yatra is known as Sri Lanka’s oldest pilgrimage. The origins of the Pada Yatra are shrouded in myth, but legend has it that  Skanda-Kumara,or Murugan, the warrior deity worshipped at Kataragama, made the journey himself on foot following the same route, says Wasantha Weliange, who holds a Ph.D. in natural sciences at the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology. The pilgrimage traditionally begins in Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka and winds through key wildlife habitats including Kumana and Yala national parks before culminating at the Kataragama shrine in the island’s southeast. Pilgrims who undertake the entire route begin their journey in mid-June, walking for more than 45 days to reach Kataragama&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/ancient-eco-friendly-pilgrimage-brings-modern-threats-to-sri-lanka-wildnerness/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301732</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fire is both destruction and rebirth for Maya communities of Belize</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/fire-is-both-destruction-and-rebirth-for-maya-communities-of-belize/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/fire-is-both-destruction-and-rebirth-for-maya-communities-of-belize/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jun 2025 14:51:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Monica Pelliccia]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/27055508/Spiritual-Ceremony-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301527</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Belize, Central America, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Agroforestry, Climate Change, Culture, Fires, Forests, Impact Of Climate Change, Indigenous Peoples, Landscape Restoration, Religions, Restoration, Traditional Knowledge, Traditional People, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PUNTA GORDA, Belize — Rosa Mis walks on a carpet of cracking dry leaves under the scorching sun of late May. Her green T-shirt blends in with the newly grown grass, medicinal herbs and plantain trees. One year ago, this land went up in flames. “Our 3 hectares [7.4-acre] farm burned for six days and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PUNTA GORDA, Belize — Rosa Mis walks on a carpet of cracking dry leaves under the scorching sun of late May. Her green T-shirt blends in with the newly grown grass, medicinal herbs and plantain trees. One year ago, this land went up in flames. “Our 3 hectares [7.4-acre] farm burned for six days and nights,” remembers Mordy Kayo Mis, Rosa’s 31-year-old son. “We did everything possible to stop it by building a fire break line with dry leaves, aware of wind directions. All the community came to help, bringing water from the nearest springs.” Rosa Mis, 62, is the alcalde, or leader, of the Laguna community, one of the most affected by the wildfires of May 2024. Laguna is part of the 41 communities inhabited by the Maya Indigenous people of southern Belize, in the Toledo district. In the region, the 2024 wildfires burned 43,987 hectares (108,695 acres), a staggering 10.2% of the region’s forest and farmland. The flames turned tropical forests and farms into ashes. Residents and firefighters say the fires were brought on by multiple factors: traditional agricultural fires that go out of control, electric line management or discarded cigarettes. The climate crisis is also exacerbating fires around the world. But for the Maya people, fire has always been a sacred element, central in ancestral Mother Earth celebration ceremonies. It has also been used in the traditional practice of slash-and-burn for millennia, where vegetation is cut down and burned off before new seeds are sown to regenerate&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/fire-is-both-destruction-and-rebirth-for-maya-communities-of-belize/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/fire-is-both-destruction-and-rebirth-for-maya-communities-of-belize/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301527</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Nepal, confrontation looms over controversial cable car project as court lifts stay order</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/in-nepal-confrontation-looms-over-controversial-cable-car-project-as-court-lifts-stay-order/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/in-nepal-confrontation-looms-over-controversial-cable-car-project-as-court-lifts-stay-order/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 May 2025 10:58:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/05051822/1-4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299697</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Community Forests, Conservation, Culture, Deforestation, Development, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Infrastructure, Protests, Religions, Tourism, Traditional People, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal’s Supreme Court has refused to extend the suspension of a controversial cable car project at a pilgrimage site in the country’s eastern hills, sparking concerns of confrontation over the culturally fraught issue. While the company building the project says it plans to resume construction work that was halted after the court issued [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal’s Supreme Court has refused to extend the suspension of a controversial cable car project at a pilgrimage site in the country’s eastern hills, sparking concerns of confrontation over the culturally fraught issue. While the company building the project says it plans to resume construction work that was halted after the court issued a stay order, community members who took the project to court say they won’t allow any resumption. The Supreme Court declined to extend the interim stay order, citing earlier decisions not to issue stays on two related writ petitions, according to a statement describing the ruling by Justices Nahakul Subedi and Abdul Aziz Musalman. “Now that the court has discontinued its order, we  are looking forward to continuing the construction and plan to finish the project by late next year,” said Himal Neupane, a spokesperson for IME Group, the main proponent of the Pathibhara cable car project. Neupane told Mongabay that the project was approved with the consent of the local community. The court issued the stay order in early April after lawyers for the local community filed a writ petition following protests against the project&#8217;s launch. “With the court ruling on discontinuing the stay order, we can say that the legal battle against the project is almost over even as the final verdict in the case is due,” said veteran lawyer Padam Bahadur Shrestha, who pleaded on behalf of the petitioners. Indigenous Yakthung (Limbu) people opposed to the 3 billion rupee ($22 million) project&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/in-nepal-confrontation-looms-over-controversial-cable-car-project-as-court-lifts-stay-order/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299697</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bangladesh protects sacred forests to strengthen biodiversity conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/bangladesh-protects-sacred-forests-to-strengthen-biodiversity-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/bangladesh-protects-sacred-forests-to-strengthen-biodiversity-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 May 2025 11:32:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/23111623/5-Banyan-Ficus-benghalensis-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299544</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation and Religion]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Fragmentation, Forests, Fragmentation, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Religions, Traditional Knowledge, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With an aim to protect biodiversity that’s become fragmented and is scattered across the country, Bangladesh is listing all the old, sacred and socially important trees and forests. The Forest Department has been collecting information from the locals in various parts of the country about locations and details of sites that are centuries-old and sacred [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With an aim to protect biodiversity that’s become fragmented and is scattered across the country, Bangladesh is listing all the old, sacred and socially important trees and forests. The Forest Department has been collecting information from the locals in various parts of the country about locations and details of sites that are centuries-old and sacred to the surrounding communities. On Feb. 10 this year, the government served a public notice in this regard. As per the notice, the government requested information from people about trees that are more than 50 years old and small forest patches that have social, cultural or religious value. Media reports also indicate that Bangladesh has such old trees, especially banyan and mango trees, growing across the country. “We have already received information about some of them, but not much from the common people, unlike what we expected,” said Syeda Rizwana Hasan, advisor to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). “Considering the low volume of information, we have now engaged all our local forest officials to collect information on such aged trees and sacred forest patches so that we can profile them and declare them either protected or special conservation areas,” she said. The initiative to protect the sacred forests, aged trees and other socially important plants was made under a provision of Bangladesh Wildlife (Conservation and Protection) Law 2012. An old banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis) in Manikganj district. Image by Muhammad Mostafigur Rahman. As these forest patches are mostly private land and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/bangladesh-protects-sacred-forests-to-strengthen-biodiversity-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299544</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Concrete sprawl in Buddha’s birthplace in Nepal threatens sarus cranes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/concrete-sprawl-in-buddhas-birthplace-in-nepal-threatens-sarus-cranes/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/concrete-sprawl-in-buddhas-birthplace-in-nepal-threatens-sarus-cranes/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 May 2025 11:40:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mukesh Pokhrel]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/19111522/2-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299230</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birding, Birds, Buddhism, Cities, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Farming, Fragmentation, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, and Religions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LUMBINI, Nepal — Legend has it that before he became the Buddha, a young Prince Siddhartha Gautama nursed an injured sarus crane (Antigone antigone)  back to health. Since then, the bird and the faith have been closely intertwined, and nowhere more so than in Lumbini gardens in Nepal, hailed as the birthplace of the Buddha. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LUMBINI, Nepal — Legend has it that before he became the Buddha, a young Prince Siddhartha Gautama nursed an injured sarus crane (Antigone antigone)  back to health. Since then, the bird and the faith have been closely intertwined, and nowhere more so than in Lumbini gardens in Nepal, hailed as the birthplace of the Buddha. Yet with the recent commemoration of Vesak, the holiest festival in Buddhism, marking the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha, the fate of the sarus crane in Lumbini looks grim. Sajrudin Musalman grew up here seeing the birds wherever he went, he tells Mongabay. They would drift gracefully over his home and fields, sparking wonder and delight, he says. “When cranes came close, it felt like something out of this world,” says Musalman, now 72, who lives near the ancient ruins believed to mark the Buddha’s birthplace. “We’d scour the fields for their nests, thrilled just to find their eggs.” Buddhist monks in Lumbini.  Image by Aleksandr Zykov via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0). Things have changed in the intervening decades. Musalman is the mayor now, and he doesn’t see as many cranes as before. Unplanned urbanization and land-use change in Lumbini have pushed the sarus crane out of its habitat and slashed its population. Musalman’s views are echoed by others in the region. A recent study incorporating responses from 459 people across four districts in Lumbini province reported that 59% of respondents said they believed the range of the bird has shrunk in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/concrete-sprawl-in-buddhas-birthplace-in-nepal-threatens-sarus-cranes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299230</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Nepal, centuries-old Buddhist incense tradition faces overharvesting, climate threats</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/in-nepal-centuries-old-buddhist-incense-tradition-faces-overharvesting-climate-threats/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/in-nepal-centuries-old-buddhist-incense-tradition-faces-overharvesting-climate-threats/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 May 2025 16:12:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Durga Rana Magar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/16150055/Janden-Gurung-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299204</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Buddhism, Climate Change, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Drought, Illegal Trade, Mountains, Plants, Protected Areas, and Religions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MANANG, Nepal — In Bhraka village of western Nepal’s Manang district, 72-year-old Buddhist nun Tashi Lama sits in silence, chanting as she turns her prayer wheel. Ever since she took her vows at 25, her mornings begin with prayers and the lighting of sang, a sacred incense made from dried branches and leaves of black [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MANANG, Nepal — In Bhraka village of western Nepal’s Manang district, 72-year-old Buddhist nun Tashi Lama sits in silence, chanting as she turns her prayer wheel. Ever since she took her vows at 25, her mornings begin with prayers and the lighting of sang, a sacred incense made from dried branches and leaves of black juniper (Juniperus indica) and wild wormwood (titepati) among others. “Lighting sang purifies our environment. It’s something we do every day wishing that peace prevails in the world,” Lama told Mongabay. “Its cedar-like scent evokes calm and hope.” Like Lama, thousands of Buddhists in Nepal’s Trans-Himalayan regions such as Manang and Mustang, and those with roots to the area residing around the world light the sang as part of a sacred tradition at the break of dawn wherever they are. However, the sacred tradition which has been going on for centuries is under growing threat from overharvesting, tightening conservation regulations and a warming global climate. Residents of Manang in Nepal need to hike long distances to collect juniper leaves. Image by Durga Rana Magar. At the centuries-year-old Kagyu Monastery in Bhraka — situated at an elevation of 3,475 meters (11,400 feet) above sea level — 48-year-old caretaker Karma Chhiring Gurung, also begins his day by lighting the incense. “Our ancestors taught us that God will be happy and satisfied if we light sang, and we have been doing it ever since,” he told Mongabay. Black juniper, locally known as dhupi, trees grow only between 3,600-4,800 m&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/in-nepal-centuries-old-buddhist-incense-tradition-faces-overharvesting-climate-threats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299204</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cable car project in Nepal under fire for flawed environmental review</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/cable-car-project-in-nepal-under-fire-for-flawed-environmental-review/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/cable-car-project-in-nepal-under-fire-for-flawed-environmental-review/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 May 2025 07:35:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/05071048/go-back-apf-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=298553</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Himalayas, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Community Forests, Conservation, Culture, Deforestation, Development, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Infrastructure, Protests, Religions, Tourism, Traditional People, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — The environmental impact assessment for a controversial cable car project in an area of Nepal held sacred by Indigenous communities has been found to be riddled with errors — ranging from omission of key species to exploitation of loopholes to evade extensive evaluations. The surfacing of the error-strewn initial environmental examination (IEE) for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — The environmental impact assessment for a controversial cable car project in an area of Nepal held sacred by Indigenous communities has been found to be riddled with errors — ranging from omission of key species to exploitation of loopholes to evade extensive evaluations. The surfacing of the error-strewn initial environmental examination (IEE) for the 3 billion rupee ($22 million) project in Mukkumlung (Pathibhara) in eastern Nepal, which the government has already approved, has increased calls from some Indigenous Yakthung (Limbu) communities and conservationists to safeguard the area’s biodiversity and take action against regulatory violations. A key concern with the IEE report is that “of the 112 tree species found in the area, only four have been identified by the report,” said Kamal Maden, a botanist and activist who provided a copy of the IEE report to Mongabay. The cable car line is being built to serve the mountaintop temple of Pathibhara Devi, a popular pilgrimage destination for Nepali Hindus. But the area is also revered by the Indigenous Limbu, many of whom have objected to the planned clearing of trees that they say will weaken the spiritual power that the site holds according to their beliefs. Project developer Pathibhara Devi Darshan Cable Car Pvt. Ltd., part of the IME Group led by prominent tycoon Chandra Prasad Dhakal, and its supporters say the project will boost tourism, create jobs, and provide better access for pilgrims who currently have to undertake a strenuous high-altitude trek to the temple. Limbu locals&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/cable-car-project-in-nepal-under-fire-for-flawed-environmental-review/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-298553</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The latest issues in Peru’s Amazon: Interview with Indigenous leader Julio Cusurichi</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/the-latest-issues-in-perus-amazon-interview-with-indigenous-leader-julio-cusurichi/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/the-latest-issues-in-perus-amazon-interview-with-indigenous-leader-julio-cusurichi/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 May 2025 21:33:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/01220657/WhatsApp-Image-2025-05-01-at-18.03.57-e1746137324832-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=298523</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conflict, Conservation, Culture, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forests, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Rainforests, Religions, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, and Uncontacted Tribes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is the first of three interviews with Indigenous representatives at the United Nations about the latest issues in their country&#8217;s Amazon forests. Read the interview about the Colombian Amazon here and Brazilian Amazon here. At one of the world’s largest gatherings of Indigenous peoples, the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is the first of three interviews with Indigenous representatives at the United Nations about the latest issues in their country&#8217;s Amazon forests. Read the interview about the Colombian Amazon here and Brazilian Amazon here. At one of the world’s largest gatherings of Indigenous peoples, the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York City, leaders from across the globe came to spotlight issues they face in their country — often in front of their country’s government officials. Among them was Julio Cusurichi Palacios, a prominent Indigenous leader from Peru, who spoke with us about his view on some of the latest and biggest events affecting Indigenous communities and forests in the country’s Amazon as well as the solutions he believes are needed. Our conversation touched on a recent resolution to increase sustainable oil palm cultivation in the Amazon, an appeal hearing for illegal loggers convicted of killing four Indigenous leaders, Pope Francis’ passing and visit to the Amazon, and ongoing delays in the creation of territories for isolated peoples. More than half of Peru lies within the rainforest, and three Amazon regions — home to many Indigenous communities — lead the nation in tree cover loss, with more than 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres) of primary forest lost since 2001. “The knowledge of Indigenous peoples must be strengthened,” Cusurichi Palacios said. “It can help, and perhaps even solve, the great problems and disasters facing our planet.” A leader since the ’90s, Cusurichi Palacios won the environmental Goldman&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/the-latest-issues-in-perus-amazon-interview-with-indigenous-leader-julio-cusurichi/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-298523</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pope Francis’ uncompromising defense of nature may be his greatest legacy</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/pope-francis-uncompromising-defense-of-nature-may-be-his-greatest-legacy/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/pope-francis-uncompromising-defense-of-nature-may-be-his-greatest-legacy/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Apr 2025 15:59:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Justin Catanoso]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/24141523/pope-francis-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=298107</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation and Religion]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Justice, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Politics, Pope, Religions, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, was as much a tireless advocate for nature as he was the poor and marginalized the world over. While his death leaves a vacuum of moral environmental leadership within the globe’s largest religion, the words of Francis still echo through tropical rainforests and grasslands, across rivers and oceans. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, was as much a tireless advocate for nature as he was the poor and marginalized the world over. While his death leaves a vacuum of moral environmental leadership within the globe’s largest religion, the words of Francis still echo through tropical rainforests and grasslands, across rivers and oceans. The pope, who died April 21 in Rome at age 88, never attended a United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. But in this astute observation in Laudato Si’, the pioneering Catholic teaching document released in the summer of 2015 in defense of the natural world, Francis eloquently voices the biennial meeting’s defining spirit: “It is not enough … to think of different species merely as potential ‘resources’ to be exploited, while overlooking the fact that they have value in themselves. Each year sees the disappearance of thousands of plant and animal species which we will never know, which our children will never see, because they have been lost forever,” Francis wrote with both biological accuracy and spiritual authority. “The great majority become extinct for reasons related to human activity. Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God by their very existence, nor convey their message to us. We have no such right.” When it was released, the uncompromising message of Laudato Si’ reverberated round the world and it is reflected throughout the preamble of the historic Paris Agreement on climate change of 2015. Its essence also reverberates in the 2022&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/pope-francis-uncompromising-defense-of-nature-may-be-his-greatest-legacy/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-298107</doi>				</item>
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