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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/seagrass/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2026 11:28:07 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Seagrass</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/seagrass/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Scientists use AI to produce first high-resolution map of global seagrass extent</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/scientists-use-ai-to-produce-first-high-resolution-map-of-global-seagrass-extent/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/scientists-use-ai-to-produce-first-high-resolution-map-of-global-seagrass-extent/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jul 2026 12:51:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhishyant Kidangoor]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhishyantkidangoor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/10103637/IMG_2026-07-10-031214-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323038</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Australia, Bahamas, Caribbean, Cuba, Global, Indonesia, North America, Oceania, Southeast Asia, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence, Biodiversity, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, data, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Policy, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Mapping, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Mitigation, Oceans, Plants, Politics, Protected Areas, Remote Sensing, Research, Satellite Imagery, Science, Seagrass, Software, Technology, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Almost 70% of the global extent of seagrass meadows is found off the coasts of just five countries. However, only 21% of this fall within marine protected areas. These are some of the key findings from the first high-resolution map of seagrasses around the world. Scientists at Arizona State University in the U.S. used satellite [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Almost 70% of the global extent of seagrass meadows is found off the coasts of just five countries. However, only 21% of this fall within marine protected areas. These are some of the key findings from the first high-resolution map of seagrasses around the world. Scientists at Arizona State University in the U.S. used satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to map seagrass cover over two periods, 2019-2020 and 2023-2024. According to a study, recently published in the journal Nature, the team identified “148,506 km2 of seagrass globally,” or about 57,340 square miles, a combined area larger than England, with the majority lying in subtidal areas. “We wanted to map seagrass in a very accurate manner,” Jiwei Li, an assistant professor at ASU’s School of Ocean Futures, who led the study, told Mongabay in a video interview. “And tell people where the seagrass is and where there is potential to protect it.” Scientists mapped seagrass ecosystems using satellite data and AI technology. Pictured above is a satellite image from a coast off of Richmond, Canada, along with the seagrass ecosystems highlighted in green to the right. Image courtesy of Jiwei Li, Arizona State University. Seagrasses are the only flowering plant species in the ocean, and form vast meadows in shallow waters. Apart from being habitats for many marine species, these meadows are also crucial carbon sinks that can absorb CO2 35 times faster than terrestrial forests. They also protect coastlines and filter pollutants in the water. However, seagrass ecosystems face threats from&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/scientists-use-ai-to-produce-first-high-resolution-map-of-global-seagrass-extent/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/scientists-use-ai-to-produce-first-high-resolution-map-of-global-seagrass-extent/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323038</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Australia’s seagrass meadows under pressure as climate change turns up the heat</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/australias-seagrass-meadows-under-pressure-as-climate-change-turns-up-the-heat/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/australias-seagrass-meadows-under-pressure-as-climate-change-turns-up-the-heat/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jul 2026 15:19:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/02094729/3-leafy-sea-dragon-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322342</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia, Great Barrier Reef, and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Adaptation To Climate Change, Biodiversity, Climate, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystem Engineers, Ecosystems, Environment, Global Warming, Habitat, Impact Of Climate Change, Marine, Marine Conservation, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Plants, Research, Restoration, Science, Seagrass, Solutions, Temperatures, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is renowned for its coral, but far less so for its expansive seagrass meadows. “People don&#8217;t dive on them, don&#8217;t snorkel on them, and don&#8217;t go rock pooling on them,” said Emma Jackson, director of the Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre (CMERC) at Central Queensland University. She’s a self-confessed seagrass nerd. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is renowned for its coral, but far less so for its expansive seagrass meadows. “People don&#8217;t dive on them, don&#8217;t snorkel on them, and don&#8217;t go rock pooling on them,” said Emma Jackson, director of the Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre (CMERC) at Central Queensland University. She’s a self-confessed seagrass nerd. One reason, she said, is because “they have this wealth of different ecosystem services.” Though they’re known as the “ugly cousins” of coral reefs, these flowering grass-like plants provide a home and foraging grounds for marine life, as well as habitat for commercial fish species. These meadows stabilize sediments, help cleanse the water column and sequester substantial amounts of carbon. “I think when people understand that, then they can share my nerdiness and share that passion for seagrass,” Jackson said. Emma Jackson, who directs CMERC (right), envisions large-scale restoration using many seagrass species, with the process as routine as seeding a lawn. Image courtesy CMERC. The Great Barrier Reef is home to around 3.5 million hectares (8.6 million acres) of seagrass, an area larger than Belgium, which accounts for about 11% of the world’s total. Australia is a global hotspot of seagrass biodiversity, hosting around half of the world’s 60 species of the plants. But as climate change ratchets up temperatures and triggers more frequent extreme weather events, Australia’s marine meadows are increasingly battered by intense storms and cyclones, flooding, and devastating marine heat waves. Algal blooms are also impacting seagrasses by blocking out sunlight&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/australias-seagrass-meadows-under-pressure-as-climate-change-turns-up-the-heat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/australias-seagrass-meadows-under-pressure-as-climate-change-turns-up-the-heat/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322342</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Thai island community rallies to protect beloved dugongs, revive declining seagrass</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/thai-island-community-rallies-to-protect-beloved-dugongs-revive-declining-seagrass/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/thai-island-community-rallies-to-protect-beloved-dugongs-revive-declining-seagrass/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 May 2026 01:00:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/20144955/9.-IMG_9401_Tipusa-Sansawang-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319813</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Dugong, Ecosystems, Fisheries, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Restoration, Seagrass, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KOH LIBONG, Thailand — Growing up on the island of Koh Libong, Tipusa Sangsawang remembers fondly how vast numbers of dugongs used to feed on local seagrass meadows teaming with fish, crabs and mollusks. “Out there, it was like a football field,” Tipusa says, as she watches waves lap across a seemingly barren sandflat that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KOH LIBONG, Thailand — Growing up on the island of Koh Libong, Tipusa Sangsawang remembers fondly how vast numbers of dugongs used to feed on local seagrass meadows teaming with fish, crabs and mollusks. “Out there, it was like a football field,” Tipusa says, as she watches waves lap across a seemingly barren sandflat that fringes this stretch of shoreline. “It used to be green all around this area. Now, it’s only sand.” Fascinated by dugongs (Dugong dugon) since childhood, Tipusa remembers forming a special bond with one particular individual. Marium was an infant dugong brought into the care of marine officials in mid-2019 after fishers discovered her stranded ashore in Krabi province. With no mother or herd, she was moved to a semiwild enclosure farther south in Trang province, near Koh Libong, where authorities hoped to rehabilitate her. Tipusa was a member of the recovery team. She devoted all her time to Marium, swimming alongside her and monitoring her progress daily. The chubby and charismatic youngster quickly became a national sweetheart through social media. “She was like an angel who came to us with a message from the ocean,” Tipusa says. Despite the team’s efforts, Marium died 114 days after her initial rescue, having contracted a blood infection that autopsies indicated was likely linked to plastic ingestion. Her death sparked a rise in public awareness of marine plastic pollution in Thailand. The loss also strengthened Tipusa’s resolve to protect ocean life. “I told Marium she would be the last&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/thai-island-community-rallies-to-protect-beloved-dugongs-revive-declining-seagrass/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/thai-island-community-rallies-to-protect-beloved-dugongs-revive-declining-seagrass/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319813</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Monica Montefalcone, leading seagrass scientist, dies in Maldives diving accident, aged 51</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/monica-montefalcone-leading-seagrass-scientist-dies-in-a-maldives-diving-accident-aged-51/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/monica-montefalcone-leading-seagrass-scientist-dies-in-a-maldives-diving-accident-aged-51/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 May 2026 09:34:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/16093229/Monica-Montefalcone-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319589</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, Italy, and Mediterranean Sea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Ecosystems, Marine Conservation, Obituary, Oceans, Restoration, and Seagrass]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[To Monica Montefalcone, the sea was a place to study: its plants, reefs, hidden habitats and seasonal changes. A meadow of Posidonia oceanica was not just a patch of green beneath the water. It provided a nursery, offered shelter, stored carbon, and afforded coastal protection. To most swimmers it might have looked like seagrass. To [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[To Monica Montefalcone, the sea was a place to study: its plants, reefs, hidden habitats and seasonal changes. A meadow of Posidonia oceanica was not just a patch of green beneath the water. It provided a nursery, offered shelter, stored carbon, and afforded coastal protection. To most swimmers it might have looked like seagrass. To Montefalcone it was a living system, and one that recovered slowly once damaged. That slowness mattered. Posidonia grows at a pace that does not fit human timetables. In the Mediterranean, more than half of its meadows have been lost over the past century; in Liguria, the losses were especially severe. Laws and European directives could help protect what remained, she argued, but protection alone was not enough. Where hundreds of hectares had disappeared, waiting for nature to repair itself would mean leaving the work to future generations. Active restoration, including the manual replanting of seagrass, was therefore a practical response to a practical problem. Monica Montefalcone. From Sky TG24 Montefalcone, who died on May 14th in a diving accident in the Maldives, was 51. Her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal, 23, died with her, along with Muriel Oddenino, a research fellow who had worked with her, Federico Gualtieri, a recent marine-biology graduate, and Gianluca Benedetti, a diving instructor and boat operations manager. Four of the victims were connected to the University of Genoa, where Montefalcone was an associate professor of ecology. The group had been diving in caves in Vaavu Atoll. The final details of the accident&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/monica-montefalcone-leading-seagrass-scientist-dies-in-a-maldives-diving-accident-aged-51/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/monica-montefalcone-leading-seagrass-scientist-dies-in-a-maldives-diving-accident-aged-51/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319589</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Drones aid dugong conservation as threats mount across their range</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/drones-aid-dugong-conservation-as-threats-mount-across-their-range/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/drones-aid-dugong-conservation-as-threats-mount-across-their-range/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Apr 2026 18:03:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mark Hillsdon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/16142053/BANNER-Dugong_Marsa_Alam-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317639</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Drones, Dugong, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Fishing, Habitat Degradation, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Research, Saving Species From Extinction, Seagrass, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Drone technology is providing important new insights into the lives of dugongs, while also revealing the vital role they play in managing seagrass meadows, one of the ocean’s most important carbon sinks. Often referred to as sea cows, dugongs (Dugong dugon) are marine herbivores that can grow up to 3 meters (10 feet) long and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Drone technology is providing important new insights into the lives of dugongs, while also revealing the vital role they play in managing seagrass meadows, one of the ocean’s most important carbon sinks. Often referred to as sea cows, dugongs (Dugong dugon) are marine herbivores that can grow up to 3 meters (10 feet) long and weigh up to 420 kilograms (925 pounds). They feed almost exclusively on seagrass in shallow coastal waters across a wide range in the Indian and southeastern Pacific oceans. However, their population spread was revealed to be extremely uneven in an August 2025 report, published by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) and touted as “offering the most comprehensive global update on the status and conservation needs of dugongs in over two decades.” By far the largest concentration of dugongs is in Australia, where an estimated 166,000 live in the country’s coastal waters, the CMS report shows. Other hotspots include the Arabian Gulf, the Red Sea, and Indonesia, while around 300 dugongs live along the coast of Mozambique, their last stronghold in Africa. But elsewhere the picture is less healthy. The IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, has listed the dugong as globally vulnerable to extinction for more than 40 years now. Some jurisdictions, such as the French territory of New Caledonia and Japan’s Nasei Islands, have listed the dugong as endangered. In 2022, research declared the species extinct in China. According to Helene Marsh, a professor of environmental sciences&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/drones-aid-dugong-conservation-as-threats-mount-across-their-range/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/drones-aid-dugong-conservation-as-threats-mount-across-their-range/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317639</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A French city cut its marine pollution — and its seagrass bounced back</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-french-city-cut-its-marine-pollution-and-its-seagrass-bounced-back/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-french-city-cut-its-marine-pollution-and-its-seagrass-bounced-back/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Apr 2026 19:53:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/07140421/5-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317096</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, France, and Mediterranean Sea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystem Engineers, Ecosystems, Environment, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Plants, Pollution, Research, Seagrass, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Neptune grass is generally regarded as the most ecologically important seagrass and shallow-water habitat in the Mediterranean Sea. It suffered a severe decline during the 20th century, and there have been myriad efforts to actively restore it via replanting schemes. A new study points to the merits of a different approach: Remove the human-caused drivers [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Neptune grass is generally regarded as the most ecologically important seagrass and shallow-water habitat in the Mediterranean Sea. It suffered a severe decline during the 20th century, and there have been myriad efforts to actively restore it via replanting schemes. A new study points to the merits of a different approach: Remove the human-caused drivers of the decline and let the meadows regrow on their own. The study, published March 5 in the journal Marine Environmental Research, found that following the introduction of stronger environmental regulations and practices in France in the mid-to-late 1980s, Neptune grass (Posidonia oceanica) repopulated sampled sections of the waters off the city of Marseille over the ensuing four decades. “We observed exceptional recovering of the meadow in the Bay of Marseille,” Patrick Astruch, a research engineer at GIS Posidonie and the study’s lead author, told Mongabay. GIS Posidonie is a nonprofit marine research group based on the Aix-Marseille University campus. Astruch called it a “very positive trend” and a lesson in the value of passive restoration, which involves letting seagrass meadows regrow naturally after reducing pollution and other threats. Neptune grass in the waters between the French cities of Marseille and Nice, photographed in 2024. The fish in the background are salema porgy (Sarpa salpa), one of the only grazers of Neptune grass. Image courtesy of Thomas Schohn/GIS Posidonie. Patrick Astruch, a research engineer at GIS Posidonie and the lead author of a new study on Neptune grass recovery, conducts research in the Bay of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-french-city-cut-its-marine-pollution-and-its-seagrass-bounced-back/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/a-french-city-cut-its-marine-pollution-and-its-seagrass-bounced-back/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317096</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>On Manatee Appreciation Day, remember these gentle giants who protect aquatic ecosystems (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/on-manatee-appreciation-day-remember-these-gentle-giants-who-protect-aquatic-ecosystems-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/on-manatee-appreciation-day-remember-these-gentle-giants-who-protect-aquatic-ecosystems-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Mar 2026 14:22:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Omar Vidal]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/23225005/Photograpg-by-Jorge-Zamora-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316172</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, Mexico, and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Animals, Commentary, Conservation, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, and Seagrass]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Along the warm waters of Mexico’s Caribbean coast lives a creature so gentle that sailors once mistook it for a mermaid. Slow-moving, peaceful and curious, manatees have glided through rivers and coastal lagoons for millions of years, long before humans ever set foot on these shores. On Manatee Appreciation Day, it’s worth remembering not only [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Along the warm waters of Mexico’s Caribbean coast lives a creature so gentle that sailors once mistook it for a mermaid. Slow-moving, peaceful and curious, manatees have glided through rivers and coastal lagoons for millions of years, long before humans ever set foot on these shores. On Manatee Appreciation Day, it’s worth remembering not only why these animals matter, but also the people who have dedicated their lives to protecting these gentle giants. One such story begins in Chetumal, a coastal city in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula whose name in the Maya language means “the place where the rains come down.” It is here that a scientist named Dr. Benjamín Morales devoted decades of his life to studying and protecting manatees. In 2003, a newborn manatee calf washed ashore in Laguna Guerrero near Chetumal. He had just been born and had already lost his mother. The calf was weak, alone and unlikely to survive. Dr. Morales stepped in without hesitation, and he named the calf Daniel. Daniel was taken to a small research facility where Morales and a group of students and volunteers nursed him back to health, feeding him from bottles day and night. What began as a rescue soon became something deeper: a bond between human and animal built on patience, trust and care. An Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis) comes up for air. Image courtesy of André Dib. Over the years, Daniel grew into a full-sized manatee with an unmistakable personality. Like many of his species, he had an&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/on-manatee-appreciation-day-remember-these-gentle-giants-who-protect-aquatic-ecosystems-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/on-manatee-appreciation-day-remember-these-gentle-giants-who-protect-aquatic-ecosystems-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316172</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cambodia’s canal mega-project threatens coastal communities and marine life</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/cambodias-canal-mega-project-threatens-coastal-communities-and-marine-life/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/cambodias-canal-mega-project-threatens-coastal-communities-and-marine-life/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Feb 2026 02:16:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald FlynnPhoung Vantha]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/09074250/IMG_0071-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313950</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Cambodia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Carbon Sequestration, Conservation, Ecosystems, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Governance, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Infrastructure, Islands, Land Conflict, Land Rights, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Overfishing, Pollution, Restoration, and Seagrass]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is the first of two stories about the potential impact of Cambodia’s planned Funan Techo Canal. Part two, about consequences for inland communities and wildlife, can be read here. KEP, Cambodia — “Nobody from the government has spoken to us directly about how we’ll be affected,” Mae Vuthy told Mongabay while he sat on his [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is the first of two stories about the potential impact of Cambodia’s planned Funan Techo Canal. Part two, about consequences for inland communities and wildlife, can be read here. KEP, Cambodia — “Nobody from the government has spoken to us directly about how we’ll be affected,” Mae Vuthy told Mongabay while he sat on his longtail fishing boat moored off the coast of Angkoal commune in Cambodia’s Kep province. “We’re all concerned, we’re all fishers, so we need access to the water, but what can we do? We have no power.” That morning, in November 2024, Vuthy had just returned to shore after laying crab traps and collecting fishing nets that he’d left in the Gulf of Thailand overnight. It had been a disappointing haul for Vuthy and his crew, but not a surprising one. Rampant illegal fishing and breakneck coastal development have left Cambodia’s marine fisheries reeling for years. Now, on top of the dwindling catches he pulls from the water and the increased pressure from land privatization along the coast, Vuthy, the fishing community and the marine lifeforms of Kep’s waters face a new threat. The Funan Techo Canal, which will link the Mekong River in inland Kandal province to the sea in Kep, looks set to turn the sleepy fishing commune of Angkoal into a bustling port and logistics hub. Mongabay has followed this mega-project’s development for more than a year. We’ve spoken with more than 50 people living along the canal’s proposed route in Kandal, Takeo,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/cambodias-canal-mega-project-threatens-coastal-communities-and-marine-life/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/cambodias-canal-mega-project-threatens-coastal-communities-and-marine-life/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313950</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Seagrass restoration in Malaysia finds multi-species approach boosts recovery</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/seagrass-restoration-in-malaysia-finds-multi-species-approach-boosts-recovery/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/seagrass-restoration-in-malaysia-finds-multi-species-approach-boosts-recovery/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Feb 2026 11:43:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/04113337/1-Merambong-shoal_MHZakaria-scaled-e1770205099453-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313704</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Malaysia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Development, Dredging, Ecosystems, Environment, Habitat Loss, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Research, Restoration, Seagrass, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the shallow waters off Johor Bahru’s rapidly urbanizing shoreline in Peninsular Malaysia, a busy assemblage of crabs, marine worms and mollusks are a sign of recovery. Just over a decade ago, the wafting seagrass meadow they now inhabit had been laid waste by development. In 2014, dredgers working on a massive land reclamation project [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the shallow waters off Johor Bahru’s rapidly urbanizing shoreline in Peninsular Malaysia, a busy assemblage of crabs, marine worms and mollusks are a sign of recovery. Just over a decade ago, the wafting seagrass meadow they now inhabit had been laid waste by development. In 2014, dredgers working on a massive land reclamation project to build a “Forest City” at the tip of the peninsula had dispersed plumes of sediment across the Merambong Shoal, one of Malaysia’s most extensive seagrass beds. Seagrasses, distinct from seaweeds, are flowering plants that form vibrant underwater meadows. Filtering pollutants, cycling nutrients, sequestering carbon and providing habitat for a rich diversity of marine life, they help maintain the health of coastal seas. While the Department of Environment recognized the harm and issued a stop-work order later that year, the damage was done: Roughly 10 hectares (25 acres) of seagrass meadow had been destroyed. To try to rectify the situation, the developer, Country Garden Pacificview Sdn. Bhd., ramped up mitigation measures and enlisted the help of marine scientists at the University of Putra Malaysia (UPM) to attempt recovering the seagrass. In a new study, the UPM researchers document the results of their decade-long (2015-25) seagrass restoration and monitoring program at the Merambong Shoal. Their approach, which focused on transplanting seedlings of a combination of fast-growing seagrass species, achieved relatively high survival rates — 66% in some recovery plots. What’s more, as the meadow stabilized, they recorded the natural return of many other types of seagrasses&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/seagrass-restoration-in-malaysia-finds-multi-species-approach-boosts-recovery/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/seagrass-restoration-in-malaysia-finds-multi-species-approach-boosts-recovery/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313704</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists call for stronger action to save Indonesia’s vanishing seagrass meadows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/seagrass-meadows-marine-conservation-indonesia-blue-carbon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/seagrass-meadows-marine-conservation-indonesia-blue-carbon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Nov 2025 14:24:33 +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/20/2025/11/04064725/Jenis-lamun-di-Kepulauan-Togean-Sulawesi-Tengah.-Foto_-Christopel-Paino-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308768</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Java, Kalimantan, Papua, Southeast Asia, Sulawesi, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Blue Carbon, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Global Environmental Crisis, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, and Seagrass]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SANUR, Indonesia — Indonesia’s seagrass ecosystems are crucial for climate action, biodiversity and coastal livelihoods, yet remain a largely neglected asset, marine scientists and conservation experts said at a recent meeting. Participants at the Indonesian Seagrass Symposium, which ran from Oct. 29-30 on the island of Bali, called for stronger collaboration and data-driven policies to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SANUR, Indonesia — Indonesia’s seagrass ecosystems are crucial for climate action, biodiversity and coastal livelihoods, yet remain a largely neglected asset, marine scientists and conservation experts said at a recent meeting. Participants at the Indonesian Seagrass Symposium, which ran from Oct. 29-30 on the island of Bali, called for stronger collaboration and data-driven policies to secure the future of these ecosystems in Indonesia’s environmental agenda. They said scientific data gaps, weak institutional capacity and low public awareness were key barriers to stronger protection and policy integration. “I see seagrass as a kind of forgotten ecosystem,” Victor Nikijuluw, senior ocean program adviser at the foundation Konservasi Indonesia (KI), the national affiliate of Conservation International and host of the symposium, told reporters. “We barely pay attention to it, even though its ecological, biological and ecosystem service roles are strategically important.” In Indonesia, Victor added, “this is the ecosystem most often sacrificed, that’s why I call it the forgotten ecosystem, one that most people don’t even know about.” Seagrass meadows are a crucial habitat for dugongs. Image courtesy of Tutus Wijanarko/WWF-Indonesia. Seagrasses, distinct from seaweeds, are flowering plants that thrive beneath shallow coastal waters and form vital nurseries for juvenile fish and shelter for marine life such as crabs, prawns and sea cucumbers. Together with mangroves and coral reefs, these meadows help trap carbon, filter land-based runoff, and buffer shorelines from erosion. Across the world, more than 70 seagrass species blanket roughly 600,000 square kilometers (232,000 square miles) of ocean floor, an expanse&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/seagrass-meadows-marine-conservation-indonesia-blue-carbon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/seagrass-meadows-marine-conservation-indonesia-blue-carbon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308768</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists map Italy’s entire coast to guide seagrass and marine recovery</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/scientists-map-italys-entire-coast-to-guide-seagrass-and-marine-recovery/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/scientists-map-italys-entire-coast-to-guide-seagrass-and-marine-recovery/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Oct 2025 13:09:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manuela Callari]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/31141625/b04fbe00-ad40-4235-bec1-7e0d72f6e315-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308587</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe and Italy]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Marine, Oceans, Restoration, Seagrass, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[ROME and GENOA, Italy — In the urban waters off Naples, shoals of bream, wrasses, as well as crustaceans, mollusks and bryozoans are returning after decades of absence to Gaiola Submerged Park Marine Protected Area. &#8220;This MPA has turned into a significant repopulation zone for the surrounding coast of Posillipo,&#8221; Maurizio Simeone, a marine biologist [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[ROME and GENOA, Italy — In the urban waters off Naples, shoals of bream, wrasses, as well as crustaceans, mollusks and bryozoans are returning after decades of absence to Gaiola Submerged Park Marine Protected Area. &#8220;This MPA has turned into a significant repopulation zone for the surrounding coast of Posillipo,&#8221; Maurizio Simeone, a marine biologist and the MPA’s director, told Mongabay. &#8220;The fishermen themselves tell us this.&#8221; Farther west, in the archipelago of La Maddalena off the northern tip of Sardinia, the scene is starkly different. Boat tour operators have seen the crystalline waters turning murkier and iconic species such as seahorses becoming rarer sightings. The difference between the two seascapes lies in the health of a single, vital ecosystem type: Posidonia oceanica seagrass beds. At Gaiola, decades of strict protection and active restoration experiments have allowed the meadows to recover; at La Maddalena, the meadows have been damaged by intense, uncontrolled boat anchoring. Here, too, researchers have implemented bans on anchoring and begun planting new cuttings. The plant itself has &#8220;a very slow growth,&#8221; Marina Pulcini, a marine biologist at the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), told Mongabay, and reestablishing dense meadows may take a decade. But the high survival rate (more than 90%) of the initial transplants offers hope that the ecosystem can begin to revitalize now that pressures are reduced. For decades, Italy&#8217;s efforts to conserve its seagrass meadows have been hampered by a lack of information, with the last push to map seagrass&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/scientists-map-italys-entire-coast-to-guide-seagrass-and-marine-recovery/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308587</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia eyes seagrass zoning for blue carbon; experts urge community benefits</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/indonesia-eyes-seagrass-zoning-for-blue-carbon-experts-urge-community-benefits/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/indonesia-eyes-seagrass-zoning-for-blue-carbon-experts-urge-community-benefits/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Oct 2025 08:39:58 +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/20/2025/10/07122243/2847d35f-7bed-4686-8e25-62053ac6a0a4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307028</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Java, Kalimantan, Papua, Southeast Asia, Sulawesi, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Blue Carbon, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Global Environmental Crisis, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, and Seagrass]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia’s push to legalize a blue carbon zoning plan that’s focused on seagrass has sparked optimism for climate solutions, but some experts debate its risks and safeguards. The Indonesian Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has been drafting new amendments to a 2019 government regulation to designate 17 seagrass habitats across the archipelago as certain &#8220;national [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia’s push to legalize a blue carbon zoning plan that’s focused on seagrass has sparked optimism for climate solutions, but some experts debate its risks and safeguards. The Indonesian Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has been drafting new amendments to a 2019 government regulation to designate 17 seagrass habitats across the archipelago as certain &#8220;national strategic areas&#8221; (KSNT), giving them priority status for sovereignty, environmental protection and global heritage. The ministry’s director-general of marine spatial management, Kartika Listriana, said the zoning plan for Blue Carbon Reserves was a pledge to fight the climate crisis, protect ocean ecosystems and support coastal communities. “Marine spatial planning is meant to create real benefits,” she said in a Sept. 14 press release, “from giving investors legal certainty in the marine and fisheries sectors to improving community welfare to safeguarding our coasts and seas.” Mangrove and seagrass ecosystems in northern Nias Island. Image courtesy of Eko Siswono Toyudho/Konservasi Indonesia. Indonesia is moving to designate 17 seagrass habitats as national strategic areas for blue carbon, a plan that promises climate and community benefits but raises concerns over safeguards. Image courtesy of Eko Siswono Toyudho/Konservasi Indonesia. Indonesia holds about 11.5% of the world’s seagrass meadows, a resource the government hopes to tap to expand its carbon storage capacity. Scientists estimate that, per unit area, seagrass can capture carbon up to 35 times more effectively than tropical rainforests. According to the ministry, 17 sites have been earmarked as indicative KSNT locations for blue carbon reserves under the 2025-45&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/indonesia-eyes-seagrass-zoning-for-blue-carbon-experts-urge-community-benefits/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307028</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Major coral loss in Vietnam’s first marine protected area: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/despite-protected-status-vietnams-corals-have-declined-in-20-years-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/despite-protected-status-vietnams-corals-have-declined-in-20-years-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Jun 2025 07:52:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/06/19094016/coral-reef-vietnam-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=300962</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aquaculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Coral Bleaching, Coral Reefs, Development, Ecosystems, Global Environmental Crisis, Habitat Degradation, Illegal Fishing, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Seagrass, and Tourism]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Vietnam’s first marine protected area, Nha Trang Bay, has lost nearly 200 hectares (494 acres) of coral reef since its creation in 2002, a new study shows. The alarming decline raises fresh questions about how effective conservation efforts have been in protecting one of the country’s most iconic coastal ecosystems. Published in April in the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Vietnam’s first marine protected area, Nha Trang Bay, has lost nearly 200 hectares (494 acres) of coral reef since its creation in 2002, a new study shows. The alarming decline raises fresh questions about how effective conservation efforts have been in protecting one of the country’s most iconic coastal ecosystems. Published in April in the journal Water, the study by the Joint Vietnam-Russia Tropical Science and Technology Research Center used remote sensing and machine learning to track coral changes across Nha Trang Bay’s 160-square-kilometer (62-square-mile) MPA. From 2002-24, about 191 hectares (472 acres) of coral reefs vanished, especially around Tre, Mun, Một, Tằm and Miễu islands. Despite having protected status since 2002, the bay’s reefs continue to shrink. Key drivers include land use change, warming seas and crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) outbreaks, according to the study. “Among these, land-use change—particularly from long-term landfill activities—emerged as the dominant driver of coral loss,” the authors wrote. The Nha Trang Bay Marine Protected Area and its functional zones are influenced by the Cai and Tac rivers. Image courtesy of Nguyen Trinh Duc Hieu/ Joint Vietnam-Russia Tropical Science and Technology Research Center. Hoàng Công Tín is an expert in mapping marine habitats to enable conservation and sustainable use and dean of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences at Vietnam&#8217;s Huế University. “Nha Trang Bay’s experience highlights a critical lesson: early designation of MPAs is not sufficient without adaptive, science-based management and active local engagement,” Hoàng, who was not involved in the study, told Mongabay by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/despite-protected-status-vietnams-corals-have-declined-in-20-years-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/despite-protected-status-vietnams-corals-have-declined-in-20-years-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-300962</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Dugong numbers plummet amid seagrass decline in Thailand’s Andaman Sea</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/dugong-numbers-plummet-amid-seagrass-decline-in-thailands-andaman-sea/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/dugong-numbers-plummet-amid-seagrass-decline-in-thailands-andaman-sea/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Apr 2025 09:04:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/10084148/1.-Banner-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=297376</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Dredging, Dugong, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Fisheries, Green, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Mammals, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Research, Restoration, Seagrass, Sedimentation, Tipping points, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Unprecedented numbers of emaciated dugongs have washed up dead along Thailand’s Andaman Sea coast over the past three years, prompting marine scientists to urgently investigate what’s driving their decline. Thailand’s Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) recorded an average 42 dugong (Dugong dugon) fatalities in 2023 and 2024 — more than double the annual [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Unprecedented numbers of emaciated dugongs have washed up dead along Thailand’s Andaman Sea coast over the past three years, prompting marine scientists to urgently investigate what’s driving their decline. Thailand’s Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) recorded an average 42 dugong (Dugong dugon) fatalities in 2023 and 2024 — more than double the annual losses recorded between 2019 and 2022. The increase seems to be continuing into 2025, with 12 fatalities recorded as of April 9. Autopsy data reported by the DMCR indicate at least 40% of the deaths in 2024 were likely due to starvation following the widespread depletion of seagrass, the species’ primary food source. In recent years, scientists have recorded concerning die-offs in key seagrass areas along the Andaman coast in provinces including Trang, Krabi and Phuket. Once flourishing habitats full of fish, crabs, turtles and dugongs, many seagrass meadows have deteriorated into barren stretches of sand. What’s more, cases of dugongs being killed by boat strikes and fishing bycatch have also increased as the animals leave depleted foraging grounds to venture into unfamiliar, riskier waters in search of sustenance. “When they move to other areas they’re not familiar [with], there are other threats like boat traffic,” Petch Manopawitr, a marine ecologist who’s advising government agencies on the dugong situation, told Mongabay. “Clearly, they’re going everywhere they can to try and find food.” A dugong photographed by drone in Thailand. Researchers use the marks on the animals&#8217; backs to identify individuals. Image courtesy of Theerasak Saksritawee.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/dugong-numbers-plummet-amid-seagrass-decline-in-thailands-andaman-sea/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/dugong-numbers-plummet-amid-seagrass-decline-in-thailands-andaman-sea/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-297376</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘LIFE’ scores map out where habitat loss for crops drives extinction</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/life-scores-map-out-where-habitat-loss-for-crops-drives-extinction/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/life-scores-map-out-where-habitat-loss-for-crops-drives-extinction/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jan 2025 16:18:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/15054513/giant-anteater-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=292959</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Forests, Habitat Loss, Land Use Change, Mapping, Mass Extinction, Research, Seagrass, Technology, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Across the globe, no other human activity currently affects the survival of wildlife species more than where we choose to grow our food. Alongside other impacts like hunting and climate change, agricultural production is helping to drive what scientists call Earth’s sixth mass extinction, with roughly three times more extinctions happening now than expected to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Across the globe, no other human activity currently affects the survival of wildlife species more than where we choose to grow our food. Alongside other impacts like hunting and climate change, agricultural production is helping to drive what scientists call Earth’s sixth mass extinction, with roughly three times more extinctions happening now than expected to occur naturally. The most recent Living Planet report led by WWF documented a 73% average slide in wildlife populations since 1970. Amid the gravity of the situation, researchers have been searching for ways to halt or even reverse the decline. With that goal in mind, an international team of scientists has developed a tool to help understand the implications of converting forests and other ecosystems to farmland — and what’s to be gained from protecting and restoring areas as well. The team calls the metric “Land-cover change Impacts of Future Extinctions,” or LIFE. They published their work Jan. 9 in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Each LIFE score represents how a species would be impacted in a specified area of habitat if that ecosystem were converted to agriculture or restored. The underlying analysis harnesses high-performance computing to combine habitat information from the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, with global land-cover data for more than 30,000 species of vertebrates. The idea is to provide “off-the-shelf” map layers to guide decision-making about land-use change, lead author Alison Eyres, a postdoctoral research associate in zoology at the University of Cambridge in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/life-scores-map-out-where-habitat-loss-for-crops-drives-extinction/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/life-scores-map-out-where-habitat-loss-for-crops-drives-extinction/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-292959</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Raw materials become high-value bioeconomy goods at an Amazon science park</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/raw-materials-become-high-value-bioeconomy-goods-at-an-amazon-science-park/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/raw-materials-become-high-value-bioeconomy-goods-at-an-amazon-science-park/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Aug 2024 07:00:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sarah Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/08/05143906/Luis-Adriano-Nascimento-LOA-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=285638</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Biodiversity, Business, Community Development, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Economics, Environment, Food, Forests, Green, Indigenous Peoples, Old Growth Forests, Primary Forests, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Saving Rainforests, Seagrass, Solutions, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Technology, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Ahead of hosting 2025’s COP30 climate summit, Belém is betting on the development of products such as honey-based spirits, digital glasses from local wood and jambu-infused medicine at a local tech park.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BELÉM, Brazil — Two white-coated lab technicians, surrounded by whirring machines and sterile workstations, drip liquids into beakers and analyze data on computer screens. A collection of Amazonian fruits and seeds are spread out on a lab bench. In front are mini bottles of essential oils extracted from these resources. Behind them are sheets of bioplastic that could be future plastic alternatives. These are the creations of the Amazon Oils Laboratory, LOA, which produces natural oils and butters from plants and seeds found in the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest for use in foods, cosmetics and health products for several large national and multinational companies. They also develop bioplastics and biofuels from oil extraction waste, which can amount to up to five times the oil produced. “We’ve been investigating ways to promote the production of biodiesel from alternative sources, such as inedible oils or those with limited use in human food,” Luís Adriano Nascimento, a chemist and vice coordinator at the LOA, told Mongabay. “It’s a circular economy, making the most of all this potential. It’s waste that can be turned into an income.” It’s just one example of research and developments from the Guamá Science and Technology Park (PCT) in Belém in the state of Pará. The park’s 12 laboratories, or research and development centers, are a hub of applied research exploring all sorts of forest-based solutions for market demands and supporting sustainable entrepreneurship across a wide range of sectors, including pharmaceuticals, technology, cosmetics and energy. “The idea is to have&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/raw-materials-become-high-value-bioeconomy-goods-at-an-amazon-science-park/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/08/raw-materials-become-high-value-bioeconomy-goods-at-an-amazon-science-park/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-285638</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Caribbean startups are turning excess seaweed into an agroecology solution</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/caribbean-startups-are-turning-excess-seaweed-into-an-agroecology-solution/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/caribbean-startups-are-turning-excess-seaweed-into-an-agroecology-solution/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Apr 2024 15:22:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Marlowe Starling]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/04/15182050/Sargassum-in-Cuba-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=280981</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean, Barbados, and Caribbean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, algae, Business, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Emission Reduction, Energy, Energy Efficiency, Environment, Environmental Policy, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Green, Industry, Land Use Change, Marine, Marine Conservation, Nutrient Pollution, Oceans, Politics, Pollution, Research, Seagrass, Solutions, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2015, smelly mats of a brown macroalgae called sargassum piled as high as 1.2 meter (4 feet) on the beaches of Barbados, recalls Joshua Forte. It was the fourth year in what has become an annual nightmare, with an estimated 18,100 kilograms (20 tons) of seaweed inundating Caribbean shorelines each year and wrecking the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2015, smelly mats of a brown macroalgae called sargassum piled as high as 1.2 meter (4 feet) on the beaches of Barbados, recalls Joshua Forte. It was the fourth year in what has become an annual nightmare, with an estimated 18,100 kilograms (20 tons) of seaweed inundating Caribbean shorelines each year and wrecking the region’s tourism-centered economies. The onslaught of seaweed reeked of rotten eggs, but Forte smelled something else: opportunity. A year earlier, Forte founded an organic fertilizer company called Red Diamond Compost. He was already selling a soil additive from sunflower seeds called Liquid Sunshine. But the sargassum seemed too big to ignore. So, Forte started to collect the seaweed by hand, hauling 27-kg (60-pound) bags of it into the back of a pickup truck. It became the raw material for a new product called Supreme Sea, a soil additive that includes growth-stimulating plant hormones and microorganisms extracted from the sargassum. After extraction, Forte composts what’s left over into a humus-rich product that’s safe for crops. The idea was to “have as big of an impact as possible on the influx of sargassum while contributing in a positive way to agriculture,” Forte told Mongabay. Sargassum contains a slew of nutrients, minerals and microorganisms that can foster and even accelerate plant growth, such as iron, magnesium, potassium, calcium and more. But rather than add nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus into the soil, it does something savvy: Its properties help plants be more efficient at taking up those&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/caribbean-startups-are-turning-excess-seaweed-into-an-agroecology-solution/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/caribbean-startups-are-turning-excess-seaweed-into-an-agroecology-solution/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-280981</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cambodia sea turtle nests spark hope amid coastal development &#038; species decline</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/cambodia-sea-turtle-nests-spark-hope-amid-coastal-development-species-decline/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/cambodia-sea-turtle-nests-spark-hope-amid-coastal-development-species-decline/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Feb 2024 02:47:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/12/01184939/hawksbill-Gary-Rinaldi-Flickr-670x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=278406</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Coastal Ecosystems, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Crime, Development, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Fisheries, Fishing, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Illegal Fishing, Illegal Trade, Islands, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Marine Protected Areas, Overexploitation, Overfishing, Pollution, Rediscovered Species, Sea Turtles, Seagrass, Sustainable Development, Tourism, Turtles, Water Pollution, Wildlife, Wildlife consumption, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — In late December 2023, on a remote island in Preah Sihanouk province, off the southwest coast of Cambodia, a team of conservationists uncovered nine nests belonging to sea turtles after more than a decade of searching for them. Cambodia’s marine turtle population has long been declining, but this discovery has sparked hope [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PHNOM PENH — In late December 2023, on a remote island in Preah Sihanouk province, off the southwest coast of Cambodia, a team of conservationists uncovered nine nests belonging to sea turtles after more than a decade of searching for them. Cambodia’s marine turtle population has long been declining, but this discovery has sparked hope among conservationists that the critically endangered hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) and endangered green turtles (Chelonia mydas) have not vanished from Cambodia’s waters. Nine nests were discovered by volunteers from the Royal Cambodian Navy who are stationed on the island and have been trained by Fauna &amp; Flora to monitor for the presence of sea turtles after a nest was discovered in March 2022. That initial finding of a single nest represented the first time that a sea turtle nest had been seen in Cambodia for a decade, highlighting the species’ decline. During the final days of 2023, naval personnel uncovered the nine nests, two of which had already hatched, and were able to estimate that the nests could hold as many as 1,000 eggs. It is believed that all of the nests should have hatched before the end of January 2024. Hatched eggs were excavated by naval volunteers to assess the success rate. Image supplied by Fauna &amp; Flora. Matt Glue, a marine technical specialist working with Fauna &amp; Flora in Cambodia, was able to confirm that some of the newly discovered nests were laid by a green turtle due to a female being spotted&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/cambodia-sea-turtle-nests-spark-hope-amid-coastal-development-species-decline/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/02/cambodia-sea-turtle-nests-spark-hope-amid-coastal-development-species-decline/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-278406</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia launches new front in climate campaign focusing on seagrass</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/indonesia-seagrass-climate-mitigation-emissions-reduction-carbon-marine/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/indonesia-seagrass-climate-mitigation-emissions-reduction-carbon-marine/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Nov 2023 15:01:03 +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/20/2018/02/27042810/Padang-lamun-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275649</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Blue Carbon, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Global Environmental Crisis, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Seagrass, and Sedimentation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia has launched a climate mitigation plan focusing on the country’s seagrass meadows, an overlooked ecosystem that ranks among the most efficient carbon sinks on the planet. The country is home to 11.5% of the world’s seagrass meadows, a position the government wants to leverage to increase its carbon storage options. Experts have [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia has launched a climate mitigation plan focusing on the country’s seagrass meadows, an overlooked ecosystem that ranks among the most efficient carbon sinks on the planet. The country is home to 11.5% of the world’s seagrass meadows, a position the government wants to leverage to increase its carbon storage options. Experts have calculated seagrass sequestration of carbon per given area at 35 times greater than that of tropical rainforests. “Addressing the complex issues of climate change requires commitment and diverse solutions,” Sakti Wahyu Trenggono, the Indonesian minister of marine affairs and fisheries, said in a statement announcing the Seagrass Blue Carbon Mitigation Action Profile. He added the plan is expected to be part of Indonesia’s greenhouse gas reduction goals that it committed to as part of the Paris climate agreement. The plan will also “serve as a roadmap to set the pace towards a more sustainable and resilient future,” Sakti said. Residents of Auki Island in Indonesia&#8217;s Papua province have for generations depended on the rich resources of their coastal ecosystems, such as seagrass, mangroves and marine life. They’ve established rules to manage these resources in a sustainable way. Image by Ridzki R. Sigit/Mongabay Indonesia. In Indonesia’s updated commitment to cut emissions under the Paris Agreement, known as its nationally determined contribution, or NDC, the government has targeted a 31.8% reduction from the business-as-usual scenario, and 43.2% with the aid of the international community. Sectors where it sees the most potential for emissions cuts include land use&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/indonesia-seagrass-climate-mitigation-emissions-reduction-carbon-marine/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/indonesia-seagrass-climate-mitigation-emissions-reduction-carbon-marine/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-275649</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cacao and cupuaçu emerge as Amazon&#8217;s bioeconomy showcases</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/cacao-and-cupuacu-emerge-as-amazons-bioeconomy-showcases/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/cacao-and-cupuacu-emerge-as-amazons-bioeconomy-showcases/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Oct 2023 07:00:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sarah Brown]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[agroecology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/02131326/Ismael-Nobre-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273763</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Agroforestry, Biodiversity, Business, Community Development, Conservation, Economics, Environment, Food, Food Industry, Indigenous Peoples, Saving Rainforests, Seagrass, Solutions, Sustainability, and Sustainable Development]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A handful of pioneering Amazonian chocolatiers are promoting keeping the rainforest standing by taking advantage of two forest products: cacao and cupuaçu.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The idea that the best chocolate was thought to come from Europe or Central America bothered César de Mendes. Growing up in the Brazilian Amazon, he would watch his mother prepare cocoa from the fruit she picked and had a hunch that it could be transformed into a premium product. He also knew that, by making chocolate locally, he could benefit both the rainforest and the traditional communities that lived there. A one-time chemist, de Mendes decided to trade his academic career for a new venture as a chocolate entrepreneur, launching the tree-to-table brand De Mendes Chocolates in 2014. Since then, he’s continued to source his cacao (Theobroma cacao), the fruit used to make cocoa, exclusively from traditional and Indigenous communities, paying them up to six times the market value for the fruit. “The cacao supplied by the traditional communities to our factory is all native,” Roberto Favero, a director at De Mendes, told Mongabay. “With the financial support given by De Mendes Chocolates, these communities will not need to deforest to produce another product to support themselves.” Among the communities de Mendes works with are the Indigenous Yanomami and Ye’kawana, teaching them to make fine cocoa from the cacao that grows within their territories. In 2019, he launched the first chocolate product made entirely by the Indigenous people, who picked and produced premium 69% chocolate bars. As Resende Sanöma, a community leader and director of the Hutukara Yanomami Association, told the Instituto Socioambiental, an NGO that advocates for Indigenous&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/cacao-and-cupuacu-emerge-as-amazons-bioeconomy-showcases/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-273763</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As climate change hits the Turkish coast, more marine reserves are needed (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/as-climate-change-hits-the-turkish-coast-conservationists-take-action-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/as-climate-change-hits-the-turkish-coast-conservationists-take-action-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Sep 2023 16:08:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Funda Kök]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/09/29155119/OceanImageBank_VincentKneefel_24-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273744</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, Mediterranean Sea, and Turkey]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Animals, Biodiversity, Climate, Climate Change, Commentary, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Green, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Seagrass, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Growing up, I lived in Ankara, far away from the coast, but the best time of year for me was always the summer months when I would travel to the south with my family to camp and spend time in nature. We loved enjoying the sea on the Mediterranean coast and I remember how rich [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Growing up, I lived in Ankara, far away from the coast, but the best time of year for me was always the summer months when I would travel to the south with my family to camp and spend time in nature. We loved enjoying the sea on the Mediterranean coast and I remember how rich the biodiversity was, spotting all kinds of fish, seagrass and macroalgae in the crystal-clear water. I was in college the first time I visited Gökova Bay – one of the most beautiful parts of Turkiye’s Turquoise Coast. It was amazing to wake up with the sounds of birds and see small fishing boats early in the morning. I would think to myself how incredible it could be to live here, to be a part of nature. This Mediterranean coastline is one of the Earth’s most precious havens for marine biodiversity. From monk seals to seagrass, sandbar sharks to dusky groupers, there was once so much life in these waters. But, the decline in biodiversity is increasingly visible to our eyes today. The Mediterranean’s marine life is facing many threats, not least from the boiling of its very own home. Funda Kök (left) with 2023 Goldman Environmental Prize winner Zafer Kızılkaya, who is another conservationist active on Turkey’s coast. Photo courtesy of Akdeniz Koruma Derneği. Summer 2023 has seen scientists report record-breaking sea temperatures around the world, bringing home the reality we are living in. Climate change is accelerating at a rate we cannot control, and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/as-climate-change-hits-the-turkish-coast-conservationists-take-action-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/as-climate-change-hits-the-turkish-coast-conservationists-take-action-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-273744</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>First Nation and scientists partner to revive climate-saving eelgrass</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/first-nation-and-scientists-partner-to-revive-climate-saving-eelgrass/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/first-nation-and-scientists-partner-to-revive-climate-saving-eelgrass/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Sep 2023 16:18:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Moira Donovan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/09/22155729/106-2023-Miramichi-Eelgrass-Coring-Workshop_00103-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273576</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation Potential and Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate Change, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Culture, Ecosystems, Environment, Food, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Peoples, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Plants, Research, Restoration, Seagrass, Solutions, and Traditional Knowledge]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MALIKO’MIJK, Canada — Decades ago, the sea around Maliko’mijk Island was an expansive green carpet of eelgrass, the meadows so thick that members of the Pictou Landing First Nation had to cut channels through them for their boats to pass. But on a drizzly September day, as boats carrying scientists and elders pull up to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MALIKO’MIJK, Canada — Decades ago, the sea around Maliko’mijk Island was an expansive green carpet of eelgrass, the meadows so thick that members of the Pictou Landing First Nation had to cut channels through them for their boats to pass. But on a drizzly September day, as boats carrying scientists and elders pull up to the island, which hugs the north shore of Canada’s Nova Scotia province, the seafloor beneath is brown and bare. “It’s a very special place for my people,” says Pictou Landing Chief Ann Francis-Muise, standing on the shore. “When we were growing up, our family members would take us out spearing eels. There seems to be a huge change over the years.” This decline isn’t only a problem for this community. Across North America, meadows of marine eelgrass (Zostera marina) are in decline due to pollution, seabed disturbance, invasive species and warming water. This has implications for biodiversity, coastal erosion and climate change, since eelgrass plays an outsize role in pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Even as the loss of eelgrass becomes increasingly apparent, many knowledge gaps remain, from where it’s distributed, to just how effective it is at sequestering carbon. Either way, for Indigenous communities, the consequences of eelgrass loss are clear, and on the east coast of Canada, a project that partners researchers with Mi’kmaq knowledge holders and land users is now attempting to reverse that decline — with potential benefits for communities, and for the planet. Eelgrass meadows exist on all&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/first-nation-and-scientists-partner-to-revive-climate-saving-eelgrass/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/first-nation-and-scientists-partner-to-revive-climate-saving-eelgrass/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-273576</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Mud, muck and death’: Cambodia’s plan to obstruct trawlers and revive local fishing</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/mud-muck-and-death-cambodias-plan-to-obstruct-trawlers-and-revive-local-fishing/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/mud-muck-and-death-cambodias-plan-to-obstruct-trawlers-and-revive-local-fishing/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jul 2023 07:00:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Matt Blomberg]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/26114904/16-Trapang-Ropov-community-members-3-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271327</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystem Services, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Global Environmental Crisis, Habitat Loss, Illegal Fishing, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Oceans, Overfishing, Protected Areas, Seagrass, Solutions, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[TRAPANG ROPOV, Cambodia — Trudging through a tangle of mangrove roots and muddy water, Taing Kry grimaced and howled as he and a partner shifted the weight of a 120-kilogram (265-pound) concrete pillar from their shoulders onto a plastic raft in the shallows of Trapang Ropov, a rundown fishing village on Cambodia’s southern coast. &#8220;This [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[TRAPANG ROPOV, Cambodia — Trudging through a tangle of mangrove roots and muddy water, Taing Kry grimaced and howled as he and a partner shifted the weight of a 120-kilogram (265-pound) concrete pillar from their shoulders onto a plastic raft in the shallows of Trapang Ropov, a rundown fishing village on Cambodia’s southern coast. &#8220;This is a tractor&#8217;s work,&#8221; Kry called, as two mates stood on a gangplank above him, smoking cigarettes and cracking jokes. &#8220;We know,&#8221; one of them spat back. &#8220;Give us $50 and we will go to the district office and change your name officially &#8230; to Mr. Tractor.&#8221; A few miles out to sea, divers wearing weight belts over torn, ill-fitting wetsuits walked around on the seafloor stacking a previous load of pillars into a meter (3-foot) tall hexagonal structure. It’s the latest tactic to resuscitate a community fishery riled by illegal trawlers, whose weighted, often electrified, nets kill, catch or destroy everything in their path, including the very seabed habitat upon which marine life depends. “You’re knee-deep in mud down there,” one of the divers said. “There’s nothing else; no life, just mud, muck and death.” Members of the Trapang Ropov fishing community move blocks of concrete to be loaded onto a raft, towed out to sea and then built into anti-trawling devices in March, 2023. Image by Matt Blomberg for Mongabay. Taing Kry takes a break from carrying 120-kilogram (265-pound) concrete pillars in Trapang Ropov. Image by Matt Blomberg for Mongabay. Originally developed as&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/mud-muck-and-death-cambodias-plan-to-obstruct-trawlers-and-revive-local-fishing/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/mud-muck-and-death-cambodias-plan-to-obstruct-trawlers-and-revive-local-fishing/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-271327</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Blue carbon deserves a green light for the climate fight (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/blue-carbon-deserves-a-green-light-for-the-climate-fight-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/blue-carbon-deserves-a-green-light-for-the-climate-fight-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jul 2023 19:26:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Steve Trent]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/06/15143956/22-seagrass-restoration-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270499</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Biodiversity, Blue Carbon, Carbon Offsets, Climate, Climate Change, Commentary, Ecosystems, Marine, Marine Conservation, Mitigation, Nature-based climate solutions, Oceans, Plants, Seagrass, and Solutions]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Blue carbon – the carbon stored in coastal and marine ecosystems – is an unsung ally in our fight against the climate crisis. Marine vegetated habitats like mangroves, seagrasses, salt marshes, and kelp cover just 0.2% of the ocean surface, but they contain 50% of the carbon sequestered in marine sediments. We should be prioritizing [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Blue carbon – the carbon stored in coastal and marine ecosystems – is an unsung ally in our fight against the climate crisis. Marine vegetated habitats like mangroves, seagrasses, salt marshes, and kelp cover just 0.2% of the ocean surface, but they contain 50% of the carbon sequestered in marine sediments. We should be prioritizing them, but instead we are watching them disappear before our eyes. Approximately 35% of the world’s mangroves and 30% of all seagrass meadows have been lost or degraded over the last century. We are at the start of an ‘extreme’ and ‘unprecedented’ climate crisis, and we are failing to protect the very ecosystems which could help us avert it. For example, a Mediterranean seagrass called Posidonia oceanica can sequester carbon at up to 70 times the rate of tropical forests. Yet the area it covers has shrunk by around 35% over the last 50 years, as a result of pollution, global heating and destructive fishing techniques. A healthy seagrass meadow. Image courtesy of Susantha Udagedara. Seagrasses, kelp, mangroves and salt marshes could all help us avoid runaway climate change if we let them. Beyond the coasts, whales also store vast amounts of carbon in their bodies. A single great whale can sequester 33 tons of CO2, which is safely stored on the seafloor when it dies and sinks. They maintain healthy levels of phytoplankton – which fix carbon from the atmosphere into the ocean – through their faeces, and their migrations circulate nutrients through the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/blue-carbon-deserves-a-green-light-for-the-climate-fight-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/blue-carbon-deserves-a-green-light-for-the-climate-fight-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-270499</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Indonesia, clouds form over East Java&#8217;s promising band of avocado growers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/in-indonesia-clouds-form-over-east-javas-promising-band-of-avocado-growers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/in-indonesia-clouds-form-over-east-javas-promising-band-of-avocado-growers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 May 2023 02:10:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Asad Asnawi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/05/15135923/java-avocados-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=268586</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Java, Indonesia, Java, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Climate Change, Crops, Environment, Farming, Food, Food Industry, food security, Global Warming, Impact Of Climate Change, Seagrass, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PASURUAN, Indonesia — Indonesia is one of the world’s largest producers of food commodities, but until recently this archipelago of 270 million people produced relatively little avocado. Julianto Effendi is among a growing number of farmers trying to change that. “In the past [avocado] wasn’t really given much of a look,” Julianto told Mongabay Indonesia [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PASURUAN, Indonesia — Indonesia is one of the world’s largest producers of food commodities, but until recently this archipelago of 270 million people produced relatively little avocado. Julianto Effendi is among a growing number of farmers trying to change that. “In the past [avocado] wasn’t really given much of a look,” Julianto told Mongabay Indonesia near an avocado orchard in East Java province. “Almost all farmers have the trees now.” On an April day, neat rows of avocado trees line the hillside below Mount Arjuna, a short drive from the mid-sized city of Malang. The land taken up by avocado trees here has expanded in recent years as demand for the fruit has increased and farmers explore new ways to grow value. Avocado trees fare best in soil that drains well, with only slight acidity or alkalinity. In recent decades, avocado production has grown around the world, tracking demand from health-conscious consumers for a fruit rich in healthy fats and nutrients. Avocado from Pasuruan. In the five years to 2020, avocado production in Indonesia has more than doubled, exceeding 600,000 metric tons. Image by A. Asnawi for Mongabay Indonesia. Indonesia plants most of the world’s oil palm and is the second-largest source of cassava, after Nigeria. According to the latest data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Indonesia still produces fewer avocados than Colombia and the Dominican Republic, which are both much smaller countries in terms of territory and population. However, in the five years to 2020,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/in-indonesia-clouds-form-over-east-javas-promising-band-of-avocado-growers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/in-indonesia-clouds-form-over-east-javas-promising-band-of-avocado-growers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-268586</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Sri Lanka and beyond, seagrass key to livelihoods, marine habitats</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/in-sri-lanka-and-beyond-seagrass-key-to-livelihoods-marine-habitats/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/in-sri-lanka-and-beyond-seagrass-key-to-livelihoods-marine-habitats/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Mar 2023 18:22:38 +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/20/2023/03/15175105/2.-PC310469-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=266506</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Habitat Loss, Marine, and Seagrass]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — The fishers in Illuppaikadawei village in the northern district of Mannar mostly use fence fishery, where they erect a series of poles and tie a net around them during high tide. When the tide retreats, the fish get trapped in the net. “We prefer to set up these traps near the seagrass beds, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — The fishers in Illuppaikadawei village in the northern district of Mannar mostly use fence fishery, where they erect a series of poles and tie a net around them during high tide. When the tide retreats, the fish get trapped in the net. “We prefer to set up these traps near the seagrass beds, as there are more fish, crabs and squids,” says Angie Thomas, a fisher who practices fence fishery, a family tradition. Thomas and other fisher households in the village get sufficient catch to sustain their daily needs despite their fishing area being quite small, thanks to the seagrass meadows on the coastline. “Seagrass meadows support a great abundance and diversity of fish and invertebrates where a number of commercially and recreationally important species have been linked to seagrass at some stage of their life cycle,” says Susantha Udagedara, of the Blue Resources Trust (BRT), an organization that started studying seagrasses more than a decade ago. Seagrass meadows are important marine ecosystems. Image courtesy of Susantha Udagedara. In a study that delves into socioeconomic factors across 147 villages in Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Tanzania, a group of scientists including Udagedara report that seagrass is the most preferred habitat for fishing across villages in all the four countries studied due to the reliability of a good catch. Poorer households are less likely to own motorboats, and this makes them significantly dependent on seagrasses, as they are unable to fish elsewhere. This highlights the economic reasons, in addition&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/in-sri-lanka-and-beyond-seagrass-key-to-livelihoods-marine-habitats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-266506</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous Comcaac serve up an oceanic grain to preserve seagrass meadows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/indigenous-comcaac-serve-up-an-oceanic-grain-to-preserve-seagrass-meadows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/indigenous-comcaac-serve-up-an-oceanic-grain-to-preserve-seagrass-meadows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2023 10:05:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Astrid Arellano]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Astridarellano]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/03/03100845/01-Portada-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=266100</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Latin America and Mexico]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Culture, Ecosystems, Environment, Food, Indigenous Peoples, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Plants, Seagrass, and Women In Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PUNTA CHUECA, Mexico — Legend has it that, many thousands of years ago, a messenger arrived in the Comcaac land on board a strange boat after sailing on the waters of the Infiernillo Channel. The people were said to have welcomed the boat with the bill of a duck and the tail of another bird. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PUNTA CHUECA, Mexico — Legend has it that, many thousands of years ago, a messenger arrived in the Comcaac land on board a strange boat after sailing on the waters of the Infiernillo Channel. The people were said to have welcomed the boat with the bill of a duck and the tail of another bird. “He was the messenger of a great spirit,” says René Montaño, a Comcaac linguist. “He told our ancestors that he spread xnois seeds all along the channel so that the grass would grow for the community’s use. He gave us permission to collect it and take care of it.” Montaño is addressing the entire community at a cultural festival in the Comcaac territory in what is today northwestern Mexico. He talks about how their ancestors learned that xnois (Zostera marina), a type of seagrass also known as eelgrass, could feed their people. René Montaño, a Comcaac linguist, talks about the origin of xnois during a cultural festival in Mexico. Image by Astrid Arellano for Mongabay. “Zostera marina is paramount for us,” Montaño says. “There are other parts of the world where it barely exists, but here, in this channel, there’s plenty. The messenger showed people how to harvest it, what parts shouldn’t be touched so that it can regrow.” From that moment, Comcaac warriors and fishers learned that it was a food that would give them the necessary strength to survive long days at sea, and the different ways it could be prepared were passed&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/indigenous-comcaac-serve-up-an-oceanic-grain-to-preserve-seagrass-meadows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-266100</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Innovators develop seaweed-based alternatives to plastic food wrappers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/innovators-develop-seaweed-based-alternatives-to-plastic-food-wrappers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/innovators-develop-seaweed-based-alternatives-to-plastic-food-wrappers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jan 2023 09:32:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jewel S. Cabrera]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/01/17091333/seaweed-in-philippines-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=264645</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Product Lifecycles and Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellowship]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Fellows, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Industry, Natural Resources, Oceans, Plastic, Pollution, Research, Seagrass, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Waste, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Seaweed, a common name for thousands of marine plants and algae found in different water bodies, not only provides food and shelter for marine animals, but it can also help solve the plastic pollution problem. Materials researchers from Flinders University in Australia and German biomaterials developer one • fıve have developed a new nonpolluting seaweed-based [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Seaweed, a common name for thousands of marine plants and algae found in different water bodies, not only provides food and shelter for marine animals, but it can also help solve the plastic pollution problem. Materials researchers from Flinders University in Australia and German biomaterials developer one • fıve have developed a new nonpolluting seaweed-based coating material “designed to replace conventional fossil-based plastic coatings used in grease-resistant fast food packaging.” The initiative aims to transform the global packaging and plastics industry by significantly reducing reliance on highly pollutive conventional plastic, according to Flinders University&#8217;s media release. The packaging used to wrap the hamburgers, fries and chips we order from fast food establishments is typically laminated with a thin layer of plastic in order to make it grease-resistant. However, this poses a problem in terms of recycling, as this layer is typically made of synthetic polymer, which is derived from petroleum, such as polyethylene or polypropylene. This does not biodegrade and it breaks up into smaller pieces called microplastics. The one • fıve and Flinders researchers have developed an alternative: a seaweed-based coating that is not made from synthetic polymer. This fits with the goals of recently proposed revisions to EU rules for packaging and packaging waste. The main objectives of the proposed rules are to prevent the generation of packaging waste, to boost high-quality “closed loop” recycling, and to reduce the need for primary natural resources and create a well-functioning market for secondary raw materials that will increase the use&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/innovators-develop-seaweed-based-alternatives-to-plastic-food-wrappers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/innovators-develop-seaweed-based-alternatives-to-plastic-food-wrappers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-264645</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Hunting for future-proof marine plants in the acidic waters bathing a volcano</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/hunting-for-future-proof-marine-plants-in-the-acidic-waters-bathing-a-volcano/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/hunting-for-future-proof-marine-plants-in-the-acidic-waters-bathing-a-volcano/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Dec 2022 15:03:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Guia Baggi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/12/22150705/3-Ph-Credit-Marco-Milazzo-Vulcano-vent-site-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=264032</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, and Italy]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Biodiversity, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Emissions, Chemicals, Climate Change, Coral Reefs, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Marine, Ocean Acidification, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Plants, Seagrass, and Volcanoes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A stone causeway connects an islet, the famed Aragonese Castle perched atop it, to the island of Ischia off the coast of Naples in southern Italy. Below water, along the islet’s northern and southern contours, CO2 bubbles from volcanic rocks. Across these effervescent strips of seabed, pH ranges from an extreme low of 6.6 to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A stone causeway connects an islet, the famed Aragonese Castle perched atop it, to the island of Ischia off the coast of Naples in southern Italy. Below water, along the islet’s northern and southern contours, CO2 bubbles from volcanic rocks. Across these effervescent strips of seabed, pH ranges from an extreme low of 6.6 to a normal 8.1. Between 7.8 and 7.7, values that according to worst-case climate projections will be common in ocean waters globally by the end of the century, seagrass and macroalgae, or seaweed, dominate the seascape. Since 2008, scientists from all over the world have been using this area as a natural biogeochemistry lab and a window on the future. Researchers working in these waters, naturally acidified due to the presence of underwater volcanoes, are studying animal and seagrass populations that have inhabited these rocks for generations, among other aspects of local ecology. “We have photosynthetic organisms like [the seagrass] Posidonia and other types of macroalgae, which are already somehow adapted to marine acidification,&#8221; Marco Munari, a marine ecologist and ecotoxicologist at Zoological Station Anton Dohrn (SZN) in Naples told Mongabay in an interview. Until earlier this year, Munari was coordinator of SZN’s Ischia Marine Centre; he has since moved to a different SZN branch in Fano. The local populations of these organisms are already prepared for the stressors that populations in other areas might experience in a not-so-distant future. Posidonia seagrass grows in waters naturally acidified by carbon dioxide venting from an underwater volcano near&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/hunting-for-future-proof-marine-plants-in-the-acidic-waters-bathing-a-volcano/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-264032</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Extinct sea cow’s underwater engineering legacy lives on today, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/extinct-sea-cows-underwater-engineering-legacy-lives-on-today-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/extinct-sea-cows-underwater-engineering-legacy-lives-on-today-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Dec 2022 18:23:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/12/20111949/Stellers_Sea_Cow-illustration-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=263878</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Pacific Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Seagrass, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On a Russian-led expedition in the northern Pacific Ocean in the 1740s, German botanist Georg Wilhelm Steller laid eyes on a species that captured his imagination. It looked like a manatee but was bigger than a killer whale, and it grazed similarly to a cow or horse. After Steller described the animal, it became known [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On a Russian-led expedition in the northern Pacific Ocean in the 1740s, German botanist Georg Wilhelm Steller laid eyes on a species that captured his imagination. It looked like a manatee but was bigger than a killer whale, and it grazed similarly to a cow or horse. After Steller described the animal, it became known as Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas). The sea cow could grow about 9 meters (30 feet) in length and weigh up to 10 metric tons, but this colossal creature had few defenses. Covered with thick blubber, the sea cow could not fully submerge itself in the water, but floated at the surface, grazing on kelp. This tendency made the species vulnerable to hunting. “These animals are very voracious and eat incessantly, and because they are so greedy they keep their heads always under water, without regard to life and safety,” Steller wrote in his account. “Hence a man in a boat, or swimming naked, can move among them without danger and select at ease the one of the herd he desires to strike — and accomplish it all while they are feeding.” By 1768, less than three decades after Steller formally described the species, the sea cow was extinct. But in a new paper, some scientists suggest the species left a considerable legacy in the coastal waters of the North Pacific: the enhancement of kelp forests through its eating habits. Reconstruction of Steller measuring a Steller&#8217;s sea cow on Bering Island, July 12, 1742. Image&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/extinct-sea-cows-underwater-engineering-legacy-lives-on-today-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-263878</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Island shopping: Cambodian officials buy up the Cardamoms’ coast</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/island-shopping-cambodian-officials-buy-up-the-cardamoms-coast/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/island-shopping-cambodian-officials-buy-up-the-cardamoms-coast/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Dec 2022 03:03:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Andy BallGerald FlynnVutha Srey]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/12/16015608/DJI_0430-Resized-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=263743</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Blue Carbon, Carbon Sequestration, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Ecological Beauty, Ecology, Ecosystems, Ecotourism, Endangered Species, Fisheries, Forest Destruction, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Habitat Loss, Illegal Fishing, Islands, Land Grabbing, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Overfishing, Protected Areas, Seagrass, Seahorses, and Tourism]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KOH S’DACH, Cambodia — Bristling with coral reefs, marine life and palm trees, the islands dotting Cambodia’s western and southwestern coasts have long lured tourists and investors alike with white sandy beaches sloping into the azure waters of the Gulf of Thailand. Beyond the postcard views, limited regulation and the availability of 99-year leases for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KOH S’DACH, Cambodia — Bristling with coral reefs, marine life and palm trees, the islands dotting Cambodia’s western and southwestern coasts have long lured tourists and investors alike with white sandy beaches sloping into the azure waters of the Gulf of Thailand. Beyond the postcard views, limited regulation and the availability of 99-year leases for fully foreign-owned companies have made these archipelagos a magnet for tourism magnates who, along with fugitives and government officials, have sought to cash in on the coast’s potential since the 2000s. Speculative island purchases ran rampant as Cambodia’s tourism industry grew, with islands bought up and sold on again throughout the 2010s. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, brought much of this to an abrupt halt. But as the pandemic’s grip on Cambodia loosened, Kay Samroum, chairman of the Koh Kong provincial council, announced on Feb. 4, 2022, that nine of the province’s 35 islands were slated for development. Details for the future of the province’s 237-kilometer (147-mile) coastline and its inhabitants are sparse. That same day, a deputy provincial governor, Sok Sothy, talked up the potential of the yet-to-be finished Dara Sakor international airport to serve Koh Kong’s tourism industry, although the airport’s Chinese developers have been mired in controversy. Then, on Feb. 6, Ouk Pheaktra, another of Koh Kong’s deputy provincial governors, took a delegation from the Council of the Development of Cambodia to a number of islands where investment licenses had already been issued and called on the licensees to expedite their projects. By&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/island-shopping-cambodian-officials-buy-up-the-cardamoms-coast/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-263743</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Peat on land and kelp at sea as Argentina protects tip of Tierra del Fuego</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/peat-on-land-and-kelp-at-sea-as-argentina-protects-tip-of-tierra-del-fuego/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/peat-on-land-and-kelp-at-sea-as-argentina-protects-tip-of-tierra-del-fuego/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Dec 2022 18:48:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/12/08154536/kelp-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=263397</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Argentina, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Biodiversity, carbon, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Carbon, Forests, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Peatlands, Politics, Protected Areas, Seagrass, Soil Carbon, Solutions, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On Dec. 6, legislators in Argentina’s southernmost province of Tierra del Fuego approved a law to permanently protect the land and sea of the Mitre Peninsula at the tip of South America, considered to be one of the region’s last wild places. The Mitre Peninsula is known to encompass Argentina’s most important carbon sink through [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On Dec. 6, legislators in Argentina’s southernmost province of Tierra del Fuego approved a law to permanently protect the land and sea of the Mitre Peninsula at the tip of South America, considered to be one of the region’s last wild places. The Mitre Peninsula is known to encompass Argentina’s most important carbon sink through a range of peatlands and the surrounding ocean swirls with giant kelp forests. The newly protected area will span 486,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) — about three times as big as London — and create a haven for numerous species, such as the endangered southern river otter (Lontra provocax). Sofia Heinonen, the director of Rewilding Argentina, said conservationists, scientists, policymakers and community members worked for about 30 years to establish the Mitre Peninsula as a protected area. The global movement to protect peatlands and other natural places in an effort to combat climate change likely spurred the government’s decision, she said. The Mitre Peninsula is known to encompass Argentina’s most important carbon sink through a range of peatlands and the surrounding ocean swirls with giant kelp forests. Image by Joel Reyero. “It’s incredible,” Heinonen told Mongabay. “It was really a party [when we found out]. We were all jumping.” The protected area will comprise 300,000 hectares (741,000 acres) of land and the remaining part of ocean. The peatlands will likely be fully protected from human activities, while some forms of tourism will be allowed in other parts of Mitre Peninsula. And more than a quarter&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/peat-on-land-and-kelp-at-sea-as-argentina-protects-tip-of-tierra-del-fuego/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-263397</doi>				</item>
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