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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/tropical-conservation-science/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Tue, 01 Sep 2026 18:16:35 +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 Tropical Conservation Science</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/tropical-conservation-science/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Inspiring young herpetologists in Sri Lanka: Interview with Anslem de Silva</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/inspiring-young-herpetologists-in-sri-lanka-interview-with-anslem-de-silva/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/inspiring-young-herpetologists-in-sri-lanka-interview-with-anslem-de-silva/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Aug 2026 14:53:33 +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/20/2026/08/25122934/3.-in-the-field-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327246</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Education, Herps, Interviews, Interviews with conservation players, Lizards, Reptiles, Science, and Tropical Conservation Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lankan-born conservation biologist and National Geographic explorer Ruchira Somaweera is internationally recognized for his award-winning wildlife research, photography and storytelling. Despite his global achievements, Somaweera treasures an old journal copy containing a prophecy. When he was 13 years old, Somaweera received a copy of the research journal Lyriocephalus with a handwritten note [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lankan-born conservation biologist and National Geographic explorer Ruchira Somaweera is internationally recognized for his award-winning wildlife research, photography and storytelling. Despite his global achievements, Somaweera treasures an old journal copy containing a prophecy. When he was 13 years old, Somaweera received a copy of the research journal Lyriocephalus with a handwritten note which read: “One day you will be a great herpetologist,” signed by Anslem de Silva. “Almost 30 years ago, I got hooked into herpetology after reading a series of newspaper articles written by de Silva on Sri Lankan snakes in a local science publication. Those articles inspired me to prepare a small booklet on snakes as my school science project. Most of the herpetologists of my generation were groomed by de Silva, and hundreds, if not thousands, of students have been inspired by him, just like I was,” Somaweera told Mongabay. In 1995, Ruchira Somaweera received a copy of the research journal Lyriocephalus from Anslem de Silva with the signed inscription: “One day you will be a great herpetologist.” Image courtesy of Ruchira Somaweera. Anslem de Silva is widely regarded as as the father of modern herpetology in Sri Lanka, having dedicated more than six decades to studying the island’s reptiles and amphibians. His pioneering research, publications and conservation efforts have transformed scientific understanding of Sri Lanka’s remarkable herpetofauna. Sri Lanka’s herpetofauna represents the island’s extraordinary diversity of reptiles and amphibians, including snakes, lizards, turtles, crocodiles, frogs, toads and caecilians, with many species found nowhere&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/inspiring-young-herpetologists-in-sri-lanka-interview-with-anslem-de-silva/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/inspiring-young-herpetologists-in-sri-lanka-interview-with-anslem-de-silva/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327246</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Urban heat islands have solutions; many tropical cities can’t afford them</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/urban-heat-islands-have-solutions-many-tropical-cities-cant-afford-them/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/urban-heat-islands-have-solutions-many-tropical-cities-cant-afford-them/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Aug 2026 00:34:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Adam Litchkofski]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/12214622/5-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326095</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, China, East Asia, Global, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Jakarta, Nigeria, Singapore, Southeast Asia, Tropics, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Biodiversity, Cities, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Development, Disasters, Earth Science, Economics, El Nino, Energy, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fossil Fuels, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Heatwave, Impact Of Climate Change, Infrastructure, Natural Resources, Planetary Boundaries, Planetary Health, Plants, Poverty, Public Health, Research, Science, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Temperatures, Trees, Tropical Conservation Science, urban ecology, Weather, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Urban heat islands pose a growing global health threat. But in tropical cities, the peril is surging. Already burdened by hot-humid equatorial weather, global warming, intense poverty, rapid urbanization, and a lack of cooling infrastructure, tropical city officials now face a powerful 2026-2027 El Niño that could put millions of vulnerable urban dwellers at risk. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Urban heat islands pose a growing global health threat. But in tropical cities, the peril is surging. Already burdened by hot-humid equatorial weather, global warming, intense poverty, rapid urbanization, and a lack of cooling infrastructure, tropical city officials now face a powerful 2026-2027 El Niño that could put millions of vulnerable urban dwellers at risk. Heat islands form because artificial surfaces, like roads and rooftops, trap heat by day and release it by night, never giving highly-urbanized spaces time to cool. When climate change-induced heat domes stall over cities, temperatures can soar for weeks into the triple digits. Every “city has a rhythm, it has a metabolism,” Matthias Roth, a National University of Singapore researcher, told Mongabay in a video interview. “The metabolism of each city — especially how incoming solar energy is divided between heating surfaces, warming the air, evaporating water, and being stored in the ground and buildings — influences how much energy heats up buildings, surfaces, and air. The prevalence of concrete and asphalt and the absence of vegetation creates a heat island.” But not all tropical urban heat islands (UHIs) are created equally, with the severity of their heat burdens dependent on innovative city planning and the financial clout to keep pace with global warming. In wealthy Singapore (which has devoted high levels of funding to curb UHI effects), air temperatures can still swell; compact high-rise building complexes there can see outdoor temperatures 4.3° Celsius (7.9° Fahrenheit) above rural areas. But in poorer cities, like Lagos,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/urban-heat-islands-have-solutions-many-tropical-cities-cant-afford-them/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/urban-heat-islands-have-solutions-many-tropical-cities-cant-afford-them/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326095</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Warming world could push Southeast Asia forests toward thermal limits, new study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/warming-world-could-push-southeast-asia-forests-toward-thermal-limits-new-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/warming-world-could-push-southeast-asia-forests-toward-thermal-limits-new-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2026 15:20:41 +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/20/2026/07/15153104/raja-ampat2_RAB-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323577</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Ecosystems, forest degradation, Forest Fragmentation, Forest Loss, Forests, Habitat, Habitat Degradation, Impact Of Climate Change, Rainforests, Research, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Forest canopies create the conditions for an extraordinary diversity of life to thrive. By casting shade and retaining moisture in the air and soil, they generate cool and stable understory environments. In the tropics, this regulating effect is particularly crucial for countless species that otherwise would be unable to survive in the extreme heat of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Forest canopies create the conditions for an extraordinary diversity of life to thrive. By casting shade and retaining moisture in the air and soil, they generate cool and stable understory environments. In the tropics, this regulating effect is particularly crucial for countless species that otherwise would be unable to survive in the extreme heat of surrounding open landscapes. However, forest scientists are increasingly concerned that the combined pressures of global warming and habitat degradation could undermine forests’ critical thermal buffering capacity. New research from Southeast Asia predicts forests across the region will experience unprecedented peak temperatures over the next three decades. Heat levels beneath the canopy could hit new highs even within currently intact ecosystems by 2050, the study found, potentially exposing forest-dwelling animals, plants and fungi to severe levels of heat stress. “Our findings show that climate change is not only warming the atmosphere globally, but also reshaping the local conditions that species experience inside forests,” said Erone Ghizoni Santos, who led the study while he was a Ph.D. student at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Clouded leopards are one of many forest-dependent mammals that could be impacted by shifting understory microclimates. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. Region-wide warming Prior research in Malaysian Borneo has demonstrated that when forests are degraded, such as through logging, they become more affected by climate shifts in the surrounding landscape. Depleted canopies allow more sunlight to reach the ground and trap less moisture, allowing heat to permeate the ecosystem. What was missing,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/warming-world-could-push-southeast-asia-forests-toward-thermal-limits-new-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/warming-world-could-push-southeast-asia-forests-toward-thermal-limits-new-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323577</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Linking habitats strengthens wildlife microbiomes, helps fight disease: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/linking-habitats-strengthens-wildlife-microbiomes-helps-fight-disease-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/linking-habitats-strengthens-wildlife-microbiomes-helps-fight-disease-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Apr 2026 14:29:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/23133143/4-Atlantic-Forest-frog-Dendrophryniscus-haddadi-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318009</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Global, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibians, Conservation, Diseases, Forest Fragmentation, Fragmentation, Freshwater, Frogs, Fungi, Global Environmental Crisis, Habitat Loss, Microorganisms, Planetary Health, Research, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new study has found that when deforestation and land use change break up key habitats vital to amphibian life cycles, those disconnects can play havoc with the animals’ microbiome, leaving them more susceptible to disease. This troubling finding could also apply to a host of other species, the study researchers say, but may also [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new study has found that when deforestation and land use change break up key habitats vital to amphibian life cycles, those disconnects can play havoc with the animals’ microbiome, leaving them more susceptible to disease. This troubling finding could also apply to a host of other species, the study researchers say, but may also have positive implications for conservation to counteract the problem. Habitat split, first associated with amphibian decline in a 2007 study, occurs when multiple “classes” of aquatic and terrestrial habitat — such as forests, streams and ponds — vital to a species’ life cycle are separated by human activities (such as agriculture), causing the species to decline. Studies have already shown that this phenomenon is a driver of localized frog extinctions in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. In the new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists investigated the effect of “habitat split” on the microbiome of four frog species (Haddadus binotatus, Rhinella ornata, Boana faber and Ischnocnema henselii), all dwelling in the highly fragmented Atlantic Forest. They found that where forest and aquatic habitats are linked, frogs are more likely to host skin microbes that inhibit the deadly fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. This fungus, known as chytrid, is responsible for large-scale declines of hundreds of amphibian species across the globe. Importantly, the skin microbiome of frogs living in areas where these habitats were split hosted fewer pathogen-fighting microbes, leaving the frogs more susceptible to infection. Two of the frog species sampled also&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/linking-habitats-strengthens-wildlife-microbiomes-helps-fight-disease-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/linking-habitats-strengthens-wildlife-microbiomes-helps-fight-disease-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318009</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Blew us away’: Researchers find nitrogen boost spurs faster tropical forest growth</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/blew-us-away-researchers-find-nitrogen-boost-spurs-faster-tropical-forest-growth/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/blew-us-away-researchers-find-nitrogen-boost-spurs-faster-tropical-forest-growth/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jan 2026 17:10:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/30081255/c-A-root-nodule-on-a-legume-tree-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313530</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Global, Latin America, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, carbon, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Sequestration, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forests, Nitrogen Cycle, Reforestation, Research, Restoration, Soil Carbon, Tropical Conservation Science, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Regenerating tropical forests pull carbon dioxide from the air, but a lack of nitrogen in the soil could slow this process, a new Nature Communications study has found. Restoring tropical forests is widely seen as one of the most important ways to mitigate climate change, but scientists still don’t fully understand how nutrient availability may [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Regenerating tropical forests pull carbon dioxide from the air, but a lack of nitrogen in the soil could slow this process, a new Nature Communications study has found. Restoring tropical forests is widely seen as one of the most important ways to mitigate climate change, but scientists still don’t fully understand how nutrient availability may constrain tree growth. That means we can’t really predict how quickly regenerating forests will accumulate carbon. Both nitrogen and phosphorus are critical for plant growth, but when forested land is cleared, nitrogen in disturbed soils can evaporate or wash away. Phosphorus is also thought to be limited in many tropical soils. Now, a large-scale experiment in Panama finds that a lack of nitrogen in soil limits the early stages of tropical forest regrowth. When researchers added nitrogen to recently cleared land, the trees grew nearly twice as fast. Recovering forest in Panama. Image by Wenguang Tang. The finding “totally blew us away” says study author Sarah Batterman, an ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and associate professor at the University of Leeds. “We didn&#8217;t realize that nitrogen could be that important in tropical forests, and the fact that the forest grew back twice as fast in the first decade was just kind of amazing.” The study took place within the Panama Canal Watershed in lowland tropical forest. To understand the impact of nutrient availability on tree growth, the researchers applied nitrogen and phosphorus, alone or in combination, to forest plots at different stages&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/blew-us-away-researchers-find-nitrogen-boost-spurs-faster-tropical-forest-growth/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/blew-us-away-researchers-find-nitrogen-boost-spurs-faster-tropical-forest-growth/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313530</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Where there’s political will, there’s a way to stop tropical deforestation, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/where-theres-political-will-theres-a-way-to-stop-tropical-deforestation-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/where-theres-political-will-theres-a-way-to-stop-tropical-deforestation-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jul 2025 16:26:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/23143018/herps_208130-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=303044</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Asia, Brazil, Global, Indonesia, South America, Southeast Asia, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation Technology, data, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Remote Sensing, Research, Satellite Imagery, Saving Rainforests, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Political will is among the most important factors in preventing tropical deforestation, according to a group of experts surveyed for a new study — with strong political commitment often arising out of long-term “public pressure” and civil society advocacy for forest protection. The research, published July 22 in the journal Conservation Letters, turns the question [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Political will is among the most important factors in preventing tropical deforestation, according to a group of experts surveyed for a new study — with strong political commitment often arising out of long-term “public pressure” and civil society advocacy for forest protection. The research, published July 22 in the journal Conservation Letters, turns the question of what causes the loss of tropical forests “on its head,” looking instead at what prevents it, says co-author Rachael Garrett, a professor of conservation and development at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. Brazil and Indonesia have managed to slow deforestation rates amid pressure from rapidly expanding agriculture, leading the team to ask, “Why do these places still have so much forest?” Garrett says. Deforestation rates in Brazil, home to more tropical rainforest than any other country on Earth, dipped substantially between 2004 and 2012. And while annual forest loss there climbed back up in the 2010s, it has dropped again in recent years. Similarly, in Indonesia, the expansion of oil palm plantations devastated large swaths of forest in the past, but those rates, too, have slowed. Deforestation for an oil palm plantation in Borneo, Indonesia. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. Because Brazil and Indonesia boast so much forest, much research has focused on how to stop deforestation there. Often, those studies look at the impact of specific policies and mechanisms (such as Brazil’s Forest Code or Indonesia’s sustainable palm oil certification effort) and their relationship to deforestation declines measured by satellite analysis,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/where-theres-political-will-theres-a-way-to-stop-tropical-deforestation-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-303044</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>DNA sequencing to meet global biodiversity goals: Interview with Tyler Kartzinel</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/dna-sequencing-to-meet-global-biodiversity-goals-interview-with-tyler-kartzinel/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/dna-sequencing-to-meet-global-biodiversity-goals-interview-with-tyler-kartzinel/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Jun 2025 12:32:27 +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/20/2025/06/25113840/Photo1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=301328</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, data, DNA, Economics, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Policy, Genetics, Interviews, Monitoring, Plants, Research, Social Justice, Solutions, Species, Species Discovery, Technology, Tropical Conservation Science, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Tyler Kartzinel likens protecting biodiversity to enhancing cellphone networks. His analogy is pretty straightforward: look for gaps in coverage, and then do what’s needed to fill them. “Engineers have figured out how to look for dead zones and enhance coverage,” Kartzinel, associate professor of ecology, evolution and organizational biology at Brown University in the U.S., [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Tyler Kartzinel likens protecting biodiversity to enhancing cellphone networks. His analogy is pretty straightforward: look for gaps in coverage, and then do what’s needed to fill them. “Engineers have figured out how to look for dead zones and enhance coverage,” Kartzinel, associate professor of ecology, evolution and organizational biology at Brown University in the U.S., told Mongabay in a video interview. “They look for where the need is and plug the gaps.” That, according to Kartzinel, is exactly what scientists need to do when it comes to DNA sequencing technology. In recent years, DNA sampling and analysis technology have advanced rapidly, with scientists using drones and robots to collect samples from the remotest corners of the world. But a common grouse persists: the lack of extensive reference libraries against which scientists can compare samples to identity species. A study led by Kartzinel and published in the journal Molecular Ecology looks at how reference libraries are faring. While databases were found to cover a quarter of the plant species that the team looked into, they found “coverage gaps in tropical biodiversity hotspots” reflecting “well-documented biases in biodiversity science.” The study found that at least 17% of the plant families they looked into lacked any reference data. “There’s hundreds of years of power asymmetries and economic inequities that have privileged biodiversity studies in some parts of the world versus others,” Kartzinel said. “In areas which could arguably benefit the most from this technology, we&#8217;re actually most limited in the data sets.” He&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/dna-sequencing-to-meet-global-biodiversity-goals-interview-with-tyler-kartzinel/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/06/dna-sequencing-to-meet-global-biodiversity-goals-interview-with-tyler-kartzinel/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-301328</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Coral reef research dominated by rich countries, plagued with inequities: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/coral-reef-research-dominated-by-rich-countries-plagued-with-inequities-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/coral-reef-research-dominated-by-rich-countries-plagued-with-inequities-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 May 2025 07:30:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/23194649/14274360077_244ec3b6f5_c-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299612</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia, Saudi Arabia, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Environment, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Research, and Tropical Conservation Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Most of the world’s coral reefs, and the communities that directly depend on them, are in the tropics, so one might imagine the research on them being led by scientists and institutions based in tropical countries. The reality, however, is far different, a new study shows. Coral reef science is actually dominated by researchers from [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Most of the world’s coral reefs, and the communities that directly depend on them, are in the tropics, so one might imagine the research on them being led by scientists and institutions based in tropical countries. The reality, however, is far different, a new study shows. Coral reef science is actually dominated by researchers from afar, the study found. They come mainly from institutions in high-income countries, and the contributions of researchers from tropical, lower-income nations aren’t adequately recognized. “Parachute” research that leaves out local input is common, and when more local researchers are included, it’s often perceived as being done in a tokenistic way, according to the study, which was published in NPJ Ocean Sustainability on April 24. Lead author Cassandra Roch, a marine scientist at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, said the same communities that face the most direct impacts from the demise of coral reefs are left out of the scientific study of reefs. “They&#8217;re the ones that are facing the harshest consequences from it,” she told Mongabay. Roch pointed to “the inequity of the whole situation,” with scientists from “countries that are not contributing highly to emissions being excluded or marginalized from the research landscape.” Global coverage of living coral reefs has declined by half since the 1950s, due in part to climate change driven by greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. Visualization shows collaborative networks in coral reef research for the period 2018-22 based on the countries in which authors’&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/coral-reef-research-dominated-by-rich-countries-plagued-with-inequities-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/coral-reef-research-dominated-by-rich-countries-plagued-with-inequities-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299612</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sumatran tiger protection needs more patrols, tougher penalties, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/sumatran-tiger-protection-needs-more-patrols-tougher-penalties-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/sumatran-tiger-protection-needs-more-patrols-tougher-penalties-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 May 2025 04:37:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/05/14062846/Foto1harimau_Anton-Wisuda-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=299037</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Aceh, Asia, Indonesia, Leuser Ecosystem, North Sumatra, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, flagship species, In-situ Conservation, Mammals, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Research, Science, Species, Tigers, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Authorities managing one of the last protected areas on Earth that still hosts Sumatran tigers must do more to deter poaching and promote alternative livelihoods for local communities, a new study suggests. Poaching remains the top threat to the survival of the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) population in Indonesia’s Gunung Leuser National Park, a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Authorities managing one of the last protected areas on Earth that still hosts Sumatran tigers must do more to deter poaching and promote alternative livelihoods for local communities, a new study suggests. Poaching remains the top threat to the survival of the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) population in Indonesia’s Gunung Leuser National Park, a habitat it shares with other critically endangered species such as the Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus) and orangutan (Pongo abelii). A recently published study in the Journal of Environmental Management looks at how effective management of integrated protected areas has been in this context, including assessing patrol strategies and wildlife trafficking interventions. “We want to know whether our approach is effective in reaching our conservation goals,” study lead author Adhi Nurul Hadi, a wildlife researcher at the University of Indonesia and a Ministry of Forestry official, told Mongabay in an email. Gunung Leuser National Park is part of the Leuser Ecosystem in Aceh province in northern Sumatra. A rescued Sumatran tiger being released in Gunung Leuser National Park. Image courtesy of the Indonesian Ministry of Environment. Adhi said conservation works tend to have a singular focus, such as protecting conservation areas through patrols, or reducing threats from the illegal wildlife trade. Integrated planning and evaluation of conservation efforts constitute a more recent approach, he said. This starts with addressing urgent tasks such as snare removal, and encompassing long-term approaches such as patrols and antitrafficking efforts, which require substantial time, resources and funding.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/sumatran-tiger-protection-needs-more-patrols-tougher-penalties-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/05/sumatran-tiger-protection-needs-more-patrols-tougher-penalties-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-299037</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Lures that attract seed-dispersing bats could aid tropical reforestation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/lures-that-attract-seed-dispersing-bats-could-aid-tropical-reforestation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/lures-that-attract-seed-dispersing-bats-could-aid-tropical-reforestation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jan 2025 19:36:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/30091431/Sebas-short-tailed-bat-Carollia-perspicillata-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=293623</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America and Costa Rica]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bats, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystem Engineers, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Mammals, Reforestation, Research, Restoration, Seed Dispersal, Trees, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Attracting seed-dispersing bats to degraded landscapes and aiding in tropical forest restoration efforts has long been an alluring prospect for conservationists: potentially a cheaper, less labor-intensive technique than media-hyped plantings of millions of trees. Researchers have experimented with a variety of seed disperser lures for decades, but a recent project in Costa Rica may show [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Attracting seed-dispersing bats to degraded landscapes and aiding in tropical forest restoration efforts has long been an alluring prospect for conservationists: potentially a cheaper, less labor-intensive technique than media-hyped plantings of millions of trees. Researchers have experimented with a variety of seed disperser lures for decades, but a recent project in Costa Rica may show an efficient, less costly way forward. Researchers successfully utilized synthetic chemical compounds derived from the fruit of Piper plants to attract wild fruit-eating bats. “To locate fruits in the dark, bats rely on their sense of smell. In our study, we used synthetic volatile molecules that mimic the scents of fruits preferred by fruit bats to attract them,” Mariana Gelambi, study lead author and Virginia Tech postdoctoral researcher, writes in an email. The research team placed these synthetic bat lures at sites within the La Selva Biological Research Station. They then observed fruit-eating bats from the genus Carollia drawn to the scent and also noted a slight increase in the quantity of seeds dispersed. This work builds on past research that tested the potential of essential oils collected from tropical fruits to attract seed dispersers. The chemical scents used in the Costa Rica experiment could cut the costs of extracting essential oils from fruit, making this new approach a possible candidate for large-scale future use, Gelambi says. In the past, researchers have explored other ways of attracting seed dispersers to deforested areas, deploying artificial bird nests and roosts and making sounds to attract a variety&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/lures-that-attract-seed-dispersing-bats-could-aid-tropical-reforestation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/lures-that-attract-seed-dispersing-bats-could-aid-tropical-reforestation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-293623</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Massive tortoise rewilding in Madagascar’s spiny forest strives to save fraught species</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/massive-tortoise-rewilding-in-madagascars-spiny-forest-strives-to-save-fraught-species/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/massive-tortoise-rewilding-in-madagascars-spiny-forest-strives-to-save-fraught-species/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Dec 2024 15:00:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/12/27032453/GOPR0201-1-e1735270070566-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=292182</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Governance, Habitat, Poaching, Tropical Conservation Science, Turtles And Tortoises, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[TAOLAGNARO, Madagascar – Gabriel Andriamanjaka holds the radiotracking aerial aloft and marches into a spiky forest thicket. Branches whip around his body as he pushes through in pursuit of his quarry. The beeps emitted by the receiver he carries grow more frequent as he closes in. “Found it!” he calls back to us, pointing to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[TAOLAGNARO, Madagascar – Gabriel Andriamanjaka holds the radiotracking aerial aloft and marches into a spiky forest thicket. Branches whip around his body as he pushes through in pursuit of his quarry. The beeps emitted by the receiver he carries grow more frequent as he closes in. “Found it!” he calls back to us, pointing to a basketball-size bush trundling through the undergrowth. On closer inspection, the bush is actually a radiated tortoise tangled in twigs and leaf litter. Its shell is marked with numbers: “053.” It’s a female, fitted with a radiotracking device when it was released in 2023 alongside hundreds of other radiated tortoises (Astrochelys radiata) into this 950-hectare (2,350-acre) community-managed forest in the Androy region of southern Madagascar. Andriamanjaka and his colleagues have been keeping an eye on the tortoises here at two-week intervals ever since. As the monitoring team gathers around this particular individual, it turns tail and begins to negotiate a large twig. It loses its footing on the second step and stumbles. It shoots us a seemingly self-conscious glance, black eyes gleaming in the dazzling afternoon sunlight that easily penetrates the dry and spiny forest canopy. Gabriel Andriamanjaka radio-tracking tortoises at a release site. Image by Carolyn Cowan for Mongabay. Tortoise 053 is one of 4,000 subadult radiated tortoises so far liberated into a handful of well-protected forests in the region. And there are ambitious plans afoot to release many more — some 20,000 over the next five years. Strong protection of their unique spiny&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/massive-tortoise-rewilding-in-madagascars-spiny-forest-strives-to-save-fraught-species/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/12/massive-tortoise-rewilding-in-madagascars-spiny-forest-strives-to-save-fraught-species/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-292182</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Are the Amazon’s biggest trees dying? Forest coroners investigate</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/are-the-amazons-biggest-trees-dying-forest-coroners-investigate/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/are-the-amazons-biggest-trees-dying-forest-coroners-investigate/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jul 2024 14:08:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Daniel Grossman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/07/26124823/2.-Adriane-Esquivel-Muelbert-and-Evan-Gora-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=285118</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, carbon, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Drones, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forests, Impact Of Climate Change, Rainforests, Research, Technology, Threats To Rainforests, Trees, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Forests, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[AMAZONAS, Brazil: Two researchers wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants to resist mosquitos, and high boots to block snake bites, gaze at a shattered tree. It lies on the ground garlanded in palm fronds, stretching far into the forest. Until recently, it had towered over most other trees in this vast rainforest. “It&#8217;s lightning, obviously,” says [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[AMAZONAS, Brazil: Two researchers wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants to resist mosquitos, and high boots to block snake bites, gaze at a shattered tree. It lies on the ground garlanded in palm fronds, stretching far into the forest. Until recently, it had towered over most other trees in this vast rainforest. “It&#8217;s lightning, obviously,” says Evan Gora, declaring the tree’s cause of death. He’s a staff scientist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York. “You can see burned leaves on the top,” agrees Adriane Esquivel Muelbert. She’s a professor at the University of Birmingham in England. Adriane points up at blackened foliage dangling from 20 trees circling the perimeter of the huge stump. The leaves are seared only on the sides facing the canopy gap left when the big tree toppled — evidence of an electrical strike. Like Sherlock Holmes unraveling a murder mystery, the tropical forest ecology experts present their reasoning to two postdocs on their team. When lightning hits a tree, Evan says, high voltage flows through intertwined foliage into neighboring trees, killing branches, creating a distinctive pattern. Evan developed this method for determining lightning as a cause of tree death while working in a Panamanian rainforest. Today, he’s identified the same radiating pattern of scorched dead vegetation here around this fallen giant in the Brazilian Amazon. No other cause of tree death looks like this. “You sometimes can have many trees standing dead together, but not with this centralized [burn] damage,” Adriane comments.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/are-the-amazons-biggest-trees-dying-forest-coroners-investigate/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/07/are-the-amazons-biggest-trees-dying-forest-coroners-investigate/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-285118</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Study challenges use of charismatic wildlife as umbrella species for conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/sumatra-wildlife-umbrella-species-tiger-rhino-clouded-leopard-conservation-leuser-biodiversity/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/sumatra-wildlife-umbrella-species-tiger-rhino-clouded-leopard-conservation-leuser-biodiversity/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Apr 2024 01:08:09 +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/20/2018/11/08210100/animals_00055-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=281163</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Leuser Ecosystem]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Aceh, Asia, Indonesia, Leuser Ecosystem, North Sumatra, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Endangered Species, Environment, flagship species, In-situ Conservation, Mammals, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Research, Science, Species, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — In wildlife conservation management, the best species to focus on to maximize protection of a region’s biodiversity aren’t necessarily the most charismatic ones, a new study from Indonesia’s Leuser Ecosystem suggests. Conservation managers have long prioritized the management of what are known as umbrella species, on the basis that protecting these high-profile species [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — In wildlife conservation management, the best species to focus on to maximize protection of a region’s biodiversity aren’t necessarily the most charismatic ones, a new study from Indonesia’s Leuser Ecosystem suggests. Conservation managers have long prioritized the management of what are known as umbrella species, on the basis that protecting these high-profile species also protects the ecosystem in which they live. These species tend to be ones that roam wide and large areas, which for conservation management purposes makes them representative of other, lesser-known, species. As a result, these umbrella species usually get special attention from conservation managers, funders and authorities. However, researchers from Indonesia and the U.K. have found that focusing on the usual charismatic species, like tigers and rhinos, leads to neglect of the needs of other wildlife. In a new paper published in Biological Conservation, they note that these non-flagship species might actually be better representatives of the broader biodiversity of a particular ecosystem than those considered the umbrella species. “Our study proposes a new framework to identify the best umbrella species using camera trap data collected from the field and accounting for imperfect detection i.e. that species might be undetected during surveys but they are present,” study lead author Ardiantiono, a Ph.D. student at the School of Anthropology and Conservation at the University of Kent, U.K., told Mongabay in an email interview. The Leuser Ecosystem in northern Sumatra is the largest remaining intact swath of tropical rainforest in Sumatra. Image courtesy of Global Forest&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/sumatra-wildlife-umbrella-species-tiger-rhino-clouded-leopard-conservation-leuser-biodiversity/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/sumatra-wildlife-umbrella-species-tiger-rhino-clouded-leopard-conservation-leuser-biodiversity/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-281163</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>To help beleaguered Javan rhinos, study calls for tree felling, captive breeding</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/to-help-beleaguered-javan-rhinos-study-calls-for-tree-felling-captive-breeding/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/to-help-beleaguered-javan-rhinos-study-calls-for-tree-felling-captive-breeding/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Dec 2023 17:18:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/12/27162845/javan-rhinos-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=277119</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Asian Rhinos]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Java, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Critically Endangered Species, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Governance, In-situ Conservation, Javan Rhinos, Mammals, Megafauna, Poaching, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Research, Rhinos, Saving Species From Extinction, Solutions, Trees, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Once roaming across Southeast Asia, the Javan rhino today persists on a single peninsula off the western-most coast of Java in Indonesian. There, in Ujung Kulon National Park, around 70 Javan rhinos (Rhinoceros sondaicus) survive. A tsunami, a disease or a determined group of poachers could wipe them out for good. To complicate matters further, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Once roaming across Southeast Asia, the Javan rhino today persists on a single peninsula off the western-most coast of Java in Indonesian. There, in Ujung Kulon National Park, around 70 Javan rhinos (Rhinoceros sondaicus) survive. A tsunami, a disease or a determined group of poachers could wipe them out for good. To complicate matters further, a report this year by local NGO Auriga Nusantara alleged that rhinos in the park were being mismanaged, raising numerous concerns — including of dead rhinos officially being counted as alive. Now, a new paper in the journal Gazella argues that conservationists should begin felling large trees in the park to create more feeding areas for rhinos, and start a captive-breeding population due to rising concerns over potential inbreeding. “Genetic studies conducted on the Javan rhinoceros have indicated low genetic diversity within the population,” says study co-author Francesco Nardelli, with the Asian Rhino Specialist Group at the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. “Low genetic diversity is often associated with inbreeding depression, which can lead to reduced fitness and increased susceptibility to diseases.” Indeed, a government management program for the critically endangered Javan rhino, which lays out plans for 2023-2029, mentions 13 Javan rhinos displaying “congenital defects” likely due to breeding within such a small group for decades. Another concern is that the population is lopsided in terms of sex. The population has significantly fewer adult females than males. Nardelli says there may only be a “dozen” breeding females left. And although they continue to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/to-help-beleaguered-javan-rhinos-study-calls-for-tree-felling-captive-breeding/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/to-help-beleaguered-javan-rhinos-study-calls-for-tree-felling-captive-breeding/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-277119</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Community tropical forest management linked to social &#038; environmental benefits: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/community-tropical-forest-management-linked-to-social-environmental-benefits-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/community-tropical-forest-management-linked-to-social-environmental-benefits-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Dec 2023 20:21:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sonam Lama Hyolmo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/12/08201316/Screen-Shot-2023-12-08-at-3.12.28-PM-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=276479</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Carbon Sequestration, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Science, Sustainability, Trees, Tropical Conservation Science, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A recent peer-reviewed study finds that community tropical forest management is a predictor of multiple positive outcomes, both socially and for the environment. According to the paper, published in Nature Climate Change, forest patches in tropical regions across Africa, Asia and Latin America that are managed by rural and Indigenous communities are associated with improved [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A recent peer-reviewed study finds that community tropical forest management is a predictor of multiple positive outcomes, both socially and for the environment. According to the paper, published in Nature Climate Change, forest patches in tropical regions across Africa, Asia and Latin America that are managed by rural and Indigenous communities are associated with improved outcomes for carbon storage, biodiversity and forest livelihoods. The 314 tropical forests analyzed in the study were forest patches in rural areas surrounded by agricultural lands, pastoral grazing areas and human settlements. “It&#8217;s these forest patches that we have tried to study because globally when we talk of restoration and conservation, a lot of targets are focused on such forests in mixed-used rural landscapes,” says Harry Fischer, lead author of the study and senior lecturer at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. The authors used a data set from the International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI), a research program with substantial information on local institutions and forestry interventions, to collect data on community-managed forests in these mixed-use landscapes. Using these data, the authors compared the forest patches used and managed by Indigenous peoples and local communities in 15 tropical countries. The three outcomes analyzed in the study were carbon sequestered in above-ground biomass, biodiversity and livelihood contributions to people. “We have measures for above-ground biomass that is a proxy for carbon [sequestration], tree species richness, which is a proxy for biodiversity, and contributions for rural livelihoods, measured through the proportion of rural benefits for fuel,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/community-tropical-forest-management-linked-to-social-environmental-benefits-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/12/community-tropical-forest-management-linked-to-social-environmental-benefits-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-276479</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Collaboration key to rediscovery of egg-laying mammal in Papua’s Cyclops Mountains</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/attenborough-echidna-cyclops-mountains-papua-indonesia-collaboration-indigenous-species-rediscovery/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/attenborough-echidna-cyclops-mountains-papua-indonesia-collaboration-indigenous-species-rediscovery/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Nov 2023 14:43:57 +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/20/2023/11/28101943/RCNX0054M1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275957</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, New Guinea, Pacific Ocean, Papua, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Indigenous Peoples, Rainforests, Rediscovered Species, Science, Species, Species Discovery, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Deforestation, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Researchers have credited a strong spirit of collaboration for the success of an expedition in Indonesia’s Cyclops Mountains that uncovered new sightings of a rare egg-laying mammal and multiple unidentified species. The highlight of the recently published findings was camera-trap images of Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus attenboroughi), which, like the distantly related but [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Researchers have credited a strong spirit of collaboration for the success of an expedition in Indonesia’s Cyclops Mountains that uncovered new sightings of a rare egg-laying mammal and multiple unidentified species. The highlight of the recently published findings was camera-trap images of Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus attenboroughi), which, like the distantly related but better-known platypus, is one of just a handful of egg-laying mammals in existence. The species hadn’t been sighted by scientists since an initial specimen collected in 1961, and for decades was thought to have gone extinct. Much of the success of the four-week-long Expedition Cyclops has been attributed to the collaboration between international and local researchers, conservation authorities, NGOs, and the Indigenous groups who have persistently protected the region’s biodiversity against external threats. “We built a strong relationship with the community of Yongsu Sapari, who own part of the northern Cyclops, over three years,” James Kempton, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford who first proposed the expedition in 2019, told Mongabay in an email. “I think the trust between the expedition team and the community was important in the success of the expedition, and a lack of trust may have contributed to former searches being less successful,” he said. The Cyclops Mountains in Indonesia’s Papua region towering over the beach by Yongsu Spari, shrouded in morning mist. Image courtesy of Expedition Cyclops. From left, expedition leader James Kempton with Cenderawasih University student Gison Morib and Sili Yalak from the Indonesian NGO Yayasan Pelayanan&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/attenborough-echidna-cyclops-mountains-papua-indonesia-collaboration-indigenous-species-rediscovery/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/attenborough-echidna-cyclops-mountains-papua-indonesia-collaboration-indigenous-species-rediscovery/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-275957</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The Indo-West Pacific harbors two distinct mangrove hotspots, study says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/the-indo-west-pacific-harbors-two-distinct-mangrove-hotspots-study-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/the-indo-west-pacific-harbors-two-distinct-mangrove-hotspots-study-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Oct 2023 06:49:38 +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/20/2023/06/12081244/Mangroves-along-Wallaces-Passage-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274712</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Peninsular Malaysia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Animals, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Fisheries, Governance, Islands, Land Use Change, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Politics, Science, Sustainability, and Tropical Conservation Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — New research on slugs has found two types of mangrove forests in the Indo-West Pacific region, highlighting their much-needed protection against deforestation and rising sea levels. The study said the Indo-West Pacific had two mangrove hotspots with distinct habitat types: fringe mangroves in the Coral Triangle (encompassing central and eastern Indonesia, the Philippines, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — New research on slugs has found two types of mangrove forests in the Indo-West Pacific region, highlighting their much-needed protection against deforestation and rising sea levels. The study said the Indo-West Pacific had two mangrove hotspots with distinct habitat types: fringe mangroves in the Coral Triangle (encompassing central and eastern Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Melanesia) and riverine mangroves in the Strait of Malacca, between the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia’s Sumatra. The finding was apparent after a research duo from the U.S. had investigated slug species abundance of the family Onchidiidae, which are gastropods that have evolved and adapted to mangroves. “The existence of two peaks of onchidiid diversity in the Indo-West Pacific reflects the fact that not all mangrove forests are the same,” read the paper published Sep. 22 in the journal Scientific Reports. Map of the central Indo-West Pacific. Courtesy of Tricia C. Goulding and Benoît Dayrat. The scientific article said Onchidiidae were ideal as a case study for looking into patterns of species diversity and their home range outside coral reefs, as the family has genetically changed in mangroves and rocky coasts. Scientists have also revised its classification and evolutionary development in recent years, the paper noted. “We recognized the significant implications of this finding for both mangrove conservation and also the broader field of marine biogeography, which led us to write a paper focused on highlighting the biogeography of mangrove gastropods,” Tricia Goulding, research associate at the Smithsonian National&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/the-indo-west-pacific-harbors-two-distinct-mangrove-hotspots-study-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/the-indo-west-pacific-harbors-two-distinct-mangrove-hotspots-study-says/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-274712</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia reports a new Javan rhino calf, but population doubts persist</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/javan-rhino-calf-endangered-species-ujung-kulon-indonesia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/javan-rhino-calf-endangered-species-ujung-kulon-indonesia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Oct 2023 15:55:52 +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/20/2023/10/06081629/Fk7E_IMG_20231005_174838-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274028</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Asian Rhinos]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Green, In-situ Conservation, Javan Rhinos, Mammals, Megafauna, Poaching, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Research, Rhinos, Saving Species From Extinction, Science, Solutions, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — A newborn Javan rhino calf has been spotted in Indonesia, but the good news is tempered by questions over the species’ population trend and reports of an increase in attempted poaching incursions into the animal’s last holdout. Camera trap images taken between July and September in Ujung Kulon National Park show a female [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — A newborn Javan rhino calf has been spotted in Indonesia, but the good news is tempered by questions over the species’ population trend and reports of an increase in attempted poaching incursions into the animal’s last holdout. Camera trap images taken between July and September in Ujung Kulon National Park show a female calf of the Javan rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus) roaming with its mother. Indonesian conservation authorities have since 2011 installed hundreds of camera traps throughout the park to monitor sightings of known, named adult rhinos as well as any new births, and also to keep watch for any poaching attempts. “This birth shows the success of Indonesia in the conservation efforts of the Javan rhino,” Satyawan Pudyatmoko, the Indonesian environment ministry’s head of conservation, said in a statement published Oct. 5 in Jakarta. A map showing the planned expansion of the habitable space for Javan rhinos inside Ujung Kulon National Park. Image courtesy of the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry. The female Javan rhino calf with its mother. Image courtesy of the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry. This is the first official announcement of a newborn of the critically endangered species after an investigative report published earlier this year threw into doubt the government’s claims of a steadily growing population. In its report, the nonprofit environmental NGO Auriga Nusantara revealed that 18 rhinos had been missing for years, and at least three of them were confirmed to have died since 2019, yet continued to be&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/javan-rhino-calf-endangered-species-ujung-kulon-indonesia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/javan-rhino-calf-endangered-species-ujung-kulon-indonesia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-274028</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Protected areas a boon for vertebrate diversity in wider landscape, study shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/protected-areas-a-boon-for-vertebrate-diversity-in-wider-landscape-study-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/protected-areas-a-boon-for-vertebrate-diversity-in-wider-landscape-study-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Sep 2023 17:51:01 +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/20/2023/09/15172048/ele01.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273377</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Camera Trapping, Conservation, Conservation Technology, Elephants, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Mammals, Primary Forests, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Remote Sensing, Satellite Imagery, Tropical Conservation Science, Wildlife, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Protected areas are one of the oldest conservation tools in the box. Setting aside portions of land and water for conservation can offer species a chance of recovery while preserving the ecosystem services on which humanity depends. But despite a wealth of evidence showing that protected areas enhance biodiversity within their borders, little is known [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Protected areas are one of the oldest conservation tools in the box. Setting aside portions of land and water for conservation can offer species a chance of recovery while preserving the ecosystem services on which humanity depends. But despite a wealth of evidence showing that protected areas enhance biodiversity within their borders, little is known about whether those benefits seep into the wider landscape. In a new study published in Nature, an international team of researchers studying vertebrates in Southeast Asia show that protected areas not only boost bird and mammal diversity within their confines, but that they also elevate numbers of species in nearby unprotected habitats. The findings also indicate that larger protected areas result in more biodiversity gains than smaller ones. “Our analysis has revealed the benefits [of] parks, specifically large ones,” study co-author Matthew Luskin, a conservation biologist at the University of Queensland in Australia, said in a statement. “When comparing unprotected areas nearby large reserves to unprotected areas that didn’t border large reserves, large reserves generated an up to 194 per cent boost in mammal diversity.” Long-tailed macaques in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Image by Rhett A. Butler for Mongabay By demonstrating the crucial role protected areas can play in curbing the biodiversity crisis, the researchers say their findings back up the U.N. Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework target to safeguard 30% of Earth’s lands and waters as protected areas by 2030. In December 2021, nearly 200 countries, including many Southeast Asian states, adopted this U.N. goal, known&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/protected-areas-a-boon-for-vertebrate-diversity-in-wider-landscape-study-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/protected-areas-a-boon-for-vertebrate-diversity-in-wider-landscape-study-shows/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-273377</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘What we need to protect and why’: 20-year Amazon research hints at fate of tropics</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/what-we-need-to-protect-and-why-20-year-amazon-research-hints-at-fate-of-tropics/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/what-we-need-to-protect-and-why-20-year-amazon-research-hints-at-fate-of-tropics/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jul 2023 14:44:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Justin Catanoso]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/20142420/7.-Andean-motmot-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271176</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Andes, Latin America, Peru, South America, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, carbon, Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Extinction, Extreme Weather, Forest Carbon, forest degradation, Forests, Frogs, Migration, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Research, Snakes, Tipping points, Trees, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Top tropical ecologists have spent two decades studying the impact of climate change on a single transect in the Peruvian Andes, an area unparalleled in its biodiversity. They find that every species studied there is struggling against warming temperatures.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PILLCOPATA, Peru — The trail through the lowland rainforest was dark and muddy. A half-dozen headlamps provided darting pools of light. An occasional creek bisected the path. Excellent conditions for frog spotting. Alessandro Catenazzi, a conservation biologist at Florida International University and a leading herpetologist, was joined on this nighttime excursion by his graduate students and me. Seeing only leaf litter and underbrush where I shone my lamp, Catenazzi unfailingly spied tiny amphibians. Aside from a gorgeous poison dart frog, most were as yet unnamed species. But then … “This is a map frog,” Catenazzi said, gently placing it in my open palm; it tucked calmly there, barely the width of two fingers. “Its mottled skin resembles a map,” he added. The frog tensed and leapt from my hand into the darkness, a fitting metaphor for the scientist’s findings. Earlier in the day, Catenazzi had delivered a grim presentation on surging frog mortality to about 40 scientists at Manu Biological Stationwhere he’s been conducting research and observing changes to the southern Peruvian Amazon for decades. The group gathered in this remote jungle outpost had come from Europe, Canada, the U.S., U.K. and Latin America for the 20th anniversary meeting of the Andes Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research Group (ABERG). Alessandro Catenazzi, a leading herpetologist at Florida International University in Miami, hunts frogs with his graduate students in the lowland rainforest of the Manu Biological Station in early June. Regarding frogs at cloud forest elevations, he said, &#8220;We are witnessing a collapse&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/what-we-need-to-protect-and-why-20-year-amazon-research-hints-at-fate-of-tropics/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/what-we-need-to-protect-and-why-20-year-amazon-research-hints-at-fate-of-tropics/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-271176</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Protected areas store a year&#8217;s worth of CO₂ emissions, study reveals</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/protected-areas-store-a-years-worth-of-co%e2%82%82-emissions-study-reveals/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/protected-areas-store-a-years-worth-of-co%e2%82%82-emissions-study-reveals/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jun 2023 14:20:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Nandithachandraprakash]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/06/07032621/Brazils-Florestal-Reserve-Adolpho-Ducke-1920-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=269323</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering Climate Now]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Global, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[carbon, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Sequestration, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Environment, Extreme Weather, Forest Carbon, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Impact Of Climate Change, Precipitation, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Research, Soil Carbon, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Conservation Science, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Researchers analyzed never-before-used satellite data to calculate how much carbon is stored in protected areas worldwide.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[By avoiding deforestation, globally protected areas store roughly one year’s worth of global fossil fuel emissions, compared to otherwise unprotected areas. That’s the conclusion of a recently published study that sought to calculate the carbon benefits of preserving forests and other landscapes. Brazil’s Amazon has the highest rate of carbon stock of protected areas, according to the study, accounting for as much as 36% of the total. “These forests are the most threatened by human pressure, so protected areas are particularly important here,” Laura Duncanson, an assistant professor of geographical sciences at the University of Maryland and lead author of the new paper published June 1 in Nature Communications, told Mongabay in an email. Scientists from the University of Maryland, Northern Arizona University, the University of Arizona, and Conservation International worked with never-before-used satellite data, gathered by NASA’s Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI). They found protected areas stock an additional 9.65 billion metric tons of carbon in their aboveground biomass, compared to ecologically similar unprotected areas. Avoided deforestation and degradation are the main reasons behind this additional carbon stock, the authors say. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA. A view over Brazil’s Florestal Reserve Adolpho Ducke. Researchers found that protected areas store as much carbon as fossil fuels emit per year and are more effective at doing so compared to unprotected areas with a similar ecology. Image by IMF/Raphael Alves via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). For Patrick Roehrdanz, study co-author and manager of spatial planning&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/protected-areas-store-a-years-worth-of-co%e2%82%82-emissions-study-reveals/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/protected-areas-store-a-years-worth-of-co%e2%82%82-emissions-study-reveals/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-269323</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New ‘snug,’ a snail with a too-small shell, described from Brunei rainforest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/sung-snail-new-spacies-borneo-brunei-rainforest-microparmarion-sallehi/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/sung-snail-new-spacies-borneo-brunei-rainforest-microparmarion-sallehi/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Apr 2023 02:51:24 +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/20/2023/04/26091401/27092018-_DSC1691-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267880</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Brunei, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Rainforests, Science, Species, Species Discovery, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Deforestation, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — A group of researchers and citizen-scientists have described a new “semi-slug” species from the lowland rainforests of northern Borneo. The so-called snug, a snail whose external shell is too small to house its entire body, has been named Microparmarion sallehi and can be found in the forests of Ulu Temburong National Park, Brunei, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — A group of researchers and citizen-scientists have described a new “semi-slug” species from the lowland rainforests of northern Borneo. The so-called snug, a snail whose external shell is too small to house its entire body, has been named Microparmarion sallehi and can be found in the forests of Ulu Temburong National Park, Brunei, according to a study published April 10 in the Biodiversity Data Journal. The paper details the unique characteristics of the species from its body parts to its DNA compared to other known species of the Microparmarion genus, of which researchers believe some half-dozen species have yet to be described. “The inspiration for our field expeditions is to show that it is possible to discover and publish new species within the short space of time of a 10-day field expedition in a remote offline location, with simple, portable equipment,” Iva Njunjić, director of the biodiversity research group Taxon Expeditions in Leiden, the Netherlands, who is the corresponding author of the paper, told Mongabay in an email. Microparmarion sallehi. Image courtesy of Schilthuizen et al. (2023). She added that her team had previously published a new snail description from the same location, so they knew there was also the possibility of an undescribed semi-slug waiting to be found, which was what kept them going until they had enough specimens to analyze. The researchers conducted three field surveys in September 2018, September 2019 and October 2022 in this northwestern part of the island of Borneo. On each of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/sung-snail-new-spacies-borneo-brunei-rainforest-microparmarion-sallehi/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/sung-snail-new-spacies-borneo-brunei-rainforest-microparmarion-sallehi/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-267880</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Flawed count puts ‘glorified’ Javan rhinos on path to extinction, report says</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/flawed-count-puts-glorified-javan-rhinos-on-path-to-extinction-report-says/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/flawed-count-puts-glorified-javan-rhinos-on-path-to-extinction-report-says/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Apr 2023 07:02:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/09/21110627/20-09-20-06-11-54-389_deco-1-768x482.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267365</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Asian Rhinos]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Jakarta, Java, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Commentary, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Freedom of Information, Governance, Green, In-situ Conservation, Javan Rhinos, Mammals, Megafauna, Poaching, Politics, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Research, Rhinos, Saving Species From Extinction, Science, Solutions, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Every time a new Javan rhino calf is spotted, Indonesia’s environmental authorities issue an update of the precise population number for the near-extinct species. The rhino’s entire population is confined to a single national park, filled with hundreds of camera traps that allow conservationists to monitor sightings of known, named adult rhinos as [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Every time a new Javan rhino calf is spotted, Indonesia’s environmental authorities issue an update of the precise population number for the near-extinct species. The rhino’s entire population is confined to a single national park, filled with hundreds of camera traps that allow conservationists to monitor sightings of known, named adult rhinos as well as any new births. Since 2011, when officials started installing the camera traps, the government has reported steady growth from 35 to 72 individual Javan rhinos (Rhinoceros sondaicus). According to a new investigative report, however, the seeming precision of these numbers belies serious problems with transparency, poor management of the species, and indications that the population may in fact be declining. Among the key revelations in the report published April 11 by Indonesian nonprofit environmental NGO Auriga Nusantara is that 18 rhinos (nine females and nine males) that have not been spotted alive for years (some since 2019) are still included in the most recent population counts. Further investigation by Auriga Nusantara found that three of these 18 “missing” rhinos have died: one female in 2019 and a female and a male in 2021. None of these missing and dead Javan rhinos were publicly announced by either the agency that manages Ujung Kulon National Park or the Indonesian environment ministry. By contrast, the government has regularly publicized news of Javan rhino births, signaling a stable population growth. “It’s an unfair glorification from the government for not publishing these losses as well,” Timer Manurung, the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/flawed-count-puts-glorified-javan-rhinos-on-path-to-extinction-report-says/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-267365</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Study: Women, youths can be more effective at driving sustainable farming changes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/women-youths-farming-sustainable-change-indonesia-sulawesi/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/women-youths-farming-sustainable-change-indonesia-sulawesi/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Apr 2023 07:51:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Basten Gokkon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/03/08071232/kakao-04-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=266244</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Sulawesi, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agroecology, Biodiversity, Citizen Science, Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Farming, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Nature-based climate solutions, Science, Solutions, Sustainability, Sustainable Development, and Tropical Conservation Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — A new study has shown that farmers who aren’t traditionally perceived as having the most social and cultural power in their community can be more effective at convincing their peers to adopt new practices. The findings could have significant implications for conservation organizations trying to implement sustainable agriculture programs within communities. The study, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — A new study has shown that farmers who aren’t traditionally perceived as having the most social and cultural power in their community can be more effective at convincing their peers to adopt new practices. The findings could have significant implications for conservation organizations trying to implement sustainable agriculture programs within communities. The study, published in February, looked at the role of women and younger cacao farmers in a district of Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island. It found that, compared to older males in the community who were perceived to be “opinion leaders,” women and younger farmers were able to convince nearly twice as many of their fellow farmers to try out new techniques. Study author Petr Matous, an associate professor at the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Engineering, noted that farming is highly gendered in Indonesia; few women occupy prominent roles in local groups, many of which are community-based organizations aimed at improving the livelihoods of locals. These groups are also often responsible for channeling support from the government and international organizations, he added. “But what our result has demonstrated is something often remarked on anecdotally in many other settings,” Matous said in a statement. “From farming and construction to banking and politics, older men are often perceived as the most influential in their networks, but in our study they didn’t have the greatest impact.” A member of the Sulawesi farming community speaks to a contact about using a new pair of scissors to prune cacao crops. Image courtesy of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/women-youths-farming-sustainable-change-indonesia-sulawesi/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/women-youths-farming-sustainable-change-indonesia-sulawesi/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-266244</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Tropical forest regeneration offsets 26% of carbon emissions from deforestation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/tropical-forest-regeneration-offsets-26-of-carbon-emissions-from-deforestation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/tropical-forest-regeneration-offsets-26-of-carbon-emissions-from-deforestation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Mar 2023 18:34:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jaqueline Sordi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/03/23152740/stream-in-amazon-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=266786</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Amazon, Borneo, Congo Basin, Global, South America, Southeast Asia, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[carbon, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Offsets, Climate Change, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Carbon, forest degradation, Forest Recovery, Forest Regeneration, Forestry, Forests, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A pioneering global study published March 15 in the journal Nature showed that humid tropical forests recovering from degradation and deforestation have the potential to absorb a vast amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and, if preserved, they can be an important ally in addressing the climate crisis. However, for the past three decades, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A pioneering global study published March 15 in the journal Nature showed that humid tropical forests recovering from degradation and deforestation have the potential to absorb a vast amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and, if preserved, they can be an important ally in addressing the climate crisis. However, for the past three decades, this process might have mitigated just over one-quarter of the emissions generated by deforestation and forests lost or damaged due to human activity, such as logging and wildfire, because the destruction of these ecosystems has far outpaced regrowth. The team of international researchers, led by the University of Bristol, combined satellite data tools that capture changes in land cover type with information on aboveground carbon from the European Space Agency to accurately model the rates of carbon recovery. They looked at degraded forests (those recovering from human-induced disturbance that has led to a partial loss of their tree cover) and secondary forests (those that are regrowing naturally in deforested areas) in the three major regions of humid tropical forest on Earth: Amazon, Central Africa and Borneo. This was the first time a study had taken such a large-scale look at recovering forests. The researchers calculated there are 60 million hectares (148 million acres) of recovering secondary and degraded forests across the three regions. This amounts to about 1.5% of the world’s forested area and about 5% of all carbon absorbed by forests. According to the study, those regions have stored, on average, 107 million metric&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/tropical-forest-regeneration-offsets-26-of-carbon-emissions-from-deforestation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/tropical-forest-regeneration-offsets-26-of-carbon-emissions-from-deforestation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-266786</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Carbon uptake in tropical forests withers in drier future: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/carbon-uptake-in-tropical-forests-withers-in-drier-future-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/carbon-uptake-in-tropical-forests-withers-in-drier-future-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Feb 2023 09:30:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/02/23090146/wayquecha-andes-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=265858</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Global, and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[carbon, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Sequestration, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Environment, Extreme Weather, Forest Carbon, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Impact Of Climate Change, Precipitation, Rainforests, Research, Soil Carbon, Temperatures, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Forests, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Warmer temperatures could significantly diminish the ability of tropical forests to siphon carbon from the atmosphere by intensifying dry seasons, according to a recent study. The tropics pack away an enormous amount of organic matter, or biomass, in the trees and other organisms inhabiting these ecosystems. Locked up in that biomass is more than half [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Warmer temperatures could significantly diminish the ability of tropical forests to siphon carbon from the atmosphere by intensifying dry seasons, according to a recent study. The tropics pack away an enormous amount of organic matter, or biomass, in the trees and other organisms inhabiting these ecosystems. Locked up in that biomass is more than half the world’s aboveground carbon — the equivalent of around 20 years of human-caused emissions. Scientists often use climate models to predict how a warmer future might affect these forests, including their ability to take up carbon and allay the impacts of climate change. But these models aren’t always able to incorporate some of the major impacts of escalating climate change — such as precipitation changes, heat stress or wind — on the forests. “There are so many things going on,” said Maria del Rosario Uribe, the study’s lead author and an ecologist and postdoctoral scholar at Yale University in the U.S. Uribe and her colleagues, in search of a more accurate rendering of how changes to the climate could alter tropical ecosystems, brought together satellite mapping of biomass along with the observed effects of temperature and precipitation from experiments going back to the mid-20th century. The resulting models revealed that, even with relatively low emissions, these ecosystems could lose between 6.8 and 12% of the aboveground carbon they held in 1950 by 2100. In a scenario with higher emissions, these forests could lose more than 20% of that carbon, the team wrote Feb. 6 in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/carbon-uptake-in-tropical-forests-withers-in-drier-future-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/carbon-uptake-in-tropical-forests-withers-in-drier-future-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-265858</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Forest modeling misses the water for the carbon: Q&#038;A with Antonio Nobre &#038; Anastassia Makarieva</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/forest-modeling-misses-the-water-for-the-carbon-qa-with-antonio-nobre-anastassia-makarieva/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/forest-modeling-misses-the-water-for-the-carbon-qa-with-antonio-nobre-anastassia-makarieva/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Feb 2023 14:52:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Judith D. Schwartz]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/02/02124214/amazon-lake-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=265196</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, carbon, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Deforestation, Earth Science, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forests, Impact Of Climate Change, Rainforests, Research, Science, Temperatures, Trees, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Forests, Water, and Women In Science]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Brazilian scientist Antonio Donato Nobre has long been a student of the Amazon Rainforest. An agronomist with a master&#8217;s degree in tropical biology and a Ph.D. in Earth science, Nobre has researched the region for nearly four decades with the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA) and the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). Like [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Brazilian scientist Antonio Donato Nobre has long been a student of the Amazon Rainforest. An agronomist with a master&#8217;s degree in tropical biology and a Ph.D. in Earth science, Nobre has researched the region for nearly four decades with the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA) and the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). Like others who study the Amazon — a cohort that includes three of his brothers, Carlos, Paulo and Ismael — Antonio Nobre has watched in despair while stretches of untouched forest succumb to fire, machete and chainsaw, a scenario that’s been particularly acute under former president Jair Bolsonaro. In a 2019 interview with Mongabay, he called deforestation in the Amazon a “catastrophic situation” that threatens to disrupt Earth’s climate. Now, a new documentary, Rivers Above the Canopy, by French filmmaker Pascal Cuissot, features Antonio Nobre and his investigations into the Amazon’s importance to the global climate. The film has been shown in France, Germany and Brazil. Also featured is physicist Anastassia Makarieva of the Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute in Russia, who, with the late Victor Gorshkov, first came up with the concept of the biotic pump, an active function of forests. Increasingly, Nobre’s work on the Amazon is informed by this theory. For example, in a 2014 report, “The Future Climate of Amazonia,” a tour-de-force of explanatory science, Nobre describes how this “green ocean” not only creates its own rain but moves moisture across the continent via aerial rivers. Lately, he has collaborated on scientific papers&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/forest-modeling-misses-the-water-for-the-carbon-qa-with-antonio-nobre-anastassia-makarieva/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-265196</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Here come the sunbirds: New species from Indonesia&#8217;s Wakatobi Islands</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/here-come-the-sunbirds-new-species-from-indonesias-wakatobi-islands/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/here-come-the-sunbirds-new-species-from-indonesias-wakatobi-islands/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Nov 2022 02:55:37 +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/20/2022/11/08095120/WakatobiSunbird_Male_2-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=262276</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Southeast Sulawesi, and Sulawesi]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Islands, Rainforests, Science, Species, Species Discovery, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Deforestation, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A group of researchers have identified several new species of sunbirds, whose range spans from Africa in the west and Australia in the east, in the tropical Wakatobi Islands in central Indonesia. The paper, published Oct. 25 by scientists from Ireland and Indonesia, has described the physical and genetic distinctness of the Wakatobi sunbird (Cinnyris [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A group of researchers have identified several new species of sunbirds, whose range spans from Africa in the west and Australia in the east, in the tropical Wakatobi Islands in central Indonesia. The paper, published Oct. 25 by scientists from Ireland and Indonesia, has described the physical and genetic distinctness of the Wakatobi sunbird (Cinnyris infrenatus) from other known populations. They also found evidence that could split up the more widespread species of the olive-backed and black sunbirds (C. jugularis and Leptocoma aspasia). “It’s amazing that there are still species waiting to be found in this region, which has been important to evolutionary biology since the time of Wallace,” Fionn Ó Marcaigh, a PhD candidate in Trinity College Dublin’s School of Natural Sciences who is the lead author of the study, said in a statement. He was referring to the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, whose major evolutionary findings in the 1800s is referred to as Wallace’s Line, an imaginary divider between deep and shallow seas that lead to marked differences in the species found on either side. “I’m thrilled that we’ve added to the list of known species from this wonderful part of the world, it’s the kind of thing I dreamed of when I first got interested in zoology as a child,” Ó Marcaigh added. The Wakatobi Islands (red) lie off the coast of Sulawesi&#8217;s southeastern tip in eastern Indonesia. Their collective name is an acronym of the four main islands: Wangi-wangi, Kaledupa, Tomia, and Binongko. Image courtesy of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/here-come-the-sunbirds-new-species-from-indonesias-wakatobi-islands/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-262276</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As Indonesia paints rosy picture for orangutans, scientists ask: Where’s the data?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/10/as-indonesia-paints-rosy-picture-for-orangutans-scientists-ask-wheres-the-data/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/10/as-indonesia-paints-rosy-picture-for-orangutans-scientists-ask-wheres-the-data/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Oct 2022 11:46:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/10/03110132/north_sumatra_0442-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=261051</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Great Apes]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forestry, Forests, Freedom of Information, Green, Mammals, Orangutans, Rainforests, Research, Science, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Dutch biologist Erik Meijaard isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers. In the past 15 years, he’s published some 120 opinion pieces in Indonesian newspapers, many of them critical about the state of conservation in the biodiversity-rich country. But even Meijaard didn’t expect his latest article, which challenged government claims that orangutans in the Southeast Asian nation [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Dutch biologist Erik Meijaard isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers. In the past 15 years, he’s published some 120 opinion pieces in Indonesian newspapers, many of them critical about the state of conservation in the biodiversity-rich country. But even Meijaard didn’t expect his latest article, which challenged government claims that orangutans in the Southeast Asian nation have “growing” populations, to generate such fierce blowback. “I was surprised that they reacted as they did because the article was polite and well balanced, at least so we thought,” Meijaard told Mongabay. In a Sept. 15 op-ed in The Jakarta Post, Meijaard and four other foreign scientists took issue with assertions from Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry that the country’s critically endangered orangutans were bouncing back after decades of steady decline in a nation that has lost huge swaths of rainforest from industrial-scale land clearing. Several days later, a letter from the ministry surfaced banning the authors of the op-ed from conducting research in connection with the country’s national parks and conservation agencies. The letter accused the five scientists of writing with “negative intentions” that could “discredit” the government and ordered regional conservation authorities not only to bar them from operating but to report the activities of any foreign researchers, and of any Indonesian ones with foreign funding, to ministry headquarters. The letter sparked an outcry from civil society in Indonesia, a young democracy where despite broad press freedom some say the space for dissent is tightening — not least when it comes&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/10/as-indonesia-paints-rosy-picture-for-orangutans-scientists-ask-wheres-the-data/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-261051</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Congo, a carbon sink like no other risks being carved up for oil</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/07/in-congo-a-carbon-sink-like-no-other-risks-being-carved-up-for-oil/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/07/in-congo-a-carbon-sink-like-no-other-risks-being-carved-up-for-oil/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Jul 2022 07:46:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/07/28065727/In-Congo-a-carbon-sink-like-no-other-risks-being-carved-up-for-oil-6-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=258640</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, Congo Basin, Democratic Republic Of Congo, and Republic of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Agriculture, Animals, Biodiversity, carbon, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Offsets, Climate Change, Climate Science, Community Forests, Conservation, Earth Science, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forests, Global Warming, Impact Of Climate Change, Logging, Mitigation, Oil, Oil Drilling, Old Growth Forests, Peatlands, Primary Forests, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Research, Rivers, Saving Rainforests, Science, Soil Carbon, Solutions, Swamps, Threats To Rainforests, Traditional People, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Forests, Tropics, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The world’s largest bank of the partially decomposed plant matter known as peat in the tropics is even more extensive than initially thought, according to a new study. The peatlands of the Congo Basin cover some 167,600 square kilometers (64,710 square miles) in the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The world’s largest bank of the partially decomposed plant matter known as peat in the tropics is even more extensive than initially thought, according to a new study. The peatlands of the Congo Basin cover some 167,600 square kilometers (64,710 square miles) in the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a team of scientists reported July 21 in the journal Nature Geosciences. The new maps confirm that the area, sometimes called the Cuvette Centrale, is about the size of England and Wales combined, which is 15% bigger than the estimates from the original mapping of the area. “It’s a massive area. That’s for sure,” Bart Crezee, the study’s lead author and a postgraduate researcher at the University of Leeds in the U.K., told Mongabay. Part of the research team traveling in a dugout canoe on the Ruki River in the DRC. Image courtesy of Bart Crezee/University of Leeds. Little was known about the location, size and carbon contents of these peatlands deep in the world’s second-largest rainforest before a team of scientists shared their maps based on satellite imagery and extensive on-site fieldwork in a 2017 paper in the journal Nature. Peat forms when the water that swamps the mix of soil and plant matter on the floor of this forest chokes off oxygen to bacteria and fungi, arresting the normal decomposition that would occur in a less soggy rainforest. As a result, much of the carbon in these bits of plants gets locked away in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/07/in-congo-a-carbon-sink-like-no-other-risks-being-carved-up-for-oil/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-258640</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>New near-real-time tool reveals Earth’s land cover in more detail than ever before</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/new-near-real-time-tool-reveals-earths-land-cover-in-more-detail-than-ever-before/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/new-near-real-time-tool-reveals-earths-land-cover-in-more-detail-than-ever-before/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jun 2022 12:40:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Carolyn Cowan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/06/09123022/Land-use_Brazil-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=257011</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Australia, Central America, Europe, North America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Artificial Intelligence, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Conservation Technology, Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Grasslands, Infrastructure, Innovation, Land Use Change, Logging, Mapping, Mining, Rainforests, Satellite Imagery, Solutions, Tropical Conservation Science, Wetlands, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Google and the World Resources Institute (WRI) this week announced the launch of a new mapping tool touted as providing an unprecedented level of detail about how land is being used around the world. Called Dynamic World, it’s said to be the first global land cover data set available in near-real-time at high resolution. “It’s [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Google and the World Resources Institute (WRI) this week announced the launch of a new mapping tool touted as providing an unprecedented level of detail about how land is being used around the world. Called Dynamic World, it’s said to be the first global land cover data set available in near-real-time at high resolution. “It’s a new frontier in global, high-resolution, near-real-time environmental monitoring,” Rebecca Moore, director of Google Earth, said at an online press launch on June 6. Powered by Google Earth Engine’s cloud-based artificial intelligence, Dynamic World uses satellite imagery with a resolution of 10 by 10 meters (33 by 33 feet) from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellites to reveal up-to-date coverage of a suite of different land and water types, including urban development, wetlands, forests, crops and trees. A Dynamic World land use land cover map showing distinct classification of different land cover types. Image courtesy of Google / WRI While satellite images are typically processed as soon as they become available, up until now, global land cover maps often take months to produce, and are updated only on a monthly or annual basis. As a result, decision-makers at times lack timely data that could lead to rapid actions to address environmental disturbances, such as unprecedented changes to seasonal ecosystem cycles, the impacts of storms, floods and fires, or human disturbances like illegal logging. “We’ve heard from a number of governments and researchers that they’re committed to taking action … but they’re lacking critical environmental monitoring&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/new-near-real-time-tool-reveals-earths-land-cover-in-more-detail-than-ever-before/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-257011</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Beyond CO2, tropical forests a ‘cool’ solution to climate crisis, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/beyond-co2-tropical-forests-a-cool-solution-to-climate-crisis-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/beyond-co2-tropical-forests-a-cool-solution-to-climate-crisis-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Apr 2022 06:48:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/04/22062656/tropical-forest-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=255030</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and Tropics]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Biodiversity, carbon, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forestry, Forests, Nature-based climate solutions, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Research, Solutions, Tropical Conservation Science, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Weather]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As hot and muggy as most tropical rainforests are, you only need to leave their florid confines and step onto a recently razed plot of land to feel an immediate difference. In the bright sun, a wall of drier heat greets you, jolting your body with the impulse to return to the shade and humidity [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As hot and muggy as most tropical rainforests are, you only need to leave their florid confines and step onto a recently razed plot of land to feel an immediate difference. In the bright sun, a wall of drier heat greets you, jolting your body with the impulse to return to the shade and humidity of the forest. Forests — and tropical forests in particular — have garnered a lot of attention lately for the role they can play in dampening climate change. They mop up as much as a third of the carbon dioxide that we humans add to the atmosphere, mostly through the burning of fossil fuels. And yet, we’re continuing to cut them down at a terrifying clip. “It’s been a triumph to get the public to recognize that CO2 is the problem, that fossil fuels are causing it, and that trees are part of the solution,” said Deborah Lawrence, an environmental scientist and professor at the University of Virginia in the U.S. “That’s a win.” In a recent study published March 24 in the journal Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, Lawrence and her colleagues showed that, without forests, the global temperature would be around 0.5° Celsius (0.9° Fahrenheit) higher. Locking away climate-warming carbon in forests helps to keep a lid on temperatures. But Lawrence said that’s only part of the story. A suite of forests’ “biophysical mechanisms,” as scientists call them, also play a role, altering the temperatures and weather that we and other living&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/04/beyond-co2-tropical-forests-a-cool-solution-to-climate-crisis-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-255030</doi>				</item>
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