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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/tropical-forests/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2026 20:39:48 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>News on Tropical Forests</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/tropical-forests/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>UN recognizes ongoing restoration work inside Ethiopia’s Desa’a forest amid conflict</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/un-recognizes-ongoing-restoration-work-inside-ethiopias-desaa-forest-amid-conflict/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/un-recognizes-ongoing-restoration-work-inside-ethiopias-desaa-forest-amid-conflict/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Nov 2026 15:28:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/03094624/1_20260509_UNEP-Decade-on-Ecosystem-Restoration_Ethiopias-Great-Rift-Valley_Sosina-Mengistu_13-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334820</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Ethiopia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Governance, Land Conflict, Plants, Rainforests, Solutions, Trees, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On Oct. 29, 2026, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and FAO recognized the Desa’a project, an initiative to restore Ethiopia’s forests in the Great Rift Valley, as a World Restoration Flagship during the U.N. Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia. “It is to inspire others to take action and revive nature,” Doreen Lynn [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On Oct. 29, 2026, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and FAO recognized the Desa’a project, an initiative to restore Ethiopia’s forests in the Great Rift Valley, as a World Restoration Flagship during the U.N. Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia. “It is to inspire others to take action and revive nature,” Doreen Lynn Robinson, deputy director of the Ecosystems Division at UNEP, told Mongabay by phone. “Restoration, when it’s done well, brings stakeholders together because they’re working together to find solutions to common problems. We believe that by giving recognition to our flagships, they also receive some support. They’ll get technical support, monitoring support, and communication and advocacy support,” she continued. The initiative, officially called the “Restoring Desa&#8217;a landscape: Bringing the Great Rift Valley Back to Life,” is based in the Tigray region of northeastern Ethiopia, in what is known as the Afromontane forests. The Afromontane ecosystem extends across Africa, from the Arabian Peninsula south along the Rift Valley to the Drakensberg Mountains in the east, and consists of dryland forests located at elevations above 1,500 meters (4,900 feet). It is home to the endangered Ethiopian wolf (canis simensis), gelada monkey (theropithecus gelada) and giant lobelia (lobelia rhynchopetalum). This forest is also important for carbon storage, but it is on the verge of disappearing. At the beginning of the project in 2016, an estimated 74% of Ethiopia’s Desa’a Forest had “already disappeared.” Today, an estimated 70% of the remaining forest is considered degraded. Forest cover degradation can affect&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/un-recognizes-ongoing-restoration-work-inside-ethiopias-desaa-forest-amid-conflict/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/un-recognizes-ongoing-restoration-work-inside-ethiopias-desaa-forest-amid-conflict/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334820</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The RSPO closed the case on First Resources. Indonesian forests kept falling for palm oil (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/the-rspo-closed-the-case-on-first-resources-indonesian-forests-kept-falling-for-palm-oil-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/the-rspo-closed-the-case-on-first-resources-indonesian-forests-kept-falling-for-palm-oil-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Nov 2026 10:27:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tom Johnson]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/11/03102619/First-Resources-RSPO-Commentary-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334809</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Anonymous Companies, Business, Commentary, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Crops, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Food Industry, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Industrial Agriculture, Industry, Law, Media, Palm Oil, Plantations, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Zero Deforestation Commitments]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) — as the name suggests — sets itself up as the arbiter of what is sustainable in the palm oil industry. For that to work, it has to do two things. First, it has to make sensible rules about what is and isn’t sustainable. Second, it has to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) — as the name suggests — sets itself up as the arbiter of what is sustainable in the palm oil industry. For that to work, it has to do two things. First, it has to make sensible rules about what is and isn’t sustainable. Second, it has to enforce those rules, to ensure that companies whose actions fall outside them do not get to market their products as sustainable. If it does not police the rules, the rules don’t really mean all that much. Evidence from a new investigation — and newly unearthed court records — shows that it has failed on that second task. In December 2025, the RSPO Complaints Panel issued its final ruling on a case that had dragged on for more than four years. In a succession of NGO reports dating back to 2017, allegations had piled up connecting Singapore-listed, Indonesian-owned First Resources, an RSPO member and major palm oil producer, to a string of other groups that were still clearing rainforests. First Resources had first committed to “zero deforestation” in 2015 and was able to access markets closed to unsustainable palm oil through its RSPO membership. But through its apparent control of so-called “shadow companies,” the theory went, the Fangiono family that owned First Resources was simultaneously able to keep expanding into rainforests. A complaint alleging that the Fangionos controlled two other groups — Ciliandry Angki Abadi and FAP Agri — was first taken up by the RSPO&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/the-rspo-closed-the-case-on-first-resources-indonesian-forests-kept-falling-for-palm-oil-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/the-rspo-closed-the-case-on-first-resources-indonesian-forests-kept-falling-for-palm-oil-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334809</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Ecotourism may deter hunters, but also keeps wildlife away, Laos study suggests</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/ecotourism-may-deter-hunters-but-also-keeps-wildlife-away-laos-study-suggests/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/ecotourism-may-deter-hunters-but-also-keeps-wildlife-away-laos-study-suggests/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Nov 2026 14:32:12 +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/20/2026/11/02142348/Asian_Black_Bear_cubs_Ursus_thibetanus_in_Khao_Yai_national_park_24405284880-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334667</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Laos, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Camera Trapping, Conservation, Ecosystems, Ecotourism, Environment, Forests, Governance, Hunting, Mammals, Monitoring, Over-hunting, Rainforests, Research, Tourism, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Clouded leopards, sun bears, and other medium to large mammals living in a protected but intensively hunted landscape in northern Laos might be selecting their forest hangouts based on the chatter of hikers and splashes of kayakers, according to new research. The study, published in Global Ecology and Conservation, used camera-trap data from between 2013 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Clouded leopards, sun bears, and other medium to large mammals living in a protected but intensively hunted landscape in northern Laos might be selecting their forest hangouts based on the chatter of hikers and splashes of kayakers, according to new research. The study, published in Global Ecology and Conservation, used camera-trap data from between 2013 and 2019 to investigate whether an award-winning community-based ecotourism initiative that has operated tours in Nam Ha National Protected Area since 1999 brings any benefits to local wildlife populations by creating a safe haven from hunting pressure. “Hunting is a really integral part of the local culture, some of it legal, some of it illegal,” William Bleisch, lead author of the study and former program director at the Hong Kong-based China Exploration and Research Society, told Mongabay in an interview. Bleisch said he and his colleagues were curious to find out whether tourism created “a kind of refuge” where people would forgo hunting either because they could see the economic and social benefits of wildlife tourism or because they were afraid of being reported by guides or tourists. To test their theory, the team set up camera traps at 59 sites across the landscape, both within tourism hotspots and at more remote locations in the forest reserve. They recorded a total 45 species of medium to large mammals across the whole landscape, including 15 globally threatened species. They found an average 4.58 species at sites close to trekking trails and kayaking routes, and almost twice&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/ecotourism-may-deter-hunters-but-also-keeps-wildlife-away-laos-study-suggests/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/11/ecotourism-may-deter-hunters-but-also-keeps-wildlife-away-laos-study-suggests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334667</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Suriname’s Amazon, the Wayana community struggling to keep gold miners at bay</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/in-surinames-amazon-the-wayana-community-struggling-to-keep-gold-miners-at-bay/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/in-surinames-amazon-the-wayana-community-struggling-to-keep-gold-miners-at-bay/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Oct 2026 18:47:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/29181238/IMG_3302-JPEG-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334444</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, French Guiana, Global, South America, and Suriname]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Conservation, Crime, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Education, Environment, Forest Loss, Forests, Gold Mining, Governance, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Law, Mining, Natural Resources, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KAWEMHAKAN, Suriname — Beneath thousands of square kilometers of rainforest here lie vast deposits of gold and other minerals. Around a million ounces are extracted legally every year, but much more remains buried throughout the Amazon. In some of the farthest-flung parts of the rainforest, such as these small villages along the border with French [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KAWEMHAKAN, Suriname — Beneath thousands of square kilometers of rainforest here lie vast deposits of gold and other minerals. Around a million ounces are extracted legally every year, but much more remains buried throughout the Amazon. In some of the farthest-flung parts of the rainforest, such as these small villages along the border with French Guiana, the government hasn’t stopped locals — joined by Brazilian miners and Chinese traders — from clearing the forest in search of gold. Moving up and down the Lawa River and its tributaries, these criminals establish mining camps and trading posts far beyond the reach of most law enforcement, where robberies, extortion and other violent crimes happen out of sight. Many Indigenous Wayana families live on both sides of the Lawa River — which also marks the border with French Guiana — and face a growing list of challenges, including health issues from mercury use on their land and dwindling wildlife populations they’ve long relied on for food. Indigenous Wayana communities have lived in the area for generations but still lack an official land title that might offer some protection. The only airstrip for kilometers around, and the primary practical connection to the capital, Paramaribo, sits in the middle of one of the Indigenous villages, giving leadership some leverage with miners and traders: Unless they want to travel for days by river to get back and forth from the city, it’s important to be on good terms with the community, residents said. These delicate relationships&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/in-surinames-amazon-the-wayana-community-struggling-to-keep-gold-miners-at-bay/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/in-surinames-amazon-the-wayana-community-struggling-to-keep-gold-miners-at-bay/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334444</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Design conservation with those who will live with it’: 30 by 30 in Africa</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/design-conservation-with-those-who-will-live-with-it-30-by-30-in-africa/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/design-conservation-with-those-who-will-live-with-it-30-by-30-in-africa/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Oct 2026 08:58:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sasha Nunneley]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/29083339/DSC05020_AdrianPonsardWCS-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=334316</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Liberia, Namibia, Southern Africa, Tanzania, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forests, Governance, Indigenous Rights, Oceans, Politics, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Perhaps the best-known target of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) is what’s commonly known as “30 by 30,” the aim to bring at least 30% of the world&#8217;s terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine ecosystems into effective conservation and equitable management by the year 2030. According to Skytruth’s tracker, which combines multiple databases to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Perhaps the best-known target of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) is what’s commonly known as “30 by 30,” the aim to bring at least 30% of the world&#8217;s terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine ecosystems into effective conservation and equitable management by the year 2030. According to Skytruth’s tracker, which combines multiple databases to provide a ready overview, as of October 2026, African countries had secured 19.9% of terrestrial and 17.2% of marine areas, a tick above the global coverage of 18.7% of land, and 10% of marine landscapes. As delegates from around the world gather in the ancient city of Yerevan, Armenia, for the 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) to the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity from Oct. 19 to 30, it seems unlikely that the 30 by30 target will be met. Since the GBF was agreed in 2022, diverse observers have argued that we should also be turning our attention to what lies beneath these numbers. “The objective is not simply to reach 30% on paper by 2030,” says Daniel Marnewick, a conservation expert with the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. “It is to secure biodiversity, strengthen ecological resilience, and build conservation approaches that are socially legitimate, locally grounded, and sustainable over the long term.” Beneath the headline figures, Marnewick says, “land and natural resources are under increasing pressure from competing demands, including agriculture, infrastructure, energy, mining, and other forms of economic development.” One obvious obstacle across the African continent arises from governments&#8217; own conflicting priorities.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/design-conservation-with-those-who-will-live-with-it-30-by-30-in-africa/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/design-conservation-with-those-who-will-live-with-it-30-by-30-in-africa/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-334316</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Amazon communities lose water as mining and deforestation reshape rivers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/amazon-communities-lose-water-as-mining-and-deforestation-reshape-rivers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/amazon-communities-lose-water-as-mining-and-deforestation-reshape-rivers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Oct 2026 18:15:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vanessa Romo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexa]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/23193910/Arazaire_community_bisected_by_Inambari_River_Vico_Mendez-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333623</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Bolivia, Colombia, Global, Latin America, Peru, South America, and Venezuela]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Science, Conservation, Culture, Deforestation, Drinking Water, Earth Science, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Freshwater, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Health, Human Rights, Impact Of Climate Change, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Law, Livestock, Mapping, Natural Resources, Pollution, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Research, Rivers, Science, Technology, Tropical Forests, Water, Water Pollution, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“People think that because we live in the forest we have plenty of water, but this is the reality,” Erick Tijé, an Indigenous Harakmbut resident of the southern Peruvian Amazon, says in a tone of disappointment, pointing to the murky water flowing down the Inambari River. That river isn’t what it was five years ago, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“People think that because we live in the forest we have plenty of water, but this is the reality,” Erick Tijé, an Indigenous Harakmbut resident of the southern Peruvian Amazon, says in a tone of disappointment, pointing to the murky water flowing down the Inambari River. That river isn’t what it was five years ago, when fishing and life along its banks were very different for residents of the Arazaire Indigenous community. Illegal mining stole their water, only to return it to them polluted. Today, they have to buy the water they drink. On the other side of the Peruvian border, in the Colombian Amazon, Lázaro Ibañez, an elder of the Coreguaje people who live in the Jácome Indigenous Reserve, blames cattle ranching and climate change for reducing water availability around their territory. “The cattle have been destroying everything, and now all you can see is pastureland; there are hardly any trees left,” he says, having witnessed how deforestation to create grazing for cattle has gone hand in hand with the drying up of their water sources. Inhabitants of parts of the world’s greatest rainforest face a paradox: they’re surrounded by water, but can’t use it. For Indigenous peoples, it’s also the loss of the spirits that guard their water sources, driven away by the advance of logging and cattle ranching. Reporters from Mongabay, Colombian news outlet El Espectador, and Venezuela’s El Correo del Caroní, in partnership with scientists from Brazil’s Serrapilheira Institute, analyzed more than two decades of satellite&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/amazon-communities-lose-water-as-mining-and-deforestation-reshape-rivers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/amazon-communities-lose-water-as-mining-and-deforestation-reshape-rivers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333623</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>What if Flávio Bolsonaro wins? High stakes for the environment in Brazil’s 2026 elections (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/what-if-flavio-bolsonaro-wins-high-stakes-for-the-environment-in-brazils-2026-elections-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/what-if-flavio-bolsonaro-wins-high-stakes-for-the-environment-in-brazils-2026-elections-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Oct 2026 17:42:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Philip M. Fearnside]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/23173041/deforestation-in-the-brazilian-amazon-administration-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333723</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Commentary, Deforestation, Environmental Policy, Forests, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Fear and disbelief prevail among those in Brazil who are concerned about the environment. A climate denier and voluble supporter of dismantling Brazil’s environmental agencies may well be the country`s next president. Brazil’s current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (known simply as “Lula”) faces Flávio Bolsonaro, one of former president Jair Bolsonaro’s sons. In [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Fear and disbelief prevail among those in Brazil who are concerned about the environment. A climate denier and voluble supporter of dismantling Brazil’s environmental agencies may well be the country`s next president. Brazil’s current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (known simply as “Lula”) faces Flávio Bolsonaro, one of former president Jair Bolsonaro’s sons. In the first round of the election on October 4th neither reached the required 50% plus one vote needed, and they face each other in a runoff on October 25th. Flávio was two percentage points ahead for valid votes in a poll released on October 21st, although one poll released on October 18th showed Lula ahead by two points. Flávio’s father Jair Bolsonaro’s 2019-2022 term was an environmental disaster, and Flávio frequently claims that his father was the best president Brazil has ever had and that, if elected, he will bring back his father’s policies. Under Jair Bolsonaro the annual deforestation rate in the Amazon rose sharply, peaking in 2021. He made good on his promise not to demarcate “a single centimeter” of Indigenous land. He appointed openly anti-environmental figures to head the Ministry of the Environment and IBAMA (the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources), who largely dismantled these agencies and blocked enforcement of environmental laws. Jair Bolsonaro’s constant rhetoric supporting illegal loggers, goldminers and deforesters resulted in surges of these activities, including in Indigenous areas. Most notorious was the invasion of the Yanomami Indigenous Land by over 20,000 goldminers who converted&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/what-if-flavio-bolsonaro-wins-high-stakes-for-the-environment-in-brazils-2026-elections-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/what-if-flavio-bolsonaro-wins-high-stakes-for-the-environment-in-brazils-2026-elections-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333723</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scorched sanctuaries: The race to save Borneo’s orangutans from fires</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/scorched-sanctuaries-the-race-to-save-borneos-orangutans-from-fires/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/scorched-sanctuaries-the-race-to-save-borneos-orangutans-from-fires/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Oct 2026 23:08:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Garry Lotulung]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/22223758/55-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333592</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and West Kalimantan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fires, Forest Loss, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Great Apes, Habitat Loss, Mammals, Orangutans, Peatlands, Primates, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Thick smog covers the forest canopy in Ketapang, West Kalimantan, dimming the sun. On the front lines, forest and land fires are not just destroying habitats; they are pushing local primates close to extinction. In the middle of this crisis, Veterinarian Komara and the Yayasan Inisiasi Alam Rehabilitasi Indonesia (YIARI) team stay alert. Between Aug. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Thick smog covers the forest canopy in Ketapang, West Kalimantan, dimming the sun. On the front lines, forest and land fires are not just destroying habitats; they are pushing local primates close to extinction. In the middle of this crisis, Veterinarian Komara and the Yayasan Inisiasi Alam Rehabilitasi Indonesia (YIARI) team stay alert. Between Aug. 1 and Oct. 21, 2026, 53 Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) were rescued from fires through joint emergency operations by the West Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) and YIARI. Veterinarian Komara, right, from Yayasan Inisiasi Alam Rehabilitasi Indonesia (YIARI), along with other veterinarians, treats a female orangutan and her baby after being rescued from a burned forest and peatland area in Pelang village, Ketapang Regency, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, Sept. 18, 2026. Bornean orangutans are one of three orangutan species in the world, and the only one found on the island of Borneo. All three species of orangutan are critically endangered. Image by Garry Lotulung for Mongabay. A fire burns at a palm oil plantation in Sungai Putri village, Ketapang Regency, West Kalimantan province, Indonesia, Aug. 19, 2026. Image by Garry Lotulung for Mongabay. Fires are an increasingly deadly threat to orangutans. The flames not only kill the animals but also destroy their homes, reduce their food and cut off the paths they use to move between groups. The scale of forest and land fires in West Kalimantan makes the impact clear: 48,536 hectares (119,935 acres) have burned in the province in 2026, an area around&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/scorched-sanctuaries-the-race-to-save-borneos-orangutans-from-fires/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/scorched-sanctuaries-the-race-to-save-borneos-orangutans-from-fires/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333592</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Extractive industries threaten global goal to protect 30% of nature by 2030, report finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/extractive-industries-threaten-global-goal-to-protect-30-of-nature-by-2030-report-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/extractive-industries-threaten-global-goal-to-protect-30-of-nature-by-2030-report-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Oct 2026 19:50:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/21144245/alain-bonnardeaux-CeaBZ2F49x4-unsplash-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333467</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Biodiversity, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, extractives, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Reform, Land Rights, Law, Mining, Natural Resources, Protected Areas, Tropical Forests, and Tropics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A new report by Earth Insight finds more than 61.5 million hectares (151.9 million acres) of protected and conserved areas — an area roughly 2.5 times the size of the United Kingdom — overlap with ongoing and planned oil and gas blocks across the tropical countries. Another 42.7 million hectares (105.5 million acres) of protected [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A new report by Earth Insight finds more than 61.5 million hectares (151.9 million acres) of protected and conserved areas — an area roughly 2.5 times the size of the United Kingdom — overlap with ongoing and planned oil and gas blocks across the tropical countries. Another 42.7 million hectares (105.5 million acres) of protected lands overlap with mining blocks or concessions. “[The] analysis reveals a major gap between conservation commitments and the industrial pressures facing areas already counted as protected and conserved,” Florencia Librizzi, deputy director at Earth Insight and author of the report, told Mongabay over email. Released on Oct. 8, the report arrived less than two weeks before delegates from around the world gather in Yerevan, Armenia, for the United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP17) from Oct. 19 – 30. The findings show that expanding protected areas is not enough, according to the report. At COP15 in 2022, 196 nations pledged to conserve at least 30% of the world’s land, inland waters and coastal and marine areas by 2030 (known as “30&#215;30”) under Target 3 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This year, delegates will assess global progress toward the 30&#215;30 goal. But instead, the report says governments should evaluate which ecosystems are being preserved, ensure enforcement is effective and prevent industrial activities from undermining conservation efforts. A coalition of NGOs, including Earth Insight, the World Commission on Protected Areas, the KBA Secretariat, the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB) and others analyzed extractive pressures from a host&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/extractive-industries-threaten-global-goal-to-protect-30-of-nature-by-2030-report-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-333467</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Wildfire in Indonesia’s Mount Bromo National Park kills 4 firefighters</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/wildfire-in-indonesias-mount-bromo-national-park-kills-4-firefighters/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/wildfire-in-indonesias-mount-bromo-national-park-kills-4-firefighters/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Oct 2026 11:16:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Eko Widianto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/20110622/Arjuno-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333223</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Java, Indonesia, Java, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fires, Forests, Health, Public Health, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MALANG, Indonesia — Four people were killed on Oct. 15 as they fought to contain a wildfire in the east of Java Island at the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, a complex of active volcanoes and one of Indonesia’s best-known tourism destinations. The fire took place by a savanna and hillside in a crater visited [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MALANG, Indonesia — Four people were killed on Oct. 15 as they fought to contain a wildfire in the east of Java Island at the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, a complex of active volcanoes and one of Indonesia’s best-known tourism destinations. The fire took place by a savanna and hillside in a crater visited by hundreds of thousands of domestic and international tourists every year. “Their dedication serves as a reminder that behind every effort to protect nature and society lies struggle, courage, and sacrifice that deserve respect,” said Berton S.P. Panjaitan, a spokesperson for Indonesia’s disaster management agency, the BNPB. Indonesia’s environment minister identified the four victims as Sukaris, a national park civil servant; Wisnu Yuda Pratama and Sefriel Ardiansyah, who were employees of a hotel services company PT Mitra Indo Permai; and Hendra Rony Wagiyanta, a member of the state firefighting unit, Manggala Agni. Hendra, who was evacuated to Tongas hospital in Probolinggo, the nearest town, died due to the injuries hours later. Much of Indonesia’s most severe fire damage occurs in carbon-rich peatlands on the islands of Borneo, New Guinea and Sumatra. Fires are common in other parts of the country, but rarely lead to fatalities. Tanker trucks have been deployed to help extinguish the fire in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park area. Image courtesy of Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. Forest and land fires on Mount Arjuno, Sept. 2. Sea of sand On Oct. 10, Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park officers received notification of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/wildfire-in-indonesias-mount-bromo-national-park-kills-4-firefighters/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333223</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Anatomy of a land grab: the law, likes, and legislator behind an Indigenous land invasion in Brazil</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/anatomy-of-a-land-grab-the-law-likes-and-legislator-behind-an-indigenous-land-invasion-in-brazil/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/anatomy-of-a-land-grab-the-law-likes-and-legislator-behind-an-indigenous-land-invasion-in-brazil/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Oct 2026 19:42:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee GabayElisângela Mendonça]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/16132711/73_tunaItata_03_Black_03-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332839</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Global, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Beef, Business, Cattle, Commodity agriculture, Conflict, Conservation, Corruption, data, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Farming, forest degradation, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forests, Habitat Loss, Human Rights, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Industrial Agriculture, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Land Use Change, Law, Livestock, Natural Resources, Politics, Primary Forests, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Ranching, Resource Conflict, Satellite Imagery, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, Tropical Forests, and Uncontacted Tribes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The polished leather of Francisco “Torrinho” Torres’ shoes gleamed as he walked toward the lectern in the plenary chamber of the Pará state legislature in the Brazilian Amazon. The 57-year-old rancher-turned-politician moved unhurriedly as he prepared to deliver a speech that would set in motion a series of events leading to new invasions of the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The polished leather of Francisco “Torrinho” Torres’ shoes gleamed as he walked toward the lectern in the plenary chamber of the Pará state legislature in the Brazilian Amazon. The 57-year-old rancher-turned-politician moved unhurriedly as he prepared to deliver a speech that would set in motion a series of events leading to new invasions of the Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Territory. It was June 30, 2026, in what seemed to be a routine session for the state representative from one of Brazil’s largest Amazonian states. Behind his sharp suit and the supportive nods of his agribusiness allies was a track record of environmental fines, a corruption investigation, and land disputes. In a brief speech, Torres defended a bill he’d authored to create a new state-run environmental protection area, APA Bacajaí. He presented the measure as a solution for families struggling to farm and rural families in need of land regulation. Three other state representatives took the stand to support the proposal. They spoke of farmers who had waited decades for land titles, of families unable to access credit without them, and of the uncertainty created by the possibility of an Indigenous land claim. It only took 24 minutes for the chamber to pass the bill into law unanimously. There were no objections and no requests for technical notes — even though it was known that the new 142,400-hectare (about 351,900-acre) reserve would overlap entirely with the Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Territory. The area has been under a land-use protection order since 2011 to safeguard the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/anatomy-of-a-land-grab-the-law-likes-and-legislator-behind-an-indigenous-land-invasion-in-brazil/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332839</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The uplifting story of one of Zimbabwe’s pioneering women rangers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-uplifting-story-of-one-of-zimbabwes-pioneering-women-rangers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-uplifting-story-of-one-of-zimbabwes-pioneering-women-rangers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Oct 2026 19:03:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/16191522/W2iBT42Q-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=333004</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Southern Africa, and Zimbabwe]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Environment, Environmental Policy, Forests, Gender, Governance, Politics, Rainforests, Solutions, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For Nyaradzo Auxilia Hoto, one of the most memorable moments of becoming a wildlife ranger was a trip to town. She and her fellow recruits walked through the streets in their new uniforms, on their way to open bank accounts. Soon, they would receive their first salaries. For a woman who had struggled to make [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For Nyaradzo Auxilia Hoto, one of the most memorable moments of becoming a wildlife ranger was a trip to town. She and her fellow recruits walked through the streets in their new uniforms, on their way to open bank accounts. Soon, they would receive their first salaries. For a woman who had struggled to make ends meet in rural Zimbabwe, it was an extraordinary moment. “We were very proud,” she recalled. Hoto, 34, grew up in Huyo, a village in Zimbabwe’s Lower Zambezi Valley, where her family depended largely on growing and selling vegetables. Money was scarce, and although she had done well at school, she could not afford to continue her education beyond secondary school. Marriage, she hoped, might offer a better life. Instead, she says, she endured nearly four years with a violent husband before deciding to leave. She returned to her parents’ home with her young daughter and resumed working in the family garden. Her fortunes changed in 2017, when the International Anti-Poaching Foundation began recruiting local women for Akashinga, a new wildlife protection initiative. Hoto was among 16 women selected from roughly 100 applicants. Many men in her community doubted that women could confront poachers or withstand the demands of ranger work. She went anyway. Within a few years, she had become a ranger sergeant, leading other women on patrol. She later returned to university, graduating in 2023 with a degree in wildlife, ecology and conservation. Today, she works as a biodiversity officer with Akashinga, using&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-uplifting-story-of-one-of-zimbabwes-pioneering-women-rangers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-333004</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Perpetuating stupidity’: Indonesia comes under fire for response to burning and haze</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/perpetuating-stupidity-indonesia-comes-under-fire-for-response-to-burning-and-haze/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/perpetuating-stupidity-indonesia-comes-under-fire-for-response-to-burning-and-haze/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Oct 2026 06:57:51 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/17023326/Karhutla-Kalteng-1-Ini-1200x800-1-2-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=332817</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Disasters, Ecosystems, Extreme Weather, Fires, Forest Loss, Great Apes, Habitat Loss, Mammals, One Health, Orangutans, Peatlands, Planetary Health, Primates, Public Health, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, Wetlands, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia is facing growing criticism over its response to a forest and land fire crisis that has sent choking haze billowing into neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, but officials insist the government is not to blame. The president has claimed that a drawdown in firefighting efforts means the number of fires has gone down, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia is facing growing criticism over its response to a forest and land fire crisis that has sent choking haze billowing into neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, but officials insist the government is not to blame. The president has claimed that a drawdown in firefighting efforts means the number of fires has gone down, while one of his spokespersons trotted out a familiar rebuke that neighboring countries should be grateful for the oxygen they get from Indonesia’s forests and not complain only when they get “sent smoke.” Meanwhile, Malaysia said it was still awaiting a response to its offer of assistance fighting the fires, while Singapore raised the prospect of taking legal action against any Singapore-linked companies behind the burning. Indonesian officials have acknowledged the fires’ effects on neighboring countries, but as of Oct. 16 had issued no public apology for the haze that pushed Kuala Lumpur and Singapore into the ranks of the most polluted cities in the world. Haze from Indonesia’s wildfires obscures the sun in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Sept. 15, 2026. Image courtesy of Estelle Ng. Instead, Syahganda Nainggolan, head of the government communications office, said Malaysia and Singapore should see the problem as being “beyond human error” and “truly nature.” “We do not just send smoke; when there is no smoke, we send oxygen,” he said, echoing remarks made by previous administrations during similar fire crises. The statement drew criticism in Malaysia, where Andrew Chen Kah Eng, a politician from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/perpetuating-stupidity-indonesia-comes-under-fire-for-response-to-burning-and-haze/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-332817</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Lawmakers in Suriname call for investigation, stricter oversight amid new mining activity</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/lawmakers-in-suriname-call-for-investigation-stricter-oversight-amid-new-mining-activity/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/lawmakers-in-suriname-call-for-investigation-stricter-oversight-amid-new-mining-activity/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Oct 2026 16:18:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/10/09154037/a.-Banner-%C2%A9-marccharron-original-1-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331661</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, South America, and Suriname]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Chemicals, Conservation, Critical Minerals, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Loss, Forests, Gold Mining, Governance, Health, Illegal Mining, Law, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Lawmakers in Suriname are calling for a formal investigation into mining activity that allegedly uses heavily restricted chemicals like cyanide, and risks creating runoff and pollution in the surrounding ecosystem. On Sept. 19, two members of the National Assembly, Rabindre Parmessar and Michael Marengo, visited an area in Pelin Bergi, near Kwakoegron, in northern Suriname, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Lawmakers in Suriname are calling for a formal investigation into mining activity that allegedly uses heavily restricted chemicals like cyanide, and risks creating runoff and pollution in the surrounding ecosystem. On Sept. 19, two members of the National Assembly, Rabindre Parmessar and Michael Marengo, visited an area in Pelin Bergi, near Kwakoegron, in northern Suriname, and said they discovered “substantial” mining activity that raised legal questions about permitting. Now, the two lawmakers are calling on President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons to launch an immediate investigation and temporarily halt all mining activity in the area. “The situation on-site raises fundamental questions about the nature, duration, permitting, oversight and the fiscal and environmental controls on these activities,” the lawmakers said in a letter, reviewed by Mongabay, to the president’s office last month. It added, “[It’s] necessary to establish how activities of this scale have been able to take place over an extended period and to what extent the state’s interests and revenues have been protected in the process.” The lawmakers, who traveled with a group of local journalists and an environmental activist, observed “deep excavations” at the site and materials being transported to processing locations. There were also indications of cyanide use via heap leaching, a process in which the chemical is sprayed onto rock to dissolve gold, making it easier to collect smaller particles. The import and use of cyanide is heavily restricted in Suriname. Geerlings-Simons is trying to phase out imports and implement a registry system for the chemical, which is still&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/lawmakers-in-suriname-call-for-investigation-stricter-oversight-amid-new-mining-activity/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331661</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The Indonesians facing El Nino’s fires have lessons to teach us (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-indonesians-facing-el-ninos-fires-have-lessons-to-teach-us-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-indonesians-facing-el-ninos-fires-have-lessons-to-teach-us-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Oct 2026 14:17:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Akane Nishimura]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/22123507/borneo-Dayak-fire-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=331681</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Climate Change, Commentary, Conservation, Disasters, Environment, Extreme Weather, Fires, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Peatlands, Pollution, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In October 2006, I was supposed to be starting my dissertation research on tropical reforestation in Indonesia. Instead, I found myself in the forests of Tanjung Puting National Park in Central Kalimantan helping locals to fight fires with brooms, backpack pumps, and hoses connected to hand-dug water wells. It was an ‘all hands-on deck’ moment [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In October 2006, I was supposed to be starting my dissertation research on tropical reforestation in Indonesia. Instead, I found myself in the forests of Tanjung Puting National Park in Central Kalimantan helping locals to fight fires with brooms, backpack pumps, and hoses connected to hand-dug water wells. It was an ‘all hands-on deck’ moment for the local NGO I was working with then — Friends of Nature, People and Forests (FNPF) — including Basuki Santoso, FNPF’s Kalimantan program manager, alongside Adut and Isam, who were teenagers at the time. On our first night of firefighting, we slept in the forest on a raised platform that would later become part of a field station. I was awoken in the middle of the night by a sun bear rifling through our makeshift kitchen about 20 feet away. I sat frozen, watching this wild animal who was fleeing the fires while everyone else slept soundly. It was a surreal and humbling moment. Twenty years ago, these severe forest and peatland fires were due to a dangerous combination of El Niño-induced drought, slash-and-burn agriculture and other land clearing, and the grass-fire cycle. Much of Southeast Asia was left choking on the haze, and that was a weak El Niño year. Firefighting in Indonesia often requires resourcefulness as well as resilience and fortitude. Image courtesy of Basuki Santoso. History keeps repeating itself, and it’s hard to watch. Experts say we are now facing a Super El Niño. For the past three months, millions of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/10/the-indonesians-facing-el-ninos-fires-have-lessons-to-teach-us-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-331681</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Despite a drop in deforestation in 2025, forest losses pile up in the Mekong</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/despite-a-drop-in-deforestation-in-2025-forest-losses-pile-up-in-the-mekong/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/despite-a-drop-in-deforestation-in-2025-forest-losses-pile-up-in-the-mekong/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Sep 2026 02:05:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/07/12064247/Garment-Deforestation_Mongabay_Andy-Ball_Story-3-4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330522</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Laos, Mekong Basin, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Community Forests, Conservation, Deforestation, Deforestation Alert System, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Policy, forest degradation, Forest Destruction, Forest Loss, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Monitoring, Primary Forests, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Over the course of 2025, the Mekong countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam lost a combined 746,168 hectares (1.8 million acres) of tree cover, an area roughly equivalent to the size of the Bangkok Metropolitan Area, according to Mongabay’s analysis*. Data published by the Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) laboratory at the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — Over the course of 2025, the Mekong countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam lost a combined 746,168 hectares (1.8 million acres) of tree cover, an area roughly equivalent to the size of the Bangkok Metropolitan Area, according to Mongabay’s analysis*. Data published by the Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) laboratory at the University of Maryland, in partnership with Global Nature Watch (GNW) — formerly Global Forest Watch — shows that of the total 746,168 hectares of tree cover lost, more than 154,000 hectares (380,000 acres)  was primary forest. Mongabay’s analysis found that just shy of 200,000 hectares (494,000 acres) of the total were lost from the region’s protected areas. While these numbers may paint a bleak picture for the Mekong’s forests, the rate of regional deforestation has dropped by almost 25% from that recorded by GNW in 2024, continuing a decline that, according to the data, began in 2023. Fewer wildfires, higher rainfall, stricter law enforcement and lower market rates for commodities could all factor into a drop in the Mekong’s deforestation rate for 2025 when compared to 2024. However, experts warn that short-term drops do not always represent a broader trend in deforestation. Every country in the Mekong saw a fall in deforestation rates from 2024 to 2025, but each still grapples with a range of challenges to protecting the region’s remaining forests. Data from 2025 shows a drop in deforestation recorded across Mekong nations, but much of the tree cover lost last year was lost inside&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/despite-a-drop-in-deforestation-in-2025-forest-losses-pile-up-in-the-mekong/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330522</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Lost’ bird reappears in West Africa’s forests after more than a decade</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/lost-bird-reappears-in-west-africas-forests-after-more-than-a-decade/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/lost-bird-reappears-in-west-africas-forests-after-more-than-a-decade/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Sep 2026 14:27:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/23125402/Ghana-Cuckooshrike1_Stephanie-Bartlett-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330560</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Cote D'Ivoire, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Biology, Birds, Conservation, Environment, Forests, Protected Areas, Rediscovered Species, Research, Species, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Paulo Ditzel first laid eyes on the bird, he knew he’d seen something special: a vibrant orange body with yellow and black wings and tail feathers, topped by a dark head set off by almost-whimsical splashes of copper on its cheek. &#8220;My brain registered, it&#8217;s the Ghana cuckooshrike,&#8221; Ditzel, a field research fellow with [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When Paulo Ditzel first laid eyes on the bird, he knew he’d seen something special: a vibrant orange body with yellow and black wings and tail feathers, topped by a dark head set off by almost-whimsical splashes of copper on its cheek. &#8220;My brain registered, it&#8217;s the Ghana cuckooshrike,&#8221; Ditzel, a field research fellow with the International Bird Conservation Partnership (IBCP), tells Mongabay. A surge of excitement rippled through him, he says. Still, the sighting also immediately sparked &#8220;the most chaotic calm,&#8221; as he stood next to his partner and teammate Stephanie Bartlett on a bridge not far from an ecological research station in Côte d’Ivoire’s Taï National Park. &#8220;OK, what do I do?&#8221; he says he remembers thinking. &#8220;Priority right now is that Stephanie gets a picture.&#8221; Over the next few moments, Ditzel locked onto the bird with his binoculars and called out its movements to Bartlett, also an IBCP field research fellow. In almost-choreographed coordination, Bartlett trained her camera lens on the branches across the stream and pressed the shutter button. &#8220;I got a photo of the bird before I saw it,&#8221; Bartlett says. In six months of bird surveys in West Africa supported by U.S.-based IBCP, she says, she&#8217;d come to expect only fleeting glances of the region&#8217;s birds. &#8220;They&#8217;re scared of you. You don&#8217;t get to get close to them, and so often you have to use the camera as a tool for identification.&#8221; &#8220;If I had seen that bird with anyone else, it wouldn&#8217;t have&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/lost-bird-reappears-in-west-africas-forests-after-more-than-a-decade/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330560</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As fires spread in Indonesia, Bornean orangutans run out of forest to flee</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-fires-spread-in-indonesia-bornean-orangutans-run-out-of-forest-to-flee/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-fires-spread-in-indonesia-bornean-orangutans-run-out-of-forest-to-flee/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Sep 2026 05:21:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/09065744/Orangutan-kalimantan-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330531</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Kalimantan, Southeast Asia, and West Kalimantan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Business, Climate, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Critically Endangered Species, Disasters, El Nino, Endangered Species, Extreme Weather, Fires, Forest Products, Forestry, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Great Apes, Mammals, National Parks, Orangutans, Parks, Primates, Protected Areas, Pulp And Paper, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Rescues]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — As fires continue to engulf large swaths of forest in Indonesian Borneo, orangutans have increasingly fewer places to flee, with fires either surrounding them or eliminating the forest on which they depend. Fires are spreading across a connected but heavily fragmented forest landscape and the habitat of critically endangered Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — As fires continue to engulf large swaths of forest in Indonesian Borneo, orangutans have increasingly fewer places to flee, with fires either surrounding them or eliminating the forest on which they depend. Fires are spreading across a connected but heavily fragmented forest landscape and the habitat of critically endangered Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) in West Kalimantan, including Gunung Palung National Park and the Mendawak Biodiversity Corridor. Gunung Palung National Park is one of the most important remaining strongholds for the Central Bornean orangutan, supporting a population historically estimated at around 2,500 animals and hosting one of the world’s longest-running studies of wild orangutans. Its importance derives from both its population size and its unusually diverse forest habitats, which support long-term ecological research and a range of other species. The adjacent Mendawak Biodiversity Corridor has a complementary role. Although it is not yet a continuous or fully secured corridor, it encompasses additional orangutan habitat outside the national park and provides a framework for maintaining, restoring and reconnecting forest patches across a fragmented landscape. Despite their ecological importance, both areas have been burning during this year’s dry season, as an exceptionally strong El Niño has contributed to hot and dry conditions across Indonesia. A Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus). Photo by Rhett A. Butler National park on fire Spatial analysis by technology consultancy TheTreeMap shows that hotspots started appearing in Gunung Palung National Park on Aug. 27. TheTreeMap has also identified hotspots that appear to overlap with the park’s core zone,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-fires-spread-in-indonesia-bornean-orangutans-run-out-of-forest-to-flee/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330531</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Illegal mines threaten biodiversity and drinking water in Ghana’s Atewa Forest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/illegal-mines-threaten-biodiversity-and-drinking-water-in-ghanas-atewa-forest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/illegal-mines-threaten-biodiversity-and-drinking-water-in-ghanas-atewa-forest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Sep 2026 14:28:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mabel Adorkor Annang]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/21135635/IllegalMiners_AtewaGhana_ARochaGhana-11_20260919_122540_0010-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=330304</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Ghana, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conflict, Conservation, Crime, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Environmental Law, Forest Destruction, Forests, Gold Mining, Governance, Illegal Mining, Law, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Every day, scores of illegal miners on motorbikes swarm into the Atewa Forest Reserve, in eastern Ghana — ignoring the handful of Forestry Commission guards charged with keeping them out. Inside the reserve, the miners have stripped forest cover and excavated pits, their passage marked by abandoned equipment and temporary camps and muddy and polluted [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Every day, scores of illegal miners on motorbikes swarm into the Atewa Forest Reserve, in eastern Ghana — ignoring the handful of Forestry Commission guards charged with keeping them out. Inside the reserve, the miners have stripped forest cover and excavated pits, their passage marked by abandoned equipment and temporary camps and muddy and polluted streams. Their actions jeopardize the drinking water of as many as five million Ghanaians. “We say this based on a lot of records coming from the Forestry Commission staff, some court records as well,” says Daryl Bosu, deputy national director of operations at conservation initiative A Rocha Ghana, which has been monitoring Atewa and other forested areas for a decade. A Rocha played a key role in a civil society coalition opposing government plans to mine for bauxite in the reserve. Bosu says A Rocha has observed that many of the rivers and streams in the area, which previously ran clear, have turned brown with sediment since the miners overran the reserve. Miners, he says, have cut down trees along water courses, which he fears have been contaminated with mercury, cyanide and arsenic  — all widely used in illegal mining operations. “The Forestry Commission team is complaining of the unprecedented attack on the Atewa forest because of mining and how they are seriously overwhelmed as a result of pressure which they have never experienced,” he tells Mongabay. Aerial view of a mine site in Atewa. Image courtesy of A Rocha Ghana. The critically endangered Atewa&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/illegal-mines-threaten-biodiversity-and-drinking-water-in-ghanas-atewa-forest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-330304</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘They should choose their own destinies’: Manish Chandi on India’s isolated tribes</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/they-should-choose-their-own-destinies-manish-chandi-on-indias-isolated-tribes/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/they-should-choose-their-own-destinies-manish-chandi-on-indias-isolated-tribes/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Sep 2026 07:00:05 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/14173823/p.-Shompen-man-2-at-35km-EW-rd-GNI-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329679</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, Indian Ocean, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Conservation, Crime, Culture, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Governance, Human Rights, Illegal Fishing, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, Law, Oceans, Poaching, Tropical Forests, and Uncontacted Tribes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[From above, the North Sentinel Island tribal reserve in India’s Andaman and Nicobar archipelago is a thick, unbroken patch of dark green — starkly surrounded by the shimmering coastal blue waters of its buffer zone. On these shores, Sentinelese people, who live in voluntary isolation protected by a strict government no-contact policy, spear fish, hunt [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[From above, the North Sentinel Island tribal reserve in India’s Andaman and Nicobar archipelago is a thick, unbroken patch of dark green — starkly surrounded by the shimmering coastal blue waters of its buffer zone. On these shores, Sentinelese people, who live in voluntary isolation protected by a strict government no-contact policy, spear fish, hunt turtles and collect mollusks in shallow reefs surrounded by mangroves. The coastal reefs are intact ecosystems rich in fish life, say biologists. “I have seen them [groups of men, women and children] foraging and collecting these food resources during low tide on several occasions,” says Manish Chandi, a tribal expert who has watched the island from afar. “The Sentinelese are aware of these as nutritious and sparsely available resources in such [mangrove] habitats, which are very few on and around the island.” The giant trees of the North Sentinel Island coastline are its first natural defense against storms and which hold its coastal soil together. The shore is lined with sandy beaches and rocky shores, while the foreshore is dotted with coral reefs and mangroves — excellent nurseries for marine biodiversity. Image by Manish Chandi. Like other tribal reserves on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, in the southeast of mainland India, North Sentinel Island is a biodiversity hotspot; and, like other tribal reserves, the isolated people who live there have attracted influencers and misunderstandings, says Chandi. “Curiosity and ignorance regarding the islanders is quite high and understandably so amongst outsiders and [government] bureaucrats who have&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/they-should-choose-their-own-destinies-manish-chandi-on-indias-isolated-tribes/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329679</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous peoples near Congo parks propose diverse solutions for the future of conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-peoples-near-congo-parks-propose-diverse-solutions-for-the-future-of-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-peoples-near-congo-parks-propose-diverse-solutions-for-the-future-of-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Sep 2026 20:50:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Blaise Kasereka MakutaLatoya Abulu]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/08204653/image1__20648409894_e4b04e9e1b_o-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=329161</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Peoples and Conservation]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Congo Basin, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Community Forests, Conflict, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Governance, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Law, Primary Forests, Rainforests, Resource Conflict, Saving Rainforests, Solutions, Sustainable Forest Management, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo — High above the lush forests of protected areas in the Congo Basin in eastern Congo, the calls of endemic birds and monkeys echo through the trees. Beneath the canopy, the Maiko, Salonga, Kahuzi-Biega, and Virunga National Parks sprawl across millions of hectares. For millennia, long before these protected areas [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo — High above the lush forests of protected areas in the Congo Basin in eastern Congo, the calls of endemic birds and monkeys echo through the trees. Beneath the canopy, the Maiko, Salonga, Kahuzi-Biega, and Virunga National Parks sprawl across millions of hectares. For millennia, long before these protected areas were established, Indigenous peoples lived in, roamed and shaped these lands, only to be expelled during the 20th century. “We lived in harmony with the forest,” says Julien Basimika, a young Mutwa man, one of the Indigenous Twa people in Congo. “We protected everything that needed protecting, because our lives depended on it. If we had started destroying the forest, we would have suffered the consequences.” Today, many descendants of those who were displaced live in extreme poverty owing to lack of land, armed conflicts and discrimination. Discussions on how to better involve these communities in conservation fuel passionate debates among protected area managers, environmentalists, lawyers and human rights advocates: Should they return to their ancestral lands or not? Should they be part of environmental projects? If so, which ones? How can we mitigate armed conflicts and the involvement of Indigenous peoples in illegal logging, which complicate the situation? Among the communities living near these four national parks, views vary on how to address these issues. Meanwhile, policymakers are discussing how best to involve communities in the Belém Call to Action, announced in November 2025, which aims to halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-peoples-near-congo-parks-propose-diverse-solutions-for-the-future-of-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/indigenous-peoples-near-congo-parks-propose-diverse-solutions-for-the-future-of-conservation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-329161</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Panama’s Darién, Indigenous communities test a new way to fund conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-panamas-darien-indigenous-communities-test-a-new-way-to-fund-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-panamas-darien-indigenous-communities-test-a-new-way-to-fund-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Sep 2026 15:10:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[María Paula Rubiano A.]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/15163740/panama_240512162306_0722-e1768495168974-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328986</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, North America, and Panama]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity credits, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Ecosystems, Finance, In-situ Conservation, Indigenous Peoples, Jaguars, Monitoring, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Elsa Quiroz saw the spotted body of a jaguar appear on her son’s computer screen, she couldn’t believe her eyes. “I’d only seen them in books,” she said. In late 2025, a camera captured the animal crossing a semi-abandoned path in Puerto Lara, a an Indigenous Wounaan village north of Panama’s Darien forest, close [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When Elsa Quiroz saw the spotted body of a jaguar appear on her son’s computer screen, she couldn’t believe her eyes. “I’d only seen them in books,” she said. In late 2025, a camera captured the animal crossing a semi-abandoned path in Puerto Lara, a an Indigenous Wounaan village north of Panama’s Darien forest, close to the Pan-American Highway, an area known for its rich biodiversity. The community was aware of how many birds lived around them, but not of the jaguars. Samuel Cheucarama, Quiroz’s son, reviews each photo taken by the two cameras installed in Puerto Lara every two weeks. He was as astonished as his mom when he first saw the extent of the biodiversity concealed within Puerto Lara’s forest, which covers an area less than twice the size of New York City’s Central Park. He reels off the list: agoutis, spotted rabbits, turkeys, margays, white-headed monkeys, among others, all found within this wilderness of just 600 hectares, or less than 1,500 acres. Cheucarama’s work is a small part of a wider project promoting nature-based economic alternatives in four communities managing a combined 18,000 hectares (about 44,500 acres) of tropical forest in eastern Panama. Although the Panamanian government has made efforts to reduce deforestation in Darién National Park, deforestation from illegal logging and agricultural expansion has increasingly been putting communities under pressure, with little to no support from local and national authorities. As a result, communities have been exploring alternatives to make their conservation efforts economically viable. In&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-panamas-darien-indigenous-communities-test-a-new-way-to-fund-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/in-panamas-darien-indigenous-communities-test-a-new-way-to-fund-conservation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328986</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rooting tree seed production in local knowledge boosts forest restoration outcomes (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/rooting-tree-seed-production-in-local-knowledge-boosts-forest-restoration-outcomes-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/rooting-tree-seed-production-in-local-knowledge-boosts-forest-restoration-outcomes-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2026 20:25:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ahmad MuhammadNur Estya Binte RahmanSigit SutiknoZu Dienle Tan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/09/01200434/Selumo_planting_2-e1788293106470-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=328254</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Commentary, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Landscape Restoration, Nature-based climate solutions, Plants, Reforestation, Restoration, Solutions, Traditional Knowledge, Trees, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Since the launch of global restoration initiatives such as the U.N. Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), large-scale tree planting has become the hallmark of many restoration projects. Ambitious targets, such as The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees campaign and the World Economic Forum’s One Trillion Tree Initiative, highlight the potential of tree-based restoration in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Since the launch of global restoration initiatives such as the U.N. Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), large-scale tree planting has become the hallmark of many restoration projects. Ambitious targets, such as The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees campaign and the World Economic Forum’s One Trillion Tree Initiative, highlight the potential of tree-based restoration in achieving the triple goals of climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation, and social well-being. However, this fascination with the number of trees planted often obscures the more complex challenges of ensuring tree survival, resilience, and adaptation in the face of climate change. Addressing these challenges requires not only technical expertise but also place-based knowledge that communities living within and around these forests have accumulated over generations. In the tropical forests of Southeast Asia, forest restoration does not occur in a vacuum: Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) are dependent on forests for their livelihoods and subsistence. Their familiarity with the local species, landscapes, and ecological rhythms makes them indispensable partners in restoration efforts. Engaging IPLCs is especially important when it comes to the delicate process of collecting, storing, and caring for plant propagules and seedlings (hereafter referred to as seed), which can contribute to higher survival rates and more resilient forest stands over time. This commentary examines how integrating IPLC knowledge into the upstream process of seed propagation can strengthen forest restoration outcomes in Southeast Asia, and what enabling conditions are needed to support their meaningful participation. Natural forest in Indonesia. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/rooting-tree-seed-production-in-local-knowledge-boosts-forest-restoration-outcomes-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/rooting-tree-seed-production-in-local-knowledge-boosts-forest-restoration-outcomes-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-328254</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>For 50 years, Philip Fearnside has calculated the costs of losing the Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/for-50-years-philip-fearnside-has-calculated-the-costs-of-losing-the-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/for-50-years-philip-fearnside-has-calculated-the-costs-of-losing-the-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Aug 2026 00:04:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/30150821/fearnside-header-16x9-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327527</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Dams, Deforestation, Development, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Forest Carbon, Forests, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Infrastructure, Rainforests, Roads, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[At a September 2021 public hearing in Manaus, Philip Fearnside read from a prepared statement laying out his case against repaving BR-319, the highway between Manaus and Porto Velho, two cities in the Amazon. He called the project economically unviable, argued Brazil’s licensing process was broken, and warned that road would trigger “catastrophic” deforestation. People [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[At a September 2021 public hearing in Manaus, Philip Fearnside read from a prepared statement laying out his case against repaving BR-319, the highway between Manaus and Porto Velho, two cities in the Amazon. He called the project economically unviable, argued Brazil’s licensing process was broken, and warned that road would trigger “catastrophic” deforestation. People in the crowd started booing. Fearnside tried to keep speaking over the noise in his American-accented Portuguese, but someone killed his microphone. He was followed by Sérgio Kruke from the Movimento Conservador Amazonas, a vocal ally of then-president Jair Bolsonaro. Kruke pointed at Fearnside and asked why an American had any business telling Brazilians what to do with their land, adding that they had the right to cut down every tree in the forest if they chose. The audience cheered him on. “This house is ours!” Kruke shouted. The atmosphere was completely different earlier this month at the National Institute for Amazonian Research, or INPA. For two hours, researchers and former students held an event recognizing Fearnside’s 50 years of field research in the Amazon, work that made him one of the most recognized authorities on Earth’s largest rainforest. Carlos Nobre spoke about meeting him at INPA in the 1970s, before his own climate career took off, and how they collaborated on pioneering measurements of forest-atmosphere gas exchange. Susanna Hecht recalled running into Fearnside at a Belém bar while hunting for a dissertation topic. He suggested Acre, which is where she ended up doing her&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/for-50-years-philip-fearnside-has-calculated-the-costs-of-losing-the-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/for-50-years-philip-fearnside-has-calculated-the-costs-of-losing-the-amazon/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327527</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Community programs linked to lower forest loss in Indonesia’s Borneo during COVID-19</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/community-programs-linked-to-lower-forest-loss-in-indonesias-borneo-during-covid-19/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/community-programs-linked-to-lower-forest-loss-in-indonesias-borneo-during-covid-19/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Aug 2026 02:03:34 +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/20/2021/12/12215106/kalbar_drone_190946a_sungai_utik-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327673</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and West Kalimantan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Avoided Deforestation, Biodiversity, Community Development, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, COVID-19, Deforestation, Environment, Forest Loss, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Illegal Logging, Logging, NGOs, Pandemics, Protected Areas, Reduced Impact Logging, Research, Solutions, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Villages in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan saw less forest loss during the COVID-19 pandemic when conservation groups provided health and livelihood support, a new study has found, suggesting social safety nets can help protect forests during economic crises. The peer-reviewed study, published last month in Lancet Planetary Health, suggests forest loss in West Kalimantan province on [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Villages in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan saw less forest loss during the COVID-19 pandemic when conservation groups provided health and livelihood support, a new study has found, suggesting social safety nets can help protect forests during economic crises. The peer-reviewed study, published last month in Lancet Planetary Health, suggests forest loss in West Kalimantan province on the Indonesian part of Borneo fell sharply during the pandemic, as weak timber demand and travel restrictions made logging less profitable and harder to carry out. At the same time, villages with access to alternative livelihoods and other support were less reliant on forests for income, the paper adds. The researchers say their study is among the first to combine household surveys with detailed satellite data to examine how the pandemic affected rural livelihoods and forest loss in the same communities, offering a closer look at how economic shocks and social support can influence pressure on tropical forests. “As the pandemic started, we expected economic hardships to cause illegal logging to increase again,” Skylar Hopkins, an assistant professor at North Carolina State University and the lead author for the new study, said in a statement. Mapping deforestation trends Before the pandemic, average forest loss was 52% lower in NGO-affiliated villages than in unaffiliated villages, the study finds. Indonesia has the world’s third-largest tropical forest area, a major store of biodiversity and carbon, long threatened by logging, agricultural expansion and fires. The researchers surveyed 10 villages in West Kalimantan in late 2021: six communities supported by&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/community-programs-linked-to-lower-forest-loss-in-indonesias-borneo-during-covid-19/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/community-programs-linked-to-lower-forest-loss-in-indonesias-borneo-during-covid-19/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327673</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nigeria can build the new coastal highway and also protect natural areas (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nigeria-can-build-the-new-coastal-highway-and-also-protect-natural-areas-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nigeria-can-build-the-new-coastal-highway-and-also-protect-natural-areas-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Aug 2026 16:03:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mahmoud Ibrahim Mahmoud]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/01/28203550/CrossRiverMonument_CalabarCrossRiverNigeria_KoutchikaLihouenouGaspardWikicommonsBYSA4.0-e1787757447155-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327410</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Commentary, Development, Drivers Of Deforestation, Ecosystems, Environment, Forest Destruction, Forests, Governance, Infrastructure, Mangroves, Marine, Roads, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nigeria needs road infrastructure for improved living conditions. Anyone who has watched trucks crawl out of Lagos, farmers and fishermen struggle to reach markets, or small coastal businesses lose value to poor logistics, knows that road infrastructure in Nigeria is not a luxury. The proposed Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway, running roughly 700 kilometers (about 435 miles) [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nigeria needs road infrastructure for improved living conditions. Anyone who has watched trucks crawl out of Lagos, farmers and fishermen struggle to reach markets, or small coastal businesses lose value to poor logistics, knows that road infrastructure in Nigeria is not a luxury. The proposed Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway, running roughly 700 kilometers (about 435 miles) from Badagry toward Calabar, is therefore easy to sell as a nation-building project: faster trade, more jobs, increased tourism, port access, socioeconomic development, and a stronger southern economic corridor. However, the same road could also become a long concrete trigger for ecological loss. Nigeria’s coast is not empty land waiting for asphalt. It is a living system of mangroves, freshwater swamps, tidal channels, floodplains, fishing settlements, and remnant forests. These ecosystems store carbon, buffer storms, nurse fisheries, serve as breeding grounds for marine life, and support livelihoods that rarely appear in road-cost spreadsheets. The question is not whether Nigeria should develop. It is whether development will be intelligent enough to avoid destroying the natural infrastructure that already protects coastal communities. The answer depends on whether environmental and social impact assessments, or ESIAs, are treated as honest decision-making tools rather than administrative rituals. A mona monkey (Cercopithecus mona), is one of the many species inhabiting Stubbs Creek Forest Reserve, which the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway is proposed to be routed through. Image courtesy of AlexisENVN via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). Recent developments have already raised serious concerns. Mongabay has noted that the highway passes through or&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nigeria-can-build-the-new-coastal-highway-and-also-protect-natural-areas-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nigeria-can-build-the-new-coastal-highway-and-also-protect-natural-areas-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327410</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Can REDD+ deliver for Philippines’ Iraya Mangyan?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/can-redd-deliver-for-philippines-iraya-mangyan/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/can-redd-deliver-for-philippines-iraya-mangyan/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Aug 2026 02:01:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Keith Anthony Fabro]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/25201552/Pederico-Garcia-traditional-healer-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327306</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Avoided Deforestation, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Forest Carbon, Forests, Indigenous Peoples, Nature-based climate solutions, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Redd, Saving Rainforests, Solutions, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PUERTO GALERA, Philippines — Before sunrise, Bernito Pampilo shoulders a backpack carrying a mobile phone, flashlight and enough food — he hopes — for a day’s patrol through the forests of Puerto Galera in northern Mindoro, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Manila. By around 6 a.m., the 56-year-old Iraya Mangyan patroller and two [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PUERTO GALERA, Philippines — Before sunrise, Bernito Pampilo shoulders a backpack carrying a mobile phone, flashlight and enough food — he hopes — for a day’s patrol through the forests of Puerto Galera in northern Mindoro, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Manila. By around 6 a.m., the 56-year-old Iraya Mangyan patroller and two companions leave their mountain outpost in Aninuan village after praying to Apo Iraya, the creator, for protection. Their route crosses rivers, steep ridges, dense vegetation and deep natural holes known locally as balahaw. “If you walk too quickly, sometimes you won’t see the hole,” Pampilo told Mongabay. “If you fall into it, you could die.” Some patrols continue into the night, forcing the team to cross rivers and climb ridges by flashlight. Mobile apps point them toward assigned coordinates, but not toward the safest path. The forest lies within the 14,661-hectare (36,228-acre) Puerto Galera Biosphere Reserve, designated by UNESCO in 1977. For Pampilo, the work is more than a job. It is part of an effort to protect forests his community has depended on for generations while testing whether an international climate mechanism can deliver lasting Indigenous benefits. Led by the Center for Conservation Innovations Philippines Inc. (CCIPH), the Mindoro Forest and Biodiversity Conservation Programme (MFBCP) aims to conserve more than 40,000 hectares (nearly 99,000 acres) of ancestral forest, while supporting about 2,500 Iraya Mangyan households. Running from 2020 to 2049, it combines ancestral-domain recognition, carbon monitoring, Indigenous patrols and livelihood projects under the United&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/can-redd-deliver-for-philippines-iraya-mangyan/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/can-redd-deliver-for-philippines-iraya-mangyan/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327306</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Daniel Janzen and the long work of bringing back a forest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/daniel-janzen-and-the-long-work-of-bringing-back-a-forest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/daniel-janzen-and-the-long-work-of-bringing-back-a-forest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Aug 2026 14:48:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/21213756/Dan-Janzen-color-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327012</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Costa Rica, and Mesoamerica]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Biology, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Dry Forests, Ecology, Environment, Evolution, Forests, Insects, Landscape Restoration, Research, Restoration, Science, Solutions, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In northwestern Costa Rica, the forest did not return all at once. First the cattle were removed. Then the fires had to be stopped. Introduced grasses made the old ranchlands burn too easily. Fence lines had to be watched. Seeds had to arrive by wind, birds, bats, and the stomachs of passing animals. People had [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In northwestern Costa Rica, the forest did not return all at once. First the cattle were removed. Then the fires had to be stopped. Introduced grasses made the old ranchlands burn too easily. Fence lines had to be watched. Seeds had to arrive by wind, birds, bats, and the stomachs of passing animals. People had to believe the land could become something other than pasture, and then stay long enough to see it happen. A park on paper can still burn. It can still be poached, logged, ignored, or resented. The work requires science, salaries, political agreements, national investment, school programs, local trust, and daily maintenance. It requires people who remain after the first burst of money and attention has passed. Popular accounts sometimes reduced the story to a solitary figure: an American ecologist with a beard, a camera, a theory, and a park. It was never that simple. For more than half a century, Daniel Hunt Janzen has worked in tandem with Winnie Hallwachs, his wife, scientific partner, and frequent interpreter to the human world. Around them grew a larger Costa Rican undertaking, carried by park leaders, field staff, parataxonomists, teachers, donors, government ministers, neighbors, and families who turned a conservation idea into a working landscape. Janzen is now 87. His field work has slowed, and he has stepped back from university teaching to focus on his role as Chief Scientist of the Guanacaste Dry Forest Conservation Fund (GDFCF), the nonprofit conservation organization he and Hallwachs founded with his&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/daniel-janzen-and-the-long-work-of-bringing-back-a-forest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327012</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>On fragile Sumatran peatland, a farmer fights to bring back lost mangroves</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-fragile-sumatran-peatland-a-farmer-fights-to-bring-back-lost-mangroves/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-fragile-sumatran-peatland-a-farmer-fights-to-bring-back-lost-mangroves/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2026 11:44:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Suryadi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/12113532/Harisyah-measures-the-distance-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326031</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Riau, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Community Forests, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation leadership, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystems, Environment, Forests, Mangroves, Marine, Peatlands, Solutions, Tropical Forests, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SUNGAI APIT, Indonesia — Harisyah was still knee-deep in the peatland as the light faded over the mouth of Indonesia&#8217;s Siak River. The 53-year-old palm oil and pineapple grower had been cutting back weeds since morning, clearing the riverbank on the north coast of Sumatra island before driving wooden stakes into the peat at 1.5-meter [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SUNGAI APIT, Indonesia — Harisyah was still knee-deep in the peatland as the light faded over the mouth of Indonesia&#8217;s Siak River. The 53-year-old palm oil and pineapple grower had been cutting back weeds since morning, clearing the riverbank on the north coast of Sumatra island before driving wooden stakes into the peat at 1.5-meter (5-feet) intervals. “We’re going to use this location as a nursery for the new seedlings,” Harisyah told Mongabay Indonesia. “This new generation will grow up close to mangroves, and they can learn more about them through playing and activities.” Harisyah and others who live in Tanjung Kuras, a coastal village in Siak district, say the weather has become increasingly erratic in recent years. Researchers, meanwhile, have documented a rapidly retreating coastline as the area&#8217;s peat soils continue to subside. Residents also contend with frequent tidal flooding, which many blame on the loss of the mangrove forests that once fortified the shoreline. Last Ramadan, the Islamic holy month observed by millions in the world&#8217;s largest Muslim-majority nation, strong winds lifted off the dome from the village mosque. “It’s because there’s no mangrove forest as a buffer to block the wind,” Harisyah said. “It&#8217;s been turned into an oil palm plantation — so the wind from the sea blows straight onto land.” Harisyah plants a marker stake at the mangrove planting site. Image by Suryadi/Mongabay Indonesia. World’s largest mangroves Indonesia&#8217;s more than 17,000 islands contain the world&#8217;s largest mangrove forest estate, covering about 3.3 million hectares (8.2&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/on-fragile-sumatran-peatland-a-farmer-fights-to-bring-back-lost-mangroves/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326031</doi>				</item>
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					<title>Mariano Cenamo, advocate for a sustainable Amazon bioeconomy, has died, aged 46</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/mariano-cenamo-advocate-for-a-sustainable-amazon-bioeconomy-has-died-aged-46/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/mariano-cenamo-advocate-for-a-sustainable-amazon-bioeconomy-has-died-aged-46/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Aug 2026 00:02:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/09220720/Mariano_Cenamo_Renato-Stockler_FolhaPress-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325742</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Carbon Credits, Carbon Market, Conservation Finance, Environment, Environmental Services, Forest Carbon, Forests, Natural Capital, Nature-based climate solutions, Obituary, Payments For Ecosystem Services, Rainforests, Redd, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For people trying to protect the Amazon, one problem has persisted for decades. A hectare of intact forest stores carbon, regulates water, supports wildlife, and provides food and materials for the people who live there. Much of that value does not appear in an economic ledger. Cattle, timber, soy, and gold do. For a farmer, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For people trying to protect the Amazon, one problem has persisted for decades. A hectare of intact forest stores carbon, regulates water, supports wildlife, and provides food and materials for the people who live there. Much of that value does not appear in an economic ledger. Cattle, timber, soy, and gold do. For a farmer, a company, or a local government, clearing forest can therefore produce income more readily than keeping it standing. The Amazon bioeconomy grew from efforts to change that calculation. It includes forest products, agroforestry, biotechnology, carbon markets, and other businesses that depend on maintaining living forests. The aim is to make such activities commercially viable at a scale that matters. Mariano Cenamo spent most of his career working on that problem. He was 23 when he moved from São Paulo to Manaus in 2003. Trained as a forestry engineer at the University of São Paulo, he had first come to the Amazon for an internship. He stayed at the encouragement of Virgílio Viana, a former professor who was then Amazonas state&#8217;s environment secretary. Cenamo was struck by the gap between conservation work and the economic realities of people living in the forest. Environmental groups were doing important work, he later recalled, but local livelihoods often sat outside the conservation discussion. In 2004 he helped establish what became Idesam, the Institute for the Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Amazon. At first there was barely an institution. Cenamo later described himself as an &#8220;ING&#8221;, an indivíduo não&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/mariano-cenamo-advocate-for-a-sustainable-amazon-bioeconomy-has-died-aged-46/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/mariano-cenamo-advocate-for-a-sustainable-amazon-bioeconomy-has-died-aged-46/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325742</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Amazon deforestation alerts fall to lowest level since 2013, Brazilian data show</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/amazon-deforestation-alerts-fall-to-lowest-level-since-2013-brazilian-data-show/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/amazon-deforestation-alerts-fall-to-lowest-level-since-2013-brazilian-data-show/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Aug 2026 00:08:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/09000336/colombia_260721054538_0462z-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325718</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation, Environment, Forests, Happy-upbeat Environmental, Rainforests, Remote Sensing, Satellite Imagery, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has fallen to its lowest level in 13 years, according to new satellite data from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE), continuing a decline that began after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva returned to office in 2023. INPE’s DETER alert system detected 2,874 square kilometers (1,110 square miles) [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has fallen to its lowest level in 13 years, according to new satellite data from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE), continuing a decline that began after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva returned to office in 2023. INPE’s DETER alert system detected 2,874 square kilometers (1,110 square miles) of deforestation in the Amazon between August 1, 2025, and July 31, 2026. That was 36% below the previous 12-month period and 55.6% below the average of the preceding decade. The total is the lowest since INPE introduced the current DETER system in 2015. Including data from its predecessor system, the last time alerts were lower was the 2012/13 deforestation year, when 2,766 sq km were recorded. Accumulated deforestation for Aug 1-Jul 31 in recent years according to INPE&#8217;s DETER alert system. Image by Mongabay DETER is designed as a rapid-response system for enforcement agencies. It uses satellite imagery to identify new forest clearing quickly enough for authorities to investigate and intervene. It differs from PRODES, INPE’s higher-resolution annual monitoring system, which provides Brazil’s official deforestation rate. Preliminary PRODES figures for the year ending July 31 are expected in October or November. PRODES data for the year ending July 2025 had already put Amazon forest loss at its lowest level in 11 years. The latest DETER figures indicate that clearing fell further during the following year. If PRODES shows a decline similar to that recorded by DETER, Brazil could register its lowest official Amazon deforestation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/amazon-deforestation-alerts-fall-to-lowest-level-since-2013-brazilian-data-show/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325718</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Suriname moves to evict Mennonites and illegal Amazon settlers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/suriname-moves-to-evict-mennonites-and-illegal-amazon-settlers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/suriname-moves-to-evict-mennonites-and-illegal-amazon-settlers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Aug 2026 23:52:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/03214304/Atjoni_en_Pokigron_Surinamerivier-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325650</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Global, South America, and Suriname]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Business, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Sequestration, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Farming, Food, Forest Carbon, Forest Destruction, Forestry, Forests, Governance, Industrial Agriculture, Land Conflict, Law, Logging, Politics, Primary Forests, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Sustainable Forest Management, Threats To Rainforests, Tropical Deforestation, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The government in Suriname has started toughening up on land developers who illegally clear the Amazon Rainforest for agriculture and cattle ranching, according to Suriname President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, speaking at an Aug. 4 press briefing. In recent months, officials have started investigating illegal settlements and revising zoning for hundreds of thousands of hectares of mostly [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The government in Suriname has started toughening up on land developers who illegally clear the Amazon Rainforest for agriculture and cattle ranching, according to Suriname President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, speaking at an Aug. 4 press briefing. In recent months, officials have started investigating illegal settlements and revising zoning for hundreds of thousands of hectares of mostly primary forest, previously set aside for agribusiness. Many areas under development are connected to Mennonites, a conservative Christian group who migrated to the country from other parts of the region, with plans to establish religious farming communities. “The people who are active there in the interior and have cleared land to live there, are there illegally,” Geerlings-Simons said during the briefing. “And that means that we’re going to take measures against them.” In 2023, Mongabay revealed that private agribusiness investors were working with the government to develop a Mennonite pilot program, in which around 1,000 families would be relocated from Bolivia — and possibly other parts of the region — onto as much as 30,000 hectares (about 74,000 acres) of land in interior departments of Suriname. In 2023 and 2024, Mongabay also published stories detailing the government’s plan to transfer around 467,000 hectares (1,153,982 acres) of mostly primary rainforest from the Ministry of Land Policy and Forest Management to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (LVV) for future agribusiness development projects. Geerlings-Simons during the press briefing Aug 4. Image courtesy of Key tv 8.2 Backlash to the plans focused on Suriname’s 93% forest cover&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/suriname-moves-to-evict-mennonites-and-illegal-amazon-settlers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325650</doi>				</item>
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