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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/water-pollution/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Mon, 31 Aug 2026 08:46:00 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Water Pollution</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/water-pollution/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Failed environmental safeguards leave coastal Bangladesh facing coal pollution</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/failed-environmental-safeguards-leave-coastal-bangladesh-facing-coal-pollution/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/failed-environmental-safeguards-leave-coastal-bangladesh-facing-coal-pollution/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Aug 2026 15:15:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rashidul Hasan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/28151048/Payra-Power-Plant_1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327777</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Business, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health, Industry, Law, Law Enforcement, Pollution, Regulations, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Riaz Panchayet used to farm papaya, cucumber, okra and bananas on his land in Madhupur village, located in southern Bangladesh’s coastal Patuakhali district. These days, he runs a small tea stall near one of the gates of the Payra Power Plant, and worry has replaced the seasonal rhythm of harvests. “I notice a layer of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Riaz Panchayet used to farm papaya, cucumber, okra and bananas on his land in Madhupur village, located in southern Bangladesh’s coastal Patuakhali district. These days, he runs a small tea stall near one of the gates of the Payra Power Plant, and worry has replaced the seasonal rhythm of harvests. “I notice a layer of ash on the leaves of the plants and low production,” he says. “There are coconut trees on my farm; I climb them for pruning or collecting coconuts, and my shirt turns black due to the ash. We are used to bathing in an open pond, but for the last several years there has been an itching problem. My eyesight is affected, too. It is all happening because of the coal power plant.” Panchayet says he lost almost 1 hectare (2.4 acres) of land to the plant. The reaming 1 hectare, he says, is waterlogged by an ill-planned drainage system that leaves the power station’s discharge sitting stagnant on his fields. Across a large area of Kalapara subdistrict in Patuakhali, where the coal-fired Payra Power Plant is located, residents tell versions of the same story. A recent study linked local suffering related to air quality and fly ash to the power plant authority’s failure to maintain proper environmental guidelines for protecting the local environment and ecology. The Payra 1320 MW Thermal Power Plant, operated by Bangladesh-China Power Company Ltd., a joint venture between Bangladesh and China, started operations in 2020. The plant consumes 10,000 to 12,000&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/failed-environmental-safeguards-leave-coastal-bangladesh-facing-coal-pollution/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/failed-environmental-safeguards-leave-coastal-bangladesh-facing-coal-pollution/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327777</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists discover 149 new deep-sea species at remote Indian Ocean seamounts</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/scientists-discover-149-new-deep-sea-species-at-remote-indian-ocean-seamounts/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/scientists-discover-149-new-deep-sea-species-at-remote-indian-ocean-seamounts/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Aug 2026 11:53:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Emma Smith]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Autumn Spanne]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/26081523/BANNER-IN2022-V08_170_Sponge-crab_Sphaerodromia-brizops_Museums-Victoria-Benjamin-Healley-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=327357</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia, Christmas Island, Global, Indian Ocean, and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Deep Sea, Deep Sea Mining, Ecosystems, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Health, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Mining, Natural Resources, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Overfishing, Pollution, Research, Saltwater Fish, Science, Sharks, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Indian Ocean accounts for about a fifth of global ocean area, with 90% of it reaching deeper than 1,000 meters (3,280 feet). Yet compared to the Pacific and Atlantic, its deep-sea biodiversity is relatively understudied — particularly the seamounts of the ocean’s central eastern region. An expedition that surveyed dozens of these volcanic underwater [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Indian Ocean accounts for about a fifth of global ocean area, with 90% of it reaching deeper than 1,000 meters (3,280 feet). Yet compared to the Pacific and Atlantic, its deep-sea biodiversity is relatively understudied — particularly the seamounts of the ocean’s central eastern region. An expedition that surveyed dozens of these volcanic underwater mountains around the Christmas and Cocos islands, located southwest of the Indonesian island of Jakarta between Australia and Sri Lanka, has revealed remarkable marine animal biodiversity along the Indian Ocean seafloor. Published in Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography in June, the resulting study details 149 new species, including a sea cucumber from the genus Oneirophanta, a new fish from the greeneye family (Chlorophthalmus), and a parasitic barnacle from the genus Rhizolepas. Researchers surveyed at depths ranging from 94 to 5,431 m (308 to 17,818 ft), mapping a dark abyssal seafloor punctuated by 40 to 120-million-year-old volcanic seamounts that can be up to 70 kilometers (43 miles) across. They had never been studied before, study lead author Tim O’Hara, a marine scientist at Museums Victoria in Melbourne, told Mongabay. “People had been around the islands in shallow water before, but no one had looked at life in the deep. It was a massive hole in the data,” O’Hara said. Mapping remote underwater mountains Getting to these sites required time. The islands are so remote that, leaving from Darwin on the northern coast of Australia, it took nearly seven days to arrive at Christmas&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/scientists-discover-149-new-deep-sea-species-at-remote-indian-ocean-seamounts/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/scientists-discover-149-new-deep-sea-species-at-remote-indian-ocean-seamounts/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-327357</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Polluted waterways and water shortages complicate the fight against Ebola in the DRC</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/polluted-waterways-and-water-shortages-complicate-the-fight-against-ebola-in-the-drc/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/polluted-waterways-and-water-shortages-complicate-the-fight-against-ebola-in-the-drc/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Aug 2026 05:30:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/21153424/002-IMG_9540-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326929</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Economics, Ecosystems, Environment, Freshwater, Governance, Health, One Health, Planetary Health, Pollution, Public Health, Research, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Ndrele, a commercial center in Ituri with nearly 40,000 inhabitants, there is virtually no access to safe drinking water. Children leave home at 5:30 a.m. to fetch water for their families and often spend hours doing this activity. They usually don&#8217;t return before 11 a.m. or noon. “It&#8217;s a serious problem, and it&#8217;s the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Ndrele, a commercial center in Ituri with nearly 40,000 inhabitants, there is virtually no access to safe drinking water. Children leave home at 5:30 a.m. to fetch water for their families and often spend hours doing this activity. They usually don&#8217;t return before 11 a.m. or noon. “It&#8217;s a serious problem, and it&#8217;s the same everywhere,” Jacques Pithua, deputy coordinator of civil society group “Forces vives des Djukoth,” told Mongabay by phone. Pithua lives near Ndrele, in Mahagi, in Ituri province bordering Lake Albert in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In May 2026, the DRC declared its 17th Ebola outbreak in the province. To prevent Ebola transmission, health authorities recommend frequent handwashing, among other measures, but in many parts of Ituri, clean water remains scarce. The current Ebola outbreak is the largest in terms of case numbers for the DRC, and it is also the fastest spreading. The rising number of cases, over 5,000 recorded as of Aug 17 and more than 2,400 deaths in three months, has prompted health agencies including the Africa CDC to adapt its strategy. A joint response plan also calls for an assessment and strengthening of water, sanitation and hygiene services in health facilities within communities and provides training. Oxfam, a confederation of NGOs, which is also involved in the response to the outbreak, warned in a statement that “most health facilities in the areas hardest hit by Ebola still lack access to safe water and adequate sanitation facilities.” Ebola is not&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/polluted-waterways-and-water-shortages-complicate-the-fight-against-ebola-in-the-drc/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/polluted-waterways-and-water-shortages-complicate-the-fight-against-ebola-in-the-drc/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326929</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rescue networks built by fire: Saving animals from Australia’s bushfires</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/rescue-networks-built-by-fire-saving-animals-from-australias-bushfires/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/rescue-networks-built-by-fire-saving-animals-from-australias-bushfires/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Aug 2026 21:25:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Starre Vartan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/20122246/1-Koala_in_Zoo_Duisburg-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326765</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Disasters, Environment, Fires, Global Environmental Crisis, Global Warming, Impact Of Climate Change, Marsupials, Research, Threatened species, Water Pollution, Wildlife, Wildlife Rehabilitation, and Wildlife Rescues]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NEW SOUTH WALES, Australia — A wallaby with a joey tucked into her pouch grazes beneath towering eucalyptus trees. Black cockatoos wheel overhead, their wailing calls echoing across the green hills of Vanessa Hartley&#8217;s property on the South Coast of New South Wales in Australia. A kangaroo bounces away, seeking better forage. The russet and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NEW SOUTH WALES, Australia — A wallaby with a joey tucked into her pouch grazes beneath towering eucalyptus trees. Black cockatoos wheel overhead, their wailing calls echoing across the green hills of Vanessa Hartley&#8217;s property on the South Coast of New South Wales in Australia. A kangaroo bounces away, seeking better forage. The russet and golden horses that wander nearby are used to the wildlife: They ignore the bounding animals and the bird cries. Standing there on a blue-sky autumn afternoon, it was difficult to imagine that just a few years earlier this same landscape was engulfed in flames. &#8220;It was full-on,&#8221; Hartley said, scratching her brindled sheepdog’s ears. &#8220;The horse poo was spontaneously combusting.&#8221; During Australia&#8217;s catastrophic Black Summer bushfires of 2019-2020, roughly 95% of Jerrawangala National Park burned as repeated fire fronts swept through. The park borders Hartley’s property, where she rehabilitates abused and surrendered horses before partnering them with people experiencing mental health challenges and disabilities as support animals. When smoke rolled over the ridgeline behind her pastures, Hartley posted a message on Facebook asking for help. Within an hour, neighbors and strangers arrived with trucks and horse trailers and evacuated all 19 of Hartley’s horses. “It made me cry knowing how supported we were,” she said. After the fires passed, Hartley returned to find another crisis unfolding. The surviving wildlife had little food or water, and the land was quiet. When she finally spotted a bedraggled wallaby (Phascolarctos cinereus), then another, she was relieved. “But they&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/rescue-networks-built-by-fire-saving-animals-from-australias-bushfires/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/rescue-networks-built-by-fire-saving-animals-from-australias-bushfires/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326765</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Tapirs, bats and nests: How plastic infiltrates Amazonian wildlife</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/tapirs-bats-and-nests-how-plastic-infiltrates-amazonian-wildlife/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/tapirs-bats-and-nests-how-plastic-infiltrates-amazonian-wildlife/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Aug 2026 21:12:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tiago da Mota e Silva]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/18210249/tapir-in-suriname-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326600</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Microplastics in the Amazon]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Bats, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Fish, Freshwater Fish, Health, Mammals, Microplastics, Plastic, Pollution, Protected Areas, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[At the mouth of the Amazon River, birds are already building blue nests out of discarded plastic.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is the third and final article in a special series on microplastics in the Amazon. Read the first story here and the second story here. MANAUS, Brazil — Traveling by boat up the Negro River from Amazonas state capital Manaus, it takes eight to nine hours to cover the 100 kilometers (62 miles) to Anavilhanas National Park. This protected area preserves one of the world’s largest freshwater archipelagos, comprising more than 400 islands and 60 lakes. They include Prato Lake, which is about 3.5 kilometers (about 2 miles) long and 1.5 kilometers (nearly 1 mile) wide. Yet, even here, in a protected area far from urban pressures, microplastics were found in the digestive tracts of fish. A recent study found an average concentration of 0.25 particles per liter of microplastics in the waters of Prato Lake. The particles were also present in the fish analyzed, regardless of their feeding habits, averaging 3.3 particles per individual. In total, about eight out of every 10 fish contained microplastics, despite living in a preserved area far from urban centers. “As a result of the entire connectivity dynamic that exists between aquatic environments in the Amazon, plastic is found even in the most remote places,” said co-author of the study Adalberto Val, a biologist from the National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA). Plastic’s likely journey begins long before it reaches the lake. Most of the particles found in the fish consisted of filaments of polyamide, also known as nylon, alongside fragments of materials&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/tapirs-bats-and-nests-how-plastic-infiltrates-amazonian-wildlife/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/tapirs-bats-and-nests-how-plastic-infiltrates-amazonian-wildlife/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326600</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia leads global tally of abuses linked to Chinese transition-mineral investments</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indonesia-leads-global-tally-of-abuses-linked-to-chinese-transition-mineral-investments/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indonesia-leads-global-tally-of-abuses-linked-to-chinese-transition-mineral-investments/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Aug 2026 10:59:25 +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/20/2024/07/01140403/image_processing20240603-2-tg8aa4-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326494</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, North Maluku, Southeast Asia, and Sulawesi]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Batteries, Conflict, Critical Minerals, Electric Cars, Energy, Energy Transition, Health, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Law, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, Social Conflict, Transportation, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia recorded more allegations of human rights and environmental abuses linked to Chinese investments in transition minerals than any other country between 2023 and 2025, a new report says. It identifies the vast majority of problems with the country’s rapidly expanding nickel industry. The report by the Business &#38; Human Rights Resource Centre [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia recorded more allegations of human rights and environmental abuses linked to Chinese investments in transition minerals than any other country between 2023 and 2025, a new report says. It identifies the vast majority of problems with the country’s rapidly expanding nickel industry. The report by the Business &amp; Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRC) documented 323 publicly reported allegations across 24 countries during the three-year period, plus three confidential cases involving attacks on human rights defenders. That brings the total to 326 allegations for 2023-2025. The number of recorded allegations has also risen each year, from 51 in 2021 to 148 in 2025, bringing the five-year total to 434. That increase doesn’t necessarily mean the number of abuses themselves have tripled, as changes in reporting, monitoring, and the database can affect the figures. Still, the rising trend comes as investment in the minerals used in electric vehicles, batteries, and renewable energy technologies expands rapidly, raising risks for workers, Indigenous peoples, local communities, and the environment. The report also documented 18 attacks against human rights defenders across all 24 countries between 2023 and 2025, including cases involving judicial harassment, violence, and intimidation. Indonesia Of the 323 allegations analyzed in detail, 96 were in Indonesia, the highest of any country. The Democratic Republic of Congo was second with 52, followed by Myanmar with 36, Serbia with 32, and Zimbabwe with 20. Ninety of the 96 Indonesian allegations involved nickel. Of those, 71 concerned nickel processing, 17 nickel extraction, and two&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/indonesia-leads-global-tally-of-abuses-linked-to-chinese-transition-mineral-investments/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326494</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Fatal barge crashes fuel fear over Madeira River waterway expansion in Brazil</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/fatal-barge-crashes-fuel-fear-over-madeira-river-waterway-expansion-in-brazil/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/fatal-barge-crashes-fuel-fear-over-madeira-river-waterway-expansion-in-brazil/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Aug 2026 19:21:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Karla Mendes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/17140812/DJI_0060-river-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326412</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Disasters, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Health, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Infrastructure, Law, Pollution, Rivers, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With an election looming, Amazon communities worry their safety will be traded for faster agribusiness growth.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CALAMA AND PARAÍSO GRANDE, Brazil — A mother and her three kids died after a barge loaded with soybeans collided with a floating structure and completely destroyed their stilt house on Jan. 17, 2025,  in the Urumatuba riverine community along the Madeira River, in the Brazilian Amazon. Four months later, another freight vessel hit three mining barges anchored in the neighboring Nova Catarina riverine community, in the Manicoré municipality, in Amazonas state. The owner of one of the mining barges was the husband of the woman and father of the three kids who died in the January accident, according to a local news outlet. Mongabay was reporting in riverine communities in the region of the city of Humaitá, 190 kilometers (118 miles) southeast and downstream from Manicoré, when the second accident happened. All those interviewed on that day and the following days said they were terrified by the event — and knew someone who suffered losses or even died in collisions involving grain barges in the Madeira River. &#8220;We are very worried here in our community about these vessels,&#8221; smallholder Maria Delci Barros de Morais, 59, told Mongabay on the balcony of her house in the riverine community of Paraíso Grande, located 30 minutes by fast boat from Humaitá. &#8220;They&#8217;ve already run over someone we know.&#8221; The barge smashed the boat used by the family as a home, she recalled. &#8220;Thank God no one died.&#8221; According to Morais, the risk increases during the Madeira River&#8217;s high-water season, between December and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/fatal-barge-crashes-fuel-fear-over-madeira-river-waterway-expansion-in-brazil/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/fatal-barge-crashes-fuel-fear-over-madeira-river-waterway-expansion-in-brazil/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326412</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nickel expansion puts Indonesia’s biodiversity goals under pressure, study finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nickel-expansion-puts-indonesias-biodiversity-goals-under-pressure-study-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nickel-expansion-puts-indonesias-biodiversity-goals-under-pressure-study-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Aug 2026 09:20:00 +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/20/2025/03/05132334/nickel-processing-facilities-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=326001</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Maluku, North Maluku, Southeast Asia, and Sulawesi]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[30x30 conservation target, Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Business, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Deep Sea Mining, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Electric Cars, Energy Transition, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Industry, Marine Conservation, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, Protected Areas, Transportation, Tropical Deforestation, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia’s nickel boom is colliding with its efforts to protect biodiversity and reduce emissions from forests and other land uses. A new study warns that meeting growing global nickel demand could increasingly put some of the world’s most important ecosystems at risk. A study published in Nature Ecology &#38; Evolution focuses on the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia’s nickel boom is colliding with its efforts to protect biodiversity and reduce emissions from forests and other land uses. A new study warns that meeting growing global nickel demand could increasingly put some of the world’s most important ecosystems at risk. A study published in Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution focuses on the trade-offs between meeting future nickel demand and protecting areas important for biodiversity and carbon storage. The researchers found that 44% to 49% of projected nickel demand between 2025 and 2050 could be met by mines located in the world’s top 10% of terrestrial areas for biodiversity and carbon conservation. “Nickel is in everything from steel in infrastructure to the pots and pans in our kitchens, and demand is surging for clean energy especially to make batteries for electric vehicles,” said lead author Jayden Hyman of the University of Queensland’s School of the Environment in a press release. “But the decisions being made now about where to source nickel could lock in impacts for decades in some of Earth’s most biodiverse and carbon-rich ecosystems.” The findings pose a particular challenge for Indonesia, the world’s largest nickel producer and the source of more than half of global supply. The researchers project that Indonesia could account for as much as 74% of global nickel production by 2040 as demand continues to grow. The country is also committed to expanding biodiversity conservation. Indonesia’s Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (IBSAP) 2025-2045 is aligned with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nickel-expansion-puts-indonesias-biodiversity-goals-under-pressure-study-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nickel-expansion-puts-indonesias-biodiversity-goals-under-pressure-study-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-326001</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mining threat persists in Raja Ampat, Indonesia’s ‘Amazon of the Seas’</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/mining-threat-persists-in-raja-ampat-indonesias-amazon-of-the-seas/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/mining-threat-persists-in-raja-ampat-indonesias-amazon-of-the-seas/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Aug 2026 14:31:16 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Laura Oliver]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/08/04142911/GP0SU7TV6-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325289</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Papua, Southeast Asia, and West Papua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Biodiversity Hotspots, Birds, Business, Conservation, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Ecosystems, Energy Transition, Environmental Policy, Marine, Marine Conservation, Marine Protected Areas, Mining, Natural Resources, Oceans, Pollution, Protected Areas, Sedimentation, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Raja Ampat, one of the world&#8217;s most biodiverse marine regions, remains under pressure from Indonesia&#8217;s expanding nickel industry as three companies continue to seek permission to develop nickel projects in the archipelago, according to a new Greenpeace report. Located in the heart of the Coral Triangle, in Indonesia’s easternmost Papua region, Raja Ampat [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Raja Ampat, one of the world&#8217;s most biodiverse marine regions, remains under pressure from Indonesia&#8217;s expanding nickel industry as three companies continue to seek permission to develop nickel projects in the archipelago, according to a new Greenpeace report. Located in the heart of the Coral Triangle, in Indonesia’s easternmost Papua region, Raja Ampat hosts some of the planet&#8217;s richest marine biodiversity, including around 75% of the world&#8217;s known coral species, earning it the nickname &#8220;the Amazon of the Seas.&#8221; Public concern over nickel mining in Raja Ampat erupted in 2025 after images showing forest clearing and environmental damage were shared widely on social media. A subsequent backlash prompted the Indonesian government to suspend mining operations and later revoke four of the region&#8217;s five nickel mining permits, leaving only the state-owned PT Gag Nikel mining company in operation in the region. But Raja Ampat remains vulnerable to future mining, according to Greenpeace. Its latest report identifies three companies PT Raja Ampat Nikel Abadi (RANA), PT Waegeo Mineral Mining (WMM), and PT Eka Kurnia Baru (EKB) — pursuing projects on Waigeo Island, the archipelago&#8217;s largest island and home to endemic wildlife including Wilson&#8217;s bird-of-paradise (Cicinnurus respublica), the Waigeo brushturkey (Aepypodius bruijnii), and the Waigeo spotted cuscus (Spilocuscus papuensis). In June 2025, Mongabay reported on WMM and EKB, as both companies filed lawsuits contesting the government’s refusal to officially recognize permits they have held for mining on Waigeo Island since 2023. RANA is the latest company pursuing nickel mining in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/mining-threat-persists-in-raja-ampat-indonesias-amazon-of-the-seas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/mining-threat-persists-in-raja-ampat-indonesias-amazon-of-the-seas/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325289</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nicaragua’s gold boom is now encroaching on protected areas and Indigenous land</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nicaraguas-gold-boom-is-now-encroaching-on-protected-areas-and-indigenous-land/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nicaraguas-gold-boom-is-now-encroaching-on-protected-areas-and-indigenous-land/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Aug 2026 15:30:25 +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/20/2026/07/31155858/4386-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=325077</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Latin America, and Nicaragua]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Business, Conservation, Culture, Deforestation, Environment, Gold Mining, Governance, Human Rights, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Reserves, Indigenous Rights, International Trade, Law, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, Protected Areas, Trade, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Nicaragua, the mining sector has steadily grown over the last two decades, with gold becoming a top export and a pillar of the national economy. For most of that time, the growth was gradual. But in more recent years, there’s been an unprecedented boom, with the creation of dozens of mining concessions and a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Nicaragua, the mining sector has steadily grown over the last two decades, with gold becoming a top export and a pillar of the national economy. For most of that time, the growth was gradual. But in more recent years, there’s been an unprecedented boom, with the creation of dozens of mining concessions and a rush of new legislation to attract foreign companies. The boom coincides with Nicaragua’s increasing economic and political isolation. President Daniel Ortega has cracked down on dissent and cancelled elections, prompting countries like the U.S. and Canada to issue sanctions against numerous officials and institutions, making it difficult for them to trade and carry out other international business. With the price of gold on the rise, the government has turned to mining for economic stability. That decision has been disastrous for the environment and Indigenous communities, critics say. Mining concessions have started encroaching on protected areas and ancestral territory, threatening pollution, deforestation, and the displacement of residents, among other issues. “From 2022 and on, there’s been an incredible boom in the number of concessions granted,” said Carmen Corea-Sánchez, lead author of a new report from community-based Indigenous group Wangki and other researchers. A golden age of mining Ortega held office in the late 1980s and took power again in 2007, ushering in a massive investment in the mining sector, largely propelled by Chinese interest in the country and Latin America more broadly. In 2006, the year before he returned to office, Nicaragua exported 109,200 ounces of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nicaraguas-gold-boom-is-now-encroaching-on-protected-areas-and-indigenous-land/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/nicaraguas-gold-boom-is-now-encroaching-on-protected-areas-and-indigenous-land/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-325077</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Proposed mine expansion raising pollution concerns in Canada and US</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/proposed-mine-expansion-raising-pollution-concerns-in-canada-and-us/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/proposed-mine-expansion-raising-pollution-concerns-in-canada-and-us/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jul 2026 22:31:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ruth Kamnitzer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/29150845/Image-4-Castle-Mountain-Grasslands-Siobhan-Williams-1-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324789</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coal, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Freshwater, Governance, Health, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Elk Valley in southeast British Columbia is home to Canada’s four largest coal mines. With a proposed mine expansion moving through environmental assessment, people on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border worry the valley’s decades-old pollution problem could get even worse. Industrial coal mining in the Elk Valley goes back more than 50 years. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Elk Valley in southeast British Columbia is home to Canada’s four largest coal mines. With a proposed mine expansion moving through environmental assessment, people on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border worry the valley’s decades-old pollution problem could get even worse. Industrial coal mining in the Elk Valley goes back more than 50 years. The valley’s mines, currently owned by Elk Valley Resources (EVR), supply 77% of Canada’s metallurgical coal, a grade of coal used in steel making, according to a 2024 report produced for EVR. The vast majority of this coal was exported to Asia. EVR’s largest mine, Fording River Operations (FRO), is expected to run out of coal within a decade. The proposed Fording River Extension (FRX) would open 2,031 hectares (5,019 acres) on Castle Mountain, adjacent to the existing mine, and operate for about 35 years. The FRX is currently moving through a coordinated federal-provincial environmental impact assessment. Three proposed new coal mines, not linked to EVR, are also currently in the environmental assessment process. The Fording River Operations mine, in the Elk Valley, British Columbia. The mountain top removal mining process dramatically alters topography and drainage patterns, and creates large volumes of waste rock. Image by Siobhán Winters/Wildsight. Proponents maintain the FRX is necessary to sustain economic benefits post FRO-closure, such as gross domestic product contributions, payments to governments and jobs. Others question the wisdom of expanding mining whilst unabated pollution threatens ecosystems, wildlife and livelihoods across the region. The Ktunaxa Nation Council, representing Ktunaxa&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/proposed-mine-expansion-raising-pollution-concerns-in-canada-and-us/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/proposed-mine-expansion-raising-pollution-concerns-in-canada-and-us/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324789</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Thai MP calls for new committee to scrutinize AI data centers’ environmental impact</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/thai-mp-calls-for-new-committee-to-scrutinize-ai-data-centers-environmental-impact/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/thai-mp-calls-for-new-committee-to-scrutinize-ai-data-centers-environmental-impact/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jul 2026 02:48:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/10061600/20251222__DATA-CENTER_THAILAND_ANDY-BALL-RESIZED-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324542</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Global, Mekong Basin, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence, Development, Ecosystems, Energy, Environment, Fish, Fossil Fuels, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Governance, Health, Natural Resources, Pollution, Renewable Energy, Saltwater Fish, Software, Technology, Water, Water Pollution, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — An opposition member of Thailand’s parliament has called for the creation of a parliamentary committee on the regulation of data centers. The call comes amid a raft of new project approvals linked to the sector, which requires large amounts of water and electricity. “I believe Thailand needs to rethink its overall approach to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — An opposition member of Thailand’s parliament has called for the creation of a parliamentary committee on the regulation of data centers. The call comes amid a raft of new project approvals linked to the sector, which requires large amounts of water and electricity. “I believe Thailand needs to rethink its overall approach to data center development,” Sahassawat Kumkong, a member of the reformist People’s Party, told Mongabay in an interview. “The objective should not simply be to attract investment as quickly as possible. We also need to ensure that development is environmentally sustainable, that local communities are protected, and that the economic benefits are shared more fairly.” Sahassawat represents Constituency 7 in Chonburi, a coastal province in eastern Thailand where at least 13 data centers are in the construction or planning phases, with four more already operational, according to public records, news coverage and, in some cases, on-the-ground reporting by Mongabay. Part of his responsibility in this role, he said, was to safeguard the interests of his constituents, who largely depend on natural resources that data centers may put under strain. The MP said he intends to do this by forming a parliamentary committee to scrutinize the government’s approval and regulation of data centers. This will involve a comprehensive review of Thailand’s current policy framework, including long-term planning for water and energy resources, stronger environmental safeguards, greater transparency, meaningful public participation and mechanisms to ensure that communities sharing the costs of these projects also share in their benefits,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/thai-mp-calls-for-new-committee-to-scrutinize-ai-data-centers-environmental-impact/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/thai-mp-calls-for-new-committee-to-scrutinize-ai-data-centers-environmental-impact/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324542</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How saline drinking water raises preeclampsia risks in coastal Bangladesh (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-saline-drinking-water-raises-preeclampsia-risks-in-coastal-bangladesh-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-saline-drinking-water-raises-preeclampsia-risks-in-coastal-bangladesh-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jul 2026 16:59:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashik Rubaiyat]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/23164359/Water-collection-from-pond-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324396</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Agriculture, Aquaculture, Climate Change, Coastal Ecosystems, Commentary, Drinking Water, Ecology, Fisheries, Storms, Water Pollution, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Hypertensive or high blood pressure disorders are among the leading causes of maternal deaths in low-income countries. A pregnancy complication known as preeclampsia, a hypertensive disorder, is listed among the top five causes of maternal deaths in Bangladesh. For expectant women with preeclampsia, timely treatment is required; otherwise, it can lead to issues such as [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Hypertensive or high blood pressure disorders are among the leading causes of maternal deaths in low-income countries. A pregnancy complication known as preeclampsia, a hypertensive disorder, is listed among the top five causes of maternal deaths in Bangladesh. For expectant women with preeclampsia, timely treatment is required; otherwise, it can lead to issues such as elevated liver enzymes, low platelet count syndrome, hepatic failure, coma or loss of life.The Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the U.N. set an ambitious target to reduce the maternal mortality rate to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by the end of 2030. While many developed nations have already achieved the U.N. target, low- and middle-income countries are yet to achieve these goals. In Bangladesh, the maternal mortality rate is 196 per 100,000 live births and rates remain significantly higher in the neighboring countries . A recent study reported an association between hypertension, preeclampsia and high-salinity drinking water. The same study argues that, in Bangladesh, preeclampsia is associated with high-salt drinking water. Epidemiological evidence links high salt intake to hypertension in both adults and children. The scarcity of safe drinking water has become a serious global issue due to agricultural expansion, sea level rise caused by global warming and population growth. The IPCC, in its sixth Assessment Report (AR6), stated that climate change affects water availability and water quality. Globally, around 4 billion people face water scarcity for at least one month each year. Storm surges and rising sea levels make it easier for&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-saline-drinking-water-raises-preeclampsia-risks-in-coastal-bangladesh-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/how-saline-drinking-water-raises-preeclampsia-risks-in-coastal-bangladesh-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324396</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Health fears linger in a Brazilian neighborhood built over oil waste</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/health-fears-linger-in-a-brazilian-neighborhood-built-over-oil-waste/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/health-fears-linger-in-a-brazilian-neighborhood-built-over-oil-waste/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jul 2026 20:06:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Leandro Barbosa]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/16175756/DSC09995-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323738</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Health, Oil Spills, One Health, Planetary Health, Pollution, Public Health, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[SÃO SEBASTIÃO, Brazil — In front of the house where she has lived for decades, Cosma da Silva points to nearby homes in her Itatinga neighborhood and lists a string of cancer cases. “There’s a woman with cancer over there. Another one lives in that building. And yet another one there [points at the place]. People [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[SÃO SEBASTIÃO, Brazil — In front of the house where she has lived for decades, Cosma da Silva points to nearby homes in her Itatinga neighborhood and lists a string of cancer cases. “There’s a woman with cancer over there. Another one lives in that building. And yet another one there [points at the place]. People in this area only die of cancer.” She sees illness as an integral part of the neighborhood’s landscape and includes her own family in the tally. Her husband Paulo José da Silva died at age 51 from a brain tumor. Cosma herself recently underwent surgery to remove a nodule. As she deals with the consequences of the treatment — a wound that burns and itches on the side of her chest — she continues to observe several sick relatives, neighbors and acquaintances. The connection between these cases and the environmental contamination that has marked Itatinga’s history has never been proven or investigated the way residents expected it to be. From the 1970s to the 1980s, part of the neighborhood was used for the disposal of oily sludge associated with oil exploration. Years later, homes were built on the land. Environmental investigations by public agencies found contaminants in the soil and groundwater. For almost 20 years, documents from the São Paulo State Environmental Company (CETESB), the State Prosecution Service (MPE), the Federal Prosecution Service (MPF) and Petrobras itself — the Brazilian state-controlled oil company, which the investigations accused of being responsible for the disposal — pointed to toxic substances&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/health-fears-linger-in-a-brazilian-neighborhood-built-over-oil-waste/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/health-fears-linger-in-a-brazilian-neighborhood-built-over-oil-waste/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323738</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘We couldn’t breathe’: DRC villagers revive protest against Perenco over pollution</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/we-couldnt-breathe-drc-villagers-revive-protest-against-perenco-over-pollution/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/we-couldnt-breathe-drc-villagers-revive-protest-against-perenco-over-pollution/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jul 2026 14:54:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/21135544/WhatsApp-Image-2026-06-11-at-14.51.59-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324228</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Business, Environment, Environmental Law, Finance, Governance, Health, Law, Oil, Oil Drilling, Oil Spills, Pollution, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“I had diarrhea and dizziness. Food no longer tasted the same. … I wasn’t the only one who noticed it — it was the same for everyone in the village; we couldn’t breathe,” Benoît Packera, secretary of the vigilance committee of Kitombe, told Mongabay. He was recounting what happened in April 2025, when toxic gases [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“I had diarrhea and dizziness. Food no longer tasted the same. … I wasn’t the only one who noticed it — it was the same for everyone in the village; we couldn’t breathe,” Benoît Packera, secretary of the vigilance committee of Kitombe, told Mongabay. He was recounting what happened in April 2025, when toxic gases were released by a Perenco facility in southwestern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The committee raised the alarm about the impacts, which led to a parliamentary commission visiting the area and confirming the existence of pollution in a report. Things went quiet for a while. Perenco continued its flaring operations and the residents claimed they did not receive any treatments or compensation. In May this year, Frustrated residents blocked access roads to Perenco facilities, temporarily disrupting oil operations. Kitombe is a village located in the Muanda territory. Besides being the only territory giving the country access to the ocean, Muanda is also home to oil reserves exploited by Perenco REP (Perenco’s subsidiary in the DRC) since the early 2000s, where it extracts around 4,500 barrels of crude oil per day. However, this exploitation has not come without conflict. The company has repeatedly faced allegations of pollution and adversely impacting agricultural yields, villagers say. But on April 12, 2025, tensions reached a breaking point. “It smelled extremely bad and very strong, like rotten eggs. I coughed a lot and felt like vomiting,” Packera recalled. That day, gas was released into the atmosphere from the tank farm,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/we-couldnt-breathe-drc-villagers-revive-protest-against-perenco-over-pollution/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324228</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>From rivers to mangroves, microplastics are contaminating the Amazon</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/from-rivers-to-mangroves-microplastics-are-contaminating-the-amazon/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/from-rivers-to-mangroves-microplastics-are-contaminating-the-amazon/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Jul 2026 12:42:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Tiago da Mota e Silva]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/17154435/AP22157686805487-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323868</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Microplastics in the Amazon]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Drinking Water, Ecosystems, Freshwater, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Microplastics, Natural Resources, Plastic, Pollution, Rainforests, Rivers, Tropical Forests, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MANAUS, Brazil — On June 20, a 50-member team led by NGO Asas de Socorro and Rede Reviva walked about 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) along the shoreline of the Puraquequara Lake in eastern Manaus during a garbage-collection effort. When the activity finished covering a stretch of beach on a lake with a water surface estimated at 20-25 km2, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MANAUS, Brazil — On June 20, a 50-member team led by NGO Asas de Socorro and Rede Reviva walked about 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) along the shoreline of the Puraquequara Lake in eastern Manaus during a garbage-collection effort. When the activity finished covering a stretch of beach on a lake with a water surface estimated at 20-25 km2, the group had gathered a dumpster full of plastic waste. A similar effort in June 2023 had collected two dumpsters. The group’s experience helped illustrate the results of Eletuza Uchôa Farias’s master’s research: Half of the fish collected at the lake, from two jaraqui species (Semaprochilodus insignis and Semaprochilodus taeniurus), had ingested microplastics. Once inside an organism, the particles can remain in the intestinal tract, reach other tissues and organs, and move through the food chain — from the base to predatory fish — potentially ending up in humans. The jaraqui is the most consumed fish in Amazonas state. All particles found in the fish intestines were fibers: 0.5-4.37 millimeter-thin, elongated filaments. Most of them — 85.7% — were identified as polyamide, a polymer widely used by the textile industry for its strength and flexibility. The Puraquequara’s surroundings are home to communities with no effective basic sanitation. Water from sinks, tanks and washing machines is dumped directly into water bodies, which may explain the presence of polyamide that reach the jaraquis — which, in turn, end up on the plates of Amazonian residents. The Puraquequara case serves as a snapshot of plastic contamination in the Amazon. While microplastics are extensively&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/from-rivers-to-mangroves-microplastics-are-contaminating-the-amazon/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323868</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Honduras, solar power has done more harm than good, communities say</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-honduras-solar-power-has-done-more-harm-than-good-communities-say/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-honduras-solar-power-has-done-more-harm-than-good-communities-say/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jul 2026 16:41:39 +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/20/2026/07/09154709/5-Solar-Panels-Agua-Fria-Nacaome-Honduras-Criterio-Hn-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322820</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Central America, Honduras, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Alternative Energy, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Deforestation, Energy, Environment, Pollution, Renewable Energy, Solar Power, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2013, officials in Honduras made renewable energy development a “national priority,” with a special interest in attracting foreign investment in new solar power technology. Over the last 20 years, the government has introduced tax cuts and other economic benefits to accelerate the creation of solar projects, in one case approving 23 solar parks in [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2013, officials in Honduras made renewable energy development a “national priority,” with a special interest in attracting foreign investment in new solar power technology. Over the last 20 years, the government has introduced tax cuts and other economic benefits to accelerate the creation of solar projects, in one case approving 23 solar parks in an overnight legislative session. But the speed of approval for those projects has drawn criticism from human rights and conservation groups that say the state awarded contracts that avoided more rigorous environmental oversight. At the same time, the energy companies continue to see disproportionate profits compared to local communities living near the projects, often without access to electricity themselves. According to a new report from the Institute for Policy Studies, solar projects throughout southern Honduras have negatively impacted the local economy and health of surrounding communities. The projects have also done little to transition the country away from fossil fuels, raising questions about who truly benefits, according to the report. “About a decade ago, gleaming mosaic of solar parks was installed in southern Honduras, accompanied by promises of a transition to green energy that would bring about jobs, abundant cheap energy, and community development,” said the report, which was also published by the Transnational Institute, TerraJusta and Honduras Solidarity Network, among other environmental and human rights groups. “But the impact so far is eerily similar to the prevailing development model in Honduras, which concentrates benefits on the rich and externalizes impacts on the poor.” Residents&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-honduras-solar-power-has-done-more-harm-than-good-communities-say/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/in-honduras-solar-power-has-done-more-harm-than-good-communities-say/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322820</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Can conservation change how the world sees the Strait of Hormuz? (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/can-conservation-change-how-the-world-sees-the-strait-of-hormuz-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/can-conservation-change-how-the-world-sees-the-strait-of-hormuz-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Jul 2026 15:37:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Iman Ebrahimi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/09/13142321/Moray-eel-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322992</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Iran, Kuwait, Middle East, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Coastal Ecosystems, Commentary, Conflict, Conservation, Ecosystems, Environment, Estuaries, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Oil Spills, War, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In recent months, the Strait of Hormuz has again been described in the language the world knows best: Oil, tankers, naval risk, energy security and war. That is understandable. Around one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments normally move through this narrow passage between Iran and Oman. When Hormuz is threatened, markets react [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In recent months, the Strait of Hormuz has again been described in the language the world knows best: Oil, tankers, naval risk, energy security and war. That is understandable. Around one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments normally move through this narrow passage between Iran and Oman. When Hormuz is threatened, markets react and governments calculate. But this is only one map of the strait. Conservation offers another. The Strait of Hormuz is not only an oil chokepoint. It is an ecological corridor: The narrow mouth through which the Persian Gulf exchanges water with the Gulf of Oman and the wider Indian Ocean, and through which islands, mangroves, seabird colonies, coral reefs, turtle nesting beaches and coastal communities are connected across borders. A pair of flamingos, Marawah Marine Biosphere Reserve, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Image courtesy of Maitha Bughanoom. This way of seeing Hormuz matters now because recent oil-related reports have not pointed to empty water. They have pointed toward real places: Shidvar, an uninhabited Ramsar island in Lavan, Iran, where damage to nearby oil infrastructure can quickly become a threat to a breeding ground for more than 80,000 terns each year; Qeshm and the Hara mangrove forests, the largest mangrove system in the Persian Gulf and also a Ramsar site; Kharg Island, and also small ports, fishing grounds and coastal waters where human life and wildlife are not easily separated. The full biological impact is still unclear but the geography already tells us enough: In the Persian Gulf,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/can-conservation-change-how-the-world-sees-the-strait-of-hormuz-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-322992</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Could a blighted urban inlet become a global beacon of waterway renewal?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/could-a-blighted-urban-inlet-become-a-global-beacon-of-waterway-renewal/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/could-a-blighted-urban-inlet-become-a-global-beacon-of-waterway-renewal/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jul 2026 18:52:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jennifer Cole]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/08165500/54032733335_fa695ecfe0_4k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322901</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities, Community Development, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Development, Environment, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Pollution, urban ecology, Waste, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[VANCOUVER — Two hundred years ago, Talaysay Campo’s ancestors harvested clams and cockles along the shore of Vancouver’s False Creek. &#8220;It was a huge aquaculture site,&#8221; Campo, a member of the Squamish First Nation and operations manager of Talaysay Tours, a company dedicated to sharing the history of Indigenous peoples, tells Mongabay. Today, little remains [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[VANCOUVER — Two hundred years ago, Talaysay Campo’s ancestors harvested clams and cockles along the shore of Vancouver’s False Creek. &#8220;It was a huge aquaculture site,&#8221; Campo, a member of the Squamish First Nation and operations manager of Talaysay Tours, a company dedicated to sharing the history of Indigenous peoples, tells Mongabay. Today, little remains of the abundance Campo describes. Even the name False Creek obscures the ecological richness that once defined the waterbody. This narrow, 3-kilometer (almost 2-mile) long waterway traversing the heart of Vancouver is not a freshwater creek as the name implies, but a saltwater tidal inlet. It received its name in 1859 from a British sea captain who discovered he’d been mistaken in believing he’d been traveling through a creek and called it False Creek as a warning to other mariners. As European settlement expanded across the region, mandates from newly formed colonial governments permitted the destruction of Indigenous villages along the shoreline of False Creek, forcing First Nations people onto government reserves. The inlet became a mecca for industry. Sawmills, manufacturing plants, railyards and warehouses replaced the sea gardens rimmed with rocks and home to octopus and sea cucumber. Relics of Science World from the World Expo of 1986 on False Creek, Vancouver. Image by Jennifer Cole for Mongabay. In 1986, the World Expo on transportation and communication turned the industrial wasteland on shore into 70 hectares (173 acres) of futuristic pavilions and temporary event space. In the decades since, the pavilions have given way&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/could-a-blighted-urban-inlet-become-a-global-beacon-of-waterway-renewal/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322901</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘The only possible transition is a just transition’: Interview with WEF’s Clemence Schmid</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-only-possible-transition-is-a-just-transition-interview-with-wefs-clemence-schmid/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-only-possible-transition-is-a-just-transition-interview-with-wefs-clemence-schmid/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Jul 2026 11:37:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jackson Ambole Okata]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/07112338/photo-4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322752</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Environment, Fish, Fisheries, Freshwater Fish, Governance, Health, Marine Animals, Microplastics, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Plastic, Pollution, Research, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[During the 11th Our Ocean Conference held in the coastal city of Mombasa, the Kenyan government, together with the World Economic Forum&#8217;s Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) and UNDP Kenya, formally launched the Kenya National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP Kenya). At least 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year making [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[During the 11th Our Ocean Conference held in the coastal city of Mombasa, the Kenyan government, together with the World Economic Forum&#8217;s Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) and UNDP Kenya, formally launched the Kenya National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP Kenya). At least 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year making up 80% of all marine debris found in surface waters and deep-sea sediments. Kenya faces considerable challenges with plastic pollution, particularly in urban centers and along its coastline. Plastics account for 20% of the 22,000 tonnes of waste generated daily in Kenya, according to estimates. Only 27% of the plastic waste is collected, of which 8% is recycled and the remaining 19% disposed of in unsanitary landfills or dumpsites. The plastic waste not properly collected and managed often ends up in rivers and the ocean. It disrupts ecosystems, endangers wildlife, and impacts tourism and fisheries. In 2017, Kenya introduced a ban on the use, manufacture and importation of single-use plastic bags. In 2020, the ban was extended to single-use plastics in protected areas. NPAP Kenya will help accelerate the country’s transition to a circular plastics economy, according to Clemence Schmid, Director, Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) at the World Economic Forum (WEF). Clemence Schmid, Director, Global Plastic Action Partnership, World Economic Forum during the formal launch of NPAP, Kenya at the Our Ocean conference in Mombasa. Image courtesy of NPAP Kenya. The GPAP launched by the WEF in 2018 is a multi-stakeholder initiative to tackle&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/the-only-possible-transition-is-a-just-transition-interview-with-wefs-clemence-schmid/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322752</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Brazil’s expanding offshore oil frontier puts biodiversity at risk: study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/brazils-expanding-offshore-oil-frontier-puts-biodiversity-at-risk-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/brazils-expanding-offshore-oil-frontier-puts-biodiversity-at-risk-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jul 2026 15:42:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Daniel Shailer]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/06151639/mesophotic-reef-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322398</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity Hotspots, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Energy, Environment, extractives, Fish, Fossil Fuels, Health, Marine, Oil, Oil Drilling, Oil Spills, Pollution, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In late August 2019, fishing communities along the northeast coast of Brazil reported black oily stains washing up on beaches, with crude clumping between the roots of mangroves, on the shells of turtles and on growing numbers of beached fish. The origin of the spill was never confirmed: Then-president Jair Bolsonaro first blamed a Venezuelan [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In late August 2019, fishing communities along the northeast coast of Brazil reported black oily stains washing up on beaches, with crude clumping between the roots of mangroves, on the shells of turtles and on growing numbers of beached fish. The origin of the spill was never confirmed: Then-president Jair Bolsonaro first blamed a Venezuelan tanker, then Greenpeace. What was soon clear, however, was the scale of the disaster. Carried by strong winds and ocean currents, by early 2020 the oil had contaminated thousands of kilometers of coastline across all nine Brazilian states in the region. As the country’s government issued its first oil exploration licenses off the northeast coast in two decades earlier this year, research published last month looks to predict the scale and spread of a potential future spill. According to the study, outdated marine habitat maps and a failure to consider expansion across multiple sites in the region has led officials to underestimate the environmental risks of oil spills, especially for seagrass meadows and deepwater corals. Regions where a spill is more likely to happen should prepare an emergency response, the paper recommends, while “areas of high conservation importance but relatively lower oil spill risk” could be targeted for new or expanded Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) as a precaution. “Most of the licensing just looks at one activity in one location: not the whole seascape,” Rafael Magris, an ecologist at the Chico Mendez Institute for Biodiversity Conservation and lead author of the research, told Mongabay in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/brazils-expanding-offshore-oil-frontier-puts-biodiversity-at-risk-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/brazils-expanding-offshore-oil-frontier-puts-biodiversity-at-risk-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322398</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Australia’s seagrass meadows under pressure as climate change turns up the heat</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/australias-seagrass-meadows-under-pressure-as-climate-change-turns-up-the-heat/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/australias-seagrass-meadows-under-pressure-as-climate-change-turns-up-the-heat/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jul 2026 15:19:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/02094729/3-leafy-sea-dragon-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322342</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia, Great Barrier Reef, and Oceania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Adaptation To Climate Change, Biodiversity, Climate, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Ecosystem Engineers, Ecosystems, Environment, Global Warming, Habitat, Impact Of Climate Change, Marine, Marine Conservation, Ocean Warming, Oceans, Plants, Research, Restoration, Science, Seagrass, Solutions, Temperatures, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is renowned for its coral, but far less so for its expansive seagrass meadows. “People don&#8217;t dive on them, don&#8217;t snorkel on them, and don&#8217;t go rock pooling on them,” said Emma Jackson, director of the Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre (CMERC) at Central Queensland University. She’s a self-confessed seagrass nerd. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is renowned for its coral, but far less so for its expansive seagrass meadows. “People don&#8217;t dive on them, don&#8217;t snorkel on them, and don&#8217;t go rock pooling on them,” said Emma Jackson, director of the Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre (CMERC) at Central Queensland University. She’s a self-confessed seagrass nerd. One reason, she said, is because “they have this wealth of different ecosystem services.” Though they’re known as the “ugly cousins” of coral reefs, these flowering grass-like plants provide a home and foraging grounds for marine life, as well as habitat for commercial fish species. These meadows stabilize sediments, help cleanse the water column and sequester substantial amounts of carbon. “I think when people understand that, then they can share my nerdiness and share that passion for seagrass,” Jackson said. Emma Jackson, who directs CMERC (right), envisions large-scale restoration using many seagrass species, with the process as routine as seeding a lawn. Image courtesy CMERC. The Great Barrier Reef is home to around 3.5 million hectares (8.6 million acres) of seagrass, an area larger than Belgium, which accounts for about 11% of the world’s total. Australia is a global hotspot of seagrass biodiversity, hosting around half of the world’s 60 species of the plants. But as climate change ratchets up temperatures and triggers more frequent extreme weather events, Australia’s marine meadows are increasingly battered by intense storms and cyclones, flooding, and devastating marine heat waves. Algal blooms are also impacting seagrasses by blocking out sunlight&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/australias-seagrass-meadows-under-pressure-as-climate-change-turns-up-the-heat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322342</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sea level rise is ruining coastal Bangladesh with salty water (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/sea-level-rise-is-ruining-coastal-bangladesh-with-salty-water-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/sea-level-rise-is-ruining-coastal-bangladesh-with-salty-water-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Jul 2026 17:10:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[AL Sharia]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/01160010/Bangladesh-salt-water-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322217</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Climate, Climate Justice, Coastal Ecosystems, Commentary, Drinking Water, Erosion, Flooding, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Natural Resources, Oceans, Pollution, Public Health, Sea Levels, Social Justice, Water, Water Pollution, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Every morning, before the sun has fully risen over the tidal flats of Satkhira in southwest Bangladesh, women begin walking. They walk two kilometers, sometimes five (about 1.2 to 3.1 miles) and sometimes more, carrying empty vessels that they will fill with water fit for drinking. Then they walk back. Then, some days, they walk [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Every morning, before the sun has fully risen over the tidal flats of Satkhira in southwest Bangladesh, women begin walking. They walk two kilometers, sometimes five (about 1.2 to 3.1 miles) and sometimes more, carrying empty vessels that they will fill with water fit for drinking. Then they walk back. Then, some days, they walk again. A UNDP study found that women in coastal Bangladesh spend up to six hours a day on this task alone, six hours that cannot be spent earning, learning or caring for their children, and this is not even a drought zone. This is one of the largest deltas on Earth. The women walk past rivers, channels and flooded fields. The water is everywhere, and none of it is safe. Approximately 20 million people along Bangladesh’s coast cannot safely drink the water that surrounds them. Yet, a UNDP survey found that 73% of residents in five coastal sub-districts of Satkhira consume saline water every single day. The crisis does not make the front pages of international newspapers the way droughts in East Africa or floods in Pakistan tend to. It is slow, structural and unglamorous, which is precisely why it has been allowed to continue for this long. A woman collects water from a pond about 1 km from her home in Shyamnagara, Satkhira district, Bangladesh. Image courtesy of Abu Siddique/Dialogue Earth. The intrusion of saltwater into Bangladesh’s coastal mainland is not simply a consequence of rising seas, though the seas are certainly rising. Studies&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/sea-level-rise-is-ruining-coastal-bangladesh-with-salty-water-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/sea-level-rise-is-ruining-coastal-bangladesh-with-salty-water-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322217</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Human rights abuse allegations continue to rise in the mining sector, report finds</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/human-rights-abuse-allegations-continue-to-rise-in-the-mining-sector-report-finds/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/human-rights-abuse-allegations-continue-to-rise-in-the-mining-sector-report-finds/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jun 2026 18:41:08 +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/20/2026/06/29182329/AP26121665473043-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322054</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Europe, Global, Latin America, and Middle East]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Business, Clean Energy, Critical Minerals, Environment, Health, Human Rights, Mining, Natural Resources, Pollution, Protests, Renewable Energy, Trade, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Over the last several years, the United States and European Union have intensified efforts to secure the minerals needed for a clean energy transition. Officials have fast-tracked new projects and signed deals with countries across the globe to ensure access to copper, cobalt, lithium and other minerals that are essential for building solar panels, wind [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Over the last several years, the United States and European Union have intensified efforts to secure the minerals needed for a clean energy transition. Officials have fast-tracked new projects and signed deals with countries across the globe to ensure access to copper, cobalt, lithium and other minerals that are essential for building solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and other technologies. But as investment grows, so does conflict throughout the sector. Protests and lawsuits are common at mine sites, which can lead to attacks against human rights and environmental defenders. It’s led critics to call for stricter regulations and better communication with local communities. “Resilient mineral supply chains can only be built with respect for people, ecosystems, and local benefits,” Erica Westenberg, director of governance programs at the NGO Natural Resource Governance Institute, said in a report from the Business and Human Rights Centre. Each year, the organization releases the findings of its Transition Mineral Tracker, which monitors allegations of abuse by large-scale mining of bauxite, cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese, nickel, iron ore and zinc. For 2025, the NGO reviewed 299 mining operations and their owners, counting 329 allegations of abuse — up from 156 the year before — tied to air and water pollution, public health problems, and labor abuse like poor working conditions and union suppression. There were also 61 cases of protests, 10 strikes and 44 lawsuits, the report said. A breach at a tailing dam at a Sino-Metals Leach Zambia mine near Kitwe. (AP Photo/Richard Kille, File) The&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/human-rights-abuse-allegations-continue-to-rise-in-the-mining-sector-report-finds/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/human-rights-abuse-allegations-continue-to-rise-in-the-mining-sector-report-finds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322054</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Women patrol Tanzania’s Pemba waters in a community-led push to protect the sea</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/women-patrol-tanzanias-pemba-waters-in-a-community-led-push-to-protect-the-sea/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/women-patrol-tanzanias-pemba-waters-in-a-community-led-push-to-protect-the-sea/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Jun 2026 11:38:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/27103927/20260622_1048430-1bis-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321946</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, Indian Ocean, and Tanzania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[blue economy, Conservation, Environmental Policy, Fish, Fishing, Freshwater Fish, Governance, Illegal Fishing, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Trade, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[PEMBA, Tanzania — Patrolling the sea is not the kind of work many women on Tanzania’s Pemba Island are traditionally expected to do. Yet, for Amina Gharib Issa, it has become part of her life recently. At 55 years old, Issa has spent years around the sea, including as a fisher. But when fish stocks [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[PEMBA, Tanzania — Patrolling the sea is not the kind of work many women on Tanzania’s Pemba Island are traditionally expected to do. Yet, for Amina Gharib Issa, it has become part of her life recently. At 55 years old, Issa has spent years around the sea, including as a fisher. But when fish stocks began dwindling and communities in Pemba introduced temporary closures, periods during which fishing is suspended to allow marine life to recover, she took on the task of helping patrol the waters to ensure the rules were respected. She is part of a seven-member community patrol team that goes out about eight times a month, checking boats, fishing gear and licenses. The work can mean hours on the water, sometimes in rough conditions, for pay of about $8 a day. In much of Pemba, women participate widely in fisheries, but being out on patrol with men is another matter. The community is predominantly Muslim, and gender roles can be closely examined. &#8220;Some of the women are not permitted by their husbands,&#8221; Ali Said Hamad, a member of the Mwambao team, said, explaining one of the reasons more women do not join. Said has spent decades on these waters — not as an enforcement officer — but helping implement community-led conservation programs. For those women who do patrol the waters, family support can make the difference. Issa said her husband supported her decision to take part. Her work is part of a broader community-led conservation effort supported&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/women-patrol-tanzanias-pemba-waters-in-a-community-led-push-to-protect-the-sea/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/women-patrol-tanzanias-pemba-waters-in-a-community-led-push-to-protect-the-sea/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321946</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Lawsuit demands accountability for Cerro de Pasco mining pollution in Peru</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/lawsuit-demands-accountability-for-cerro-de-pasco-mining-pollution-in-peru/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/lawsuit-demands-accountability-for-cerro-de-pasco-mining-pollution-in-peru/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jun 2026 21:14:58 +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/20/2026/06/16210447/AP0909151105123-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321332</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Clean Energy, Conservation, Critical Minerals, Environment, Health, Mining, Pollution, Public Health, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A mine that has been operating for decades in the Peruvian Andes continues to contaminate the soil, water and air for thousands of people living nearby, according to a lawsuit filed last month. The contamination has displaced farming and livestock, the lawsuit said, while causing cognitive issues in children, among other public health concerns. Companies [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A mine that has been operating for decades in the Peruvian Andes continues to contaminate the soil, water and air for thousands of people living nearby, according to a lawsuit filed last month. The contamination has displaced farming and livestock, the lawsuit said, while causing cognitive issues in children, among other public health concerns. Companies working at the Cerro de Pasco mine, located in Peru’s central highlands, need to be held responsible for the pollution and public health issues that have affected more than 100,000 people, according to Cerro de Pasco Mayor Julio Rupay Malpartida and public prosecutor Darwin Alejandro Ramón Yalico, who filed the injunction petition on behalf of the municipality. “[The] environmental contamination is on such a scale that it’s present in every corner of the city,” the lawsuit said, “a consequence of the accumulation of heavy metals and toxic substances.” The area has been home to mining activity since at least the 16th century, when the Spanish discovered silver deposits during colonization. More recently, the private company Volcan Compañía Minera took over the mines in 2000 and has overseen underground and open pit operations to extract silver, copper, zinc and lead, among other metals. The lawsuit also lists Volcan subsidiaries Óxidos de Pasco, Empresa Administradora Cerro and Empresa Minera Paragsha as defendants. The Cerro de Pasco mine from above. Image courtesy of SkyTruth/Flickr. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Some of the operation is located in the center of the city, with a population of more than 74,000. As a result, particulate&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/lawsuit-demands-accountability-for-cerro-de-pasco-mining-pollution-in-peru/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321332</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Ecuador, an Indigenous community goes thirsty despite its two rivers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-ecuador-an-indigenous-community-goes-thirsty-despite-its-two-rivers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-ecuador-an-indigenous-community-goes-thirsty-despite-its-two-rivers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Jun 2026 07:00:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gabriela Verdezoto Landívar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/11163242/MUJERES-Y-NINAS-CAPIRONA-1200x800-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321009</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Ecuador, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Crime, Drinking Water, Environment, Environmental Law, Freshwater, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Mining, Pollution, Rainforest Destruction, Rainforests, Rivers, Social Justice, Water, Water Pollution, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the mining-plagued Ecuadorian Amazon, not even two rivers are enough to ensure safe water for an Indigenous community.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The man&#8217;s cheekbones are painted with achiote, a red pigment extracted from the seeds of the Bixa orellana plant. He wears a thin headband over his gray hair, and a traditional green shirt with yellow and blue trim on the collar and sleeves. In his right hand, he holds a wooden spear, 2.5 meters long, or just over 8 feet, made from the chonta palm (Bactris gasipaes). He stares at the journalist. His dark eyes widen as he laments the occurrence of several cases of community residents, including children, suffering from fungal infections. “Even two people have already died from stomach pain, and at the hospital, they said: ‘Maybe it’s the water.’” The video was first broadcast on Sept. 28, 2024, on an Ecuadorian national news program. The man recorded is Galo Villamil, one of the leaders of the Capirona community, an Indigenous Kichwa resistance enclave in the Ecuadorian Amazon. One year before, in 2023, 22-year-old Joana Ashanga and her 2-year-old nephew, Ville Ashanga, were victims of what the community considers the fatal consequence of river pollution. “Despite the complaints, official reports from the [Ecuadorian] Ministry of Health made no mention of links between the pollution and the deaths, which generated distrust and outrage,” said Linda Tapuy, president of the Capirona community, before an audience at a university auditorium in Ecuador’s capital, Quito, two years after the deaths. The victims’ death certificates said the cause of death was “unknown.” For the Indigenous group, appearing in that television news story was&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-ecuador-an-indigenous-community-goes-thirsty-despite-its-two-rivers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/in-ecuador-an-indigenous-community-goes-thirsty-despite-its-two-rivers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321009</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sri Lanka bans single-use plastic bottles at government events, charges for plastic bags</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/sri-lanka-bans-single-use-plastic-bottles-at-government-events-charges-for-plastic-bags/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/sri-lanka-bans-single-use-plastic-bottles-at-government-events-charges-for-plastic-bags/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 19:09:09 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/08190037/1-Single-use-plastic-bottle-c-Pearl-Protectors-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320781</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Consumption, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Governance, Plastic, Pollution, Recycling, Sustainability, Waste, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lanka banned the purchase and use of single-use plastic water bottles in all government institutions effective May 31, under a new government circular that targets reduction of wasteful plastic consumption within the state sector. The move is the latest in a long line of attempts by the island nation to reduce plastic [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — Sri Lanka banned the purchase and use of single-use plastic water bottles in all government institutions effective May 31, under a new government circular that targets reduction of wasteful plastic consumption within the state sector. The move is the latest in a long line of attempts by the island nation to reduce plastic pollution — a crisis that clogs waterways, pollutes beaches, harms marine life, and overwhelms the country’s fragile waste management systems. But environmentalists say the real question is not whether Sri Lanka can announce another ban, but whether it can be enforced. The new directive applies to public institutions and is expected to reduce the routine use of disposable plastic water bottles during government meetings, events, offices and official functions. Authorities are encouraging reusable alternatives and better drinking water infrastructure within public institutions, says Kapila Rajapaksha, the director-general of the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), the state agency mandated to address plastic pollution. Sri Lanka’s plastic problem is growing exponentially. The National Plastic Waste Inventory (NPWI) published in 2024 has estimated the island’s municipal plastic waste generation to be approximately 250,000 metric tons per year. Sri Lanka recycles only about 27,000 metric tons of plastic waste annually, roughly 11% of total plastic waste generated. An estimated 68,000 metric tons, or 27% of plastic waste, remain uncollected and are often burned, buried or illegally dumped. Approximately 101,000 metric tons or 41% of the plastics go unaccounted from the waste management system during collection, transport, sorting and disposal. According&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/sri-lanka-bans-single-use-plastic-bottles-at-government-events-charges-for-plastic-bags/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320781</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>South Africa’s move away from coal marred by legacy of abandoned mines: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/south-africas-move-away-from-coal-marred-by-legacy-of-abandoned-mines-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/south-africas-move-away-from-coal-marred-by-legacy-of-abandoned-mines-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 07:46:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anna Weekes]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/02115929/251103_Ermelo_Imbabala_CER_dp-13-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320479</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and South Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[charcoal, Coal, Economics, Environment, Governance, Illegal Mining, Mining, Pollution, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As South Africa transitions away from coal-fired electricity, hundreds of former coal mines are turning into abandoned dumping sites for waste and polluted water, which a new report warns will continue to contaminate surrounding land and waterways for decades. Nor is the South African government taking action to force mine owners to clean them up, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As South Africa transitions away from coal-fired electricity, hundreds of former coal mines are turning into abandoned dumping sites for waste and polluted water, which a new report warns will continue to contaminate surrounding land and waterways for decades. Nor is the South African government taking action to force mine owners to clean them up, environmentalists told Mongabay. South African law requires mining companies to set aside money to clean up and restore the land after mining ends &#8211; either in trusts or through bank or insurance guarantees. But a report by the Centre for Environmental Rights found that none of the 412 coal mines that closed between 2006 and 2023 had enough money set aside to pay for the full cost of rehabilitation. The full extent of the problem is unknown as the government has failed to keep any records of mines that closed in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2021, the report said. Mining companies must clean up and rehabilitate mines, pay for the damage, and remain responsible until the government officially signs off on the closure, according to the regulations. But most mines do not keep enough money aside to cover even a fraction of the rehabilitation costs, according to the report, titled “No More Ghost Towns : Lessons From Mpumalanga’s Mine Closure Crisis” and released May 22 in Johannesburg. With more than 100 coal mines and most of the country’s aging coal-fired power stations, the Mpumalanga region is the center of South Africa’s fossil fuel-based power&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/south-africas-move-away-from-coal-marred-by-legacy-of-abandoned-mines-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320479</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Northern Thai residents march for action on polluted rivers. &#8216;This is an emergency&#8217;</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/northern-thai-residents-march-for-action-on-polluted-rivers-this-is-an-emergency/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/northern-thai-residents-march-for-action-on-polluted-rivers-this-is-an-emergency/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Jun 2026 04:19:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/08040458/Peace_Walk_Chiang_Rai_06-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320710</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Biodiversity, Community-based Conservation, Energy Transition, Environment, extractives, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Illegal Mining, International Trade, Mining, Politics, Pollution, Public Health, Renewable Energy, Rivers, Traditional People, Tropics, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — More than 600 residents of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces embarked May 31 on a roughly 68-kilometer, six-day ‘peace walk’ to demand the Thai government take action on the river pollution crisis that has seen Thai rivers polluted with heavy metals. The ensemble of affected residents, civil society groups, monks and students [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — More than 600 residents of Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces embarked May 31 on a roughly 68-kilometer, six-day ‘peace walk’ to demand the Thai government take action on the river pollution crisis that has seen Thai rivers polluted with heavy metals. The ensemble of affected residents, civil society groups, monks and students marched from Tha Ton subdistrict in Chiang Mai to the city of Chiang Rai in northern Thailand, reaching their destination on June 5, World Environment Day. For more than a year, Thailand’s Pollution Control Department has reported dangerous levels of arsenic, mercury, cadmium and other heavy metals in rivers across northern Thailand, with mining operations across eastern Myanmar suspected to be responsible for the pollution. “We are walking because our rivers are slowly dying,” Pianporn Deetes, executive director of the Rivers and Rights Foundation, which helped to organize the peace walk, told Mongabay by phone. “Toxic contamination from unregulated mining upstream is already affecting water, fish, food, livelihoods, and public health. We do not want to wait until more people become sick. This is an emergency.” Pianporn said the walk (42 miles) was about taking collective action to share information, document impacts and build public pressure in a bid to force the government to address the issue, which Pianporn said has, so far, been lacking. “Monitoring has improved, but action has not matched the scale of the crisis,” she said. “We need urgent diplomatic engagement with neighboring countries, stronger health monitoring, transparency, and action to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/northern-thai-residents-march-for-action-on-polluted-rivers-this-is-an-emergency/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320710</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Despite oil spills in Nigeria&#8217;s mangrove forests, Shell continued operations, documents show</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/despite-oil-spills-in-nigerias-mangrove-forests-shell-continued-operations-documents-show/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/despite-oil-spills-in-nigerias-mangrove-forests-shell-continued-operations-documents-show/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jun 2026 14:28:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David AkanaVictoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/05232017/AP788278067772-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320681</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Nigeria, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coastal Ecosystems, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Ecosystems, Environment, Environmental Law, Fish, Forest Loss, Forests, Industry, Law, Mangroves, Marine, Oil, Oil Spills, Pollution, Water, Water Pollution, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Global oil giant Shell continued operating a compromised pipeline in Nigeria’s Niger Delta despite knowing it posed a pollution risk in the surrounding coastal wetland environment, newly disclosed internal company communications reveal. The emails and memos, reviewed by Mongabay, show senior leadership knew of the poor conditions of the 97-kilometer (60-mile) Nembe Creek Trunk Line [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Global oil giant Shell continued operating a compromised pipeline in Nigeria’s Niger Delta despite knowing it posed a pollution risk in the surrounding coastal wetland environment, newly disclosed internal company communications reveal. The emails and memos, reviewed by Mongabay, show senior leadership knew of the poor conditions of the 97-kilometer (60-mile) Nembe Creek Trunk Line as early as 2008. Despite concerns it was operating outside technical integrity standards and proposals to shut it down, a top executive decided to keep pumping oil through the line. Carrying 150,000 barrels of oil per day to the export terminal at Bonny Island Rivers state, the Nembe Creek Trunk Line is a critical oil artery in Nigeria. Throughout the years, theft from the pipeline using illegal connections caused spills into the vast mangrove ecosystem of true (Rhizophora sp.) and flowering black (Avicennia sp.) tree species. An internal 2013 Shell document coded such tampered lines as “red,” requiring either their immediate shutdown or immediate action to remove all illegal connections. Locals from the nearby riverine Bille community said the oil spills killed about 2,000 hectares (4,900 acres) of mangrove swamps around the village while impacting an area of 13,200 hectares (32,600 acres). The contaminated waterways and degraded ecosystem, they told Mongabay, killed fish and other aquatic life. Satellite imagery surrounding the village shows massive degradation of the mangroves. &#8220;The aquatic life is gone. Our people can no longer go to the river and catch reasonable fish — they can&#8217;t even find the fish in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/despite-oil-spills-in-nigerias-mangrove-forests-shell-continued-operations-documents-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-320681</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bangladesh struggles to enforce ‘polluter pays’ principle amid legal delays</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bangladesh-struggles-to-enforce-polluter-pays-principle-amid-legal-delays/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bangladesh-struggles-to-enforce-polluter-pays-principle-amid-legal-delays/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jun 2026 15:07:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sadiqur Rahman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/04144147/tanneries-pollution-in-bangladesh-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320594</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aerosol Pollution, Air Pollution, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Industry, Law, Law Enforcement, Nutrient Pollution, Pollution, Social Justice, Waste, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The existence of the “polluter pays” principle (PPP) in Bangladesh, at least on paper, dates back to 1992, ever since the country endorsed the Rio Declaration. However, Bangladesh has made little progress in implementing the principle so far. A statement by the incumbent minister for environment, forest and climate change, Abdul Awal Mintoo, saying that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The existence of the “polluter pays” principle (PPP) in Bangladesh, at least on paper, dates back to 1992, ever since the country endorsed the Rio Declaration. However, Bangladesh has made little progress in implementing the principle so far. A statement by the incumbent minister for environment, forest and climate change, Abdul Awal Mintoo, saying that regulatory authorities recovered less than half of the total compensation imposed on polluters over the past 16 years, exposed the structural loopholes in environmental governance behind failures in implementing the principle. The minister pointed out that polluters can delay the compensation recovery by applying their right to appeal against the regulatory authorities’ orders. that Mongabay spoke to said that loopholes in the judicial system, weak evidence and economic analysis on pollution, and polluters’ influence must be addressed if the country really wants to implement the PPP. Environmentalist and Dhaka University’s zoology professor Mohammad Firoj Jaman told Mongabay, “Delays in implementation of laws against polluters aggravate environmental pollution, and the hope of reaping the benefits of environmental justice falls flat.” Shanties stand along the bank of Buriganga River in Hazaribagh, Dhaka district, Bangladesh. The area is known for tanneries, the waste from which fill the surrounding land and water. Image by Abir Abdullah/Asian Development Bank via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). Compensation recovery undermines the PPP The PPP binds polluters to bear the costs of managing and remedying the harm they have done to the environment. The concept of PPP was first mentioned in the recommendations of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bangladesh-struggles-to-enforce-polluter-pays-principle-amid-legal-delays/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320594</doi>				</item>
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