In 1986, Patricia Wright, then a budding primatologist, spent weeks combing the rainforests of eastern Madagascar in search of the greater bamboo lemur (Prolemur simus), a five-pound bamboo-eating primate that…
AZUAY PROVINCE, Ecuador — What happened on October 8 and 9 in Ecuador’s Río Blanco area was not entirely unexpected. On August 12, a group of inhabitants decided to take…
When a female Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), and then her daughter, died in India’s Burachapori Wildlife Sanctuary last year, conservationists were worried. The rhinos’ horns were intact, so they had…
Last Thursday, at the UN climate talks in Bonn, Germany (known as COP23), the World Resources Institute (WRI) announced that $2.1 billion in private investment funds have been committed to…
When Samuel “El Sammy” Gallardo Castro was shot and killed on a Mexican beach in 2014, it could have been just another gangland killing of a drug dealer from the…
Piles of wood lie in an open area behind the main office of the Arabari Reserve Forest in West Bengal, India. Long logs and cut planks of sal trees (Shorea…
A "lost" species of salamander, feared extinct for more than 40 years, has been found again. The Jackson’s climbing salamander (Bolitoglossa jacksoni), also called the golden wonder because of its…
For the first time, a team of scientists has captured and then released a vaquita (Phocoena sinus), a rare porpoise in the Gulf of California, as part of a project…
A team of marine mammal experts is searching for the last vaquitas (Phocoena sinus) in the Gulf of California. They’ve gathered in northern Mexico, at the invitation of the government…
A brief legal battle related to the Barro Blanco hydroelectric project in western Panama concluded late last month in a rare triumph for the impacted indigenous communities who have opposed…
(This article is a collaboration between Mongabay-Latam and Onda Local, read the first article here) Indio Maíz Biological Reserve, Nicaragua - "When I see my Chontaleños and Boaqueños (people from…
Sitting in a cloud forest on top of the Cordillera de Tilarán, the mountaintop town of Monteverde, Costa Rica seems isolated. But, its view stretches far beyond its boundaries. In…
(This article is a collaboration between Mongabay-Latam and Onda Local in Nicaragua) Indio Maíz Biological Reserve, Nicaragua - The howl of a spider monkey that swayed from branch to branch…
A multi-national research team combined four diverse data sets to understand where migratory birds are most vulnerable to human activity and to identify priorities for protecting long-distance migrants in the…
Earlier this month, Global Witness published its latest annual report on the deaths of environmental defenders. As Mongabay reported, Latin America was again identified as one of the most dangerous…
SAN PEDRO, Belize - Walking the shore of San Pedro provides a solid picture of the tension between natural resources and the economy in this, the top tourist town in…
Indigenous territories and nature reserves in Nicaragua have undergone precipitous declines in forest cover since 2001. The remote Indio Maíz Biological Reserve (IMBR) has, fortunately, escaped most of the onslaught…
DARIÉN PROVINCE, Panama - David Ramos’ ranch is in the community of Salodio, in Darién Province, in the eastern part of Panama. From there, one can observe Darién National Park,…
"We have the forest, which is the greatest. We give oxygen to all the country; not only to Guatemala but to the whole world," she says with pride. At the…
USULUTAN PROVINCE, El Salvador – “Without the mangroves, we couldn’t live here,” says José Antonio Hernández. “We wouldn’t have any water.” He is standing on a rare dry patch of…
(This is a collaborative article by Mongabay Latam and Plaza Pública, a Guatemalan investigative news outlet) The spokesperson for the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Julia Barrera, told Plaza Pública and Mongabay…
(Immediately after this collaborative report by Mongabay Latam and Guatemalan investigative news outlet Plaza Pública was published, government troops were deployed to destroy the runway) On the 26th of April, two…
The calls of howler monkeys, once wiped out in a Central American forest known as the Cockscomb Basin, now ring out in the canopy, and the scientists responsible couldn’t be…
When talking about endangered species, we tend to think of African elephants that are killed in huge numbers every year for their tusks; the majestic tiger that is poached for its skin,…
Wildlife crime plagues nearly half of the world's natural UNESCO World Heritage sites, according to a new WWF report. Illegal harvesting -- poaching, illegal logging and illegal fishing -- of…
LOTE 9, Guatemala — Rodrigo Tot chatted in Q’eqchi’ with community members as they gathered at a simple wooden building that doubles as a church and a community meeting hall…
The Guatemalan government declared a 30-day, nationwide state of emergency Tuesday to facilitate efforts to combat and control forest fires. The Maya Biosphere Reserve covering the northernmost fifth of the…
The Guatemalan government issued a red alert for the Peten department Tuesday due to forest fires in national parks inside the Maya Biosphere Reserve. The biosphere reserve covers the northernmost…
Indigenous community residents seeking justice for attacks in Guatemala faced a major setback Thursday. A judge in the Caribbean coastal city of Puerto Barrios acquitted the former head of security…
Legislators in El Salvador made history Wednesday, passing a bill to ban all metallic mining activities in the country. The results of the much-anticipated vote were unanimous: 69 in favor,…