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Borneo killing linked to coal industry stays unsolved as Indonesia VP visits Dayak village

Muhibar Sobary Ardan 12 Aug 2025
A flock of Himalayan griffon vultures photographed on the runway of the Pokhara International Airport. Image courtesy of Hemanta Dhakal.

The man fighting to keep vultures and planes safe from each other in Nepal’s Pokhara

Mongabay.com 11 Aug 2025
Banner image: A lion guarding its territory in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Image by Giles Laurent via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

World lion day: Why is the king of the savanna declining?

Kristine Sabillo 8 Aug 2025
Peatlands destruction in Riau.

Who is clearing Indonesia’s forests — and why?

Hans Nicholas Jong 8 Aug 2025
The sun rises on the Salween River, which serves as a vital lifeline for Karen communities on both sides of the Thai-Myanmar border. Image by Gerald Flynn / Mongabay.

Asia’s longest free-flowing river faces threats of dams and diversions

Mongabay.com 6 Aug 2025
Park guide Luana Wanessa Assunção points at the remarkable Painel do Pilão, which could be the first-ever solar calendar of the Americas. Image by Peter Speetjens.

Soy crops squeeze Amazon park with 11,000-year-old rock paintings in Brazil

Peter Speetjens 4 Aug 2025

Uncovering forest loss in gorilla park six months after M23 offensive in the DRC

Elodie Toto, Latoya Abulu 31 Jul 2025

A sales-pitch pivot brings deep-sea mining closer to reality

Elizabeth Claire Alberts 31 Jul 2025

As Indonesia reclaims forests from palm oil, smallholders bear brunt of enforcement

Hans Nicholas Jong 30 Jul 2025

Civil society challenges Indonesian deregulation law over rights and environment

Hans Nicholas Jong 28 Jul 2025
Indigenous Lumad women hold slogans during a rally outside a military headquarters in the Philippines in 2018

Across Southeast Asia, Indigenous women challenge extraction and erasure

Hướng Thiện 25 Jul 2025
The endangered dhole is also known as the Asiatic wild dog.

Nepal launches action plan to boost endangered dhole conservation

Mongabay.com 23 Jul 2025

Nickel boom on an Indonesian island brings toxic seas, lost incomes, report says

Hans Nicholas Jong 23 Jul 2025

Hope and frustration as Indonesia pilots FSC’s logging remedy framework

Hans Nicholas Jong 22 Jul 2025

Strengthening global forest certification and delivering remedy: Interview with FSC’s Subhra Bhattacharjee

Hans Nicholas Jong 21 Jul 2025
Heavy rainfall in Colombia and Venezuela caused deadly landslides and widespread flooding in June. A new analysis now points to rapid urbanization, deforestation, mining and overgrazing as having reduced the region’s climate resilience. 
 “The rapid growth of population and informal settlements in areas prone to landslides, particularly in Colombia, puts people and infrastructure at risk,” the World Weather Attribution (WWA), a network of scientists evaluating extreme weather events, said in its latest rapid analysis. It said the informal communities are growing as people seek livelihoods in cities or are displaced due to conflict. Roop Singh, report co-author from the Netherlands-based Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, said at a media briefing that pasture- and agriculture-driven deforestation rose over the past two decades, increasing “the risk of landslides because tree roots are no longer binding and anchoring the soils.”
 The heavy rains during the last week of June triggered widespread flooding and damage in Colombia; a landslide in Antioquia department killed 27 people. In Venezuela, rivers overflowed, and smaller landslides cut off rural communities. WWA said in its report that rains in these regions had persisted since April, and that the June rain fell on already saturated ground where the deadly landslide occurred, and in rivers with already high levels of water. The scientists examined the total rainfall from April-June this year over the Magdalena River catchment in Colombia and the Falcón and Maracaibo basins in Venezuela. They also studied data on the accumulated rainfall from June 20-24 in the affected states in the Venezuelan Llanos, a grassland plain. “Neither events were particularly extreme,” Mariam Zachariah, co-author and research associate at Imperial College London, said at the briefing. The WWA analysis showed the heavy rain that fell in June is common, expected every 10 years in Colombia and every three years in Venezuela. The scientists also used climate models to understand the influence of human-induced climate change on the rains, but the findings were inconclusive. Instead, the models projected a drying trend for Colombia and mixed results for Venezuela. Friederike Otto, co-author and climate science professor at Imperial College London, said not being able to show clear linkages to climate change doesn’t mean there’s no influence. The researchers attributed some of the uncertainty to a lack of long-term observational weather data and weather stations in the region. “Unfortunately, extreme weather is not well understood in northern South America,” Paola A. Arias, a professor at the University of Antioquia, said in a statement. “We urgently need more investment in climate science to understand shifting risks and prepare for what’s ahead. More science will save lives." Zachariah said Colombia and Venezuela must prepare for both rainfall and drought, and build resilience to extreme weather. Banner image: People look at their destroyed home after a deadly landslide was triggered by heavy rain in Colombia’s Antioquia department on June 25, 2025. Image by AP Photo/Fredy Amariles.

Deadly landslide and flooding in Colombia and Venezuela linked to rapid urbanization

Kristine Sabillo 18 Jul 2025

Indonesia moves to revise sea sand export policy after court ruling

Basten Gokkon, M Ambari 18 Jul 2025
Greenpeace Brazil took part in the Climate March in São Paulo, protesting against Bill 2159/2021 — widely known as the "devastation bill." The demonstration brought thousands of people to the streets, marching from Avenida Paulista to Favela do Moinho, in response to the bill’s threat of weakening Brazil’s environmental licensing laws. Image © Tuane Fernandes / Greenpeace.

Brazil’s Congress passes ‘devastation bill’ in major environmental setback

Fernanda Wenzel 17 Jul 2025
JBS founder José Batista Sobrinho (center) flanked by his sons, Joesley (taking a selfie) and Wesley (clapping), waves from the podium after ringing the New York Stock Exchange opening bell, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Image by AP Photo/Richard Drew.

Now on Wall Street, JBS eyes growth amid scrutiny on deforestation & graft

Carla Ruas 17 Jul 2025
Area of burned forest in ​​the city of Apuí, Amazonas state. Image by Bruno Kelly/Amazônia Real via Wikimedia Commons. (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Amazon deforestation spikes as Brazil blames criminal fires

Lucas Berti 16 Jul 2025
A lion in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia.

From protection to control : Van Beemen and Kaplin discuss conservation in Africa

Elodie Toto 16 Jul 2025
Butterflies in the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve in Ecuador’s Amazon.

Landmark Indigenous land title in Ecuador protected area still in limbo

Latoya Abulu | John Cannon 16 Jul 2025
Boat in the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve in Ecuador's Amazon. Image by Ranil Wijeyratne via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

Landmark Indigenous land title in Ecuadorian Amazon reserve mired in controversy

Latoya Abulu | John Cannon 15 Jul 2025
Community members review a map of Pë’këya.

Indigenous groups debate use of land agreements in Ecuador’s protected areas

Latoya Abulu | John Cannon 15 Jul 2025
“Pëkëya” is the name of the ancestral heartland of the Siekopai people in their native language, Paicoca and is located along the Lagartococha River.

Ecuador’s government promised same land in the Amazon to two Indigenous peoples

Latoya Abulu | John Cannon 14 Jul 2025

Attack on Indigenous land defenders in Peru reveals snags in protection system

Yvette Sierra Praeli 14 Jul 2025
The BR-319 highway

Amazon’s ‘tipping point road’ gets new push with ease on licensing rules

Rafael Spuldar 14 Jul 2025

Brazil’s Arariboia set to be the first Indigenous land with legal cattle

Karla Mendes 14 Jul 2025

Rising heat and falling yields plague an Amazon island near COP30 host

Anna Peres/O Liberal 14 Jul 2025
Small islands in Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia. Photo credit: Rhett Ayers Butler. 

Listings of Indonesian islands renew fears of privatization for coastal communities

Basten Gokkon 8 Jul 2025
A community member catching fish in the Fluvial Star of Inírida, where the Guaviare, Atabapo and Inírida rivers meet. Image courtesy of Camilo Díaz for WWF Colombia.

The guardians of the Amazon who work without pay — or fear

Rhett Ayers Butler 7 Jul 2025
A young oil palm plantation in Sierra Leone next to community land. Image courtesy of Maja Hitij.

Two-year investigation confirms majority of community grievances in Socfin plantations

Victoria Schneider 7 Jul 2025

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