What would it cost to protect the Congo Rainforest?
How much does it cost to protect the Congo Rainforest? Where does the money come from? Who pays and how is that money used? What models of forest protection work?…
Agroecology alliance calls for more food at less cost to nature in Congo Basin
A pan-African coalition of farmers, fishers and others meeting this week in the Democratic Republic of Congo will make the case for reorienting food production systems and agricultural policy across…
Congo Basin’s elephants boost carbon capture, but need salt-licks to survive
The approach to the “village of elephants” in the Sangha Rainforest in the Central African Republic must be made in complete silence. Not even the faintest rustle of backpack on…
Forest campaign group renews charge that carbon credit verification schemes are flawed
The Rainforest Foundation UK claims that all the leading carbon credit verification schemes have allowed millions of credits to enter the voluntary carbon market which do not accurately represent reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
A just energy transition requires better governance & equity in the DRC
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) produces around 70% of the global supply of cobalt and it is also Africa’s leading producer of copper. Despite the billions of dollars in…
Big potential and immense challenges for great ape conservation in the Congo Basin, experts say
On this episode of the Mongabay Explores podcast, Terese Hart, a researcher with the ICCN (the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature); Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, a wildlife veterinarian and founder…
New data show 10% increase in primary tropical forest loss in 2022
JAKARTA — The tropics lost 10% more primary rainforest in 2022 than in 2021, as forest loss in deforestation hotspots like Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continued…
Militarized conservation: Insecurity for some, security for others? (commentary)
The past decade has seen a wave of academic and activist writings criticizing the use of militarized conservation to protect nature. In this commentary piece, we argue that the use…
Tap African knowledge and culture for Congo Basin forest conservation (commentary)
When growing up in the Congo Basin forest, I witnessed the consequences of forest destruction by logging and industrial agricultural plantations. In some areas, Indigenous communities used to live alongside…
Congo Basin communities left out by ‘fortress conservation’ fight for a way back in
The concept of a “pristine wilderness” is a flawed one, researchers argue, but this pervasive idea — one where human absence is required in order to preserve land — occupies…
Mongabay Explores the Congo Basin: The ‘heart of the world’ is at a turning point
The Congo Basin contains the world’s second-largest rainforest at a staggering 178 million hectares (just under 440 million acres). It is also one of the biggest carbon sinks on the…
CAPS, new gas megaproject, aims to power Central Africa, but at what cost, critics ask
More than 60% of people in Central Africa have no access to electricity. An ambitious proposal aims to change that with a network of pipelines, refineries and gas-fired power plants…
Tropical forest regeneration offsets 26% of carbon emissions from deforestation
A pioneering global study published March 15 in the journal Nature showed that humid tropical forests recovering from degradation and deforestation have the potential to absorb a vast amount of…
Forests & finance: A lawsuit, an import ban, and restoring Zambian forests
Campaigners sue Ghana’s government to block mining of Atewa Forest biodiversity hotspot Twenty NGOs and individuals are taking legal action to prevent the Ghanaian government from mining bauxite in the…
COP27 long on pledges, short on funds for forests — Congo Basin at risk
SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt — The first big news of the COP27 climate conference was a forest promise: UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a 26-nation partnership to conserve woodland…
After 14 years of advocacy, the DRC president finally signs new Indigenous peoples law (commentary)
After five months of waiting, the Indigenous pygmy peoples of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have secured a major victory. Earlier today, the president of the DRC, Felix…
Podcast: Escape into nature’s soundscapes
Healthy ecosystems are often noisy places: from reefs to grasslands and forests, these are sonically rich thanks to all the species defending territories, finding mates, locating prey, or perhaps enjoying…
Can a luxury chocolate company help a Congolese forest?
African cocoa plantations have seen massive growth in recent years on its path to help feed the world’s veracious appetite for a popular delicacy – chocolate. The Ivory Coast, the…
Study highlights ‘friends with benefits’ relation between gorillas and chimps
Gorillas and chimpanzees living in a remote part of the Congo Basin hang out together and some, like humans, even establish “relationships with benefits,” a new study reveals. Observations of…
Locals in the dark about oil auctions in DRC: report
One of the first on-the-ground investigations into the Democratic Republic of Congo’s proposed oil exploration blocks suggests that in some of the regions marked for auction, many residents are wary…
Catfished: New species described from DRC after mistaken identity
In 2006 and 2010, Congolese researcher Raoul Monsembula collected catfish and other species from the rivers in Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Then he hopped…
In Congo, a carbon sink like no other risks being carved up for oil
The world’s largest bank of the partially decomposed plant matter known as peat in the tropics is even more extensive than initially thought, according to a new study. The peatlands…
‘That’s a scam’: Indian firm’s REDD+ carbon deal in the DRC raises concern
Iluka Alain was a bit surprised when the two men turned up on a motorcycle in December 2021 in Bofekalasumba, the village where he’s chief in the northwestern Democratic Republic…
To conserve the vibrant diversity of Central Africa’s forests, include Indigenous people (commentary)
Our footsteps intermingled with the sounds of rain dripping through the canopy as my eyes examined the surrounding green vegetation, which was usually so vibrant, but was now subdued as…
2021 tropical forest loss figures put zero-deforestation goal by 2030 out of reach
JAKARTA — Tropical forest loss remained consistently high in 2021 with no sign of slowing down, despite commitments by companies and governments to curb deforestation, according to new data from…
Bonobos torn from the wild make their return, with a helping hand
This March, the NGO Friends of Bonobos released 14 bonobos into the wild — only the second time ever a bonobo group has been reintroduced to their natural habitat. Their…
In Nigeria, a decade of payoffs boosted global wildlife trafficking hub
LAGOS — Nigeria has for years failed to hold wildlife traffickers and poachers accountable for their crimes, despite federal and state laws that criminalize the killing and trading of protected…
A conservation paradigm based on Indigenous values in DR Congo (commentary)
The Batwa Indigenous peoples lived in the Kahuzi-Biega forests of present-day Democratic Republic of Congo for centuries before Belgian colonial rule imposed formal change in 1937 with the establishment of…
The year in rainforests 2021
2021 was a year where tropical forests featured more prominently in global headlines than normal thanks to rising recognition of the role they play in addressing climate change and biodiversity…
The Congo Basin’s 10 most consequential stories from 2021
For the Congo Basin, 2021 proved to be an up-and-down year. Funding commitments totaling in the billions of dollars were announced that would help forested countries preserve some of the…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- New concession in Botum Sakor National Park handed to Cambodia’s Royal Group
- Elephants invade as habitat loss soars in Nigerian forest reserve
- In Brazil’s Amazon, a ‘new agricultural frontier’ threatens protected lands
- Cambodia awards swath of national park forest to tycoon Ly Yong Phat’s son
Oceans
- ‘Totally unsustainable’ sand mining harms marine environments, new data suggest
- A Philippines NGO project aimed to protect villages from typhoons: What went wrong?
- Sensing tech used in oil pipelines can also track Arctic sea ice, study shows
- Study finds old pear trees make for surprisingly rich reef habitats
Amazon Conservation
- EU bill and new green policies spur progress on Brazil’s cattle tracking
- Meatpacking giant and Amazon deforester JBS bid for NYSE listing challenged
- In Roraima, Indigenous communities forge sustainable solutions amid threats
- ‘We don’t have much time’: Q&A with climate scientist Pierre Friedlingstein
Land rights and extractives
- Son of slain Quilombola leader will still strive for community’s rights
- South Africa community members decry traditional leaders’ power amid mine plans
- Can upcoming referendum in Ecuador stop oil drilling in Yasuní National Park?
- Elders call for Indigenous cultural preservation in new Indonesia capital
Endangered Environmentalists
- Son of slain Quilombola leader will still strive for community’s rights
- Video: Five Tembé Indigenous activists shot in Amazonian ‘palm oil war’
- Indigenous activists demand justice after 5 shot in Amazonian ‘palm oil war’
- Climate of fear persists among Nepal’s eco defenders as threats rise
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
- After 20 years and thousands of trees planted, Kalimantan’s veteran forester persists
- Aziil Anwar, Indonesian coral-based mangrove grower, dies at 64
- A utopia of clean air and wet peat amid Sumatra’s forest fire ‘hell’
Conservation Effectiveness
- Group certification helps Malaysia’s Sabah aim for palm oil sustainability
- A Philippines NGO project aimed to protect villages from typhoons: What went wrong?
- From debt to diversity: A journey of rewilding, carbon capture and hope
- Progress is slow on Africa’s Great Green Wall, but some bright spots bloom
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
- Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules
- To build its ‘green’ capital city, Indonesia runs a road through a biodiverse forest
- Robust river governance key to restoring Mekong River vitality in face of dams
