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Gangala Yafali Mangusa Jr. poses for a photo after a community meeting on social cohesion within the Local Community Forest Concession (CFCL). Image by Jéremie Kyaswekera Kakule.

Descendants of people pushed out for DRC national park lead forest conservation efforts

Jérémie Kyaswekera 2 Jun 2026
Aerial view of a peatland forest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Image by Daniel Beltrá/Greenpeace.

World Peatland Day honors a crucial ecosystem in the fight against climate change

Bobby Bascomb 2 Jun 2026
Lee White managed Gabon’s national parks for 10 years before becoming environment minister. Photo taken from his Facebook page.

Carbon cowboys and unpaid pledges: Ex-Gabon environment minister Lee White on conservation in Africa

Elodie Toto 25 May 2026
Kasereka Valyathire Baraka, left, and Munguakonkwa Mihigo Jacques were the latest Virunga rangers killed in the line of duty. Images courtesy of Virunga National Park.

Gunmen kill two rangers in latest deadly attack in DRC’s Virunga National Park

David Akana 22 May 2026
The Congo River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler.

A “good year” for forests changes less than it seems

Rhett Ayers Butler 29 Apr 2026
Luis Arranza at Dzanga Bai. Photo by Nuria Ortega

What it takes to make conservation work in Central Africa: Luis Arranz’s 46-year journey

Rhett Ayers Butler, David Akana 27 Apr 2026
Ivonne Kienast at Dzanga Bai

Studying the world’s largest gathering of forest elephants with sound and field observation

Rhett Ayers Butler, David Akana 19 Apr 2026
Emmanuel de Merode at an airstrip near Salonga National Park in DRC in March 2026. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler

Can nature outcompete war in Eastern Congo?

Rhett Ayers Butler, David Akana 13 Apr 2026
Silverback gorilla in Dzanga-Sangha, Central African Republic. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler

Why conservation needs stories of progress

Rhett Ayers Butler 7 Apr 2026

A human rights center opens a path to justice for Indigenous Peoples in the Central African Republic

David Akana 7 Apr 2026
A forest elephant near Ngounié, Gabon. Image by marcusgmeiner via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0)

A Congo Basin-led bioeconomy could boost Central Africa’s green transition (analysis)

Metolo Foyet 6 Apr 2026
“For mothers and young elephants, Dzanga Bai becomes something of a playground and a very safe place,” says Yvonne Kienast, project manager and head researcher of the Dzanga Forest Elephant Project. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.

A unique clearing in Central Africa draws elephants from the dense forests

David Akana 6 Apr 2026
A dinghy used to sample the lake. Image courtesy of Travis W. Drake.

‘Ancient’ carbon venting from lakes in the Congo Basin peatlands: Study

John Cannon 31 Mar 2026

Conservation depends on rangers. Their wellbeing is often an afterthought

Rhett Ayers Butler 31 Mar 2026
Massaha forest. Image by ZB.

How a community defended its ancestral forest from logging

Rhett Ayers Butler 16 Mar 2026
Two Twa women and children are resting under the shade of a cocoa tree next to the Ngite/Mavivi Twa camp in Beni, DRC. Image of Jackson Sivulyamwenge for Mongabay.

Growing number of Indigenous Twa forced out of DRC’s forests and into towns

Jérémie Kyaswekera, Jackson Muhindo Sivulyamwenge 11 Mar 2026
Christine Lain surveys Upemba National Park.

Partnering up to run a DRC reserve: Interview with Forgotten Parks’ Christine Lain

Ashoka Mukpo 6 Feb 2026
A forest elephant near Ngounié, Gabon. Image by marcusgmeiner via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0)

What’s next for the major pledge to halt & reverse Congo Basin deforestation?

Latoya Abulu 5 Feb 2026
Rainforest in Brunei in 2025. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler

The year in rainforests 2025: Deforestation fell; the risks did not

Rhett Ayers Butler 26 Dec 2025
Journey by pirogue for members of the Baliga

Congo’s communities are creating a 1-million-hectare biodiversity corridor

Elodie Toto 18 Dec 2025

West and Central Africa tackle coastal erosion

Adrienne Engono, Carolle Ahodekon, Charles Kolou, Christophe Assogba, Roland Klohi, Rosie Pioth 16 Dec 2025
Forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) inhabit the dense rainforests of Central Africa.

Top-down projects, exotic trees, weak tenure: Congo Basin restoration misses the mark

Amindeh Blaise Atabong 12 Dec 2025
A L’Hoest’s monkey (Allochrocebus Ihoesti) at Rwanda’s Nyungwe National Park. Image by Ashoka Mukpo for Mongabay.

An Empire of Nature: African Parks and Rwanda’s Nyungwe Forest

Ashoka Mukpo 4 Dec 2025
Logging concession near Ndolou, Gabon

Norway’s multibillion-dollar bet on forests: An interview with Minister Eriksen

David Akana 25 Nov 2025
A mandrill is seen in a forest in Gabon.

Congo Basin nations roll out community payments for forest care

Anne Nzouankeu 20 Nov 2025
Indigenous guide at Sani Isla in the Amazon. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler

To fix the climate, simply empower Indigenous people (commentary)

Kiki Taufik 10 Nov 2025

Congo Basin communities bear the costs of industrial expansion

David Akana 5 Nov 2025
Banyan tree in Vietnam. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler.

What might lie ahead for tropical forests (analysis)

Rhett Ayers Butler 2 Nov 2025
Critically endangered African forest elephants act as seed dispersers in the rainforest, taking the seeds far, far away from the mother plants.

As forest elephants plummet, ebony trees decline in Central Africa’s rainforests

Spoorthy Raman 29 Aug 2025
Augustin K. Basabose. Image by Allison Shelley for Wild Earth Allies

In eastern Congo’s war-torn forests, Augustin Basabose gave hope to gorillas and people

Rhett Ayers Butler 25 Aug 2025

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

Elodie Toto, Latoya Abulu 31 Jul 2025
Left: Ranger Claude, photographed by Brent Stirton. Right: Ranger Daniel, photographed by Virunga National Park.

Two rangers killed in a plane crash in DRC’s Virunga National Park

Rhett Ayers Butler 26 Jul 2025

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