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Brazil has protected much of the Amazon. It now has to pay for it.

Rhett Ayers Butler 26 May 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

Ocean philanthropy: small sums for a vast domain

Rhett Ayers Butler 11 May 2026
Sumatran elephants play in water.

Indonesia should avoid controversial programs to fund conservation (commentary)

Mohammad Yunus 8 May 2026
A forest in Costa Rica. The country is considered a pioneer in a forest protection mechanism that has helped drastically reverse deforestation. Image by Rhett Butler.

Can listening to a forest reveal whether it is ecologically healthy?

Rhett Ayers Butler 4 May 2026
A forest in Costa Rica. The country is considered a pioneer in a forest protection mechanism that has helped drastically reverse deforestation. Image by Rhett Butler.

Listening to forests reveals signs of recovery beyond tree cover

Abhishyant Kidangoor 16 Apr 2026
Emergent rainforest tree in the Amazon. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler for Mongabay.

Indigenous & community leaders say, ‘secure forest financing with us, not for us’ (commentary)

Inés Morales Lastra, José Ivanildo, Levi Sucre 7 Apr 2026
A gemsbok (Oryx gazella), also known as the South African oryx, in a mixed herd of herbivores at Tswalu. Image by John Cannon/Mongabay.

A South African reserve shows how carbon can catalyze rewilding conservation

John Cannon 27 Mar 2026
The WeMUNIZE program in Nigeria, significantly disrupted by aid cuts, used digital record keeping and community engagement to increase early childhood immunizations. Image by KC Nwakalor for USAID/Digital Development Communications via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

‘We will not know what we lost’: Conservation fallout a year after USAID shutdown

Mike DiGirolamo 24 Mar 2026
In the cloud forests of Brava, Cabo Verde, community youth bend over thorny shrubs, pulling out these invasive plants that choke the native orchids and grasslands. Not far away, herders guide their cattle through cleared pastures, benefiting directly from the restoration work. These community members are inspired by an initiative that commenced thousands of kilometers away in India, where villagers and conservationists are wrestling with Lantana camara, an ornamental plant from Central America that has spread like wildfire, threatening forests, wildlife, and livelihoods alike. Yet in both places, these struggles are not just about removing a plant—they are about securing a future where people and ecosystems can coexist. Image courtesy of the author.

Local communities are conservation’s most undervalued asset (commentary)

José Monteiro, Moreangels Mbizah, Damian Bell, Monicah Mbiba 3 Mar 2026

Agroforestry offers market-based way to boost Amazon rains & farmer incomes (analysis)

Timothy J. Killeen 25 Feb 2026
A captive black and rufous elephant shrew (Rhynchocyon petersi), a resident of various kayas. Image by Joey Makalintal via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).

Biodiversity bonds can work, but their design flaws must be fixed (commentary)

Anna Comacchio 10 Feb 2026
Forester kangaroos at The Quoin. Photo credit Doug Gimesy

Financing biodiversity: Lisa Miller on investing in nature

Rhett Ayers Butler 9 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
Puzzle of a natural history museum diorama. Image by Erik Hoffner for Mongabay.

Conservation programs must embrace causal evidence when evaluating impact (commentary)

Tanya O’Garra 3 Feb 2026
Pirarucu fish on a boat on the Jurua River. Image courtesy of Joao Campos-Silva.

In the Brazilian Amazon, community conservation success comes with a cost: Study

Logan Rance 29 Jan 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
Drone photo of a river meandering through the Alto Mayo landscape. The diversity of rivers and wetlands in the region contribute to the extraordinary variety of plants and animals found there, and are critical for sustaining local Indigenous communities. Image by Trond Larsen courtesy of Conservation International.

When abandoned conservation projects are counted as progress, what are we protecting? (commentary)

Ajay Sawant 18 Dec 2025

Mexico is inflating its climate spending by billions of dollars. Here’s how.

Maxwell Radwin 11 Dec 2025
A soy plantation borders native Cerrado vegetation, highlighting pressures on Brazil’s ecosystems and the need for community-led bioeconomy alternatives.

New financial tools boost traditional bioeconomy projects in the Amazon

Sarah Brown 8 Dec 2025
Early-career conservationists take part in the 2025 EDGE Conservation Tools Course, part of a global fellowship program that supports emerging leaders to drive locally led conservation. Image by Paul Barnes /EDGE of Existence, Zoological Society of London.

Small grants can empower the next generation of conservationists

Rhett Ayers Butler 1 Dec 2025
Indigenous participants at the Free Land Camp on April 10, where they discuss rights, territorial protection, and their role in COP30. Image by AP Photo/Eraldo Peres.

What was achieved for Indigenous peoples at COP30?

Sonam Lama Hyolmo 27 Nov 2025

Big finance still funds deforestation, 10 years after Paris pact

Aimee Gabay 25 Nov 2025
Logging concession near Ndolou, Gabon

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

David Akana 25 Nov 2025
A farmer cuts cacao pods from the tree in Colombia.

Conservation can emphasize human well-being to navigate its current funding crisis (commentary)

24 Nov 2025
Delegates listen to Brazilian President Lula deliver the opening speech of the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit in Belém, Thursday, Nov. 6. Image by AP Photo/Eraldo Peres.

It’s time to end the carbon offset era, COP30 scientists & communities say (commentary)

Tom Picken 21 Nov 2025

With COP30, Indigenous Brazilians strive for new resources to protect nature

Sara Baptista 20 Nov 2025
Early-career conservationists take part in the 2025 EDGE Conservation Tools Course, part of a global fellowship program that supports emerging leaders to drive locally led conservation. Image by Paul Barnes /EDGE of Existence, Zoological Society of London.

Small grants are key to a successful next generation of conservationists (commentary)

Paul Barnes 14 Nov 2025
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre with Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil. Image courtesy of Ricardo Stuckert.

Donors renew $1.8 billion pledge for Indigenous land rights

Shanna Hanbury 12 Nov 2025
The Javari river forms the border between Brazil and Peru. Photo by Rhett A. Butler for Mongabay.

How a ‘green gold rush’ in the Amazon led to dubious carbon deals on Indigenous lands

Gloria Pallares 11 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
TFFF roundtable in Belém, Brazil on Nov. 6. Image courtesy of Fernando Donasci/MMA.

COP30 tropical forest fund may drive debt and deforestation, groups warn

Shanna Hanbury 7 Nov 2025

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