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Soda schweinfurthii, a desert subshrub, native to arid regions from Egypt to the Arabian Peninsula.

Can we create new inland seas to lower sea level rise? Interview with researcher Amir AghaKouchak

Jeremy Hance 9 Dec 2025
Roxanne Swentzell harvesting drought-resistant corn on her garden plot in the Santa Clara Pueblo of New Mexico. Image courtesy of Roxanne Swentzell.

From waffle gardens to terraces, Indigenous groups revive farming heritage in America’s deserts

Justin Catanoso 18 Nov 2025
A yurt with solar panels in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia.

How to clean solar panels in arid areas? Waterless systems could improve efficiency

Samuel Ogunsona 24 Oct 2025
Elephants are one of the species that have bounced back after Namibia’s independence in 1990.

Climate change tests the resilience of people and desert-adapted wildlife in Namibia

Petro Kotzé 21 Aug 2025
James's flamingo (Phoenicoparrus jamesi)

Green hydrogen development threatens wildlife in Chile

Manuel Fonseca 18 Aug 2025
Devils Hole pupfish in the Ash Meadows Fish Conservation Facility. Photo by Olin Feuerbacher/USFWS

Devils Hole pupfish hit by micro-tsunami from 8.8-magnitude Russian earthquake

Rhett Ayers Butler 3 Aug 2025
Camera-trap image of the caracal spotted in Kirthar National Park. The cat appeared only once during the span of two weeks of camera trapping.

In rare triumph, camera traps snap endangered wildcats in Pakistan

Sean Mowbray 21 Jul 2025
Sahara mustard plants in California.

In California, an invasive mustard is destabilizing desert plant communities

Maya L. Kapoor 16 Jul 2025
A seminomadic man carries water in the Cholistan Desert.

In Pakistan, desert irrigation plans spark protests & fears among Sindh farmers

Waqas Alam Angaria 28 May 2025
Banner image of quiver trees by Leonie Joubert for Mongabay.

Succulents die off with expanding desert in South Africa and Namibia

Mongabay.com 18 Apr 2025
A flooded field in Lake Province, Chad, in October 2024. The Lutheran World Foundation (LWF) is working with farmers groups as part of their three year "Gender Transformative Climate Adaptation" project. Image courtesy of Marie Renaux/LWF

Lake Chad isn’t shrinking — but climate change is causing other problems

Ruth Kamnitzer 28 Feb 2025
Banner image of Agroecotettix silverheelsi from Texas courtesy of JoVonn Hill.

16 new-to-science grasshopper species found in US, Mexico deserts

Kristine Sabillo 21 Feb 2025
The adult female Chinese mountain cat found by Han Xue-song in winter near her den in the Sanjiangyuan region of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Easy to catch, yet little known: Meet the Chinese mountain cat

Ruth Kamnitzer 18 Nov 2024
Battsengel Lkhamdoorov stands next to one of the summer quarters built by Oyu Tolgoi.

Rio Tinto-linked mine still not fulfilling promises to Mongolian herders

Sonam Lama Hyolmo 28 Aug 2024

Six new natural sites added to UNESCO World Heritage List

Shreya Dasgupta 2 Aug 2024
Flowers of Scaevola parvifolia

Traditional Aboriginal fire practices can help promote plant diversity: Study

Sonam Lama Hyolmo 13 Mar 2024
The sand cat’s exceptional hearing helps the species hunt in the desert at night. Here, a sand cat was caught on camera with a meal clutched in its mouth.

Shining a spotlight on the wide-roaming sand cat ‘king of the desert’

Petro Kotzé 11 Dec 2023
An ocelot (Leopardus pardalis). Image by Martinus Scriblerus via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

Apache tribe decry loss of sacred site to massive copper mine at both court and the U.N.

Kate Schimel 27 Apr 2023
People in San Juan Raya decided to join a research project to grow agave for mezcal sustainably. Image by Noel Rojo for Mongabay.

Amid global mezcal craze, scientists and communities try out sustainable plantations

Magdaléna Rojo 10 Feb 2023

Climate change hits northern Mexico, as officials look to solve water crisis

Maxwell Radwin 31 Aug 2022
Lithium evaporation ponds in Salar de Atacama, Antofagasta, Chile. Source: NASA. Image processing by Rhett A. Butler / Mongabay

Why Russia should not win the bid for Bolivia’s lithium (commentary)

Joseph Bouchard 7 Jun 2022
Botanist Keith Steunenberg stands next to a thicket.

Can wonder plant spekboom really bring smiles back to sad South African towns?

Anna Weekes 7 Jun 2022
Katherine Moseby and Leanne Van der Wyde releasing a bettong after measuring its physical traits.

Release the cats: Training native species to fear invasive predators

Hannah Thomasy 13 May 2022

Getting African grasslands right, for people and wildlife alike: Q&A with Susanne Vetter

Kang-Chun Cheng 31 Dec 2021

Mali’s centuries-old pastoralist traditions wilt as the climate changes

Malavika Vyawahare 31 Dec 2021

For Kenyan farmers, organic fertilizer bokashi brings the land back to life

Isaiah Esipisu 16 Nov 2021
Growing agave in Mexico

Mexico devises revolutionary method to reverse semiarid land degradation

Sue Branford 11 Aug 2021

On the Mongolian steppe, conservation science meets traditional knowledge

Jacopo Pasotti 2 Jun 2021
In sub-Saharan Africa 70% of the population lives from agriculture — and specifically rainfall agriculture.

Humanity’s challenge of the century: Conserving Earth’s freshwater systems

Saul Elbein 10 May 2021
Small insect-eating birds, such as the violet-green swallow, have not declined as severely as larger meat-eating birds. However, future warming may further increase water demands and put more species at risk of collapse. Photo by Sean Peterson

Heat stress is causing desert bird populations to collapse

Jesse Kathan 29 Nov 2019

Africa’s largest reserve may lose half its area to oil development

Stephen Leahy 2 Aug 2019

Leopards get a $20m boost from Panthera pact with Saudi prince

John Cannon 14 Jun 2019

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