YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia — Dressed in a hazmat suit with boots, gloves and a mask, Prigi Arisandi waded into a river north of Yogyakarta, a city in the center of the…
What do you call seaweed that grows in ponds? Pondweed, of course. This diverse group of freshwater plants provides food and shelter for freshwater fish, birds, invertebrates, and plankton. And…
We discuss one of the world’s most overlooked keystone species, the beaver, on this episode of the Mongabay Newscast. Listen here: Most of us might not think of beavers as…
Is it time to completely rethink how we design the goals of conservation programs? Some scientists say it is. In a paper published last week in the journal Nature Ecology…
Selective logging has long been considered the lesser evil compared to clear-cutting when it comes to habitat preservation. But a new study adds to a growing chorus of concern that…
DENPASAR, Indonesia — Tilapia is a mainstay of Balinese cuisine, but hundreds of thousands of the freshwater fish choke to death regularly in the resort island’s largest lake, for reasons…
Madagascar is known as an ark for biodiversity that's found nowhere else on the planet. Unfortunately, it's also known for the bevy of threats that those distinctive species that live…
BENI DEPARTMENT, Bolivia — The sound of hundreds of excited children drowns out the gentle hum of nature. Those closest to the shoreline hold in their hands, some for the…
An Australian mining company aims to begin searching for minerals, as well as oil and gas, next to part of the Mekong River in Cambodia where the endangered Irrawaddy river…
A new study demonstrates that the extraordinary breadth of fish species found in streams and tributaries of the Amazon isn’t afforded much protection from the effects of agriculture under current…
Trump’s 2018 budget, if adopted, threatens to kill already precarious Northwest salmon fisheries — crippling the local economies of US and Canadian communities and tribal nations.
During the wet season, manatees swim Amazon basin floodplains; in dry times they migrate to lakes. Hundreds of planned dams could disrupt that cycle.
The sweet-tasting tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) is a popular staple on grills and dinner tables in Manaus, Brazil. But as the human population of the Amazonian city has soared, the effects…
Beneath their prehistoric-looking shells, turtles conceal an extraordinary ability to hold their breath underwater, going without oxygen for hours, even months, at a time. This cellular-level capacity to survive underwater…
There’s already ample evidence of the ways environmental degradation can contribute to the spread of infectious diseases, and now a recent study provides an example of how the disruptions to…
magine a fish isolated in an Amazonian lake — part of the vast freshwater ecosystem of the Amazon basin, an ever-changing network of rivers, lakes and floodplains that extends to…
An in-depth look at our pollinators raises major concerns about world food supply [NPR] A report sponsored by the U.N., pulled from approximately 3,000 scientific papers and revealed that 40…
New research paints a sobering picture about the water crisis looming over our heads. Previous studies have estimated anywhere from 1.7 and 3.1 billion people are already living with severe…
A coalition of conservationists, recreational fishers and farmers want Australia’s state and federal governments to get rid of European carp, or “Australia’s worst freshwater pest”, from Murray river, according to…
palm oil company remains at the heart of conflict in northern Guatemala, months after a mass fish die-off. A day after company operations were suspended pending further investigation into the…
Energy has become a contentious and politicized topic, spurring activism, whether it be the fossil fuel divestment campaign, Keystone pipeline protests, or concern over wind turbine harm to birds. But…
Pregnant mothers, children, and even adults could face health problems from gold mining pollution in Amazonian Peru An aerial view of artisinal open pit gold mining in the Amazon. Photo…
A giant river otter with a fish in its mouth. Photo by: Frank Hajek. Lobo de río, or river wolf, is the very evocative Spanish name for one of the…
Five years after landmark agreement in Sabah, government shows signs of moving forward on wildlife corridors The Kinabatangan River winds through rainforest and palm oil plantations in the Malaysian state…
On a Friday afternoon in June, the Plaza de Armas in Cajamarca is pulsing with life. It's winter here, and although thick white clouds hover low in the distance, the…
This is an expanded version of an article that ran on Yale e360 on October 29th, 2013: A Key Mangrove Forest Faces Major Threat from a Coal Plant. Bengal tiger…
Everyone knows the tiger, the panda, the blue whale, but what about the other five to thirty million species estimated to inhabit our Earth? Many of these marvelous, stunning, and…
While recent research (and media attention) has focused on the alleged negative impacts of pesticides on bees, the problem may be far broader according to a new study in the…
The 2013 Zoos and Aquariums: Committing to Conservation (ZACC) conference runs from July 8th—July 12th in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by the Blank Park Zoo. Ahead of the event, Mongabay.com…
Chinese environmental authorities have approved construction plans for what could become the world's tallest dam, while acknowledging that the project would affect endangered plants and rare fish species. The 314…