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Madhav Gadgil in 2016. Photo by Syed Shiyaz Mirza

Madhav Gadgil, advocate of democratic conservation, has died at 83

Rhett Ayers Butler 8 Jan 2026
Guatemala accounted for 13% of the environmental defenders killed or disappeared across the world in 2024, as documented by Global Witness. Image courtesy of the Guatemalan President’s Office.

Guatemala’s eco defenders reel from surge in killings and persecution

Gonzalo Ortuño López 2 Jan 2026
Mida Creek, Watamu, Kenya. Image by Delphinidaesy via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0).

A nuclear power plan exposes Kenya’s deeper land rights issues

Elodie Toto 29 Dec 2025
Indigenous people attend the People's Summit during the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30). Photo by Rafa Pereira/COP30.

Top 10 Indigenous news stories that marked 2025

Aimee Gabay 29 Dec 2025
A Magar local affected by the Tanahu Hydropower project. Image by Sanjog Laapaa Magar, INWOLAG.

Fights against development projects marks 2025 for Nepal’s Indigenous people

Sonam Lama Hyolmo 29 Dec 2025
Expansive areas of Australia are Country stewarded by Indigenous communities. Image courtesy of Emma Lee.

Will Australia’s main environment law continue marginalizing Indigenous authority, despite overhaul? (commentary)

Ali Kandi, Emma Lee 22 Dec 2025
Emergent rainforest tree in the Amazon. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler for Mongabay.

BRICS+ offers Indigenous & local communities ways to advance environmental and social goals (analysis)

Metolo Foyet 22 Dec 2025
A jaguar

The Amazon in 2026: A challenging year ahead, now off the center stage

Alexandre de Santi 22 Dec 2025
Mongabay contributor Glòria Pallarès won the ACE Award in Doha, Qatar. Image courtesy of the ACE Award.

Mongabay contributor Glòria Pallarès wins top anti-corruption reporting award

Mongabay.com 22 Dec 2025
An Indigenous Mbuti hunting group inside Okapi National Reserve. Photo ©️ Brent Stirton/Getty Images.jpg

Protected areas in Africa are vital but local perceptions vary (commentary)

Heidi Kretser, Diane Detoeuf, Michelle Wieland, Jessica L’Roe 19 Dec 2025
A tree kangaroo.

Malaysian companies dominate PNG forest-clearance permits: report

Sonam Lama Hyolmo 15 Dec 2025
Herders cross the Lungasamba pass with their yaks. Image by Chyamtang-Kathmandu Welfare Society.

Nepal Indigenous leaders refile writ petition against hydropower project

Sonam Lama Hyolmo 12 Dec 2025

Hope, solidarity & disappointment: A familiar mix for Indigenous delegates at COP30

Hans Nicholas Jong 10 Dec 2025

Across Latin America populist regimes challenge nature conservation goals

Timothy J. Killeen 8 Dec 2025
Ugandan and Tanzanian EACOP-impacted community representatives attending the hearing at the EACJ. Image courtesy of Stop Eacop Movement.

East African court dismisses controversial oil pipeline case in setback to communities

Elodie Toto 8 Dec 2025
Brazil is the largest eucalyptus producer in the world. Eucalyptus production has been linked to several social and environmental violations such as land grabbing, human right abuses, and environmental harm from use of pesticides to biodiversity loss. Image © Markus Mauthe/Greenpeace.

Assessments argue carbon offsets are failing communities and climate goals (commentary)

GRAIN 5 Dec 2025

From COP30 to Sri Lanka, indigenous voices shape climate & food sovereignty

Malaka Rodrigo 5 Dec 2025
A Bornean orangutan.

Indigenous Dayak sound alarm as palm oil firm razes orangutan habitat in Borneo

Hans Nicholas Jong 2 Dec 2025
Forestry in Indonesia

SE Asia forest carbon projects sidelining social, biodiversity benefits, study finds

Carolyn Cowan 1 Dec 2025
Maasai people in the Nashulai Maasai Conservancy. Image © Marianne Nord, courtesy of Nashulai Maasai Conservancy.

In Kenya, Maasai private landowners come together to protect wildlife corridors

Elodie Toto 1 Dec 2025

A fragile Sri Lankan island fights back against the threat of mineral extraction

Malaka Rodrigo 28 Nov 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

What’s at stake for the environment in Honduras’ presidential election?

Maxwell Radwin 26 Nov 2025
Women of Masaka embark on cassava cultivation. The plantation areas are located in the heart of the community of Mabaka in the Kwango region. Image by Ley Uwera. Courtesy of The Tenure Facility.

Rights to millions of hectares of Indigenous & local communities’ lands restored by ‘barefoot lawyers’

Mike DiGirolamo 25 Nov 2025
Global March of Indigenous Peoples at COP30 in Belém. Image courtesy of Bruno Peres/Agência Brasil.

Brazil aims for alternative route to fossil fuel road map after COP30 failure

Carla Ruas 25 Nov 2025
Marina Silva, Brazil's Minister of the Environment and Climate Change (left), Fernando Haddad, Brazil's Minister of Finance (center), and Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sônia Guajajara (right) during a press conference on the Tropical Forest Forever Fund (TFFF). Image courtesy of Rafa Neddermeyer/COP30 Brasil Amazônia/PR.

Brazil’s forest fund faces a slow takeoff at COP30 despite initial support

Carla Ruas 24 Nov 2025
Vicente Fernandes Vilhalva. Photo courtesy of Aty Guasu/Survival International

A killing with precedent: Kaiowá man’s murder fits a pattern in Brazil

Rhett Ayers Butler 21 Nov 2025

The land deal threatening a vital piece of Bolivia’s Chiquitano dry forest

Maxwell Radwin 20 Nov 2025
Environmentalists say traffic from large vessels could affect the migration and reproduction of Amazonian turtles in the Monte Cristo tabuleiro, one of the largest turtle sanctuaries in Brazil. Image courtesy of Roberto Lacava/Ibama.

Amazon Indigenous groups fight soy waterway as Brazil fast-tracks dredging

André Schröder 19 Nov 2025

With military backing and oligarch allies, Indonesia pushes controversial food estate

Jeff Hutton 19 Nov 2025
Sámi reindeer herders and conservationists set up a protest camp at the facilities of the Blue Moon Metals Nussir mine in Finnmark county, Norway. Photo by Rasmus Berg / Natur og Ungdom.

Plans to dispose of mining waste in Norway’s Arctic Ocean worries Sámi fishers, herders

Aimee Gabay 18 Nov 2025
Tropical forest and river in Suriname. Image courtesy of Mark J. Plotkin.

Top ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin’s COP30 reflections on Amazon conservation (analysis)

Mark J. Plotkin 17 Nov 2025

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