Indigenous community saves Colombia’s poison dart frog from coca and logging
One of the most poisonous animals on earth, the golden dart frog carries enough toxins in its body to kill 10 people. If it enters the blood stream, the toxin…
Galápagos census looks at impacts on turtles during and after COVID lockdown
It’s six in the morning and the beach is empty. The tide has erased the footprints from the sand, and the surface is a blank slate of white and perfectly…
You can’t see them to count them, but Amazonian manatees seem to be recovering
Diogo de Souza used to wake up at 3 a.m., stop by the house of a community member who knew about manatees, and the two began work among the carapanãs,…
In Brazil, an agribusiness haven’s green pivot leaves many skeptical
A project originally aimed to fuel agribusiness in one of the most heavily deforested parts of the Brazilian Amazon is now being touted by the government as a “green” and…
Forests for sale: How land traffickers profit by slicing up Bolivia’s protected areas
SAN IGNACIO DE VELASCO, Bolivia — On Feb. 12, 2021, Bolivian conservationists joyfully celebrated the creation of the Bajo Paraguá Municipal Protected Area. Located in the municipality of San Ignacio…
Chile’s burrowing parrot marks 35 years of a slow but successful recovery
The story of Cristián Bonacic and Río de los Cipreses National Reserve is, in a way, a story of love at first sight: they “met” in the summer of 1986,…
Venezuelans hit by cooking gas shortages look to forests for firewood
A one-minute audio clip made the rounds on Venezuelan Twitter last year, in which a state official being interviewed on a radio show tells citizens that, because of ongoing national…
Some hummingbird females display male coloring to avoid being harassed
Female hummingbirds sometimes look like the brightly colored males of their species. Researchers have long pondered the reason for this. Now, a study of hummingbirds in Panama suggests that sporting…
Jaguars in Mexico are growing in number, a promising sign that national conservation strategies are working
The jaguar population in Mexico increased by about 800 animals from 2010 to 2018, according to the first two censuses of the elusive carnivores ever conducted in the country. The…
Young forests can help heal tropical aquatic ecosystems: Study
Scientists have long identified a link between livestock production and deforestation, with reams of research showing the detrimental effect of agricultural activities on natural resources. Little is known, however, about…
Amazon deforestation unexpectedly surges 22% to highest level since 2006
Deforestation in Earth's largest rainforest surged 22% to the highest level since 2006, according to official data released today by the Brazilian government. Preliminary analysis of satellite data by Brazil's…
Court convenes historic hearing in Indigenous territory on land consent issue
Early on the morning of Nov. 15, five Constitutional Court judges arrived by canoe to the Indigenous Cofan community of Sinangoe in Ecuador’s northern Amazon rainforest, wearing rubber boots and…
Indigenous mine opponents targeted in raids during state of siege in Guatemala
EL ESTOR, Guatemala — Germán Chub was still sleeping when police and military personnel showed up outside his home. It was the fourth day of a month-long state of siege,…
Indigenous groups call for gov’t intervention as land grabbers invade Bolivian protected area
This article is part of a journalistic collaboration between Mongabay Latam and El Deber, a Bolivian news source. On Feb. 15, three days after the creation of Bajo Paraguá…
The Amazon has highest October forest loss since at least 2007
As the U.N. climate conference drew toward a close Friday, Brazil reported the highest level of deforestation for any October dating back to 2007. According to the monthly deforestation tracking…
Forest declarations are nice, but profitability determines land use in the Amazon (Book excerpt)
Editor’s note: Tim Killeen provides an update on the state of the Amazon in his new book “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon Wilderness – Success and Failure in the Fight…
Top Brazil gold exporter leaves a trail of criminal probes and illegal mines
Brazilian gold exporter BP Trading accounted for 10% of the country’s exports of the precious metal in 2019 and 2020, having purchased it from companies prosecuted for buying illegal gold.
Indigenous agents fight deforestation with drones and AI in Brazilian Amazon
Siã Shanenawa strikes a markedly different image from the stereotypical view of Brazil’s Indigenous people using bows and arrows as their main tools. Siã Shanenawa’s weapons of choice are drones…
Under Bolsonaro, Indigenous Yanomami see surge in child malnutrition deaths
On May 10, the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported on child malnutrition in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory, located in the country’s northern Amazonian region. It featured the image of…
Green light for mining project raises red flags for Chile penguin reserve
The approval of a mining and port project in Chile has generated a wave of outrage in the country. The Dominga project was rejected in 2017 due to its potential…
In Peru’s Amazon, deforestation and crime sweep through Indigenous communities
Peru is home to many Indigenous communities that don’t appear on official maps. Without government recognition, these communities’ existence rests solely on their community names and on the knowledge of…
In Mexico City’s urban sprawl, an unexpected illegal logging network thrives
TLALPAN, Mexico — Mexico City is, by some counts, one of the largest cities in the world. Its 9 million citizens occupy 1,485 square kilometers (573 square miles) of sprawling…
Indigenous lands under siege as buffalo frenzy grips the Amazon
TRINCHEIRA INDIGENOUS TERRITORY, Brazil — Deep in the Trincheira reserve, our motor boat winds through a maze of streams, or igarapés, sliding past dense submerged rainforest. It halts on the…
Peruvian court dismisses defamation case against Mongabay journalist
A court in Peru has formally dismissed a defamation case filed by an agribusiness company against Mongabay Latam journalist Yvette Sierra Praeli. On Monday, the Fourth Criminal Chamber of Lima…
Sinking hope of justice as exporter of 26-ton shark fin cargo gets token fine
In April 2020, customs officers in Hong Kong made one of the largest seizures of shark fins in history: 26 metric tons, all of it exported from Ecuador. This number…
Ecuador’s consultation process for Indigenous lands comes under the microscope
Before the pandemic, Ecuador’s Indigenous communities were on a roll, winning a series of lawsuits against the state for selling, or trying to sell, their land to oil and mining…
The ‘net zero’ bridge to saving the Amazon (commentary)
Well-designed natural climate solutions around the globe, and particularly in the Amazon, could be paid for by companies truly making “net zero” carbon emission commitments and overseen by state governments.
COP-26: Amazonia’s Indigenous peoples are vital to fighting global warming (commentary)
The U.N. climate summit now underway in Glasgow, Scotland needs to empower Indigenous peoples to protect the Amazon forest, which in turn stores carbon and helps prevent disastrous climate change.
From flood to drought, Brazil’s Acre state swings between weather extremes
RIO BRANCO, Brazil — In the space of just a few months, entire cities and small communities in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon have faced extreme weather conditions this…
‘To change policies, insert yourself in them’: Q&A with biologist Liliana Dávalos
Liliana Dávalos had only been studying geology for a few days at the National University of Colombia in 1991 when the program director told the whole class that women were…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Indigenous groups call for gov’t intervention as land grabbers invade Bolivian protected area
- Indigenous lands under siege as buffalo frenzy grips the Amazon
- Deforestation soars in Nigeria’s gorilla habitat: ‘We are running out of time’
- Deforestation notches up along logging roads on PNG’s New Britain Island
Oceans
- Advocates welcome halt to shortfin mako shark fishing, call for longer ban
- Technology and tradition team up to watch over a sacred island’s sea turtles
- Countries fail to agree on Antarctic conservation measures for fifth straight year
- Despite deals, plans and bans, the Mediterranean is awash in plastic
Amazon Conservation
- Amazon deforestation unexpectedly surges 22% to highest level since 2006
- COP-26: Amazonia’s Indigenous peoples are vital to fighting global warming (commentary)
- BR-319 highway hearings: An attack on Brazil’s interests and Amazonia’s future (commentary)
- Amazon, meet Amazon: Tech giant rolls out rainforest carbon offset project
Land rights and extractives
- Illegal mining threatens Indigenous land at foot of Philippines’ tallest peak
- Legal challenge to South Africa mine expansion looks to set new landmark
- Struggle endures for Philippine community pitted against gold miner
- In Peru’s Amazon, deforestation and crime sweep through Indigenous communities
Endangered Environmentalists
- The Kichwa woman fighting drug traffickers and loggers in the Peruvian Amazon
- Rights groups demand end to Cambodia’s persecution of green activists
- With Indigenous rights at stake in Brasília, a territory is attacked in Paraty
- Brazil’s Bolsonaro vowed to work with Indigenous people. Now he’s investigating them
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- From Flores to Papua: Meet 10 of Indonesia’s mangrove guardians
- Why I stand for my tribe’s forest: It gives us food, culture, and life (commentary)
- Reforesting a village in Indonesia, one batch of gourmet beans at a time
- Restoring Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, one small farm at a time
Conservation Effectiveness
- Young forests can help heal tropical aquatic ecosystems: Study
- How sharing and learning from failures can transform conservation (commentary)
- Is planting trees as good for the Earth as everyone says?
- ‘Bad science’: Planting frenzy misses the grasslands for the trees
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- Bali’s new highway project sparks concerns about agriculture and conservation areas
- Deforestation notches up along logging roads on PNG’s New Britain Island
- Plantations and roads strip away Papua’s forests. They’re just getting started
- Indonesian farmers refuse to budge for train line through karst landscape
