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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
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
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
A full-circle rainbow arcing over a vast oil palm plantation in Jambi, Indonesia, carved out of what was once native rainforest. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.

No, Bill Gates, we don’t have to choose between people & planet (commentary)

Mary Robinson 6 Nov 2025
Girl with a seedling in Northern California. Image by Rhett Ayers Butler

Investing in the next generation of environmental journalists (commentary)

Rhett Ayers Butler 4 Nov 2025
A representation of a bisected nautilus.

Why independent journalism is a strategic investment for philanthropy (commentary)

Rhett Ayers Butler 26 Oct 2025
Starling Murmuration. Image by Rhett Ayers Butler

Trust-based philanthropy: Lessons from MacKenzie Scott and Laurene Powell Jobs (commentary)

Rhett Ayers Butler 20 Oct 2025
Redwoods in California. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler.

Supporting frontline leadership in a time of crisis (commentary)

Rhett Ayers Butler 12 Oct 2025
Tony Pritzker speaking at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability (IoES) gala. Courtesy of IoES.

Tony Pritzker’s patient strategy for the planet

Rhett Ayers Butler 6 Oct 2025
Sumatran rhino. Image by Rhett Ayers Butler

Navigating conservation’s crisis (commentary)

Rhett Ayers Butler 21 Sep 2025
Artist's conception of a manumea, Samoa's 'little dodo.' Image via Samoa Conservation Society fundraising page.

Funding is needed to save Samoa’s ‘little dodo’ from extinction (commentary)

Gianluca Serra 18 Sep 2025
Chrome Hill in Yorkshire, England. Image by Tim Hill via Pixabay (Pixabay free content license).

England’s rewilding movement is gaining steam, Ben Goldsmith says

Mike DiGirolamo 12 Aug 2025
A view from Saint George on the island of Antigua and Barbuda. Image by docshiznit via Wikimedia Commons.

Small island nations provide big environmental solutions but need finance partners (commentary)

Gaston Browne 15 Jul 2025
Flowering tree in the Amazon rainforest canopy. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler

Refocusing conservation funding on trust & community leadership after USAID freeze (commentary)

Leona M. Bhuyan 28 Apr 2025
Reserva Narupa, Ecuador. Photo by Rhett Butler/Mongabay.

Why the nonprofit newsroom model is vital to Mongabay’s impact

Mike DiGirolamo 8 Apr 2025
Emergent rainforest tree in the Amazon. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler for Mongabay.

Can the Cali Fund provide a rights-based remedy for biopiracy? (commentary)

Alex Reep, Jasmine Betancourt, Nissim Roffe Piket, Victoria Osanyinpeju 18 Dec 2024
Tattersalli is an area stewarded by the NGO FANAMBY on the edge of Bekaraoka Forest in Madagascar.

Climate finance must empower grassroots conservation in Africa & beyond (commentary)

Dr. Josia Razafindramanana 3 Dec 2024
The Maasai people in Kenya pass down environmental knowledge through storytelling. Photo courtesy of Joan de la Malla.

We need an Indigenous conservation state of mind (commentary)

Rebecca Adamson 28 Nov 2024

Indigenous perspectives and a fossil fuel phaseout treaty featured at Climate Week

Mike DiGirolamo 8 Oct 2024
Grevy's zebras in Samburu Reserve, Kenya

At Climate Week and beyond, investing in community conservation pays big dividends (commentary)

Resson Kantai Duff 26 Sep 2024
CO2e emissions between 1850-2018 imposed over warming stripes graphic depicting annual mean global temperatures (1850-2018, from World Meteorological Organization data). Credit for general concept of warming stripes: climate scientist Ed Hawkins, University of Reading. Data values are visualized using color rather than locations of points on a graph. Horizontal scale is time, from 1850 (left) to 2018 (right). Data is global (not for a locality). This is an early, original chart from Dr. Hawkins, and should not be updated as the years pass. Update: newer versions of the warming stripes under more permissive CC‑BY‑4.0 licensing available here: showyourstripes.info Date 4 December 2018 Source Hawkins, Ed

Action at Scale: Elizabeth Yee on The Rockefeller Foundation’s Climate Strategy

Matthew Boyer, Rhett Ayers Butler 9 Sep 2024
The rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros). Image courtesy of Mark Louis Benedict via Flickr.

Biodiversity’s Tower of Babel: The confusion & disorientation of Convention on Biological Diversity Decision 15/9 (commentary)

Joseph Henry Vogel 24 Aug 2024
An elephant in Udawalawe, Sri Lanka.

Leading the charge in philanthropy across Asia: Interview with Lim Seok Hui

Matthew Boyer 24 Jul 2024
A lemur leaf frog in Costa Rica.

‘Fungibility’ could sink Convention on Biodiversity’s funding mechanism Decision 15/9 (commentary)

Joseph Henry Vogel 17 Jul 2024
Rainbow over Batanta and Dayang islands in Indonesia.

How philanthropy in Asia is evolving

Matthew Boyer 4 Jul 2024
Wendy Schmidt explores Agog’s website in webXR as Amy Seidenwurm, chief of programs and strategy for Agog, looks on. Credit: Ben Gibbs / Agog

Using immersive media to strengthen support for the environment: An interview with Wendy Schmidt

Rhett Ayers Butler 17 Jun 2024
Jaguar drinking from a river in Mexico. Photo courtesy of Gerardo Ceballos/Gerardo Ceballos of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, National Alliance for Jaguar Conservation.

Will a billionaire bankroll biodiversity? CBD Decision 15/9 as potential ‘goldmine’ (commentary)

Joseph Henry Vogel 14 May 2024
Wallace's Passage between Bam and Weigeo islands in Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia. Photo credit: Rhett Ayers Butler.

How effective are giant funding pledges by major conservation donors?

Mike DiGirolamo 19 Mar 2024

Biological field stations deliver high return on investment for conservation, study finds

Liz Kimbrough 6 Mar 2024
African elephants

Cornell receives $35m gift for research at nexus of wildlife and health

Carolyn Cowan 9 Feb 2024
Vintage telephones by Pavan Trikutam via Unsplash.

The conservation sector must communicate better (commentary)

Tania Paschen 22 Jan 2024
Western hoolock gibbon. Image credit: Scott Trageser Photography/Creative Conservation Alliance.

Western hoolock gibbon conservation in Bangladesh urgently needs funding (commentary)

Sinan Serhadli 18 Jan 2024

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