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The “Mwani Mamas” of Mwani Zanzibar work in the shallow coastal waters, where seaweed farming provides an important source of income for women and their families. These farmers are at the heart of Zanzibar’s seaweed economy. Image courtesy of Kevin Gaines/Kelp Ark.

Zanzibar’s seaweed farmers seek better future through science and partnership (commentary)

Mariam Mwinyi, Jenny Krusoe, Lisa Kurbiel 2 Nov 2026
Bin Maya Gurung spins wool on the rooftop of the enterprise’s headquarters in Naya Padampur on May 19, 2026.

Given a chance, women-led microenterprises uplift Nepali communities & conservation

Emma White 30 Oct 2026
A giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis)

Between revered and hunted: The journey of human-otter coexistence in the Amazon

Sarah Brown 29 Oct 2026
A watercolor by the Indigenous Wayana, Aimawale Opoya.

Suriname’s rich archaeological history may hold keys to conservation

Peter Speetjens 28 Oct 2026

A millennium of evidence reveals colonial roots of Australia’s wildfire vulnerability

Naina Rao 26 Oct 2026
Sánchez Mercado on a field trip. His research evaluates the dynamics of morichales, as well as their potential as carbon sinks that can be easily replicated in the tropical belt. Image courtesy of Miguel Angel Sánchez-Mercado.

Water, carbon & the ‘tree of life’: Interview with Venezuela’s guardian of morichales

Diego Ávila Muskus 22 Oct 2026
Monitors from the Ticuna community of San Francisco de Yahuma, in Loreto, Peru. They use drones to monitor and protect their forests. Image courtesy of Joseph Zegarra/Rainforest Foundation US.

Delegates at biodiversity COP17 should follow the lead of Global South women (commentary)

Valentina Figuera Martínez 21 Oct 2026
An Indian honey bee in Pune, Maharashtra state.

The women keeping Uttarakhand’s native bees alive

Swati Thapa 20 Oct 2026
A tiger in Bardiya National Park, 2021.

In Nepal, AI builds on local knowledge to help prevent tiger attacks

Praveen Kumar Yadav 20 Oct 2026

A study unravels the genetic mystery of a cobra divided by sea

Malaka Rodrigo 13 Oct 2026
Volunteers harvest tea leaves in Shenkeng district, Taiwan. During the harvest season, groups of women from the Shenkeng community will move from plantation to plantation, working in a centuries-old spirit of mutual assistance across farms. Experts contend that teas picked by hand are much less likely to be damaged and produce a finer product. Image by Michael O. Snyder for Mongabay.

Photos: Taiwan’s tea revival blends ancient terraces with new climate adaptations

Michael O. Snyder 13 Oct 2026
Project team members prepare juvenile bull kelp for transplanting in Clayoquot Sound. Image courtesy of Graeme Owsianski/Redd Fish Restoration Society.

First Nation-led effort replants kelp forests in Clayoquot Sound

Rhett Ayers Butler 12 Oct 2026
Northern sea otters (Enhydra lutris ssp. kenyoni) in a kelp forest in Strathcona

Science, Indigenous knowledge team up to restore Canada’s kelp. (Sea otters help, too.)

Jennifer Cole 6 Oct 2026
A resident is extinguishing a fire at Talang Turunan Gajah using simple tools. Photo: Muhammad Akbar/Mongabay Indonesia.

As fires spread, Indonesia’s rubber growers draw on traditional ways to fight back

Taufik Wijaya 2 Oct 2026
Stéphanie Moussounda, known as Maman Djédjé, a Gabonese traditional practitioner and initiatory mother, president of the Fédération nationale des traditionalistes gabonais (FENATRAG) and second vice-president of COARITRAG, at her temple in Gabon. Image by Molly Helfend for Mongabay.

Gabon, home to the medicinal plant behind ibogaine, wants a fairer share of its global boom

Molly Helfend 1 Oct 2026

Sri Lanka’s disappearing snake charmers carry a legacy of fear and fascination

Malaka Rodrigo 28 Sep 2026
Bajau/PELITA member Well uses the Pocong, an octopus shaped fishing lure, to try and tempt an octopus out of the reef.

How freediving helps Indonesia’s Bajau preserve traditions and conserve marine life

Maddy Bolt 21 Sep 2026
A pygmy marmoset.

Indigenous knowledge x tech in the search for a tiny Amazon monkey

Abhishyant Kidangoor 11 Sep 2026
Pallas’s cat kittens in Mongolia. These small cats are vulnerable to declines in other burrowing species, as they can’t dig out holes for themselves that they use for shelter and to raise their young. Image by Sebastian Kennerknecht/Cat Expeditions

Nepal’s high-altitude wildernesses & wildlife are increasingly under threat (commentary)

Geraldine Werhahn, Sabita Gurung 9 Sep 2026
Members of the Arhuaco community observe a fire that threatens their homes, Donachuì, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta 2025. The transition between the dry and rainy seasons has become increasingly unstable, resulting in strong winds that can cause small fires, typically set to manage weeds, to spiral out of control. Image by Roberto Maccariello.

Colombia’s Indigenous guardians adapt as pressures mount on the ‘Heart of the World’

Roberto Maccariello 9 Sep 2026
Phillip “Bibido” McCarthy. Image courtesy of ABC Kimberley/Dunja Karagic.

Indigenous knowledge helps reveal the ties between reefs and mangroves

Anthony Ham 6 Sep 2026
For the Iraya, the forest is a largely unwritten living archive.

The race to document Indigenous knowledge to protect Philippines’ birds

Mongabay.com 2 Sep 2026
Selumo (Jackiopsis ornata) trees, left, in a village in East Tebing Tinggi, Riau province, Indonesia. Planted by communities to demarcate land boundaries, these trees are also desired for their appearance. Image courtesy of Maryani.

Rooting tree seed production in local knowledge boosts forest restoration outcomes (commentary)

Zu Dienle Tan, Ahmad Muhammad, Sigit Sutikno, Nur Estya Binte Rahman 1 Sep 2026

At global desertification conference, pastoralists call for greater recognition

Joseph Lee 25 Aug 2026
A red siskin (Spinus cucullatus)

How a rare bird sparked a wildlife movement across 16 villages in Guyana

Gentry Hale 24 Aug 2026
Spinach pipefish is an endemic species found in Papua New Guinea's Sepik River. It was not seen by scientists for more than four decades. Image Courtesy of New Guinea Binatang Research Centre.

Local knowledge guides rediscovery of spinach pipefish, not seen in four decades

Spoorthy Raman 24 Aug 2026
Collage “Hands On” video series featuring Lucia Torres, Mongabay staff.

Hands On series: stories that build change

Lucia Torres 22 Aug 2026
Cassandra Garduño in a wooden boat.

Hands On: Stories that build change

21 Aug 2026
Red Sea coastal landscape. Image courtesy of Marwan Mahmoud Kamal Hamdoun.

Egypt’s deserts show why ecological knowledge matters in conservation (commentary)

Marwan Mahmoud Kamal Hamdoun 19 Aug 2026
The siruk, or Mindoro boobook (Ninox mindorensis), in Puerto Galera.

Elders, conservationists race to record fading sacred ties to Philippines’ endemic birds

Keith Anthony Fabro 18 Aug 2026
Green sea turtle swimming in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef. Image by ©Commonwealth of Australia (Reef Authority), photographer J. Sumerling. CC BY 4.0.

On the Great Barrier Reef, management by Traditional Owners is growing

Cat Williams 18 Aug 2026
Lizulu Market in Malawi's capital, Lilongwe

Indigenous food sovereignty is one of the most overlooked conservation strategies (commentary)

Gemma Sethsmith, Brijlal Chaudhari 18 Aug 2026

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