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A woman gathers plants along the banks of the Mekong River while a child plays in the background. Water levels of the mighty Mekong River have dropped drastically due to drought-like conditions and damming upstream. The drop disrupts the region’s water supply, transport routes, and the livelihood of communities in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that more than one billion people will face water shortages due to climate change. Credit: © Greenpeace / Vinai Dithajohn

New mapping reveals hidden mining boom in Laos that threatens the Mekong

Andy Ball, Gerald Flynn, Konlaphat Siri 10 Dec 2025
A soy plantation borders native Cerrado vegetation, highlighting pressures on Brazil’s ecosystems and the need for community-led bioeconomy alternatives.

New financial tools boost traditional bioeconomy projects in the Amazon

Sarah Brown 8 Dec 2025

In Chocó, river defenders say race for energy transition threatens lifelines

Euan Wallace 8 Dec 2025
Brazil Environment Minister Marina Silva speaks out against the vote in Congress. Image courtesy of Fábio Rodrigues-Pozzebom/Agência Brasil.

Brazil votes to allow most projects & farms to skip environmental licensing

Shanna Hanbury 2 Dec 2025
A Manggarai village in Flores.

As agroforestry declines in Indonesia’s Flores, a traditional ecological lexicon fades with it

Keith Anthony Fabro 28 Nov 2025

Afro-descendant territories slash deforestation, lock in carbon, study shows

Gonzalo Ortuño López 28 Nov 2025
Satellite imagery from February 2025 shows the transformation of the landscape at Global Green's gold mine, which is believed to be contaminating the O'Ta Bouk River. Image provided by Google Earth, Maxar Technologies.

Toxic runoff from politically linked gold mine poisons Cambodian rivers, communities

Andy Ball, Gerald Flynn, Phoung Vantha 24 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
A cassava farmer checks his crops in the Juma Reserve in the Brazilian Amazon, circa 2011. Cassava serves as both an important commercial crop and a subsistence crop by Indigenous and traditional peoples.

Witch Hunt: Virulent fungal disease attacks South America’s cassava crop

Gloria Dickie 5 Nov 2025

Critical minerals drive legalization of mining on Amazon Indigenous lands

Lucas Berti 3 Nov 2025
Leaching ponds have been drilled into the mountains of Laos, using a mix of toxic chemicals to separate the rare earth minerals from the other materials siphoned out of the ground. Image supplied by source.

Rare earth mining expands into Laos, threatening entire Mekong River

Mongabay 27 Oct 2025
Noraeri Thungmueangthong is a village leader in Huay Ee Khang village in northern Thailand.

Forest sanctuaries and spiritual balance in the Karen highlands of Thailand

Carolyn Cowan 22 Oct 2025
Flowing from Myanmar into Thailand, the Kok River carries toxic runoff from rare earth mines into Chiang Mai province. Image supplied by Brian Eyler.

More Thai rivers and downstream communities at risk from Myanmar’s rare earth mines

Mongabay 20 Oct 2025

A closer look at Peru’s Amazon reveals new mining trends, deforestation

Maxwell Radwin 17 Oct 2025
Putumayo’s women guardians defend land and culture amid Colombia’s deforestation

Putumayo’s women guardians defend land and culture amid Colombia’s deforestation

Natalia Arbelaez 15 Oct 2025

In Indonesia’s Mentawai Islands, youths blend ancestral and world faiths to protect forests

Keith Anthony Fabro 14 Oct 2025
Cassandra Garduño in a wooden boat.

Women in Mexico step up to protect the island farms traditionally inherited by men

Teresa de Miguel, Associated Press 8 Oct 2025
A traditional fisher in Bali, 2013.

EV trial among Bali east coast fishers shows promise amid headwinds

Luh De Suriyani 22 Sep 2025

Women-led patrols and fire prevention restore forests in northern Thailand

Carolyn Cowan 16 Sep 2025
Irrigation Dam 2 is just the latest in a string of dams being built atop protected forests within the Cardamom Mountains. Image supplied by source.

Cambodian irrigation dam construction threatens riverine communities in the Cardamoms

Gerald Flynn 10 Sep 2025
A camera trap image of a southern red muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak) in Temburong.

Brunei built Southeast Asia’s longest bridge. What does this mean for wildlife?

Sonam Lama Hyolmo 29 Aug 2025
A flowering shoot of jambu.

Amazon jambu blends tradition and science for numbing flavors and healthcare

Sarah Brown 18 Aug 2025
Ampalaya, or bitter gourd (Momordica charantia)

Filipino communities use vast variety of endemic plants for health: Study

Keith Anthony Fabro 12 Aug 2025
Snow leopard approaches camera trap, Kyrgyzstan. Photo credit: Panthera-SAEF-NAS-UW.

Culture and spirit belong at the center of wildlife conservation (commentary)

Beth Allgood, John Waugh, Craig Talmage 9 Jul 2025

Ancient eco-friendly pilgrimage brings modern threats to Sri Lanka wildnerness

Malaka Rodrigo 1 Jul 2025
For the Maya people, fire has always been a sacred element, central in ancestral Mother Earth celebration ceremonies.

Fire is both destruction and rebirth for Maya communities of Belize

Monica Pelliccia 27 Jun 2025
Rashid Mohamed Rashid

What happens to artisanal fishers when a deep-sea fishing port comes to town?

Anthony Langat 27 Jun 2025

Brazil’s Indigenous Akroá Gamella reclaim and restore their land, one patch at a time

Felipe Duran 25 Jun 2025
Illegal gold mining inside the Munduruku and Sai Cinza Indigenous Lands

Nine takeaways on Brazil’s crackdown on illegal mining in Munduruku lands

Aimee Gabay 23 Jun 2025

As a fishing port rises in Kenya, locals see threats to sea life, livelihoods

Anthony Langat 23 Jun 2025
Marlyse in Lobéké National Park, south-east Cameroon. Image by Yannick Kenné for Mongabay.

From porter to conservation leader, the inspiring journey of Marlyse Bebeguewa in Cameroon

David Akana, Yannick Kenné 23 Jun 2025

On World Rainforest Day, stories of Amazon danger and resistance

Mongabay.com 20 Jun 2025

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