In a win for Nigeria’s only Indigenous grassroots conservation organization, camera traps installed in Ise Conservation Area have captured the first known video of a resident Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee.

The individual, seen swinging between tree branches and feeding on figs, is a mature male in his prime, said Rachel Ashegbofe Ikemeh, founder director of the South-West/Niger Delta Forest Project (SWNDF). “We are able to show the world these chimps for the very first time.”

Camera traps at Ise captured the first video of a genetically unique Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee. Video courtesy of SWNDF

The Ise Conservation Area, a small patch of tropical lowland rainforest spread across 3,300 hectares (8,000 acres), is the only forest left in a maze of human habitation. It has been battered by land degradation due to years of marijuana cultivation.

The government of Ekiti state, where Ise lies, established it as a conservation area in 2020 to protect the iconic Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes ellioti). Endemic to the forests bordering the two countries, this great ape is the most threatened chimpanzee subspecies, with a combined estimated 3,500- 9,000 individuals left in the wild.

Ikemeh estimates fewer than 25 chimpanzees remain in Ise. Separated from other populations in Nigeria by the Niger River, which is too wide for chimpanzees to cross, the reserve’s chimps are thought to be genetically distinct from other populations.

“The few genetic samples collected suggest they are a distinctive group with a unique genetic history distinct from their counterparts in eastern Nigeria and western Cameroon,” said Katy Gonder, an ecologist at Texas A&M University who studied the Ise chimpanzees in 1997. “It’s remarkable that they are still present in such a small and isolated area.”

Before their tiny home range was earmarked as a protected area, this chimpanzee population was on the brink of extinction, Ikemeh said. “The forest was badly degraded … and the chimps were mostly found along the forest by the [Ogbesse] river,” she said. Locals hunted them for their parts, which fetched good money.

SWNDF has managed Ise since 2021, working with the Ekiti state government and local communities to protect the forest from marijuana plantations, encroaching farmlands, and bushmeat hunters. While their work is reflected in the increasing biodiversity and a surge in chimpanzee nests and foraging sites, no visual evidence previously confirmed the presence of the elusive apes in the forest.

The captured video provides that long-awaited proof.

“It was also a vindication in many ways … prior to this, there was a lot of skepticism among the local stakeholders,” Ikemeh said, adding that this has now changed. “To have these same people come back to say thank you and to say we are with you now … it’s a solemn feeling.”

With camera traps now installed, Ikemeh said she hoped they would provide insights into Ise’s chimpanzee population and behavior, underscoring the importance of conserving their habitat.

Banner image: Screenshot from the first camera-trap video showing a Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee courtesy of SWNDF.

More than 1,100 dead olive ridley turtles have washed ashore on the beaches of Tamil Nadu state in southern India this month. Most were found near the state capital, Chennai.

“I never heard [of] such large numbers of turtles stranded at any beaches of Tamil Nadu at least in the last three decades,” K. Sivakumar, an ecology professor at Pondicherry University, told Mongabay.

Every year, olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) gather off India’s coast to breed. Female turtles come ashore to the beaches where they hatched to lay their own eggs, while the males remain in the water. Typically, between 100-150 turtles nest on Chennai’s beaches annually, so the stranding of more than 1,000 turtles is surprising, Sivakumar said.

Chennai resident Rajiv Rai told Mongabay he’s spotted about 80 dead turtles on a 2-kilometer (1.24-mile) stretch of beach near his home. He said he alerts the state’s forest department, whose staff bury the carcasses on the beach, although the burials are now lagging.

An initial autopsy of one carcass revealed lung lesions; many dead turtles had bulging eyes. Both observations indicate the turtles likely died from suffocation and drowning, Yuvan Aves, a Chennai-based environmental activist, told Mongabay. The official post-mortem report hasn’t been made public yet.

Aves added he’s also observed an unusually large number of male carcasses on the beach.

The reasons for the mass deaths are unclear. However, Sivakumar said both male and female turtles could have gathered near nesting beaches to breed. If there was net fishing in the area, the turtles, which need to surface to breathe, may have become entangled and drowned.

If that’s the case, Sivakumar added, it’s difficult to say whether the turtles got caught in fishing nets near Chennai or farther away, then ended up off Chennai due to winds or currents.

Aves said commercial fishing vessels operating in Chennai’s waters often don’t abide by local laws, which likely contributed to the deaths. For example, Tamil Nadu has banned trawlers within 5 nautical miles (9 km) from shore, but the law isn’t typically enforced. Trawler nets must also have turtle excluder devices installed, but “nobody notoriously has it,” Aves said.

Following media coverage of the crisis, the Tamil Nadu government caught 24 trawler boats operating illegally in Chennai’s waters, and has created a special task force in response. The government said in a release that a joint patrol team is now monitoring boats and ships in the area.

Manish Meena, Chennai’s wildlife warden, told Mongabay India that “night patrols have been intensified to protect hatchlings.”

The scale of death of a species that was once endangered and has only partly recovered due to conservation efforts “exceeds one’s capacity of feeling,” Aves said. “You can stand on coast right now anywhere in Chennai and every few strides, you can see bulge-eyed turtles till the horizon.”

Banner image of dead olive ridley turtle by Rajiv Rai.

The heads of 30 African nations have endorsed a plan to provide “reliable, affordable and sustainable” electricity to 300 million people across the continent over the next five years.

The leaders signed the Dar es Salaam Energy Declaration at the “Mission 300” energy summit held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, this week. The mission was launched in April 2024 by the World Bank, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and its partners.

Vincent Nmehielle, secretary-general of the AfDB, told the summit that the declaration outlines commitments to reform the energy sector through practical actions like expanding power infrastructure, incorporating more renewable energy, and incentivizing private sector participation. The electrification boost is also expected to create new jobs. The declaration will be submitted for formal adoption at the African Union Summit in February, the World Bank said in a statement.

Twelve countries — Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia — also presented their country-specific “national energy compacts,” expected to be in place by the end of 2025. These compacts include specific goals and timelines to expand electricity access, address utility efficiency, increase renewable energy generation, attract private investment, and provide clean cooking solutions.

Tanzania’s compact, for example, aims to provide electricity to an additional 8.3 million households by 2030, focusing on rural and underserved areas. It also aims to expand the share of renewables in its energy mix from the current 61.8% to 75% by 2030. This will be driven by investments in solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower.

Meanwhile, Zambia aims to achieve 100% access to electricity by 2030, and set a goal of increasing the share of non-hydro renewable energy like solar and wind in the energy mix from 3% to 33% by 2030.

Some officials also highlighted their nations’ need to back their trade and mining industries.

Zambian Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said his country needs to urgently increase power generation to expand its mining sector. “We are on a trajectory to triple copper production in the next 10 years,” he said at the summit. “That requires electricity. We must minimize dependence on hydroelectric power and diversify our energy sources.”

To support Mission 300, the World Bank has committed to providing $30 billion to $40 billion, while the AfDB pledged $10 billion to $15 billion.

The China-based Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) pledged $1 billion to $1.5 billion in financing, with its president, Jin Liqun, saying, “Six hundred million people in Africa without access to electricity is intolerable.”

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) committed $4.65 billion. In a statement, it said its approach will focus on renewable energy development and rural electrification.

France’s international development agency pledged $1 billion over the next five years for the mission, while OPEC’s international development fund committed $1 billion with additional financing to follow.

Banner image of African heads of states and partners at the Mission 300 energy summit courtesy of the African Development Bank Group.

A climate researcher who was fired from his job for refusing to take a flight back from a work trip has been awarded compensation in court for unfair dismissal.

Gianluca Grimalda has been reducing his air travel since 2010. But in 2023, his employer, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) in Germany, terminated his contract after he refused to fly and expedite his travel from Papua New Guinea to Germany.

Grimalda said in a statement that the institute had approved his plan to return by “slow travel” from his field work in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. However, he was unable to appear on the agreed date due to “visa deferrals, security threats, volcano activity and other logistical impediments.”

The case became the first known instance of an employee being sacked for declining to ride an aircraft to reduce carbon emissions.

Grimalda told Mongabay by email that “slow travel” means avoiding plane rides, unless there’s no alternative. “However, sometimes it’s just a matter of time,” Grimalda said. “Sooner or later you’ll find a ship or some means of transport alternative to the plane. … I think I will never fly any more.”

His research trip in 2023 meant taking 40 days to travel from Europe to Bougainville and 72 days to return. According to his calculations, carbon emissions from this slow 28,000-kilometer (17,400-mile) round trip was 10 times lower than flying.

On Jan. 10, Grimalda and IfW agreed with the settlement proposed by the Kiel Regional Labor Court, which included an undisclosed severance amount and stated the contract was terminated “because of incompatible ideological convictions between the parties”. The court ordered IfW to exonerate Grimalda from any breach of contract.

Grimalda said he will donate 75,000 euros ($78,000) from his payment to environmental protection and climate activism.

Grimalda’s lawyer, Jörn A. Broschat said in the statement the case shows the “growing intersection between labor law and climate-conscious practices.” He said lawmakers and workers’ groups should consider the climate principles of employees as part of labor rights.

Grimalda said flying can contribute to 90% of a researcher’s personal carbon footprint. He added that while he does not want to detract from the responsibility of corporations and the rich, “people trust scientists, and scientists’ behavior can have broad ramifications across society.”

Academics “modifying their personal contribution to greenhouse gas emissions is an important way to demonstrate credibility,” French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) research director Wolfgang Cramer said in the statement.

Grimalda said he has mixed feelings about the win since he loved the job he lost. He has yet to find a new job but he plans to go back to Papua New Guinea to continue his research.

“I hope that my case will inspire more employees, institutions and companies to actively support the transition from fossil fuel-based economies to decarbonized and people-centered societies,” he said.

Banner image of Gianluca Grimalda on a cargo ship courtesy of Gianluca Grimalda.

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon dropped by 7% in 2024 compared to 2023, according to an analysis by Imazon, a Brazil-based organization that uses satellite imagery to monitor changes in the world’s largest rainforest. However, the news was not entirely positive for conservation efforts: forest degradation skyrocketed by 497%, driven primarily by fires that scorched vast areas of drought-stricken rainforest.

The findings align with official data from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE). In November, INPE released preliminary figures showing a 31% decline in deforestation for the year ending July 31, 2024. However, INPE’s DETER alert system also recorded a sharp rise in forest degradation.

Imazon reported 36,379 square kilometers of degraded land in 2024, the highest level in 15 years. By comparison, only 6,092 km² of degradation was registered in 2023.

Pará led all states in deforestation for the ninth consecutive year, with 1,260 km² of forest loss, followed by Amazonas with 820 km². Pará also topped the list for forest degradation, with 17,195 km² affected.

Severe droughts have worsened the Amazon’s challenges. Two consecutive years of extreme dry conditions fueled fires in areas that are typically too humid to burn.

The Amazon is increasingly vulnerable to climate change, compounded by ongoing deforestation and forest degradation. Scientists warn that these pressures are destabilizing the ecosystem, leading to widespread tree die-offs in the southern and eastern regions. If these trends continue unchecked, they could disrupt continental rainfall patterns and trigger a sharp decline in species that depend on the rainforest.

Deforestation in the Amazon has been slowing over the past three years, but degradation poses a growing threat to its survival.

Header image: Greenpeace Brazil conducted an aerial survey in southern Amazonas and northern Rondônia to monitor deforestation and fires in July 2024. Photo © Marizilda Cruppe / Greenpeace.

The Marshall Islands government has announced it will protect an area of the Pacific Ocean described as one of the most “remote, pristine” marine ecosystems on Earth.

The 48,000-square-kilometer (18,500-square-mile) marine sanctuary covers two of the country’s northernmost uninhabited atolls, Bikar and Bokak, and the surrounding deep sea, and it is the first federal marine protected area (MPA) established by the Pacific Island nation nestled between Hawaii and the Philippines.

“The ocean as our ancestors knew it is vanishing,” Hilda Heine, the president of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, said in a press statement announcing the measure on Jan. 28. “Without sustainable ocean ecosystems, our economy, stability and cultural identity will collapse. The only way to continue benefiting from the ocean’s treasures is to protect it.”  

Fishing and other extractive activities, which were already minimal due to generations of custodianship by the Utrik community, will now be strictly forbidden, future-proofing the area against threats and formalizing protections.

The area is teeming with rare and endangered marine wildlife, including green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) and fish species such as the Napoleon wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) and the bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum). Researchers also noted there is a high potential for discovering new species of fish and invertebrates in the deep seas.

In the lead-up to the MPA’s creation, National Geographic’s Pristine Seas team led by marine biologist Enric Sala, in collaboration the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority, spent almost 650 hours diving in the Marshall Islands to study marine life as part of a five-year expedition across the Pacific.

Their findings were significant: The region had the highest reef fish biomass in the Pacific Ocean. Giant clams (Tridacna maxima) were found in huge numbers. Deep-sea sharks, many of which are threatened, were abundant. And the atolls not only had the highest coral cover in the central and western Pacific but were also found to be especially resilient to global warming.

“Bikar and Bokak’s coral reefs are a time machine, like diving in the ocean of 1,000 years ago,” Sala wrote in a press release. “They are our best baselines for what the ocean could look like if we truly let it be.” 

The expedition also visited neighboring Bikini Atoll, where the U.S. conducted 23 nuclear bomb tests in the 1940s and ‘50s, and found that marine life had still not recovered, noting the presence of “pulverized, dead reef with not much living on it.”

The federal government of the Marshall Islands, which reclaimed independence in 1983, is now incorporating traditional knowledge in its conservation strategy called Reimaanlok. The approach, which means “look toward the future” in Marshallese, includes coastal communities in decision-making processes on how to manage the nation’s oceans and land.

Banner image: The Marshall Islands’ new marine sanctuary will protect one of the most pristine areas of the Pacific Ocean. Image courtesy of Manu San Félix/National Geographic Pristine Seas.