A lifeline for the last leopards (commentary)
The Arabian Peninsula is home to one of the greatest — yet mostly unrecognized — species resurrection stories in recent times: the Arabian oryx. Left for dead after it disappeared…
Environmental headlines
Mongabay is a non-profit provider of conservation and environmental science news.
Sri Lanka scientists stand by naming of new geckos amid nationalist criticism
COLOMBO — Scientists in Sri Lanka continue to voice their support of a colleague under fire from nationalist figures for naming six newly discovered gecko species after a series of…
Camera trap study reveals Amazon ocelot’s survival strategies
The largest study of ocelots ever reveals insights into habitat preferences and use. Brazilian Amazon ocelots prefer thick canopy cover, avoid humans.
Malawi sentences pangolin smugglers, cracks down on wildlife crime
In May this year, following multiple joint operations by the Malawi Police Service and the Department of National Parks and Wildlife, three Malawian and nine Chinese nationals were arrested in…
Uncovered coal barges are polluting North Sumatra’s waters
Off the coast of Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, the Malacca Strait was once home to dolphins. In their place, there are now barges filled with coal, brought by sea to…
Pro-deforestation policies could be ruinous for farmers (commentary)
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro claims to be a champion of farmers and ranchers, but his policies in the Amazon could be ruinous for them in the long-run. Last month wind…
Into the abyss with deep sea biologist Diva Amon
Deep sea biologist Diva Amon is a Trinidadian who was raised by the shore of the Caribbean Sea, but has become well known not for the sea's edge, but rather for…
New UN report takes stock of renewable energy’s decade-long growth spurt
Thanks to the nearly $280 billion invested in electricity generation from renewable sources last year — three times the amount invested in coal and gas-fired generation capacity combined — a…
Private sector could play outsized role in Cerrado conservation: study
Though large soy traders are resistant, research shows that full participation by Cargill and other firms in a Cerrado soy moratorium could help save the savanna.
Diplomatic row heats up as haze from Indonesian fires threatens Malaysia
Hotspots signaling fires in Indonesian Borneo and Sumatra have increased nearly sevenfold over a four-day period in September, according to official reports. The national disaster management agency on Sept. 2…
Loss of Madagascar’s biodiversity is a loss for Earth, Pope says
With three shovelfuls of soil in service of a baobab plant, Pope Francis underlined a central message of his trip to Madagascar: protection of the island nation’s natural riches is…
Nail paint helps researchers estimate numbers of rare Cuban bat species
One of the world’s rarest bats, the Cuban greater funnel-eared bat, is known from just a single remote cave in the island’s west. The bat was in fact thought to…
State governors support Bolsonaro’s Amazon mining, agribusiness plans
At an Amazon fire meeting, President Jair Bolsonaro and 7 out of 9 state governors pressed forward with plans to open indigenous areas to mining and agribusiness.
Disaster strikes in Bolivia as fires lay waste to unique forests
This story is a journalistic collaboration between Mongabay’s Latin America (Latam) team and the Bolivian newspaper Página Siete “Fire is a monster and is threatening us. Everything is ashes and…
Asian otters gain protection from the pet trade
Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) voted to place the smooth-coated otter and the Asian small-clawed otter on the list of animals with the highest level…
How rubber farmers can reduce risk and help the environment (commentary)
Since as far back as the early 1990s, Thailand has been the world’s largest exporter of natural rubber, responsible for as much as 35.1 percent of rubber exports in 2016.…
Amazon deforestation and development heighten Amazon fire risk: study
Land use, more than climate change, predict how the Amazon burns. Deforestation, and new road building, could expand Amazon wildfire risk by over 70 percent by 2100.
In other news: Environmental stories from around the web, September 6, 2019
Tropical forests More than two-thirds of the world’s forests are at risk, according to a U.N. report (Down to Earth). Research suggests that we might be expecting trees to carry…
Fires in Brazil’s Amazon have devastating consequences
A dense layer of pollution has plagued the Brazilian cities of São Paulo, Manaus and Cuiabá for days on end, rolling in from the large number of fires burning mainly…
Connected forests key to more sustainable palm oil industry: report
Researchers in the U.K. are calling for stronger criteria to ensure that high-quality forested areas remain intact, even if they run through oil palm plantations. The key, they say, is…
Special series
Endangered environmentalists
- ‘Pray & continue’: Death of Philippine ranger is latest in legacy of violence
- In Cambodia, a rare acquittal in a climate of danger for green activists
- On Peru’s border, the Tikuna tribe takes on illegal coca growers
Indonesias forest guardians
- Indigenous Iban community defends rainforests, but awaits lands rights recognition
- On the island of Java, a social forestry scheme creates jobs at home
- In Indonesia, bigger catches for a fishing village protecting its mangroves
Amazon infrastructure
- Yanomami Amazon reserve invaded by 20,000 miners; Bolsonaro fails to act
- Amazon infrastructure puts 68% of indigenous lands / protected areas at risk: report
- Amazon fish kill at Sinop spotlights risk from 80+ Tapajós basin dams
Asian rhinos
- Nepal to conduct, self-fund, rhino census in March 2020
- Calls for natural solution over man-made one in flood-ravaged rhino refuge
- Death on the Brahmaputra: The rhino, the rangers, and the usual suspects
