Founder's briefs News

Founder’s Briefs is an occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Rhett founded Mongabay in 1999 to raise awareness about tropical forests and biodiversity. In 2012, he transitioned Mongabay to a non-profit organization and oversaw its growth into a multinational, multilingual news service. Beyond Mongabay, Rhett has advised a range of institutions, while his writing and photography have appeared in hundreds of publications. Rhett's work has been recognized with the Heinz Award and the Parker/Gentry Award, among other honors.

Jane with Uruhara pant-hooting, 1996. Photo by Michael Neugebauer

Jane Goodall (1934–2025): primatologist, conservationist, and messenger of hope

Rhett Ayers Butler 1 Oct 2025

Hamid Moradi. Photo courtesy of the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.

Hamid Moradi, died on July 25th after battling a forest fire in Iranian Kurdistan, aged 36

Rhett Ayers Butler 29 Jul 2025

An adult female kākāpō (Strigops habroptila) in a tree at night. Kākāpō are nocturnal and flightless. Image by Andrew Digby/New Zealand Department of Conservation.

World Nature Conservation Day: How a large, flightless parrot rebounded from the verge of extinction

Rhett Ayers Butler 28 Jul 2025

Left: Ranger Claude, photographed by Brent Stirton. Right: Ranger Daniel, photographed by Virunga National Park.

Two rangers killed in a plane crash in DRC’s Virunga National Park

Rhett Ayers Butler 26 Jul 2025

Sharon Haussmann,. Image courtesy of Greater Kruger Environmental Protection Foundation.

Sharon Haussmann, guardian of rhinos, died on May 31, aged 51

Rhett Ayers Butler 24 Jul 2025

James ‘Buddy’ Powell, defender of manatees, died on July 19, aged 70

Rhett Ayers Butler 23 Jul 2025

A mangrove forest in the Raja Ampat archipelago in Indonesia.

How much does it cost to restore a mangrove forest?

Rhett Ayers Butler 22 Jul 2025

Rain over a tropical island in the South Pacific in April 2025. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.

Conservation’s silent strain: Nature’s protectors face a mental health crisis

Rhett Ayers Butler 21 Jul 2025

An ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) in the Peruvian Amazonian rainforest (Cocha Cashu Biological Station), recorded through camera trapping. Photo credit: Fortunato Rayan.

Videos capture an unlikely alliance between ocelots and opossums in the Amazon

Rhett Ayers Butler 18 Jul 2025

Ly Chandaravuth, Mother Nature Cambodia activist. Image © Andy Ball.

The price of protecting what’s left in Cambodia

Rhett Ayers Butler 18 Jul 2025

Cnemaspis nilgala is a gecko that is found only in the rocky outcrop of Nilgala and is named after this unique habitat. Image courtesy of Suranjan Karunarathne.

Sri Lanka grants protection to a rare ecosystem

Rhett Ayers Butler 17 Jul 2025

Marlyse hiking in the heart of the Lobéké National Park, south-east Cameroon. Image by Yannick Kenné for Mongabay.

How one woman rose from porter to conservation leader

Rhett Ayers Butler 16 Jul 2025

Harapan rainforest canopy in Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia, by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.

What’s holding back natural climate solutions?

Rhett Ayers Butler 14 Jul 2025

The Geoffroy's Tamarin can be found in the Darién rainforest. Image by Concep Arroyo via Pexels.

Inside Panama’s gamble to save the Darién

Rhett Ayers Butler 10 Jul 2025

Patchwork of cassava fields, regenerating secondary forest, and natural forest in the Amazon. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.

Young secondary forests may be the planet’s most overlooked carbon sink

Rhett Ayers Butler 8 Jul 2025

A community member catching fish in the Fluvial Star of Inírida, where the Guaviare, Atabapo and Inírida rivers meet. Image courtesy of Camilo Díaz for WWF Colombia.

The guardians of the Amazon who work without pay — or fear

Rhett Ayers Butler 7 Jul 2025

Sandhya Sekar in Kerala, India in 2025; Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler.

From intern to Mongabay India director in less than 4 years: Sandhya Sekar’s journey

Rhett Ayers Butler 3 Jul 2025

Mikayla Raines. Photo courtesy of Save a Fox Rescue

Mikayla Raines, YouTuber who rescued unwanted foxes, died on June 20th, aged 30

Rhett Ayers Butler 29 Jun 2025

Locals pass wild elephants on a farmland in northeastern Bangladesh.

Bangladesh plans new reserve for trapped elephants

Rhett Ayers Butler 27 Jun 2025

Author Kim Stanley Robinson on climate fiction & navigating the climate crisis

Rhett Ayers Butler 26 Jun 2025

Pangolins curl into a ball as part of their self-defense, with scales acting as armor to protect their body. The WJC report estimates that the 370 tons of pangolin scales seized between 2015 and 2024 represent between 100,000 and a million pangolins.

The illegal trade in ivory and pangolin scales has fallen sharply since COVID-19. But for how long?

Rhett Ayers Butler 26 Jun 2025

A river in the Amazon rainforest interior of Suriname. Photo credit: Rhett Ayers Butler.

Half a million hectares of rainforest were saved — in part thanks to journalism

Rhett Ayers Butler 24 Jun 2025

Maruti Chitampalli. Screenshot courtesy of Wildlife of Vidarbha

Maruti Bhujangrao Chitampalli, sage of the forest, died on June 18th, aged 93

Rhett Ayers Butler 23 Jun 2025

Rediscovering the biodiversity of India’s Siang Valley

Rhett Ayers Butler 23 Jun 2025

Ridzki in Jambi in 2022. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler.

How Mongabay Indonesia grew into a trusted environmental voice

Rhett Ayers Butler 20 Jun 2025

Split shot in the waters of San Benedicto, Mexico. Credit: Enric Sala/National Geographic Pristine Seas

The ocean is in crisis. A new effort is betting on coastal communities to save it.

Rhett Ayers Butler 19 Jun 2025

Udzungwa endemic Sanje mangabey. Image courtesy Trevor Jones.

Protecting Tanzania’s Udzungwa Mountains means putting communities at the center of conservation

Rhett Ayers Butler 18 Jun 2025

Rwanda’s crowned cranes make a remarkable comeback

Rhett Ayers Butler 17 Jun 2025

The elkhorn coral that comprises most of the Cocalito reef used to be one of the most dominant coral species in the Caribbean.

The reef that shouldn’t exist

Rhett Ayers Butler 17 Jun 2025

Dami Tateburuk sits in the Malinggai Uma Tradisional Mentawai house.

Mentawai’s primates are vanishing. One hunter is trying to save them.

Rhett Ayers Butler 9 Jun 2025

M Marika. Courtesy of the Rirratjiŋu Aboriginal Corporation

M Marika, custodian of Yolŋu land and culture, died on June 4th, aged 64

Rhett Ayers Butler 9 Jun 2025

A Bornean orangutan. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.

A new report lists the world’s 25 most endangered primates. Most people have never heard of them.

Rhett Ayers Butler 4 Jun 2025

What does it take to expose 67 illegal airstrips in the Amazon? A year of reporting — and the trust of local communities

Rhett Ayers Butler 2 Jun 2025

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Soldiers from the PROLANSATE Foundation on patrol

Logging operation in Sweden. Image courtesy of Marcus Westberg.

The last photo taken between Rhett Butler and Jane Goodall--who shared a friendship for nearly 15 years--at the Forbes Sustainability Leadership Summit. Photo by Sofia Negron.

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