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.

Sir David Attenborough By BBC - Passion Planet

At 100, David Attenborough’s message is no longer just about wonder

Rhett Ayers Butler 5 May 2026

Story over a Fijian island. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler

Who actually uses environmental journalism — and why it matters

Rhett Ayers Butler 27 Feb 2026

Rainbow over Borneo. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler

Letters to the future from journalism’s next generation

Rhett Ayers Butler 26 Feb 2026

Redwoods in Thornewood Open Space Preserve in Woodside, California. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler

Measuring what works in conservation

Rhett Ayers Butler 24 Feb 2026

Smoke from a fire in Far North Queensland, Australia. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

After logging bans, Australia turns to “forest thinning”. Does it reduce fire risk?

Rhett Ayers Butler 23 Feb 2026

Rain over the Amazon. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler

The Amazon’s most valuable export isn’t timber — it’s rain

Rhett Ayers Butler 19 Feb 2026

Atoll

Coral bleaching: How warming seas are transforming the world’s reefs

Rhett Ayers Butler 18 Feb 2026

Satellite image of the eastern part of the Cape York Peninsula in Australia. Courtesy of Earthstar Geographics SIO / Microsoft maps

Scientists can’t agree on where the world’s forests are

Rhett Ayers Butler 17 Feb 2026

Rainforest in Brunei in 2025. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler

Forests don’t just store carbon. They keep people alive, scientists say

Rhett Ayers Butler 13 Feb 2026

Aerial view of mangroves, coral reef, palm trees, and forest in Raja Ampat. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler

The business case for biodiversity

Rhett Ayers Butler 12 Feb 2026

Why a healthy information ecosystem matters

Rhett Ayers Butler 10 Feb 2026

Kathy Jefferson Bancroft

Kathy Jefferson Bancroft, guardian of a stolen lake

Rhett Ayers Butler 6 Feb 2026

A fawn sprints across a road as the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, burns in Plumas National Forest, Calif., July 8, 2021. Photo credit: AP Photo/Noah Berger

What is lost when environmental coverage is cut

Rhett Ayers Butler 6 Feb 2026

NOAA’s GOES East satellite captured long, parallel bands of clouds called horizontal convective rolls on Feb 1, 2026.

NOAA’s satellites capture extreme cold in striking detail

Rhett Ayers Butler 5 Feb 2026

Coral reef, Tioman Island

Malaysia lost 20% of its coral reefs in three years

Rhett Ayers Butler 5 Feb 2026

Dave Collins holds a Yellow-bellied Slider (Trachemys scripta), a local turtle whose populations are doing just fine in the Eastern US. Photo by Liz Kimbrough for Mongabay.

A last refuge for turtles on the brink

Rhett Ayers Butler 5 Feb 2026

Rainforest in Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler.

Getting forest restoration right

Rhett Ayers Butler 3 Feb 2026

Fire in Humaitá, Amazonas state, Brazil in August 2022. Photo © Christian Braga / Greenpeace

When nature becomes a security risk

Rhett Ayers Butler 2 Feb 2026

Division in April 2023/04/09. Photo credit: New England Aquarium

Division’s final journey

Rhett Ayers Butler 1 Feb 2026

Journalist Christ Belseran with traditional leaders of the Upau Tribe who inhabit the South Seram region, Central Maluku Regency, Maluku. Photo courtesy of titastory.id

Christ Jacob Belseran wins the Oktovianus Pogau Award for courage in journalism

Rhett Ayers Butler 31 Jan 2026

Redwood forest in Big Basin, California. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler

On Mongabay’s legacy

Rhett Ayers Butler 30 Jan 2026

Australia’s land-use squeeze

Rhett Ayers Butler 29 Jan 2026

Tapir in Brazil. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler

Brazil sets out its strategy for nature

Rhett Ayers Butler 28 Jan 2026

José Zanardini, the priest who tried to reconcile faith and Indigenous autonomy

Rhett Ayers Butler 26 Jan 2026

Francis Hallé. Photo by Thomas Samson / AFP

Francis Hallé, the botanist who took a raft into the rainforest canopy

Rhett Ayers Butler 22 Jan 2026

A new treaty comes into force to govern life on the high seas

Rhett Ayers Butler 17 Jan 2026

A North Atlantic right whale with calf. Image via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

North Atlantic right whale births increase

Rhett Ayers Butler 13 Jan 2026

Demetrio carrying out monitoring tasks. Image courtesy of Richar Antonio Demetrio.

When Indigenous knowledge enters the scientific record

Rhett Ayers Butler 12 Jan 2026

Product of the women's keeping initiative. Photo credit: Felipe Rodriguez

Conservation’s unfinished business

Rhett Ayers Butler 12 Jan 2026

Bob Weir. From his website.

Bob Weir, a musician who took the environment seriously

Rhett Ayers Butler 11 Jan 2026

The Amazon rainforest. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler.

The climate fight may not be won in the Amazon, but it can be lost there

Rhett Ayers Butler 5 Jan 2026

Biologist kidnapped in Mexico

Rhett Ayers Butler 4 Jan 2026

Craig. Photo by Cristina Mittermeier

What Craig’s long life reveals about elephant conservation

Rhett Ayers Butler 3 Jan 2026

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