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Environmental science and conservation news
By Gregory McCann [2023-10-02]

Indonesia’s peatland restoration claims in question as fires flare up
By Hans Nicholas Jong [2023-10-02]
JAKARTA — Swaths of tropical peatland that were supposed to have been restored and protected from burning are among the fire-hit areas in Indonesia’s ongoing dry season, raising questions about the government’s claims of success in peat restoration. The Ministry of Environment and Forestry said more than 300 companies had restored some 3.7 million hectares […]
Conservationists urge caution as Nepal to gift more rhinos to China
By Abhaya Raj Joshi [2023-09-30]
KATHMANDU — As Nepal commits to gifting two more greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) to China, conservationists have called on authorities to exercise caution while selecting individual animals for the purpose. The decision to gift the rhinos was made during Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s visit to Beijing this week. “The Nepali side pledged […]
Rechargeable battery industry needs better mining regulations, report says
By Maxwell Radwin [2023-09-29]
Rechargeable batteries have an important role to play in the fight against climate change, especially when it comes to lowering greenhouse gas emissions through the transition to electric vehicles. It’s one reason the rechargeable battery market is expected to grow to over $180 billion by 2030. But the transition minerals that go into those batteries […]
Bolloré blacklisted over alleged rights violations on plantations in Africa and Asia
By Victoria Schneider [2023-09-29]
Some of Switzerland’s largest pension funds have placed French logistics giant Bolloré SE on a blacklist. The Swiss Association for Responsible Investments (SVVK-ASIR) decided its members should no longer invest in Bolloré after it failed to act to resolve accusations of land-grabbing, environmental damage and complicity in human rights violations on oil palm and rubber […]
As climate change hits the Turkish coast, more marine reserves are needed (commentary)
By Funda Kök [2023-09-29]
Growing up, I lived in Ankara, far away from the coast, but the best time of year for me was always the summer months when I would travel to the south with my family to camp and spend time in nature. We loved enjoying the sea on the Mediterranean coast and I remember how rich […]
Return of the wolf to Nepal’s Himalayas may threaten snow leopards
By Abhaya Raj Joshi [2023-09-29]
KATHMANDU — On the slopes of the Himalayas in Nepal, a primeval scene plays out routinely, far from human eyes: a snow leopard lies in wait for its prey, its thick white-gray coat with large black rosettes serving as the perfect camouflage in this craggy terrain. When it senses the opportune moment, it pounces, aiming […]
Habitat loss drove long-tailed macaques extinct in Bangladesh, experts say
By Rafiqul Islam [2023-09-29]
DHAKA — Experts point to habitat loss from a wide range of factors as the main reason the long-tailed macaque, one of the most widely distributed monkey species in the world, has gone extinct from Bangladesh. The mangrove forests of the southern district of Cox’s Bazar once constituted the northernmost reach of the species’ range […]
Vietnamese environmentalist sentenced to 3 years in prison for tax evasion
By Mongabay.com [2023-09-28]
Hoang Thi Minh Hong, the prominent Vietnamese environmentalist, was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of tax evasion at the end of a brief trial in Ho Chi Minh City on Sept. 28. Members of the diplomatic community who attempted to attend the trial were denied access. Hong, who is an Obama Foundation […]
Sumatran province hangs on for late rain as El Niño fires bring heat and sickness
By Mongabay Haze Beat [2023-09-28]
New acute respiratory infections in Indonesia’s Palembang city, on the island of Sumatra, are on track to surpass the total number recorded there in 2022, as firefighters scramble to confront wildfires brought on by this year’s El Niño dry season. The health department in Palembang, the capital of South Sumatra province, said health workers in […]
Mother Nature Cambodia’s ‘relentless’ activism earns Right Livelihood Award
By Gerald Flynn [2023-09-28]
PHNOM PENH — Mother Nature Cambodia, one of the country’s most prominent environmental activism groups, was named one of Right Livelihood’s 2023 laureates on Sept. 28, making it the first group of Cambodians recognized in the award’s 43-year history. Born out of a refusal from the Nobel Foundation to issue awards recognizing changemakers who champion […]
Forest restoration can fare better with human helping hand, study shows
By Jeremy Hance [2023-09-28]
An experiment in Malaysian Borneo found that the more species of tree seedlings planted in a previously logged plot, the more the result later resembles an old-growth forest, with greater biomass and forest complexity.
Salinity hinders Bangladesh agriculture; groups respond with seeds & information
By Abu Siddique [2023-09-28]
Salinity intrusion triggered by different factors, including sea-level rise, commercial shrimp cultivation, and decreased upstream transboundary water flow, have directly affected agriculture in Bangladesh’s southern coastal districts in Bangladesh, some of which are also major producers of rice, the national staple. Bangladesh is the fourth-highest rice-producing country in the world, producing around 39 million tons […]
On Jakarta’s vanishing shoreline, climate change seen abetting child marriages
By Maulia Inka Vira Fadilla [2023-09-28]
JAKARTA — Every morning, sisters Janah and Jaroh rise early on the diminishing coastline of Indonesia’s capital city and pray for calm weather and good fortune. At around 9 a.m., the pair wait on the shoreline with other women and girls as the fishing boats return to Jakarta’s northern Kalibaru neighborhood. Kalibaru’s waterfront lies just […]
Barely making it: A conversation with ‘Eight Bears’ author Gloria Dickie
By Mike DiGirolamo [2023-09-27]
Journalist Gloria Dickie has been traveling the world documenting the status of every bear species, many of which she says face a “tough future.” Her chronicles of these charismatic ursine individuals can be read in her new book, Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future. Notable conservation success stories, such as that of the giant […]
New online map tracks threats to uncontacted Indigenous peoples in Brazil’s Amazon
By Sarah Brown [2023-09-27]
RIO DE JANEIRO — Monitoring the threats that uncontacted traditional peoples face in the Brazilian Amazon is set to become easier for Indigenous rights activists and agencies, thanks to a new software tool developed by three Indigenous organizations and made available online in September. Mopi is an online interactive map that gathers a mix of […]
Infrastructure in the Pan Amazon: Public-private partnerships
By Timothy J. Killeen [2023-09-27]
The concessionaire system in Peru is managed by the Organismo Supervisor de la Inversión en Infraestructura de Transporte de Uso Público (OSITRAN), which oversees investments in transportation infrastructure, while the electrical system is administered by the Organismo Supervisor de la Inversión en Energia y Minería (OSINERGMIN). Both of these regulatory agencies supervise joint ventures that […]
From rat-ridden to reserve, Redonda is an island restoration role model
By Elizabeth Claire Alberts [2023-09-27]
Seven years ago, Redonda, a volcanic island in the Caribbean Sea, resembled the moon’s surface: a dusty, debris-covered, barren terrain. The island, which is part of Antigua and Barbuda, had once been mined for guano, seabird excrement used for fertilizer. However, mining operations on Redonda ceased around the start of World War I, and when […]
From Orinoco to Amazon, Indigenous Warao struggle in search of refuge
By João Paulo Guimarães [2023-09-27]
Long before the European conquest of the Americas, the Warao Indigenous people, originally from the Orinoco Delta in what is today northeastern Venezuela, lived off nature, supporting themselves by fishing and farming. In recent years, however, they have suffered, like all Venezuelans, the direct impacts of the economic crisis caused by oil price uncertainty and […]
Experts slam massive ‘discount’ in fines for Indonesian palm oil billionaire
By Hans Nicholas Jong [2023-09-27]
JAKARTA — Experts have slammed a court ruling that significantly slashes the fines imposed on Indonesian palm oil billionaire Surya Darmadi, even as it increased his jail sentence, in the biggest corruption case in the country’s history. The Supreme Court, Indonesia’s highest court of appeals, ruled in a Sept. 14 decision to uphold Surya’s earlier conviction […]
Features
Conservation news
Environmental science and conservation news
By Gregory McCann [2023-10-02]

Indonesia’s peatland restoration claims in question as fires flare up
By Hans Nicholas Jong [2023-10-02]
JAKARTA — Swaths of tropical peatland that were supposed to have been restored and protected from burning are among the fire-hit areas in Indonesia’s ongoing dry season, raising questions about the government’s claims of success in peat restoration. The Ministry of Environment and Forestry said more than 300 companies had restored some 3.7 million hectares […]
Conservationists urge caution as Nepal to gift more rhinos to China
By Abhaya Raj Joshi [2023-09-30]
KATHMANDU — As Nepal commits to gifting two more greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis) to China, conservationists have called on authorities to exercise caution while selecting individual animals for the purpose. The decision to gift the rhinos was made during Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s visit to Beijing this week. “The Nepali side pledged […]
Rechargeable battery industry needs better mining regulations, report says
By Maxwell Radwin [2023-09-29]
Rechargeable batteries have an important role to play in the fight against climate change, especially when it comes to lowering greenhouse gas emissions through the transition to electric vehicles. It’s one reason the rechargeable battery market is expected to grow to over $180 billion by 2030. But the transition minerals that go into those batteries […]
Bolloré blacklisted over alleged rights violations on plantations in Africa and Asia
By Victoria Schneider [2023-09-29]
Some of Switzerland’s largest pension funds have placed French logistics giant Bolloré SE on a blacklist. The Swiss Association for Responsible Investments (SVVK-ASIR) decided its members should no longer invest in Bolloré after it failed to act to resolve accusations of land-grabbing, environmental damage and complicity in human rights violations on oil palm and rubber […]
As climate change hits the Turkish coast, more marine reserves are needed (commentary)
By Funda Kök [2023-09-29]
Growing up, I lived in Ankara, far away from the coast, but the best time of year for me was always the summer months when I would travel to the south with my family to camp and spend time in nature. We loved enjoying the sea on the Mediterranean coast and I remember how rich […]
Return of the wolf to Nepal’s Himalayas may threaten snow leopards
By Abhaya Raj Joshi [2023-09-29]
KATHMANDU — On the slopes of the Himalayas in Nepal, a primeval scene plays out routinely, far from human eyes: a snow leopard lies in wait for its prey, its thick white-gray coat with large black rosettes serving as the perfect camouflage in this craggy terrain. When it senses the opportune moment, it pounces, aiming […]
Habitat loss drove long-tailed macaques extinct in Bangladesh, experts say
By Rafiqul Islam [2023-09-29]
DHAKA — Experts point to habitat loss from a wide range of factors as the main reason the long-tailed macaque, one of the most widely distributed monkey species in the world, has gone extinct from Bangladesh. The mangrove forests of the southern district of Cox’s Bazar once constituted the northernmost reach of the species’ range […]
Vietnamese environmentalist sentenced to 3 years in prison for tax evasion
By Mongabay.com [2023-09-28]
Hoang Thi Minh Hong, the prominent Vietnamese environmentalist, was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of tax evasion at the end of a brief trial in Ho Chi Minh City on Sept. 28. Members of the diplomatic community who attempted to attend the trial were denied access. Hong, who is an Obama Foundation […]
Sumatran province hangs on for late rain as El Niño fires bring heat and sickness
By Mongabay Haze Beat [2023-09-28]
New acute respiratory infections in Indonesia’s Palembang city, on the island of Sumatra, are on track to surpass the total number recorded there in 2022, as firefighters scramble to confront wildfires brought on by this year’s El Niño dry season. The health department in Palembang, the capital of South Sumatra province, said health workers in […]
Mother Nature Cambodia’s ‘relentless’ activism earns Right Livelihood Award
By Gerald Flynn [2023-09-28]
PHNOM PENH — Mother Nature Cambodia, one of the country’s most prominent environmental activism groups, was named one of Right Livelihood’s 2023 laureates on Sept. 28, making it the first group of Cambodians recognized in the award’s 43-year history. Born out of a refusal from the Nobel Foundation to issue awards recognizing changemakers who champion […]
Forest restoration can fare better with human helping hand, study shows
By Jeremy Hance [2023-09-28]
An experiment in Malaysian Borneo found that the more species of tree seedlings planted in a previously logged plot, the more the result later resembles an old-growth forest, with greater biomass and forest complexity.
Salinity hinders Bangladesh agriculture; groups respond with seeds & information
By Abu Siddique [2023-09-28]
Salinity intrusion triggered by different factors, including sea-level rise, commercial shrimp cultivation, and decreased upstream transboundary water flow, have directly affected agriculture in Bangladesh’s southern coastal districts in Bangladesh, some of which are also major producers of rice, the national staple. Bangladesh is the fourth-highest rice-producing country in the world, producing around 39 million tons […]
On Jakarta’s vanishing shoreline, climate change seen abetting child marriages
By Maulia Inka Vira Fadilla [2023-09-28]
JAKARTA — Every morning, sisters Janah and Jaroh rise early on the diminishing coastline of Indonesia’s capital city and pray for calm weather and good fortune. At around 9 a.m., the pair wait on the shoreline with other women and girls as the fishing boats return to Jakarta’s northern Kalibaru neighborhood. Kalibaru’s waterfront lies just […]
Barely making it: A conversation with ‘Eight Bears’ author Gloria Dickie
By Mike DiGirolamo [2023-09-27]
Journalist Gloria Dickie has been traveling the world documenting the status of every bear species, many of which she says face a “tough future.” Her chronicles of these charismatic ursine individuals can be read in her new book, Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future. Notable conservation success stories, such as that of the giant […]
New online map tracks threats to uncontacted Indigenous peoples in Brazil’s Amazon
By Sarah Brown [2023-09-27]
RIO DE JANEIRO — Monitoring the threats that uncontacted traditional peoples face in the Brazilian Amazon is set to become easier for Indigenous rights activists and agencies, thanks to a new software tool developed by three Indigenous organizations and made available online in September. Mopi is an online interactive map that gathers a mix of […]
Infrastructure in the Pan Amazon: Public-private partnerships
By Timothy J. Killeen [2023-09-27]
The concessionaire system in Peru is managed by the Organismo Supervisor de la Inversión en Infraestructura de Transporte de Uso Público (OSITRAN), which oversees investments in transportation infrastructure, while the electrical system is administered by the Organismo Supervisor de la Inversión en Energia y Minería (OSINERGMIN). Both of these regulatory agencies supervise joint ventures that […]
From rat-ridden to reserve, Redonda is an island restoration role model
By Elizabeth Claire Alberts [2023-09-27]
Seven years ago, Redonda, a volcanic island in the Caribbean Sea, resembled the moon’s surface: a dusty, debris-covered, barren terrain. The island, which is part of Antigua and Barbuda, had once been mined for guano, seabird excrement used for fertilizer. However, mining operations on Redonda ceased around the start of World War I, and when […]
From Orinoco to Amazon, Indigenous Warao struggle in search of refuge
By João Paulo Guimarães [2023-09-27]
Long before the European conquest of the Americas, the Warao Indigenous people, originally from the Orinoco Delta in what is today northeastern Venezuela, lived off nature, supporting themselves by fishing and farming. In recent years, however, they have suffered, like all Venezuelans, the direct impacts of the economic crisis caused by oil price uncertainty and […]
Experts slam massive ‘discount’ in fines for Indonesian palm oil billionaire
By Hans Nicholas Jong [2023-09-27]
JAKARTA — Experts have slammed a court ruling that significantly slashes the fines imposed on Indonesian palm oil billionaire Surya Darmadi, even as it increased his jail sentence, in the biggest corruption case in the country’s history. The Supreme Court, Indonesia’s highest court of appeals, ruled in a Sept. 14 decision to uphold Surya’s earlier conviction […]
Wildtech news
Wildtech
Technology for Conservation
By Julia John [2016-09-08]

Hot stuff: improving chili fence effectiveness (in protecting crops from elephants)
By Sue Palminteri [2016-09-07]
Some tips from a chili fence expert on how to make the most of a low-tech approach to reducing crop raiding and retaliatory killing of elephants
Solving Global Grand Challenges, One MOOC at a Time
By Taylor Robb-McCord [2016-08-12]
A new online course aims to address the complex challenges facing conservation and development.
Understanding the ghost of the mountain
By Julia John [2016-08-10]
The grayish-white form of the ghost of the mountain slinks through the snowcapped slopes of Central Asia. Its remote, harsh habitat, cryptic coat and elusive nature have impeded investigation and made monitoring the snow leopard (Panthera uncia) arduous, if not impossible. Technological advances, however, are changing that. New population estimates for the big cat, based […]
How to use the Bloomberg Terminal for advocacy work: advanced tools
By Dan Williams [2016-08-08]
Other stories in Mongabay’s series on using the Bloomberg Terminal in advocacy work: Part 1: How to use the Bloomberg Terminal for advocacy work: the basics Part 2: Tracking assets for environmental advocacy work with Bloomberg The previous two articles in this three-part series detailed some of the basic functions of the Bloomberg Terminal — […]
Identifying the drivers of Amazon deforestation through high-tech maps and stories
By Suzanne Palminteri [2016-08-05]
The MAAP project integrates a range of satellite imagery and analysis tools to detect and disclose deforestation across the Peruvian Amazon.
DART-TOFMS: Finding the chemistry in wood
By Taylor Robb-McCord [2016-08-03]
Earlier this summer, members of the Forest Legality Alliance (FLA) gathered in Washington, DC for their Semi-Annual Membership Meeting. As a precursor to the upcoming CITES COP17 meeting in September, the FLA member meeting focused on issues pertaining to illegally traded CITES-listed timber species, proposals to add new timber species to the CITES list and […]
Chew on this new way to detect disease in primates
By Julia John [2016-07-28]
Preoccupied with snipping a saliva-soaked plant part with a scalpel and placing it in a little tube of viral transport media, veterinary epidemiologist Tierra Smiley Evans thought she was alone, backed up against a big bush. But someone was watching close by with beady eyes. Suddenly, a shaggy black arm darted under her armpit and […]
Piloting PALM Risk to detect palm oil-driven deforestation
By Julia John [2016-07-20]
What do lipstick, detergent and instant noodles have in common? They all contain palm oil. Half of every packaged product stocking supermarket shelves can be traced back to a ruthless army of oil palm trees rapidly occupying land that naturally supported rich tropical forests. Palm oil production razes and replaces biologically diverse ecosystems with monospecific […]
Wildlife Law Enforcement in Sub-Saharan African Protected Areas: A Review of Best Practices
By Taylor Robb-McCord [2016-07-15]
“Across Africa, illegal killing and trade in wildlife, especially of iconic species such as elephants and rhinos, has now reached crisis proportions. Illicit wildlife trafficking now comprises the fourth largest illegal trade internationally after arms and drugs trafficking, and trafficking in human beings. In recent years, tens of thousands of elephants have been killed every […]
New map of Malaysia’s limestone hills will help set conservation priorities
By Mike Gaworecki [2016-07-11]
Malaysia’s limestone hills, or karsts, have been described as “arks of biodiversity,” but they’re facing intense pressures from mining and other human activities. Limestone is a vital resource for the construction industry, meaning it is not likely that forest degradation and quarrying in a developing country like Malaysia, where 445 limestone hills have been recorded […]
GDELT: Mining and mapping global wildlife crime news
By Julia John [2016-07-07]
In the eighth grade, at an age most boys spend their time outside school watching sports and playing videogames, Kalev Leetaru was delving into large-scale web mining and founding his first web company. With his continued interest in investigating enormous amounts of data two decades since, he now heads the GDELT Project, a massive open-data platform that analyzes news media […]
Bringing Star Trek tricorder analysis to the 21st century
By Hina Alam [2016-07-04]
Handheld, palm-sized, lightweight DNA preparation and sequencing devices are coming your way soon.
Bridging the Gap between Land and Space
By Taylor Robb-McCord [2016-07-01]
The United Nations/Kenya Conference on Space Technology and Applications for Wildlife Management and Protecting Biodiversity aims to expand the use of space technology in conservation.
5 Tech Projects That Are Protecting Sharks
By Taylor Robb-McCord [2016-06-30]
Annually, approximately 100 million sharks are killed by commercial fisheries. Coupled with climate change and a decrease of food supply from overfishing, some shark populations are teetering on the edge of extinction. Bringing sharks into mainstream media, the brainchild of the Discovery Channel and the longest running cable TV program, Shark Week has aired every […]
A World of Tings
By Taylor Robb-McCord [2016-06-28]
The real-time wildlife sighting app, Latest Sightings, can help to link a global community of wildlife enthusiasts and promote conservation one “ting” at a time.
Combining high-tech and low-tech to turn satellite images into action
By Nathan Hahn [2016-06-24]
Dr. Lilian Pintea, Vice President of conservation science at the Jane Goodall Institute. Photo courtesy of JGI/Jeff Kerby.Since its founding, the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) has been on the forefront of conservation science, and in recent years the group has been applying remote sensing, mobile phone technologies, and cloud-based mapping tools to its forest and […]
Drink beer, help the ocean?
By Julia John [2016-06-14]
Beer may have a bad rep among carb-fearing ab-chiseling fitness fans, but it could now be better for the environment than it was before. Well, at least the new kind packaged using edible six-pack rings from south Florida’s Saltwater Brewery. This Delray Beach microbrewery north of Miami, Florida, just launched the first ever 100% compostable […]
e-Eye of the tiger: Complex surveillance system extends watch over India’s wildlife sanctuaries
By Julia John [2016-06-10]
A new set of eyes is keeping watch over tiger reserves across India. They’re electronic, but they seem to have hawk-like observational faculties. And they may be related to how the country’s tiger population increased from 1,706 in 2010, one year before this digital monitoring system was first implemented, to 2,226 in 2014, the last […]
Tracking assets for environmental advocacy work with Bloomberg
By Dan Williams [2016-06-09]
Other stories in Mongabay’s series on using the Bloomberg Terminal in advocacy work: Part 1: How to use the Bloomberg Terminal for advocacy work: the basics Part 3: How to use the Bloomberg Terminal for advocacy work: advanced tools The Bloomberg Terminal is Windows-based proprietary software that offers users real-time access to global news sources, financial […]