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In the Amazon, law enforcement against environmental crime remains controversial

Timothy J. Killeen 22 Dec 2025
A woman gathers plants along the banks of the Mekong River while a child plays in the background. Water levels of the mighty Mekong River have dropped drastically due to drought-like conditions and damming upstream. The drop disrupts the region’s water supply, transport routes, and the livelihood of communities in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that more than one billion people will face water shortages due to climate change. Credit: © Greenpeace / Vinai Dithajohn

New mapping reveals hidden mining boom in Laos that threatens the Mekong

Andy Ball, Gerald Flynn, Konlaphat Siri 10 Dec 2025

In Chocó, river defenders say race for energy transition threatens lifelines

Euan Wallace 8 Dec 2025
Satellite imagery from February 2025 shows the transformation of the landscape at Global Green's gold mine, which is believed to be contaminating the O'Ta Bouk River. Image provided by Google Earth, Maxar Technologies.

Toxic runoff from politically linked gold mine poisons Cambodian rivers, communities

Andy Ball, Gerald Flynn, Phoung Vantha 24 Nov 2025

What’s at stake for the environment in Chile’s upcoming election?

Maxwell Radwin 13 Nov 2025
Watcharakon Jatoenpun, AKA Sprite, showed reporters the expansive maize farms he works on in Mae Cham district, where seasonal air pollution is tied to agricultural burning. Image by Gerald Flynn / Mongabay.

Karen community fighting corn and coal for clean air in northern Thailand

Gerald Flynn 6 Nov 2025

Suriname’s plan to capitalize on carbon: Q&A with President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons

Maxwell Radwin 4 Nov 2025
Leaching ponds have been drilled into the mountains of Laos, using a mix of toxic chemicals to separate the rare earth minerals from the other materials siphoned out of the ground. Image supplied by source.

Rare earth mining expands into Laos, threatening entire Mekong River

Mongabay 27 Oct 2025
Cerro Rico mountain above the city of Potosí, Bolivia.

In the heart of Bolivia, the mountain that financed an empire risks collapsing

Benjamin Swift 22 Oct 2025
Flowing from Myanmar into Thailand, the Kok River carries toxic runoff from rare earth mines into Chiang Mai province. Image supplied by Brian Eyler.

More Thai rivers and downstream communities at risk from Myanmar’s rare earth mines

Mongabay 20 Oct 2025

Peru considers stripping protections for Indigenous people and their territories

Maxwell Radwin 13 Oct 2025
Amazon rainforest in Ecuador. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler

MPs across Latin America unite to stop fossil fuels in the Amazon

Mie Hoejris Dahl 9 Oct 2025
In just a few months, Global Green have cleared vast swathes of forest in Prey Lang, opening the northern section of the wildlife sanctuary up to more potential deforestation. Image by Gerald Flynn / Mongabay.

Protected areas hit hard as Mekong countries’ forest cover shrank in 2024

Gerald Flynn 6 Oct 2025
The Mae Moh power plant in northern Thailand's Lampang province is a significant contributor to air pollution and has sickened residents across Mae Moh district. Image by Gerald Flynn / Mongabay.

Anguish for residents as Thailand’s most polluting coal plant gets new lease of life

Gerald Flynn 1 Oct 2025
Venezuela Oil License

Venezuela tries an environmental rebrand, but critics aren’t buying it

Maxwell Radwin 19 Aug 2025

What’s at stake for the environment in Bolivia’s upcoming elections?

Maxwell Radwin 15 Aug 2025
mining equipment on fire

Cross-border operation cracks down on environmental crimes in the Amazon

Mie Hoejris Dahl 6 Aug 2025

Centralized governance in the Guianas and economic legacy

Timothy J. Killeen 1 Aug 2025
Miners work at a legal mining concession in Huaypetue, Madre de Dios, Peru. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Mexico’s rising mercury trade fuels toxic gold mining in Latin America: Report

Maxwell Radwin 30 Jul 2025
Illegal and unregulated gold mining in the La Pampa area near Puerto Maldonado, Peru. Photo courtesy Jason Houston/Upper Amazon Conservancy.

In the Andes, decentralization fails to address environmental harm

Timothy J. Killeen 17 Jul 2025
A woman chants slogans during a march towards the Palace of Justice during the celebrations of "La Pachamama," or Mother Earth Day in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023. The group´s protest that coincides with “La Pachamama Day” is also directed against a provincial constitutional reform they claim is an attempt against their ancestral rights to lands that the state aims to use for lithium mining. (AP Photo/R

In Latin America, energy transition stirs a rise in human rights lawsuits

Aimee Gabay 4 Jul 2025

Private financing for Argentina’s lithium is anything but green, critics say

Maxwell Radwin 1 Jul 2025

Nicaragua government tied to illegal land invasions in wildlife refuge, documents suggest

Maxwell Radwin 26 Jun 2025

In the Brazilian Amazon, sustainability policies clash with development goals

Timothy J. Killeen 20 Jun 2025
Sakda Khayankitphuanphon took reporters into the old mining tunnels to see the fluorite that Universal Mining seeks to extract from the mountains. Image by Gerald Flynn / Mongabay.

Mining company returns to haunt Thailand’s Karen communities as resistance mounts

Gerald Flynn 4 Jun 2025

What’s at stake for the environment in Suriname’s upcoming elections?

Maxwell Radwin 23 May 2025
Cambodian journalist Ouk Mao has faced physical and legal threats for his continued reporting on environmental crimes in Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary. Image by Nehru Pry / Mongabay.

Attacks on Cambodian environmental journalist continue to pile up

Gerald Flynn, Nehru Pry 12 May 2025
An aerial view of mining operations run by KP Cement, Vantage Mining and others inside Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary in October 2023. Image by Gerald Flynn / Mongabay.

Cement factory approved inside Cambodia’s Prey Lang sanctuary despite mining ban

Gerald Flynn 28 Apr 2025
A flamingo in Salar de Uyuni, southwestern Bolivia.

Bolivian communities push back against foreign-backed lithium projects

Carla Ruas 17 Apr 2025
Susana Muhamad interacts with an Indigenous representative.

Colombia’s green transition should be inclusive: Interview with Susana Muhamad, former environment minister

Mie Hoejris Dahl 8 Apr 2025

Lithium Triangle mining may strain water sources more than expected, study says

Maxwell Radwin 4 Apr 2025

Colombia creates landmark territory to protect uncontacted Indigenous groups

Maxwell Radwin 27 Mar 2025

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