Today is Jane Goodall Day. Her movement continues.
April 3 now carries a different kind of weight. It was always Jane Goodall’s birthday. Now it is also a marker—a point in the year when people are asked not…
Environment News
Talks to reduce funding for overfishing remain stalled at WTO meeting
Governments across the world have pledged to re-ignite stalled “Fish Two” negotiations and finalize the second part of a long-sought agreement to curb harmful fishing subsidies by mid-2028. The commitment…
Green and gray: Mangroves and dikes show potential in protecting shorelines together
With their dense mats of submerged roots, mangrove forests hold down shorelines worldwide like a coastal Swiss Army knife. They’re a nursery for juvenile fish and a home for important…
How underinvesting in information threatens our collective well-being
This essay is adapted from the article, "Information as Civic Infrastructure—and How Philanthropy Can Support the Ecosystem," which was originally published in Nonprofit Quarterly on March 3, 2026. Philanthropy has…
Linda Dakin-Grimm and Geo Chen join Mongabay’s board as it expands global coverage
Mongabay is pleased to announce that Linda Dakin-Grimm and Geo Chen have joined its board of directors, strengthening its capacity to advance its mission of producing high-impact environmental journalism. Dakin-Grimm…
Ethiopian women plant trees, restoring lands & livelihoods
In the southern Ethiopian region of Sidama, unsustainable farming practices and tree cutting for fuel are causing land degradation. In response, members of the Integrated Women’s Development Organization are planting…
American Samoa said ‘no’ to deep sea mining, Washington heard ‘faster’ (commentary)
At 7:45 a.m. one recent January day in American Samoa, a delegation from Greenpeace and Pacific Island partners sat in a small radio studio explaining why we had traveled thousands…
A ‘big book’ documenting Cameroon’s sharks & rays fills critical conservation gap
BUEA, Cameroon — To his fishing peers, Ojah Alfred, 45, is a fisher like they are. But to Cameroon’s scientific community, he is also a scientist — a citizen scientist.…
‘Sharing is off the table’ as drought reshapes the culture of Ethiopia’s pastoralists
JIJIGA, Ethiopia — The land here used to speak. At dawn in Kebribeyah district, Somali Regional State, eastern Ethiopia, the plains stretch wide beneath a pale sky, with dusty shades…
State fishing village plan in Indonesian Papua sparks Indigenous opposition
Indigenous leaders in Indonesia’s South Papua province have rejected a government plan to build a state-backed fishing settlement on their ancestral land, highlighting growing tensions between national development programs and…
What ‘paper parks’ reveal about the limits of conservation policy (commentary)
Conservation has no shortage of ambitious policy. Marine protected areas now cover roughly 8% of the world’s oceans. Protected lands account for nearly a fifth of the planet’s terrestrial surface.…
Indonesia reviews firms in river basins after latest floods affect 7% of Bornean province
BANJAR, Indonesia – Indonesia’s government continues to review mines and plantations in the river basins of southern Borneo, months after more than 7% of the population there was impacted by…
With high seas treaty in place, West African countries plan for protected area
With the High Seas Treaty coming into force in January, efforts to establish protected areas in the marine spaces that lie beyond countries’ jurisdiction are gaining momentum — including one…
Conservation depends on rangers. Their wellbeing is often an afterthought
The gunfire began just before six in the morning. At first, Christine Lain thought it might be a drill. Upemba National Park had run exercises like this before. Rangers…
Sri Lanka sweats in scorching heat, but reasons ‘unlikely due to El Niño’
COLOMBO — Amid the hustle and bustle of Pettah, one of the busiest marketplaces in the Colombo district, Sri Lanka’s commercial region, Sandya Jayasekara was busy cutting king coconuts…
Singapore resort said to halt controversial dolphin sourcing, breeding
SINGAPORE — The Resorts World Sentosa casino and entertainment complex in Singapore has halted sourcing dolphins from the wild for its aquarium, Mongabay has learned. The resort’s Oceanarium has also…
As traditional forest governance erodes in Peru, ‘ghost permits’ fill the vacuum
HONORIA, Peru — Jacqueline Flores sits cross-legged on a wooden platform inside a dim Asháninka maloca, the Indigenous longhouse where her dress, painted with geometric patterns, seems to merge with…
Asia now hub of growing illegal wildlife trade across 100+ countries, study shows
Wildlife trade is decimating the planet’s biodiversity, driving declines in more than 31,500 wild species and spreading infectious zoonotic diseases that jump between wildlife, livestock and humans. In addition to…
Koala on the road? AI signs could alert drivers in real time
A new AI-powered camera system could potentially make road crossings less of a nightmare for koalas. Scientists have developed a camera that can be incorporated into smart road signs to…
Global warming already impacts daily lives around the globe, study finds
As a grueling March heat wave batters the U.S. West with dangerous temperatures, and the world girds itself for what could be another sizzling record-smashing Super El Niño, a team…
Extinction—or just unseen? What Centinela reveals about biodiversity data gaps
In 1991, botanists Calaway Dodson and Alwyn Gentry advanced a striking proposition. Surveying a rapidly deforested ridge in western Ecuador, they suggested that dozens of plant species known only from…
Open-air markets: hotspots for a lethal virus infecting macaws and parrots
In October 2025, environmental officers arrived unannounced at the Parangaba Fair that takes place every Sunday in Fortaleza, in northeastern Brazil. The market, also known as the Bird Fair, had…
A South African reserve shows how carbon can catalyze rewilding conservation
TSWALU KALAHARI RESERVE, South Africa — From high on a promontory in the Korannaberg Mountains, a mountain zebra (Equus zebra hartmannae) peers down to the west across the green-dappled plain…
Investigation of permit violations in South Africa’s shark fishery pending
Following an October 2025 Mongabay report of the shark fishing vessel Zanette violating the conditions of its permit to catch endangered sharks, the South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and…
Climate change tests Nepal’s wild and domesticated yaks
KATHMANDU — In the rugged mountains of the Dolpo region in western Nepal, Youngdung Jhama Lama spent her childhood herding nagton (domesticated yaks) across the vast alpine pastures. Two decades…
In Nepal, calls for reform grow louder in buffer zones
BARDIYA, Nepal — Mewa Lal Pulami, along with other residents from his village on the fringes of Banke National Park in western Nepal, abstained from voting in the recent parliamentary…
New strategy to reverse Kenya’s shark decline tries to bring fishers on board
NAIROBI — On Kenya’s eastern coast, a small-scale fisher lugs the day’s catch onto a table for processing and selling. Chances are, mostly threatened species like the scalloped hammerhead shark…
Small ray of hope for Sri Lanka’s sawfish, now feared ‘functionally extinct’
COLOMBO — The sawfish, a large ray, is easily recognized by its long, flattened snout edged with sharp, tooth-like projections that form a distinctive “saw,” technically known as a rostrum.…
A profession built on hope, strained by loss
Earlier this month, Jeremy Hance’s “‘An epidemic of suffering’: Why are conservationists breaking down?” and the follow-up commentary “Emotional and psychological stresses beleaguer conservation professionals” by Vik Mohan and Nerissa…
4 months after DRC mine spill, residents remain impacted
More than four months after a wastewater spill from a mine in Lubumbashi, a city located in the DRC’s copper and cobalt belt, residents say they are still facing impacts…
Why the Amazon can’t be saved by courts alone (commentary)
In October 2023, a delegation of La Gente de Centro — the Andoke (Pɵɵsiɵhɵ), Nonuya (Nonova), Muinane (Féénemɨnaa) and Uitoto (Nɨpode) peoples of the Middle Caquetá River Basin — traveled…
Poop pills and gut microbes: Wildlife microbiome studies aid conservation
Human microbiome research is a blossoming field of study, shedding light on the millions of microbes living within us — microscopic species frequently vital to our health. In tandem, researchers…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Satellite data show burst of deforestation in Myanmar rare earth mining hotspots
- Narco airstrips beset Indigenous communities in Peruvian Amazon
- 15 illegal narco-trafficking airstrips found near Peru Indigenous communities
- Satellite data show bursts of deforestation continue in Indonesian national park
Oceans
- Talks to reduce funding for overfishing remain stalled at WTO meeting
- New strategy to reverse Kenya’s shark decline tries to bring fishers on board
- Mongabay shark meat exposé wins national journalism education award in Brazil
- Indigenous concerns surface as U.S. agency considers seabed mining in Alaskan waters
Amazon Conservation
- Researchers eye jaguar conservation wins under Brazil Indigenous stewardship project
- ‘World’s largest’ carbon credit deal in the Amazon faces bumpy road ahead
- New conservation model calls for protecting Amazon for its archaeological riches
- Brazil dredges Amazon rivers to ease drought isolation, raising environmental concerns
Land rights and extractives
- As traditional forest governance erodes in Peru, ‘ghost permits’ fill the vacuum
- What’s happening with the global treaty to trace critical minerals?
- In the race for DRC’s critical minerals, community forests are on the frontline
- Lithium mining may threaten a precious resource — water: Voices from the land (commentary)
Endangered Environmentalists
- José Albino Cañas Ramírez, a defender of Indigenous territories, aged 44
- A killing with precedent: Kaiowá man’s murder fits a pattern in Brazil
- Environmental & rights activists flee and hide as M23 captures DRC’s cities
- Environmental journalist in Cambodia shot and killed by suspected logger
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- On a Borneo mountainside, Indigenous Dayak women hold fire and defend forest
- Fenced in by Sulawesi national park, Indigenous women make forestry breakout
- In Borneo, the ‘Power of Mama’ fight Indonesia’s wildfires with all-woman crew
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
Conservation Effectiveness
- How effective is the EU’s marquee policy to reduce the illegal timber trade?
- How sharing and learning from failures can transform conservation (commentary)
- Is planting trees as good for the Earth as everyone says?
- Failure in conservation projects: Everyone experiences it, few record it
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- Flores’ geothermal ambitions collide with justice, culture & local resistance
- An ‘ocean grab’ for a property megaproject leaves Jakarta fishers grounded
- Study: Indonesia’s new capital city threatens stable proboscis monkey population
- Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
