Mongabay · Page 66

The crew of the research vessel E/V Nautilus erupted in excited chatter as they watched live video from a remotely operated vehicle traversing the German Channel in the Pacific island state of Palau. “It’s finally happened!” someone could be heard saying…

When most people think about climate change, images of melting ice caps or rising sea levels come to mind. However, the reality is far more intricate and urgent. The effects of climate change, such as fires, droughts, and extreme weather events are not just…

Bats play a key role in maintaining the health of forest ecosystems as pollinators, seed dispersers and insect pest controllers. But according to new research, bats and the ecosystem services they offer are under threat in Brazil’s heavily fragmented…

The United Nations Environment Programme recently released a report detailing 10 existing human rights standards and how they should be applied to conservation organizations and funders (COFs). In an effort to address the dramatic loss of global biodiversity…

A few years ago, while having lunch with colleagues in my previous newsroom, we started talking about thrift stores. One of my co-workers said, “I get all of my clothes from thrift stores,” and quickly added, “I’m not trying to brag though.” And I…

After two consecutive years of record-breaking droughts, the river levels in the Amazon Basin are slowly starting to recover. According to the Geological Survey of Brazil, the Madeira River, home to the most diverse fish life in the region, left the…

SIEM REAP, Cambodia — Chhoeung Chheng, a journalist covering environmental issues for local online news outlet Kampuchea Aphiwat News, has died of his injuries after being shot in Siem Reap province on Dec. 4 by a suspected illegal logger. Chheng was rushed…

Aquaculture is often promoted as a solution to declines in wild fish populations, and has outpaced the amount of wild-caught fish by tens of millions of metric tons each year. But it carries its own myriad environmental impacts, to the detriment of both humans…

Working on fishing vessels has for centuries been one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. To this day, forced labor and other human rights abuses remain relatively common, with workers from low-income countries especially at risk. But new regulations in…

Spain has introduced a paid four-day “climate leave” policy to protect workers during extreme weather events, one month after the deadliest storm in Spain’s recent history. The Valencia storm claimed at least 225 lives in October and November, and many…

“Just wait till next year!” goes the slogan often attributed to disappointed sports fans. Those same words could equally apply to proponents of an internationally binding U.N. agreement to phase out plastic pollution; they’ll now need to wait at least…

Over the course of his career, Peter Houlihan has hauled light traps across dense jungles to study insects, even climbing up trees to string them up in the canopy. Earlier this year, as he watched a group of scientists achieve the same goal in a matter of…

BALIKPAPAN, Indonesia — Abdul Kadir looked out to sea as a gathering of storm clouds darkened the outlook for the day’s fishing in Balikpapan Bay. “We’re often faced with this situation,” Kadir told Mongabay Indonesia. “But we survive as best we…

Citizens in northern Thailand staged protests along the shore of the Mekong River in Chiang Rai province on Dec. 7 to highlight concerns about the Pak Beng hydroelectric project slated for construction on the mainstream of the pivotal watercourse in Laos. The…

Satellite data have long told us where forests are and how they’re faring. Lidar, laser-based radar mounted on planes or satellites like the International Space Station, has helped us map forests in 3D. A newly launched tool has now thrown artificial…

Hundreds of thousands of people were left without electricity across the U.K. and Ireland after the onslaught of Storm Darragh this past weekend, local media reported.  Darragh, which brought wind gusts of 154 kilometers per hour (96 miles per hour), is the…

The boat comes to a halt, shuddering against the dirt bank that rises from the edge of the Ucayali River. Sixto, tanned and with a frown cutting deep furrows across his forehead, jumps ashore. He strides up to a flat area dotted with banana plantations, yucca…

For more than a year, there have been no confirmed sightings of the critically endangered southern patas monkeys in their last known refuge, in western Tanzania. In 2021, fewer than 200 of these lithe-limbed primates, Erythrocebus baumstarki, were thought to…

Wisdom, the world’s oldest known wild bird, has laid an egg, this time with a new partner. She is a Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis), or mōlī in Hawaiian, and this is her first egg in four years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Pacific…

Conservation photography occupies a unique space, blending the art of visual storytelling with the urgency of environmental advocacy. Cristina Mittermeier, a pioneering figure in this field, has spent decades capturing the fragile beauty of our planet while…