Mongabay · Page 8

GOTU, Kenya — Under the shade of an acacia tree in northern Kenya’s sweltering dry season, a group of elders have gathered to discuss community business in the town of Gotu. Two hours or so from the regional capital of Isiolo, the small but bustling cattle…

“We’re going to just keep mopping the ocean,” said Toya Manchineri, referring to Brazil’s administration effort to expel illegal miners from two Munduruku Indigenous territories in Pará state. As long as public bodies aren’t constantly present to…

A recent report by the nonprofit Instituto Centro de Vida (ICV) found that the operations of French retailer Casino Group in Brazil could be linked to more than half a million hectares of deforestation between 2018 and 2023. According to ICV, 526,459 hectares…

Nonrecyclable food and beverage packaging dominates the trash littering the Indian Himalayas, according to a recent report. Since 2018, regional alliances Zero Waste Himalaya  and Integrated Mountain Initiative have organized an annual campaign during the…

Researchers have confirmed the presence of a rare gecko species atop an isolated South African mountain, accessible only by helicopter, more than 30 years after it was last seen. The Blyde rondawels flat gecko (Afroedura rondavelica), with its distinct golden…

LUBUMBASHI, Democratic Republic of Congo — At 4 a.m. on April 27, soldiers shattered the peace of a village in a mining region the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Lualaba province. According to local civil society platform CASMIA, the soldiers fired shots…

A German supermarket and its supplier are under fire for alleged human right violations against Indigenous communities in Guatemala, where much of their palm oil is sourced. Since 2019, human rights groups have been filing complaints against German supermarket…

“About a week ago we lost a jaguar in a car collision, just over here,” says Celso Poot, director of the nonprofit Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center. He is standing at the side of the George Price Highway in Central Belize. Every few minutes a truck…

Although a superpower, the U.S. is under constant invasion — we’re not talking humans here but meek-looking plants and animals that have caused ecological havoc. Take, for instance, the tiny, nocturnal coqui frogs (Eleutherodactylus coqui) in Hawai‘i…

Researchers have developed a noninvasive DNA tool to help monitor hard-to-trace African carnivores, including caracals and leopards, making it potentially useful in the conservation of elusive and increasingly threatened species. “Carnivores are really…

LUMBINI, Nepal — Legend has it that before he became the Buddha, a young Prince Siddhartha Gautama nursed an injured sarus crane (Antigone antigone)  back to health. Since then, the bird and the faith have been closely intertwined, and nowhere more so than…

MANAUS, Brazil — In September 2024, the landscape in the Middle Solimões region of the Brazilian Amazon lay in stark contrast to its usual exuberance of lush greenery. “When we were arriving in Tefé and the plane approached to land, I was shocked to see…

BANGKOK — Cambodian journalist Ouk Mao, whose reporting on illegal logging has seen him attacked both physically and legally, was arrested May 16. Ek Cheat, Mao’s wife, spotted an unmarked white Lexus pull up outside their home in Stung Treng province…

The United States of Kailasa maintains that it is a real nation. With this title, over the last three years, they have traveled to different countries in South America to look for productive lands where they can settle. They did so in Paraguay and Ecuador, and…

MANANG, Nepal — In Bhakra village of western Nepal’s Manang district, 72-year-old Buddhist nun Tashi Lama sits in silence, chanting as she turns her prayer wheel. Ever since she took her vows at 25, her mornings begin with prayers and the lighting of sang,…

A new study finds that scientists have likely underestimated heat stress on coral reefs in the South Atlantic Ocean, further raising concerns for coral bleaching amid climate change. The study notes that while the Caribbean and Indo-Pacific have…

Most countries that pledged to reduce the number of birds being illegally killed along an important migratory route in Europe and the Mediterranean region are failing to do so, a new report shows. For the report, conservation organizations BirdLife…

Deep in the rainforest, the monkeys are yodeling. Their wild calls echo across the foliage, sending signals of sex and survival. For decades, scientists have studied why they make these sounds, but are just beginning to understand how. A new study asks how…

The Republic of Congo has one of the lowest deforestation rates in the world, but “uncontrolled gold mining” in recent years could harm the country’s biodiversity, especially in the Sangha region, Mongabay’s Elodie Toto reported in a video published in…

Flamingos, often pictured standing still with their heads submerged in water, make for a pretty picture. But peep underwater, and you’ll find the tall, elegant pink birds bobbing their heads, chattering their beaks, and creating mini tornados to efficiently…