Mongabay

As shiny, pearl-like white plastic pellets rode wave after wave and piled up on the beaches of Thiruvananthapuram in India’s southern state of Kerala, local residents were first bemused, then baffled. Some, more enterprising than others, began collecting them in sacks with help from the local police — a first step in heading off what many fear could potentially become an environmental “catastrophe.” While the oil slick from the MSC ELSA-3 — a Liberia-flagged cargo vessel that sank off Kerala’s coast in late May — was reportedly contained in a few days, it marked only the beginning of an unfolding environmental disaster. Within days, the scale of the crisis began to surface — quite literally. Plastic pellets, dirty debris, sacks and beams of wood began washing ashore. Containers were found along the coast, with some even catching fire in Kollam district. Plastic pellets, also known as nurdles, began washing up along Kerala’s southern beaches and drifting steadily towards the shores of Kanyakumari, mainland India’s southernmost town. Experts were able to spot and contain the patches of oil slick. “That the oil spill is only in patches, not continuous, is a feat,” media reports quoted defense officials in Kerala’s Kochi city as saying, referring to the swift containment efforts by the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard. Scientists, however, raised red flags about submerged containers believed to be carrying hazardous materials such as calcium carbide and marine fuel oil. Calcium carbide reacts with water, producing acetylene — a flammable and potentially…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC), an advocacy group focused on the world’s coldest and most remote region, has received the 2025 Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity. The 1 million euro ($1.17 million) award, presented by the Portugal-based Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, recognizes the coalition’s decades-long efforts to preserve Antarctica’s ecological integrity and protect the Southern Ocean. Selected from 212 nominees across 115 countries, ASOC was honored for its leadership in science-based advocacy and international diplomacy at a time when Antarctica faces mounting threats. The prize jury, chaired by former German chancellor Angela Merkel, cited ASOC as a demonstration that “global collaboration is possible,” adding that the coalition “inspires hope for generations to come.” Founded in 1978, ASOC represents a network of more than 20 environmental organizations from more than 10 countries. It remains the only environmental NGO granted observer status at Antarctic Treaty meetings, giving it direct access to the intergovernmental processes that govern the continent and its surrounding seas. “Antarctica may seem distant, but it is central to the planet’s health and future,” ASOC executive director Claire Christian said in a statement. “This recognition affirms the power of collective action and the vital importance of protecting the Antarctic and Southern Ocean.” Among ASOC’s top priorities is the creation of new marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Weddell Sea, East Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula. While these proposals are backed by strong scientific evidence, they continue to face opposition, primarily from Russia and China, at meetings of the Commission for…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Conservation is often framed as a scientific or technical challenge — a matter of policies, protected areas and enforcement. But that lens has led conservation astray. Around the world, biodiversity continues to decline. Communities are too often displaced in the name of conservation. And conservation efforts sometimes fail because they ignore what matters most to the people who live closest to the land, including meaning, memory, and relationship. It’s time to change course. If we want conservation to succeed — not just in halting species loss, but in building a sustainable, just future — we must place cultural and spiritual connections at its core. That’s the central argument of our newly published paper in Community Development, co-created by more than 20 conservationists, Indigenous leaders, researchers and community practitioners across five continents who generously shared their experiences, insights and lived wisdom. Together, we developed a thematic model that demonstrates how community well-being, cultural identity, and biodiversity protection are not separate goals — they are mutually reinforcing. Drone view of flooded forest in the Amazon. Photo by Rhett A. Butler for Mongabay. Drawing from case studies in Tajikistan, Belize, South Africa, India, Indonesia, China and the Democratic Republic of Congo, we found that conservation thrives when it honors local traditions, respects spiritual relationships to species and land, and empowers women and other historically marginalized voices. These aren’t just nice-to-haves — they are central to success. In the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan, herding communities once retaliated against snow leopards that preyed on livestock.…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Colombia’s Constitutional Court has issued a historic ruling, finding in favor of Indigenous leaders who say their communities in the country’s Amazonian region are at risk of losing their identity and disappearing due to mercury contamination from gold mining. The court ordered the protection of these communities due to the high risk they peoples face from the contamination of the water and fish they consume from the Caquetá and Apaporis rivers. The Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development will monitor the contamination studies ordered by the court. The case was brought to the country’s highest court by five shamans, or “jaguars,” representing 30 Indigenous groups from the Yuruparí region that covers the eastern Colombian Amazon and overlaps into Brazil. Those affected by mercury contamination from mining have since 1989 complained about the serious consequences and problems they’ve faced as a result. “The Indigenous peoples in the Jaguars of Yuruparí Macroterritory emphasize that the Constitutional Court notes that gold mining and the use of mercury have caused a risk to our traditional knowledge system, recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage,” the plaintiffs said in a press release after the ruling. Their legal action dates back to 2019, when they filed for protection in light of what they allege was the state’s failure or complicity in allowing gold mining in Indigenous territories. At the time, they said that more than 30 Indigenous communities were at risk. Representatives of the Indigenous peoples celebrated the Constitutional Court’s decision. Image courtesy of Rodrigo Durán.…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Lions have been dubbed the king of the jungle, but one could argue the real royalty are the trees, the massive woody beasts that hold down the land and root the web of life that teems around them. In Mesoamerica (Mexico and Central America), which hosts 10% of all plant life on Earth despite covering only 0.5% of the planet’s land surface, nearly half of all tree species are in trouble. Of the 4,046 known tree species found only in Mesoamerica, 1,867, or 46%, are threatened with extinction, according to a new study published in the journal Plants, People, Planet. The research represents the first comprehensive assessment of Mesoamerican trees. The study was part of the Global Tree Assessment, a decade-long initiative to evaluate the conservation status of all the world’s tree species. Researchers used the standards of the IUCN Red List, which tracks how close species are to disappearing worldwide. The IUCN Red List categorizes species into nine groups, ranging from not evaluated to extinct, by considering factors such as population decline, habitat loss, and population size. Before this assessment, less than 20% (700) of the tree species of the region had been assessed on the IUCN Red List before 2019. Fungi in Costa Rica. Through their entire life cycle and beyond, tropical trees host an abundance of life. Photo by Rhett A. Butler for Mongabay.com. “It’s an important study — essentially a clarion call for conserving endangered tree species in Mesoamerica,” William Laurance, a tropical ecologist at James…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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MAHARASHTRA — India. In Maharashtra’s Chandrapur district, human-tiger conflict is escalating, with attacks becoming increasingly common. A mix of factors—including the effects of climate change—is driving tigers out of their natural habitats and into closer contact with people. For those living on the frontlines, the toll goes beyond physical danger: fear, anxiety, and unprocessed grief weigh heavily on families who have lost loved ones or survived tiger encounters. This video was produced by the Mongabay India team; find more environmental stories from India on their YouTube channel. Mongabay’s Video Team wants to cover questions and topics that matter to you. Are there any inspiring people, urgent issues, or local stories that you’d like us to cover? We want to hear from you. Be a part of our reporting process—get in touch with us here! Banner image: Female tiger. Image ©Saroshlodhi via Envato. Inside the human-bear conflict in northern IndiaThis article was originally published on Mongabay

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Citizens from around the world are increasingly holding governments and businesses accountable for their greenhouse gas emissions by filing lawsuits that frame climate change impacts as human rights violations, according to a recent episode of Mongabay’s Against All Odds video series. César Rodríguez-Garavito, chair of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at New York University’s School of Law, who’s featured in the video, says the climate movement has seen groundbreaking victories in recent years with cases filed by both the youth and elderly women. Between 2005 and 2024, more than 300 cases were litigated on behalf of ordinary citizens experiencing the impacts of climate change. One of the successes came in 2024, when an international court for the first time formally acknowledged climate change as a human rights issue, Rodríguez-Garavito says. The European Court of Human Rights in April last year ruled in favor of KlimaSeniorinnen Switzerland, a group representing 2,500 women aged 64 and older, who argued the Swiss government’s inadequate actions had put them at risk of dying due to heat waves made more intense and frequent by climate change. The court recognized that climate protection is a human right and that the government violated such a right by not taking the necessary steps to combat climate change. The court ordered the Swiss government to hasten and expand its efforts to reduce carbon emissions. “It’s boosted the efforts of climate activists around the world who are taking note of the fact that judges are updating their…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Dozens of rescuers searched the banks of a mountain river Wednesday looking for people missing after monsoon floods swept away Nepal’s main bridge connecting the country to China and caused at least nine deaths. Police said dozens of rescuers were already at the area and more are expected to join the rescue efforts. Nine dead bodies have been recovered from the river. Security forces have rescued 55 people, including four Indians and a Chinese person so far, according to the Rasuwa District Administration Office. Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli, along with top ministers and officials, flew to the area. Oli called an emergency meeting Tuesday night and instructed all security forces and government offices to assist the rescue and recovery efforts. The flooding on the Bhotekoshi River early Tuesday destroyed the Friendship Bridge at Rasuwagadi, which is 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the capital, Kathmandu. Several houses and trucks that were parked at the border for customs inspections also were swept away. Hundreds of electric vehicles imported from China had been parked at the border point. The 19 missing are 13 Nepali citizens and six Chinese nationals, said the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority. The Chinese and eight of the Nepalis were workers at a Chinese-assisted construction project on the Nepali side of the border, according to the Chinese Embassy in Nepal, quoted by state media. The destruction of the bridge has halted all trade from China to Nepal through this route. The longer alternative…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Roughly 40% of the global fish catch comes from small-scale fisheries. It’s one of the food production systems most vulnerable to climate change, and governments are lacking data to help fishers adapt. To help address that gap, the global research partnership CGIAR recently launched its Asia Digital Hub at WorldFish’s headquarters in Penang, Malaysia. The Hub brings together policymakers, scientists, communities and the private sector to develop and scale digital solutions for food systems. One of their key tools is Peskas, an open-source system that allows near real-time monitoring of small-scale fisheries. In Zanzibar, WorldFish scientist Pascal Thoya is working with the government to integrate Peskas with the existing system. Currently, 100 fishing boats out of Zanzibar are equipped with trackers and at 30 landing sites, data collectors use tablets to record catch information including species, weight and length, Thoya said. Peskas then analyzes the data and displays statistics automatically. Before Peskas, data were recorded on paper and only reported annually. “Initially, there is always a challenge to know where fishermen really fish,” Thoya told Mongabay in a video call. Peskas displays fishing grounds along with their productivity. Arthur Tuda, the executive director of the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association, a WorldFish partner in Zanzibar, said in an email, “This integration fills a big hole. It gives decision-makers the timely, reliable information they need to manage fisheries better and meet their reporting duties at home and abroad.” First developed in Timor-Leste in 2016, Peskas is now being expanded to Zanzibar,…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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MALUKU, Indonesia — Just four months after Mongabay reported on a dramatic surge in diagnoses of respiratory illness near Indonesia’s second-largest nickel industrial estate, new data indicate that up to half the local population may have been exposed to unsafe levels of mercury — and one in three to harmful arsenic. “This study is a serious warning of the long-term threat of heavy metal exposure, to both public health and environmental sustainability,” said Darmawati Darwis, a professor at Indonesia’s Tadulako University, which conducted the research in partnership with Nexus3, a Bali-based nonprofit. The researchers from Nexus3 and Tadulako University took blood samples last year from 46 residents of Gemaf and Lelilef villages. These two villages are particularly close to the Weda Bay Industrial Estate, commonly known by its Indonesian acronym IWIP, on the island of Halmahera. The results of those blood tests, which were published in April, showed 22 people (47%) had mercury levels above the safe limit of 9 micrograms per liter (µg/l) of blood — and the samples from 15 people (32%) exceeded the arsenic threshold of 12 µg/l. “These findings emphasize the need for routine environmental and health monitoring, as well as law enforcement against polluting industries,” Darmawati said.   IWIP was established by Chinese mining conglomerates Huayou, Tsingshan and Zhenshi in 2018 as a smelting hub for the rapidly expanding nickel mining taking place on Halmahera Island. The IWIP site currently processes up to 30,000 metric tons of ferronickel ore per year, and is powered by…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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COLOMBO — Young birder Lahiru Walpita begins most of his days at dawn by scanning the skies for seabirds along the coastline in northern Sri Lanka. In July 2024, during one of his routine beach surveys, Walpita noticed a large bird trailing a fishing vessel. It circled gracefully with wings outstretched, before vanishing into the horizon, he says, just long enough for him to capture a few photographs. From its shape and size, he had a hunch about its identity, and consultations with experts confirmed it was a grey-headed albatross (Thalassarche chrysostoma). This grey-headed albatross (Thalassarche chrysostoma) was the first-ever confirmed albatross recorded in Sri Lankan waters as well as to the north of the equator. Image by Lahiru Walpita. This marked a groundbreaking moment — not only was it the first-ever albatross recorded in Sri Lankan waters, but also the first confirmed sighting north of the equator, says ornithologist Sampath Seneviratne, a professor of zoology at the University of Colombo. “These albatrosses typically dwell in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica and rarely stray far from their home range. This is a truly remarkable observation,” he tells Mongabay. Over the past few years, Walpita’s diligent ocean-watching — especially around Mannar Island in northern Sri Lanka — has led to sightings of elusive seabirds such as the Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea), tropical shearwater (Puffinus bailloni) and Jouanin’s petrel (Bulweria fallax). During his beach surveys, Walpita has rescued over 150 pelagic birds. He has also collected over 60 dead pelagic birds that…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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PLACENCIA, Belize — After Hurricane Iris decimated the coral reef at Laughing Bird Caye National Park in 2001, many wrote off the UNESCO World Heritage site as a coral graveyard. But a small group from the coastal village of Placencia, Belize, about 18 kilometers (11 miles) from the island, saw hope. In 2006, the park had just 6% live coral cover. By 2023, it had reached approximately 60% — the result of the group planting more than 92,000 fragments of coral within the 1-hectare (2.5-acre) shallow fringing reef. The group, Fragments of Hope (FOH), is a Belize-based nonprofit organization focused on restoring coral reef habitats. Their work at Laughing Bird Caye is widely regarded as the best example of reef restoration in the Caribbean. But while the park stands as a beacon of hope for coral restoration, it has not been immune to the onslaught of record-breaking temperatures occurring globally. “2024 was the worst bleaching event since we’ve been recording around 2008,” Lisa Carne, FOH’s founder, said during an interview with Mongabay. Many of the corals planted at Laughing Bird have succumbed to extreme heat stress and disease. At Moho Caye, another restoration site, live coral cover dropped from more than 50% to less than 5%, “likely reflecting similar declines at Laughing Bird,” Carne said. It’s not just Laughing Bird and Moho. Unprecedented coral bleaching, a relatively new illness called stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD), and other threats to corals are negatively impacting reef health across Belize, and it…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Few conservationists have shaped the public conversation around wildlife protection quite like Peter Knights. Best known for co-founding WildAid and helping to redefine conservation as a communications challenge as much as an ecological one, Knights built a career not by tracking poachers in the field but by shifting minds on a mass scale. His campaigns, often fronted by celebrities such as Yao Ming and Jackie Chan, have helped to dramatically reduce demand for products like shark fin and ivory across Asia, leveraging over a billion dollars’ worth of donated media airtime in the process. Now, after decades of work focused primarily on consumer markets in Asia, Knights has turned his attention to Africa with a new initiative: Wild Africa. Co-founded with his wife, Corie, the effort marks both a continuation of their long-standing communications-based strategy and a significant geographic and cultural pivot. “My wife Corie and I wanted to focus solely on Africa, working with an all-African team,” Knights says. Corie and Peter Knights. Photo courtesy of Wild Africa. The goal is not just to protect species, but to embed conservation into the cultural mainstream—using African voices, African media, and African institutions. The need, he argues, is urgent and distinct. “The challenge in Asia was to persuade people that wildlife needed to be conserved rather than consumed. The need in Africa is to essentially popularize or mainstream conservation,” he explains. In Knights’ view, the continent stands at a crossroads. As agriculture expands and populations grow, Africa remains the last stronghold…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was silent while the “bill of devastation” (formally PL 2159/2021) moved through the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Congress, and passed by a vote of 290 to 115 on May 13. The silence continued while the Senate, the upper house, added damaging amendments and passed the revised bill on May 23 by a vote of 54 to 13. With the bill back in the Chamber of Deputies, a motion approved by the Chamber’s Commission on the Environment requiring a public hearing has been overridden by a measure invoking an “urgency” regime, and the president of the chamber has stated that he plans to put the bill to a plenary vote before the July 18-31 congressional recess. President Lula is not expected to try to avert the bill’s advancing to a vote. When his minister of the environment and climate change, Marina Silva, came under a misogynistic attack by three senators on May 23, President Lula expressed his solidarity with Silva with regard to that, but failed to comment on any of the environmental issues that she was defending. President Lula has stated that he has not yet read the bill and will only do so and form an opinion when it reaches his desk. How can the president of Brazil remain deliberately uninformed about a matter that threatens the country’s future? The assault on Brazil’s environmental licensing system being perpetrated by anti-environmental forces in Congress opens the country to devastation beyond…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Climate change has already caused significant declines in coral reef coverage globally and is expected to do much further damage in the coming decades. Some scientists have held out hope that tropical corals could improve their viability by expanding their range — by finding refuge in more temperate seas. But a new study throws cold water on the idea. Coral reef decline will far outpace expansion into temperate waters, the study finds. Most of the damage to corals will be done in the next 40 to 80 years, but expansion will take centuries, according to the study, which was published in the journal Science Advances on June 6. The “mismatch between the timescales,” as the authors call it, could spell bad news for corals and the ecosystems that depend on them, though the severity of the loss will depend on levels of greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades. “The main finding is that we’re probably talking about centuries plus, in terms of how long it takes them to move to high latitudes,” Noam Vogt-Vincent, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and lead author of the study, told Mongabay. This finding shows “the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” the study says. Coral reef and reef fish in Marsa Alam, Egypt. Image by Pascal van de Vendel via Unsplash (Public domain). It’s well understood that coral reefs are at risk from rising temperatures. They’re currently facing the fourth mass bleaching event since 1998. Bleaching involves…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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From pollinating plants to dispersing seeds, birds play a variety of crucial roles that help to keep ecosystems in balance. But when we degrade and fragment their habitats, some species disappear much quicker than others — taking their specific ecosystem functions with them. New research from Papua New Guinea, one of the world’s last havens of intact tropical forest, suggests that forest-specialist insectivores and ground foragers are among the first to go. Given these vulnerable groups of birds include various bird-of-paradise species along with bowerbirds and cassowaries, which are important emblems of PNG, the authors urge conservationists to focus on retaining forest-dependent birds as a strategy that would protect species of both ecological and cultural significance, as well as their forest home. “PNG derives much of its cultural power from birds, as sources of Indigenous clothing, pride as national animals, [or the focus of] ecotourism,” study lead author Krystof Korejs, a zoologist at the University of South Bohemia in the Czech Republic, told Mongabay in an email. Covering the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, PNG is a global epicenter of avian biodiversity. Some of the world’s most ornate and behaviorally complex species are found in its megadiverse old growth rainforests. However, mounting pressure from agricultural expansion and commercial logging are putting stress on these crucial ecosystems, sparking concerns among conservationists about how species will cope. A sulphur-crested cockatoo in New Guinea. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. Specialists out, generalists in To find out how PNG’s bird communities…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. As governments and corporations scramble to meet climate pledges, the search for reliable and scalable carbon removal strategies has turned increasingly toward forests. But while tree planting captures the public imagination, a new study suggests a simpler, less costly strategy may deliver better results: Protecting young secondary forests already on the landscape. In the study, researchers led by Nathaniel Robinson from the environmental nonprofit The Nature Conservancy mapped aboveground carbon accumulation across more than 100,000 forest plots worldwide, spanning a century of regrowth. The work confirms that forests don’t store carbon at a constant rate — carbon removal rates vary wildly by forest age, region and ecological conditions. In fact, the study finds a 200-fold difference between the slowest- and fastest-growing sites. The sweet spot? Forests aged 20 to 40 years. At this stage, many exhibit peak carbon uptake — far exceeding the removals achieved in the first few decades of new regeneration. Tropical forests, in particular, perform best, reaching maximum sequestration levels around 23 years of age. Mediterranean and savanna ecosystems, by contrast, peak later and less dramatically. This temporal dynamic has practical implications. If natural regeneration began in 2025 across 800 million hectares (1.98 billion acres) of degraded land — an area larger than Australia — the study estimates that 20.3 billion metric tons of carbon could be sequestered by 2050. Delaying that timeline by just five years could slash the…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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In the Igarapé Lourdes Indigenous Territory in the Brazilian Amazon, community members gather to listen to José Palahv Gavião. An Indigenous teacher and cooperative leader, he speaks about the past and the future of Amazonian rubber. Rubber extracted from forest trees was a major Brazilian commodity in the 1800s and early 1900s. But for the Indigenous Gavião people of this part of Rondônia state, it also meant exploitation and suffering. Today, however, the community has reclaimed it as an opportunity for income and forest protection, especially for Indigenous youths. According to José, many young people seek better economic opportunities outside the community. But he says it’s important to balance these ambitions with efforts to protect the forest that sustains them. “In every meeting I go to, I always highlight this point: If we don’t give value to the rainforest’s products, it won’t take long before it’s gone,” José tells Mongabay. “It helps reverse that mindset. Because when a seed collector earns income from that tree, they won’t want to cut it down.” The Gavião of Rondônia worked under exploitative conditions imposed by rubber extractors following their first contact with outsiders. Due to land conflicts and the advance of external development projects, they eventually abandoned rubber tapping in the late 1980s. By then, rubber was being harvested at industrial scales from vast plantations of rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis), obviating the need to venture into the forest to collect it. The process of tapping rubber in the wild starts with making incisions…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Camera trap footage and scent analysis confirm a unique symbiosis between an ant-eater and a subterranean fruit. Looks like the ant-eating aardvarks of the African savanna do not need to be taught the benefits of a balanced diet! Study confirms that ant-eating aardvarks have a craving for buried melonsThis article was originally published on Mongabay

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On June 25, the United States Department of the Interior (DOI), a department within the federal government that manages the nation’s natural resources, announced plans to accelerate the initiation of deep-sea mining in U.S. waters, effectively enacting President Trump’s executive order that calls for fast-tracking the industry. As part of this effort to briskly move things along, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), an agency within DOI, will be introducing various policy changes, such as expediting the permitting process, extending the duration of prospecting permits and reducing the timelines for environmental reviews. Critics have raised concerns over these developments, not only due to the controversial nature of deep-sea mining, but also because of the hurried pace at which BOEM is advancing these plans.  While deep-sea mining has not yet started anywhere in the world, many experts warn that the industry could cause irreversible harm to marine ecosystems that are already under substantial stress from human-driven climate change and other environmental pressures. Industry proponents, however, argue that deep-sea mining is vital for securing reliable supplies of critical minerals needed for the green transition, energy security and defense. The majority of deep-sea mining interest has focused on polymetallic nodules — potato-sized rocks containing nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese — but mineral deposits can also be found on the cobalt-rich crusts of seamounts or ridges, or the sulfide deposits around hydrothermal vents.  These unassuming brown blobs are polymetallic nodules (also called manganese nodules) and contain valuable metals. Image by Hannes Grobe via Wikimedia…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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KATHMANDU — A decade ago, people from Salija village in western Nepal traveled several hours into the uphill forests to gather firewood and feed for their livestock, Shakhamani Khorja recalls. “[Now], we have a forest growing on about 13 hectares [32 acres] of land less than a kilometer [0.6 miles] away that helps meet our needs for fuelwood and animal feed,” says Khorja, a Salija local and a member of a community forest group. As part of a reforestation project that began in 2010, local communities in six study sites across the western Gandaki province planted 131,186 native trees on a total of about 76 hectares (187 acres) of government-owned land. Nearly a decade after the reforestation project, researchers found that the density of vegetation, analyzed using a satellite imagery tool — known as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) — consistently increased in all six study sites since the project ended in 2016, suggesting increased canopy cover as trees continue to grow. According to NDVI metrics, vegetation improved from 0.0341 in value in 2018 (suggesting sparse vegetation) to 0.0737 in value in 2022 (meaning highly dense vegetation). This reforestation of native species, says Korja, was necessary not only due to their gradual decline because of climatic factors impacting natural growth, but also to support communities with non-timber resources that could build local enterprises, like selling lokta paper produced using material from the lokta plant (Daphne bholua), also called the Nepalese paper plant. According to the authors of the study published…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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A Canada-based website’s listing of Indonesian islands for sale has reignited fears of privatization, long linked to conflicts between companies and coastal communities. On June 18, 2025, listings appeared for several islands in Indonesia’s Anambas archipelago, in Riau Islands province, on the site Privateislandsonline.com. Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries has denied the validity of the listings, pointing out that national laws prohibit the sale of islands to foreign entities. The ministry confirmed that four of the listed islands are in Anambas — Rintan, Mala, Tokong Sendok and Nakob — while others appearing on the site are located in East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara and Bangka-Belitung provinces. The government has since blocked the site for internet users in Indonesia, although it remains accessible elsewhere around the world (including in Indonesia, through VPN). The ministry says the listings were most likely offers for foreign investment, not outright sales. It said commercial use of islands is legal if businesses have the right permits, though strict limits would still apply. For instance, developers may only use up to 70% of a small island’s area, with at least 30% of that portion reserved for green space, effectively limiting control to 40%. Nusron Wahid, the Indonesian minister for land and zoning, said foreign parties could only obtain land use rights, not ownership, under Indonesian law. He added the Anambas islands in question lie within areas zoned for development, not forest land. Seliu Island in Bangka-Belitung is similarly classified, while Panjang Island in West…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Bangladesh has initiated efforts to revive five species of plants currently listed as critically endangered on the country’s red list, as well as bring back two species declared locally extinct, reports Mongabay’s Abu Siddique. The critically endangered plants include two species of orchids: bulborox or the Sikkim bulb-leaf orchid (Bulbophyllum roxburghii), and the small-bulb orchid (Bulbophyllum oblongum), both found only in parts of the country’s Sundarbans wetland. The three other critically endangered species are the dwarf date palm (Phoenix acaulis), a small palm species currently present only in Dinajpur district’s sal (Shorea robusta) forest; chaulmoogra (Hydnocarpus kurzii), an evergreen tree found in the forests of Bandarban, Rangamati, Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong, Moulvibazar and Habiganj districts; as well as bash pata (Podocarpus neriifolius), a conifer with only 111 individuals known to exist across several districts. To help these five species recover, the Bangladesh Forest Department in collaboration with the Bangladesh National Herbarium, National Botanical Garden and IUCN Bangladesh are working to grow their seedlings in nurseries, before moving them to suitable habitats. “Our team is working to protect the species from extinction. Besides the conservation of the five critically endangered species, we are trying to collect two [locally] extinct plants — gola anjan [Memecylon ovatum] and fita champa [Magnolia griffithii] — from our neighboring countries as we share nearly similar ecosystems,” Syeda Rizwana Hasan, adviser to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, told Mongabay. All five plant species identified for revival were categorized as critically endangered in Bangladesh’s first-ever plant…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Deforestation figures can be frustrating to look at, but there are a number of success stories when it comes to protecting tropical forests that we can learn from, Crystal Davis, global program director at the World Resources Institute, says in a recent Mongabay video. “We know what works. We know how to do it,” Davis says. “We have more tools than ever to help us combat deforestation.” One of those tools is Global Forest Watch, an online platform that uses satellite data, artificial intelligence and cloud computing to track where exactly deforestation is happening and where forests are growing back. Part of the tool is the Forest Watcher app, which allows forest rangers like those working for Madagascar’s National Parks Association to monitor deforestation. The app has led to swifter responses to drivers of deforestation, such as fires, WRI said in a 2024 post. “Data and transparency of data play an incredibly important role in protecting tropical forests,” Davis says. In Peru, the Rainforest Foundation US helped train more than 30 communities in using Forest Watcher. Data visualized on Global Forest Watch showed that in the first year alone, the territories of those 30 communities had 50% fewer deforestation alerts compared to another 30 communities that didn’t use the app. Another map shown in the Mongabay video reveals the critical role of local communities and Indigenous peoples in conservation in the Amazon, with much lower deforestation within their territories than outside. “You can see that the areas where Indigenous peoples…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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“Drought is a silent killer. It creeps in, drains resources and devastates lives in slow motion,” said Ibrahim Thiaw, executive secretary of the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification. “Its scars run deep.” A comprehensive new report released this week documents what experts call some of the most widespread and damaging droughts in recorded history, affecting millions of people across Africa, the Mediterranean, Latin America and Southeast Asia between 2023 and 2025. The report prepared by the U.S. National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) and the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification describes how severe droughts have led to poverty, hunger, energy insecurity and ecosystem collapse worldwide. The report draws on more than 250 peer-reviewed studies, official data sources and news reports across more than a dozen countries and regions. Lake Tefé was completely dry in October of 2023 during the extreme Amazon drought. Image courtesy of Miguel Monteiro. “This is not a dry spell,” Mark Svoboda, report co-author and NDMC director said in a statement. “This is a slow-moving global catastrophe, the worst I’ve ever seen. This report underscores the need for systematic monitoring of how drought affects lives, livelihoods, and the health of the ecosystems that we all depend on.” More than 90 million people across Eastern and Southern Africa face acute food insecurity or need food assistance, according to the report. In Somalia alone, the government estimated 43,000 people may have died in 2022 due to drought. As of early 2025, 4.4 million Somalis, a quarter of the population, face…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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