https://news.mongabay.com/ Environmental science and conservation news Mon, 09 Oct 2023 08:43:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3 https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png https://news.mongabay.com/ 32 32 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/plan-to-bring-mennonite-farmers-to-suriname-sparks-deforestation-fears/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/plan-to-bring-mennonite-farmers-to-suriname-sparks-deforestation-fears/#respond 09 Oct 2023 08:00:03 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274007 - Mennonite farmers have faced criticism for clearing thousands of hectares of forest across Latin America, often in protected areas and Indigenous territories.
- The company behind the project is called Terra Invest Suriname & Guyana, and plans to purchase as much as 30,000 hectares (about 74,000 acres) for approximately 1,000 Mennonite families.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/plan-to-bring-mennonite-farmers-to-suriname-sparks-deforestation-fears/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/communities-track-a-path-of-destruction-through-a-cambodian-wildlife-sanctuary/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/communities-track-a-path-of-destruction-through-a-cambodian-wildlife-sanctuary/#respond 09 Oct 2023 04:23:02 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273942 - Routine patrols by local activists and community members have painstakingly documented the site of each logged tree in the supposedly protected area, even as these community patrols have been banned by the authorities.
- Mongabay reporters joined one of these patrols in April, where a run-in with rangers underscored complaints that the authorities crack down harder on those seeking to protect the forest than on those destroying it.
- A government official denied that the logging was driven by commercial interests, despite evidence to the contrary, instead blaming local communities for cutting down trees to build homes.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/communities-track-a-path-of-destruction-through-a-cambodian-wildlife-sanctuary/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/cambodia-bars-green-activists-from-traveling-to-accept-international-award/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/cambodia-bars-green-activists-from-traveling-to-accept-international-award/#respond 06 Oct 2023 18:06:24 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274059 - Long Kunthea, Phun Keo Reaksmey and Thun Ratha are with the group Mother Nature Cambodia, which last month was named a winner of the Right Livelihood award for its “relentless” activism against environmental destruction in the country.
- The three are currently under court supervision following early release from jail in a case related to their activism, which means they can’t travel abroad.
- Mother Nature Cambodia’s founder says the government has put itself in a “lose-lose situation” by barring them, as the incident has both garnered international scrutiny and revealed the shrinking space for civil society in Cambodia.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/cambodia-bars-green-activists-from-traveling-to-accept-international-award/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/javan-rhino-calf-endangered-species-ujung-kulon-indonesia/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/javan-rhino-calf-endangered-species-ujung-kulon-indonesia/#respond 06 Oct 2023 15:55:52 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274028 - While the discovery of the female calf is good news, it comes amid growing doubt about official claims that the species’ population is increasing steadily.
- The Indonesian government puts the Javan rhino’s current population at about 80 animals, with an average of three new calves added per year.
- Its past estimates, however, have counted rhinos that have disappeared (some of which were confirmed dead), throwing into question whether the species’ population trend is really increasing or even declining.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/javan-rhino-calf-endangered-species-ujung-kulon-indonesia/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/restoring-degraded-forests-may-be-key-for-climate-study-says/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/restoring-degraded-forests-may-be-key-for-climate-study-says/#respond 06 Oct 2023 15:41:20 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274049 - In Central America’s “Five Great Forests,” there’s a goal to restore 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) by 2030. The study identified 9.8 million hectares (24.2 billion acres) as top restoration priorities, with 91% being degraded forests.
- Restoring just 5% of these priority zones was calculated to potentially sequester 113 million tons of CO2, equivalent to taking more than 20 million cars off the road for a year.
- The research emphasizes the importance of involving local communities in restoration planning and suggests that current forest management practices, like those in the timber industry, need to adapt for more sustainable outcomes.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/restoring-degraded-forests-may-be-key-for-climate-study-says/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/world-bank-accused-of-supporting-evictions-rights-abuses-at-tanzanian-park/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/world-bank-accused-of-supporting-evictions-rights-abuses-at-tanzanian-park/#respond 06 Oct 2023 12:49:20 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274039 - Rangers at Ruaha have received support from the bank through a program meant to boost tourism to the park.
- Human rights advocates and community leaders from the region who spoke to Mongabay said that rangers had carried out extrajudicial killings, sexual assaults, and livestock theft.
- The accusations are the latest in an ongoing clash over the rights of Indigenous peoples living in and near wildlife reserves in Tanzania, which draw billions of dollars per year in tourism revenue.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/world-bank-accused-of-supporting-evictions-rights-abuses-at-tanzanian-park/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/99-of-caatinga-biome-could-lose-plant-species-due-to-climate-change-study/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/99-of-caatinga-biome-could-lose-plant-species-due-to-climate-change-study/#respond 06 Oct 2023 10:29:40 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274035 - Even though the species in the biome are theoretically adapted to extreme climates, researchers found that the Caatinga is much more vulnerable to climate changes than previously believed.
- Protecting the more sensitive areas and restoring landscape vegetation connectivity is crucial for the resilience of Caatinga ecosystems; the biome is one of Brazil’s least protected, as less than 9% of its area lies within Conservation Units.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/99-of-caatinga-biome-could-lose-plant-species-due-to-climate-change-study/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/applications-open-for-airbuss-satellites-for-biodiversity-award/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/applications-open-for-airbuss-satellites-for-biodiversity-award/#respond 06 Oct 2023 08:29:56 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274025 - The two organizations are accepting applications until Dec. 15 for an award to support the use of high-resolution satellites for monitoring, tracking and protecting global biodiversity.
- Winners will receive access to Airbus’s high-resolution Pléiades and Pléiades Neo satellites, along with access to global mapping software from Esri and funding of $6,000.
- Previous winners include a project to map elephant habitats in Sai Yok National Park in Thailand, and community-led efforts to use drones and satellites to save tree kangaroos in Papua New Guinea.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/applications-open-for-airbuss-satellites-for-biodiversity-award/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/cut-down-once-again-uncontrolled-logging-puts-new-sahel-reforestation-projects-at-risk/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/cut-down-once-again-uncontrolled-logging-puts-new-sahel-reforestation-projects-at-risk/#respond 06 Oct 2023 07:00:39 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273969 - Facing poverty, war and corrupt local authorities, locals and refugees are cutting trees in new protected areas for firewood or to sell charcoal.
- Local environmental defence organizations, officials and administrations who lead these reforestation projects are raising the alarm about the extent of deforestation which is contributing to desertification in these areas.
- Despite alternative solutions to excessive logging being proposed and implemented, locals are still harvesting from reforested areas.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/cut-down-once-again-uncontrolled-logging-puts-new-sahel-reforestation-projects-at-risk/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/world-owes-it-to-tanzania-to-keep-eastern-arc-forests-standing-study-shows/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/world-owes-it-to-tanzania-to-keep-eastern-arc-forests-standing-study-shows/#respond 06 Oct 2023 05:55:17 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273932 - The authors of a new study recommend that international investments in conservation within the Eastern Arc worth $2 billion need to be made over the next 20 years.
- Without this, the authors say, the mountains’ forests and their extraordinary levels of biodiversity will be lost or degraded as local communities convert them to agricultural land or harvest timber from them.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/world-owes-it-to-tanzania-to-keep-eastern-arc-forests-standing-study-shows/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/pope-francis-condemns-world-leaders-for-deeply-flawed-un-climate-process/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/pope-francis-condemns-world-leaders-for-deeply-flawed-un-climate-process/#respond 05 Oct 2023 21:58:41 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=274012 - But this week Pope Francis issued Laudate Deum, a follow up document which condemns world leaders for eight years of climate inaction and of making hollow unfulfilled pledges as they repeatedly fail to respond effectively to the severely escalating global climate crisis.
- The pope notes in the new document that it is the world’s poorest who suffer most from the battering of record heatwaves, storms, floods, droughts, melting glaciers, and rising seas. He also asserts that it is the obligation of the world’s wealthiest nations to decisively lead humanity out of the crisis, before Earth reaches “the point of no return.”
- It seems clear from the timing of Pope Francis’ declaration that he hopes it will positively influence COP28, the climate conference to be held in early December in the United Arab Emirates, where an oil company executive will preside as chair.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/pope-francis-condemns-world-leaders-for-deeply-flawed-un-climate-process/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/frogs-in-the-pot-two-in-five-amphibian-species-at-risk-amid-climate-crisis/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/frogs-in-the-pot-two-in-five-amphibian-species-at-risk-amid-climate-crisis/#respond 05 Oct 2023 18:38:53 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273999 - Amphibians are particularly vulnerable because of their permeable skin and specific habitat needs; diseases like the chytrid fungus further threaten their survival.
- Salamanders are the most at risk, with a lethal fungus in Europe posing a significant threat, especially to the diverse salamander population in North America.
- The study emphasizes the importance of global conservation efforts, with habitat protection showing positive results for some species, and highlights the broader context of the ongoing global biodiversity crisis.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/frogs-in-the-pot-two-in-five-amphibian-species-at-risk-amid-climate-crisis/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/world-bank-still-backs-coal-in-asia-despite-climate-claims-report-reveals/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/world-bank-still-backs-coal-in-asia-despite-climate-claims-report-reveals/#respond 05 Oct 2023 18:36:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273991 - The multilateral lender committed in 2013 to cease its involvement with coal, and more recently pledged to align its investments with the Paris Agreement.
- The investigation from environmental and economic watchdogs shows that the World Bank’s private lending arm holds stakes in client banks that are funding at least 39 coal developments throughout China, Indonesia and Cambodia.
- The report highlights the case of the planned Jambi 2 development in Sumatra, an “unwanted and unneeded” venture that the report says would severely impact the health, quality of life and livelihoods of affected communities already suffering the impacts of intensive coal development in the area.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/world-bank-still-backs-coal-in-asia-despite-climate-claims-report-reveals/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/sustainable-infrastructure-in-the-pan-amazon-in-search-of-an-oxymoron/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/sustainable-infrastructure-in-the-pan-amazon-in-search-of-an-oxymoron/#respond 05 Oct 2023 16:30:05 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273811 - Author Timothy J. Killeen is an academic and expert who, since the 1980s, has studied the rainforests of Brazil and Bolivia, where he lived for more than 35 years.
- Chronicling the efforts of nine Amazonian countries to curb deforestation, this edition provides an overview of the topics most relevant to the conservation of the region’s biodiversity, ecosystem services and Indigenous cultures, as well as a description of the conventional and sustainable development models that are vying for space within the regional economy.
- Click the “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon” link atop this page to see chapters 1-13 as they are published during 2023.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/sustainable-infrastructure-in-the-pan-amazon-in-search-of-an-oxymoron/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/up-in-the-air-study-finds-microplastics-in-high-altitude-cloud-water/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/up-in-the-air-study-finds-microplastics-in-high-altitude-cloud-water/#respond 05 Oct 2023 16:04:12 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273983 - The researchers suggest that microplastics could therefore be influencing the formation of clouds and even impacting the climate.
- However, one outside expert casts doubt on the assumption that microplastics could contribute to cloud formation or affect the climate in a substantial way.
- With the total amount of plastic waste produced by humanity between the 1950s and 2050 expected to total 26 billion metric tons based on current trends, determining how plastics impact Earth’s operating systems, ecosystems and health is critically important.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/up-in-the-air-study-finds-microplastics-in-high-altitude-cloud-water/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/what-does-land-mean-to-australias-indigenous-groups-fighting-logging/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/what-does-land-mean-to-australias-indigenous-groups-fighting-logging/#respond 05 Oct 2023 15:57:29 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273879 - This landscape, part of the Newry State Forest in New South Wales, Australia, is facing a logging project by the state-owned Forestry Corporation that threatens the habitat of the vulnerable koala species — also a cultural totem.
- Gumbaynggirr protesters resisting logging plans say they believe every part of the world is in deep relationship with each other, including humans to nature and the land. Their cultural duty to protect totems, they say, pushes them to try to stop extractive industries.
- In this piece, Indigenous Gumbaynggirr protesters explain what land — this piece of the Earth — means to them.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/what-does-land-mean-to-australias-indigenous-groups-fighting-logging/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/wasnt-us-fire-hit-indonesia-claims-as-malaysia-chokes-on-poor-air-quality/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/wasnt-us-fire-hit-indonesia-claims-as-malaysia-chokes-on-poor-air-quality/#respond 05 Oct 2023 15:04:58 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273982 - Air quality in Kuala Lumpur and other parts of Malaysia have worsened in recent days, with more than a dozen regions recording unhealthy air quality.
- Indonesian officials have denied that fires in their jurisdiction are to blame, and accused their Malaysian counterparts of misreading the data.
- Indonesia dismissed that same source of data in 2019, however, when fires in Sumatra and Borneo also spread to Malaysia and Singapore.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/wasnt-us-fire-hit-indonesia-claims-as-malaysia-chokes-on-poor-air-quality/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/indonesian-children-locked-out-of-school-as-el-nino-haze-chokes-parts-of-sumatra-kalimantan/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/indonesian-children-locked-out-of-school-as-el-nino-haze-chokes-parts-of-sumatra-kalimantan/#respond 05 Oct 2023 14:04:39 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273958 - Air pollution on Oct. 5 in one area of Palangkaraya far exceeded the level at which air quality is classified dangerous to human health.
- The government of Jambi province has closed schools until Oct. 7, after which it will review whether to reopen for in-person teaching.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/indonesian-children-locked-out-of-school-as-el-nino-haze-chokes-parts-of-sumatra-kalimantan/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/the-truth-about-cambodias-prey-lang-sanctuary-chasing-deforestation/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/the-truth-about-cambodias-prey-lang-sanctuary-chasing-deforestation/#respond 05 Oct 2023 12:30:11 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273906 - Cambodia has one of the highest deforestation rates in the world, and the situation in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary which spans four provinces is emblematic of the problem.
- Preliminary satellite data from Global Forest Watch indicate that deforestation in Prey Lang in 2023 is set to surpass both 2022 and 2021, with the latter year marking the highest recorded forest loss since the start of the century.
- In the latest episode of Chasing Deforestation, host Romi Castagnino sent Mongabay reporter Gerry Flynn on a mission to find out what’s happening inside the supposedly protected area.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/the-truth-about-cambodias-prey-lang-sanctuary-chasing-deforestation/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/brazils-indigenous-women-march-again-for-the-rights-of-their-people-and-lives/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/brazils-indigenous-women-march-again-for-the-rights-of-their-people-and-lives/#respond 05 Oct 2023 09:53:05 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273946 - Aware of the role of Indigenous peoples in preserving biodiversity, the meeting was scheduled to discuss climate emergencies and the importance of Indigenous women’s participation in the U.N. Climate Conference, to be held in Belém, in northern Brazil, in 2025.
- Amid debates in Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court, the demarcation of Indigenous territories was brought to the top of the list of urgent issues at this year’s march.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/brazils-indigenous-women-march-again-for-the-rights-of-their-people-and-lives/feed/ 0