https://news.mongabay.com/list/china/ 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/list/china/ 32 32 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/2023/08/sustainability-is-a-continuous-journey-qa-with-rspos-joseph-dcruz/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/sustainability-is-a-continuous-journey-qa-with-rspos-joseph-dcruz/#respond 08 Aug 2023 04:33:26 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271925 - Today, the organization is headed by veteran development professional Joseph D’Cruz, a self-professed newcomer to the industry who says he wants the RSPO to be less reactive and more proactive.
- In a wide-ranging interview with Mongabay, D’Cruz discusses why sustainability should be seen as an unending journey rather than an end goal, how the gap between sustainable and “conventional” palm oil is closing, and what role governments must play in driving greater sustainability.
- “When you watch the progress of platforms like the RSPO, sometimes on the outside it might seem frustratingly slow,” he says. “But that’s because you got to bring everybody along and that’s a very tricky challenge sometimes.”
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/sustainability-is-a-continuous-journey-qa-with-rspos-joseph-dcruz/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/researchers-detect-two-of-surinames-most-powerful-jaguar-trafficking-networks/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/researchers-detect-two-of-surinames-most-powerful-jaguar-trafficking-networks/#respond 07 Aug 2023 10:17:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=271833 - The investigation also revealed how the illegal trade of jaguars has been integrated into international organized crime by involving several routes from Suriname to China.
- The investigation team recommends that authorities from different domains and different ministries support each other and work together to tackle this “convergence of crimes.”
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/researchers-detect-two-of-surinames-most-powerful-jaguar-trafficking-networks/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/drones-improve-counts-of-rare-cao-vit-gibbon-identify-conservation-priorities/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/drones-improve-counts-of-rare-cao-vit-gibbon-identify-conservation-priorities/#respond 12 Jul 2023 16:32:41 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270837 - Researchers emphasize the lower estimate isn’t the result of a population decline, citing the discovery of new gibbon groups.
- The finding, they say, “feeds into our assessments of how viable the population is [and] helps us decide what conservation actions are the most urgent.”
- The survey is the latest to underscore the “limitless” utility of drones and their growing importance in wildlife surveys and wildlife research in general.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/drones-improve-counts-of-rare-cao-vit-gibbon-identify-conservation-priorities/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/report-links-paper-giant-rge-to-indonesia-deforestation-despite-pledges/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/report-links-paper-giant-rge-to-indonesia-deforestation-despite-pledges/#respond 04 Jul 2023 17:26:36 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=270534 - The allegation comes despite the company having adopted a no-deforestation policy since 2015.
- The report also reveals a chain of offshore shell companies pointing to RGE’s control of a new mega-scale pulp mill in Indonesia’s North Kalimantan province.
- This new mill threatens large-scale deforestation once it’s in operation, due to its huge demand for wood, the report says.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/07/report-links-paper-giant-rge-to-indonesia-deforestation-despite-pledges/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/despite-billions-tied-to-clean-supply-chains-chinas-cofco-still-turns-to-deforesters/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/despite-billions-tied-to-clean-supply-chains-chinas-cofco-still-turns-to-deforesters/#respond 20 Jun 2023 11:00:49 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=269979 - In recent years, it has made bold pledges about combating deforestation and has adopted a series of policies to clean up its supply chains, receiving billions of dollars in reduced-interest loans to carry out these promises.
- But Cofco’s supply chains are still not free of deforestation, an investigation by investigative outlet Repórter Brasil produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network has found.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/despite-billions-tied-to-clean-supply-chains-chinas-cofco-still-turns-to-deforesters/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/chinas-qinghai-tibet-ecosystem-legislation-is-a-landmark-but-for-whom-commentary/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/chinas-qinghai-tibet-ecosystem-legislation-is-a-landmark-but-for-whom-commentary/#respond 07 Jun 2023 19:58:55 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=269509 - Hailed as a legislative landmark by state-sponsored media, its effects could ripple far beyond China’s borders, with likely effects on international rivers such as the Brahmaputra, Indus, Mekong, Irrawaddy and Salween, which flow from the Tibetan plateau.
- In a new commentary, a conservation biologist concerned about the QTP ecosystem explains how its 63 articles cover a nearly panoramic selection of topics, making the act a good starting point for understanding the major environmental issues of the region.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/06/chinas-qinghai-tibet-ecosystem-legislation-is-a-landmark-but-for-whom-commentary/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/death-of-last-female-yangtze-softshell-turtle-signals-end-for-god-turtle/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/death-of-last-female-yangtze-softshell-turtle-signals-end-for-god-turtle/#respond 09 May 2023 20:23:23 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=268412 - “We are devastated,” says the Asian Turtle Program, an NGO working to protect the Yangtze turtle and its habitat.
- The only hope for the species lies in the possibility that a few of these giant creatures may still roam, unknown, in lakes and rivers in Vietnam or Laos.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/05/death-of-last-female-yangtze-softshell-turtle-signals-end-for-god-turtle/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/u-n-parties-are-worlds-apart-on-plastics-treaty-solutions/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/u-n-parties-are-worlds-apart-on-plastics-treaty-solutions/#respond 27 Apr 2023 15:01:07 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267970 - Delegates from 175 nations, along with private stakeholders (including the petrochemical industry and environmental groups), remain far apart on what the treaty should cover: reuse, banning certain chemicals, limiting plastics production, whether to focus on cradle-to-grave supply chain regulation or mostly on ocean pollution, and much more.
- Perhaps most importantly, the world’s countries need to determine how the treaty will be implemented: Should the final agreement require mandatory international compliance, or should individual nations be allowed to act voluntarily to solve the plastics problem?
- China and the United States are taking a far less aggressive position on implementation, recommending a voluntary national approach, while Pacific Island countries and the European Union want to see stricter rules for compliance and more focus on production limits. At this point, no one has any idea what the final treaty document will look like.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/u-n-parties-are-worlds-apart-on-plastics-treaty-solutions/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/wildlife-trafficking-gradually-returns-after-pandemic-lull-mostly-by-sea/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/wildlife-trafficking-gradually-returns-after-pandemic-lull-mostly-by-sea/#respond 04 Apr 2023 20:28:19 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267229 - The data, from U.S.-based nonprofit C4ADS, also show that seizures of elephant ivory, rhino horn and pangolin scales haven’t yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.
- However, the decline isn’t uniform across all countries, with China’s late reopening from the pandemic this year indicating there might be an increase in trafficking in 2023, especially of ivory.
- C4ADS has called on law enforcement officials to focus on investigating wildlife seizures within their areas of authority and increase their efforts to detect more illegal shipments passing through known trafficking routes in the maritime transportation sector.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/04/wildlife-trafficking-gradually-returns-after-pandemic-lull-mostly-by-sea/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/robust-river-governance-key-to-restoring-mekong-river-vitality-in-face-of-dams/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/robust-river-governance-key-to-restoring-mekong-river-vitality-in-face-of-dams/#respond 30 Mar 2023 16:12:41 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=267045 - As the pace of hydropower development continues to pick up across the river basin, cracks in the region’s dated and limited river governance systems are increasingly exposed.
- Major challenges include the lack of formal, legally binding regulations that govern development projects with transboundary impacts, and a legacy of poor engagement with riverside communities who stand to lose the most due to the effects of dams.
- Experts say that open and honest dialogue between dam developers and operators is needed to restore the river’s natural seasonal flow and ensure the river’s vitality and capacity to support biodiversity and natural resources is sustained.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/robust-river-governance-key-to-restoring-mekong-river-vitality-in-face-of-dams/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/as-hydropower-dams-quell-the-mekongs-life-force-what-are-the-costs/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/as-hydropower-dams-quell-the-mekongs-life-force-what-are-the-costs/#respond 29 Mar 2023 16:57:09 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=266956 - But over the past few decades, the construction of hydropower dams has undermined the river’s capacity to support life: more than 160 dams operate throughout the Mekong Basin, including 13 on the river’s mainstream, with hundreds more either planned or under construction.
- Besides severing fish migration routes and natural sediment transport throughout the river system, the dams affect the river’s natural seasonal ebb and flow, an ancient rhythm alongside which ecosystems have evolved.
- Communities, scientists and decision-makers now face unprecedented challenges as fish catches dwindle, riverbanks erode, ecosystems collapse and the delta inexorably sinks.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/as-hydropower-dams-quell-the-mekongs-life-force-what-are-the-costs/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/to-save-hainan-gibbons-earths-rarest-primate-experts-roll-out-the-big-tech/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/to-save-hainan-gibbons-earths-rarest-primate-experts-roll-out-the-big-tech/#respond 27 Mar 2023 15:14:46 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=266855 - In recent years, bioacoustics, infrared technology and machine learning are among the tools that have been used to make data collection and analysis easier in the study of Hainan gibbons.
- According to estimates, there are only 35 or 36 individuals of the species left, limited to Bawangling National Nature Reserve in China’s Hainan province.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/03/to-save-hainan-gibbons-earths-rarest-primate-experts-roll-out-the-big-tech/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/the-illegal-jaguar-trade-is-thriving-online-why-arent-governments-stopping-it/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/the-illegal-jaguar-trade-is-thriving-online-why-arent-governments-stopping-it/#respond 02 Feb 2023 09:00:28 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=265170 - Researchers reviewed online archives of popular social media sites and online marketplaces for posts related to jaguar sales between 2009 and 2019.
- Teeth and skins were the most traded parts, and were commonly destined for China and other Asian countries.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/02/the-illegal-jaguar-trade-is-thriving-online-why-arent-governments-stopping-it/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/restoring-hong-kongs-oyster-reefs-one-abandoned-oyster-farm-at-a-time/ https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/restoring-hong-kongs-oyster-reefs-one-abandoned-oyster-farm-at-a-time/#respond 30 Dec 2022 06:00:16 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=264210 - At one site, they are repurposing concrete posts from an abandoned oyster farm that made use of traditional oyster cultivation methods dating back hundreds of years.
- Hong Kong’s oysters, and its oyster farmers, are threatened by development, warming and acidifying marine waters brought on by climate change, and toxic algae blooms due to pollution.
- By restoring the reefs, conservationists and scientists hope they can improve water quality, stabilize shorelines, and provide habitat for the city’s surprisingly rich marine wildlife.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/restoring-hong-kongs-oyster-reefs-one-abandoned-oyster-farm-at-a-time/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/dalian-ocean-fishing-subject-of-mongabay-probe-now-sanctioned-by-u-s/ https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/dalian-ocean-fishing-subject-of-mongabay-probe-now-sanctioned-by-u-s/#respond 15 Dec 2022 11:17:07 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=263671 - One sanctioned company, Dalian Ocean Fishing Co., Ltd. (DOF), was the subject of two Mongabay investigations: one uncovered widespread human rights abuses, and the other exposed extensive illegal shark-finning operations within the DOF fleet of longline fishing vessels.
- China, which operates the world’s largest distant-water fishing fleet and has a long history of fisheries offenses, denounced the sanctions, saying that it is a “responsible fishing country.”
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/dalian-ocean-fishing-subject-of-mongabay-probe-now-sanctioned-by-u-s/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/bolivia-looks-to-opaque-methods-firms-to-build-lithium-powerhouse/ https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/bolivia-looks-to-opaque-methods-firms-to-build-lithium-powerhouse/#respond 12 Dec 2022 16:34:27 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=263491 - To fill the gap, companies have turned to Bolivia, whose 2019 election was marred by turmoil exacerbated by allegations of foreign powers seeking its lithium that some called an attempted coup.
- Six foreign firms expect a decision from the Bolivian government about which will earn the opportunity to use new technologies, collectively called direct lithium extraction, to speed up the country’s production of the world’s largest recorded reserves of lithium.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/bolivia-looks-to-opaque-methods-firms-to-build-lithium-powerhouse/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/shark-fishing-gear-outlawed-across-much-of-pacific-in-win-for-conservationists/ https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/shark-fishing-gear-outlawed-across-much-of-pacific-in-win-for-conservationists/#respond 08 Dec 2022 16:37:10 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=263367 - Shark numbers in the open ocean have dropped by roughly 71% in the past 50 years.
- Proponents consider the measure a potentially precedent-setting move that could precede similar bans in other regions.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/shark-fishing-gear-outlawed-across-much-of-pacific-in-win-for-conservationists/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/it-was-a-shark-operation-qa-with-indonesian-crew-abused-on-chinese-shark-finning-boat/ https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/it-was-a-shark-operation-qa-with-indonesian-crew-abused-on-chinese-shark-finning-boat/#respond 02 Dec 2022 16:59:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=263197 - Previous reporting by Mongabay revealed widespread and systematic abuses suffered by workers across the DOF fleet, culminating in the deaths of at least seven Indonesian crew members.
- In a series of interviews with Mongabay, Rusnata described his own ordeal in detail, including confirming reports that DOF tuna-fishing vessels were deliberately going after sharks and finning the animals.
- He also describes a lack of care for the Indonesian workers by virtually everyone who knew of their plight, from the Indonesian agents who recruited them to port officials in China.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2022/12/it-was-a-shark-operation-qa-with-indonesian-crew-abused-on-chinese-shark-finning-boat/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/as-shark-numbers-plummet-nations-seek-ban-on-devastatingly-effective-gear/ https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/as-shark-numbers-plummet-nations-seek-ban-on-devastatingly-effective-gear/#respond 26 Nov 2022 09:48:29 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=262960 - The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), which governs tuna fisheries in those waters, could vote on the proposal at its annual meeting next week in Vietnam.
- The commission currently allows boats to use either shark lines or wire leaders, but not both simultaneously, but advocates for banning say that’s a loophole taken advantage of by captains and companies that ignore the rules amid scant oversight.
- Banning wire leaders and shark lines would reduce fishing mortality of oceanic whitetip sharks by 40.5% and silky sharks by 30.8%, research has found.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/as-shark-numbers-plummet-nations-seek-ban-on-devastatingly-effective-gear/feed/ 0