Nature pictures from Madagascar

KALINGA, Philippines — On the mountainsides flanking the mighty Chico River in the northern Philippines’ Kalinga province, residents of once tight-knit villages have drifted apart in recent years. Hearty greetings between neighbors tending to farmlands have been replaced with avoidant looks or glowering stares. “We don’t talk much like before,” says Gohn Dangoy, a 59-year-old […]

Fishing in a fog: Ship noise hampers orcas’ hunting success (September 18, 2024)

Underwater noise from ships is making it tough for killer whales, or orcas, to find and catch their favorite fish, a recent study has found. Orcas (Orcinus orca) rely heavily on sound to hunt. They emit ultrasonic echolocation clicks that bounce off objects. By listening for the echoes of these clicks, the orcas can identify […]

Community forest or corporate fortune? How public land became a mine in Cambodia (September 17, 2024)

Mongabay features writer Gerry Flynn joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss a new investigation he published with freelance journalist Nehru Pry looking at how mining company Lin Vatey acquired thousands of hectares of a public forest, essentially kicking local people, including the Kuy Indigenous community, off public lands that they previously relied on. In this conversation, […]

Report exposes meatpackers’ role in recent chemical deforestation in Brazil (September 17, 2024)

A new report links Brazil's top meatpackers — JBS, Marfrig and Minerva — to widespread deforestation across the Pantanal, Amazon and Cerrado; of five farms investigated between October 2023 and February 2024, 86% of the destruction occurred in the Pantanal.

Amazon River and tributaries at record low levels (September 17, 2024)

The Amazon Rainforest’s main rivers are drying out due to an unprecedented drought exacerbated by climate change. Levels have continued to drop since Mongabay’s Sept 9. feature by Fernanda Wenzel. Major rivers such as the Madeira and Negro continue to beat record lows, disrupting life for Indigenous communities and raising concerns about economic and environmental […]

Aluminum and steel take environment and health toll, even as demand grows (September 17, 2024)

Aluminum and steel are two metals vital to a thriving global industrial economy. And both will be even more in demand in future, as they supply the global energy transition and infrastructure needs in developing countries. But there’s a problem: the mining and processing of these two metals negatively impact at least five of Earth’s […]

Experts call for urgent action as invasive species threatens Brazil mangroves (September 17, 2024)

During a field trip in May 2023 to the Cubatão mangroves in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, a cluster of white flowers puzzled biologists Geraldo Eysink and Edmar Hatamura. They bloomed from trees unlike any they had ever seen in the area in 30 years of research. They gathered samples, and with the expertise […]

US govt watchdog: Human rights still at risk in overseas conservation aid (September 17, 2024)

A ranger with the Uganda Wildlife Authority on patrol in the Queen Elizabeth National Park in November 2023. Image by Ashoka Mukpo for Mongabay.

U.S. government agencies responsible for handing out conservation grants overseas still aren’t doing enough to protect human rights, according to an internal review. The review was commissioned by the U.S. Congress in the wake of an outcry over a 2019 Buzzfeed News report on conservation-related human rights abuses in the Congo Basin. The story led […]

Pacific Island nations propose ecocide be adopted as international crime (September 17, 2024)

Three Pacific island countries have formally requested the International Criminal Court to recognize “ecocide,” or mass environmental destruction, as an international crime alongside genocide and war crimes. The proposal, submitted by Vanuatu and co-sponsors Fiji and Samoa on Sept. 9, seeks to amend the ICC’s Rome Statute, which currently allows for the prosecution of genocide, […]

Philippine coal mine roars into production amid waves of complaints (September 17, 2024)

SOUTH COTABATO, Philippines — On a sunny Wednesday in August, police officer Loreto Malon and a subordinate were riding their motorcycles in the mountain mining village of Ned on their way to the lowlands when a speeding haul truck loaded with coal nearly hit and killed them. “We could have been crushed if we did […]

In Cameroon, forest and water source restoration offers sustainable solutions (September 16, 2024)

A woman dressed in bright blue and a smile crouches in a cabbage field holding up a large head of cabbage. Image courtesy Suhucam.

In Bamukumbit village in northwestern Cameroon, residents have traditionally depended on natural water sources. However, these springs, streams, and rivers have deteriorated and become polluted over time as a result of intensive human activities, including agriculture, deforestation, pastoralism and livestock herding. Thanks to a project implemented by the nonprofit Support Humanity Cameroon (Suhucam), these water […]

Java activists risk jail for exposing shrimp farm pollution crisis (September 16, 2024)

Java activists risk jail for exposing shrimp farm pollution crisis.

JAKARTA — In 2023, environmental activist Daniel Frits Maurits Tangkilisan was sentenced to seven months in prison under Indonesia’s controversial online hate speech law. His crime? A Facebook post criticizing illegal shrimp farms operating within Karimunjawa National Park, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Tangkilisan was part of the #SaveKarimunjawa movement, which aimed to expose the environmental […]

25-fold surge in malaria at Indonesia gold frontier raises deforestation questions (September 16, 2024)

Gold mining erodes land cover in Pahuwato.

POHUWATO, Indonesia — Lukman Ahmad managed in the end to drag himself down from the slopes of Mount Pani toward the southern coast of Indonesia’s Pohuwato district. When he staggered back into Botubilotahu village, the 56-year-old was gaunt and reeling. “I’m fine standing, and I can just about walk,” Lukman told Mongabay Indonesia. “But it […]

How the Brazilian military sabotaged protection of Indigenous people in the Amazon (September 16, 2024)

Reports show it failed (or sabotaged) airspace control and food deliveries to the Indigenous people, who suffer from malnutrition as a result of mercury contamination from illegal mining.

Investors urge banks to cut commodity-driven deforestation (September 16, 2024)

Investment managers with a combined $8 trillion in assets under management are urging the banks in their portfolios to eliminate deforestation from their lending and investment practices. The new guidelines call for banks to assess their ties to deforestation, set policies to reduce harm, and track their progress. The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change […]

Hooded vultures in Ghana and South Africa on the brink, study says (September 16, 2024)

Two hooded vultures in the Gambia. Image by Roger Sanderson via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0).

High rates of inbreeding among hooded vultures in Ghana and South Africa spell trouble for their future, according to a newly published study. The study found that despite wide differences in the population size of the birds in the two countries, both face similar risks associated with low genetic diversity. It underlined the need to […]

In Chile, a copper mining project tainted by environmental damage sues 32 locals (September 16, 2024)

During the second week of October 2023, in northern Chile’s Coquimbo, Yasna Silva used social media to ask for help. She and her entire family had been sued by the Los Pelambres Mining Company. The reason? Neither she, nor the rest of the residents of her community, Pupío, had agreed to the expansion of a […]

Study highlights climate policies that actually work to reduce emissions (September 13, 2024)

To meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and avoid the worst outcomes of climate change, the world needs to rapidly reduce carbon emissions. Identifying effective policies to reach national climate goals has been challenging, but a new study published in Science examined 1500 climate policies implemented over the last two decades, and found […]

Maasai women struggle to survive amid forced evictions in conservation area (September 13, 2024)

In 2022, the government of Tanzania began forcibly evicting thousands of Indigenous Maasai from 1,500 square kilometers, nearly 600 square miles, of their ancestral land to make way for elite tourism in the renowned Ngorongoro Conservation Area. A large group of Maasai recently blocked the road leading to Ngorongoro, protesting the evictions and denial of […]

Billions in public funds ‘wasted’ on carbon capture projects, report finds (September 13, 2024)

A handful of governments have spent nearly $30 billion in public funds on carbon capture and hydrogen projects, mostly for private fossil fuel companies, over the past 40 years, a new report from Oil Change International finds. National governments are expected to spend an additional $115 billion to $240 billion in the coming decades, the […]

Wildcat miners: will cyanide displace mercury? (September 13, 2024)

The activities of wildcat miners in the Pan Amazon has become an increasing issue of concern over the past five years; in part, because their numbers have exploded, but also because as a group, they have flagrantly violated the land rights of Indigenous people, particularly the Yanomami, but also the Murunduku and Kayapó (Brazil), the […]

Honduras taps armed forces to eliminate deforestation by 2029. Will it work? (September 13, 2024)

Honduras this year launched a plan to eliminate deforestation by 2029, with a special focus on recovering land used by criminal groups for timber trafficking. Officials have already carried out hundreds of operations and arrested dozens of people tied to organized crime. But some experts worry that the plan doesn’t go far enough. The “Zero […]

Ugandan oil project linked with massive human rights abuses: Report (September 13, 2024)

The Kingfisher oil project in Uganda operated by a Chinese company has resulted in numerous human rights violations, including forced evictions, inadequate compensation, threats, violence and loss of livelihoods, a new report says. Climate Rights International (CRI), a U.S.-based nonprofit, published the report on Sept. 2. “Our findings substantiate that this project is not for […]

Malaysian court shuts down hydroelectric dam project on Indigenous land (September 12, 2024)

The Indigenous Semai tribe in Malaysia have achieved a significant legal victory in their long-running battle to protect their ancestral land from the impacts of a hydroelectric dam project. The high court in Malaysia’s Perak state ruled on Monday that the dam developers had failed to properly consult with or gain the consent of the […]

Why I quit the film industry to work on ecological restoration (commentary) (September 12, 2024)

Before and after of a restoration project in Spain. Image courtesy of AlVelAl.

I’ve spent a significant part of my career exploring and documenting how ecosystems function, and the profound impact humanity has on nature. Over time, I’ve come to recognize that not only is the way we treat the environment critically flawed, but so too is our current economic system. Conventional economic theories, like Keynesian economics, focus […]

Report links killings to environmental crimes in Peru’s Amazon (September 12, 2024)

An Indigenous group in a boat in the Ucayali River.

Ten years ago, four Indigenous Asháninka environmental defenders were murdered in the forests near their community of Saweto in Peru’s Amazon Ucayali region. In 2023, a court in Pucallpa found three loggers guilty of aggravated homicide against the leaders, sentencing them to 28 years and three months in prison. However, this case has since been […]

Marine ecosystems still overlooked in Indonesia’s new conservation law, critics say (September 12, 2024)

A coral reef and marine life in the waters off Raja Ampat in Southwest Papua province, Indonesia. Image courtesy of Econusa.

JAKARTA — Indonesia’s recently updated conservation law continues to prioritize terrestrial protection, raising concerns over much-needed improvements to the management of the country’s rich marine ecosystems and resources. Parliament passed revisions to the 1990 conservation law this past July, seven years since it was submitted for legislation. The update introduces 24 provisions that modify or […]

To save endangered trees, researchers in South America recruit an army of fungi (September 12, 2024)

It’s a sunny July day during an otherwise exceptionally rainy season in the lush green mountains of Huila, in Colombia’s eastern Andes. Adriana Corrales, her assistant and a local guide climb through the dense cloud forest. Above them, birds sing and monkeys howl through the canopy of ancient Colombian black oaks (Trigonobalanus excelsa), an endangered […]

Clearest picture yet of Amazon carbon density could help guide conservation (September 12, 2024)

Cutting-edge machine-learning models have created one of the most detailed, high-resolution maps yet of aboveground carbon density in the Amazon Rainforest, revealing where the forest is most intact and what areas are most in need of conservation attention. A combination of machine-learning models and satellite readings show that the Amazon Rainforest contains 56.8 billion metric […]

Sri Lanka completes first elephant census since 2011 amid uncertainty (September 12, 2024)

A tusker with a herd of elephants in Sri Lanka.

COLOMBO — This past Aug. 17 would have been just another ordinary day for the elephants of Sri Lanka: feeding, drinking, resting and, for some, raiding nearby farms. But for the staff of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) and thousands of volunteers, it was the start of a busy weekend as they carried out […]

Extreme drought pushes Amazon’s main rivers to lowest-ever levels (September 11, 2024)

Experts say the outlook for the next months is even worse, putting researchers on alert for the possibility of Amazon’s worst drought ever.

Cambodian carbon credit project hit by rights abuse claims is reinstated (September 11, 2024)

A Ministry of Environment ranger on patrol in the Cardamom Mountains. Image by Andyb3947 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

PHNOM PENH — Carbon credit certifying agency Verra announced on Sept. 10 that it has lifted the suspension of the Southern Cardamom REDD+ project in Cambodia following a roughly 14-month review of the project’s audits. Verified emissions reductions, better known as carbon credits, can now once more be issued by Cambodia’s flagship REDD+ project. The 465,000-hectare […]

10 nature attractions in Madagascar:

Masoala National Park: Masoala National Park is a large national park located on the Masoala Peninsula in northeastern Madagascar. It is home to a variety of ecosystems, including rainforests, mangroves, and coral reefs. It is also home to a variety of wildlife, including lemurs, chameleons, and birds.
Isalo National Park: Isalo National Park is a protected area in southwestern Madagascar. It is home to a variety of landscapes, including sandstone formations, gorges, and waterfalls. It is also home to a variety of wildlife, including lemurs and chameleons.
Berenty Private Reserve: The Berenty Private Reserve is a protected area in southern Madagascar. It is home to a variety of wildlife, including lemurs and birds.
Andasibe-Mantadia National Park: Andasibe-Mantadia National Park is a protected area in eastern Madagascar. It is home to a variety of ecosystems, including rainforests, grasslands, and wetlands. It is also home to a variety of wildlife, including lemurs and birds.
Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park: Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park is a protected area in western Madagascar. It is known for its unique karst formations, called tsingy, which are formed from ancient coral reefs. It is also home to a variety of wildlife, including lemurs and chameleons.
Ankarana National Park: Ankarana National Park is a protected area in northern Madagascar. It is home to a variety of ecosystems, including rainforests, caves, and savannas. It is also home to a variety of wildlife, including lemurs and chameleons.
Analamazaotra Special Reserve: The Analamazaotra Special Reserve is a protected area in eastern Madagascar. It is home to a variety of wildlife, including lemurs and chameleons.
Zombitse-Vohibasia National Park: Zombitse-Vohibasia National Park is a protected area in western Madagascar. It is home to a variety of ecosystems, including rainforests, grasslands, and wetlands. It is also home to a variety of wildlife, including lemurs and chameleons.
Marojejy National Park: Marojejy National Park is a protected area in northeastern Madagascar. It is home to a variety of ecosystems, including rainforests, wetlands, and grasslands. It is also home to a variety of wildlife, including lemurs and chameleons.
Montagne d'Ambre National Park: Montagne d'Ambre National Park is a protected area in northern Madagascar. It is home to a variety of ecosystems, including rainforests, wetlands, and grasslands. It is also home to a variety of wildlife, including lemurs and chameleons.

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