PODCAST

Conservation news

Environmental science and conservation news

All Episodes

Rights of nature concept creates room for life, but...

Conservation news ·

2025/09/25

Cases granting nature and ecosystems legal rights are increasing worldwide, but perceptions of the rights of nature movement as a revolutionary ecocentric movement are too simplistic, according to the authors of a recent study published in Environmental Research Communications. The study conducted an in-depth analysis of 78 peer-reviewed articles that focused on rights of nature […]

en-US

Alaskan rivers turn orange as permafrost thaws,...

Conservation news ·

2025/09/25

The writer John McPhee once described Alaska’s Salmon River as having “the clearest, purest water” he’d ever seen. Today, that same river runs orange with toxic metals unleashed by thawing permafrost. “During the summer of 2019, the clear waters of the Salmon turned distinctly orange and have remained discolored and turbid since,” according to a […]

en-US

Turning camera traps into real-time sentinels:...

Conservation news ·

2025/09/25

Camera traps are ubiquitous in conservation. They’re deployed to monitor biodiversity, study animal behavior, observe habitats over long periods of time, and enforce effective conservation action on the ground. However, they have an inherent shortcoming that’s especially prominent in remote locations like dense forests and cut-off islands. “They’re largely passive. People put them out and […]

en-US

A dancing lemur could help save one of Madagascar’s...

Conservation news ·

2025/09/25

Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Madagascar’s rainforests often steal the spotlight, with their flamboyant biodiversity and familiar lemur mascots. Less noticed are the country’s dry forests in the west and southwest, which shelter equally remarkable life yet have been steadily eroded by agriculture, […]

en-US

Religion at a crossroads in Indonesia as Islamic...

Conservation news ·

2025/09/25

JAKARTA — Indonesia’s two biggest Islamic organizations usually seize the country’s attention twice a year, when they gather to determine when the religious holidays of Idul Fitri and Idul Adha will be celebrated. But for the past year, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah have caught the spotlight for a different reason: their decision to operate large-scale […]

en-US

China, world’s largest carbon polluting nation,...

Conservation news ·

2025/09/24

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — China, the world’s largest carbon polluting nation, has announced a new climate fighting goal to cut emissions by 7% to 10% by 2035. It came as more than 100 world leaders lined up Wednesday to talk of increased urgency and the need for stronger efforts to curb the spewing of heat-trapping […]

en-US

Indigenous women in Peru use technology to protect...

Conservation news ·

2025/09/24

In 2017, when Betty Rubio began patrolling the forests of her ancestral land, she began to question why she was doing it. It wasn’t easy. She knew that tackling environmental crimes such as illegal logging and mining came with risks, and that as a woman, those risks were even greater. “My children would say to […]

en-US

Ocean acidification threatens planetary health:...

Conservation news ·

2025/09/24

Initiated in 2024, the Planetary Health Check is a comprehensive, science-based global initiative dedicated to measuring and maintaining Earth systems critical to life as we know it. These annual reports were created to provide a regular, comprehensive assessment of the state of our world, utilizing the most current planetary boundaries science — monitoring changes, gauging […]

en-US

Indigenous fishers lead science-backed conservation...

Conservation news ·

2025/09/24

When Fredy Yavinape was a young child, he didn’t know the biological concept of an “umbrella species.” These are species that require large areas of undisturbed habitat to survive, which is why they serve as an indicator of the conservation status of the entire ecosystem. Now, at 48 years old, Yavinape knows what they are. […]

en-US

Scientists weigh giant sea curtain to shield...

Conservation news ·

2025/09/24

Thwaites Glacier rises above the Amundsen Sea in the Antarctic, a towering white cliff abutting cerulean waters. Roughly the size of Great Britain and spanning 120 kilometers (80 miles) across, Thwaites — part of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet — may seem all but invincible. But among scientists, it’s known as the “Doomsday Glacier” for […]

en-US

Oakes Award delivers top prize to Mongabay journalist...

Conservation news ·

2025/09/24

Mongabay journalist Karla Mendes has received the 2025 John B. Oakes Award from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Mendes was presented with the prestigious prize at an event in New York on Sept. 18 for her investigation documenting a direct connection between increased violence against Indigenous Arariboia leaders and the expansion of illegal cattle […]

en-US

Typhoon Ragasa batters Hong Kong and south China...

Conservation news ·

2025/09/24

SHENZHEN, China (AP) — Typhoon Ragasa, one of the strongest in years, has caused massive destruction in Taiwan and the Philippines before slamming ashore in southern China. The typhoon whipped waves taller than lampposts onto Hong Kong promenades and turned seas rough on Wednesday. In Taiwan, 17 people died in a flooded township and 10 […]

en-US

Mongabay founder Rhett Butler named to Forbes...

Conservation news ·

2025/09/19

Rhett Ayers Butler, Mongabay founder and CEO, has been named to the 2025 Forbes Sustainability Leaders List, which honors 50 global leaders working to combat the climate crisis. “Mongabay has tended to fly under the radar. We’ve focused on the journalism rather than promoting ourselves, so this recognition is especially meaningful — and it reflects […]

en-US

Panama upwelling fails in 2025, threatening marine...

Conservation news ·

2025/09/19

Every year in the Gulf of Panama, between December and April, trade winds from the north push warm surface water away from the coast, allowing cool, nutrient-rich water from the depths to rise, in a process called upwelling. This is critical for the region’s marine life and fisheries. However, for the first time in at […]

en-US

The mire of Brazil’s BR-319 highway: Deforestation,...

Conservation news ·

2025/09/19

The continued failure to halt the BR-319 highway cutting through the Brazilian Amazon is an example of the systemic problem identified by Hannah Arendt in her study of the minister of transportation of Nazi Germany, who had administered the movement of trains throughout Germany and its occupied territories, including the trains that carried millions of […]

en-US

Timing, not traits, helps California’s jewelflowers...

Conservation news ·

2025/09/19

The small, bell-shaped flowers that dangle like gems in dazzling hues of yellow, maroon, purple, brown and white give jewelflowers their name. Yet these plants, from the genera Streptanthus and Caulanthus, belong to the humble mustard family. Native to California, more than 60 species dot the state’s myriad landscapes, splashing the hillsides of the Sierras, […]

en-US

Protecting Indigenous Amazon lands may also protect...

Conservation news ·

2025/09/19

Indigenous territories are widely recognized as vital for conserving the environment and biodiversity, but far less is known about their role in protecting human health. Only recently have researchers begun to fill in this knowledge gap and investigate how the protection of these areas can provide health benefits as well as ecosystem services. Now, a […]

en-US

Iberian orcas sink sailboat in latest ramming ‘game’...

Conservation news ·

2025/09/19

Five people were rescued after a pod of critically endangered Iberian orcas rammed into a sailboat several times, causing it to sink off Portugal’s Costa do Caparica, near the nation’s capital, Lisbon, on Sept. 13. None of the people on board suffered any injuries, according to the Portuguese maritime authority. The boat, owned by yacht […]

en-US

Animals that spread seeds are critical for climate...

Conservation news ·

2025/09/19

When a toucan plucks fruit from a tree in the Amazon Rainforest, it’s doing more than just finding lunch. Moving to a new location and depositing seeds via its droppings could be crucial in addressing climate change. New research shows that when animals that spread seeds disappear, forests lose much of their ability to capture […]

en-US

100,000 Ecuadorians protest Canadian mining project...

Conservation news ·

2025/09/19

More than 100,000 people marched through Cuenca, a city in southern Ecuador, on Sept. 16, demanding that federal authorities revoke an environmental license for a gold mining project that may impact an important freshwater source. The Loma Larga mining project, run by Canadian mining company Dundee Precious Metals, borders the 3,200-hectare (7,900-acre) Quimsacocha National Recreation […]

en-US

1,221 results