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Conservation news

Environmental science and conservation news

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Reindeer numbers may fall by more than half by 2100...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/14

Global reindeer populations could fall by more than half by 2100 due to the impacts of climate change, including the shrinking of their habitats, according to a recent study, Mongabay’s Sonam Lama Hyolmo reports. Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), known in North America as caribou, live only in frozen tundra and boreal forests near the Arctic, and […]

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As Indonesia turns COP30 into carbon market showcase,...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/14

BELÉM, Brazil — As governments debate how to mobilize trillions of dollars in climate finance, Indonesia is using the COP30 climate summit in Brazil to aggressively promote its carbon market — a system that experts say remains dogged by weak rules, questionable integrity, and uncertain climate benefits. Inside the packed Indonesian pavilion in Belém, carbon […]

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Sloth selfies are feeding a booming wildlife...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/14

It’s not easy to find a sloth in the middle of the forest. They spend most of their time in the tree canopy and are masters of camouflage, thanks to their slow movements and the algae attached to their fur, which makes them blend in with the color of the leaves. Once identified high up, […]

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Newly described ‘lucifer’ bee found visiting...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/14

In 2019, researcher Kit Prendergast was surveying the insects visiting an incredibly rare plant in the Bremer Ranges of Western Australia when a bee grabbed her attention. Prendergast and her colleague dug deeper and found that the native bee, now named Megachile lucifer, is a new-to-science species, according to a recent study. The species name […]

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From rock music to rainforests: Akhyari Hananto’s...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/14

Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Before dawn breaks over Surabaya, Indonesia’s “City of Heroes,” Akhyari Hananto is already at work. After morning prayers, he opens Google Analytics to watch the night’s reading patterns unfold — what stories drew attention, which headlines resonated, and […]

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Small grants are key to a successful next generation...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/14

In a meeting room in a head office in London, a handful of early-career conservationists from around the world sat in a circle on the floor to share their challenges of working in conservation. The conversation was sobering. From affording everyday bills, juggling multiple unsecured jobs and dealing with burnout to harassment in the field, […]

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‘Green’ energy transition leaves a dirty trail in the...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/14

MINDANAO, Philippines — Communities living near mining operations in the southern Philippines’ Caraga region are feeling the toll of the global energy transition, with nickel mining driving deforestation and pollution, according to a recent report. Climate Rights International (CRI), the U.S.-based NGO behind the report, highlighted harms to the environment, local livelihoods and public health […]

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Cacao rush fuels conflict and deforestation in...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/13

Soaring cacao prices over the last three years are fueling deforestation and conflict in Grand Gedeh county of Liberia, in West Africa, Mongabay staff writer Ashoka Mukpo reported. Satellite imagery by Global Forest Watch indicates that forest loss in and around Grand Gedeh, which borders the neighboring nation of Côte d’Ivoire in southeastern Liberia, has […]

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Rare parrots return to Atlantic Forest fragment after...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/13

Twenty brilliantly colored red-browed amazons took flight over a reserve holding one of the few remaining intact swaths of Atlantic Forest in Brazil. The green-and-red parrots had been missing from Alagoas state for generations. In January 2025, the birds returned home. Researchers say releasing the red-browed amazons (Amazona rhodocorytha) will help the species rebound and […]

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Strategic ignorance, climate change and Amazonia...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/13

We all know that “ignorance of the law is no excuse,” but in daily life, ignorance of the consequences of one’s actions is, indeed, an excuse that shields us from our own discomfort or from condemnation by others, even for the most serious of offenses. One is reminded of Jesus Christ on the cross asking […]

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Ecuador freezes bank accounts of Indigenous leaders,...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/13

Since September 2025, dozens of Indigenous leaders and organizations, land rights activists and nonprofits in Ecuador have reportedly been unable to access their funds, after a state institution blocked their bank accounts. Judges have recently ordered the government to lift the freeze on a few accounts, but most remain in place. The bank account freezes […]

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What’s at stake for the environment in Chile’s...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/13

Chileans will go to the polls on Nov. 16 to vote for a new president, 23 Senate seats, and all 155 seats in the lower Chamber of Deputies. The elections could be a deciding factor in how the country addresses a number of ongoing environmental issues, including the renewable energy transition, constitutional rights for Indigenous […]

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Sea anemones and hermit crabs form a mutualistic...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/13

Japanese researchers have described a new species of sea anemone that appears to share a mutually beneficial relationship with hermit crabs. The pale pink sea anemones, now named Paracalliactis tsukisome, were found attached to the shells of hermit crabs (Oncopagurus monstrosus). The researchers described the anemone based on 36 specimens that fishing trawlers collected between […]

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Global Energy Outlook sees promise in Africa’s power...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/13

The World Energy Outlook 2025, released Nov. 12 by the International Energy Agency (IEA), portrays an African continent where energy demand is surging, but access and investment continue to lag. According to the IEA, Africa’s population is expanding at twice the rate of the global average — and with it, energy demand is expected to […]

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Zanzibar’s ‘solar mamas’ are trained as technicians...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/13

ZANZIBAR, Tanzania (AP) — Around half of Zanzibar’s population of 2 million people live unconnected from the electricity grid. But one program is training local women as solar power technicians to help light up Tanzania’s semi-autonomous archipelago. The Barefoot College International program is helping communities move on from smoky kerosene lamps. The lamps can cause […]

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On the frontline of the Amazon land war

Conservation news ·

2025/11/13

TERRA NOSSA, Brazil — In 2024, Mongabay investigative reporter Fernanda Wenzel traveled to one of the most dangerous spots in the Brazilian Amazon — a region where a silent land war is destroying the forest and costing lives. Her goal: to understand why three groups are locked in conflict here — land grabbers, settlers, and […]

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Letters to the Future

Conservation news ·

2025/11/13

In this series, Letters to the Future, the 2025 cohort of Mongabay’s Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellows share their views on environmental journalism, conservation and the future for their generation, amid multiple planetary crises. Each commentary is a personal reflection, based on individual fellows’ experiences in their home communities and the insights gained through […]

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The secret to building a global newsroom? Lead with...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/13

“We only get so much time on this planet, and I want to make the most of it.” That sense of urgency has driven Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler since his teens, when he visited a rainforest in Borneo. Later on, he learned that what had once been a teeming ecosystem full of […]

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TotalEnergies moves to restart Mozambique LNG project...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/13

Four years after suspending operations at a liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique’s Afungi Peninsula following insurgent attacks in the nearby village of Palma, French oil and gas giant TotalEnergies and its partners have decided to lift their force majeure, local media reported. The company communicated the decision to the Mozambican government on Oct. 24. […]

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Photos: Drones help First Nations track down...

Conservation news ·

2025/11/13

GASPÉSIE, Canada — In Quebec’s Gaspésie region, Indigenous river guardians say they are in a race against climate change to protect the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). The Mi’gmaq Wolastoqey Indigenous Fisheries Management Association (MWIFMA), serving the Gesgapegiag, Gespeg and Wolastoqiyik Wahsipekuk First Nations, has launched a drone-mapping program to locate cool-water refuges in river systems […]

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