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Conservation news

Environmental science and conservation news

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Orangutans make up for lost sleep with daytime naps,...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/24

When it comes to sleeping, few animals are as fastidious as orangutans. Each evening, as twilight approaches, the tree-dwelling great apes meticulously weave a cup-shaped nest out of branches, twigs and leaves, line it with comfortable soft foliage, and bed down for the night. The nest secures them high in the forest canopy and allows […]

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Challenges persist in TMC’s bid to mine the deep sea,...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/24

After years of delay, the deep-sea mining plans of Canadian firm The Metals Company (TMC) now appear to be progressing as it pursues a controversial new path to securing a license to mine in international waters under U.S. jurisdiction. Yet critics and some industry observers question how smoothly TMC’s ambitious plans might unfold, citing the […]

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Ecuador’s new protected areas law sparks debate over...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/23

Ecuador recently passed a landmark protected areas law aimed at restoring security in the country’s national parks and reserves. The law establishes new government agencies and funding mechanisms, and tries to close legal loopholes that used to leave rainforests vulnerable to development. Reactions to the legislation have been mixed. Some environmental groups call it a […]

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Probiotics slow a deadly disease in Florida coral,...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/23

A bacterial probiotic helped slow the spread of a deadly disease on great star coral, one of the largest and most resistant corals still surviving in the Florida Reef Tract, a 560-kilometer (350-mile) barrier reef off the coast of Florida, U.S., a recent study found. The treatment involved sealing live great star coral (Montaststraea cavernosa) […]

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From sports desk to nature’s frontlines: David...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/23

In an era where the stakes for biodiversity, climate, and sustainable development are rising across the African continent, David Akana is advancing a model of environmental journalism rooted in rigor, inclusion, and long-term impact. As Director of Programs at Mongabay Africa, Akana oversees everything from editorial strategy and partnerships to resource mobilization and newsroom operations. […]

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World’s smallest snake rediscovered in Barbados after...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/23

“I was making a joke and in my head I said, ‘I smell a threadsnake,'” Justin Springer, Caribbean program officer for the NGO Re:wild, recalled. “I just had a feeling, but I couldn’t be sure because we turned over a lot of rocks before that and we saw nothing.” Springer’s intuition proved correct when his […]

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Trump’s budget would end 7 decades of climate data...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/23

The Trump administration’s proposed 2026 budget for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) cuts funding for several critically important national laboratories and observatories. On the chopping block is Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawai‘i, which has been recording atmospheric carbon data every day for nearly 70 years. Mauna Loa Observatory sits atop a volcano […]

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Nepal launches action plan to boost endangered dhole...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/23

Once widespread throughout much of Asia, the wild dog known as the dhole has disappeared from more than 75% of its historical range, according to the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. In Nepal, there are an estimated 500 dholes (Cuon alpinus) remaining, but recent sightings suggest they may be making a comeback. This has […]

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From deforestation to renewal: Why reforestation...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/20

Reforestation has long been viewed as one of the more hopeful climate interventions: a process that can, in theory, restore degraded landscapes, absorb carbon dioxide, and support biodiversity. But as sociologist Thomas Rudel makes clear, the return of forests is rarely a passive process. His decades of research highlight a more complex truth—one in which […]

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Sri Lanka tusker death sparks euthanasia debate &...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/19

COLOMBO — Bhathiya is a tusker whose towering presence once symbolized the majestic beauty of Sri Lanka’s wild elephants (Elephas maximus). But his life took a tragic turn when he sustained gunshot injuries that led to a slow and painful battle for survival, highlighting the harsh reality of human-elephant conflict in the Indian Ocean island. […]

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Videos capture an unlikely alliance between ocelots...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/18

Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In the Peruvian Amazon, a series of curious encounters has left biologists scratching their heads. Camera traps have captured an unexpected partnership: solitary, nocturnal ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) strolling alongside common opossums (Didelphis marsupialis). Not once, but four times, […]

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Evolution in overdrive as Baltic cod shrink due to...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/18

The eastern Baltic cod has shrunk dramatically in size in recent decades due to rapid evolution — changes at the genetic level — caused by decades of intensive fishing, a new study says. It’s one of the first studies to show that a marine species has evolved in response to fishing pressure. Sampled Eastern Baltic […]

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Billions spent, biodiversity declines — GEF insists...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/18

As Africa’s environment ministers meet this week in Nairobi, Kenya, for the 20th African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), the Global Environment Facility (GEF)is touting its decades of support to the continent: more than $7.7 billion in grants across more than 2,000 projects, supplemented by billions in co-financing. Yet despite this scale of investment, […]

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Conservationists raise sharks to restore reefs in...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/18

KHAO LAK, Thailand — Conservationist Ying Pemika Choovanichchanon holds a small basket in her hands, careful not to disturb the leathery brown pouches nestled inside. When she shines a light underneath, signs of life appear: the pouches are bamboo shark egg cases, and the tiny creatures within them are a key part of a plan […]

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Study finds worrying uptick in proboscis monkey trade...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/18

With its long, pendulous nose, characteristic pot belly and large size, the odd-looking, leaf-eating proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) may not feature on the list of the world’s cutest animals. Yet, this endangered primate, a Borneo native living along rivers and swampy mangrove forests, seems to have gained newfound appeal in recent years in the international […]

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Bangladesh turns to nature for biodegradable plates...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/18

In Bangladesh, disposable tableware, including plates made of areca palm leaves, is gaining popularity as a good alternative to single-use plastic during social gatherings and festival celebrations, Mongabay’s Abu Siddique reported in May. A survey from 2018 estimates that Bangladesh used around 250 metric tons of single-use plastic tableware and straws every month. However, since […]

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Honey bees in Bangladesh suffer from indiscriminate...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/18

Experts warn the indiscriminate use of insecticides by farmers in Bangladesh to protect their crops is harming beneficial honey bees, Mongabay contributor Sadiqur Rahman reported in March. Beekeeper Pavel Hossen, who set up an apiary on land next to a black cumin farm, hoped his honey bees (Apis mellifera) would feed on the flowers of the […]

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Deadly landslide and flooding in Colombia and...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/18

Heavy rainfall in Colombia and Venezuela caused deadly landslides and widespread flooding in June. A new analysis now points to rapid urbanization, deforestation, mining and overgrazing as having reduced the region’s climate resilience. “The rapid growth of population and informal settlements in areas prone to landslides, particularly in Colombia, puts people and infrastructure at risk,” […]

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Louisiana cancels $3 billion coastal restoration...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/18

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana is officially canceling a $3 billion coastal restoration project funded by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement. The Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion Project aimed to rebuild over 20 square miles of land in southeast Louisiana to combat erosion and sea level rise. Conservation groups supported the project as a science-based solution […]

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The price of protecting what’s left in Cambodia

Conservation news ·

2025/07/18

Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In a nation where speaking up can lead to prison, a group of young Cambodians has refused to be silent. One year ago, five members of Mother Nature Cambodia, a conservation NGO, were jailed on charges of plotting […]

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