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Conservation news

Environmental science and conservation news

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Sharks didn’t rebound—so Mark Erdmann is putting them...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/13

For more than three decades, Mark Erdmann has worked where many only dream of diving—on the reefs and in the tangled mangroves of Indonesia’s farthest reaches. A marine biologist by training and a conservationist by necessity, Erdmann has spent much of his life documenting new species, persuading local communities to back marine protection, and fighting […]

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As exotic pet demands rise, invertebrates need trade...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/11

As the demand for butterflies, spiders, ants and other terrestrial invertebrates grows worldwide, researchers in a recent study say better policy and regulation coverage can help ensure sustainability. The researchers reviewed existing scientific studies that mention the trade in terrestrial invertebrates and found that most research focuses on the exotic pet trade, specifically of spiders […]

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Nearly three-quarters of solar and wind projects are...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/11

China is rapidly scaling up its solar and wind energy infrastructure, accounting for nearly three-quarters of all utility-scale projects currently under construction worldwide, according to a new report from the Global Energy Monitor (GEM). With 510 gigawatts (GW) already under construction and a total pipeline of over 1.3 terawatts (TW), China is consolidating its position […]

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U’wa people await implementation of landmark court...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/11

On Dec. 20, 2024, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights publicly announced a landmark decision against the Colombian government and found it responsible for multiple human rights violations against the U’wa Indigenous people. In a more than 200-page document, the court determined there were violations of the right of access to a healthy environment, freedom […]

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Locals fear Chile’s new port project for green energy...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/11

The Chilean government has recently approved a new port project in Magallanes and the Chilean Antarctic Region, an area that recently attracted a lot of attention due to its enormous green energy potential. The port will transport infrastructure to expand green hydrogen, a colorless gas produced without fossil fuels, and allow for faster and more […]

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From cattle to crayfish, human pressures mount on...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/11

KAFUE, Zambia — “Three cattle on the left, 20 elephants on the right,” shouts the expedition leader from the bow seat of the first of five canoes snaking along a stretch of the Kafue River in central Zambia. The cattle are grazing near one of the many small farms and settlements that dot the river’s […]

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Coral once feared extinct rediscovered in the...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/11

Wellington’s solitary coral, a species thought to be extinct for more than two decades, was rediscovered in 2024 near Tagus Cove in Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands, according to a recent study. Over multiple dives in 2024, scientists from the Charles Darwin Foundation, the Galápagos National Park Directorate, and the California Academy of Sciences spotted more than […]

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Study links surge in lightning disasters in...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/11

Bangladesh, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, is witnessing a troubling rise in lightning-related deaths. Scientists point to a strong link between increased lightning activity and worsening air pollution, much of which is carried in from across its borders. A new study, which analyzed six years of lightning and air quality data (2015-20), has […]

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Energy transition boom drives rise in lawsuits...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/11

A new analysis has found that lawsuits against transition mineral mining firms and renewable energy companies are increasing worldwide. The NGO Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) in its new report published July 1 notes that since 2009, its transition litigation tracking tool has documented 95 legal cases filed against companies linked to the […]

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Roberto Zolho, conservationist who helped restore...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/10

For a man who spent his life studying the movements of wildlife, Roberto Zolho was most at peace when not moving at all—drifting in a kayak down the Guacheni channels, pausing to admire an egret, a kingfisher, or a sunlit curve in the reeds. In these secluded corners of Mozambique’s wetlands, he was not a […]

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Endangered Andean cat is imperiled by climate change...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/10

Many conservationists dedicated to protecting the endangered Andean cat have never seen one in the wild, with the species known to science by just a few photos until the late 1990s. And it took Juan Reppucci, leader of the Andean Cat Alliance’s In the Field 24/7 program, nine years to spot one of these elusive […]

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Brazil court halts plan to blast 35-km river rock...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/10

A federal court in Brazil has blocked the start of planned explosions along a 35-kilometer (22-mile) rock formation called Pedral do Lourenço in the Tocantins River, pausing a major infrastructure project until a judge can inspect the site. The decision suspends the federal government’s attempt to clear the way for large cargo ships to travel […]

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Suspicions surround international legal trade in...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/10

In 2013, when Sandra Altherr, co-founder of the German NGO Pro Wildlife, began looking into the reptile trade in Europe, she wondered why people paid thousands of euros for little-known reptiles whose trade wasn’t regulated by CITES, the international agreement on wildlife trade. On investigating further, she found many of the expensive reptiles sold were […]

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How private funding helped one NGO survive the USAID...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/10

Dramatic cuts to USAID funding earlier this year have slammed conservation organizations around the world. But some NGOs, like World Neighbors, have been able to continue their conservation projects with little disruption — thanks in part to their reliance on private rather than government funding. This approach, which focuses on funding from family foundations and […]

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Mining spill highlights need to protect Zambia’s...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/10

KAFUE NATIONAL PARK, Zambia – Biologist Mike Ross, balanced in a canoe beneath a star-filled sky in central Zambia, slaps the water with a net attached to a wooden pole and draws it toward him. In the net are several small silver fish. At dawn the next morning, as three snowy white cattle egrets (Bubulcus […]

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Rare pygmy hippo born in Kansas zoo offers hope for...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/10

A zoo in the U.S. state of Kansas has welcomed the birth of a healthy baby pygmy hippopotamus, raising hope for a species that’s becoming rare in the wild. The yet-to-be-named male pygmy hippo calf, born June 26, is the fifth offspring of parents Pluto and Posie since their arrival at Tanganyika Wildlife Park in […]

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Iconic Brazil nut crop plunges after extreme drought,...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/10

A vital Amazonian superfood suddenly vanishes, leaving thousands of Indigenous and extractivist families reeling.

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Inside Panama’s gamble to save the Darién

Conservation news ·

2025/07/10

Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In the dense, humid expanse of the Darién Gap — a forbidding swath of rainforest bridging Panama and Colombia — a tentative transformation is underway. Once synonymous with lawlessness and unchecked migration, this biologically rich frontier is now […]

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Scientists describe three new frog species from...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/10

Peruvian scientists have identified three new-to-science frog species in the Andes, highlighting the mountains’ wealth of biodiversity, according to a recent study. The three species have been named Pristimantis chinguelas, P. nunezcortezi and P. yonke. “They’re small and unassuming, but these frogs are powerful reminders of how much we still don’t know about the Andes,” […]

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Indonesian civil society urges probe after payout for...

Conservation news ·

2025/07/10

SAMARINDA, Indonesia — The prosecution of a former head of mining in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province could reveal wider misuse of environmental restoration funds across the country’s coal heartland, a prominent environmental lawyer said in June. “I see that there’s the potential for there to be others, so I recommend that law enforcement officers audit […]

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