Shows / Conservation news
Episodes
- Conservation news
From radar blobs to bird species, AI helps transform migration tracking
How can we identify specific bird species as they undertake their annual migrations? In the U.S., scientists have long relied on weather radar data to track…
- Conservation news
Some free-roaming cats in New York City are parasite “super-shedders,” study shows
If you’ve ever strolled through New York City and felt like there were a lot of cats strutting the streets, you weren’t wrong. No one knows exactly how many…
- Conservation news
Nepal zoo bird flu outbreak raises alarm for national parks
KATHMANDU — In the village of Pithauli, on the edge of Nepal’s Chitwan National Park, a safe feeding site for critically endangered vultures has long been…
- Conservation news
On a Philippine beach, villagers are stepping up to save sea turtle nests
Beaches in San Vicente municipality in the Philippines’ Palawan province are crucial nesting grounds for olive ridley sea turtles. But the turtles and their…
- Conservation news
In Manila’s shadow, a forest refuge still shelters rare plants
A mountainous reserve near Manila, the Philippine capital, is a critical ecological refuge, harboring high levels of plant diversity despite its proximity to…
- Conservation news
What happens after a whale strands on a Mumbai beach?
On the morning of June 27, a 7.6-meter (25-foot) blue whale calf washed ashore on a busy beach in Mumbai, India’s financial capital and the capital of…
- Conservation news
Social media images lead to first recording of parasitoid wasp species in Japan
Photos of a striking, iridescent wasp posted on social media by wasp enthusiasts in Japan have led to an unexpected discovery: The images are the first record…
- Conservation news
Jute loses ground to plastic despite Bangladesh’s packaging law
Bangladesh is the world’s second largest producer of the environmentally friendly fiber jute. However, the country has, for decades, grappled with the move to…
- Conservation news
Vinod Rishi helped give India’s elephants room to roam
A tiger once put its head beside a passenger in Vinod Rishi’s jeep. Its face, he wrote years later, wore a “quizzical expression.” Then it moved away, leaving…
- Conservation news
Looming loss of Singapore’s Maju Forest to development raises many questions (commentary)
Every city faces difficult choices about how to use its land. As populations grow, governments must provide homes, transport and other essential infrastructure…
- Conservation news
Amazon canopy bridges enable 15,000 wildlife crossings without a single roadkill
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Roads through…
- Conservation news
Environmental activists in Kenya concerned over billionaire’s planned oil refinery
Billionaire Aliko Dangote’s choice of Lamu, Kenya, for his oil refinery project, estimated to cost $17 billion, has elicited mixed reactions, with…
- Conservation news
Malaysia implements total e-waste import ban to curb toxic trade
In April 2026, Malaysia enacted an absolute ban on the import of electronic waste, moving to end its role as a primary destination for the world’s hazardous…
- Conservation news
These mice live on volcano summits at extreme elevations. Study finds how
The Andean leaf-eared mouse thrives at extreme elevations where most other mammals wouldn’t survive. At these altitudes, oxygen levels are low; temperatures…
- Conservation news
Nepal’s newest national parks drive tiger recovery, but new concerns arise
KATHMANDU — Nepal is now home to an estimated 429 wild tigers, up from 355 four years ago and nearly four-fold from 16 years ago, the country’s…
- Conservation news
Investigation exposes Cambodia’s illegal wildlife trade linked to transnational crime
There’s a thriving illegal wildlife trade in Cambodia that caters to high-ranking government officials and wealthy Chinese nationals, according to a report on…
- Conservation news
‘My Wild City’ reminds us why cities need nature
In her upcoming book, My Wild City: Finding Nature, Meaning, and Hope in India’s Capital, conservation biologist Neha Sinha takes readers to the hidden and…
- Conservation news
Scientists discover that giant octopuses were top predators of ancient oceans
Finned octopus species alive today are all small, deep-sea animals that mostly live in pitch-black darkness thousands of meters beneath the surface of the sea…
- Conservation news
Mining threat persists in Raja Ampat, Indonesia’s ‘Amazon of the Seas’
JAKARTA — Raja Ampat, one of the world’s most biodiverse marine regions, remains under pressure from Indonesia’s expanding nickel industry as three…
- Conservation news
Global hunger levels fall but Africa still lags behind, UN report finds
In its latest report on food security and nutrition around the world, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization says the number of people facing hunger…
- Conservation news
David Page wrote about the mountains and worked to protect them
A backcountry ski run can depend on decisions made years before the snow falls. Forest plans determine where motorized vehicles may travel. Congressional…
- Conservation news
Land records reveal how Mennonites are reshaping Belize’s forests
SPANISH LOOKOUT, Belize — When the Mennonite community here purchased a property four years ago in the middle of the Maya Forest Corridor, a…
- Conservation news
Coral reef experts press on, with climate looming over international conference
AUCKLAND — Lest anyone think scientific conferences must be staid affairs, the International Coral Reefs Symposium closed with inspiration from none other than…
- Conservation news
Drifting tuna fishing gear enter half of marine protected areas: study
Marine protected areas (MPAs) may prohibit industrial fishing within their boundaries, but they cannot stop fishing gear released elsewhere from drifting…
- Conservation news
Climate shocks hit hydropower in Southern Africa, reviving interest in coal
LUSAKA —For years, Zambia and Zimbabwe have boasted of enviable success in harnessing hydropower. More than 80% of Zambia’s power supply and about half of…
- Conservation news
Sri Lanka prepares for impending El Niño with traditional and new approaches
COLOMBO — Even though Sri Lankan authorities are preparing to face an impending El Niño phenomenon, Rathnayaka Mudiyanselage Suwandarathne feels that the…
- Conservation news
Climate change boosted Spain wildfire risk 20-fold, research shows
Human-induced climate change drastically fueled the weather behind recent devastating wildfires in France and Spain, according to a new rapid analysis by…
- Conservation news
Central African Republic’s Dzanga-Sangha tests the promise of wildlife tourism
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In the Central…
- Conservation news
Palm oil expansion reignites decade-old Indigenous land conflict in Indonesia
JAKARTA — Two palm oil companies embroiled in a long-running land dispute with an Indigenous community in Indonesian Borneo have resumed the clearing of…
- Conservation news
World Ranger Day: Justice for the protectors of the wild
July 31 is World Ranger Day, which celebrates the work rangers do for the natural world and commemorates those killed or injured in the line of duty. Among…
- Conservation news
Listening offers a clearer picture of India’s hidden finless porpoises
The Indo-Pacific finless porpoise is one of India’s smallest cetaceans, inhabits turbid coastal waters, and lacks a dorsal fin — all of which make it a…
- Conservation news
US declines to protect endangered monkeys used in medical research
Long-tailed macaques, monkeys native to Southeast Asia, have been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2022 after their populations declined by at…
- Conservation news
Before giant meat producer JBS expands to Nigeria, people deserve answers (commentary)
Nigeria may soon become the site of one of the largest livestock investments in its history. JBS, the world’s largest meat company, is pursuing a…
- Conservation news
Wind farms join bottom trawlers and oil rigs in a protected North Sea sandbank
In the North Sea, the vast, shallow sandbank known as Dogger Bank was once among the most productive marine nurseries in Europe. The area stretches across…
- Conservation news
Costa Rica banana plantation destroyed protected wetland, complaint alleges
A legal complaint in Costa Rica has alleged that a banana plantation destroyed parts of a protected wetland in Bananito Sur, located in the Valle La Estrella…
- Conservation news
Researchers find ‘priority zones’ for yellow fever vaccination of golden lion tamarins
After a two-hour drive from the airport in Rio de Janeiro, you reach a special park dedicated to a special animal in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. There, you can…
- Conservation news
It’s time we recognize the roles of rangers — and prioritize their safety (commentary)
It is always a tragedy when a ranger is injured in the line of duty. Sadly, it is a story we have come to know all too well: brave men and women head into the…
- Conservation news
Prague zoo keeps polar bears cool with ice cubes as European summer heatwave hits
PRAGUE (AP) — Keepers at Prague Zoo used tons of ice on Thursday to give its animals some much-needed relief as yet another heat wave hit Europe. Polar bears…
- Conservation news
Report: Indonesian authorities weaponize laws to silence environmental and Indigenous defenders
Indonesian authorities are wrongfully prosecuting environmental defenders and Indigenous leaders who protest deforestation, pollution and land grabs, says a…
- Conservation news
New fire satellites offer hope for Amazon and other biomes, but local barriers remain
Record wildfires devastated South America in 2024, raging out of control in biomes where fire is a natural part of the ecosystem, but also entering rainforests…
- Conservation news
The global gold rush consuming the Amazon (commentary)
In November 2025, Brazilian authorities, supported by Interpol, disabled 277 dredges used for illegal gold mining along the Madeira River. The machinery was…
- Conservation news
How can Indigenous knowledge reshape AI development?
As artificial intelligence increasingly becomes a part of ecological monitoring, a growing body of research suggests integrating Indigenous ecological…
- Conservation news
David Johnson, the owl man of Umatilla
At the former Umatilla Chemical Depot in eastern Oregon, the weapons were gone, though their presence had shaped the land. Concrete bunkers stood among…
- Conservation news
Proposed mine expansion raising pollution concerns in Canada and US
The Elk Valley in southeast British Columbia is home to Canada’s four largest coal mines. With a proposed mine expansion moving through environmental…
- Conservation news
UN regulator delays deep-sea mining rules, but extends criticized exploration contract
The International Seabed Authority (ISA), the U.N.-associated regulator of seabed mining activities in areas beyond national jurisdiction, has extended a…
- Conservation news
Kenya investigates mysterious deaths of 15 elephants in Amboseli
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) is investigating the deaths of 15 elephants in the Amboseli savannah ecosystem, near the border with Tanzania. KWS told Mongabay…
- Conservation news
Conservation shouldn’t gamble with nonnative species introductions (commentary)
Introducing animals outside their natural ranges is a practice fraught with risk, one that the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) — the…
- Conservation news
Study suggests the threat of mold-associated illnesses may be underappreciated
NEW YORK (AP) — A first-of-its-kind U.S. study suggests invasive mold infections may be an underappreciated — and potentially deadly — threat. The researchers…
- Conservation news
Indigenous Parakanã fear election U-turn may spark new invasions in Brazil
Expelled loggers hope for a political shift to reclaim Indigenous land like bacteria adapting to an antibiotic.
- Conservation news
First Nations lead the return of salmon to Canada’s Upper Columbia River
INVERMERE, Canada — Mark Thomas, Shuswap Band salmon chief, welcomes groups of students to a narrow stretch of the Columbia River, between the Rocky and…
- Conservation news
Indonesia shows elevated fire hotspot activity in 2026 as super El Niño threat looms
JAKARTA — Indonesia has recorded more fire hotspot activity by late July 2026 than at the same point in any previous year, including during the devastating…
- Conservation news
Brazil court orders recognition of Indigenous land and apology for historic atrocities
A federal judge in Brazil has given the country’s government 24 months to recognize the traditional territory of the Kajkwakratxi-Tapayuna Indigenous people in…
- Conservation news
Vietnam’s coffee boom fueled by decades of deforestation, report finds
Decades of unchecked deforestation for coffee production has devastated Vietnam’s Central Highland forests, according to a new investigation by the…
- Conservation news
In southern India, beekeeping helps Indigenous women earn more
A beekeeping initiative is enabling women in India’s Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot that runs parallel to India’s west coast, to strengthen their…
- Conservation news
A Tunisian phosphate plant that sickens children so US, Europe can get fertilizer
Dalila grew up in the Tunisian coastal city of Gabès and is accustomed to the heavy, acrid smell from the state-owned phosphate processing plant about a…
- Conservation news
Oil has harmed the nature and people of the Niger Delta; human rights may save it
On this week’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast, I speak with travel writer Noo Saro-Wiwa. She has documented the violence and natural destruction that the…
- Conservation news
Health fears linger in a Brazilian neighborhood built over oil waste
SÃO SEBASTIÃO, Brazil — In front of the house where she has lived for decades, Cosma da Silva points to nearby homes in her Itatinga neighborhood and lists a…
- Conservation news
Amazon tree rings reveal more intense drought and rainfall in the rainforest
Tree rings from the Amazon show that the world’s largest rainforest has developed wetter wet seasons and drier dry seasons over the past four decades. The…
- Conservation news
‘We couldn’t breathe’: DRC villagers revive protest against Perenco over pollution
“I had diarrhea and dizziness. Food no longer tasted the same. … I wasn’t the only one who noticed it — it was the same for everyone in the village; we…
- Conservation news
Extreme heat is eroding health, productivity and incomes of Dhaka’s informal workers
DHAKA — On June 28, as the afternoon sun beat down on Bangladesh capital Dhaka’s sprawling Tejgaon neighborhood, Samiha Begum gathered her two…