Conservation news – Environmental science and conservation news

RSPO suspension of Brazil palm oil exporter tied to Mongabay land-grabbing report

by Karla Mendes 29 March 2023

A Mongabay investigation into land-grabbing in the Brazilian Amazon has led to the suspension of the sustainability certificate of the country’s second top palm oil exporter, as shown in email correspondence…

CO2 in, methane out? Study highlights complexity of coastal carbon sinks

by Ruth Kamnitzer 29 March 2023

Coastal ecosystems are very good at pulling carbon out of the atmosphere. But, as new research in the Baltic Sea shows, we also need to look at what they’re putting…

How do oil palm companies get away with disregarding Indonesian law? (commentary)

by Tania Li 29 March 2023

“Please tell me how I can make companies obey the law,” the official said. He was exasperated by the companies whose oil palm plantations saturated the subdistrict he headed in…

Indigenous communities and Mennonite colonies clash in Colombia

by NATALIA BRITO 29 March 2023

In the first half of the 20th century, Mennonite communities fled Europe for South America and, over the intervening decades, established large colonies in Latin American countries such as Mexico,…

‘Hope is action.’ David Suzuki retires into a life of determined activism

by Richard Schiffman 28 March 2023

David Suzuki was one of the first voices to call for action to curb climate change, but he is probably best known as a broadcaster and prolific author of 52…

From ukuleles to reforestation: Regrowing a tropical forest in Hawai‘i

by Jeremy Hance 28 March 2023

Two musical instrument makers wanted to save Hawai‘i’s rare koa tree. In the process, they restored a tropical forest on the slopes of the Big Island’s Mauna Loa volcano. Part one of a three-part Mongabay mini-series on island habitat restoration.

Citizen-run conservation booms in South America, despite state neglect

by Shanna Hanbury 28 March 2023

When Teresa Chang first saw the plot of land that now makes up the Amotape Dry Forest Private Conservation Area in the Tumbes municipality of northern Peru, she was horrified.…

Gordon Moore, tech legend and conservation philanthropist, has died at 94

by Mongabay.com 28 March 2023

Technology entrepreneur and conservation philanthropist Gordon Moore has died, as reported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation on Friday. He was 94. While most widely known for his career…

Human migration to Nepal’s tiger capital adds to conservation challenges

by Abhaya Raj Joshi 28 March 2023

KATHMANDU — The B.P. Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital in Nepal’s central Bharatpur city, Chitwan District, bustles as patients, most of them from the country’s northern hilly areas, line up for…

‘Manta grid’ provides a ray of hope against industrial bycatch threat

by Edward Carver 27 March 2023

For half a century, industrial tuna fishing vessels have borne scrutiny for catching animals they haven’t meant to: “bycatch,” in fisheries lingo. Purse seiner vessels, which provide most of the…

To save Hainan gibbons, Earth’s rarest primate, experts roll out the big tech

by Abhishyant Kidangoor 27 March 2023

Emmanuel Dufourq had a gargantuan task at hand in mid-2019. He had the job of listening to 6,000 hours of audio data collected from Bawangling National Nature Reserve in the…

Deforestation drives fire risk in Borneo amid a warming climate, study finds

by Spoorthy Raman 27 March 2023

The dry season of 2015 was a devastating one for Indonesia, with around 100,000 fires engulfing thousands of hectares of tropical rainforests and carbon-rich peatlands on the islands of Sumatra,…

As oceans warm, temperate reef species edge closer to extinction, study shows

by Elizabeth Claire Alberts 24 March 2023

Marine heat waves have led to widespread population declines of Australian shallow reef species, particularly those associated with temperate reefs, new research suggests. In a new study published in Nature,…

How you save the world with three words (commentary)

by David Gadsden 24 March 2023

In South Los Angeles — right in the heart of the 10-million-person metro area — sits a sprawling 1,000-acre zone from another era: It’s the Inglewood Oil Field, a rolling scrubland…

Mennonite colonies linked to deforestation of Indigenous territories and protected areas in Paraguay

by Aldo Benítez 24 March 2023

ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay — In the middle of the Paraguayan portion of the Upper Parana Atlantic Forest, a paved road leads to the Mbya Indigenous community of Pindo’i. Roads in the…

Paraguay weighs natural gas drilling in Médanos del Chaco National Park

by Maxwell Radwin 23 March 2023

Paraguay is considering opening up mining and natural gas drilling in one of its national parks in the Gran Chaco, despite widespread outcry that development could compromise the fragile savannah…

Can we control marine invaders by eating them?

by Guia Baggi 23 March 2023

This story was produced with funding support from the Pulitzer Center. MAZZORBO, Italy — In the kitchen of a Michelin-starred restaurant, a dozen blue crabs await their fate in a…

Tropical forest regeneration offsets 26% of carbon emissions from deforestation

by Jaqueline Sordi 23 March 2023

A pioneering global study published March 15 in the journal Nature showed that humid tropical forests recovering from degradation and deforestation have the potential to absorb a vast amount of…

Southern atmospheric rivers drive irreversible melting of Arctic sea ice: Study

by Alec Luhn 23 March 2023

New research finds that a record Arctic sea ice melt season in 2007 initiated a “regime shift” to thinner, more transient ice that may be “irreversible”; another study shows that atmospheric rivers from the south are warming the Arctic in winter.

Senegal herders demand return of grazing grounds controlled by U.S. firm

by Elodie Toto 23 March 2023

SAINT-LOUIS, Senegal — Every afternoon, Bouba Sow, 60, crosses the Ndiaël in Senegal’s Saint-Louis region with his goats so that they can graze. The territory is immense and partly desert.…

Palm oil deforestation hits record high in Sumatra’s ‘orangutan capital’

by Hans Nicholas Jong 23 March 2023

JAKARTA — Deforestation associated with oil palm cultivation has declined in recent years in Indonesia, but in a biodiversity haven at the northern tip of Sumatra, the forest is being…

For Argentina’s ruddy-headed goose, threats grow while population shrinks

by Rodolfo Chisleanschi 23 March 2023

The photo speaks for itself: a woman lies on the ground with just her smiling face visible, her body covered by about 20 dead geese, the result of a “successful”…

Island-hopping cougars redraw boundaries of big cats’ potential range

by Elizabeth Claire Alberts 22 March 2023

It’s often been said that big cats don’t like water — but this mythological thinking isn’t entirely accurate. New research provides evidence that some male cougars (Puma concolor), or pumas,…