Few creatures better embody the notion of peaceful coexistence than the manatee. Slow-moving and largely indifferent to human affairs, these aquatic herbivores graze on seagrasses and algae in the shallow coastal waters of the Americas and West Africa. Yet despite their unassuming nature, manatees are increasingly at the mercy of human activity. #ManateeAppreciationDay By Rhett Butler
Conservation news
Manatees in peril as human pressures push gentle giants toward the brink
Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay’s founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. F...
“Out of Plain Sight,” directed by journalist Rosanna Xia and filmmaker Daniel Straub, documents the legacy of mass amounts of DDT waste dumped off the California coast decades ago, with environmental consequences continuing today.
Conservation news
500,000 barrels of DDT in the sea: Interview with documentary directors on California coast crisis
Half a million barrels of toxic waste lurking beneath the waves just miles from California’s coastline sounds like the plot of a Hollywood th...
 📰 Films can inform, engage, and reveal unseen environmental challenges. Mongabay interviews the filmmakers of DCEFF 2025. See all the stories:
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Beyond the screen: DCEFF 2025 Archives
Series: Beyond the screen: DCEFF 2025
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[PODCAST] The Australian government recently promised and then shelved its key environmental protection commitments, including the establishment of an environmental protection agency with legal authority to prevent extractive projects from moving forward without strict oversight, and the development of a robust accounting of the nation’s ecological health via an environmental information authority.
Conservation news
As Australia’s ‘nature positive’ plans ring hollow, how will other nations respond?
The Australian government recently promised and then shelved its key environmental protection commitments, including the establishment of an enviro...
 #News #Conservation #Environment #Podcast #EnvironmentalPolicy
Latin America, a biodiversity hotspot home to 40% of the world’s species, is witnessing an alarming decline in its wildlife. Illegal wildlife trafficking to wealthier parts of the world, such as North America and Europe, is one of the factors driving the decline. By Spoorthy Raman
Conservation news
Regulation loopholes fuel illegal wildlife trade from Latin America to Europe
Latin America, a biodiversity hotspot home to 40% of the world’s species, is witnessing an alarming decline in its wildlife. Illegal wildlife tra...
 #News #Conservation #Environment #Wildlife #WildlifeTrade
Since 2003, Indigenous organizations have been calling for the establishment of Yavarí Mirim, an extensive reserve for hundreds of isolated Indigenous people in the Peruvian Amazon. The reserve is heavily disputed by extractive industries for its logging and oil and gas drilling potential. Experts are concerned that a recent delay will endanger Indigenous groups, as their territory is increasingly encroached on by loggers and illegal drug traffickers. By Carla Ruas
Conservation news
New setbacks for Peruvian Amazon reserve put uncontacted tribes at risk
In 2003, Indigenous organizations petitioned the Peruvian government to create Yavarí Mirim, an Indigenous reserve on the Amazon border with Brazi...
Indonesia’s Supreme Court has upheld the government’s decision to block further expansion of the Tanah Merah oil palm project in Papua, preserving a Jakarta-sized swath of primary rainforest. The ruling strengthens the forestry ministry’s authority to halt deforestation and was influenced by testimonies from the Indigenous Awyu tribe, who rely on the forest for survival. By Hans Nicholas Jong
Conservation news
Indonesian court blocks palm oil expansion, but leaves Indigenous land rights in limbo
JAKARTA — The Indonesian Supreme Court has upheld a government decision to curb the expansion of a multibillion-dollar oil palm plantation projec...
 #News #Conservation #Environment #IndigenousPeoples #Indonesia
Nearly all deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon in the past year was illegal, a new report finds. Between August 2023 and July 2024, 91% of forest clearing in the Amazon lacked authorization, according to an analysis by the NGO Center of Life Institute (ICV). In the Cerrado, an expanding agricultural frontier and the world’s most biodiverse tropical savanna that covers a quarter of Brazil, the figure for unauthorized clearing was 51%. By Shanna Hanbury
Conservation news
91% of Brazilian Amazon deforestation last year was illegal, report finds
Nearly all deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon in the past year was illegal, a new report finds. Between August 2023 and July 2024, 91% of forest...
 #News #Forests
In Mekar Raya, a semi-remote pocket of Ketapang district near the west coast of Indonesian Borneo, the local Dayak Simpan Indigenous society are navigating the complex bureaucracy of the state in a bid to gain semi-autonomous control of their customary forest. By Aseanty Pahlevi
Conservation news
Indigenous Dayak community makes strides on Borneo toward forest autonomy
MEKAR RAYA, Indonesia — Yulius Yogi kneels under the forest canopy here on the island of Borneo, surveying land he plans to reclaim for his Dayak...
 #News #Conservation #Environment #IndigenousPeople #Forests
Water canals worldwide are causing widespread wildlife drownings, with significant losses recorded in Argentina, Mexico, Spain, Portugal and the U.S., particularly impacting threatened species. Scientists emphasize the lack of awareness and research on this issue, warning that canals act as “wildlife traps,” exacerbating biodiversity loss and habitat fragmentation. By Aldem Bourscheit
Conservation news
‘Silent killing machines’: How water canals threaten wildlife across the globe
Deadly drownings of animals in water canals for irrigation and other purposes have been observed in various countries. The dry and semiarid regions...
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As insectivorous, burrowing mammals, pangolins play a key role in our ecosystem by controlling insect populations, recycling soil nutrients and sheltering other animals in their abandoned burrows. A recent study provides the first evidence of Chinese pangolins’ role as ecosystem engineers, whose burrows help restore biodiversity in forest patches gutted by fires. By Spoorthy Raman
Conservation news
Pangolin burrows are biodiversity magnets in burnt forests, study shows
Pangolins, the world’s most trafficked mammals, hit the headlines more often for the illegal trade in their scales and meat than for their cheris...
 #News #Conservation #Environment #Wildlife #Pangolins