For decades, conservationists have warned that the planet’s attention—and its purse—are skewed toward the charismatic few. A sweeping analysis of some 14,600 conservation projects over 25 years confirms that bias in stark terms. The authors, led by Benoit Guénard, found that 83 percent of funding and 84 percent of projects went to vertebrates, leaving plants, invertebrates, fungi, and algae to divide the scraps. by Rhett Ayers Butler
Conservation news
The bias in saving nature: How conservation funding favors the familiar
With the World Conservation Congress meeting this week, I thought it was useful to revisit a study published earlier this year on conservation fu...
 #news #conservation #amphibians
In the past few years, previously spotless air-conditioned icons of Singapore such as Changi Airport and the Apple Store have experienced infestations and diseases on indoor greenery. Experts say the rise in extreme temperatures as the city-state loses forest cover explains the migration of flies, bees, butterflies and rats into cooler indoor environments. by Robin Hicks
Conservation news
As Singapore heats up, pests are seeking refuge indoors
SINGAPORE — Singapore’s reputation as one of the world’s cleanest cities is being put to the test by a surge in rodent and insect infestation...
 #animal behavior #climate change #insects #pesticides #singapore
🌿 Mongabay founder & CEO Rhett Ayers Butler has been awarded the 2025 Henry Shaw Medal by the Missouri Botanical Garden — one of the oldest conservation honors. The award recognizes individuals whose work has advanced science, conservation, and public understanding of nature. While many recipients have been scientists, Rhett joins a distinguished group from outside academia, including the National Geographic Society and the U.K.’s King Charles III. by Bobby Bascomb
Conservation news
Mongabay founder Rhett Butler wins the Henry Shaw Award
Mongabay founder Rhett Butler has been awarded the 2025 Henry Shaw Medal from the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, U.S.
Brazil’s antitrust regulator, CADE, on Sept. 30 decided to suspend the Amazon soy moratorium from Jan. 1, 2026. Depending on the probe’s course of action, this could dismantle one of the nation’s most important private sector pacts credited with slowing deforestation of the tropical rainforest for soy plantations. by Shanna Hanbury
Conservation news
Brazil soy deal that curbs Amazon deforestation to be suspended in 2026
Brazil’s antitrust regulator, CADE, on Sept. 30 decided to suspend the Amazon soy moratorium from Jan. 1, 2026. Depending on the probe’s course...
 #news #deforestation #soy #conservation #Amazon #rainforests #Brazil
The IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, has established a new expert group that will help shape conservation priorities for a previously overlooked but vital group of organisms: microbes. In a recent commentary, the Microbial Conservation Specialist Group (MCSG) announced that it will look at the status and threats to various beneficial microbes that are critical for the health of humans and ecosystems. by Shreya Dasgupta
Conservation news
New conservation panel to focus on microorganisms crucial for human and planet health
The IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, has established a new expert group that will help shape conservation priorities for a previou...
 #news #microbes #conservation
Brazil’s President Lula has personally cemented his support for the project and set his cabinet to work out a deal to renew the BR-319 highway, which passes through one of the most preserved areas of the Amazon. Scientists warn the highway will create a “fishbone effect” of illegal side roads, fueling deforestation that could push the Amazon past a critical tipping point and trigger its irreversible conversion into a savanna. by Rafael Spuldar
Conservation news
New deal pushes Amazon’s controversial ‘tipping point road’ ahead
Brazil’s environment minister bets on safeguards for the highway, but history shows similar plans have failed.
 #news #Amazon #Brazil
A new study found that 75 streams in Alaska’s Brooks Range have turned orange due to thawing permafrost, which releases metals that exceed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency safety thresholds for aquatic life. The contamination threatens fish populations that Indigenous communities depend on for food and income. Scientists warn that this climate change impact is irreversible and spreading. by Liz Kimbrough
Conservation news
Alaskan rivers turn orange as permafrost thaws, threatening fish and communities
The writer John McPhee once described Alaska’s Salmon River as having “the clearest, purest water” he’d ever seen. Today, t...
 #news #biodiversity #fish #climatechange #indigenouspeople
Forged signatures. Flawed assessments. Secret night-time bulldozing. Mongabay uncovered how a hydropower project in Nepal’s sacred mountains was 90x bigger than reported—threatening Indigenous yak herders, red pandas, and snow leopards. Within weeks, 30+ organizations cited our coverage, and in 2025 it won the Indigenous Media Award. This is the power of independent journalism. 🌍 Support our efforts:
Environmental Journalism and Education
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Report drives scrutiny of planned hydropower project in Nepal opposed by Indigenous communities, wins award - Environmental Journalism and Education
Tucked between mountains sacred to Indigenous peoples in eastern Nepal, a conflict has been brewing between a hydropower company and yak herders. I...
Arctic sea ice hit its 2025 summer minimum without setting a record low on Sept. 10, despite a historically low winter maximum earlier. Scientists say sea ice loss has slowed over the past 20 years due to natural variability in atmospheric and ocean systems, counterbalancing the impacts from human-caused climate change. However, they warn that this slowdown likely offers only a temporary reprieve. by Gloria Dickie
Conservation news
No new record low for Arctic sea ice loss in 2025
Sea ice floating atop the Arctic Ocean reached its minimum extent for 2025 on Sept. 10, covering 4.602 million square kilometers (1.78 million squa...
 #news #globalwarming #climatechange #environment
Over the past two decades, a group of women in Lampang province, Thailand, have taken action to improve their local environment and curb sources of haze by restoring their local community forest. Their bold approach to fire prevention — combining regular patrols, check dams and fire breaks, as well as an innovative wildfire alert system — has earned them a reputation as a regional model for other communities. by Carolyn Cowan
Conservation news
Women-led patrols and fire prevention restore forests in northern Thailand
BAN PONG, Thailand — “Look at these ones over here!” calls Chamran Tahpan, as she crouches next to a mound of damp leaves on the forest floor...
 #forest #conservation #indigenouswomen