Mongabay Newscast

The world economy demands clean energy and cheap commodities and these are being extracted at a furious rate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. So the DRC is benefiting from all this activity, right? Though extremely rich in natural resources, thanks to political instability plus a centuries-long legacy of commercial and colonial resource extraction, the value mainly accrues to the country's...

Since 2010, the Giant Armadillo Project has been researching the world's largest armadillo, an animal that despite its size and range across almost every country in South America, is one of the world's least recognized animals. These researchers have made key findings, like the fact that their burrows, which can be up to 5 meters long, serve as shelter for at least 70 other species, including bird...

Two top guests join this episode to discuss the importance of Indigenous rights to the future of biodiversity conservation and efforts to build a more sustainable future for life on Earth. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz is the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and is the current executive director of the Tebtebba Indigenous Peoples' International Centre for Policy Research a...

Gabon recently received the first $17 million of a pledged $150 million from Norway for results-based emission reduction payments as part of the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI). Gabon has 88% forest cover and has limited annual deforestation to less than 0.1% over the last 30 years, in large part possible due to oil revenues supporting the economy. With oil reserves running low, Gabon is...

We look at some of the biggest news from the recent IUCN World Conservation Congress, like the upgraded conservation status of 4 tuna species, including Atlantic bluefin. Is it really OK to eat such tuna now, as some media outlets reported? Are bluefin no longer endangered, but a species of 'least concern?' Well, it's complicated. Mongabay staff writer Elizabeth Claire Alberts was at the event and...

Monocultures of corn and soybeans carpet 75% of the U.S. Midwest, leading to soil erosion, water pollution, and massive greenhouse gas emissions. However, a new wave of farmers is breaking the monocrop monotony by growing these annuals between long rows of perennial shrubs like American hazelnuts, which keep soils intact while harboring beneficial bugs and sequestering CO2 from the atmosphere. Haz...

The scientific evidence for what kinds of nature conservation programs actually work is always changing, and the use of such evidence should be standard practice when creating new programs, our two guests on this episode argue. Hiromi Yamashita & Andrew Bladon with the Conservation Evidence Group join us to discuss their massive new "What Works In Conservation 2021" report, which evaluates scienti...

There's a growing refusal by some to acknowledge the ongoing global extinction crisis being driven by human actions, conservation scientists say. These views are pushed by many of the same people who also downplay the impacts of climate change, and go against the actual evidence of widespread species population declines and recent extinctions. Listen to a September 2020 report published at Mongaba...

Environmental journalist Cynthia Barnett joins this episode to discuss her fascinating new book, " The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans ," about the many ways humans have prized seashells for millennia, using them as money, jewelry, and art, plus how seashells help us examine the challenges marine environments are facing today. We're also joined by Mongabay's Philippines-base...

Top conservation photographer Ami Vitale rejoins the show to discuss the work of an Indigenous-owned elephant sanctuary in Kenya, where she has shot a wonderful, new, heart-melting film called Shaba . We discuss the Samburu people's inspiring and 'stubborn optimism' for the species, what they are acheiving at Reteti Sanctuary , and new things they're learning about this intriguing, super intellige...

Indonesia recently announced exciting news, the sighting of two Javan rhino calves in Ujung Kulon National Park, the last place on Earth where the critically endangered species is found. The new additions bring the estimated population of the species to 73; conservationists have recorded at least one new calf a year joining the population since 2012. Listen to a June 2021 report published at Monga...

Often called a panacea, 'tree planting' is a hot topic but it can fail when too little thought goes into it, so the guests on this episode reframe the practice, saying that 'tree growing' ought to be the focus of reforestation programs. 'Right tree, right place, right community" is the approach taken by Trees for Climate Health that guest Erin Axelrod directs, whose approach ensures that the dozen...

During the past year's pandemic and lockdowns, spending time outdoors has been soothing for many--whether found outside our homes, in parks, or via nature documentaries--and in some ways it was a meaningful reset. Both human health and conservation benefit when we spend time in nature, so today we're discussing reconnection for kids and adults: what we know about its beneficial effects, how a move...

Wildlife researchers often use motion-sensing cameras, also known as camera traps , to study animals in the wild. However, these are usually positioned at ground level, leaving a diverse world of animals unexamined: those that dwell in the trees above. Camera traps set in trees in Rwanda's Nyungwe National Park captured 35 different mammal species over a 30-day period, including a rare Central Afr...

"This is an incredibly exciting time to be part of the field of bioacoustics," our guest on this episode says, and she's right: if you care about wildlife conservation, or really like technology and interesting solutions to big challenges, this episode is for you. Laurel Symes is assistant director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's bioacoustics lab, which was founded in the 1980s to study whale...

The U.S. has been M.I.A. on many environmental issues for the last few years, but the new Biden Administration has been announcing positive policies regularly. Among the most important is the "America The Beautiful" plan, laying out a vision for conserving 30% of its lands and waters by 2030, making it the latest country to release what's called a 30×30 plan. But is it enough? Despite a lack of sp...

When it comes to the world's forests, two commonly asked questions are "How many trees are on Earth?" and "How many are cut down each year?" A study in the journal Nature proposed answers: 3 trillion and 15.3 billion. Mongabay Reports is a new series that shares evergreen articles like this from Mongabay.com, read by host Mike DiGirolamo. This episode features one of our most read stories of the l...

On this episode we discuss how newly released data shows deforestation rose in 2020, even while tree planting initiatives took root all around the planet. Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Butler joins us to discuss the 2020 deforestation data, how that fits into broader trends affecting the world's forests, and what good news there is to take from last year's deforestation numbers. We also welcome M...

Are international groups that manage declining tuna populations doing too good a job? Two guests on our show this week illustrate how these managers aren't aiming for sustainability, but rather enable maximum extraction of the 'tuna resource' that graces peoples' dinner plates. Author Jennifer Telesca calls the Atlantic bluefin tuna program one of 'managed extinction' while Mongabay staff writer M...

Climate change & loss of biological diversity are just two of the 9 planetary boundaries scientists say humanity is currently pushing the limits of. How long can we sustain society if we keep pushing these limits? We explore this question -- and some leading solutions -- with two guests: Dr. Claire Asher is a freelance science communicator and author who joins us to discuss a recent article she wr...

Palm oil plantations look likely to become a new cause of deforestation and pollution across the Amazon: though companies say their supply chains are green and sustainable, critics in Brazil--including scientists & federal prosecutors--cite deforestation, chemical pollution, and human rights violations.   Mongabay's Rio-based editor Karla Mendes investigated one such project in Para State and join...

'I'm amazed how resilient, adaptable and optimistic the people of Sumatra are,' conservationist and HAkA Sumatra founder Farwiza Farhan says in the first moments of this episode about the women and communities she works with during the final episode of Mongabay's special series on Sumatra. The giant Indonesian island of course faces many environmental challenges, but there is also tremendous hope...

Agroecology is a style of sustainable farming spreading quickly around the globe, transforming the way food is grown. Industrial agriculture requires chemicals like fertilizers and pesticides that harm natural systems and people alike, but by working with (and even enhancing) ecosystems, agroecology provides an alternative that encompasses many familiar practices--from composting to organic garden...

Once drained for palm oil or other agricultural uses, Indonesia's peatlands become very fire prone, putting people and rich flora and fauna--from orchids to orangutans--at risk. Over a million hectares of carbon-rich peatlands burned in Indonesia in 2019, creating a public health crisis not seen since 2015 when the nation's peatland restoration agency was formed to address the issue. To understand...

Landscape rewilding and ecosystem restoration are likely our last/best chances to maintain life on Earth as we know it, the guests on this week's show argue. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration just began, so we invited author Judith Schwartz to discuss her new book The Reindeer Chronicles and Other Inspiring Stories of Working with Nature to Heal the Earth , which documents numerous restoratio...