Mongabay Newscast

On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, we're thrilled to feature a conversation with the one and only Paul Simon, who's just announced a tour in support of the environment. The 12-time Grammy-winning musician recently  announced on Mongabay.com that he is embarking on a 17-date US concert tour , with all proceeds benefitting  Half-Earth , an initiative of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation...

On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, we welcome contributing editor Glenn Scherer to the program, who is responsible for Mongabay's "Almost Famous Animals" series , which just wrapped up its second year with a focus on little-known Asian wildlife . Many conservationists argue that protecting charismatic species like tigers, rhinos, and orangutans will also lead to the protection of less widel...

With so much uncertainty around the new Trump Administration's environmental priorities, especially its energy and climate policies, this episode is dedicated to trying to answer some of the biggest questions. We welcome three guests: firstly, Harvard professor, climate historian, and noted author Naomi Oreskes talks about what stories she's worried will get lost in the media's hyperfocus on the c...

This week we speak with journalist Sue Branford, a regular contributor to Mongabay who has been reporting from Brazil since 1979 for the BBC and others. Branford is one of the writers behind a hard-hitting new series in English and Portuguese that Mongabay.com is producing with The Intercept-Brasil exploring the many impacts of massive dam development projects in Brazil's Tapajos Basin. The report...

On this episode, we feature excerpts from a conversation with author and biologist E.O. Wilson , one of the greatest scientists of the last 100 years, who was recently interviewed by Mongabay senior correspondent Jeremy Hance about the Half Earth biodiversity initiative, the Trump Administration, and how he maintains hope for the future. We also welcome back Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Butler,...

This week we're joined by Joel Berger, a professor at Colorado State University and a senior scientist with the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, who recently wrote a  commentary  for Mongabay arguing that there are too many large mammals like yaks and Saiga antelope living in remote regions (so-called "edge species") that are wrongfully overlooked by conservation initiatives. Then fro...

This being the last Mongabay Newscast of 2016, we're bringing you the top new species discoveries of the year. Here at Mongabay we report on a lot of environmental science and conservation news. It's not always the most cheery subject matter, especially when we're reporting on endangered or extinct species. But it's important to remember that we're also discovering new species all the time. Mongab...

On episode seven of the Newscast we talk with Mongabay contributing editor for Southeast Asia Isabel Esterman, who is based in Cairo, Egypt, about the plight of Asian rhinos. Potential new evidence recently emerged that suggests there might be some undiscovered wild Sumatran rhinos in Malaysia, where they were declared extinct in the wild last year — though not everyone is convinced the new eviden...

Noted ecologist and author Carl Safina appears on this episode of the Mongabay Newscast to discuss the current state of marine conservation and its future under the Trump presidency. His latest book is " Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel ," which is now out in paperback. We also welcome to the show Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Butler, who fills us in on the origins of Mongabay and where...

On this week's Newscast we hear from writer Justin Catanoso who's at the COP22 climate talks in Marrakech, Morocco filing reports for Mongabay.com. He shares his latest observations from this important UN conference and the mood of the delegates following the shocking U.S. election result favoring Donald Trump. Read his reports from the UN conference here . We also hear from Mongabay editor and Ne...

Andrea Crosta of the Elephant Action League (EAL), one of the stars of the new Netflix documentary The Ivory Game , discusses how Chinese demand is driving the multi-billion dollar trade in ivory, as well as EAL's project  WildLeaks and the undercover investigations in mainland China and Hong Kong that have helped expose the illegal ivory being laundered through legal ivory markets. The Ivory Game...

Mongabay's India-based staff writer Shreya Dasgupta appears on this episode of the Newscast to discuss key votes held at the seventeenth congress of the parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, also known as CITES CoP17. Representatives from more than 180 countries gathered in Johannesburg, South Africa for CITES CoP17, which closed on Oct 5. One of the largest envir...

On this episode of the Newscast, Mongabay's Indonesia-based editor Phil Jacobson makes an in-studio appearance to talk about a new series launched this week focusing on the Mekong Delta. No other delta region in the world is more threatened by climate change than the Mekong Delta, which is why the first installment of the series, asks: " Will climate change sink the Mekong Delta? " Three more arti...

For Mongabay Newscast #1, host Mike Gaworecki rounds up the week in top conservation news from around the world and then speaks with Mongabay.com editor Rebecca Kessler about the environmental impacts of the Barro Blanco Dam in Panama on indigenous communities, biodiversity, sacred sites, and the wider watershed. Mongabay has been covering this 28 MW hydro project for three years. The indigenous N...