Mongabay Newscast

This week the world marks Save the Vaquita Day. Our featured article examines a threat to this critically endangered marine mammal ( Phocoena sinus ), a small porpoise that lives only in the Upper Gulf of California, and of which only 8 remain in the wild. Mongabay reports that a recent CITES decision lifting a prohibition on the export of captive-bred totaoba fish from Mexico could paradoxically...

We discuss the effectiveness of combining traditional Indigenous ecological knowledge and Western science for conservation and restoration initiatives on this episode. Our first guest is Dr. Gary Paul Nabhan , an ethnobotanist at the University of Arizona, who discusses an ancestral food of the Comcaac people in the state of Sonora in Mexico: eelgrass . Nabhan explains how eelgrass is making a big...

Our featured article this week examines archaeological research revealing details of a massive, Pre-Columbian urban settlement in the Amazon, 4,500 square kilometers in size, that provides valuable insights into how humanity could develop sustainable cities without degrading their environments.  To also read & share the story, go here: https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/lost-amazonian-cities-hint-a...

Host Mike G. dives into new discoveries from the exciting field of marine bioacoustics research that are helping us better understand the lives of whales and dophins, and we feature fascinating recordings from that research. His first guest is Erin Ross-Marsh , the lead researcher on a study of humpback whales at the Vema Seamount in the South Atlantic off the coast of South Africa. Ross-Marsh tel...

Our featured article this week summarizes a joint investigation Mongabay recently conducted with BBC News and The Gecko Project, uncovering how companies have cut local & Indigenous communities out of the profits from Indonesia's palm oil boom, despite being legally required to share those profits. Major brands including Kellogg's, Johnson & Johnson, Pepsi, and numerous others have sourced palm oi...

Coastal cultures have often enjoyed abundant lifestyles thanks to the wide array of food, fiber, and other useful resources provided by the world's seas, sounds, estuaries and oceans. Indigenous peoples have also developed strong marine conservation traditions and ingenious methods of ensuring sustainable long-term harvests through practices commonly called 'aquaculture' today. On this episode we...

'Rewriting Extinction' is a new conservation funding group trying to reach fresh audiences that has so far raised $180,000 for projects in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Critics of the organization say 'Rewriting Exctinction' has made exaggerated claims about what it can, or has, achieved. Some experts say the effort should still be applauded. This episode features the popular article "Can celebr...

Agroecology applies ecological principles to agriculture, and it's a key strategy for mitigating--and adapting to climate change--which also boosts biodiversity and food security--and it is the focus of a special series at Mongabay. Joining us first to discuss agroecology as a science, a practice, and a movement is Dr. Maywa Montenegro , an assistant professor of environmental studies at the Unive...

Mongabay Explores is an episodic podcast series that highlights unique places and species from around the globe. On March 24th, Indonesia's Ministry of Environment and Forestry announced the birth of a new female Sumatran rhino calf at the SRS captive breeding facility at Way Kambas National Park in Indonesia's Lampung province.  For this bonus episode of Mongabay Explores, we speak with senior st...

It's a really busy time of year for birds all over the world as they migrate and prepare for a new breeding season, so on this episode we discuss the amazing fierceness and beauty of birds, why they deserve your interest and attention, plus some recent research and avian conservation trends in Nepal. We welcome back the incomparable and award-winning author Sy Montgomery , whose most recent books...

Mongabay Explores is an episodic podcast series that highlights unique places and species from around the globe. By 2025, the edible nut industry will be worth an estimated $2 billion globally. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), a traditional and plentiful staple, the galip nut ( Canarium indicum ), holds the promise of tapping into that demand. Its familiarity and the ease with which it can be grown toge...

After many delays due to the pandemic, final negotiations on the UN Convention on Biological Diversity are happening this year in Kunming, China, and preparations for it just ended in Geneva, so we are pleased to speak with Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations & Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Elizabeth Mrema , about the outcomes in Switzerland, why the...

Mongabay Explores is an episodic podcast series that highlights unique places and species from around the globe. The Tanah Merah project sits in the heart of New Guinea covering 2,800 square kilometers (1,100 square miles). Roughly twice the size of Greater London, it threatens not only dense, primary, tropical rainforest and Indigenous land, but also could release as much carbon as the U.S. state...

It's the start of field research season in many regions--and some scientists haven't gotten afield since the pandemic started--so we're checking in with a couple researchers to hear what they're planning to work on, out there in the bush. Our first guest is Meredith Palmer , a post-doctoral researcher at Princeton University whose field work this season is testing new conservation technologies lik...

A recent study conducted in Malaysian Borneo shows that degraded forests can still provide immense value. The study details five key ecological services provided by degraded forests to Indigenous communities.  Yet a government effort aims to convert degraded forests in Malaysian Borneo into timber plantations, despite the fact that researchers say these ecological services cannot be replaced with...

There's growing recognition of how vital Indigenous-led conservation practices are to protecting the planet. Because of this, there's a growing global movement to secure Indigenous land rights, toward safeguarding the Earth's future. And there's plenty of science to support it, such as a World Bank study which found that although Indigenous lands account for less than 22% of the world's land area,...

Mongabay Explores is an episodic podcast series that highlights unique places and species from around the globe. New Guinea's dense tropical montane forests are home to 12 of 14 tree kangaroo species. Over the past couple of decades, conservationists have leveraged these charismatic, intelligent marsupials to spearhead community development, conservation efforts, and the establishment of protected...

On this episode we discuss mangrove restoration and other "nature based solutions" (NBS) to climate change. Now promoted as the best strategy to slow climate change--and encompassing an array of solutions from reforestation to ecosystem restoration--critics point out that they also have numerous pitfalls that must be guarded against. Mangrove restoration and other 'blue carbon' projects are a comm...

Mongabay Explores is an episodic podcast series that highlights unique places and species from around the globe. Subscribe to the show wherever you get podcasts and stay tuned for subsequent episodes in this season. Spanning over 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) and being built over the course of decades, the Trans-Papua Highway cuts across the entire length of Indonesian New Guinea's two provinces,...

A new study reveals that bioacoustics is an underutilized wildlife study tool on one of the world's most biodiverse continents: Africa. On this episode we discuss this gap by highlighting two new bioacoustics studies of hippos and African manatees - and we of course play recordings of their squeals, squeaks and ' wheeze honks ' which can now aid their conservation. Dr. Nicolas Mathevon joins the s...

Mongabay Explores is an episodic podcast series that highlights unique places and species from around the globe. Subscribe to the show wherever you get podcasts and stay tuned for subsequent episodes in this season. New Guinea is home to the third-largest tropical rainforest in the world—of which 80% is still intact. The two-nation island also contains 44 species of unique birds-of-paradise and de...

Join us for a dive into two ambitious Indigenous-led conservation initiatives on the U.S. West Coast on this episode.  Host Mike G. speaks with Dune Lankard , founder and president of The Native Conservancy , who discusses their work to create a regenerative economy for Alaska's Prince William Sound--based on conservation and restoration-- via projects like kelp farming. We also speak with Tiana W...

Since 2014, Papua New Guinea has been the world's largest tropical timber exporter: more than 70% of that is considered illegal. Timber companies continue to possess land originally owned by local Indigenous communities through legal loopholes: while the carbon market has gained popularity as an alternative source of revenue for Indigenous communities, it suffers from some of the same land rights...

What are the main global forest conservation trends for 2022? Though deforestation is declining, how much forest is the world still losing? Host Mike G. speaks with Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Butler about the year in forests, forest-related storylines to watch, and Mongabay's expanding coverage of topics like these all around the world. He also speaks with Swati Hingorani , a senior program of...

With the huge Mt. Tonga volcanic eruption in the news, here's a reminder of the resilience of life: 20 years after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 that leveled natural old-growth forests, scientists have discovered one endemic mouse has become the dominant rodent species. First discovered in 1956, it wasn't seen again until 2011 when scientists returned to Pinatubo to survey the area.  Whil...