New Future

Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay’s founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives, and story summaries. The war in the Democratic Republic of Congo isn’t just killing people — it’s tearing down forests, silencing activists, and fueling an illicit trade worth millions of dollars.

JAKARTA — A thresher shark conservation effort in eastern Indonesia focusing on alternative sources of income has reduced up to 90% of catches of the globally endangered species, a new study shows.

Sea ice extent is at record, and near record, lows for this time of year in both polar regions, leaving the planet increasingly vulnerable to the cascading effects of global warming.

Kanzi, the world’s most celebrated bonobo who learned to communicate and play Minecraft with humans, died last week in Iowa, U. S. , at the age of 44.

NAIROBI ― A new killifish species, scientifically known as Nothobranchius sylvaticus, has been documented in seasonal swamps of Kenya’s ancient Gongoni Forest, research shows.

Dutch forest campaigners are claiming a significant victory over one of the Netherlands’ top energy providers, Vattenfall, after the company decided in late February to cancel plans to build the nation’s largest wood pellet burning plant for energy.

A green pit viper named after Salazar Slytherin from Harry Potter, an unfamiliar snake found in an Instagram post, and twelve new species of day geckos from a single mountain range are few of the more than 60 new-to-science species found, identified and/or named by Indian biologist Zeeshan Mirza over the past decade.

Only one out of the world’s 12 major tire manufacturers have shown evidence their supply chain is deforestation-free, a recent assessment has found.

The Cambodian government recently approved at least three new irrigation dam projects within protected forests of the Cardamom Mountains that overlap with two carbon credit projects, reports Mongabay’s Gerald Flynn. Projects to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+) aim to combat climate change and support local communities by generating carbon credits for protecting forests.

A colonial-era myth about endangered pink river dolphins in the Amazon has led to a false belief that perfumes or pusangas made from their body parts are potent love potions. According to a recent Mongabay documentary, the myth has created a market for the perfumes, further endangering the dolphins.

In February, during the flowering time of black cumin (Nigella sativa), beekeeper Pavel Hossen set up an apiary on leased barren land adjacent to farmer Abdul Hakim’s crop field in Kazirhat of Shariatpur, a district under Dhaka division and an emerging hub of spices, including the black cumin seeds.

Colombia has created a first-of-its-kind territory meant to protect a group of Indigenous people living away from regular contact with the rest of the world. Located in the southern department of Amazonas, the over 1-million-hectare (2.7-million-acre) territory stretches between the Caquetá and Putumayo Rivers that the uncontacted Indigenous Yuri-Passé people call home.

Scientists are finding microplastics everywhere they look for them. A new study finds these tiny plastic particles in sea turtle nests on a remote Malaysian island. Researchers warn that microplastics could alter nest temperatures, potentially skewing the sex ratio of incubating turtles that could further endanger species already facing significant challenges.

Edward Faison, an ecologist, stood quietly in a patch of forest that stretched for miles in all directions. Above him, the needles from white pine trees swayed — common in the Adirondack Forest Preserve in northern New York state.