MONGABAY

MARCH 13. 2025

A closer look at the unknown Brazilian fox

CORUMBAÍBA, Brazil — The hoary fox (Lycalopex vetulus) is a small canid found only in Brazil. Although commonly seen running across the open grasslands of the Brazilian Cerrado, surprisingly little is known about the species. Researchers Fernanda Cavalcanti and Frederico Lemos have spent the past two decades working to change that.

With biological and cultural diversity at literal crossroads in the tropics, a new approach is needed

The tropics are celebrated as hotspots of biological diversity and renowned as supply houses for food, fiber and pharmacies. They also harbor linguistic diversity, a proxy for cultural diversity, critical to people’s health, well-being and identity. Embedded in linguistic variation is a library of human knowledge, cosmologies and institutions.

Lives worth living: Elephants, Iain Douglas-Hamilton and the fight for coexistence

At this point in history, the hubristic belief that people are above nature has allowed humans to bring immeasurable change to the natural systems that all of life depends upon for survival.

USAID funding cuts jeopardize creation of Ghana’s first Marine Protected Area

For more than 10 years, researchers, civil society and community members and government officials in Ghana worked to create the West African nation’s first marine protected area (MPA). In January, the newly elected U. S.

Caribbean reef sharks rebound in Belize with shark fishers’ help

Rosie knows the Lighthouse Reef Atoll like the back of her fin. She calls this atoll home and is a matriarch of the thriving population of Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi) living there. Her signature scar on her dorsal fin makes her easy to identify each year during monitoring surveys conducted by MarAlliance, a U. S.

Indonesia’s coal gasification reboot faces backlash over economic, environmental risks

JAKARTA — A renewed plan by the Indonesian government to turn coal into gas or liquid fuel forms has received mounting backlash from climate experts who say it will be ecologically and economically disastrous.

More Indigenous peoples request consultation as controversial road paves through Peru’s Amazon

An ongoing federal highway project that will cross through protected areas and Indigenous lands in Peru’s Amazon is facing mounting concerns by Indigenous leaders and legal experts.

Re: wild and Age of Union announce conservation partnership

Two of the conservation world’s most innovative organizations are joining forces to expand their impact — combining funding, grassroots activism and immersive storytelling to raise awareness and create action on the global climate crisis.

Solar farm expansion in India brings concerns of reckless herbicide use

As solar farms proliferate across the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, communities and experts are raising concerns about the indiscriminate use of glyphosate-based herbicides to clear vegetation around the solar panels, reports contributor Gowthami Subramaniam for Mongabay India. “We fear these chemicals will seep into our water.

Gas leak from BP platform off West Africa worries fishermen, environmentalists

In January, U. K. oil giant BP announced it had started producing gas from the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) project, a natural gas production platform it operates off the coast of Mauritania and Senegal. A month later, Mauritanian media reported that a gas leak had been detected at one of the wells.

To save a Honduran reef, locals craft custom gear and hunt invasive lionfish

Without a natural predator, invasive lionfish, which damage coral reefs, have become widespread throughout the Caribbean over the last several decades. To prevent further harm off the northern coast of Honduras, locals have resorted to crafting their own spears to effectively and safely hunt lionfish, reports Mongabay contributor Fritz Pinnow.

Chauffeur at Indonesia energy nonprofit drives uptake of biogas by Java farmers

SLEMAN, Indonesia — A decade ago, Suyono’s neighbors found his antics collecting the goat and quail droppings outside his home verging on the strange. Today, it’s become the norm in many households in Minggir, a Javanese village producing its own gas. “A lot of people just laughed, ” Suyono, 50, told Mongabay Indonesia.

MARCH 12. 2025

2024 was worst year for British bumblebees: Report

Bumblebee numbers in Great Britain declined by almost a quarter in 2024 compared with the 2010-23 average, making it the worst year for the genus Bombus since records began, according to the latest “BeeWalk” report.

A tale of two cities: What drove 2024’s Valencia and Porto Alegre floods?

Neither Porto Alegre, Brazil, nor Valencia, Spain, are in the news this week. But they have been before, and almost certainly will be again, as bouts of extreme drought, followed by deluge, become more frequent and fierce.