New Future

In the pantheon of endangered ecosystems, tropical dry forests are seldom granted a leading role. They lack the lush mystique of rainforests and the climatic extremes of deserts. Yet these vanishing woodlands, which once sprawled across continents, are critical to the survival of countless species — including Homo sapiens, reports Liz Kimbrough.

In 2013, a small group of Brazilian forestry engineers ecologists, and other scientists formed a special operations unit. Known as the Grupo de Especialização de Fiscalização , the unit operates under Brazil’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. GEF targets the most destructive criminal groups involved in illegal gold mining in the Amazon Rainforest.

Set to enter into force Dec. 30, 2025, the European Union’s deforestation-free products regulation aims to halt the bloc’s contribution to global forest loss. Experts Mongabay spoke to agree the EUDR promises to become a landmark legislative tool for curbing commodities supply chain-related deforestation at the international level.

In November 2024, members of Brazil’s environmental military police and scientists observed a “massive aggregation” of small catfish making their way up waterfalls in Brazil. These first-of-their-kind observations of the rare bumblebee catfish likely migrating upstream to spawn were published in a recent paper.

In the verdant and melodious depths of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where the songs of birds match the murmur of leaves, several Indigenous people affirm the results of research that emerged in July.

Researchers have described three new gecko species in northwestern Cambodia’s limestone hills and are eager to conduct further research, but recent border clashes with Thailand have disrupted their studies.

Amazon states are eager to reap vast revenues, but carbon projects often fail to fix root causes of deforestation.

Animal welfare groups in South Africa are pushing back against a local government plan to allow culling and trophy hunting to reduce elephant numbers in Madikwe Game Reserve.

In a recent conversation with Mongabay’s Mike DiGirolamo, rewilding advocate and financier Ben Goldsmith described a quiet but profound transformation taking place in England’s relationship with nature. The change is visible in the return of species like the Eurasian beaver, once trapped out of the British Isles for centuries.

A new Forests and Finance Coalition report finds top financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and BlackRock, support mining companies linked to deforestation, land-grabs, contamination and Indigenous rights violations. According to the report, from 2016-24, major banks provided $493 billion in loans and underwriting to mining companies, including Glencore, Rio Tinto and Vale.

In 2015, leaders of the Wampís did what no other Indigenous peoples have done in Peru’s modern history: They declared themselves an autonomous nation to gain greater control over their territory.

Over the last two decades, conservationists have fought a formidable battle: Trying to protect the world’s remaining rhinos in Africa and Asia from poachers. The slaughter is driven by relentless demand for rhino horn in East Asia, where it’s a status symbol and used in traditional medicine, despite studies debunking any medicinal benefits.

The corals around Panaon Island in the southeastern Philippines form some of the healthiest and most climate-resilient reefs in the world, and they’re now a legally protected seascape. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approved the Panaon Island Protected Seascape law on Aug. 29.

Reforestation is gaining global momentum as a climate solution, but scientists warn that planting trees indiscriminately isn’t effective. Its success depends on how and, crucially, where it’s done.