WORLD RAINFOREST

Largest dam removal ever, driven by Tribes, kicks off Klamath River recovery (Oct 17 2024)
- The largest dam-removal project in history was completed in October, freeing 676 kilometers (420 miles) of the Klamath River and its tributaries in California and Oregon.
- The project involved removing four dams, built between 1918 and 1964 to provide electricity. They had devastating effects on salmon populations and tribal communities, leading to a decades-long, tribe-led movement for their removal.
- The $450 million project involved complex engineering to remove the dams and, now, to restore the river ecosystem, including replanting native vegetation and reshaping the river channel, incorporating tribal knowledge to improve habitats for salmon and other species.
- Experts expect coho salmon to recover in six to 12 years and Chinook salmon in 15 to 20 years in what was once the third-largest salmon producing river in the contiguous U.S.

Amazon voters elect environmental offenders and climate denialists in Brazil (Oct 17 2024)
- The Amazonian population elected climate change deniers and politicians with a history of environmental fines to govern some of the region’s major cities.
- Pará’s state capital, Belém, which will host COP30 in 2025, may elect a mayor unconcerned about climate change.
- According to experts, opposing illegal activities is political suicide in municipalities whose economies rely on deforestation, illegal mining and illegal logging.

Delay of EU Deforestation Regulation may ‘be excuse to gut law,’ activists fear (Oct 17 2024)
- In a surprise move, the European Commission has proposed a 12-month delay in implementation of the EU’s groundbreaking deforestation law, which was slated to go into effect in January 2025.
- The European Parliament still needs to approve the delay, but is expected to do so. The law is meant to regulate global deforestation caused by a range of commodities from soy to coffee, cattle, cocoa, palm oil, rubber and wood products, including industrial-scale wood pellets burned to make energy.
- Commodity companies, including those in the pellet industry, say the law’s certification requirements are onerous and the 2025 start date is too soon for compliance. The industries are supported by commodities-producing nations such as Brazil, Indonesia and the United States (a primary source of wood pellets).
- Forest campaigners, including those opposing tree harvests for wood pellets, fear that delay of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) will offer commodity companies and exporting nations time to water down the law meant to protect native forests, carbon storage and biodiversity, and delay the worst climate change impacts.

Tiger population census in Bangladesh shows a hopeful upward trend in the Sundarbans (Oct 17 2024)
- The latest tiger population census in Bangladesh, which was done by evaluating camera-trapping data, shows that the country is home to at least 125 adult Bengal tigers.
- The report shows almost a 10% increase since the last census in 2018 in the Sundarbans mangrove forests, which is considered to be Bangladesh’s only remaining habitat for tigers.
- Conservationists attribute this success to the efforts made in the region in recent years, including installing fences and increased patrolling against poaching.

What Indigenous leaders want from the COP16 U.N. biodiversity conference (Oct 17 2024)
- From Oct. 21 to Nov. 1, about 770 Indigenous leaders from around the world are registered to gather at the U.N. biodiversity conference, or COP16, to advocate for the recognition of Indigenous rights as part of the solution to the Earth’s biodiversity crisis.
- Mongabay spoke with several Indigenous delegates attending the conference to gauge what they’re looking for going into the conference.
- The main topics on their agenda include the development of reporting and monitoring mechanisms to ensure Indigenous and traditional peoples’ rights are not neglected in the race to achieve the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).
- Leaders from Guatemala, Colombia, Peru and other countries also plan to push for the creation of a program of work on Article 8(f) and its provisions, direct access to funding and the recognition and titling of Indigenous and local community lands.

Indonesia investigates suspected corruption in palm oil amnesty program (Oct 17 2024)
- Indonesian prosecutors are investigating suspected corruption in the environment and forestry ministry’s management of oil palm plantations.
- Experts suspect the investigation targets a government program aimed at legalizing illegal oil palm plantations within forest areas and the potential underpayment of fines by companies that operate illegal plantations.
- A combined 3.37 million hectares (8.33 million acres) of oil palm plantations are considered illegal under Indonesian law because they were established on land zoned as forest areas.
- In 2020, the government introduced an amnesty scheme through a hugely controversial law that did away with criminal punishment for illegal plantations and their operators, and instead gave them a grace period of three years to obtain proper permits and official rezoning of their operational areas to non-forest areas; operators were also required to pay fines before they could resume operations, but the calculation used to determine those fines is under scrutiny.

Climate change and agrochemicals pose lethal combo for Amazonian fish (Oct 17 2024)
- A recent study evaluates the impacts on the Amazonian tambaqui fish from simultaneous exposure to a mix of pesticides and an extreme climate change scenario.
- Researchers subjected the fish to higher temperatures and higher atmospheric CO2 levels, as well as a cocktail of two pesticides, a herbicide and a fungicide, all of which are commonly used in farms throughout the Brazilian Amazon.
- The tambaqui’s capacity to metabolize the agrochemicals was found to be compromised in warmer water, and they suffered damage to their liver, nervous system and DNA.
- The study also points to the risks to food safety in the region, where fish are the main protein source: some 400 metric tons of tambaqui are eaten every year in the city of Manaus alone.

Search for new territory led Nepal’s ‘low-altitude’ snow leopard to get lost (Oct 17 2024)
- In January 2024, a snow leopard was found far from its usual high-elevation habitat, roaming in Nepal’s eastern plains — a region that’s the turf of the tiger.
- Researchers now conclude that the snow leopard, around 1.5 to 2 years old, likely lost its way during dispersal, a natural process in which young animals leave their birth area to establish their own territory.
- An analysis of the animal’s scat revealed the snow leopard had fed on blue sheep shortly before it was found, suggesting it had come from a higher altitude and ruling out the possibility that it had escaped from captivity.

Thailand’s budding mangrove restoration plans spark both hope and concern (Oct 17 2024)
- Mangrove restoration projects based on mass tree planting have often proved unsuccessful due to a focus on quantity rather than carefully selecting planting sites or prioritizing long-term social and ecological gains.
- Thailand’s state-led and corporate-funded restoration approaches have typically followed this unsustainable model, prompting critics to call for more ecological and community-based approaches that place more emphasis on natural regeneration.
- Several new national initiatives aim to improve mangrove management in Thailand: A collaborative public-private program called the Thailand Mangrove Alliance aims to bring 30% of Thailand’s mangroves under effective management by 2030.
- However, a new carbon credits initiative that aims to link coastal communities with corporate partners has drawn widespread skepticism from environmental groups, who warn the scheme could effectively transform public forests into corporate lands.

Local NGO RAINS brings relief to Ghana’s semiarid north with regenerative farming (Oct 16 2024)
- An NGO in the semiarid north of Ghana is helping farming communities cope with a range of challenges through initiatives that center social and human rights and build on Indigenous knowledge.
- The Regional Advisory Information and Network Systems (RAINS) promotes regenerative agricultural practices to local farmers, including intercropping, the planting of cover crops, and the use of traditional seeds and compost and manure.
- It also engages typically marginalized groups such as women and youth in community land-use planning, and tackles gender inequality by improving women’s access to savings schemes and microcredit.
- Those working with the NGO say its efforts have had a material impact on improving food security and reducing incidents of fires, and express hope for its sustained support.

Brazil elects record-high number of Indigenous mayors, vice mayors & councilors (Oct 16 2024)
- In Brazil, 256 Indigenous people were elected mayors, vice mayors and city councilors, the highest in the country’s history and an 8% increase compared with 236 elected in the 2020 ballot.
- With 1,635,530 votes, Indigenous candidates were the only group that recorded growth in votes this year, compared with candidates who self-declared white, pardo (brown), Black and Asian, which saw a reduction of around 20% altogether, according to a survey from the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), the country’s main Indigenous association, which used data from the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).
- Increasing representation of Indigenous people elected in municipal ballots is a key move to ensure the fulfillment of Indigenous rights and should pave the way to increase the number of Indigenous people elected in the 2026 state and federal ballots, advocates and activists say.
- However, the municipal election results also showed a gender gap: Indigenous women accounted for just one mayor of a total of nine Indigenous mayors elected, four vice mayors of a total of nine, and 36 of a total of 234 councilors.

The disappearing red ghost crabs of Cox’s Bazar, a conservation crisis in Bangladesh (Oct 16 2024)
- Cox’s Bazar Beach in southeast Bangladesh is known for its vibrant red crab population, which creates a stunning spectacle in the early mornings and late afternoons. However, this natural wonder is now threatened by human activities and environmental degradation.
- Red ghost crabs benefit coastal ecosystems by aerating sand and improving water infiltration, and also as prey species. Their decline threatens the ecosystem health.
- Researchers say a beach management plan is crucial for their protection and restoration. Protected areas like in Kuakata have shown effectiveness in conserving ghost crabs. Raising awareness among local communities is also crucial for successful conservation efforts in Bangladesh.

Forests and the Fate of Civilizations: A Conversation with John Perlin (Oct 16 2024)
- John Perlin’s A Forest Journey explores how forests and wood were fundamental to the rise and fall of civilizations, providing materials for construction, energy, and industry, but also contributing to societal collapse when overexploited.
- The book highlights the recurring pattern of deforestation throughout history, drawing comparisons between ancient civilizations’ mismanagement of forest resources and today’s environmental challenges.
- Hope through forest preservation: Perlin emphasizes that protecting old-growth forests is one of the most effective strategies to combat climate change, urging modern society to learn from the mistakes of the past to avoid further ecological and societal decline.
- Perlin spoke with Mongabay’s Rhett Ayers Butler about his book in a recent interview.

Act now or lose the Pantanal forever (commentary) (Oct 15 2024)
- This year, over two million hectares of the world’s largest wetland, the Pantanal in Brazil, have burned, as agribusiness drains it and climate change dries it, reducing river flows and allowing fires to spread.
- Many species rely on a healthy Pantanal to survive, including 2,000 species of plants, 580 bird species, 271 kinds of fish, and 174 mammal and 57 amphibian species, many of which are endangered or threatened.
- “To truly protect it, we need an immediate halt on further agricultural expansion, major restoration projects for the land which has already burned, and bold global action to slash carbon emissions,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Delays in land titling threaten the conservation success of quilombos in Brazil (Oct 15 2024)
- Titled quilombo territories — traditional Brazilian communities originally formed by runaway enslaved people — have significantly lower deforestation rates, making them crucial for conserving Brazil’s natural biomes.
- However, only 4.33% of all Quilombolas in Brazil have been granted proper land rights.
- Quilombola communities in Alcântara have fought for their land rights since the 1970s, facing displacement and government neglect, but the Brazilian Air Force is pushing for an expansion of the local space center, delaying the recognition of Quilombola land claims.
- Brazil has admitted to human rights violations against the Alcântara Quilombolas, but progress on land titling remains slow and uncertain.

The tribal leader dedicating his life to protect Philippine’s critically-endangered national bird (Oct 15 2024)
- Tribal leader Datu Julito Ahao has dedicated nearly 40 years of his life to protecting Philippine eagles, a critically endangered national bird, in the wild.
- Considered an “unsung hero” by conservationists, he has ensured the survival of 16 juvenile eagles in the wild and founded the Bantay Bukid forest guard program to conserve the raptor’s habitat around Mount Apo, the country’s tallest peak and frontier of the bird’s conservation.
- There are an estimated 400 pairs of Philippine eagles left in the wild, with their existence under persistent threat from deforestation and hunting or trapping.
- Ahao is a trusted partner of the nonprofit Philippine Eagle Foundation, a leading conservation organization in the southern Philippines that hatches and breeds the eagles in captivity.

Africa’s little-known golden cat gets a conservation boost, with community help (Oct 15 2024)
- Mwezi “Badru” Mugerwa is a Uganda-based ecologist and conservationist whose work is focused on biodiversity monitoring using camera traps in East Africa’s rainforests, and specifically the African golden cat.
- In 2013, Mugerwa started his conservation nonprofit called Embaka, the local Rukiga name for the golden cat, to work with hunting communities around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda.
- The organization provides alternative livelihoods to communities through various initiatives to steer them away from hunting and snaring in the national park, which has impacted golden cat numbers there.
- This year, Mugerwa is leading a pan-African monitoring program for the species to assess its distribution, population density and threats, with an eye to replicating Embaka’s activities in other countries.

As 25 Earth vital signs worsen, scientists warn of ‘irreversible climate disaster’ (Oct 15 2024)
- Earth is inching closer to irreversible climate change according to a recent report by an international group of climate researchers and Earth System scientists.
- Tracking 35 planetary vital signs — used to gauge Earth’s response to human activities — researchers found 25 are at record risk levels, including greenhouse gas concentrations, fossil fuel consumption, rising temperatures, forest loss, and biodiversity decline.
- The authors underline the immediate need for wide-ranging climate action to rein in fossil fuel use and control emissions, alongside other measures to stave off a deepening climate crisis. “We are on the brink of an irreversible climate disaster,” they wrote.

Indonesia civil society rallies behind student investigated over nickel protest (Oct 15 2024)
- On Aug. 27 and Sept. 9, student advocates Christina Rumalatu and Thomas Madilis were called in for questioning by the Indonesian police following a demonstration linking floods to nickel mining in North Maluku province.
- The August demonstration in Jakarta blamed the deadly flash floods on land-use changes caused by the nickel mining boom underway in eastern Indonesia.
- The nickel mining complex in Halmahera “should not overreact to protests and try to criminalize people who are angry about the damage the nickel industry is doing to their land and water,” said Brad Adams, executive director of Climate Rights International.
- In a significant display of combined action, civil society organizations, legal advocates, youth groups in eastern Indonesia and the country’s human rights commission are rallying behind the Halmahera demonstrators, who may face prosecution under Indonesia’s widely criticized defamation law.

As tidal power rides a wave of clean energy optimism, pitfalls persist (Oct 14 2024)
- The world’s oceans could play a role in supporting the clean energy grids of the future. But that possibility hinges on the successful rollout of tidal stream and wave technology. Tidal stream energy taps into the power of run-of-river or ocean movements, while wave energy generates electricity using windblown waves.
- Years of hype and failed projects have bedeviled the tidal stream industry, which is the more progressed of the two technologies. But with demonstration projects in the U.K. seeing success, momentum is now building toward commercialization.
- Tidal stream technology — using river mouth, seabed-mounted or floating turbines — could offer reliable renewable energy for island communities, cutting their current reliance on costly imported fossil fuels. But technological, environmental and supply chain hurdles remain on the path to scaling up.
- While tidal and wave power will never dominate the global grid, they could play a valuable niche role in the global energy transition.

Why biodiversity credits cannot work (commentary) (Oct 14 2024)
- Byron Swift, a conservationist with over 40 years of experience working across Latin America, argues that biodiversity credits are fundamentally flawed and not a viable solution to the extinction crisis.
- He contends that while market mechanisms like carbon and biodiversity credits aim to address conservation and emissions reduction, they face significant challenges that undermine their effectiveness.
- Swift believes biodiversity credits are promoted primarily for the benefit of financial intermediaries rather than for their genuine potential to conserve biodiversity, and he advocates for other funding mechanisms.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

New tourism restrictions to protect Bangladesh’s unique wetlands and coral-rich island (Oct 14 2024)
- Since 1999, Bangladesh has declared 13 biodiversity-rich areas as Ecologically Critical Areas (ECA) under the country’s environment protection act.
- However, the government has failed to conserve the ECAs over the years other than a few project-based protection measures undertaken in some of the areas like Saint Martin’s Island, Tanguar Haor, Hakaluki Haor, Cox’s Bazar Beach and Sonadia Island.
- Now, the current civil society-led government plans to limit tourism in biodiversity hotspots to ensure the health of the ecosystem.
- The coral-rich Saint Martin’s Island and one of the country’s largest wetlands, Tanguar Haor, will see the first through tourism restrictions.

Angkor Plywood, the ‘timber cartel’ shipping Cambodian forests internationally (Oct 14 2024)
- A year-long Mongabay investigation shows that one of Cambodia’s most notorious logging companies likely illegally exported rare tree species to Vietnam and China for years.
- We found evidence Angkor Plywood has been illegally logging timber from protected areas and violating various laws by exporting sawn logs — and doing all this with impunity, in part thanks to its well-connected founders.
- Shipping records from 2021-2023 show Angkor Plywood exported a type of timber coveted in the furniture trade from a species it should never have been allowed to log or trade, according to a government source.
- A veteran activist calls Angkor Plywood a cartel and “driving force” behind the extensive logging and forest destruction taking place Cambodia.

Deforestation remains low, but fires surge in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest (Oct 12 2024)
- Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon remains near a six-year low, with 561 square kilometers cleared in September, a 30% decline from the previous year.
- Fires in the Amazon have surged dramatically, with an 18-fold increase in the area affected by fires, from 4,700 to 39,983 square kilometers, driven by a historic drought.
- Fire hotspots detected by satellite in the Amazon increased by 70%, rising to 145,357 compared to 85,670 the previous year.
- Scientists warn that deforestation, forest degradation, and climate change could destabilize the Amazon, affecting rainfall patterns and biodiversity across South America.

West Africa’s forgotten felines endangered by conflict and research gaps (Oct 11 2024)
- The WAP Complex of protected areas that straddles the border region of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger is one of West Africa’s most important protected areas and a haven for many iconic endangered species.
- Servals, caracals and African wildcats are also found in the WAP Complex, but almost nothing is known about their status, distribution, ecology or threats.
- Covert surveys of medicine markets in the region have found serval and caracal skins, though it’s not known if the skins originated within the WAP Complex.
- The presence of jihadist militants in the region severely impacts conservation and research, particularly in the Niger and Burkina Faso portions of the complex.