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The infamous stench of a penguin’s projectile poop isn’t its only superpower. New research suggests that the nitrogen in the droppings of Adélie penguins can react with atmospheric compounds to form thermoregulating clouds, which could potentially regulate the impacts of climate change!This article was originally published on Mongabay

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More than a year of exposure to certain air pollutants is associated with an increased risk of dementia, according to a recently published study. Dementia, a group of diseases including Alzheimer’s, results in the loss of memory and a decline in cognitive abilities like thinking, reasoning and language skills. In 2019, dementia was estimated to affect at least 57.4 million people worldwide and was the eighth leading cause of death globally in 2021. Previous studies have identified air pollution as a risk factor for dementia. Researchers reviewed 51 of those studies to investigate if there was an association between exposure to outdoor air pollution for at least a year and a subsequent clinical diagnosis of dementia. Those studies — 20 from Europe, 17 from North America, 12 from Asia and two from Australia — involved more than 29 million participants. The analysis found a strong link between dementia and exposure to three kinds of air pollutants: nitrogen dioxide; soot; and PM2.5, or particulate matter that’s 2.5 microns in diameter or smaller, several times finer than human hair, which means it can be inhaled deep into the lungs. PM2.5 can come from various sources, including vehicle emissions, wood burning, power plants and other industrial processes, and cooking activities. The researchers found that an individual’s relative risk of dementia can increase by 17% with every 10 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m³) of PM2.5 exposure. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which is produced from burning fossil fuels, including from vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions and gas…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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ANTANANARIVO — For more than six decades, the International Primatological Society (IPS) has brought scientists, conservationists and educators from around the world together every two years to exchange ideas and drive primate research and conservation. The 30th IPS Congress welcomed nearly 800 participants from around the world to Madagascar, the “Land of Lemurs.” It’s a long-standing tradition of the congress to publish a list of the world’s 25 most threatened primates to draw attention to species at particularly high risk and inspire action to protect them. Drawn up as a collaboration between the IPS, the Primate Specialist Group of the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority; and conservation NGO Re:wild, this recurring initiative highlights that more than two in five of the world’s primates were classified as endangered or critically endangered on the IUCN Red List in 2023. Multiple criteria are considered when nominating the most threatened 25, among them geographic and taxonomic representation, uniqueness, and the potential conservation impact of being listed. The endangered Comibra Filho’s titi (Callicebus coimbrai) is threatened by the destruction of its Atlantic Forest habitat in Brazil. This monkey’s range has shrunk to just disconnected fragments totaling around 200 sq km (77 sq mi). Image by Tito Garcez via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0 ) “Listing a species in ‘Primates in Peril’ is a critical call to action,” said Leandro Jerusalinsky, deputy chair of the IUCN’s Primate Specialist Group Neotropics section, “amplifying awareness and galvanizing conservation efforts by targeting governments, donors, and NGOs.” Inza Koné, president…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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With nearly every step, we move above a vast underground network of fungal filaments, an ancient communication system that predates human civilization by hundreds of millions of years. Now, scientists have created the first comprehensive maps of these hidden networks. These maps, published in a new study in Nature, represent a four-year effort by the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) to understand where mycorrhizal fungi are most diverse across the globe. The findings reveal that less than 10% of mycorrhizal fungi biodiversity hotspots fall within existing protected areas, leaving vast underground ecosystems vulnerable to destruction from agriculture and development. “For centuries, we’ve mapped mountains, forests, and oceans. But these fungi have remained in the dark, despite the extraordinary ways they sustain life on land,” Toby Kiers, SPUN’s executive director and co-author of the paper, said in a statement. “They cycle nutrients, store carbon, support plant health, and make soil. When we disrupt these critical ecosystem engineers, forest regeneration slows, crops fail, and biodiversity aboveground begins to unravel.” Map from SPUN’s Underground Atlas showing predicted arbuscular mycorrhizal biodiversity patterns across underground ecosystems. Bright colors indicate higher richness and endemism. Image courtesy of SPUN. Mycorrhizal fungi form symbiotic partnerships with more than 80% of plant species, creating extensive underground networks that transport nutrients and water. These fungal webs can make up to a third of the living mass in the soil, forming what scientists describe as the “wood wide web,” allowing plants to share resources and communicate environmental threats…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Once threatened by palm oil and loggers, Cameroon’s forests now face a new driver of deforestation: booming cacao production to supply the European market. A new report by the environmental advocacy group Mighty Earth finds deforestation in Cameroon has accelerated, with the country losing around 782,000 hectares (1.9 million acres), or 4.2% of its forest cover, in just five years since 2020. Previously, Cameroon lost about 6% of its forest cover across two decades from 2000-2020, mainly to logging and palm oil production, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. At least half of the recent forest loss since 2020 occurred in cacao-growing regions, Mighty Earth found. “With the projected growth of the cocoa industry that could really continue to increase,” Thea Parson, report co-author from Mighty Earth, told Mongabay in an interview. In January 2025, Mighty Earth’s Cameroonian partners surveyed cacao-producing areas in Littoral province in the southwest using satellite alerts and field investigations and found that deforestation for cacao plantations is ongoing. In Nkondjock district near Ebo National Park, for example, home to critically endangered western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis), the team documented fresh forest clearance and newly planted cacao saplings. Europe is Cameroon’s biggest buyer of cocoa, the processed form of the cacao bean, so the recent deforestation for cacao cultivation puts many farmers on a collision course with the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). The critical legislation, due to take effect at the end of 2025, requires importers to ensure…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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In eastern Nepal, local communities are leading the effort to monitor the elusive and endangered red panda, contributor Deepak Adhikari reports for Mongabay. Fewer than 10,000 red pandas (Ailurus fulgens) now remain in the rapidly disappearing bamboo forests of the eastern Himalayas across India, Bhutan, China and Nepal. To help monitor them in Nepal, the nonprofit Red Panda Network (RPN) launched a Forest Guardian program in 2010 with local community guardians. These guardians help count red pandas, track their behavior and habitat use, raise awareness about the animals in their communities, and mobilize support against poaching. “Our biggest challenge is building trust with local communities. The Forest Guardians serve as our local ambassadors,” Ang Phuri Sherpa, the organization’s executive director, told Mongabay. The program started with just 16 forest guardians in Nepal; it has now recruited about 128, mostly from underprivileged and economically marginalized groups from local communities. Of these, 44 guardians monitor red pandas within the Panchthar–Ilam–Taplejung Corridor, a 11,500-square-kilometer (4,440-square-mile) habitat that’s home to about a quarter of Nepal’s red panda population. The guardians surveil the corridor four times a year, in February, May, August and November, which mark key periods in the red panda’s life cycle, like the breeding and mating seasons. These sightings, together with GPS mapping, camera trap footage and patrol logs from all seasons, are regularly compiled to guide conservation strategies. “These efforts have helped identify key habitat zones, guide antipoaching measures and inform local land-use planning,” Sherpa said. Arjun Thapa, a wildlife researcher…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. They are not yet gone. But for thousands of species, the Earth is already holding its breath. A new review published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment confirms what conservationists have long suspected: more than 10,000 species now sit on the precipice, listed on the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, as critically endangered (CR) — the final designation before vanishing from the wild entirely. Nearly 1,600 of these are believed to have fewer than 50 mature individuals remaining, reports Mongabay’s Liz Kimbrough. “It is surprising,” said study co-author Rikki Gumbs of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), “that more than 1,500 species … are estimated to have fewer than 50 mature individuals remaining in the wild, a large number of those plants.” They span continents and taxonomic kingdoms: trees whose names may never again be spoken in their native tongues, obscure frogs whose calls now echo unanswered, orchids whose final bloom may have come and gone unnoticed. For some, like the vaquita porpoise (Phocoena sinus) or the Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis), statistical models predict a better-than-even chance of extinction within a decade. Others may already be lost, disappeared without record, their fate sealed in silence. There are patterns, and there are outliers. Seventy-seven percent of these species are clinging to increasingly fragmented habitats. More than 96% live in just one country. Sixteen nations, many of them island or coastal, hold the…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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PHÚ QUỐC ISLAND, Vietnam — Rạch Tràm fishing village stretches along the northern coast of Vietnam’s Phú Quốc Island. Surrounded on three sides by the forests of Phú Quốc National Park and facing the Gulf of Thailand on the other, with Cambodia visible across the water, the village has until recently been part of a pristine river-forest-sea ecosystem. For generations, Rạch Tràm was accessible only by water or by a narrow dirt path running through Phú Quốc National Park. However, during a visit in late April 2025, the village was in a state of disarray, with homes dismantled and land dug up for construction. In 2017, the former Kiên Giang Provincial People’s Committee (former Kiên Giang province is now part of the An Giang province), the local governmental body, approved the Rạch Tràm Ecotourism and Residential Project. Then, in 2023, the existing pathway through the forest was widened into a broad asphalt road, with several adjacent forested areas marked for potential future development projects. The Rạch Tràm project, covering 172 hectares (425 acres), is being developed by Cityland Group — one of Vietnam’s leading real estate firms. It will eventually host multiple resorts, luxury villas and high-rise residential developments. To make way for it, 508 households in Rạch Tràm will be forced to relocate and 57.7 hectares (142.5 acres) of special-use forest within Phú Quốc National Park will be cleared. This forest is dense with large melaleuca trees. According to people in the village, the forest was home to deer,…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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A powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck near Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on July 29 sent ripples nearly 4,000 miles across the Pacific, disturbing one of the most fragile ecosystems in the United States: Devils Hole in Nevada’s Mojave Desert, according to park officials. The quake generated 10-inch waves inside the narrow, water-filled cavern—a dramatic but not unprecedented event for the critically endangered Devils Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis), which rely on a shallow limestone shelf to spawn and feed. With only 38 fish counted during the March 2025 survey, any disturbance can have outsized consequences. The July waves removed some sediment and algae from the shelf, but park officials say the damage was limited. “The waves generated by this earthquake were smaller than those from the previous quakes,” the National Park Service (NPS) noted in a recent release. “Conditions are favorable for algae regrowth.” Screenshot of a video taken on July 30 shows pupfish swimming and reduced amounts of algae after the recent earthquake. Photo by NPS This cautious optimism comes after a brutal spring. A December 2024 earthquake off Humboldt County and a second in February 2025 each triggered sloshing waves that wiped out larvae, eggs, and algae in Devils Hole. Those events are believed to have caused the steep population drop from 191 pupfish in spring 2024—a 25-year high—to just 38 a year later. In response, biologists from the NPS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Nevada Department of Wildlife implemented emergency actions outlined in the 2022 Devils Hole…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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TABASCO, Mexico — Flooding caused by rapid sea-level rise and increasingly intense storms has decimated the coastal town of El Bosque in Tabasco, Mexico. Between 2019 to June 2024, at least 70 homes in the community were destroyed by the sea. Most of its residents have been relocated to a site further inland by the government—but starting a new life comes with a catch. Most of their livelihoods depend on fishing, but the new site is 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) away from the sea and residents cannot fish as easily. This video follows members of the climate-displaced community as they grapple with an increasingly common question: how do you rebuild a future when your past has been erased?   Mongabay’s Video Team wants to cover questions and topics that matter to you. Are there any inspiring people, urgent issues, or local stories that you’d like us to cover? We want to hear from you. Be a part of our reporting process—get in touch with us here!This article was originally published on Mongabay

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KATHMANDU — Nepal’s private hydropower developers are keeping a watchful eye on the Supreme Court as it prepares to issue the full judgment on a historic case related to the development of infrastructure such as hydropower, hotels and cable cars inside protected areas. As the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court prepares to issue the full text of the summary verdict passed in January, private developers, who contribute around 63% of the 2,991 MW of installed hydroelectric capacity, continue to rally support from political parties calling for concessions for hydropower plants inside protected areas. “We have concluded that the summary order issued as per the majority decision of the Constitutional Bench on January 15, 2025 has nullified a law duly enacted by the Parliament in exercise of the sovereign authority of the Nepali people, and is pushing the work and proceedings of hydropower projects—promoted over the past 15 years—towards complexity,” the Independent Power Producers’ Association, Nepal (IPPAN), a group of private producers, said in a statement on Jan. 26. The verdict by the constitutional bench scrapped a controversial 2024 law that permitted infrastructure projects in protected areas if they fell outside vaguely defined “highly sensitive zones.” The court held that the amendment to the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act was against the constitutionally defined state policy of environment-friendly development and the principle of intergenerational equity, among others. Penstock pipes at the Sunkoshi Hydropower station in Nepal. Image by Nirmal Raj Joshi  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. The…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Venezuela has a long history of federal government, and twelve of its 22 constitutions have included the word ‘Federal’ in the title, including the first, in 1811. Most of these federal regimes were established in the nineteenth century, however, and an extended period of military rule between 1900 and 1958 established a centralized governing philosophy that continues to dominate political affairs in the country. Venezuela has all the trappings of a federal state, including regional assemblies and the direct election of regional authorities, but the reality is the predominance of a central government that is authoritarian in nature. There was a brief period when federalist principles left a mark on the Amazonian states, when the country established the Corporación Venezolana de Guayana (CVG) in 1960. This was followed by two decades of investment in hydropower, mining and industrial development. The legacy of these investments persists today in the county’s dependence on the Guri hydropower facility. The mining industry has been in decline for more than a decade and the metal refineries are barely functioning. In 2024, Venezuela is essentially a failed state, and the collapse of its formal institutions has led the national government to declare military rule in Bolívar and Amazonas states. Crack in Diablo Mountain, Venezuela. Image by Rhett A. Butler. Guyana and Suriname are small, centralized republics where the national government is responsible for policy development and the delivery of basic services, although it may administer them via local jurisdictions, which are called Regional Democratic Councils in…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Civil groups expressed dismay as the 30th International Seabed Authority (ISA) session recently ended in Jamaica without a moratorium on deep-sea mining, a process of extracting minerals from the seafloor, which experts say can damage marine ecosystems. The ISA Council finished the second reading of the draft regulations for the commercial exploitation of deep-sea minerals. However, the Earth Negotiations Bulletin of the International Institute for Sustainable Development noted that many parts of the text still require further negotiations. The bulletin said some member states wanted to finalize regulations, claiming that delays create uncertainty amid possibilities of deep-sea mining outside the ISA framework, which The Metals Company (TMC) the U.S. government is reportedly attempting. Countries like Germany, Greece and Ireland say they want to first have a better scientific understanding of the risks of deep-sea mining, a general policy for marine environmental protection or a long-overdue periodic review to account for changes in ocean governance and trends. Working groups will continue discussions on the draft mining code until the ISA’s next session in 2026. “With dozens of unresolved issues in the International Seabed Authority’s draft deep-sea mining regulations, the ISA still has significant work ahead before any rules can be completed,” Julian Jackson, The Pew Charitable Trusts project director, said in an email to Mongabay. Jackson said the ISA should listen to “a growing wave of governments, businesses, scientists, organizations, and communities worldwide urging a moratorium on seabed mining in areas beyond national jurisdiction until there is sufficient science to ensure the marine…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Ecuador announced this month that it’s eliminating the Ministry of Environment and folding its responsibilities into the Ministry of Energy and Mines — a move that could prove disastrous for conservation efforts, critics say. President Daniel Noboa announced the mergers of more than a dozen ministries as part of a larger effort to cut back on public spending. But conservationists say the country needs an independent Ministry of Environment to protect fragile forest ecosystems from mining, oil and gas, and other forms of development. “It’s not a simple institutional reorganization,” the Ecuadorian Coordinator of Organizations for the Defense of Nature and the Environment, a coalition of green groups, said in a statement. “It represents an unprecedented setback in environmental protection and constitutes a direct attack on the rights of nature, the rights of present and future generations, and the constitutional framework of Ecuador.” The presidential decree, published July 24, builds on an institutional reform plan introduced last year to limit spending and improve “efficiency and effectiveness” in the government — part of a larger effort to revive the national economy. The country experienced a sharp economic slowdown in 2023 fueled by drought-driven electricity shortages and tight public budget constraints, which stifled investment and prevented businesses from operating normally. The security crisis, caused by a rise in organized crime, also contributed to the slowdown, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said last year during loan talks. President Daniel Noboa speaks during a military ceremony in Quito. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa) In July, the…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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A recent study in the US, UK, and Australia showed that referring to the terms “climate change” or “global warming” did not affect whether people accepted what the science tells us—that the world’s climate is changing. But it showed that for various reasons, ideological or otherwise, there is a significant proportion of people who do not “believe” in climate change, despite the overwhelming evidence. In effect, there is a widespread acknowledgment of climate change (72%-85% of people worldwide), but multiple psychological and structural barriers impede understanding of its nature (natural or man-made) and the advancement of climate action. People may fail to act because climate change does not seem relevant to themselves or people they know, may be perceived as an abstract future threat, or they believe their actions are not efficacious (https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2426768122). This calls into question what matters more when trying to convey scientific findings and environmental messages: Are the arguments more relevant than the “marketing” of the information? Framing can be an important way to reach audiences who may otherwise ignore certain topics. Based on cognitive science, some authors have debunked common myths about the relationship between evidence and human decision-making. Facts—and their quantity—do not make much of a difference, as they are absorbed into existing beliefs rather than the other way around: “When facing uncertainty, humans make decisions that are satisfactory, rather than optimal”. What emerges as a pattern from specialists in neuroscience and cognitive learning is the need to consider how different groups with varying backgrounds or…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Natural streams, the lifeline of Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts’ rich biodiversity, are vanishing due to a combination of anthropogenic and climate change-induced stresses. Aggressive deforestation is wiping out local flora, including the bamboo groves that help the soil absorb water underground. Combined with erratic rainfalls, this has left natural streams completely dry for eight rainless months every year for the last few years. Wildlife and local communities, both dependent on the streams, are suffering from an acute water crisis, as experts have observed. Having experienced the water shortage, Mahfuz Ahmed Russel, custodian of the community-based initiative (PCI) in Khagrachhari district’s Matiranga region in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), has adapted a customized version of a local practice to pilot the revival of streams. Traditionally, local people harvest rainwater by damming streams or diverting stream water into ponds for fish farming. “Instead of disturbing the streams, I harvest rainwater to keep them alive,” Mahfuz tells Mongabay. In small valleys within the 9.3-hectare (23-acre) privately conserved Pittachhara Forest, Russel has constructed three artificial ponds by building earthen dams at the foot of the valleys. Locally, such gentle-sloping flatlands, surrounded on three sides by hillocks, are called longa. The ponds collect monsoon runoffs and, over time, water gradually seeps from those into nearby streambeds, helping keep them alive or moist for four to six months during the dry season. Russel’s house in the 9.3-hectare (23-acre) privately conserved Pittachhara Forest. Image courtesy of Mahfuz Ahmed Russel. Rainwater-fed ponds boost biodiversity The Pittachhara Forest, named after…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Parrots of the Amazona genus are among the most trafficked birds in Colombia. With their distinctive feathers, these parrots are relatively easy to identify by authorities after they have been rescued. But “determining their home territory is a much more complex task that cannot be carried out relying on just the naked eye,” says Luis Alejandro Arias, a biologist at the National University of Colombia. Different populations of each species sometimes live in various parts of the country. Learning the origin of the rescued and rehabilitated birds is necessary to reintroduce them back into the wild. “Although the law demands that environmental authorities release the animals as close to their origin as possible, it isn’t easy to do so at the technical level,” Arias says. To address this problem, a group of Colombian scientists led by Arias established a genetic database by studying rescued birds of the Amazona genus that had a documented origin. In their study published in the journal Bird Conservation International, the researchers analyzed the birds’ genetics and compared them with their database. This helped them to determine the most likely origin of 156 illegally-traded parrots that had been seized near Bogotá. A seized yellow-crowned Amazon (Amazona ochrocephala) that was part of this study. Image by Luis Alejandro Arias. Technological advances are changing the field of conservation. “As new molecular tools are created, like this one just published, we can go a step beyond,” says Carlos del Valle-Useche, co-author of the study and a biologist with the…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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In Indonesia’s Central Java province, two groups of Javan gibbons have become isolated in two small forest patches. To help the gibbons make their way to larger forest areas, a local NGO, SwaraOwa, is working with farmers in the region to restore and build “corridors” that would connect the fragmented forest blocks, Mongabay reported in a video published in June. Javan gibbons (Hylobates moloch), known locally as owa, are only found on the island of Java and are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List. Only 4,000 individuals are thought to remain in the wild, with many confined to increasingly fragmented forest patches due to logging, agriculture and infrastructure. Two such Javan gibbon groups, one with five members and the other with four, live in two tiny forest patches isolated from a larger forest area by farms and settlements. The gibbons have little canopy cover to move between the forests. “From about 2000 until the end of 2010, hunting of primates was still massive, especially gibbons and langurs. Sometimes people hunted them to sell their meat, sometimes to sell their offspring,” Alex Rifai, a farmer from Mendolo village, said in the video. But then SwaraOwa (“Sound of the owa” in Indonesian) started educating farmers about the biodiversity treasure on their doorstep: that the Javan gibbon is one of five primate species on the island that’s found nowhere else on Earth. “That was a point of pride for us, we were like, ‘Wow, we have to protect them,’” Rifai recalled.…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. In the Brazilian Amazon, where enforcement agents are spread thin across vast territories, an unlikely success story has emerged — not from drones or satellites, but from flip-flop-wearing locals paddling through forest rivers. A study examining 11 years of patrol data from two sustainable development reserves, Mamirauá and Amanã, has found that community-led voluntary environmental patrols were associated with an 80% drop in detected environmental crimes. By contrast, over the same period, government-led inspections outside these areas showed no such decline, reports contributor Fernanda Biasoli for Mongabay. From 2003 to 2013, more than 19,000 patrols were conducted under the Voluntary Environmental Agents (VEA) program, launched in 1995. Armed with local knowledge and community trust, participants recorded more than 1,200 crimes, most of them related to fishing and hunting. Meanwhile, federal enforcement teams conducted 69 operations across broader areas, detecting fewer crimes overall and failing to demonstrate a meaningful reduction in infractions over time. The discrepancy underscores a broader insight: legitimacy and local ownership can matter more than legal authority when it comes to enforcement. Community agents, motivated by a blend of cultural ties, informal authority and modest support from the state, were often more effective at both detecting and deterring infractions. Their efforts also coincided with greater adherence to local conservation norms and improved stewardship of natural resources. Yet, this model is not without caveats. The VEA system does not replace government oversight.…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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TABASCO, Mexico — Flooding caused by rapid sea-level rise and increasingly intense storms has decimated the coastal town of El Bosque in Tabasco, Mexico. Between 2019 to June 2024, at least 70 homes in the community were destroyed by the sea. Most of its residents have been relocated to a site further inland by the government—but starting a new life comes with a catch. Most of their livelihoods depend on fishing, but the new site is 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) away from the sea and residents cannot fish as easily. This video follows members of the climate-displaced community as they grapple with an increasingly common question: how do you rebuild a future when your past has been erased?   Mongabay’s Video Team wants to cover questions and topics that matter to you. Are there any inspiring people, urgent issues, or local stories that you’d like us to cover? We want to hear from you. Be a part of our reporting process—get in touch with us here!This article was originally published on Mongabay

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On the fourth anniversary of his imprisonment, Vietnamese environmentalist Dang Dinh Bach, who was sentenced to five years on tax evasion charges, has been recognized with a prestigious international award. The 46-year-old was officially presented the Roger N. Baldwin Medal of Liberty in July by the president of the U.S.-based organization Human Rights First. The prize, which honors those who “champion human rights despite immense personal risk,” was accepted by Bach’s wife on his behalf in an online ceremony. The distinguished public interest lawyer had been chosen by an independent jury “in recognition of his lifetime commitment to protecting communities in Vietnam from the harmful effects of pollution and the climate crisis,” Human Rights First president Uzra Zeya said. According to Zeya, Bach’s detention has been marked by “rampant human rights violations,” including reports he had been beaten and mistreated. Bach has also undertaken several hunger strikes. On July 18, the U.N. Human Rights Committee published its findings on the fourth periodic review of Vietnam as a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, expressing serious concerns over the treatment of political prisoners and increased restrictions on freedoms of association and expression and on independent civil society organizations, among other issues. The four-year anniversary of Bach’s arrest sparked renewed calls from organizations around the world for his urgent and unconditional release, with Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Asia Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders and Vietnam Climate Defenders Coalition among those issuing statements. The U.N. Human Rights…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Flooding from torrential rain in northeastern China has killed at least 60 people since July 29, according to Xia Linmao, the deputy mayor of Beijing, China’s capital city.  The region hit hardest was the Beijing suburb of Miyun, where accumulated precipitation reached 543 millimeters (21.4 inches), nearing the annual average rainfall for Beijing, which is 585 mm (23 in). In Miyun, 31 people died in a nursing home impacted by the flash flood. Another 16 people died in Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing, and an additional 18 people are still reported missing. “I’ve never seen such ferocious floodwaters in my life,” Zhai Cheng’an, a 89-year-old resident of Taotiaogou, a remote village of Yanqing district in Beijing, told China Daily. Deputy Mayor Xia announced that all major roads will be restored by July 31 and that villages have been served with emergency water supplies, adding that local governments need to improve preparation and relief efforts for extreme weather. “Local governments lack adequate early warning systems for extreme weather, and disaster prevention plans are incomplete,” Xia said.   More than 80,000 people have been relocated across Beijing. Meanwhile, in Shanghai, China’s most populous city, 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) south of Beijing, 283,000 people have evacuated coastal areas as Typhoon Co-May sweeps through eastern China. Chen Tao, chief forecaster at China’s National Meteorological Center, said the typhoon isn’t particularly strong but its slow movement could lead to dangerous levels of accumulated rainfall. In the first half of 2025, China’s emergency ministry reported that…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Fifteen teams have advanced to the semifinal round of XPRIZE’s $5 million Autonomous Wildfire Response Track, moving one step closer to proving that autonomous systems can detect and extinguish wildfires within 10 minutes across 1,000 square kilometers of challenging terrain. Part of a four-year, $11 million global competition launched in 2023, the initiative seeks to spur breakthroughs in rapid-response firefighting technology as climate-driven wildfires grow more frequent and destructive. Selected from a global pool, these teams represent a range of institutions, from defense contractors to university research labs and even a high school in California. Each presents a unique solution that blends robotics, artificial intelligence, and wildfire science. “The convergence of exponential technologies such as AI, robotics, drones, and sensors offers us the opportunity to detect wildfires at inception, and put them out in minutes before they spread—that’s the mission of this XPRIZE,” said Peter H. Diamandis, Executive Chairman of XPRIZE, at the time of the competition’s launch in 2023. Many of the semifinalists take a “system-of-systems” approach. AeroWatch, a Spain-based consortium, is integrating components from over a dozen partners to create a unified interface for fire managers. Crossfire, based at the University of Maryland, deploys scout UAVs for surveillance and “Firejumper” drones for suppression. Its system was validated in a live-fire demonstration earlier this year. Others focus on scale and speed. Canada’s FireSwarm Solutions is developing heavy-lift drone swarms capable of operating at night. Germany’s Dryad combines solar-powered sensors with reconnaissance and suppression UAVs to detect fires at the…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Six months ago, the M23 rebel group seized Goma, one of the largest cities in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the time since, local activists and satellite images compiled by Mongabay have identified sites with soaring forest loss in Kahuzi-Biega National Park, southwest of Goma. In this vast area of primary forest, home to eastern lowland gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri), researchers attribute these spikes of forest loss to the expansion of illegal charcoal production, collapsing conservation enforcement, and land conflicts. In November 2021, the Rwanda-backed rebel group resurfaced in the DRC’s North Kivu province after nearly a decade of relative absence from the region. Events escalated in January and February 2025, when M23 launched a rapid offensive and seized control of critical areas in both North and South Kivu provinces, including the respective provincial capitals, Goma and Bukavu. These areas remain under M23 control to this day. Beyond these major cities, the armed group also controls access to key mining zones and globally significant protected areas, such as Virunga National Park and Kahuzi-Biega National Park, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites. So far, the conflict is having a tangible impact on biodiversity by exacerbating existing conservation challenges and deforestation, researchers say. In Kahuzi-Biega, satellite images from Copernicus, the Earth observation component of the European Union’s space program, show sharp declines in forest cover between January and July 2025. Areas that were green six months ago, covered in lush, primary forest, now show patches of bare earth. Mongabay…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Early on, Canada-based The Metals Company cast the rocks it seeks to mine from the deep seafloor as a crucial resource for electric vehicle batteries and other green technologies, positioning them as a solution to the accelerating climate crisis. However, in 2024, another message overtook the first in TMC’s communications, according to an analysis by Mongabay and collaborators. It now cast these same rocks as strategic assets, essential for strengthening the mineral dominance and national security of the U.S., where the company has a subsidiary. This narrative pivot seems to have helped TMC position itself to act on potential U.S. approval for deep-sea mining even before the Trump administration gave its formal authorization in April, and may well provide the momentum needed to launch this contentious and still highly speculative industry. TMC did not address the specific claims Mongabay presented in this investigation regarding the company’s narrative strategies. Instead, in a statement, TMC criticized Mongabay for being “increasingly captured by activist narratives,” while offering no comment on its own messaging aimed at investors and the public. This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network, where Elizabeth Claire Alberts is a fellow. It is part two of an investigation into TMC, its investors, partners and business strategies. Read part one here. There are at least two versions of the pitch. One casts polymetallic nodules — metal-rich rocks scattered across flat stretches of the deep seafloor — as a crucial resource for electric vehicle batteries and other green technologies, positioning…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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