https://news.mongabay.com/ Environmental science and conservation news Fri, 17 Nov 2023 04:37:44 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3.2 https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png https://news.mongabay.com/ 32 32 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/glencores-coal-expansion-plans-face-shareholder-and-indigenous-opposition/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/glencores-coal-expansion-plans-face-shareholder-and-indigenous-opposition/#respond 17 Nov 2023 02:33:34 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275551 SYDNEY — In October last year, an Australian development planning body rejected Swiss-based mining giant Glencore’s proposed coal mine expansion on land connected to a significant massacre site for the Indigenous Wonnarua people of Australia’s Hunter Valley. The project “is not in the public interest despite its likely benefits,” the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) of […]]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/glencores-coal-expansion-plans-face-shareholder-and-indigenous-opposition/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/circular-economy-poised-to-go-beyond-outdated-oil-gas-and-coal-experts-say/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/circular-economy-poised-to-go-beyond-outdated-oil-gas-and-coal-experts-say/#respond 16 Nov 2023 21:26:36 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275521 As oil and gas production surge, shifting the global economy to a circular model is essential to charting a path away from fossil fuels, petroleum-based nitrogen fertilizers and petrochemicals such as plastics. Part 3 of a three-part miniseries.]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/circular-economy-poised-to-go-beyond-outdated-oil-gas-and-coal-experts-say/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/french-banks-accused-of-money-laundering-linked-to-amazon-deforestation/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/french-banks-accused-of-money-laundering-linked-to-amazon-deforestation/#respond 16 Nov 2023 19:04:28 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275545 On Nov. 8, an NGO coalition filed a complaint with the French National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) against French banks BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, BPCE and AXA, calling for a criminal investigation for money laundering and concealment, based on the banks’ financing of leading Brazilian meat companies JBS and Marfrig. Deforestation is illegal in Brazil […]]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/french-banks-accused-of-money-laundering-linked-to-amazon-deforestation/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/new-platform-offers-toolkit-for-companies-to-prove-their-eco-claims/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/new-platform-offers-toolkit-for-companies-to-prove-their-eco-claims/#respond 16 Nov 2023 17:35:20 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275535 A new platform allows companies and landowners to monitor the ecosystems in their supply chains, as governments around the world increasingly consider regulations that require businesses to account for biodiversity. The tool, NatureHelm, provides a subscription-based platform where large corporate entities or individual landowners can track significant species and ecosystem markers on their properties. The […]]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/new-platform-offers-toolkit-for-companies-to-prove-their-eco-claims/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/lethal-or-not-australias-beaches-are-a-crucible-for-shark-control-methods/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/lethal-or-not-australias-beaches-are-a-crucible-for-shark-control-methods/#respond 16 Nov 2023 16:56:33 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275468 The Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland, which make up the nation’s entire eastern seaboard, have had an uneasy relationship with sharks since they implemented safety measures last century. The governments of both states conduct shark control programs that aim to protect beachgoers by deterring “target” species identified as dangerous to humans, such […]]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/lethal-or-not-australias-beaches-are-a-crucible-for-shark-control-methods/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/indigenous-farmers-hard-work-protects-a-philippine-hotspot-but-goes-overlooked/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/indigenous-farmers-hard-work-protects-a-philippine-hotspot-but-goes-overlooked/#respond 16 Nov 2023 15:49:39 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275492 PALAWAN, Philippines — At dawn, a breathtaking orange glow bathes Tatandayan, a secluded sitio, or hamlet, on the slopes of the bioculturally rich Mount Mantalingahan Protected Landscape. Under towering trees and amid dense foliage, Posito Daom, 38, harvests chayote and places it in his basket. Like many from the Indigenous farming communities across the Philippines, […]]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/indigenous-farmers-hard-work-protects-a-philippine-hotspot-but-goes-overlooked/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/remediation-overdue-south-american-countries-fail-to-enforce-oil-cleanup-laws/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/remediation-overdue-south-american-countries-fail-to-enforce-oil-cleanup-laws/#respond 16 Nov 2023 11:43:50 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275494 In his May 2022 state of the nation address, Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso laid out his vision for the South American country’s hydrocarbon industry. “Now that the global trend is to move on from fossil fuels, the moment has arrived to extract every last drop of our oil reserves,” Lasso said. The statement was seen […]]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/remediation-overdue-south-american-countries-fail-to-enforce-oil-cleanup-laws/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/calls-for-fsc-to-drop-canadas-paper-excellence-over-ties-to-deforester/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/calls-for-fsc-to-drop-canadas-paper-excellence-over-ties-to-deforester/#respond 16 Nov 2023 03:15:02 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275487 JAKARTA — Activists have urged the Forest Stewardship Council to cut ties with a leading Canadian pulp and paper producer that they allege is effectively under the control of an Indonesian conglomerate notorious for millions of hectares of deforestation. Paper Excellence, based in British Columbia, controls 22 million hectares (54 million acres) of forest in […]]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/calls-for-fsc-to-drop-canadas-paper-excellence-over-ties-to-deforester/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/why-has-deforestation-reached-record-levels-in-bolivia-commentary/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/why-has-deforestation-reached-record-levels-in-bolivia-commentary/#respond 15 Nov 2023 22:38:58 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275483 In both national and multilateral fora, Bolivia is increasingly showing its reluctance to curb deforestation. President Luis Arce, soon to be entering the penultimate year of his term, has built up a poor environmental record, supporting the unbridled growth of a largely extractive economy, continuing to renege on its commitment to the Rights of Mother […]]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/why-has-deforestation-reached-record-levels-in-bolivia-commentary/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/as-colombias-coca-economy-crashes-new-opportunities-and-threats-arise/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/as-colombias-coca-economy-crashes-new-opportunities-and-threats-arise/#respond 15 Nov 2023 21:12:34 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275446 BOGOTÁ — In the world’s major cities, partygoers do lines of cocaine, far removed from the environmental and human costs of consuming this white powder. Most are likely unaware that in Colombia’s tropical forests, farmers have cleared large swaths of land to grow coca, the plant from which cocaine is produced. Tibú municipality, located in […]]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/as-colombias-coca-economy-crashes-new-opportunities-and-threats-arise/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/beyond-climate-fossil-fuels-rapidly-eroding-earths-safe-operating-space/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/beyond-climate-fossil-fuels-rapidly-eroding-earths-safe-operating-space/#respond 15 Nov 2023 15:27:37 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275435 This story is the second in a three-part mini-series surveying the range of impacts by the fossil fuel industry on the global environment. Part one and part two review harm done to the nine planetary boundaries, while part three looks at circular economy solutions. In 2020, the worst drought in 40 years hit East Africa, […]]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/beyond-climate-fossil-fuels-rapidly-eroding-earths-safe-operating-space/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/new-study-pushes-for-protection-of-one-of-africas-least-understood-treasures/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/new-study-pushes-for-protection-of-one-of-africas-least-understood-treasures/#respond 15 Nov 2023 07:30:14 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275312 The Indigenous residents of the highlands of southeastern Angola have long lived there with a light touch. Ironically, with the end of the country’s civil war and the slow return of central government and development, new activity may threaten the source of water for a vast expanse of Southern Africa, including the Angolan capital, Luanda, […]]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/new-study-pushes-for-protection-of-one-of-africas-least-understood-treasures/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/as-insurers-stop-covering-prescribed-burns-states-and-communities-step-up/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/as-insurers-stop-covering-prescribed-burns-states-and-communities-step-up/#respond 15 Nov 2023 01:17:38 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275428 On the first day of a 2021 prescribed fire in south-central Oregon, all went to plan as firefighters slowly burned areas in Fremont-Winema National Forest. They created a deliberate mosaic alternating between swatches of blackened land and decadent foliage. Fire specialists designed the operation to reduce risk to the nearby Sprague River Valley community and […]]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/as-insurers-stop-covering-prescribed-burns-states-and-communities-step-up/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/is-ocean-iron-fertilization-back-from-the-dead-as-a-co%e2%82%82-removal-tool/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/is-ocean-iron-fertilization-back-from-the-dead-as-a-co%e2%82%82-removal-tool/#respond 14 Nov 2023 18:44:26 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275410 In 2009, a controversial scientific experiment dumped 6 metric tons of dissolved iron into the Southern Ocean to see if it would trigger a massive bloom of phytoplankton in iron-deficient waters. In one way, the experiment succeeded: The scientists produced a phytoplankton bloom. However, they didn’t get what they were really after: Proof that such […]]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/is-ocean-iron-fertilization-back-from-the-dead-as-a-co%e2%82%82-removal-tool/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/crime-analysis-sheds-light-on-tiger-poaching-in-malaysia/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/crime-analysis-sheds-light-on-tiger-poaching-in-malaysia/#respond 14 Nov 2023 18:25:56 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275321 Conservationists have for the first time adopted a crime analysis strategy developed for urban policing and applied it to assess the effectiveness of counterpoaching measures to protect the critically endangered Malayan tiger, according to a study published in Frontiers in Conservation Science. A deep-forest ranger patrol was established by conservation NGO Panthera in collaboration with […]]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/crime-analysis-sheds-light-on-tiger-poaching-in-malaysia/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/dominica-set-to-open-worlds-first-reserve-centered-around-sperm-whales/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/dominica-set-to-open-worlds-first-reserve-centered-around-sperm-whales/#respond 14 Nov 2023 17:50:21 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275401 The world’s first marine reserve for sperm whales is set to open in the waters off the coast of Dominica, a tiny island nation in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The reserve’s establishment is aimed at safeguarding a local population of a few hundred endangered sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) that are threatened by fishing gear entanglements, […]]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/dominica-set-to-open-worlds-first-reserve-centered-around-sperm-whales/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/forests-hold-massive-carbon-storage-potential-if-we-cut-emissions/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/forests-hold-massive-carbon-storage-potential-if-we-cut-emissions/#respond 14 Nov 2023 17:31:25 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275415 Intact forests play a vital role in tackling the climate crisis by absorbing and storing carbon. Still, there’s uncertainty around their true carbon-capturing potential, and previous efforts to quantify it have sparked controversy. A study published this week in Nature provides what its authors say is an updated estimate of the “huge” potential of forests. […]]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/forests-hold-massive-carbon-storage-potential-if-we-cut-emissions/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/beyond-climate-oil-gas-and-coal-are-destabilizing-all-9-planetary-boundaries/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/beyond-climate-oil-gas-and-coal-are-destabilizing-all-9-planetary-boundaries/#respond 14 Nov 2023 17:06:34 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275378 Fossil fuels have done great good for humanity, but they are now not only threatening our planet’s climate, but also taking a terrible toll on the global environment, putting at risk Earth systems vital to life as we know it. Part 1 of a three-part miniseries.]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/beyond-climate-oil-gas-and-coal-are-destabilizing-all-9-planetary-boundaries/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/disturbing-graves-is-latest-violation-attributed-to-east-african-oil-pipeline/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/disturbing-graves-is-latest-violation-attributed-to-east-african-oil-pipeline/#respond 14 Nov 2023 17:04:00 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275392 A new report by GreenFaith, an international, multifaith climate justice organization, alleges that the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) will disturb at least 2,000 graves along its route from Lake Albert in Uganda to the Tanzanian port of Tanga. French oil giant TotalEnergies says its identification and handling of graves and other significant sites […]]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/disturbing-graves-is-latest-violation-attributed-to-east-african-oil-pipeline/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/can-blockchain-clean-up-the-gold-industry-in-brazil-and-across-the-globe/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/can-blockchain-clean-up-the-gold-industry-in-brazil-and-across-the-globe/#respond 14 Nov 2023 17:03:06 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275333 Gold, whose value has spiked by more than 55% since the 2008 financial crisis, is notoriously difficult to trace. Once mined, it can follow a maze-like path to market, passing through intermediaries that mix and melt it with other sources, often erasing signatures of its origin in the process. The result? Illicit gold routinely slips […]]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/can-blockchain-clean-up-the-gold-industry-in-brazil-and-across-the-globe/feed/ 0