Rhett Ayers Butler
Over the next couple of months, I plan to share weekly posts like this, offering context and insights on my journey in a format different from my usual style. My goal is to explore whether this approach resonates with new audiences and communities. I never set out to become a journalist. When I started Mongabay, […]
Cat stories attracted the most readers on Mongabay web sites. For anyone familiar with the internet over the past three decades, the popularity of cat-related content will come as little surprise. Across Mongabay’s six-language platforms and four regional bureaus, articles about wild cats topped the charts for median readership in 2024. This includes the iconic […]
A few days ago, I decided to deactivate my personal Facebook and Instagram accounts. Many of my Instagram photos can still be found in the photo section of this site and within various Mongabay articles. Some of my Instagram videos are also available on YouTube. You can reach me via email or LinkedIn. Thank you […]
Today, Rowan Philip from the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) published a piece that offers an overview of how Mongabay operates. I appreciated his analogy of the aye-aye—a unique lemur native to Nosy Mangabe, the island for which Mongabay is named—as a symbol of our work. “And the island’s native aye-aye lemur is perhaps the […]
In response to my post yesterday about the geographic distribution of our readership and country-level coverage in 2024, several people reached out or commented about Mongabay’s plans to expand its presence in specific countries. When determining where to establish a presence, the calculus for Mongabay as a nonprofit environmental news outlet, extends well beyond audience […]
I founded Mongabay 25 years ago to address what I perceived as a gap in media coverage of tropical rainforests. Over the years, Mongabay has grown significantly, especially after transitioning to a non-profit in 2012. Since then we expanded from two full-time staff in the U.S. to more than 120 team members across over 30 […]
Near the end of each year or the start of a new one, I often publish an analysis of key issues to watch for rainforests in the year ahead. Here is my list for 2025: six critical storylines likely to shape the future of these vital ecosystems. Rainforest Outlook 2025 For reference, previous versions of […]
James Earl Carter Jr., the 39th president of the United States, died on Sunday at his home in Plains, Georgia. He was 100 years old. Known to the world as Jimmy Carter, his presidency was marked by foresight, humility, and an enduring commitment to the environment that would define his legacy long after he left […]
2024 was a year that demanded reflection—on loss, resilience, and the enduring connections between humanity and the natural world. It was a year that tested our resolve to protect what is irreplaceable, but also one that offered glimmers of hope through collective action and stories of recovery. In my writing, I often grappled with the […]
The world lost many conservationists, Indigenous leaders, and environmentalists in 2024. Their lives were devoted to safeguarding the planet’s biodiversity, protecting vulnerable communities, and advocating for justice in the face of profound challenges. While each had a unique story, they shared a commitment to the environment, often working on the frontlines of conservation or battling […]
The year 2024 saw significant developments in tropical rainforest conservation, deforestation, and degradation. While progress in some regions provided glimmers of hope, systemic challenges and emerging threats highlighted the fragility of these ecosystems. Although a complete comparison of tropical forest loss in 2024 with previous years is not yet available, there are currently no indications […]
Here are Mongabay News’s five most-read stories of 2024. All focus on Asia, with four concerning wildlife, and reptiles claiming the top two spots. A caveat: this ranking reflects only website traffic through December 22, 2024. It does not include social media viewership. “Four of a kind: King cobra is a quad of species, not […]
Elva Gemita, a steadfast advocate for wildlife and forest conservation in Indonesia, passed away on November 24 at the age of 44. Born and raised near Kerinci Seblat National Park, she developed an early connection with the biodiversity that would define her life’s work. Her career began in the forests of Jambi Province, dismantling illegal […]
Over the past couple of years, LinkedIn has become the most important social media platform for Mongabay and the only channel I use on a regular basis. Here are some of my most personally meaningful posts from 2024. While they may not have reached the largest audience, they hold special significance to me. A letter […]
David Bonderman, who died on Wednesday at the age of 82, was best known as a titan of private equity, acclaimed for turning undervalued companies into lucrative ventures. Over decades, his sharp instincts and strategic acumen at TPG Capital—formerly Texas Pacific Group—yielded control of firms as diverse as Continental Airlines, J. Crew, and Petco. His […]
In the gathering dusk of December 4th, Chhoeung Chheng, a Cambodian journalist with a dogged commitment to exposing illegal logging, was shot near Beng Per Wildlife Sanctuary. He succumbed to his injuries three days later, his body failing to withstand the assault from a homemade gun. It was a weapon often wielded by poachers but, […]
Cristina Mittermeier’s journey as a conservation photographer is emblematic of an evolving understanding of the power of imagery in the effort to preserve our planet. Raised in a semi-rural part of Mexico, her early exposure to nature sparked a deep curiosity about the world’s ecosystems. Mittermeier’s path to photography, however, was not a straightforward one. […]
Singapore is my favorite big city. I’m typically associated with natural environments like tropical forests, but on The Urban Q podcast, Jaya Dhindaw of World Resources Institute India challenged me to think about cities. Our conversation explored how urban spaces and conservation intersect, and what lessons we can draw for a sustainable future. Cities, I […]
Today is Wildlife Conservation Day Nature documentaries and conservation campaigns paint an image of Earth teeming with wildlife, but the numbers tell a different story. A February 2023 study, published in PNAS, quantified the biomass of the world’s mammals and revealed an ecosystem heavily dominated by humanity and its livestock. A few striking figures from […]
The Columbia Journalism Review (CJR), one of the most authoritative and respected voices in journalism, recently profiled Mongabay. The piece, written by Lauren Watson, provides an in-depth look at how our nonprofit newsroom navigates the challenges of reporting on conservation and environmental issues globally, often in high-risk areas. Key points from the article include:🌍 International […]
Today is International Jaguar Day 🐆 International Jaguar Day is dedicated to a predator whose presence shapes forests, rivers, and plains from northern Mexico to Argentina. The jaguar, Panthera onca, is a creature of paradox: elusive yet emblematic, ferocious yet vulnerable. As the Americas’ largest big cat, its muscular frame and distinctive rosette-patterned coat symbolize […]
Madagascar’s iconic baobab trees, with their towering trunks and delicate canopies, stand as sentinels of a bygone era. Yet their very existence defies ecological expectations. These trees, believed to rely on the now-extinct giant tortoises and lemurs to disperse their seeds, should have vanished alongside their ancient companions. Instead, they endure, thanks to some unexpected […]
In the twilight of their lives, the world’s oldest creatures carry the weight of wisdom, experience, and resilience. Yet, these elders—fish that spawn in abundance, coral that shelters marine life, or elephants that guide their herds—are vanishing. The causes are disturbingly familiar: overfishing, habitat destruction, trophy hunting, and climate change. A new review led by […]
The last wild Round Island hurricane palm, Dictyosperma album var. conjugatum, met its end in a gusty September storm, snapping the final thread tethering this rare tree to its native soil. For decades, it stood alone on its windswept perch on Round Island, a 1.7-square-kilometer dot off the coast of Mauritius. With its pale blue […]
The slender-billed curlew, Numenius tenuirostris, slipped from the world in the way of rare things: gradually, quietly, and irretrievably. Once it coursed over the steppes of Siberia and wintered along Mediterranean shores, its migratory path a delicate thread connecting continents. Its last confirmed sighting, in Morocco in 1995, marked the end of a lineage and […]