Rhett Ayers Butler
My obsession with Madagascar began in childhood. While my friends hung out at the mall or played video games, I hoarded books on the island’s chameleons and lemurs, dreaming of the day I would see them myself. I saved every spare dollar—from jobs, birthdays, even the Tooth Fairy—to fund my future adventure. By college, I […]
In the waters surrounding Fiji, an ancient tradition endures. Indigenous (iTaukei) communities have long established aquatic funerary protected areas (FPAs) in honor of their deceased, temporarily forbidding fishing and harvesting in designated sections of freshwater and marine ecosystems. Though historically practiced for cultural and spiritual reasons, FPAs have inadvertently contributed to sustainable resource management—yet remain […]
For my eighth-grade graduation, my parents gave me a basic 10-gallon aquarium. I quickly became obsessed with freshwater fish—not just the common pet store varieties like neon tetras and angelfish, but also more unusual species like elephant-nose fish and upside-down catfish. My fascination led me to devour books and academic papers, work in a fish […]
I trust you are well. It’s meant to sound polite. It often isn’t. Over the years, I’ve come to see that how we open conversations matters. Yet this phrase lingers—empty, impersonal, and detached. This may seem trivial given everything happening in the world, but communication matters. If we want it to be meaningful, let’s rethink […]
Elisabeth Vrba, who died last month at 82, did not set out to overturn the way scientists understood evolution. But her relentless inquiry, guided by a keen mathematical mind and a sharp eye for patterns in the fossil record, challenged some of Darwin’s most sacrosanct ideas. In a field where slow, incremental change had long […]
Red lines. (This post discusses threats to press freedom and may be distressing for some readers. Please proceed with care.) We have entered a new era in the United States—one that carries profound risks for journalism. The assumption that the U.S. will remain a safe environment for independent reporting, especially on issues of power and […]
How travel shaped my life 🥾 Growing up, travel wasn’t a luxury—it was a way of life. My father’s job meant a steady stream of airline miles, and my mother, a travel agent in the golden age of the industry, had the know-how to turn those miles into experiences on a limited budget in an […]
What I wish I knew 25 years ago When I started Mongabay, I wasn’t thinking about building a global news organization. I just wanted to share my love for nature and make people care about what was happening to the world’s forests. Back then, I didn’t know how to run a newsroom, raise money, or […]
One year after completing Mongabay Africa’s environmental journalism grants, a cohort of Sahel-based journalists has taken the initiative to form the African Network of Francophone Environmental Journalists (RAJEF). Officially launched on February 26th, the network aims to strengthen environmental reporting across Francophone Africa, beginning with a fact-checking training session. The six founding members, hailing from […]
Dr. Ajith Kumar, a distinguished wildlife biologist, mentor, and educator, dedicated his life to the study and conservation of India’s biodiversity. His research and leadership over four decades shaped the landscape of wildlife science in the country, particularly through his work on primates and small carnivores, as well as his instrumental role in training future […]
Francisco Marupa did not die as he lived. He had spent his years as a guardian of the forests and rivers of the Madidi National Park in Bolivia, walking its ancient paths as his ancestors had before him. His voice carried the weight of centuries, speaking for the Leco people, for the trees felled in […]
Few ecosystems punch above their weight quite like seagrass meadows. These humble underwater pastures, spanning over 300,000 square kilometers across six continents, quietly perform a remarkable array of ecological services. They stabilize shorelines, shelter marine life, and sequester carbon at rates up to 40 times greater than terrestrial forests. Yet, like so many unsung heroes […]
Not all opportunities are worth taking. In 2010, a high profile literary agent approached me with an enticing offer: Write a book about my journey and the environmental trends shaping the world. It was the kind of opportunity many dream of—a chance to share my perspective, to build my profile, to hold a finished work […]
Sustainability officers are now an endangered species. This week, I spoke with a group of sustainability officers navigating a corporate landscape where terms like CSR, ESG, and climate change have become politically charged. Many companies are pulling back from public commitments on sustainability—not necessarily because the urgency has diminished, but because the risk of political […]
Ecologists are spending less time in the field. That could be a problem. There was a time when an ecologist’s education was not complete without the mud of a marsh on their boots or the scent of damp earth after a rainforest downpour. Increasingly, however, the discipline is moving indoors. A paper published in Trends […]
I grew up with an unusual passport for a kid. My father’s constant work travel meant a generous supply of airline miles, and my mother—who built her career as a travel agent focused on international destinations—had the connections to make them go far on a limited budget. We went to the classic places for middle-class […]
A forest may burn to the ground, but beneath the ashes, a pangolin is already rebuilding. Pangolins are best known for their misfortune. As the world’s most trafficked mammal, their numbers have been decimated by poaching for scales and meat. But a recent study underscores what is at stake beyond the species itself: pangolins play […]
Randy Borman was never meant to be Cofán. And yet, from the moment he was born in 1955, deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon, he belonged to them. His parents, American missionaries, had come to translate the Bible into the Cofán language, but their eldest son took to the forest as though it were written into […]
A striking image of an ice stupa—an artificial glacier towering above the barren landscape of Ladakh—has won first place in the 2024-25 Onewater Walk of Water: Water Towers photo contest, reports Shanna Hanbury. More than an aesthetic marvel, the stupa represents a pragmatic solution to a growing crisis: the dwindling availability of water in the […]
The vaquita teeters on the brink of extinction. Here’s how people are trying to save it. Fewer than ten vaquitas, the world’s smallest porpoise, remain in the Gulf of California, their only habitat. Illegal fishing for totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder is prized in China for its purported medicinal value, has decimated the population. […]
Vimla Bahuguna, who spent a lifetime defending India’s forests, empowering women, and championing the rights of the poor, died on February 14th, at the age of 93. Her passing, four years after that of her husband, the renowned environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna, marks the gentle passing of a woman whose work was neither loud nor self-promotional […]
February 16th is World Whale Day. One little-known but interesting fact about whales is that some species have been found to store carbon in their bodies for over a century, making them natural climate allies. How does that work? When whales die and sink to the ocean floor, their massive bodies trap carbon that […]
Conservationists worldwide are grappling with the fallout from the Trump administration’s abrupt suspension of USAID and foreign aid, a move that has left crucial environmental projects in financial limbo, reports Ashoka Mukpo. For decades, the U.S. government has been a major funder of biodiversity initiatives, directing hundreds of millions of dollars toward combating deforestation, wildlife […]
February 15th is World Pangolin Day Among the world’s lesser-known mammals, few are as peculiar or as imperiled as the pangolin. Scaly yet soft-footed, reclusive yet trafficked in vast numbers, pangolins embody paradoxes. On World Pangolin Day, here are a few facts about these creatures that warrant more attention than they receive. 💪 The only […]
February 14th is known for love and affection—but not only among humans. It is also World Bonobo Day, a celebration of one of our closest relatives, the endangered bonobo (Pan paniscus). These apes have long been associated with cooperation and social harmony, a reputation that aligns fittingly with Valentine’s Day. Yet, recent research paints a […]