Rhett Ayers ButlerShort write-ups on stories by Mongabay journalists.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
Moo Deng, a baby pygmy hippo, became an internet sensation—but will her fame help save her species? Jeremy Hance explored that question in a recent piece on Mongabay News. Moo Deng became TikTok famous overnight. Millions watched videos of her antics: gnawing on a keeper’s boots, chasing water from a hose, and snoozing in a […]
Moo Deng, a baby pygmy hippo, became an internet sensation—but will fame help save her species? Jeremy Hance explored that question in a recent piece published on Mongabay. Moo Deng became TikTok-famous overnight. Millions watched videos of her antics: gnawing on a keeper’s boots, chasing water from a hose, and snoozing in a way only […]
Funding conservation is not always a straightforward moral good. At times, it has been tied to human rights abuses, from forced evictions of Indigenous communities to violence by eco-guards. Donors—be they governments, multilateral agencies, or NGOs—are increasingly being asked to account for such abuses. Yet the question remains: when violations come to light, what should […]
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 […]
215 million hectares of deforested and degraded former forest land are capable of natural regrowth without significant human intervention—an area larger than Mexico. That’s according to a study published last week in Nature. The research, based on high-resolution satellite data analysis across the tropics, identified five nations—Brazil, Indonesia, China, Mexico, and Colombia—as having over half […]
A recent study has put the Indonesian government’s claims about the economic benefits of oil palm cultivation in Papua under scrutiny, reports Hans Nicholas Jong. Papua is the Indonesia-controlled portion of the island of New Guinea The Pusaka Bentala Rakyat Foundation’s analysis reveals that the environmental and social costs tied to the palm oil industry […]
Global interest in reforestation as a climate solution is growing, but with it comes a proliferation of inexperienced organizations and opaque strategies, often resulting in failures and unintended consequences. This trend has led to calls for greater transparency in reporting outcomes and best practices. A recent study led by researchers at the University of California, […]
The amphibian apocalypse, it seems, has been momentarily postponed. Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, or Bsal, a fungal pathogen that has wreaked havoc on amphibian populations globally, remains conspicuously absent from North America. For a decade, scientists from the North American Bsal Task Force have combed forests and swabbed salamanders, searching for any trace of the pathogen. Their […]
In the shadow of the Andes, a quiet revolution is unfolding, reports James Hall for Mongabay News. The Queuña forests, once covering vast stretches of the mountains, have dwindled to a mere fraction of their former glory, leaving behind a landscape where biodiversity and water security hang in the balance. This ecological collapse has triggered […]
On South Africa’s Wild Coast, the amaMpondo people have long resisted the advances of outsiders eager to exploit their land’s resources, reports Leo Joubert for Mongabay News. Xolobeni, a village on the eastern shore, became a flashpoint in this struggle, where traditional beliefs intersect with environmental activism. For over two decades, the amaMpondo have successfully […]