Rhett Ayers Butler
I recently spoke with Maurice Oniango for the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford about Mongabay’s evolution from a personal rainforest website into a global environmental newsroom. One theme we discussed was how journalism models shape coverage itself. Advertising-driven media often pushes outlets toward scale, speed, and broad audience [Continue reading]
Environmental decisions are often made with too little reliable information. Forests are cleared, fisheries depleted, Indigenous territories threatened, and carbon projects approved or financed before the public fully understands what is at stake. In many places, the problem is not only weak policy or poor enforcement. It is also a lack of trustworthy reporting, public [Continue reading]
The following is some of what I shared during a recent conversation with Matt Pycroft on The Adventure Podcast’s ‘The Far Reaches’ series. For a long time Mongabay existed in a way that was almost embarrassing to describe. People would write to ask about the organization and imagine an office somewhere with editors, departments and [Continue reading]
I am often asked what Mongabay’s legacy is, or what it might turn out to be. The question usually comes with an assumption that a quarter-century of publishing should yield a tidy answer. It does not. Mongabay did not begin with a theory of media change, nor with an ambition to redefine environmental journalism. It [Continue reading]
In 2025, Mongabay reached 111 million unique visitors through our websites, a 46% increase over the previous year. That figure captures direct readership only. It excludes circulation through social media, messaging apps, and republication by more than 100 partner outlets, all of which extend the audience well beyond what web analytics record. Even so, the [Continue reading]
The arrival of generative artificial intelligence has unsettled journalism in familiar ways. Traffic models look fragile. Copyright is contested. The marginal cost of producing words has collapsed. It is tempting to conclude that news is becoming less valuable just as machines become more fluent. So far for Mongabay, the opposite is happening. AI systems are [Continue reading]
For most of my career, I’ve tried to ensure that people have the information they need to make decisions that safeguard nature. Yet the people whose choices often matter most for forests, fisheries, and wildlife are usually the least served by conventional media. Farmers, fishers, Indigenous land stewards, and community leaders often operate in what [Continue reading]
The struggle to protect nature is also a struggle to explain it. Forests, reefs, and rivers are disappearing faster than our ability to explain why. In many places, those best positioned to tell these stories lack mentorship, funding, or editorial backing. For emerging journalists—or those pivoting from other beats—the gap between curiosity and capability can [Continue reading]
The catalytic role of independently verified information When a logging concession in Gabon threatened a community’s ancestral forest, their appeals to officials went nowhere—until the story was reported. Once the facts reached the public record, the environment minister revoked the company’s permit and moved to legally protect the forest, officially recognizing a community’s stewardship. The [Continue reading]
Before dawn breaks over Surabaya, Indonesia’s “City of Heroes,” Akhyari Hananto is already at work. After morning prayers, he opens Google Analytics to watch the night’s reading patterns unfold—what stories drew attention, which headlines resonated, and where curiosity faded. “That information often determines how I’ll prioritize my work for the rest of the day,” he [Continue reading]
Like many mission-driven newsrooms, Mongabay is deeply concerned with whether our journalism makes a difference. We measure success not by the size of our audience but by what our stories enable—better governance, empowered communities, more resilient ecosystems, and the spread of innovations. Tracking those ripples has been a priority since Mongabay’s founding, and today it [Continue reading]
The forest in northern Gabon didn’t look like a battleground. It was a patchwork of hunting trails and village paths, home to fruit trees and ancestral graves. When a logging concession encroached and the community of Massaha protested, their pleas traveled poorly through official channels. Then the story was reported, documented and read by people [Continue reading]
I often return to this series of images, which I took in Jambi, Indonesia, in 2022. At first glance, it seems to capture something hopeful: a full-circle rainbow arcing over a lush green landscape. But look closer, and you’ll see what lies beneath the beauty—a vast palm oil plantation, carved out of what was once [Continue reading]
In the often fractious landscape of environmental discourse, S. Gopikrishna Warrier is a steadying presence. As the editorial director of Mongabay-India, Warrier has spent the past seven years cultivating a newsroom that brings light, not heat, to India’s environmental challenges. His calm authority, born of nearly four decades in journalism and communications, has helped steer Mongabay’s [Continue reading]
Sandhya Sekar never intended to lead a newsroom. Trained as an ecologist, with a Ph.D. in the sciences and a later pivot into journalism, she simply followed her curiosity—first as a writer, then as an editor, and eventually, as the founding program director of Mongabay India. In the process, she helped create one of the country’s [Continue reading]
20 years ago, I started Mongabay News with a laptop, a dream, and a sense of urgency — here’s what’s next. Last month marked 20 years since I started Mongabay’s news service. In those early days, it was just me—working from my apartment or traveling with a laptop, publishing articles primarily about tropical forests. My [Continue reading]
This month marks 20 years since I started the Mongabay news service. At the time, it was just me—writing, editing, and publishing from a desk with more ambition than resources. The idea was simple: provide consistent, fact-based environmental reporting that filled a gap I saw between advocacy groups and mainstream media. Coverage of tropical forests [Continue reading]
At a time when traditional news outlets are shedding reporters and chasing clicks, Mongabay is bucking the trend: it’s growing. One key, says David Martin, our director of philanthropy, is that Mongabay isn’t selling ads or stoking outrage—it’s cultivating trust. “Our currency,” he told Mike DiGirolamo in a recent conversation, “is really impact.” Martin, who [Continue reading]
Not all platforms are worth it After I shared the story behind Mongabay’s decision to deprioritize Facebook, several people asked: Where should impact-driven organizations focus their energy instead? There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. The best platform depends on your audience and what you want them to do with the information you share. Are you trying to [Continue reading]
In 2021, I grappled with a difficult decision. At the time, Facebook accounted for more than 80% of Mongabay’s external referral traffic — but we were increasingly questioning the value of that traffic. Mongabay’s mission as a nonprofit newsroom is to produce journalism that informs and drives impact, not just generate clicks. Years earlier, we’d [Continue reading]
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 [Continue reading]
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 [Continue reading]
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 [Continue reading]
We Didn’t Block GenAI from Mongabay. The Results Were Surprising. In recent years, many media outlets have chosen to block ChatGPT and other generative AI bots from accessing their content. There are strong arguments for doing so: concerns about copyright, the environmental cost of AI queries, and the broader implications of AI-driven content aggregation. At [Continue reading]
Do you want to contribute to something impactful in a place where you’re an outsider? Here’s what I learned starting Mongabay-Indonesia, an environmental news service in a country where I didn’t even speak the language. 1) Find the right people. The real secret? It’s not about having all the answers—it’s about finding people who do. [Continue reading]