Mongabay Newscast
Episodes
Is "Not the End of the World" author's 'techno-realism' enough to solve our ecological problems?
16 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Data scientist and head of research at Our World in Data, Hannah Ritchie, says her 'radically hopeful' new book that's getting a lot of press, "Not t...
When independent journalism exposes crimes against people and planet
09 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 2015, independent journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown and Sarawak Report uncovered the beginnings of what is now considered the world's biggest money-...
Wildlife trafficking should be covered as a crime story
19 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Wildlife trafficking is a high-profile but complex topic that reporters struggle to tackle effectively. Three experts recently spoke with Mongabay a...
Wild by nature: Ecological restoration brings humanity and biodiversity together
12 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The idea that nature is something outside of society hampers practical solutions to restoring it, says Laura Martin, associate professor of environme...
How the Junglekeepers protect 55,000 acres of the Peruvian Amazon
05 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Conservationist Paul Rosolie co-leads a non-profit deep in the Madre de Dios region of the Peruvian Amazon. Conserving forests beyond where law enforc...
Will the UN climate Loss & Damage Fund deliver on its promise?
28 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The text of the climate loss and damage fund is heading to the COP 28 climate summit in Dubai this December without a mandate that wealthy, industrial...
Deforestation decline in the Amazon and other positive news
21 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has declined by 22% for the year ending July 31, 2023, according to data from Brazil's National Institute for Sp...
Corals, kelp and creative conservation in Australia
24 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If current conditions line up just right, much of the Great Barrier Reef could soon suffer another catastrophic bleaching event, so how are conservat...
Debunking the UN's climate neutrality claims
10 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In a yearlong investigation from The New Humanitarian and Mongabay, spanning multiple countries, investigative reporters found the United Nations is n...
Ken Burns on 'The American Buffalo,' his latest documentary focusing on the iconic species
03 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The American bison ('buffalo') was once decimated to a tiny fraction of its original population of 30 million, reaching a low point of just 77 individ...
Why some bears thrive and others barely survive
27 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Human beings have a storied and complicated history with bears. The iconic mammals have long been an important symbol for thousands of years in cultur...
Can 'road ecology' save millions of animals?
19 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Nearly a million animals are killed on roads every day. That's just in the U.S., and this sobering statistic is very likely an underestimate. "If any...
Profitability and sustainability go together, Patagonia's advocacy director says
05 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Traditional capitalism is not working for the planet or the public, and needs an overhaul, says Beth Thoren, environmental action and initiatives dire...
Ecuadorian environmentalists win historic vote for Yasuní National Park
22 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ecuadorians have just approved a referendum to halt oil drilling in Yasuní National Park, one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet, which wil...
Protecting the Amazon requires fresh thinking
08 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tim Killeen is a top conservation biologist and author whose book is a straight-shooting, non-naive dive into "everything you need to know about the A...
XPRIZE-Rainforest finalists for $10m conservation tech award announced
25 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Conservation technology such as drones, remote sensing, and machine learning plays a critical role in supporting conservation scientists and aiding po...
Biological field stations are key to conservation but often 'invisible'
11 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Field research stations are vital to rewilding and conservation efforts yet they're often absent from global environmental policy, a Nature paper argu...
Big problems and potential for great ape conservation
04 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Great apes are facing a concerning future. If humans neglect to address climate change, they could lose up to 94% of their range by 2050. In the Congo...
Can the boom in psychedelics boost Amazon conservation?
20 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Famed ethnobotanist and conservation advocate, Mark Plotkin, joins the Mongabay Newscast to discuss traditional ecological knowledge about the increas...
The Boom: Amy Westervelt examines Guyana's massive oil project on 'Drilled'
13 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
"Drilled" is a true-crime podcast series from Critical Frequency and journalist, Amy Westervelt, examining the back-door dealings and environmental im...
Mongabay Reports: Solutions abound for staying within this planetary boundary
06 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
"The planetary boundaries" is a concept that measures the point at which human impact on our Earth's natural systems goes beyond "safe operating groun...
Can we right the wrongs of 'fortress conservation?'
30 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Since the colonization of the Congo Basin by Europeans, many Indigenous communities have been denied land they once relied on in the name of conservat...
Climate change is no joke for Australians
23 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Australia suffered catastrophic bushfires in 2019 - 2020, followed by intense rain and flooding from an ensuing La Niña which experts say may be lin...
Mongabay Reports: Deep sea discovery shocks and delights scientists
17 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists have discovered a series of hydrothermal vents in the Mid-Atlantic ridge spanning hundreds of miles and teeming with life adapted to scorch...
The world's second-largest rainforest is at a turning point
02 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week we're sharing the first episode of a new season of Mongabay Explores, a deep dive into the Congo Basin which begins with the Democratic Repu...
Guyana gets Drilled: Journalist Amy Westervelt on the latest oil boom
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The South American nation of Guyana, whose economy has traditionally relied on tourism, agriculture, and fishing, has begun doing business with oil gi...
Mongabay Reports: Breeding new hope for African penguins at De Hoop Nature Reserve
11 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Recent breeding success at a nature reserve in South Africa has given conservationists hope for the survival of Africa's only resident penguin species...
Conservation technology just keeps on growing
03 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Conservation technology is a rapidly growing field with exciting potential. From eDNA to bioacoustics and AI, there's a lot to keep track of in an eve...
Mongabay Reports: What's in the new U.N. High Seas treaty?
27 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
More than 15 years in the making, the United Nations has finally reached an agreement on a landmark, legally binding treaty to protect international w...
Journalist Tom Philpott on how agriculture impacts the environment & agroecology alternatives
21 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The American approach to food production is negatively impacting the environment and depleting natural resources like topsoil and groundwater at an al...
Mongabay Reports: Monarchs make a comeback
13 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 2022, the population of western monarch butterflies reached its highest number in decades, 335,000, according to the annual Western Monarch Count i...
Indigenous ecological knowledge: National Geographic photographer Kiliii Yuyan talks TEK
06 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This podcast episode won a 2024 Indigenous Media Award. National Geographic photographer Kiliii Yuyan joins the show to discuss his visits to five I...
Mongabay Reports: Can you fund reforestation by cutting trees down?
27 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As the world pursues reforestation on an expanding scale, a recurring question is: how do we pay for it? One emerging solution is to grow and harvest ...
Geoengineering and other 'solution problems': Discussion with author Elizabeth Kolbert
21 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Modern society is constantly crafting mega solutions to problems it has created, many of which come with even more problems, and no guarantee of solvi...
Mongabay Reports: Cheetahs bring vultures back from the brink in Malawi
14 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In a national park in southern Malawi, the reintroduction of cheetahs (and lions) is bringing four critically endangered vulture species back to the s...
Epic struggle for Ecuador's biodiversity is having success
08 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Intag Valley in Ecuador is one of the world's most biodiverse places, its dense cloud forests bursting with plant and animal species. But the wo...
Mongabay Reports: Protecting forests on a budget? Here's how.
31 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It's tough to fund conservation, and deciding exactly how (and where) funding gets used is even trickier. However, researchers recently identified wh...
Are botanists disappearing just when we need them the most?
24 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A decline in botany degree programs, paired with a growing lack of general plant awareness, has scientists concerned about society's ability to tackle...
Mongabay Reports: Amazon's tallest tree threatened by deforestation
16 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Paru State Forest is the world's 3rd-largest sustainable-use tropical forest reserve, and is home to a tree standing 30 stories tall. But in Octob...
UN Biodiversity Conference an 'important step' toward conserving nature
11 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In December, Mongabay's Montreal-based editor Latoya Abulu attended the 15th meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity, where the historic Kun...
Mongabay Reports: Anteaters lead the way for species reintroductions
02 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Reintroducing rescued anteaters from hunters in northern Argentina into the country's Iberá reserve is no small task. However, In 2007, the first pa...
A bittersweet bioacoustics bonanza
27 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After 6 years and nearly 160 episodes, podcast host Mike Gaworecki is putting his microphone down. The show will go on, but we will miss his expertise...
Into the Wasteland, 3: Buried in Europe's Recycling
20 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We all send our recycling somewhere for proper handling, but the operations of one such handling center in Poland makes one ask, is it being done righ...
Into the Wasteland, 2: The New Narcotics
13 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The U.K.'s Environment Agency calls waste crime — where instead of delivering recycling or rubbish for proper disposal, companies simply dump it in ...
Into the Wasteland: The true crime of the UK's waste mountain
06 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The British countryside is increasingly under siege from a scourge of illegal waste dumping – polluting both water and air – but one man is bravel...
Finned: A tale of illegal fishing and the fate of Pacific sharks
01 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Host Mike G. speaks with Mongabay reporters whose new investigations reveal a major and illegal shark finning operation by one of China's largest fish...
Mongabay Reports: Lebanon's inspiring restoration success
22 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In a nation gripped by currency depreciation, harsh economic fallout and civil unrest, the Shouf Biosphere Reserve endures as a rare conservation succ...
An escape into soundscapes
16 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Healthy ecosystems are often noisy: from reefs to grasslands and forests, these are sonically rich places, thanks to all the species defending territo...
Mongabay Reports: Sky Bridges for Sloth Safety
08 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On Costa Rica's Carribbean coast, sloths are losing their habitat to houses and roads, forcing them to cross between forest patches on the ground, mak...
How the Indigenous Shuar regained their ancestral forest
02 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"Ecuador had not declared community protected area management by Indigenous peoples until Tiwi Nunka Forest. This area is the first of its kind in Ecu...
Mongabay Reports: Spectacular fish is the first named by a Maldivian scientist
25 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa is a spectacular new-to-science fish species and the first that has been named by a Maldivian scientist. Ahmed Najeeb, a biolo...
Science that saves the biodiversity of free-flowing rivers
19 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"It might be the highest density of trout species on Earth," our guest Ulrich Eichelmann says of a suite of European rivers slated for damming to gene...
Mongabay Reports: A "game changing" ecological restoration playbook
11 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Nine leading forest and climate experts defined 10 principles for equitable and transformative landscapes in a "playbook" for ecosystem restoration. T...
Bottom trawling strips the sea of life, but activism is slowing the damage
04 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In a historic move, The European Commission recently announced the protection of an area half the size of Belgium in the North Atlantic from bottom tr...
Mongabay Reports: Agroforestry is climate-positive and profitable, investors say
27 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What's a climate-friendly and profitable way to farm? Some investors (and many farmers) say it's agroforestry, which combines trees & shrubs with annu...
Could Brazil's election decide the fate of the Amazon?
20 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tropical forest news is coming fast lately, and we've got a top expert to discuss it with, beginning with the deforestation rate of the Brazilian Amaz...
Mongabay Reports: Spies in the sky, albatrosses alert authorities to illegal fishing
13 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Can an albatross detect illegal fishing vessels? Findings from published research say yes: over the course of six-months, 169 albatrosses fitted with ...
Sumatran elephants' future may hinge on their 'personhood'
06 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There's less than 10 years remaining to save Sumatran elephants, says guest Leif Cocks, founder of the International Elephant Project, so we followed ...
Mongabay Reports: Chocolate frog, anyone?
30 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Just kidding, you really shouldn't eat this. Last February, researchers described a new-to-science species of frog literally unearthed in the Peruvian...
Top wildlife photography requires patience, ethics, and kindness
23 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Since 2020, the "Prints for WIldlife" campaign has raised over 1.75 million for conservaiton funding for NGO, African Parks through a collaborative p...
Mongabay Reports: Can bugs take a bite out of climate change?
16 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Cricket One is one of the world's largest cricket farms, and it's serving up an impressive palette of insect protein. Vietnam-based reporter Mike Tata...
Bitcoin, blockchain, and burgeoning energy use
09 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Blockchain is an increasingly popular technology with quite a few applications and iterations, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Non-fungible tokens (NF...
Mongabay Reports: Chimpanzee tool innovation reveals cultural evolution
02 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sonso Chimpanzees in Uganda began using a new method to drink water pooled in logs, 'moss-sponging.' Previously known to use balled-up leaves, the chi...
Mexico's Maya Train chugs forward, but at what cost?
26 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A multi-billion dollar, 958 mile-long, railway project known as the 'Maya Train' threatens to displace locals and degrade or destroy habitats across f...
Mongabay Reports: New Guinea has the most plant species of any island
19 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A report published in the journal Nature concludes that New Guinea is the most floristically diverse and speciose island on the planet. In addition...
'Water always wins' but 'slow' solutions to water scarcity are growing in popularity
12 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Human-made 'gray' infrastructure is crumbling, causing some urban areas to lose up to 40% of this precious resource: several major cities across the g...
Mongabay Reports: Will the vaquita vanish?
05 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week the world marks Save the Vaquita Day. Our featured article examines a threat to this critically endangered marine mammal (Phocoena sinus), a...
How marine conservation benefits by blending Indigenous knowledge and western science
28 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We discuss the effectiveness of combining traditional Indigenous ecological knowledge and Western science for conservation and restoration initiatives...
Mongabay Reports: 'Lost' Amazonian cities reveal sustainability secrets
22 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our featured article this week examines archaeological research revealing details of a massive, Pre-Columbian urban settlement in the Amazon, 4,500 ...
New whale calls and dolphin behaviors discovered with bioacoustics
15 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Host Mike G. dives into new discoveries from the exciting field of marine bioacoustics research that are helping us better understand the lives of wha...
Mongabay Reports: Palm oil investigation with BBC and Gecko Project exposes corporate theft from communities
07 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our featured article this week summarizes a joint investigation Mongabay recently conducted with BBC News and The Gecko Project, uncovering how compan...
How Indigenous aquaculture leverages traditional ecological knowledge
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Coastal cultures have often enjoyed abundant lifestyles thanks to the wide array of food, fiber, and other useful resources provided by the world's se...
Mongabay Reports: Can celebrities 'rewrite extinction'?
25 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
'Rewriting Extinction' is a new conservation funding group trying to reach fresh audiences that has so far raised $180,000 for projects in Europe, Asi...
Vandana Shiva on the agroecology solution for climate change, the biodiversity crisis, and hunger
18 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Agroecology applies ecological principles to agriculture, and it's a key strategy for mitigating--and adapting to climate change--which also boosts bi...
Mongabay Explores: She's here! A Sumatran rhino is born
11 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mongabay Explores is an episodic podcast series that highlights unique places and species from around the globe. On March 24th, Indonesia's Ministry o...
Wonder on wings: the fierce nature and enduring beauty of birds
04 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's a really busy time of year for birds all over the world as they migrate and prepare for a new breeding season, so on this episode we discuss the ...
Mongabay Explores New Guinea: Community empowerment and forest conservation grow from the galip nut
27 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mongabay Explores is an episodic podcast series that highlights unique places and species from around the globe. By 2025, the edible nut industry will...
Convention on Biological Diversity: progress, hope and hard work ahead
20 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After many delays due to the pandemic, final negotiations on the UN Convention on Biological Diversity are happening this year in Kunming, China, and ...
Mongabay Explores New Guinea: Who is destroying these rainforests? The Tanah Merah mystery.
13 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mongabay Explores is an episodic podcast series that highlights unique places and species from around the globe. The Tanah Merah project sits in the h...
Outstanding in the field: researchers head out for a new season
06 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's the start of field research season in many regions--and some scientists haven't gotten afield since the pandemic started--so we're checking in wi...
Mongabay Reports: Degraded forests still provide immense value
30 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A recent study conducted in Malaysian Borneo shows that degraded forests can still provide immense value. The study details five key ecological servic...
Indigenous peoples: the world's top conservationists
23 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There's growing recognition of how vital Indigenous-led conservation practices are to protecting the planet. Because of this, there's a growing global...
Mongabay Explores New Guinea: 'Ghosts of the rainforest'
16 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mongabay Explores is an episodic podcast series that highlights unique places and species from around the globe. New Guinea's dense tropical montane f...
Are 'nature based solutions' the best fix for climate change?
09 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode we discuss mangrove restoration and other "nature based solutions" (NBS) to climate change. Now promoted as the best strategy to slow ...
Mongabay Explores New Guinea: A long and winding road
02 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mongabay Explores is an episodic podcast series that highlights unique places and species from around the globe. Subscribe to the show wherever you ge...
How the sounds of African wildlife aid their conservation
23 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A new study reveals that bioacoustics is an underutilized wildlife study tool on one of the world's most biodiverse continents: Africa. On this episod...
Mongabay Explores New Guinea: Protecting paradise
16 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mongabay Explores is an episodic podcast series that highlights unique places and species from around the globe. Subscribe to the show wherever you ge...
Kelp, condors and Indigenous conservation
09 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Join us for a dive into two ambitious Indigenous-led conservation initiatives on the U.S. West Coast on this episode. Host Mike G. speaks with Dune ...
Mongabay Explores New Guinea: 'Carbon cowboys' and illegal logging
01 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Since 2014, Papua New Guinea has been the world's largest tropical timber exporter: more than 70% of that is considered illegal. Timber companies cont...
The 411 on forests and reforestation for 2022
26 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What are the main global forest conservation trends for 2022? Though deforestation is declining, how much forest is the world still losing? Host Mike ...
Mongabay Reports: Mt. Pinatubo's 'eruption-proof' mouse
18 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
With the huge Mt. Tonga volcanic eruption in the news, here's a reminder of the resilience of life: 20 years after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1...
Who will lead the conservation movement now?
12 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Both E.O. Wilson and Tom Lovejoy were major figures in the conservation field and passed away in late 2021 -- both also appeared on this show, so we p...
Mongabay Explores New Guinea: Protecting unparalleled biodiversity
05 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mongabay Explores is an episodic podcast series that highlights unique places and species from around the globe. Subscribe to the show wherever you ge...
In search of wild spectacles and river journeys with Janisse Ray and Jordan Salama
21 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's a perfect time to pick up a great book, and this episode's got recommendations for you! We welcome to the show Janisse Ray, award-winning author ...
What do two giant land deals mean for the future of Southeast Asia's forests?
09 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We discuss two big stories from Southeast Asia that Mongabay's been covering which highlight the importance of land rights and also Free, Prior, and I...
Mongabay Reports: Why chimp GIFs aren't funny
30 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
GIFs (animated images) can be a simple and fun way to communicate via text and are increasingly popular. Yet, while a GIF of an ape wearing overalls m...
Bill McKibben on climate action, grief and 'radical joy' after COP26 climate summit
23 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Most observers declared the recent climate summit a failure, as world leaders largely delayed action on climate change. Still there was some progress ...
Mongabay Reports: Earth Defenders Toolkit strengthens Indigenous voices
17 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Earth Defenders Toolkit is a collection of apps that support local autonomy of Indigenous lands, giving communities ownership of critical data and...
Let it grow: Natural forest regeneration's amazing reforestation power
10 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Initiatives to plant billions and even trillions of trees have been popping up like seedlings after a rainstorm. These are important in tackling clima...
Mongabay Reports: Lost chameleon reappears
03 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The rare Champman's pygmy chameleon has been missing in the wild for over two decades. First described in 1992, it was finally seen in a dwindling pat...