When it comes to the world’s forests, two commonly asked questions are “How many trees are on Earth?” and “How many are cut down each year?” A study in the journal Nature proposed answers: 3 trillion and 15.3 billion. Mongabay Reports is a...
On this episode we discuss how newly released data shows deforestation rose in 2020, even while tree planting initiatives took root all around the planet. Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Butler joins us to discuss the 2020 deforestation data, how that...
Are international groups that manage declining tuna populations doing too good a job? Two guests on our show this week illustrate how these managers aren't aiming for sustainability, but rather enable maximum extraction of the 'tuna resource' that...
Climate change & loss of biological diversity are just two of the 9 planetary boundaries scientists say humanity is currently pushing the limits of. How long can we sustain society if we keep pushing these limits? We explore this question -- and...
New investigation in the Amazon documents impact of palm oil plantations on
Indigenous communities
March 24, 2021
Palm oil plantations look likely to become a new cause of deforestation and pollution across the Amazon: though companies say their supply chains are green and sustainable, critics in Brazil--including scientists & federal prosecutors--cite...
'I'm amazed how resilient, adaptable and optimistic the people of Sumatra are,' conservationist and founder Farwiza Farhan says in the first moments of this episode about the women and communities she works with during the final episode of Mongabay's...
Agroecology is a style of sustainable farming spreading quickly around the globe, transforming the way food is grown. Industrial agriculture requires chemicals like fertilizers and pesticides that harm natural systems and people alike, but by working...
Once drained for palm oil or other agricultural uses, Indonesia's peatlands become very fire prone, putting people and rich flora and fauna--from orchids to orangutans--at risk. Over a million hectares of carbon-rich peatlands burned in Indonesia in...
Landscape rewilding and ecosystem restoration are likely our last/best chances to maintain life on Earth as we know it, the guests on this week's show argue. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration just began, so we invited author Judith Schwartz to...
The Sumatran rhino is a ridiculously cute but cryptic species that teeters on the brink: with an estimated 80 individuals left in the wilds of its super dense rainforest home, experts are also divided on *where* they are. With conflicting and...
Two technologies being promoted as climate solutions, biomass and hydropower, actually have big environmental consequences and might not be sustainable at all. Can we burn and dam our way out of the climate crisis? We speak with , a Wake Forest...
The Sumatran orangutan is a lowland species that has adapted to life among this Indonesian island’s highlands, as it has lost favored habitat to an array of forces like deforestation, road projects, plus the trafficking of young ones to be sold as...
Agroforestry: the most climate-friendly and biodiversity-positive agriculture
technique is growing
Jan. 27, 2021
Ever drink 'shade grown' coffee or eat 'bird friendly' chocolate? Then you've enjoyed the fruits of agroforestry, an ancient agricultural technique practiced on a huge scale across the world which also sequesters a staggering amount of carbon from the...
The Sumatran elephant is a small species of Asian elephant whose numbers are dwindling as their lowland forest habitats are converted to crops like oil palms. Experts say that Indonesia has 10 years to turn this trend around and save them from the...
From fires to COVID, 2020 was a *bit* of a rough year for forest conservation efforts. But what’s in store, and hopeful, for 2021? On this episode, we catch up with Mongabay's founder and CEO Rhett Butler to hear what's on his radar for the...
Valuable minerals are regularly dug out of sensitive ecological areas like rainforests, and a growing slice of this mining is of the small, "artisanal," and unregulated kind. The result is often a moonscape devoid of trees that is difficult to...
The wildlife rich island of Sumatra is experiencing a road building boom, causing some of its iconic creatures to be seen by construction workers: a photo of a Sumatran tiger crossing a highway work-site went viral this summer, for example. This...
On this episode we look at how the largest and most biodiverse tropical savanna on Earth, Brazil's Cerrado, may finally be getting the conservation attention it needs. We’re joined by Mariana Siqueira, a landscape architect who’s helping to find...
Mongabay Explores Sumatra: Will the world's newest great ape species face a
dammed future?
Dec. 3, 2020
North Sumatra is home to 1 of only 8 known great ape species in the world, the newly described Tapanuli orangutan, first classified in 2017 after its habits and DNA proved them to be unique. As with many animals in Sumatra, they are amazing creatures...
Land rights, and wrongs: How Indigenous and local communities are fighting to
gain title to their territories
Nov. 25, 2020
We're taking a look at the importance of securing Indigenous & local communities’ land rights -- and the global push for privatization that can deprive such people access to their territories -- with two guests on this episode. A 2018 study...