Homeowners and towns along the U.S. East Coast are increasingly building "living shorelines" to adapt to sea level rise and boost wildlife habitat in a more economical and less carbon-intensive way than concrete seawalls. These projects protect shorelines using a clever mix of native plants, driftwood, holiday trees, and other organic materials.

Peter Slovinsky, a coastal geologist with the Maine Geological Survey, joins the Mongabay Newscast to discuss the benefits of living shorelines, how they are implemented in his state, and what other techniques coastal communities should consider in a world with a warming climate and rising seas.

Read Erik Hoffner's original reporting on living shorelines here.

Like this podcast? Please share it with a friend and help spread the word about the Mongabay Newscast.

Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website, or download our free app for Apple and Android devices to gain instant access to our latest episodes and all of our previous ones.

Image Credit: Salt tolerant plants are part of a 'living shorelines' project on the Blue Hill Peninsula in Maine. Image by Erik Hoffner for Mongabay.

Time Codes

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(00:00) Introduction

(02:19) What is a "living shoreline?"

(04:55) Green over gray

(13:06) How to make a "living shoreline"

(18:59) Case studies and urban applications

(24:50) Adaptation methods that deserve more consideration

(31:13) Reconsidering retreat

(32:48) The geologist's greatest fears and biggest hopes

(39:35) Credits

The current clade of H5N1 or bird flu is an "existential threat" to the world's biodiversity, experts say. While it has infected more than 500 bird and mammal species on every continent except Australia, the number of human infections from the current clade (grouping) 2.3.4.4b is still comparatively small. U.S. dairy workers have recently become infected, and the virus could easily mutate to become more virulent, our guest says.

Joining the Mongabay Newscast to talk about it is Apoorva Mandavilli, a global health reporter for The New York Times. Mandavilli details what virologists and experts know about the human health risks associated with this latest clade, what nations are doing (or not doing) to help contain its spread, and why. She also details how environmental degradation and industrial agriculture help create the conditions for outbreaks like this to occur.

Read Sharon Guynup's reporting on it here.

Like this podcast? Please share it with a friend and help spread the word about the Mongabay Newscast.

Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website, or download our free app for Apple and Android devices to gain instant access to our latest episodes and all of our previous ones.

Image Credit: Highly pathogenic avian influenza killed thousands of black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris) chicks in the Falkland Islands and Islas Malvinas, where two-thirds of the entire population lives. Image © Julia Emerit and Augustin Clessin.

Time Codes

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(00:00) Introduction

(02:44) The evolution of H5N1

(05:47) Clade 2.3.4.4b

(08:21) Challenges in monitoring the spread

(11:10) What are the human health risks?

(16:34) A spotlight on industrialized animal agriculture

(18:26) A vaccination strategy?

(20:05) What lessons are we learning from other pandemics?

(23:08) The degradation of nature and the frequency of disease outbreaks

(25:57) Credits

Burning wood to generate electricity – 'biomass energy' – is increasingly used as a renewable replacement for burning coal in nations like the UK, Japan, and South Korea, even though its emissions are not carbon neutral.

On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, reporter Justin Catanoso details how years of investigation helped him uncover a complicated web of public relations messaging used by industry giants that obscures the fact that replanting trees after cutting them down and burning them is not carbon neutral or renewable and severely harms global biodiversity, and forests.

Catanoso lives near biomass industry giant Enviva in North Carolina and has reported on their practices extensively, including the claim that they only use sustainable wood waste in their product, which his investigation disproved. Though it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this year, it remains the single largest producer of wood pellets globally.

"When those trees get ripped out, that carbon gets released. And that comes before we process this wood and ship it…then we burn it and don't count those emissions.  This is just [an] imponderable policy," he says in this episode.

Read Justin's coverage of the UK biomass firm Drax and their attempt to open two large wood pellet plants in California to ship 1 million tons annually to Japan and South Korea, where they will be burned in converted coal plants.

If you enjoy the Mongabay Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing. Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet, and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

Please send your ideas and feedback to submissions@mongabay.com.

Image: Wood pellets for biomass energy. Image courtesy of Dogwood Alliance.

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Timecodes

(00:00:00) Introduction to Biomass and Carbon Emissions

(00:03:08) Understanding the problems with biomass fuel

(00:08:18) Clear-Cutting in North Carolina and British Columbia

(00:12:48) Physics Doesn't Fall for Accounting Tricks

(00:19:55) Understanding the Arguments from the Industry

(00:25:30) Picking Apart the Logic

(00:28:26) Why We Don't Have Long-term Solutions

(00:34:27) Overcoming an Impossible Situation

(00:39:55) Post-chat

(00:49:28) Credits

Putting a dollar amount on a single species, or entire ecosystems, is a contentious idea, but in 2023, the New York Stock Exchange proposed a new nature-based asset class which put a price tag on global nature of 5,000 trillion U.S. dollars. 

This financialization of nature comes with perverse incentives and fails to recognize the intrinsic value contained in biodiversity and all the benefits it provides for humans, argues Indigenous economist Rebecca Adamson, on this episode.

Instead, she suggests basing economies on principles contained in Indigenous economics.

"The most simple thing would be to fit your economy into a living, breathing, natural physics law framework. And if you look at Indigenous economies, they really talk about balance and harmony, and those aren't quaint customs. Those are design principles," she says.

Hear a related Mongabay podcast interview on the connection between nature and financial systems with author Brett Scott, here. We also recently spoke with National Geographic photographer Kiliii Yuyan about what Indigenous knowledge has to offer conservation, here. 

If you enjoy the Mongabay Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing. Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet, and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

Please send your ideas and feedback to submissions@mongabay.com.

Image: The doll orchid. Image courtesy of Bhathiya Gopallawa. 

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(00:00:00) Introduction

(00:01:30) The Financialization of Nature

(00:07:35) Indigenous Economic Principles

(00:14:04) Can Putting a Price on Nature Save it?

(00:27:15) Redistribution and Reciprocity

(00:33:15) The Ubiquity of Violence

(00:38:37) The Wealth Gap and Its Implications

(00:41:31) The Power of Shareholder Activism

(00:44:36) Indigenous Economic Systems and Modern Applications

(00:51:57) A Critical Analysis of the Financialization of Nature

(01:00:27) Religious Perspectives on Environmental Awareness

(01:04:24) Credits

Two experts join the Mongabay Newscast to discuss the decline in koala populations in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), even as city councils and the government green light development projects on koala habitats that aren't being replaced by biodiversity offset schemes, ecologist Yung En Chee of the University of Melbourne, explains.

Meanwhile, the promised Great Koala National Park has been delayed by NSW Premier Chris Minns, even as his state allows logging of koala habitat within the park borders while he tries to set up a carbon credit scheme to monetize the protected area, says journalist Stephen Long with Australia Institute.

"I'm not sure how long this failure has to persist before we decide that we really ought to change course," says Chee of the biodiversity credit schemes, which seem to be based on outdated data, and don't come close to satisfying their 'no net loss' of biodiversity goals.

See related coverage: How a conservation NGO uses drones and artificial intelligence to detect koalas that survive bushfires, here.

If you want to read more on biodiversity offsetting and 'no net loss,' please read this resource from the IUCN.

If you enjoy the Mongabay Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing. Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet, and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

Please send your ideas and feedback to submissions@mongabay.com.

Image: Gumbaynggirr Country is home to the dunggiirr, the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus), one of the totem animals for the Gumbaynggirr people. Koalas numbers are estimated to be in the tens of thousands in the state of New South Wales. Image by Steve Franklin via Unsplash (Public domain).

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Timecodes

(00:00) Introduction

(01:34) The Koala Crisis in New South Wales

(04:33) Where is the Great Koala National Park?

(06:39) Logging Activities and Government Delays

(09:53) The Problem with Carbon Credits 

(16:46) Interview with Yung En Chee

(18:38) Biodiversity Offsets: Concept and Criticism

(20:15) Failures in Biodiversity Offset Implementation

(31:23) Double Dipping and Offset Market Issues

(35:22) Conclusion

On this episode of Mongabay's podcast, Rachel Donald speaks with campaigner and activist Jon Moses about the 'right to roam' movement in England which seeks to reclaim common rights to use private and public land to reconnect with nature and repair the damage done from centuries of exclusionary land ownership.

In this discussion and the new book Wild Service: Why Nature Needs You he's co-edited with Nick Hayes, Moses recounts the history of land ownership change in England ('enclosure') and why re-establishing a common 'freedom to roam'—a right observed in other nations such as the Czech Republic or Norway—is needed. English citizens currently only have access to 8% of their land, for example.

"There needs to be a kind of rethinking really of [what] people's place is in the landscape and how that intersects with a kind of [new] relationship between people and nature as well," he says on this episode.

If you enjoy the Mongabay Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing. Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet, and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

Image credit: Participants of the 'Love Your River' event on the River Derwent. Image courtesy of Jon Moses.

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Timecodes 

(00:00) Introduction

(02:19) The 'Right to Roam'

(06:06) The historical context of 'enclosure'

(13:42) The modern struggle to reclaim access to nature

(27:49) Cross cultural perspectives, and breaking the barriers

(38:32) Post-chat

(50:19) Credits

On this episode of Mongabay's podcast, we speak with a co-founder of the award-winning Canadian nonprofit news outlet 'The Narwhal,' Emma Gilchrist.

She reflects on Canada's unique natural legacy, her organization's successes, the state of environmental reporting in the nature-rich nation, how she sees 'The Narwhal' filling the gaps in historically neglected stories and viewpoints, and why something as universally appreciated as nature can still be a polarizing topic.

She also details a legal battle her organization is involved in that could have significant implications for press freedom in Canada.

If you enjoy the Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

Image credit: Bow Lake in Banff, Canada. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler.

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Timecodes 

(00:00) Introduction

(02:30) The mission and impact of 'The Narwhal'

(05:16) The Canadian environmental paradox

(24:40) Fighting for press freedom

(29:31) An uncertain political landscape

(34:50) Post-chat: independent outlets make waves

(45:58) Credits

In recognition of her leadership and advocacy, Indigenous Wirdi woman Murrawah Maroochy Johnson has been awarded the 2024 Goldman Environmental Prize. 

She joins the Mongabay Newscast to discuss a landmark victory for First Nations rights in Australia, led by her organization Youth Verdict against Waratah Coal, which resulted in the Land Court of Queensland recommending a rejection of a mining lease in the Galilee Basin that would have added 1.58 billion tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere over its lifespan.

The court case set multiple precedents in Australia, including being the first successful case to link the impacts of climate change with human rights, and the first to include on-Country evidence from First Nations witnesses. 

If you enjoy the Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

Image credit: 2024 Goldman Prize winner Murrawah Maroochy Johnson. Photo courtesy of Goldman Environmental Prize.

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Timecodes 

(00:00) Introduction

(02:51) An unprecedented victory

(05:33) Including on-Country evidence

(16:17) Future legal implications

(20:34) Challenges of navigating the legal system

(26:14) Looking to the future

(28:16) Credits

Indigenous rights advocate and executive director of SIRGE Coalition, Galina Angarova, and environmental journalist/author of the Substack newsletter Green Rocks, Ian Morse, join us to detail the key social and environmental concerns, impacts, and questions we should be asking about the mining of elements used in everything from the global renewable energy transition to the device in your hand.

Research indicates that 54% of all transition minerals occur on or near Indigenous land. Despite this fact, no nation anywhere has properly enforced Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) protocols in line with standards in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Further, local communities too seldom benefit from their extraction, while suffering their consequences in the form of reduced air and/or water quality.

This conversation was originally broadcast on Mongabay's YouTube channel to a live audience of journalists but the conversation contains detailed insight and analysis on a vital topic listeners of the Newscast will appreciate. Those interested in participating in Mongabay's webinar series are encouraged to subscribe to the YouTube Channel or sign up for Mongagabay's Webinar Newsletter here. 

If you enjoy the Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

Image credit: A symbol for a renewable charging station. (Photo courtesy of Nicola Sznajder/Flickr)

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Timecodes 

(00:00) Introduction

(02:57) Why are they called 'transition minerals?'

(07:04) Geopolitical tensions and complications

(16:04) Realities of mining windfalls

(26:30) Cartelization concerns

(32:50) Environmental and human rights impacts

(39:46) Reporting on Free Prior and Informed Consent

(46:49) Recycling

(54:45) Additional Indigenous rights concerns

(57:04) Certification schemes and community-led mining initiatives

(01:03:22) Deep-sea mining

(01:09:21) Credits

On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, journalist Dahr Jamail joins co-host Rachel Donald to discuss the ways many international conflicts are based on resource scarcity.

Notable as an unembedded reporter during the US-led Iraq invasion, Jamail expands on the human and ecological costs to these conflicts, the purported reasons behind them, how those justifications are covered in the media, and the continued stress these conflicts put on society. 

"There was a saying a ways back by Lester Brown [who] said 'land is the new gold and water is the new oil.' And I think that that perspective is really kind of driving what we're seeing," Jamail says.

If you enjoy the Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

Image credit: A U.S. Army soldier watching a burning oil well at the Rumaila oil field in Iraq in April 2003. Image by Arlo K. Abrahamson/DoD via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

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Timecodes 

(00:00) Introduction

(01:57) From Alaska to Iraq

(10:59) Resource scarcity and the geopolitics of war

(29:31) New horizons and new tensions

(35:09) Post-show discussion

(50:05) Credits

On today's episode, climate activist and founder of the non-profit Force of Nature, Clover Hogan, details list of challenges activists face both from outside and within their movements. 

Not only do environmental activists face growing legal and physical threats across the globe, they are also vulnerable to burnout, exhaustion, and ridicule as they navigate a host of other social challenges while doing this work that is poorly compensated.

Hogan speaks with co-host Mike DiGirolamo about these challenges and the way forward for more inclusive movements while navigating the noise:

"It's no accident that we spend so much of our time thinking about our individual lifestyles and not thinking about how [to] actually hold these systems accountable," she says.

Attention, Google Podcasts users—although that podcast provider is being closed by Alphabet, which is moving all podcasts to its YouTube Music service—you can find our show via any of the podcast apps, so please find and follow the Mongabay Newscast via any of those to not miss an episode!

If you enjoy the show, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

Image credit: Clover Hogan speaking in Paris, France. Photo courtesy of Clover Hogan.

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Timecodes 

(00:00) Introduction

(02:10) Force of Nature

(05:36) The challenges activists face

(08:52) The myth of 'perfection'

(16:50) Hostile environments

(25:59) The most surprising 'confessions' of a climate activist

(32:51) Throwing soup on paintings: helpful or harmful?

(39:49) 'Hope' is a verb

(43:53) Climate activism is an intersectional movement

On today's episode of the Newscast, world-renowned primatologist and conservation advocate Dr. Jane Goodall sits down with Mongabay founder and editor-in-chief, Rhett Butler. Goodall is celebrating her 90th birthday this week and reflects upon her long (and continuing) career, sharing reflections, lessons, stories and inspirations that guide her philosophy toward protecting the natural world.

Widely recognized for her pioneering work on animal behavior, she explains the importance of having empathy for animals and why it is crucial for meeting conservation goals now and into the future. The iconic conservationist also shares why she thinks that, despite 'doom & gloom' news, humanity can overcome the adversity of its many environmental challenges. 

"I've come to think of humanity as being at the mouth of a very long very dark tunnel and right at the end there's a little star shining. And that's hope. But it's no good sitting, wondering when that star will come to us...We must gird our loins, roll up our sleeves, and navigate around all obstacles that lie between us and the star."

View a print version of this interview at the Mongabay website:

https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/jane-goodall-at-90-on-fame-hope-and-empathy/

Editor's Note: Jane Goodall is a member of Mongabay's advisory council.

Subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever you get podcasts, and if you enjoy the show, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

Feedback? Send a message to submissions@mongabay.com.

Image credit: Photo of Jane Goodall by Rhett Butler/Mongabay.

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Timecodes 

(00:00) Introduction

(04:09) Reflections on conservation and changes

(05:04) How do you keep hopeful?

(06:40) How can individuals make a positive impact?

(08:36) How can people make their voices heard?

(09:34) Ways to rally around nature

(11:53) Why do you think people connect with your work?

(20:08) Overlooked conservation solutions

(22:29) The importance of empathy

(27:44) Collaboration and hope in conservation

(32:22) Choosing the impact we make

Top National Geographic photographer Kiliii Yüyan joined the show to discuss traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and why Indigenous communities are the world's most effective conservationists.

Yüyan spoke about this with us in March 2023 and we're sharing the episode again after it recently won a 'Best coverage of Indigenous communities' prize from the Indigenous Media Awards.

While the National Geographic version of "Guardians of Life" is now published, the collaboration between Gleb Raygorodetsky and Yüyan will be published in book form in 2025. Sign up at Raygorodetsky's website here to be notified when it's out.

Like this podcast? Please share it with a friend and help spread the word about the Mongabay Newscast.

*Come celebrate Jane Goodall's 90th birthday, and Mongabay's 25th anniversary, during an event hosted by the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco (or virtually) by purchasing tickets atthis link. To get $10 off, use the promo code C1PARTNER. *

Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website, or download our free app for Apple and Android devices to gain instant access to our latest episodes and all of our previous ones.

Image Credit: With a dip net, Karuk fisherman Ryan Reed searches for Chinook salmon under the watchful eye of his father, Ron, on California's Klamath River at Ishi Pishi Falls in October 2020. The Reeds caught no fish in stark contrast to earlier times. Before California became a state, the river saw about 500,000 salmon each fall, but last year just 53,954 mature Chinook swam up, a 90 percent decline. The nation now restricts salmon fishing to Ishi Pishi Falls, but with the slated removal of four dams, the Karuk hope the salmon will return. Image (c) Kiliii Yuyan.

Time Codes

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(00:00) Indigenous peoples: the world's best conservationists

(02:31) Who are the Guardians of Life?

(07:30) Some of Kiliii's favorite memories

(10:39) 'People are not separate from nature'

(18:04) 'Two-eyed seeing': combining Western and Indigenous science

(23:30) Advice from an Indigenous storyteller

(27:26) The Impact of storytelling

(30:52) A kayak is not a ship

(34:02) The Guardians of Life book

(39:50) Credits

African forest elephants play a crucial role in shaping the Congo rainforest ecosystem, two experts explain on this episode. As seed dispersers and maintainers of forest corridors and clearings, they are sometimes referred to as "gardeners of the forest." 

Their small and highly threatened population needs additional study and conservation prioritization, since the loss of this species would fundamentally change the shape and structure of the world's second-largest rainforest.

Guest Fiona "Boo" Maisels is a conservation scientist at the Wildlife Conservation Society, while Andrew Davies is assistant professor of organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard University, and they speak with host Mike DiGirolamo about these charismatic mammals.  

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

If you enjoy the Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

Image credit: A calf attempts to sneak its trunk into a mineral pit that mom is drinking from. Protest calls are often heard from calves in this behavioral context, as mom sometimes pushes them away and they in turn express their displeasure with a little yell. Photo Ana Verahrami, Elephant Listening Project.

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Timecodes 

(00:00) Introduction

(02:00) There are two African elephant species?

(06:06) Can the "value" of an elephant be quantified?

(19:30) The value of forest bais

(27:25) Impacts of climate change

(30:30) The future of forest elephants in the Congo Basin

(38:44) Credits

Billionaires, foundations, and philanthropists often make massive, headline-grabbing pledges for biodiversity conservation or climate change mitigation, but how effective are these donations? How do these huge sums get used, and how do we know? These questions are among the considerations that conservationists and environmental reporters should keep in mind, two guest experts on this episode say.

On this edition of the Mongabay Newscast, Holly Jonas, global coordinator of the ICCA Consortium, and Michael Kavate, staff writer at Inside Philanthropy, break down some of the more overlooked issues these giant gifts raise, and story angles that reporters should consider when covering philanthropy for the environment.

"I think what the public really needs is more critical and in-depth coverage of the ideologies and the approaches behind their kinds of philanthropy, the billionaire pledges and so on, how they're being rolled out in practice, where the funding's actually going," says Jonas.

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

If you enjoy the Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

Image credit: Great Green Macaw in Las Balsas reserve. Photo credit: José León.

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Timecodes 

(00:00) Introduction

(01:55) Biggest trends in environmental philanthropy

(07:23) Follow the money, follow the power

(20:23) Tools and techniques for reporters

(24:09) Localization & accountability

(37:37) Funding transparency

(53:25) Project finance for permanence

(01:06:14) Western influence in philanthropy

(01:13:37) Credits

Today's guest is Jay Griffiths, award-winning author of several books, including the acclaimed Wild: An Elemental Journey. She speaks with co-host Rachel Donald about the importance of language for preserving communities and their cultures, the impact of colonization and globalization on Indigenous communities, and the innate human connection with the natural world in the land of one's birth. 

Roughly 4,000 of the world's 6,700 languages are spoken by Indigenous communities, but multiple factors (such as the decimation of human rights) continue to threaten their existence along with their speakers' cultures.

The guest also explores parallels between humans, nature and culture: "There's great research that suggests that we learned ethics from wolves [by taking] an attitude to the world of both me the individual, and of me the pack member," in caring for all members of the group, she says.

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

If you enjoy the Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

Image credit: Kali Biru (Blue River) on Waigeo Island in Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia. Photo credit: Rhett Ayers Butler

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Timecodes 

(00:00) Introduction

(01:45) The power of language

(09:03) Colonialism and globalization

(17:40) The trickster in myth to modern governance

(23:24) Reclaiming belonging

(20:27) Championing Indigenous voices

(34:45) Against mechanic modernity

(40:35) West Papua, a brief explainer

(46:22) Land and identity

(51:50) A world of climate refugees

Eoghan Daltun has spent the past 14 years restoring 75 acres of farmland in southwest Ireland to native forest, a wildly successful and inspirational effort that has welcomed back long-absent flora and fauna, which he details in his book, An Irish Atlantic Rainforest: A Personal Journey Into the Magic of Rewilding.

On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, host Rachel Donald speaks with Daltun about how easily he achieved this feat, its seemingly miraculous results, and the historical context behind the near-total ecological annihilation of Ireland, a country that today has only 11% forest cover. Daltun provides an honest but hopeful perspective on how humans can shift their relationship with nature and rekindle a powerful partnership with it. 

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

If you enjoy the Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

Image credit: Part of the guest's Irish Atlantic rainforest on the Beara Peninsula. Photo courtesy of Eoghan Daltun. 

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Timecodes:

(00:00) Introduction

(01:14) Eoghan's journey

(05:55) Getting out of the way

(10:42) Removing invasive species

(13:50) What lies underneath

(17:26) A connection with the land

(22:48) A brutal history

(29:22) Hope for the future

(35:48) Reflections on forests

(40:45) What is a temperate rainforest?

(54:25) Credits

On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, host Mike DiGirolamo takes you on a journey through the most biodiverse marine region in the world, Raja Ampat. 

He speaks with three guests about how ecotourism has provided stable incomes through conservation, including documentary filmmaker Wahyu Mul, veteran birding guide Benny Mambrasar and resort owner Max Ammer, whose biological research center trains and employs local people in a variety of skills.

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

If you enjoy the Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

Image credit: Cape Kri, Sorido Bay Resort, Raja Ampat Regency, by Rhett Butler for Mongabay.

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Timecodes

(00:00) Introduction

(02:20) The Role of Ecotourism in Raja Ampat

(03:01) Wahyu Mul

(10:03) The Raja Ampat Research and Conservation Centre

(15:00) Max Ammer 

(39:36) Into the Forest - Benny Mambrasar

(47:00) Threats of Development

(52:47) Credits

Objectivity is a pillar of journalism, but its definition and application are loosely defined and humanly impossible to achieve, experts say.

Podcast guest Emily Atkin argues that an uncritical adherence to objectivity (over trust) has led to gaslighting readers about the real-world causes and urgency of the climate crisis.

She quit her day job to launch the acclaimed newsletter "HEATED," which was spurred by a desire to report on the human causes of climate change and ecological destruction more directly. She discusses why with host Rachel Donald on this episode.

Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you get podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website, or download our free app for Apple and Android devices to gain instant access to our latest episodes and all our previous ones.

Image: An abstract AI-generated photo of a wildfire in the forest. Image from CharlVera via Pixabay. 

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Timecodes: 

(00:00) Introduction

(02:48) The Birth of Heated: A Climate Journalism Venture

(05:19) The Challenges of Mainstream Media

(14:17) The Role of Objectivity in Journalism

(32:34) The Role of a Journalist and Power Dynamics

(35:49) The Relationship Between Press and Government

(38:48) The Role of Independent Journalism

(47:33) Journalism Ethics

(50:41) The Roots of Objectivity

(01:00:35) Conclusion

Can 'degrowth' solve our economic, social, and ecological problems? Economist Timothée Parrique thinks so. On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, he joins co-host Rachel Donald to interrogate this 20+ year-old concept that critiques the notion of limitless growth in a finite world, and which offers tangible gains for people and planet.

The current economic model stretches the ecological limits of the planet – the Planetary Boundaries. Parrique says degrowth is a pathway for rich countries to scale back production and consumption – much of which contributes nothing to human well-being, research indicates – making room for low and middle-income nations to raise their standards of living, while allowing natural systems to continue supporting the ecosystem services humanity needs, like clean air and water.

Related reading:

'It's Not the End of the World' book assumptions & omissions spark debate

The nine boundaries humanity must respect to keep the planet habitable

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

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Image Caption: A bicycle lane in Fürth, Germany. Image by Markus Spiske via Unsplash. 

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Timecodes: 

(00:00:00) Introduction

(00:02:35) What is degrowth exactly?

(00:07:46) Is 'decoupling' the answer? 

(00:12:52) Will 'limitless growth' improve quality of life?

(00:18:23) Wasted GDP in the USA

(00:25:28) Pushing the 'GDP button'

(00:35:20) Implementing degrowth

(00:47:57) A degrowth future

(00:56:44) Rachel & Mike post-chat

(01:12:45) Rachel asks Mike to imagine a day in a post-growth world

(01:16:42) Credits

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 the End of the World: How We Can be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet," offers a pathway to solving the multiple environmental crises our world faces.

However, co-host Rachel Donald finds that key geopolitical challenges are left unaddressed by the book, leaving out important frameworks such as the planetary boundaries, and attempts to ride an "apolitical" line on solutions that inherently need policy shifts in order to be effectively implemented.

In this podcast interview, Donald challenges Ritchie on these questions and more. To hear specific topics discussed, refer to the chapter marks noted below.

Related reading at Mongabay:

The nine boundaries humanity must respect to keep the planet habitable

Mongabay Series: Planetary Boundaries

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Episode artwork by Pawel Czerwinski via Unsplash.

---

Timecodes: 

(00:00:00) - Introduction

(00:03:57) - Renewable Energy and Political Will

(00:07:06) - Realism of Tech Solutions 

(00:09:03) - Degrowth & Decoupling

(00:17:33) - Doomerism, Inequality & Politics

(00:28:45) - How does a transition happen? 

(00:36:51) - Hannah defends terminology used in the book

(00:44:58) - Deforestation

(00:53:11) - Our World In Data & Bias

(01:06:19) - Mike & Rachel post-chat 

(01:26:19) - Credits

     

In 2015, independent journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown and Sarawak Report uncovered the beginnings of what is now considered the world's biggest money-laundering scandal. The crime resulted in billions stolen from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund.

While former prime minister Najib Razak is now facing a 12-year prison sentence for his role in the crime, Rewcastle Brown herself has also faced legal actions against her, including an arrest warrant and an attempt to place her on Interpol's Red Notice list of wanted fugitives.

Mongabay podcast co-host Rachel Donald speaks with Rewcastle Brown, the founder of the Sarawak Report, about what led her to investigate this scandal, as well as environmental destruction in Borneo. 

Related reading:

Amid corruption scandal, Malaysia switches track on future of rail network

INTERPOL rejects Malaysia's request to place journalist on Red Notice list

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.   If you enjoy the Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps! See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage: news.mongabay.com or find and follow Mongabay on all the social media platforms.   Image Caption: Kelumpang Sarawak (Sterculia megistophylla) in Malaysian Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

Wildlife trafficking is a high-profile but complex topic that reporters struggle to tackle effectively. Three experts recently spoke with Mongabay about some of the thornier questions the media should consider when covering international wildlife crime.    Wildlife trafficking should be covered as a crime story, first and foremost, because that's what it is, as one podcast guest argues.   Simone Haysome, Dwi N. Adhiasto, and Bryan Christy joined host Mike DiGirolamo in a live discussion that originally aired in late 2022 to unpack these questions as part of Mongbay's ongoing webinar series for environmental journalists.    This conversation is useful to anyone interested in wildlife conservation issues, and refers to a CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) meeting that occurred in Panama City, Panama in November of 2022.   Watch more from our webinar series for journalists:

• Mongabay Webinars (Playlist)
• How to Cover the Illegal Wildlife Trade | Mongabay Webinars

  Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.   If you enjoy the Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps! See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage: news.mongabay.com or find and follow Mongabay on all the social media platforms.   Image Caption: Cameroon's gorillas and chimps have been hunted to feed a national and international illegal trade in skulls and other body parts. Photo by MCAMERFİLS licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

Mongabay newswire editor Shreya Dasgupta joins the Mongabay Newscast to detail her new three-part miniseries, Wild Frequencies, produced in collaboration with the Mongabay India bureau.

Dasgupta details her journey with Mongabay-India senior digital editor Kartik Chandramouli. They travel the country speaking with researchers, listening and studying to the sounds produced by bats, Asian elephants, sarus cranes, wolves and many other animals. The emerging field for which this study is named, bioacoustics, is helping researchers lay foundational knowledge crucial for conservation measures.

Listen to the miniseries on the 'Everything Environment' podcast or by clicking the links below:

Wild Frequencies: Find Them

Wild Frequencies: Know Them

Wild Frequencies: Us and Them

Like this podcast? Please share it with a friend and help spread the word about the Mongabay Newscast.

*Come celebrate Jane Goodall's 90th birthday, and Mongabay's 25th anniversary, during an event hosted by the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco (or virtually) by purchasing tickets at this link. To get $10 off, use promo code C1PARTNER. *

Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website, or download our free app for Apple and Android devices to gain instant access to our latest episodes and all of our previous ones.

Image Credit: An Indian flying fox (Pteropus giganteus). Image by sunnyjosef via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

Time Codes

---

(00:00) Enter: Bioacoustics

(02:51) What Is the New 'Newswire' Service at Mongabay?

(05:50) What is Wild Frequencies?

(08:45) Going a Little Batty

(17:59) The Complicated Lives of Sarus Cranes

(21:44) Animal 'Societies' We Don't Normally Hear In Cities

(30:07) Credits

The idea that nature is something outside of society hampers practical solutions to restoring it, says Laura Martin, associate professor of environmental studies at Williams College.

On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, co-host Rachel Donald speaks with Martin about the restoration vs. preservation debate, and why Martin says a focus on the former is the way to address the biodiversity crisis. Martin defines restoration as "an attempt to design nature with non-human collaborators," which she details in her book Wild by Design: The Rise of Ecological Restoration.

See related content:

Podcast: Is ecosystem restoration our last/best hope for a sustainable future?

Japanese butterfly conservation takes flight when integrated with human communities

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

If you enjoy the Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage: news.mongabay.com or find and follow Mongabay on all the social media platforms.

Image Caption: Project participants planting native species seedlings in the Itapu Restoration Trail, as part of Brazil's effort to help meet the world's ambitious restoration commitments made under the Bonn Challenge. The ongoing management of such projects requires long-term financing. Image by Raquel Maia Arvelos/CIFOR via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).

Conservationist Paul Rosolie co-leads a non-profit deep in the Madre de Dios region of the Peruvian Amazon. Conserving forests beyond where law enforcement is willing to travel can be dangerous work, but his team successfully recruits former loggers to use their forest knowledge to become conservation rangers: this provides alternative income streams for communities and has attracted millions of dollars in funding.

Today, this Indigenous-co-led nonprofit is responsible for protecting 55,000 acres of rainforest.

In this episode, Rosolie shares his recipe for conservation success and what he thinks other conservation organizations can focus on to boost their effectiveness.

Related reading:

Mother of God: meet the 26 year old Indiana Jones of the Amazon, Paul Rosolie

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

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Image Caption: Image of Paul Rosolie. Courtesy of Paul Rosolie.

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, industrialized nations pay into it, says Brandon Wu, director of policy and campaigns at ActionAid USA.

Frequent Mongabay contributor and journalist Rachel Donald joins the Mongabay Newscast as co-host to speak with Wu about why he says this global climate fund "requires almost nothing of developed countries."

Related reading:

COP27: Climate Loss & Damage talks now on agenda, but U.S. resistance feared

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

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Image Caption: The most recent negotiations from the UN Transitional Committee on the climate loss & damage fund completed the fifth and final round in Abu Dhabi. Image by Daniel Moqvist via Unsplash (Public domain).

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 Space Research (INPE). On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, CEO and editor-in-chief Rhett Butler tells us what the data show and what Mongabay will be looking for in the future.

Butler also details more exciting news, such as the 2023 Biophilia Award for Environmental Communication, given to Mongabay for its "outstanding track record" in communicating issues related to nature and biodiversity, and the launch of an all-new bilingual bureau in Africa.

Related Reading:

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon falls 22% in 2023

Mongabay wins prestigious 2023 Biophilia Award for Environmental Communication

Mongabay launches Africa news bureau

Meet the tech projects competing for a $10m prize to save rainforests

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

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Image Caption: Scarlet macaw in Brazil. Photo by Rhett Butler.

If current conditions line up just right, much of the Great Barrier Reef could soon suffer another catastrophic bleaching event, so how are conservationists reacting to threats like this in Australia?   "We could lose a huge part of the reef by February," says Newscast guest Dean Miller of the Forever Reef Project, so his team is racing to add the final coral specimens to its huge "biobank" of coral species before then, for use by researchers and conservationists.   Work like this was featured at the first international edition of the famed South by Southwest (SXSW) festival and conference (October 15-22, 2023 in Sydney), and Mongabay spoke with multiple people engaged with coral and kelp reforestation, plus sustainable agriculture.   On this edition of the Mongabay Newscast, guests also include John "Charlie" Veron from the Forever Reef Project, Mic Black from Rainstick, and Adriana Vergés from the Kelp Forest Alliance, detailing their projects and the challenges they're tackling.   Related Reading

Scientists strive to restore world's embattled kelp forests

Hope, but no free pass, as Pacific corals show tolerance to warming oceans

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Image Caption: Healthy coral in the Great Barrier Reef. Image by Jonas Gratzer for Mongabay.

Please share your thoughts and feedback! submissions@mongabay.com.

In a yearlong investigation from The New Humanitarian and Mongabay, spanning multiple countries, investigative reporters found the United Nations is not climate neutral as it claims to be.

The UN bases much of its claims on the use of carbon credits--which are already increasingly criticized by experts as having little impact on actually offsetting emissions. 

Reporters found that many projects that issue carbon credits to the U.N. were linked to environmental damage or displacement, and 2.7 million out of 6.6 million credits were linked to wind or hydropower — which experts say don't represent true emissions reductions.

Joining the podcast to explain these findings is investigative reporter Jacob Goldberg from The New Humanitarian.

Related reading:

Revealed: Why the UN is not climate neutral

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Episode artwork: More than half of the UN carbon offsets come from high-risk projects. Image by JuergenPM via Pixabay (Public domain).

Please share your thoughts and feedback! submissions@mongabay.com.

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 individuals. Today, they number around 350,000 thanks to the visionary preservation efforts of Indigenous communities, individual conservationists, and others.

Joining the Mongabay Newscast to discuss this hopeful conservation effort that enabled this comeback is acclaimed, award-winning filmmaker and American documentary filmmaker Ken Burns. His latest project examines the tragic history of the American buffalo and the devastation that their population collapse wrought upon Indigenous Americans. Mongabay staff-writer Liz Kimbrough speaks with him about his process, the role of native peoples in making the film, and what the team discovered by making it.

THE AMERICAN BUFFALO is set to premiere on U.S. public television, PBS, on Oct. 16 and 17.

Read Liz's feature and see the interview transcript here:

• Ken Burns discusses heartbreak & hope of 'The American Buffalo,' his new documentary

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Episode artwork: The American bison, once on the very edge of extinction, is making a major comeback, including in protected areas and on tribal lands. Photo courtesy of Kelly Stoner/WCS

Please share your thoughts and feedback! submissions@mongabay.com.

Human beings have a storied and complicated history with bears. The iconic mammals have long been an important symbol for thousands of years in cultures across the globe. Yet, almost all of the eight bear species left in the wild remain threatened.

Some iconic bear species, such as the giant panda, have benefitted from conservation gains, but other species continue to face urgent and increasing threats to their survival.

Award-winning environmental journalist Gloria Dickie joins the Mongabay Newscast to discuss the state of the world's eight remaining bear species which she documents in a compelling new book, "Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future."

Related reading:

'We will decide their future': Q&A with "pro-bear" environmental journalist Gloria Dickie

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Episode artwork: A portrait of a wild grizzly bear, a subspecies of brown bear (Ursus arctos). Photo by Jean Beaufort via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain (CC0). 

Please share your thoughts and feedback! submissions@mongabay.com.

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 anything, the number is probably quite a bit higher," says Ben Goldfarb, environmental journalist and author of the new book "Crossings: How Road Ecology is Shaping the Future of our Planet."

The world is projected to build 25 million more miles of roads by 2050, so wildlife ecologists and engineers are searching for ways to integrate the needs of wildlife into their design. Goldfarb's book offers a deep examination of some of the most fascinating, inspiring, but also tragic ways human societies develop infrastructure alongside nature.

He joins the Mongabay Newscast to explain the concept of 'road ecology' and how wildlife-friendly designs are becoming part of landscapes globally.

Related reading:

• Wildlife crossings built with tribal knowledge drastically reduce collisions
  
  
• For wildlife on Brazil's highways, roadkill is just the tip of the iceberg

Hear Goldfarb's previous visit with this podcast, where he discussed his award-winning book "Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter," by looking up episode #49 via your favorite podcast player or click play here:

• Podcast: Beavers matter more than you think

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Episode artwork: A bison crosses a road in British Columbia, Canada. Image courtesy of Ben Goldfarb.

Please share your thoughts and feedback! submissions@mongabay.com.

Traditional capitalism is not working for the planet or the public, and needs an overhaul, says Beth Thoren, environmental action and initiatives director at Patagonia. Where governments are failing to regulate, Thoren argues, corporations should be making the change anyway. "If we continue to live in a world where shareholder value is the only thing that is valued, we will burn up and die," she says.

She joins the Mongabay Newscast to detail Patagonia's business model—which gives its profit to environmental organizations—and shares how the company is making a push for other corporations to follow, while taking stands against boondoggles like the space race via their #NotMars campaign.

In founder and CEO Yvon Chouinard's words, Patagonia exists to "force government and corporations to take action in solving our environmental problems." These are words the company backs up with its environmental marketing campaigns, its business model, its films and books.

The company details its philosophy and the lessons learned from 50 years in business in the book, The Future of the Responsible Company, published this month.

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

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Image caption: Beth Thoren, Environment Director, Patagonia. London, U.K.Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. Photographer: Jason Alden for Patagonia

Please share your thoughts and feedback! submissions@mongabay.com.

Scientists described Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) over 10 years ago, a pathogen that causes the deadly disease chytridiomycosis which is currently devastating salamanders and frogs around the world, contributing to a global amphibian decline.

But thanks to a successful cross border (U.S., Mexico & Canada) effort to keep it out, it has yet to arrive in North America: the Bsal Task Force is made up of scientists from each nation using education, outreach, science and policy to keep the disease from reaching the continent.

Founding task force co-chair Deanna Olson of the U.S. Forest Service joins the podcast to discuss its successes, lessons learned that can help managers prevent other wildlife disease outbreaks, and the challenges that lie ahead.

To learn more about Bsal and the task force, please see Mongabay's six-part podcast series, published in 2020 on Mongabay Explores:

Podcast: International task force unites North America to protect salamander diversity

Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website under "Podcasts" or download our free app for Apple and Android devices to gain instant access to our latest episodes and all of our previous ones. Search "Mongabay Newscast."

Image: A fire salamander in Normandy, France. Image by William Warby viaCreative Commons license.

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Timecodes

(00:00) Introduction

(03:05) What is Bsal?

(05:57) The Bsal Task Force Assembles

(08:02) On the Hunt for a Silent Killer

(17:49) The Team Behind the Scene

(21:36) Lessons Learned and Broader Implications

(25:30) Community Involvement and Cultural Significance

(29:08) Policy Gaps and Biosecurity Challenges

(40:56) Scientific Innovations and Experimental Approaches

(48:14) Not "If" But "When"

(50:58) Credits

Ecuadorians have just approved a referendum to halt oil drilling in Yasuní National Park, one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet, which will prohibit further oil extraction. The "yes" vote effectively keeps its oil in the ground, so for the details we check in with staff writer Max Radwin who covered the news for Mongabay.

Related to that is a recent legal victory in Ecuador's Andean region, another massively biodiverse area – not only in that country but for the entire planet – so we're re-sharing a discussion with associate digital editor Romi Castagnino that aired after the winning decision for Indigenous and local communities, whose rights to prior consultation and the 'rights of nature' were both upheld.

You can read more about both stories and watch the video report mentioned by Romi at these links:

Ecuador referendum halts oil extraction in Yasuní National Park

Ecuador court upholds 'rights of nature,' blocks Intag Valley copper mine

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Image caption: Indigenous activist Nemonte Nenquimo stands alongside an oil spill near Shushufindi in the province of Sucumbíos, Ecuadorian Amazon, June 26th 2023. Image by Sophie Pinchetti / Amazon Frontlines.

Please share your thoughts and feedback! submissions@mongabay.com.

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 Amazon if you want to save it," he says on this episode.

With 30 years of experience living in the Amazon, his wealth of knowledge springs from having guided the first environmental impact study there, pioneering satellite mapping of deforestation with NASA, and traveling extensively throughout the region, so Killeen has unique insight into the drivers of – and solutions for – Amazon deforestation.

On this episode he shares key insights from the second edition of his book "A Perfect Storm in the Amazon Wilderness," plus what gives him hope, and his advice for up-and-coming conservationists.

Mongabay is releasing the book's new edition in short installments in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, find the first two chapters published so far, here:

1. The state of the Amazon: Chapter 1 of "A Perfect Storm"

2. Infrastructure defines the future: Chapter 2 of "A Perfect Storm in the Amazon"

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Image caption: Rainstorm in the Amazon. Pillcopata, Villa Carmen, Peru. Image by Rhett Butler.

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Conservation technology such as drones, remote sensing, and machine learning plays a critical role in supporting conservation scientists and aiding policymakers in making well-informed decisions for biodiversity protection. Recognizing this, the XPRIZE Foundation initiated a five-year competition with the goal of developing automated and accelerated methods for assessing rainforest biodiversity.

In this episode of the Newscast, Mongabay staff writer Abhishyant Kidangoor interviews Peter Houlihan, the executive vice president of biodiversity and conservation at the XPRIZE Foundation during the semi-finals in Singapore. The foundation recently revealed the six finalists that will compete next year. Houlihan discusses the importance of the collaborative nature of the competition, and why he believes it has become a movement.

Related reading: 

Competing for rainforest conservation: Q&A with XPRIZE's Kevin Marriott

Meet the tech projects competing for a $10m prize to save rainforests

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

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Image caption: An extendable arm attached to a drone was used to deploy the platform on top of the canopy. Team Waponi. Photo by Abhishyant Kidangoor.

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Field research stations are vital to rewilding and conservation efforts yet they're often absent from global environmental policy, a Nature paper argues.

Despite this lack of visibility and funding challenges, their impact is immensely beneficial in regions of the world such as Costa Rica: a nation that had one of the highest rates of deforestation in the 1980s and became the first nation to reverse tropical deforestation.

Joining the Mongabay Newscast to discuss the importance of field research stations --is wildlife ecologist and director of Osa Conservation, Andrew Whitworth.

Related reading: 

Harpy eagle's return to Costa Rica means rewilding's time has come (commentary)

Reforestation projects should include tree diversity targets, too (commentary)

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

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Image Caption: A field biologist with Osa Conservation releasing a king vulture that the team has just tagged with a solar-powered GSM unit. These are some of the first tagged king vultures in the world – a part of the conservation science focus of the research that will help to understand the health of the ecosystem of the Osa Peninsula and ultimately how healthy this system is for key apex species like king vultures. Photo by Luca Eberle for Osa Conservation

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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 Basin, a stronghold for great ape species, several challenges pose significant threats to their survival; national interests in exploiting natural resources, security issues in areas like the Albertine Rift, hunting activities, and the illegal wildlife trade all contribute to the severe predicament faced by these charismatic mammals.

In this episode of Mongabay Explores, Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Kirsty Graham, Terese Hart, and Sally Coxe shed light on threats to bonobos and mountain gorillas, provide insight from their years of experience working with them, and discuss the pivotal role played by great apes in safeguarding the Congo Basin rainforest.

Listen to the other episodes in this Congo Basin season of Mongabay Explores:

Mongabay Explores the Congo Basin: The 'heart of the world' is at a turning point

Congo Basin communities left out by 'fortress conservation' fight for a way back in

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Image Caption: Bonobos live in more peaceful societies than their two close relatives, chimpanzees and humans. Photo courtesy of Jutta Hof.

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Famed ethnobotanist and conservation advocate, Mark Plotkin, joins the Mongabay Newscast to discuss traditional ecological knowledge about the increasingly popular psychedelic and medicinal plants and fungi of the Amazon. He shares his thoughts on the value of this knowledge and how this cultural moment can be used to leverage conservation action.

Plotkin is no stranger to conservation, having co-founded the Amazon Conservation team in the 1990s. Their Indigenous-led and managed conservation model, while considered pioneering at the time, is becoming more recognized as the ideal today.

His own podcast discusses these issues and the great importance of Indigenous knowledge in great detail, listen to 'Plants of the Gods' here via the podcast provider of your choosing: https://markplotkin.com/podcast/

Read more about Mark Plotkin's work on Mongabay here: 

Ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin: Indigenous knowledge serves as a 'connective tissue' between nature and human well-being

Everything you need to know about the Amazon rainforest: an interview with Mark Plotkin

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Image Caption: Amanita muscaria is a mushroom that is both hallucinogenic and poisonous. Image posted by creator 942784 to the Creative Commons via Pixabay.

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"Drilled" is a true-crime podcast series from Critical Frequency and journalist, Amy Westervelt, examining the back-door dealings and environmental impacts of major fossil fuel projects. 

The latest season looks into what's happening between the South American nation of Guyana and oil giant Exxon Mobil. For this episode of the Mongabay Newscast we give you a look at the first episode of the 8th season of this critically acclaimed podcast series. You can listen to it here. Follow and subscribe to Drilled on the podcast provider of your choice.

We also encourage you to listen to our previous Newscast interview with Amy Westervelt here.

Related reading on Guyana from Mongabay:

Oil production or carbon neutrality? Why not both, Guyana says

Questions over accounting and inclusion mar Guyana's unprecedented carbon scheme

Guyana gets 'Drilled': Weighing South America's latest oil boom with Amy Westervelt

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

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Image Caption: Spangled cotinga in Guyana. Image by Mathias Appel via Flickr (CC0 1.0).

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"The planetary boundaries" is a concept that measures the point at which human impact on our Earth's natural systems goes beyond "safe operating grounds." Trespass that boundary, and we risk destabilizing other natural systems in a cascading effect.

A recent study getting a lot of press nowadays indicates that we've passed 7 out of 8 of these thresholds already — of particular interest beside climate change is that experts announced we crossed the land use change planetary boundary last year, in large part due to forest loss. Globally we've lost 50% of our forest cover since the dawn of agriculture 12,000 years ago.

However, experts have outlined 5 solutions that societies can implement toward staying within this important planetary boundary. Listen to the popular article from Liz Kimbrough: We've crossed the land use change planetary boundary, but solutions await

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Image caption: A fire in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, just one region where fires are burned throughout Russia in 2020. Image by Greenpeace International.

Please send feedback to submissions@mongabay.com, and thank you for listening

Since the colonization of the Congo Basin by Europeans, many Indigenous communities have been denied land they once relied on in the name of conservation under a contentious conservation model.

The central concept of "fortress conservation" remains popular with some Central African governments, however experts say it is based on a false premise of a "pristine wilderness" devoid of humans. However, Indigenous leaders and conservation experts say it's time for a change. One that includes Indigenous communities and puts them in the drives seat of conservation initiatives.

On this episode of Mongabay Explores the Congo Basin, Cameroonian lawyer and Goldman Prize winner Samuel Nguiffo, Congolese academic Vedaste Cituli, and Mongabay features writer Ashoka Mukpo detail the troubling history of fortress conservation in Central Africa, its impact, and ways to address the problems it has created.

For more Congo exploration coming soon, find & follow/subscribe to Mongabay Explores via the podcast provider of your choice, or locate all episodes of the Mongabay Explores podcast on our podcast homepage here.

Please also enjoy the first three seasons of Explores, where we dove into the huge biodiversity and conservation challenges in Sumatra, New Guinea, and more. 

Episode Artwork: Kahuzi-Biega National Park rangers standing in formation in the park in October 2016, by Thomas Nicolon for Mongabay.

Sounds heard during the intro and outro: The call of a putty-nosed monkey (Cercopithecus nictitans). This soundscape was recorded in Ivindo National Park in Gabon by Zuzana Burivalova, Walter Mbamy, Tatiana Satchivi, and Serge Ekazama.

Please invite your friends to subscribe to Mongabay Explores wherever they get podcasts.  If you enjoy our podcast content, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps! 

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage: news.mongabay.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok by searching for Mongabay.

Australia suffered catastrophic bushfires in 2019 - 2020, followed by intense rain and flooding from an ensuing La Niña which experts say may be linked to those bushfires. Despite the pleas of scientists to halt development, some governments, such as in the Northern Territories, continue to greenlight massive fossil fuel infrastructure projects.

All of this is 'demoralizing' says award-winning podcast host of 'A Rational Fear,' Dan Ilic. He joins the Mongabay Newscast to discuss climate change policy in Australia, recent victories from Indigenous communities, and how comedy provides coverage and catharsis for citizens concerned about the climate crisis. Ilic, who previously made headlines for comedic billboards satirizing Australia's lack of action on climate policy, speaks with host Mike DiGirolamo in person in Sydney.

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

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Related Reading:

• Australia bushfires may have caused global climate phenomenon La Niña: Study
• Indigenous leader's court win halts one of Australia's 'dirtiest gas projects'

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Image Caption: A mother koala and her joey who survived the forest fires in Mallacoota. Australia, 2020. Photo by Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals

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U.S. states such as Vermont and Massachusetts are cutting thousands of acres of forest for solar power projects, despite the fact that this harms biodiversity and degrades ecosystems' carbon sequestration capacity.

Journalist and author Judith Schwartz joins the Mongabay Newscast to speak with co-host Mike DiGirolamo about the seeming irony of cutting forests for renewable energy, and why she says states like hers are 'missing the plot' on climate action: she lives near a forest in southwestern Vermont where a company has proposed an 85-acre project that would export its electricity 100 miles south, to customers in Connecticut.

A recent report found that such deforestation in nearby Massachusetts is unnecessary to meet that state's clean energy commitments, and would be better achieved by using already developed land like rooftops and parking lots, instead of farms or forests.

Yet the acreage lost to solar energy projects in Massachusetts since 2010 has already released the equivalent of the annual emissions of more than 100,000 cars.

Read Judith Schwartz's commentary for Mongabay about this situation here.

*Come celebrate Jane Goodall's 90th birthday and Mongabay's 25th anniversary during an event hosted by the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco (or virtually) by purchasing tickets at this link. To get $10 off, use promo code C1PARTNER. *

Listen to the entire conversation on the Mongabay Newscast wherever you get your podcasts from.

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Please send your ideas and feedback to submissions@mongabay.com.

Image: An array of ground mounted solar panels. Image by Derek Sutton via Unsplash

---

Timecodes

(00:00) Introduction

(03:09) The Irony of Clearing Forests for Renewable Energy

(10:19) AI and Data Centers Increasingly Demand More Energy

(16:24) Forests and Heat Mitigation

(25:46) Community Awareness and Action

(35:10) Credits

Scientists have discovered a series of hydrothermal vents in the Mid-Atlantic ridge spanning hundreds of miles and teeming with life adapted to scorching plumes of hot water like shrimp, crabs, mussels, anemones, fish, gastropods, and more.

This discovery, 40 years in the making, adds another layer of consideration to where deep sea mining can occur, which experts argue should not happen in these diverse underwater ecosystems, in part because they store vast amounts of marine genetic resources, besides their biodiversity.

Listen to the new report from Elizabeth Claire Alberts: Seafloor life abounds around hydrothermal vents hot enough to melt lead.

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts from, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to gain instant access to our latest episodes and past ones.

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Image caption: A squat lobster perches atop a bubblegum coral in the deep sea. Image by Schmidt Ocean Institute (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

Please send feedback to submissions@mongabay.com, and thank you for listening

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 Republic of the Congo (DRC), which contains 60% of central Africa's forest, but which also aims to open up protected areas and forested peatlands to oil and gas development. 

This is big because the Congo Basin contains the world's second-largest rainforest, a staggering 178 million hectares, containing myriad wildlife and giant trees plus numerous human communities: it is also one of the world's biggest carbon sinks. 

We speak with Adams Cassinga, a DRC resident and founder of Conserv Congo, and Joe Eisen, executive director of Rainforest Foundation UK, about the environmental and conservation challenges and opportunities faced by the DRC & the Congo Basin in general. 

For more Congo exploration coming on episode 2, find & follow/subscribe to Mongabay Explores via the podcast provider of your choice, or locate all episodes of the Mongabay Explores podcast on our podcast homepage here.

Until episode 2 airs, please also enjoy the first three seasons of Explores, where we dove into the huge biodiversity and conservation challenges in Sumatra, New Guinea, and more. 

Episode Artwork: A female putty-nosed monkey. Image by C. Kolopp / WCS.

Sounds heard during the intro and outro: The call of a putty-nosed monkey (Cercopithecus nictitans). This soundscape was recorded in Ivindo National Park in Gabon by Zuzana Burivalova, Walter Mbamy, Tatiana Satchivi, and Serge Ekazama.

Please invite your friends to subscribe to Mongabay Explores wherever they get podcasts.  If you enjoy our podcast content, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps! 

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage: news.mongabay.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok by searching for Mongabay.

Feedback is always welcome: submissions@mongabay.com.

The South American nation of Guyana, whose economy has traditionally relied on tourism, agriculture, and fishing, has begun doing business with oil giant ExxonMobil to build a massive offshore oil drilling project along its coast. 

The president has argued that the profits could pay for the nation's clean energy transition, while others argue that the nation's traditional economic models, biodiversity, and coastal population are at risk of severe environmental impacts from the project. 

Award-winning journalist and podcast producer Amy Westervelt joins the Mongabay Newscast to share details of the situation, which is the focus of the 8th season of her acclaimed podcast series Drilled, and she opines about the power of podcasting and the current state of the global effort to tackle climate change:

• "What a total failure of international climate negotiations that Global South countries [are] in this position of having to use oil money to pay for climate adaptation. That's ridiculous," Westervelt says.

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

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Related Reading:

• Oil production or carbon neutrality? Why not both, Guyana says
• Guyana's future and challenges in oil: Q&A with filmmaker Shane Thomas McMillan
• Guyana seeks offshore oil wealth in a green economy

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Please share your thoughts and feedback! submissions@mongabay.com.

Image: Series artwork for "Drilled" Season 8 by Matt Fleming. 

Recent breeding success at a nature reserve in South Africa has given conservationists hope for the survival of Africa's only resident penguin species, whose population has dropped by nearly 65% since 1989.

Researchers are having success boosting breeding colonies near abundant food sources with the help of simple interventions like building nest boxes that mimic their guano burrows which keep the birds cool and safe in a world whose climate is becoming hotter and less predictable.

Listen to the popular article from Ryan Truscott here:

Breeding success raises hopes for future of endangered African penguin

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Image caption: African penguin. Image by Alberto Ziveri via Flickr (BY-SA 2.0)

Please send feedback to submissions@mongabay.com, and thank you for listening.