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 M...
Feb 20, 2024•55 min•Ep. 193
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 m...
Feb 13, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 192
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...
Jan 30, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 191
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...
Jan 16, 2024•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 190
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’...
Jan 09, 2024•49 min•Ep. 189
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 origin...
Dec 19, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 188
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 s...
Dec 12, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 187
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 acre...
Dec 05, 2023•43 min•Ep. 186
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 & Damag...
Nov 28, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 185
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 communi...
Nov 21, 2023•32 min•Ep. 184
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 th...
Oct 24, 2023•41 min•Ep. 183
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 mill...
Oct 10, 2023•43 min•Ep. 182
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 ...
Oct 03, 2023•35 min•Ep. 181
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 New...
Sep 27, 2023•44 min•Ep. 180
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 w...
Sep 19, 2023•47 min•Ep. 179
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 ...
Sep 05, 2023•32 min•Ep. 178
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'...
Aug 22, 2023•20 min•Ep. 177
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 driv...
Aug 08, 2023•47 min•Ep. 176
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...
Jul 25, 2023•26 min•Ep. 175
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...
Jul 11, 2023•34 min•Ep. 174
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 episo...
Jul 04, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 173
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 mod...
Jun 20, 2023•35 min•Ep. 172
" 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 t...
Jun 13, 2023•30 min•Ep. 171
"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...
Jun 06, 2023•18 min•Ep. 170
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 Indigenou...
May 30, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 170
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 chang...
May 23, 2023•40 min•Ep. 169
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, ...
May 17, 2023•6 min•Ep. 168
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 huma...
May 02, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 168
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-winn...
Apr 18, 2023•43 min•Ep. 167
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...
Apr 11, 2023•9 min•Ep. 166
