africa
Mongabay launches Africa news bureau
In 2023, Mongabay is officially expanding its coverage of environmental and conservation news in Africa by launching a news bureau dedicated to producing our renowned and award-winning brand of journalism in both French and English. The new bureau, Mongabay Africa, will create original reporting on issues relevant to the conservation of Africa’s wildlife and their […]
Can carbon markets solve Africa’s climate finance woes?
At the COP28 climate summit set to be held in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates later this month, carbon markets are sure to be high on the agenda. And some African leaders are hoping to capitalize. The Africa Carbon Markets Initiative (ACMI), a consortium of Global North donors, corporate representatives, conservation groups, and energy lobbyists, […]
Gorilla permit fraud dents community-led conservation efforts in Uganda
Tourists from around the world pay top dollar for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to hobnob with gorilla families in Uganda’s montane forests. Part of the rationale for the steep prices is that gorilla permits fund efforts to keep these majestic apes safe. However, allegations of fraud in issuing of gorilla and chimpanzee permits at the Uganda […]
Kenya’s Lake Victoria floods leave orphaned children to run their households
On a fateful day in 2019 that is etched into the memories of local residents, the tranquility along Kenya’s Lake Victoria shores was shattered by an overwhelming surge of water. The unsuspecting communities were caught off guard, forced to flee for their lives, desperately grasping onto whatever belongings they could salvage. In the chaos and […]
World Bank accused of supporting evictions, rights abuses at Tanzanian park
Farmers and herders in southern Tanzania say rangers at Ruaha National Park have committed extrajudicial killings and livestock theft in a bid to drive them off their land to make way for tourists. The allegations form the basis of a complaint submitted to the Inspection Panel of the World Bank, which is providing financial support […]
Cut down once again: Uncontrolled logging puts new Sahel reforestation projects at risk
This report was produced with the support of the Rainforest Journalism Fund in partnership with the Pulitzer Center. MOKOLO, Cameroon — The sun is already beating down this morning, a Saturday in July, at Mansour-Sabongari village. Young locals sit chatting in the shade of a forest plantation developed by the Reforestation 1400 project. The project […]
World owes it to Tanzania to keep Eastern Arc forests standing, study shows
Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains, home to nearly 5,000 different plant species and dozens of amphibians unique to each isolated massif, provide the world with ecosystem services worth more than $8 billion, a group of international scientists says. But the challenge lies in translating more of the value of intact forest landscape there into benefits for […]
Bolloré blacklisted over alleged rights violations on plantations in Africa and Asia
Some of Switzerland’s largest pension funds have placed French logistics giant Bolloré SE on a blacklist. The Swiss Association for Responsible Investments (SVVK-ASIR) decided its members should no longer invest in Bolloré after it failed to act to resolve accusations of land-grabbing, environmental damage and complicity in human rights violations on oil palm and rubber […]
Coastal deforestation fuels more frequent storms in West Africa, study warns
In 2017, catastrophic flooding in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, left at least 1,000 people dead and many more homeless. In a matter of minutes, mudslides wiped out homes and destroyed lives. Now, new research links the emergence of such deluges to disappearing green cover in southern West Africa. Compared to 30 years ago, storms are […]
‘I feel obligated to protect them’: A lifelong love affair with Guinea-Bissau’s turtles
POILÃO ISLAND, Guinea-Bissau — Castro Barbosa’s eyes still light up when he recalls the first time he saw a sea turtle, in 1993. He was on a visit to Guinea-Bissau’s Bijagós archipelago; the turtles made such a strong impression on him that he has devoted his career since then to their protection. “They were so […]