Cambodia approves, then suspends, marble mine in Keo Seima REDD+ project

A path is cut deep into the core zone of Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia's Mondulkiri province following the government's approval of a new mining license in the protected forest. Photo by Gerald Flynn/Mongabay.MONDULKIRI, Cambodia — In a rare win for conservationists and Cambodia’s Indigenous communities, the Ministry of Environment has opted to suspend a planned marble mining operation within a wildlife sanctuary along the border with Vietnam. A letter dated June 27 from then-environment minister Say Samal ordered that the mining exploration operation be suspended before it […]

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Off Mexico’s coast, world’s largest limpet is slipping into extinction

The world’s largest limpet, Scutellastra mexicana, is making its last stand on a group of islands off Mexico, with experts warning that it may slip into extinction without urgent conservation action. Researchers counted the limpets, a species of sea snail, around Mexico’s María Madre Island, a prison until 2019. They found only around 2,300 individuals, at […]

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‘Comical’ bat not seen in 40 years is found again in a Rwandan park

“When we caught it, we all just looked at it and said, ‘You look ridiculous. Look how big your nose leaf is,’” Jon Flanders, director of endangered species interventions at Bat Conservation International, told Mongabay. The odd-looking creature in their net was a Hill’s horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hilli)—the first seen since 1981. “We feared the […]

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Threatened wetlands in Paraguay’s Lake Ypacaraí raise legal questions

Urban development projects surrounding a protected lake in Paraguay are threatening the recovery of local ecosystems and raising questions about the government’s ability to circumvent conservation mandates. Wetlands around Lake Ypacaraí are being filled in to allow for the construction of housing and tourism projects despite a series of environmental recovery measures that prohibit development […]

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Afro-Colombian community safeguards pristine oceans with new protected area

An Afro-Colombian community on the southwest coast of Colombia has helped establish a new marine protected area that will create more sustainable fishing and hunting practices while ensuring that one of the country’s most undisturbed ecosystems withstands outside threats of deforestation and pollution long into the future. The Isla Ají marine protected area, which covers […]

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A shot to the gut: American eagles poisoned by lead from bullets

Eagles, regarded by some as a symbol for American freedom, are being poisoned by lead from ammunition. Scientists sampled the blood from 1,210 living and dead bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) across 38 U.S. states over eight years. Nearly half of all the sampled birds showed evidence of repeated lead exposure, according to […]

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Full steam ahead for Tren Maya project as lawsuits hit judicial hurdles

In late 2021, the Mexican government made a controversial announcement that many of the country’s major infrastructure projects, most notably the Tren Maya project being built across the Yucatán Peninsula, were now a matter of “national security.” Among other things, the announcement meant that the nearly 200 billion peso ($9.6 billion) railway project could bypass […]

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