The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has been accused of harassing co-petitioners in a case challenging the relocation of the Nairobi Animal Orphanage to make it part of the larger Bomas International Conference Complex. The proposal would carve out between 76 and 89 acres inside Nairobi National Park for upgrades to wildlife rescue and rehabilitation facilities. Conservationists are concerned that the facility, which will include parking for 1,300 vehicles, poses threats to a protected indigenous forest and habitat for the critically endangered black rhino. On July 16, the Environment and Land Court in Nairobi ordered its deputy registrar Vincent Kiplagat to visit the park in the presence of all parties to prepare and file a report about the proposed facility. The Nairobi-based NGO Save the Nairobi National Park (SaveNNP) said it was denied court-ordered access to the site. In a statement sent to Mongabay, SaveNNP condemned “threats and intimidation” by KWS personnel. In the same statement, SaveNNP and JustAct, another Nairobi-based NGO, accused the KWS of planning to “control the narrative and ensure the voice of Kenyans was not heard by the courts or the media while on site.” Similar claims were made by Friends of Nairobi National Park. Mongabay asked KWS spokesperson Duncan Wanyama for a comment and was referred to a local media report in which Wanyama said the visitors were not obstructed and that rangers were just enforcing standard protocols within the park. The activists said they were later allowed in, but “only once the court officers, KWS…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Sea salt sold in markets across Lombok Island, Indonesia, is contaminated with microplastics, according to a recent study. Microplastics are small plastic particles less than 5 millimeters in length that form when larger plastic waste breaks down. Microplastics have been found everywhere scientists have looked for them, including seafood and table salt, raising concerns for public health.  Much of the plastic waste generated on land ends up in the ocean where it can break down into microplastics. Because sea salt is created by evaporating salt water, it is particularly vulnerable to microplastic contamination when the source water contains suspended microplastics. Scientists estimate that there are millions of tons of plastic pollution in the ocean, by far the largest form of marine pollution.  The research team lead by Anna Ida Sunaryo Purwiyanto collected 20 salt samples from vendors at 10 markets across Lombok Island. They extracted potential microplastic particles from the samples and identified the particles using a stereo microscope. Every salt sample contained microplastics, “indicating widespread contamination across the surveyed markets,” the study notes. The researchers found some variation in microplastic contamination levels in different markets and in crystal versus fine sea salt. However, the results consistently showed that the source material for the salt, the ocean surrounding Lombok Island, is contaminated with microplastics. The researchers note that crystal sea salt had higher levels of microplastics than fine salt, likely because fine salt is washed and filtered, which removes some microplastic particles. They conclude that additional washing and filtering of salt…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Wildfires have burned thousands of hectares of forest and savanna in the Chacobo-Pacahuara Indigenous territory in the Beni department of northern Bolivia, according to satellite imagery and on-the-ground sources. The fires likely resulted from illegal burns in pastures surrounding the Indigenous territory. The fires hit Chacobo-Pacahuara in September and October 2025, the third consecutive year of unusually high fire activity in the Indigenous land, according to the most recent data released by Global Forest Watch, a platform that uses satellite data to track forest loss worldwide. The flames consumed Indigenous subsistence crops and homes. Locals also expressed worry for the safety of isolated Indigenous communities.  “We have Indigenous relatives who live in voluntary isolation, and we do not know what has happened to them because the forest and the forest islands where they lived burned,” Constantino Toledo Ortiz, a leader of the Chácobo people, told Mongabay in a voice message. “We think they may have crossed into Brazil.” According to a bulletin published by the Center for Legal Studies and Social Research (CEJIS), 1,141 heat hotspots, typically caused by fire, were recorded in the territory between Jan. 1 and Sept. 12, 2025. CEJIS recorded an additional 845 heat hotspots between Sept. 29 and Oct. 16, 2025. The sharp increase is in line with the Bolivian Amazon’s typical fire season, which usually peaks around August and September when the climate is at its driest. Chacobo-Pacahuara was the most affected Indigenous territory in the Bolivian Amazon in 2025. Map by Andrés Alegría/Mongabay. In 2024,…This article was originally published on Mongabay