GUWAHATI, India (AP) — Flooding in India’s northeastern Assam state has killed at least 50 people and displaced 700,000 after days of heavy monsoon rain that overflowed the Brahmaputra River, officials said Friday. The river, one of Asia’s largest that originates in China’s Tibet region and flows about 900 kilometers (560 miles) through Assam, flooded villages, swept away homes and forced nearly 300,000 people into government-run relief camps, officials said. Authorities provided food and relief supplies to flood victims including airdrops from helicopters, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. Nearly 900 villages were submerged and more than 7,000 homes were without electricity, he said. Police, disaster response teams and local volunteers were working to rescue stranded residents and deliver essential supplies to flood-hit communities, officials said. Jatin Gogoi, a 52-year-old farmer from Nazira, said the rising waters swept away his bamboo-walled home and destroyed his livelihood. “I lost all my cattle. My five-member family and I have nowhere to go, so we are taking shelter in a relative’s home,” he said over the phone. Flooding on Thursday evening disrupted parts of Guwahati, Assam’s capital with about 2 million residents, as submerged roads left commuters stranded for hours. “I had to stay overnight at my office. The roads were filled with water, some waist deep,” said Sudip Mazumdar, a journalist in Guwahati. Experts say human-caused climate change is intensifying South Asia’s monsoons, which traditionally run from June to September and again from October to December. The rains, once predictable, now arrive in…This article was originally published on Mongabay

More than 40 years after sediment from a volcanic eruption filled up a stretch of the North Fork Toutle River in the U.S. state of Washington, beavers are turning the smothered waterway into a thriving wetland. However, a planned infrastructure project now threatens to undo five years of restoration progress, reports contributor Isabel Gil for Mongabay. Following the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, Mark and Dawn Smith, owners of the Eco Park Resort, watched as volcanic sediment accumulated over native vegetation and wildlife along the river. The degradation was exacerbated when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1989 built a sediment retention structure (SRS) to hold back sediment to protect shipping routes and downstream communities from flooding. The structure trapped volcanic material, creating a massive sediment plain on the Smiths’ property. In 2021, the Smith family began collaborating with natural resource experts from the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, the Cascade Tribe, and conservation groups to reintroduce beavers (Castor canadensis) to the area. Emily Fairfax, an assistant professor of geography at the University of Minnesota, told Mongabay that 58 beavers have been relocated to the resort in the last five years. Many of them were at risk of being euthanized after coming into conflict with humans in other areas. The relocated beavers have established a complex network of dams and what Smith described as “honeycomb” canals, deepening ponds and allowing native willows and alders to take root. Smith said he’s seen ducks and elk return to his property. Moreover, the…This article was originally published on Mongabay

PARIS (AP) — About 20,000 people were evacuated from towns and vacation resorts along the French Atlantic coast Thursday as the latest in a series of wildfires raged and hundreds of firefighters were dispatched to tackle it. Local authorities said the fire in a forest near the town of Lège-Cap Ferret, southwest of Bordeaux, spread over more than 31 square kilometers (12 square miles), though no injuries have been reported. The prefect, or head of the surrounding Gironde region, Sophie Brocas, said some 700 firefighters have been deployed, including forces sent from the Paris region. The fire came within 300 meters (980 feet) of the first homes in Lège, and water bombers were being used. Later in the day, the prefect’s office said the wildfire had not yet been brought under control but remained contained to the north of Lège. More than 10,000 people, including tourists staying at holiday camps and campgrounds, were moved to safety overnight, along with more than 1,000 residents living in residential areas along the forest edge. Authorities later evacuated the village of Claouey, including residents staying at several campsites, as a precautionary measure. Brocas said the evacuation involved 8,800 people. Several municipalities have opened reception and respite centers for evacuees, the prefecture said. Southern Europe has seen multiple large fires this summer. Scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, making the region more vulnerable to wildfires. Following a succession of heat waves that started even before the summer, wildfires…This article was originally published on Mongabay

A beekeeping initiative is enabling women in India’s Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot that runs parallel to India’s west coast, to strengthen their livelihoods with more reliable honey harvests. The 50 women are part of the Women for Bees project, launched in India in April 2025 by UNESCO in partnership with local nonprofit the Keystone Foundation. The project provides training and equipment to women from the Irula, Kurumba and Kattunayaka Indigenous communities across the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, reports Mongabay-India’s Arathi Menon. Traditionally, many of these communities were skilled wild honey hunters, a practice that is often risky and increasingly restricted by forest protection laws. Managed beekeeping, using hive boxes, offers a safer, more predictable alternative. The women are trained to rear the native Asian honey bee (Apis cerana indica), which is more resistant to local diseases and parasites than the commercially dominant European honey bee (Apis mellifera). A 2023 study comparing the two species suggests that, while the life cycles are generally similar, A. cerana colonies are better able to defend themselves against threats, diseases and disruptions. The economic impact of the honey harvests from the hive boxes has been immediate, providing many participants with their first taste of financial independence. Neelavathi, an Irula woman from Tamil Nadu state, has used her earnings to support her family and purchase household goods. “Since I am the beekeeper at home, my family lets me keep the income for my own needs,” she told Mongabay-India. Malavika Jayakrishnan, who leads…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Tree rings from the Amazon show that the world’s largest rainforest has developed wetter wet seasons and drier dry seasons over the past four decades. The findings point to intense seasonal swings that can cause significant harm to biodiversity and suggest that widespread drying out across the entire Amazon basin is unlikely.  Researchers collected tree cores from two species of floodplain trees; one species only grows in the wet season and another that only grows in dry conditions. They analyzed oxygen isotopes and the chronology of chemical marks left along the annual growth rings from each tree. They found that wet-season rainfall increased by 15-22% since 1980, while dry-season rainfall declined by 5.8-13.5%. “For a long time, there has been talk that it will dry up, and climate models created in the 1990s and early 2000s did indeed show that the Amazon was following that path,” study lead author Bruno Cintra, a biologist at the University of Birmingham, said, reported Mongabay contributor Luís Patriani. “But when we observe how the climate has developed over the last 40 or 50 years, what we see is that there is no clear pattern indicating that the biome as a whole is drying up.” The biome isn’t drying up entirely, because changes in weather patterns are not impacting all regions across the massive forest in the same way. The northern portion of the rainforest is receiving more rain during the wet season, while the southern Amazon region is facing longer and drier dry seasons.…This article was originally published on Mongabay

The ongoing war in Iran, which began following a joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Feb. 28, has intensified the long-standing isolation of the country’s wildlife conservation community, Mongabay’s John Cannon reports. While the current war has directly hindered research and damaged educational facilities, conservationists and researchers said that decades of international sanctions and political disconnect had already crippled Iranian conservation efforts long before the first bombs fell this year. “Iran’s nature, Iranian conservationists and Iranian researchers have been isolated for a long time,” Iman Ebrahimi, deputy director of the Isfahan-based NGO AvayeBoom Bird Conservation Society, told Mongabay. “The war has made that isolation more visible, but it did not create it.” This isolation has restricted access to global funding, professional collaboration, and basic research tools such as reliable internet, academic journals and robust banking channels. AvayeBoom continues to monitor the conflict’s effect on critical habitats. During a brief ceasefire in April, the team documented at least 5,000 greater flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) at Maharloo Lake, a salt lake that was full of water at the time. Ebrahimi said industries and agricultural activities were possibly drawing less water from the lake. The nonprofit also works with local communities around the Arjan wetland to protect bird species like the ruddy shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea). The wetland is part of the UNESCO-listed Arjan and Parishan Biosphere Reserve, in southwestern Iran, home to thousands of species, but also illegal bird hunting. Ebrahimi expressed concern about researchers who are forced to leave the country due to a lack…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Heavy smoke from several large wildfires blazing in Canada and Minnesota is expected to engulf large swaths of the Midwest and Northeast U.S. this week, exposing millions of people to dangerous air pollution. Minnesota officials issued an air quality alert from Tuesday through Friday for areas including the Twin Cities metro area, Alexandria and Two Harbors, with very heavy smoke expected across the state’s northeastern corner as large wildfires spread. Air quality levels in Two Harbors, the Tribal Nation of Grand Portage and other regions in northeast Minnesota were expected to reach hazardous levels, making it unsafe for everyone. Dan Westervelt, associate professor at Columbia University’s Climate School, said severe drought conditions combined with heat in Canada and the U.S. have created “a perfect storm for really dry conditions to provide a lot of fuel for these wildfires to burn.” Research shows warming temperatures from burning coal, oil and gas are making fires more frequent and intense. People should stay indoors as much as possible to avoid the extreme heat, especially as smoke moves in, said Tyler Hasenstein, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Chanhassen, Minnesota. “Those two things coinciding with each other is not good from a health perspective,” he said. Officials in Michigan and Wisconsin warned residents Tuesday about air quality issues that could last for days. High levels of fine particulate matter in the air from wildfire smoke may be unhealthy for sensitive groups, such as children and people with heart or lung conditions. In parts of Maine, residents were reporting a…This article was originally published on Mongabay

In the West African nation of Benin, Vodun, an ancient spiritual religion rooted in a deep connection between humans and nature, has become a primary tool for protecting the country’s disappearing mangroves. By invoking the authority of the Zangbéto deity, local communities and conservationists create spiritual sanctuaries that forbid the destruction of mangroves under threat of divine punishment, reports Mongabay Africa’s Jahëna Louisin. Mangroves are vital carbon sinks, capable of capturing up to four times as much carbon as terrestrial forests. Benin’s mangroves are under extreme pressure from logging, salt production, intensive agriculture and urbanization. Between 1995 and 2015, mangrove cover in the country decreased by 29%, according to a study published in 2025. To combat this loss, the NGO Eco-Bénin partners with Vodun dignitaries to designate specific areas as sacred. In the last decade, this collaboration has preserved about 500 hectares (more than 1,235 acres) of mangroves. The process involves seeking permission from the spirits through a Fâ priest, a mediator who uses a traditional spiritual language to communicate with the divine. In the video, Isidore Jinou, a 57-year-old advertising director and the son of a fisherman, emphasizes the importance of this spiritual oversight for the Mono River region in the southwestern corner of Benin. This region is home to Bouche du Roy, an estuary and one of the richest mangrove ecosystems on the Beninese coastline. “All our resources, all our wealth comes from the water,” Jinou, who was initiated into the Vodun religion 14 years ago, tells Mongabay.…This article was originally published on Mongabay

President Donald Trump is sharply reducing the size of two national monuments in Utah. The move to shrink Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments by about 90% unravels protections established by former presidents for areas with unique archaeological and historical features. It comes as Republicans under Trump have sought to drastically reshape the management of vast taxpayer-owned lands concentrated in Western states. Republicans have moved to expand oil and gas drilling, ramp up logging and remove habitat protections for imperiled species. The altered monuments had been designated under the Antiquities Act, a 1906 law meant to preserve important sites. Democrats and conservationists warn of the disposal of treasured landscapes for commercial gain. By Matthew Brown and Savannah Peters, Associated Press   Banner image: A hiker watches a waterfall at Lower Calf Creek Falls at Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, July 12, 2023, in Escalante, Utah. Image by Ross D. Franklin via Associated Press. This article was originally published on Mongabay

Happy World Chimpanzee Day. On July 14, as the world celebrates one of humans’ closest living relatives, here’s a roundup of recent Mongabay stories about chimpanzees and their world: Chimps at war in Kibale National Park Chimpanzees, like humans, sometimes fight wars with each other.  Mongabay contributor Keith Anthony Fabro reported on a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) “civil war” in Uganda’s Kibale National Park where a chimpanzee community split into rival factions and attacked former allies.  Before the split, the Ngogo community was unusually large, with 150 to 200 individuals making it one of the largest chimp groups ever recorded in the wild. The community then divided into two factions, which researchers call the Central and Western groups — named after the areas of forest they occupied. Between 2018 and 2024, the Western group carried out 24 attacks on the Central group, killing at least seven adult males and 17 infants. The conflict is still unfolding and may have lasting consequences for the population. The findings of a study show how shifting social ties can fracture animal societies and trigger collective violence. What do chimpanzees and Ringo Starr have in common? Drumming and singing at the same time is impressive, whether you’re Karen Carpenter, Ringo Starr or a chimpanzee. Mongabay’s Liz Kimbrough reported on Ayumu, a 26-year-old male chimpanzee at Kyoto University’s Institute for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior (EHUB). Ayumu has been spontaneously tearing floorboards from a walkway, fashioning them into instruments and performing extended drumming displays while also vocalizing.…This article was originally published on Mongabay

EAST ACEH, Indonesia — A court in Indonesia has sentenced a man in Aceh to three years in prison after investigators stopped him while driving a truck transporting dozens of live animals, among them a live Sumatran orangutan and two critically endangered birds. A panel of three judges ruled on June 17 that 41-year-old Agussalim bin Abdul Hamib, a farmer from Sumatra’s Kuta Makmur subdistrict in the semiautonomous region of Aceh, accepted a job to deliver a consignment in a white Isuzu Traga, a common light commercial vehicle, on Jan. 30, 2026, in North Aceh district. “We very much appreciate this legal ruling — this is an important lesson for the perpetrators and the wider community to refrain from engaging in illegal activities,” said Dwi Harmawanto, head of the customs and excise office in Langsa city. The original indictment published by the district court listed 82 live animals recovered by customs officers. Civil society organizations said it was the largest wildlife crime case tried in Aceh in years. The seized consignment also contained four dead Moluccan parrots (Eclectus roratus), which are currently listed as least concern on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species owing to its wide distribution in eastern Indonesia. In addition, investigators found a large number of frozen horseshoe crabs, and some skulls of dead animals. Prosecutors successfully proved Agussalim helped load the truck at a meeting point in the village of Alue Bili in the subdistrict of Baktiya. They said he was aware the cargo of…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Once a lush field of green, the seagrass meadows surrounding Thailand’s Koh Libong are now largely barren stretches of sand, devastating the island’s iconic dugong population, reports Mongabay’s Carolyn Cowan. Koh Libong’s seagrass meadows were once Thailand’s largest, and a critical coastal habitat that is protected nationally. Yet, between 2020 and 2024, seagrass cover in these protected waters shrank by up to 50%. Thailand’s Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) attributes this decline to a range of factors, from marine heat waves to river-mouth dredging. The dugong (Dugong dugon) feeds on fish, crabs and mollusks in seagrass meadows. Until recently, Koh Libong’s waters had one of Southeast Asia’s largest dugong populations. As the meadows have died off, dugong numbers have dramatically declined. Autopsies of emaciated dugongs that washed ashore suggest many deaths were due to starvation. The ecological decline in Koh Libong has also jeopardized the livelihoods of the island’s 3,000 residents, who depend on healthy nearshore ecosystems for fishing and dugong tourism. Local fisher Torfar Jongarap once harvested food by walking the shoreline. Now, to chase unpredictable catches farther out at sea, his fuel costs have tripled. “The food chain is degraded,” Torfar told Mongabay. “Before, everyone could go looking for food near to the shore. But now we all need boats.” Tipusa Sangsawang, coordinator of the Dugong Guardians, a volunteer network spanning the island’s eight villages, leads community efforts to monitor the local dugong population and manage its marine habitats. The group also collaborates with researchers from…This article was originally published on Mongabay

BALI, Indonesia — The booming market for animal abuse content brought dozens of international animal protection organizations to Indonesia in June for the first in-person summit to confront a growing online entertainment industry founded on suffering. The Asia for Animals Coalition (AfA), a network of more than 400 animal welfare and conservation organizations around the world, established the Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition (SMACC) in 2020 in response to the spread of animal cruelty online. Afa is the world’s largest network of animal welfare nonprofits. SMACC then organized its first international summit in Bali on June 11 and 12 to gather advocates and experts to plan tangible steps to address online abuse of animals. “Online animal cruelty is spreading at a scale no single organisation, platform or government can solve alone,” Nicola O’Brien, lead coordinator of the Social Media Animal Cruelty Coalition, said in a statement. Evidence of animal cruelty on digital platforms collected by SMACC. Image courtesy of SMACC. The rise of animal cruelty influencers Animal cruelty influencers, who storyboard, produce, film and edit scenes of anguish and pain for casual viewers and paying subscribers via social media and other content platforms, are on the rise A 2021 SMACC report identified 5,480 videos depicting animal cruelty that had amassed more than 5.3 billion views across platforms. Of the channels that distributed these videos, 17 had more than 1 million subscribers with two of these counting more than 30 million subscribers each. Online cruelty often involves wildlife listed as endangered…This article was originally published on Mongabay

On Malaysia’s Penang Island, conservationist Yap Jo Leen is turning old fire hoses into lifesaving bridges that help endangered monkeys cross busy roads in residential areas. The idea took root after she witnessed a female dusky langur and her infant get struck by a vehicle in 2016, Yap told Mongabay’s Phil Jacobson and AFP’s Isabelle Leong in a joint interview. Dusky langurs (Trachypithecus obscurus) are small primates with dark gray to blackish fur, distinct large white patches around their eyes, and white fur around their mouth. The species is considered endangered on the IUCN Red List, according to the latest assessment, done in 2015. Yap said that in 2016, as a postgraduate student, she started following a family of dusky langurs that included an individual she called Ah Lai. Over the next year, she recorded several instances of the langurs trying to cross a busy road. People living in the residential areas also reported that dusky langurs and macaques frequently made road crossings. Since 2019, Yap’s organization, the Langur Project Penang (LPP), has installed three artificial canopy bridges to help the langurs cross roads safely. The bridges are all made from repurposed fire hoses donated by local fire departments. The initiative has seen remarkable success, said Yap. The first bridge they installed, known as “Ah Lai’s Crossing,” has been credited with zero langur roadkill deaths on that stretch of road. Beyond langurs, the bridge is also used by nine other wildlife species, including macaques, squirrels, and slow lorises. Yap said…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Every year, June 22 marks World Rainforest Day, an awareness day launched by Rainforest Partnership in 2017 to advocate for the immediate protection and restoration of the world’s tropical forests. These ecosystems support at least half of all known plant and animal species. They also regulate rainfall and stabilize the global climate. In 2025, less tropical primary forest was cut down compared to 2024, which was a record high year. In total, records showed a 35% drop in forest cover in 2025, largely led by reduced deforestation in Brazil, which hosts the world’s largest area of rainforest in the Amazon. “A drop of this scale in a single year is encouraging — it shows what decisive government action can achieve,” Elizabeth Goldman, co-director of Global Forest Watch, told Mongabay reporter Hans Nicholas Jong following the publication of its yearly report in April 2026. But the overall trend is still cause for concern: According to the Global Forest Review, the total area of tropical primary forest destroyed globally each year remains “46% higher than a decade ago.” And over the past three years, between 2023-25, “fires burned more than twice as much tree cover as they did two decades ago,” worldwide, the review said. In 2026, temperatures are expected to soar as precipitation falls in key rainforest areas such as the northern Amazon and throughout Indonesia’s Sundaland rainforest due to the upcoming El Niño, predicted to be one of the strongest of this century. In 2021, more than 140 countries pledged…This article was originally published on Mongabay

On June 11, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive proclamation to open additional commercial fishing grounds in remote areas of the Pacific. The proclamation says restoring access to these areas “will promote economic opportunity.” However, local groups warn it will open the door to overfishing in a crucial marine habitat and sacred cultural site. The proclamation, “Restoring American Commercial Fishing in the Pacific,” comes a year after a similar proclamation in April 2025 that opened up commercial fishing in the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument (PIH). Formerly the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, the PIH covers nearly 1.3 million square kilometers (500,000 square miles) of Pacific Ocean. The June 2026 proclamation includes portions of three additional marine national monuments — Rose Atoll, Mariana Trench, and Papahānaumokuākea —  which together include nearly 1.8 million km2 (690,000 mi2) of coral atolls, deep-sea trenches and remote islands. Image courtesy of NOAA Fisheries The new proclamation would roll back protections for roughly 1.3 million km2 (500,000 mi2) of the area to allow industrial fishing. Such commercial fishing could include kilometers of baited hooks, known as long lines, and purse seine nets more than 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) long. Both types of fishing gear are highly effective at catching tuna, the target species, as well as other marine life as bycatch. Conservationists say opening the Pacific monuments to industrial fishing is a significant concern for many species in the area, including threatened sea turtles, whales, dolphins, seabirds, sharks and fish; many are endemic, found…This article was originally published on Mongabay

PARIS (AP) — France gritted its teeth Monday for a week of record-busting temperatures, sweltering under a grueling heat wave that combines daytime highs above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) and sleep-robbing sweaty nights. The national weather service, Méteo France, said that most of the country — the largest in the European Union and second most populated — is entering what is described as a “plateau” of unrelenting heat-wave conditions that isn’t forecast to start easing before Friday at the earliest. Multiple towns in western and central France, including the major port of Saint-Nazaire on the Atlantic seaboard, with an overnight low of 23.2 C (73.8 F), experienced their hottest night ever Sunday to Monday, Méteo France said. Paris baked through its hottest night for a month of June, not getting below 24.2 C (75.5 F) — a half-degree hotter than the previous record from 2017. The weather service warned of even hotter nights. “This will continue through the end of the week, with heat levels never before recorded across more than three-quarters of the country on Wednesday and Thursday.” In a country without widespread air-conditioning, people, businesses and services tried to adapt as best they could. Hundreds of schools were closed on Monday and many hundreds more were canceling some classes, the education minister said. Broadcasts on the Paris transport network urged commuters to hydrate. Medical specialists took to the airwaves to warn of the potentially deadly cocktail of drinking alcohol in extreme heat. Authorities cracked down on alcohol consumption in public. Multiple…This article was originally published on Mongabay

The lagoons of Mannar in northern Sri Lanka attract large flocks of pink and white greater flamingos every year, which drive a vital tourism industry in the region. However, recent fatalities of the migratory birds from collisions with power cables there have sparked urgent concerns regarding the impact of power infrastructure in the wetlands, reports contributor Malaka Rodrigo for Mongabay. Three greater flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus) recently died in Mannar after colliding with overhead power lines. Although initial reports suspected electrocution, necropsies performed by the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) veterinary surgeon Balachandran Giritharan revealed the birds’ long necks were slashed mid-flight by the cables. Conservationists warn that energy infrastructure, including proposed wind power projects, increasingly encroaches on sensitive habitats like Vankalai Sanctuary in Mannar. Flamingos are particularly susceptible to collisions with power lines due to their long necks, large wingspans and limited maneuverability, said Sampath S. Seneviratne, an ornithologist and a professor of zoology with the University of Colombo. The birds also fly in large flocks during the low-light hours of dawn and dusk, he added. The threat from power infrastructure is not limited to Sri Lanka. Flamingo fatalities due to power line collisions have been recorded in several African countries, with a report by the IUCN listing 464 flamingo deaths in South Africa alone from 1997-2019. Meanwhile, in the state of Gujarat in western India, a 2011 study reported 76 flamingos that were killed due to collisions with electric wires from 2002-2005. Other protected areas in Sri Lanka offer a cautionary…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Descendants of families forcibly displaced during the creation of Maiko National Park in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo back in the 1970s are now leading a new wave of community-led conservation. Gangala Yafali Mangusa Jr., from one such displaced family, is the head of the Bamasobha Local Community Forest Concession (CFCL), covering roughly 29,000 hectares (71,700 acres), where he oversees patrols that monitor illegal hunting, logging and mining. His team also works to strengthen coexistence between communities and the forest, and to promote sustainable management of natural resources. Mongabay-Africa contributor Jérémie Kyaswekera reports that Mangusa Jr.’s commitment stems from a history of conflict between his community and the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) following the creation of Maiko National Park, home to the eastern lowland gorilla, forest elephants and chimpanzees. “At one point, park rangers from the ICCN came and set up camp, and they began patrolling, forbidding people from entering the forest and eating meat, even though these Indigenous communities had been living off meat [and fruit] for generations,” Mangusa Jr. said. That led to long-standing disagreements, forcing communities to move elsewhere, he added. The Bamasobha CFCL represents a shift toward inclusive forest management. Supported by the Peasants’ Association for the Rehabilitation and Protection of Pygmies (PREPPYG), the communities of Bamasobha developed a management plan in 2023 that balances biodiversity protection with human needs through distinct production and conservation zones. The impact has been significant: Satellite data from Global Forest Watch shows forest loss…This article was originally published on Mongabay

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — High winds drove a wildfire into an eastern Washington neighborhood, forcing the evacuation of about 1,500 people and destroying some homes, fire officials said Wednesday. It’s unclear how many homes were lost in Spokane. Fire officials were working Wednesday to determine the number and the full extent of the damage, said Matthew Vinci, fire chief for Spokane County Fire District 9. He confirmed Tuesday that some homes were engulfed in flames. The evacuation order for the 1,500 residents remained in effect Wednesday, said Chandra Fox, deputy director for Spokane County Emergency Management. “Our concern is for increased winds Wednesday afternoon,” Fox said. The blaze started just after noon on Tuesday and quickly moved up a hill, said fire district spokesman Robert Gray. Winds then shifted, sending flames into a neighborhood, Gray said. Fire crews from Washington state and Idaho attacked the fire from the ground and air, but it quickly grew to 225 acres (.35 square miles). It was 10% contained Wednesday morning, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. More than 32,000 fires have burned more than 3,900 square miles (10,100 square kilometers) so far this year in the United States, according to the fire center, which coordinates the mobilization of large-scale firefighting efforts. That’s significantly higher than the 10-year average of just under 24,000 fires burning about 2,200 square miles (5,700 square kilometers) by early June, according to the fire center, even though fire activity has been relatively light in recent weeks. Weather and…This article was originally published on Mongabay