In the rugged, high-altitude meadows of the Eastern Himalayas in India, researchers have confirmed the presence of a tiny plant with purple-blue flowers, last documented in the country more than 150 years ago. The plant, Cyananthus hookeri, was previously recorded in India by British botanist Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker who collected some specimens from the northeastern state of Sikkim in 1867. Last year, a research team located the species at an altitude of 3,600 meters (11,811 feet) in Chuna Valley in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh state, also in northeast India. This milestone, documented in a recent update in Oryx, marks the first confirmed record of the species in Arunachal Pradesh and the first record from India in 158 years, the researchers write. Sudhanshu Sekhar Dash, one of the botanists on the research team from the Botanical Survey of India, told Mongabay over email that the rediscovery of Cyananthus hookeri “is an exciting and significant botanical finding.” “What impressed us most was that such a distinctive species had remained undetected despite extensive botanical exploration in the eastern Himalaya,” Sekhar Dash said. “This highlights how remote alpine ecosystems still harbor poorly documented plant diversity.” C. hookeri is a small, short plant that grows in mat-like clumps. It has densely hairy stems, and striking purple-blue flowers with hairy throats. Sekhar Dash said the plant is a highly specialized herb that’s adapted to harsh mountain climates. “It creates robust, hairy cushions that protect it from the severe mountain conditions,” he said. Despite the…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

A songbird species previously thought to occur across two Indonesian islands has turned out to be two distinct species, according to a recent study. For more than 120 years, many scientists believed that Indonesia’s Babar Islands in eastern Banda Sea, and Tanimbar Islands, roughly 135 kilometers (84 miles) east of the Babar Islands, were both home to the cinnamon-tailed fantail (Rhipidura fuscorufa). But a team of researchers led by James A. Eaton of Birdtour Asia Limited and Alex J. Berryman of BirdLife International has confirmed that the songbird on Babar Islands is a distinct species, which they’ve named the cheerful fantail (Rhipidura laguceria). To confirm these findings, the researchers analyzed 19 museum specimens of birds labeled cinnamon-tailed fantail, historically collected from both Tanimbar and Babar islands. They also recorded songs of the birds on both islands, then played the recorded calls back to the wild birds 132 separate times over several years. The researchers found that physical differences between the populations on the two islands are subtle: The cheerful fantail possess slightly darker upperparts and less extensive cinnamon plumage below than the cinnamon-tailed fantail. However, their songs vary considerably. The researchers said in the study that songs of the birds on Babar typically consist of “single whistles that rise in pitch towards the end.” By contrast, the Tanimbar birds combine very short and longer whistles, which gives their songs a “much more rhythmic cadence,” with pitch that typically goes up and down. The song recording experiments also revealed that birds…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Decades of unchecked deforestation for coffee production has devastated Vietnam’s Central Highland forests, according to a new investigation by the Berlin-headquartered watchdog group Coffee Watch. Vietnam is currently the world’s second largest coffee producer, supplying nearly 40% of the world’s exports of Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora). The investigation, which analyzed satellite data and government records, found that tropical forest cover in Vietnam’s Central Highlands region, which produces 95% of the country’s coffee, plummeted from 42.8% in 1990 to just 19% by 2020. Forest loss was most rapid between 1995 and 2010, and stabilized at low levels in the 2020s, the investigation found. Much of the remaining tropical moist forest is now confined to “steeper, less accessible terrain, often at higher elevations and within formally designated protected areas,” the Coffee Watch’s report notes. Historically, government policy and international development financing incentivized the rapid expansion of coffee in the Central Highlands, according to Coffee Watch. The ecological cost has been severe, the nonprofit adds, resulting in fragmented habitats, accelerated soil erosion and a “nutrient treadmill” where farmers must use increasing amounts of fertilizer to maintain yields in exhausted soils. The Coffee Watch report notes that forest loss has affected water flow and recharge, soil stability and moisture, carbon storage and pests in the Central Highlands. It warns that 50% of Vietnam’s robusta belt could become unsuitable for coffee owing to the added impacts of climate extremes such as rising temperatures and erratic rainfall. Ly Thi Minh Hai, Vietnam country director at the…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