This story is published as part of the Global Indigenous Affairs Desk, an Indigenous-led collaboration between Grist, High Country News, ICT, Mongabay, and Native News Online. In February, Cyclone Gabrielle hit New Zealand, bringing devastating floods and powerful winds, destroying homes, displacing thousands, and killing at least eleven people. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins called it the most significant weather event New Zealand has seen in this century. Around 70% of destroyed homes were occupied by Indigenous Mori, but Mori leaders say that they have been left out of recovery services and funding. Because climate events have gotten more and more intense, its at a point of our communities will either get wiped out through more storms or have to choose to leave their homelands, Renee Raroa, a Ngati Porou Mori representative from Mana Taiao Tairwhiti in eastern New Zealand, said. Were running out of options. With the frequency and severity of storms increasing, along with other climate impacts like rising sea levels, Mori peoples are facing increasingly dire climate crises and calling on the United Nations for help. At the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, or UNPFII, Mori representatives called on New Zealand to include Mori people in disaster recovery plans, provide support for Indigenous-led climate initiatives, and fully implement the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples a nonbinding resolution that affirms international Indigenous rights. Mori representatives also called on the U.N. to pressure New Zealand to support Indigenous land rights. Cyclone Gabrielle exposed theThis article was originally published on Mongabay

This story is published as part of the Global Indigenous Affairs Desk, an Indigenous-led collaboration between Grist, High Country News, ICT, Mongabay, and Native News Online. NEW YORKIn Tanzania, the Indigenous Maasai say they face an ongoing, violent campaign to evict them from their lands and make way for protected conservation areas and hunting reserves. This week, the Maasai are in New York to ask the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, or UNPFII, to tell the Tanzanian government to stop taking their cattle, remove its security forces, establish a commission to investigate disputed lands and displaced people, and allow international human rights monitors to visit without restrictions. We, the Maasai people of Loliondo and Ngorongoro in Tanzania, are fighting against the Tanzanian government and wildlife trophy hunters who are threatening our livelihood, culture, ancestral wisdom, legacy, and basic human rights, Edward Porokwa, executive director of the Pastoralists Indigenous Non-Governmental Organizations Forum, said. There is no justification for this crisis created by the government. The Maasai land conflict in Tanzania is focused on two main areas: the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Loliondo. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that attracts over half a million visitors every year for safaris to see the parks Big 5 game elephants, lions, leopards, buffalo, and rhinoceros. Around 80,000 Indigenous Maasai call the park home, but have faced decades of government efforts to push them off their land. In a statement delivered at the Permanent Forum, Porokwa said that, sinceThis article was originally published on Mongabay

In the warm waters of the Caribbean, long-spined sea urchins inky black creatures resembling pincushions stuck with knitting needles gobble up algae with their claw-like mouths. But when the sea urchins arent around, this algae will smother coral reefs, eventually causing the corals to die. Thats what happened in the early 1980s. A mass die-off of long-spined sea urchins (Diadema antillarum), caused by an unknown pathogen, led to a 98% decline in the species in the Caribbean, which, in turn, led to a deterioration of coral reefs. Over the next 40 years, the sea urchins slowly rebounded in some parts, although only up to about 15% of their original population. But then, in 2022, the sea urchins died off again and scientists have finally figured out why. In a new paper published in Science Advances, a team of international researchers posit that a single-celled organism known as a ciliate Philaster apodigitiformis is the parasite that sickened and killed the urchins in 2022. They even suggest this ciliate could have been responsible for the die-off in the 1980s. The researchers used molecular analysis to compare samples of affected and unaffected urchins collected from 23 sites across the Caribbean. They found that the diseased sea urchins contained more abundant quantities of the parasite than the healthy ones. Lab tests showed similar results: when healthy lab-grown sea urchins were exposed to the same parasite, they developed the same symptoms as the wild sea urchins. Healthy sea urchins atThis article was originally published on Mongabay

In a rare turn of events, scientists have classified a new family of snakes. Just three known species belong to the newly identified Micrelapidae family. Scientists say these reptiles are thought to have slithered off the snake evolutionary tree 50 million years ago. They were previously considered part of the largest snake family, Colubridae, but DNA tests in recent years showed otherwise. The snakes have slender, cylindrical bodies with smooth scales in regular rows and a short, pointed tail. They also feature small heads that blend with the neck, and often, black and yellow rings. The size of these snakes also varies depending on the species, but most are relatively small, ranging from about 15-60 cm (6-23 inches) in length. Today we tend to assume that most large groups of animals, such as families, are already known to science, but sometimes we still encounter surprises, and this is what happened with Micrelapid snakes, Professor Shai Meiri of Tel Aviv Universitys School of Zoology says in a news release. Tel Aviv University researchers hailed these findings as a rare advance in modern science. They were part of a multinational team from Finland, the United States, Belgium, Madagascar, Hong Kong and Israel, including Meiri, who identified the Micrelapidae family. Their findings were published in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution in March. As far as we know the new family includes only three species, one in Israel and neighboring countries, and two in East Africa, Tel Aviv University scientists say in theThis article was originally published on Mongabay

The Comau, Reihue and Reloncav fjords, located in southern Chiles Los Lagos region, are one-of-a-kind natural laboratories that host diverse species of crustaceans, sea anemones, sea cucumbers, polychaetes and corals. These bodies of water are narrow inlets left by glacial erosion that feed the ecosystem of the Patagonian Sea. Chilean Patagonia is shaped by its southern, central and northern fjords. Despite being related, they contain species with very different characteristics, says Vreni Hussermann, a German-Chilean biologist and marine explorer who has studied the Comau Fjord for more than two decades. Vreni Hussermann sailing in the Patagonian fjords. Image by @Rolex/Ambroise Tzenas. The Reihue and Comau fjords are the only places in the world where large populations of the cold-water coral Desmophyllum dianthus can be found near the waters surface. The species congregates mostly in the Comau Fjord, where it works as a bioengineer, constructing three-dimensional structures that shelter other species. This is one of the reasons why the Chilean government declared the Comau Fjord a Protected Coastal Marine Area of Multiple Uses (AMCP-MU) in 2003. Despite its importance, the Comau Fjord is in a state of serious deterioration due to the effects of salmon farming and the advance of climate change, says Hussermann, a professor at San Sebastin University in Chile. Out of an attempt to halt the degradation of the fjord was born the urgent need to carry out investigations of the species that live in Comau, Hussermann says, and that is precisely what she and a group ofThis article was originally published on Mongabay

JAKARTA The rampant deforestation for monoculture plantation and logging in western Indonesian Borneo has exacerbated the extinction risks of three plant species endemic to the islands riparian lowland rainforests, a new study said. A group of Indonesian researchers has reported that three Bornean plant species, Vatica rynchocarpa, V. havilandii and V. cauliflora, found in the lowland forest fragments along the upper Kapuas River in West Kalimantan province, were threatened by small-holder farming, industrial agriculture and timber extraction. These patches of riparian forests were unprotected, as they have been designated as other-use or APL, rendering them available for any development and most likely to see further deforestation, added the authors in their report published in the April issue of Journal for Nature Conservation. I dont think that this is first research on plant species in Borneo, but ours is the first population study on the three species which are threatened with extinction and one of them is very endemic, in their natural habitat, Enggal Primananda, a forest researcher at Indonesias National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) who is the lead author of the paper, told Mongabay in an interview. Indonesias West Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo. Muara Sungai Landak is operating near the coast, not far from the provincial capital Pontianak. Image by TUBS via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). Former lowland rainforest replaced with a monoculture plantation in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Image courtesy of Rhett Butler/Mongabay. Enggal said the population assessment of the three Vatica species fromThis article was originally published on Mongabay

As a field biologist, Keith Perchemlides has often watched flames dance around tiny ponds that mark the remains of a vast wetland that once covered a large part of southwestern Oregons Rogue River Valley. Often, he was the one that set fire to the dry grass. Back then, he was working for The Nature Conservancy (TNC) as a part of a team trying to restore habitat for vernal pool fairy shrimp (Branchinecta lynchi), a translucent invertebrate with walrus-like tusks and a forked, red tail. In the soil, their eggs survive long droughts when their ephemeral pockets of water, called vernal pools, disappear. The inch-long crustacean feeds on small particles in the pools and subsequently serve as food for waterfowl, songbirds and amphibians. Without fire, invasive weeds or trees will crowd these basins where rainwater collects into seasonal, shallow ponds, limiting where this threatened species can live. Degraded vernal pools filled with soils and overgrown by invasive plants provide poor habitat for native species. Image courtesy of Keith Perchemlides/TNC. The worst invasive weed out there right now is medusahead [Taeniatherum caput-medusae]. It builds up this thick, dense layer of thatch that doesnt break down quickly. Plus, the new growth just dominates the herbaceous plant community, Perchemlides told Mongabay. Early season burning, in the spring, does a great job of knocking back invasive grasses, and it stimulates the native seed bank. Deliberate burning is an Indigenous practice that the Takelma Tribe applied here for millennia. Like other native communities across the United StatesThis article was originally published on Mongabay

When asked if he had a message for the world, Jnior Hekurari Yanomami was emphatic: Dont buy Brazilian gold. Jnior, 36, from the Surucucu community on Brazils largest and most famous Indigenous territory, the Yanomami, met Mongabay in a hotel near So Paulos Paulista Avenue. Home to some 27,000 Indigenous people, the Yanomami land is currently in the midst of a grave humanitarian crisis driven by illegal gold mining, enabled and encouraged during the previous government of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro. Luiz Incio Lula da Silva, who took office as president in early January for a third term (the first two spanned from 2003 to 2010), has made removing illegal miners and the influence of their moneyed bosses from the Yanomami land a top priority. Restoring order in the Yanomami Territory serves as a litmus test for Lulas bold climate agenda. Since February, federal forces have led successive crackdown operations, destroying valuable mining equipment and making arrests. Jnior Yanomami is calling for a boycott of Brazilian gold and for efforts to find long-term solutions to keep illegal miners out of the Yanomami territory. Image by Felipe Haurelhuk. While many illegal miners have left often for neighboring countries Venezuela, Suriname and Guyana, or other Brazilian states like Par Junior said that many are merely biding their time before invading the Yanomami Territory again. Mongabay interviewed Junior the same week that an Associated Press investigation revealed the use of Elon Musks Starlink satellites in the territory, which have provedThis article was originally published on Mongabay

Norway is moving forward with plans to mine its continental shelf to procure minerals critical for renewable energy technologies. However, some scientists, members of civil society and even industry leaders have raised concerns about Norways proposal, arguing that deep-sea mining in this part of the ocean could cause widespread environmental harm. The nations Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has proposed opening up a 329,000-square-kilometer (127,000-square-mile) portion of the Norwegian Sea to deep-sea mining, an area nearly the size of Germany. The region overlaps with many marine areas previously flagged by Norwegian research institutes and government agencies as vulnerable or valuable. A study by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD), a government agency responsible for regulating petroleum resources, found that this area holds significant quantities of minerals such as magnesium, cobalt, copper, nickel and rare-earth metals. Investigators found these minerals on manganese crusts on seamounts and sulfide deposits on active, inactive or extinct hydrothermal vents at depths of 700-4,000 meters (2,296-13,123 feet). A sliver of this proposed mining area is within Norways exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The rest falls across the adjoining continental shelf the gently sloping seabed stretching out from Norways mainland into the ocean in international waters beyond Norways jurisdiction. However, Norway gained access to the continental shelf that borders its EEZ in 2009 after filing an application with the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, a U.N. body that manages extended access to the nations continental shelves. Norways access applies only to the seabed, notThis article was originally published on Mongabay

For Indigenous women in the Amazon, the wetland of Lake Tarapoto is a living classroom. The women consider it not just a home for the fish they rely on to feed their families, but also a repository of Indigenous history and culture. It is the place that fertilizes all life in their territory, says Lilia Isolina Java, a leader of the Cocama people in the southern Amazon region of Colombia. These spaces are where one unlearns in order to learn, she tells Monagaby. And in a impactful case, local fishers have been part of this unlearning process. They went from using large nets that caught almost every aquatic animal in their path, to creating fishing agreements designed to respect life in the wetland system a process that took more than 20 years. Along with traditional authorities, institutions, and organizations, Java is leading a process to identify issues harming the lakes ecosystem. But she has focused on one in particular: the overexploitation of fishery resources. Overfishing is destroying not only fish species and the food sovereignty of the communities of the Tikuna, Cocama, and Yagua (Ticoya) Indigenous people, but also the lives of other aquatic animals that have been victims of incidental catch such as dolphins, manatees, otters, and turtles. Lake Tarapoto. Image curtesy of Conservation International Colombia. We focus, above all, on harmful fishing, Java said. Not only for those of us living in the communities, but also because our lakes, rivers and streams have already been degraded becauseThis article was originally published on Mongabay

Ask Andrew Farnsworth about the origins of the BirdCast project, and he would describe it as ancient history. The year 1999, when the project was conceived, is a far cry from antiquity. But given how technology has helped transform the project since then, Farnsworths description might not be completely off the mark. BirdCast, in essence, is a project that tracks and forecasts bird migrations across the U.S. It uses weather radar data, in which birds also show up, to spot birds. Back when it was launched, scientists had the tedious task of manually poring through the chaotic radar data to differentiate between birds and meteorological phenomena like clouds. I used some statistical models and did some math that connects weather to migration intensity to make the forecast, Farnsworth, senior research associate at the Center for Avian Population Studies at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, told Mongabay in a video interview. The state of the art then was being able to use what was in the human brain to make the forecast. Since then, BirdCast has evolved to combine ornithology and advanced computer sciences to understand and predict bird migration patterns. The project now uses technology such as cloud computing and machine learning, which have helped make the work of researchers easier and more automated. The team at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is also currently working on combining human observations with technology like machine learning and bioacoustics to identify the species of migratory birds information that has remained elusiveThis article was originally published on Mongabay

Las Chinchillas National Reserve is located in the hills of the Coquimbo region, in the province of Choapa, where more than a decade-long drought has turned the earth yellow. The area is home to thorny plants, cacti and small streams that were once mighty rivers. Despite this, the protected natural area sustains the biodiversity of this unique territory, which borders the Atacama Desert and Chiles central regions. Foxes, opossums, lesser grisons, coruros (a species of rodent), Chilean iguanas, kodkods (the smallest cat in the Americas), pampas cats and pumas, all of which are under various degrees of threat, are just some of the animals that this area protects. However, the areas flagship species, after which the reserve is named, is the Chilean chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera), a nocturnal rodent that has been hunted for its fur for years and was even considered extinct at the beginning of the last century. The chinchilla was considered extinct at the beginning of the 20th century. Image courtesy of the National Forest Corporation (CONAF). The reserve is the only place in the world where this species is protected. Even so, in 2002, the area was significantly disturbed by the construction of a road through its land. As compensation, the Ministry of Public Works promised to expand the protected area, though this measure is yet to materialize, and threats to the area have increased, with a copper mine just 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) from the reserve recently receiving an environmental permit. A species thought to beThis article was originally published on Mongabay

Mining is one of the top drivers of deforestation globally, with huge swaths of forest being cleared for excavation pits, access roads and workers settlements. Yet details about minings environmental impact continue to go underrepresented or unnoticed even as the sector grows. Mineral extraction has doubled since the turn of the century, increasingly pushing into tropical rainforests and protected areas in places like the Amazon and Cerrado. But a new WWF report says there are still considerable discrepancies about how mining-related deforestation is occurring, and why. Metals are important for the development of human civilization and the life we live today. But the footprint left by the extraction of these commodities has a heavy toll on ecosystems, said WWF Mining Global Lead Tobias Kind-Rieper. Mining and its associated infrastructure must be recognized as key causes of deforestation and biodiversity loss. An overwhelming majority of the deforestation that takes place as a result of mining can be traced back to just two commodities: gold and coal. Together, they resulted in an estimated 6,877 square kilometers (4,273 square miles) of forest loss over the last two decades. Other major minerals include bauxite, iron ore and copper. Some countries, most notably Suriname, have even seen mining become the top driver of deforestation, surpassing more common causes like agriculture and cattle, the report said. Neighboring Guyana has experienced a similar trend. Mining operations need to clear the forest to dig the pit where the minerals will be extracted, as well as createThis article was originally published on Mongabay

The European Union is one step closer to adopting landmark regulations that hold companies accountable for ensuring their products dont contribute to deforestation. A new law, passed with an overwhelming majority by the European Parliament, requires companies to demonstrate their products arent sourced to deforested land or land with forest degradation, or else risk heavy fines. It needs the endorsement of the European Council to enter into force. This is great news for the Indigenous people and wildlife who depend on standing forests for their survival, but also for consumers who have been telling governments and companies that they dont want to dine on deforestation, said Alex Wijeratna, senior director at Mighty Earth, a climate advocacy group. The law, officially called the European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), targets cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soy and wood, as well as commodities that have been fed by or made using those products, such as leather, chocolate, printed paper and furniture. Agriculture specifically is one of the largest drivers of deforestation globally. Around 420 million hectares (over 1 billion acres) of forest were cleared for agricultural use between 1990 and 2020, according to the FAO. Demand from the EU contributed to about 10% of that. Deforestation in Indonesia. (Photo by Rhett A. Butler) European residents have for years strongly backed increased environmental regulations on international trade. Recent polling showed over 80% of Europeans thought businesses should stop selling products that destroy forests, and that products driving deforestation should be banned. Until today, ourThis article was originally published on Mongabay

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil With boundless ocean views to one side and urban sprawl to the other, the Sugarloaf has long been one of Rio de Janeiros most iconic natural wonders. Now after the approval of new development plans, the monolith has become the contentious location for a controversial new zipline, drawing fierce criticism from locals who say the project threatens the regions wildlife and classic climbing routes. In the face of protests from residents and environmental groups, drilling has already begun on the sides of both Urca Hill and the Sugarloaf, a federally protected monument and a UNESCO-recognized World Heritage site. Four steel cables will be rigged between the two hills to create a 755-meter (2,477-foot) zipline that lets riders reach speeds of up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour. Inauguration is expected in the second half of 2023. Sugarloaf Cable Car Park, the company responsible for operating the sites famous cable cars, invested about 50 million reais ($10.1 million) in the project with the hope of boosting local tourism and the economy. The company claims the zipline will also benefit the environment, serving as a reference for other initiatives in Brazil focusing on sustainable tourism, according to a statement published on its site. Yet critics say the construction boils down to one key goal: making profits. My question as an environmentalist working on restoration, reforestation, and recovery in this area is, how dare people do this? Domingos Svio Teixeira, an environmentalist who has spent decades laboringThis article was originally published on Mongabay

Farah Obaidullahs life has pivoted around the ocean. Growing up in Gabon and the Netherlands, she spent as much time as possible in or near the water, snorkeling, rescuing marine animals and picking up beach litter. As an adult, she spent a decade as an ocean campaigner for Greenpeace and later became an independent ocean advocate and founder of the NGO Women4Oceans. Not everyone has been as immersed in the ocean as Obaidullah has. In fact, Obaidullah says one of the most common questions shes encountered over her life has been this simple inquiry: how can I learn more about the ocean? But Obaidullah says she struggled to find a single comprehensive resource that people can use to learn more about the sea and our relationship with it. There are plenty of websites, there are plenty of NGOs and scientific papers, but no one resource where you can learn everything there is to learn, and where you dont have to be a scientist to understand it, Obaidullah tells Mongabay. So Obaidullah decided to put together a resource herself. She gathered a team of experts from her Facebook group, Women4Oceans, which she started in 2016 before founding an NGO of the same name. She initially envisioned a series of essays on different aspects of the ocean, but quickly realized she was creating a book. Farah Obaidullah is an independent ocean advocate and founder of the NGO Women4Oceans. Image by Alex Hofford/Greenpeace. The resulting book, The Ocean and Us, published this yearThis article was originally published on Mongabay

Namibias internationally acclaimed Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) Program, whereby the government ostensibly allows rural and Indigenous communities the opportunity to manage and profit from their own natural resources, has received significant Western backing. However, research indicates that within the two CBNRMs which are designated to Indigenous San communities (the Nyae-Nyae Conservancy to the Ju/hoansi San and the N#a Jaqna Conservancy to the !Kung San), the benefits from natural resources are felt more so by unscrupulous traders, cattle herders and trophy hunting safari operators. The Sans traditional subsistence way of life is being threatened, and without means of finding employment elsewhere, many Indigenous communities in the Kalahari face impoverishment, starvation, exploitation, and marginalization. This may see the annihilation of one of the worlds oldest cultures as we know it, and it reflects a growing pattern whereby the communities who have the most knowledge of the natural world are today being obstructed from utilizing these natural resources. The loss of access to land is particularly devastating to Indigenous communities who rely on natural resources for their self-sufficiency. Map of Namibia showing the two conservancies. Land grabs in N#a Jaqna Conservancy  The Indigenous !Kung San people who occupy the N#a Jaqna Conservancy (b) are witnessing their historical lands be overrun by cattle herders from Namibias ruling ethnic groups, which is tacitly sanctioned by central and local government authorities. Authorities on conservancy land are thought to be accepting illegal bribes by non-San settlers in return for grazing rights on San traditional land withinThis article was originally published on Mongabay

Scotlands population of wildcats (Felis silvestris silvestris) has dwindled to the point that it is functionally extinct, with fewer than 30 likely left in the wild. Conservationists are rushing to save the species also known as the Scottish wildcat or Highland tiger through a reintroduction program set to kick off later this year. A combination of habitat loss, persecution and, most recently, hybridization with domestic cats drove the species to its current crisis point. But the Highland tiger isnt alone in its predicament, and it can be seen as a possible indicator of looming ecosystem collapse: The United Kingdom is one of the most nature-depleted places on Earth. Bringing the Scottish wildcat back could have a plethora of benefits, says Richard Bunting, a spokesperson for the Scottish Rewilding Alliance. The Highland cat, along with small cats the world over, plays a key ecological role by controlling small mammal populations in their natural habitats. Many cats, though maligned, also aid farmers by reducing rodents. In Scotland, the cats return could also boost local economies through activities such as wildlife observation and ecotourism. Conservationists are working to reintroduce the Scottish wildcat but face a massive numerical deficit and challenge. Lessons can be learned from its near demise, such as not acting to conserve species until its nearly too late, the Scottish Rewilding Alliances Richard Bunting says. Image by Charlie Marshall via Flickr (CC BY 2.0). What I would like to see is the restoration of wild cats, like the ScottishThis article was originally published on Mongabay

On July 18, 2021, a camera trap in the Alto del Nudo region of Colombia captured a pack of free-ranging dogs wandering along a remote forest trail. The next day, an Andean tiger cat (Leopardus tigrinus pardinoides) was spotted on the same route. As innocuous as this may seem, conservationists say it highlights a problem thats playing out across Latin American countries: free-ranging and domestic dogs are becoming a growing threat to small cats and other wildlife. In response, conservationists across Latin America are organizing an international campaign to vaccinate and neuter dogs, with help from local people. In 2022, the group, coordinated by The Tiger Cat Conservation Initiative, organized two international events at which they vaccinated more than 1,200 dogs. Another is planned this year with hopes to include more countries and projects. A tale of dogs and cats Conservationists report that dogs entering into protected areas can disturb wildlife, directly prey upon them, decimate prey populations, and also spread disease. Canine distemper virus a misnomer as it can affect a range of species other than dogs is one of the primary worries for conservationists. Distemper outbreaks have ravaged populations of carnivores such as African wild dogs and lions in other locations around the world. More recently, sarcoptic mange, also known as canine scabies, has also emerged as a potential threat. Globally, diseases spread by domestic animals are considered an underrecognized threat to endangered species by some conservationists. About a decade ago, Karen DeMatteo was part of a teamThis article was originally published on Mongabay