Mongabay Newscast

Initiatives to plant billions and even trillions of trees have been popping up like seedlings after a rainstorm.

These are important in tackling climate change and biodiversity loss, but what about using natural regeneration, where one allows a forest to regrow using its native seedstock, in such efforts?

On this episode we discuss the amazing power of letting forests regrow, and when tree-planting is necessary, plus what we know about the differences between planted and naturally regenerated forests with two guests:

University of California professor Karen Holl describes the conditions that are conducive to natural regeneration of forests and shares inspiring examples ranging from current experiments to historical events like in Costa Rica and the Northeast United States.

And researcher/restoration consultant Robin Chazdon discusses the decision-making process that goes into successful reforestation projects, and whether today's tree-planting campaigns are likely to be beneficial in the long run.

Related resources:

• "Is planting trees as good for the Earth as everyone says?"
• "Beyond tree planting: When to let forests restore themselves"

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Please share your thoughts and ideas! [email protected].

The rare Champman's pygmy chameleon has been missing in the wild for over two decades. First described in 1992, it was finally seen in a dwindling patch of rainforest in the Malawi Hills in 2016. Researchers say there are likely more. However, they are unable to travel the long distances between the shrinking patches of their forest home. Scientists' findings of the rare chameleon call for conservation of the chameleon's habitat, which has seen an 80% deforestation rate over the past 40 years.

This episode features the popular article, "Rare pygmy chameleon, lost to science, found in dwindling Malawi forest," by Liz Kimbrough:

https://news.mongabay.com/2021/08/rare-pygmy-chameleon-lost-to-science-found-in-dwindling-malawi-forest/

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to have access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

If you enjoy this series, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage: news.mongabay.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by searching for @mongabay.

Photo Credit: Chapman's pygmy chameleon by Krystal Tolley

Liz Kimbrough is a staff writer for Mongabay. Find her on Twitter: @lizkimbrough_

Indigenous-led conservation initiatives are being aided by the growing field of bioacoustics, with many communities around the world creating listening networks that monitor their lands and help them advocate for their conservation.

We speak with two Indigenous leaders and scientists on this episode -- Stephanie Thorassie of the Seal River Watershed Alliance in Manitoba, and Angela Waupochick, a researcher of forested wetlands for Menominee Tribal Enterprises in Wisconsin -- about their projects and how bioacoustics techniques are aiding them.

We hear sound clips of bears and birds shared by Waupochick and also Jeff Wells of the National Audubon Society, which partners with the Seal River Watershed Alliance to study the region's importance to wildlife toward establishing a new, 12-million-acre Indigenous Protected Area.

Further reading:

• "Indigenous-managed lands found to harbor more biodiversity than protected areas"

• Canada working towards new future for Indigenous-led conservation (Indigenous Protected Areas)

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

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Episode artwork: Polar bears at the mouth of the Seal River. Photo by Jordan Melograna of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative. Please share your thoughts and ideas! [email protected].

Researchers analyzed spotted skunk DNA and found that rather than the four skunk species previously recognized by science, there are actually seven.

Referred to as the "acrobats of the skunk world" these small carnivores use impressive handstands to warn predators that a noxious spray is coming their way.

The plains spotted skunk (included among them) is in significant decline, but figuring out the different species lineages may inform and aid conservation efforts.

This episode features the popular article, "In search of the 'forest ghost,' South America's cryptic giant armadillo," by Liz Kimbrough:

https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/pepe-le-new-meet-the-acrobatic-spotted-skunks-of-north-america/

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to have access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

If you enjoy this series, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

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Photo Credit: Western spotted skunk (Spilogale gracilis). Image by Robby Heischman courtesy of the Field Museum.

Liz Kimbrough is a staff writer for Mongabay. Find her on Twitter: @lizkimbrough_

The world economy demands clean energy and cheap commodities and these are being extracted at a furious rate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

So the DRC is benefiting from all this activity, right?

Though extremely rich in natural resources, thanks to political instability plus a centuries-long legacy of commercial and colonial resource extraction, the value mainly accrues to the country's east and west, where corporations and governments benefit the most.

Joining the show to discuss are Anuradha Mittal, executive director of the Oakland Institute, who describes how Western investors like university pension funds and corporations profit from oil palm plantations where human rights violations and environmental abuses are common.

Then Christian-Geraud Neema Byamungu, a Congolese researcher who focuses on natural resource governance, tells us about how the growing demand for cobalt to make electric-car batteries has led to increased mining, the Chinese companies that dominate the DRC's mines, and why the contracts between those companies and the DRC are being called into question.

Further reading:

• "As energy needs drive demand for minerals, forests face greater threats" • "Pension and endowment funds linked to conflict-plagued oil palm in DRC"

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

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Episode artwork: palm oil production in Yalifombo village © Oskar Epelde via Oakland Institute. Please share your thoughts and ideas! [email protected].

Since 2010, the Giant Armadillo Project has been researching the world's largest armadillo, an animal that despite its size and range across almost every country in South America, is one of the world's least recognized animals.

These researchers have made key findings, like the fact that their burrows, which can be up to 5 meters long, serve as shelter for at least 70 other species, including birds, reptiles and mammals.

The species is categorized as vulnerable to extinction, especially due to the advance of agribusiness.

This episode features the popular article, "In search of the 'forest ghost,' South America's cryptic giant armadillo," by Suzana Camargo:

https://news.mongabay.com/2020/09/in-search-of-the-forest-ghost-south-americas-cryptic-giant-armadillo/

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to have access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

If you enjoy this series, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage: news.mongabay.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by searching for @mongabay.

Photo Credit: Peering inside a giant armadillo burrow, image courtesy of the Giant Armadillo Project.

Two top guests join this episode to discuss the importance of Indigenous rights to the future of biodiversity conservation and efforts to build a more sustainable future for life on Earth.

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz is the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and is the current executive director of the Tebtebba Indigenous Peoples' International Centre for Policy Research and Education, based in Manila.

Tauli-Corpuz who is a member of the Kankana-ey-Igorot people of the Philippines describes the Global Indigenous Agenda released at the IUCN World Conservation Congress, why it calls for Indigenous rights to be central to conservation efforts, and what she hopes to see achieved at the UN Biodiversity Conference taking place in Kunming, China next year.

We also speak with Zack Romo, program director for the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) who was in Marseilles for the Congress and helped pass the motion to protect 80% of the Amazon by 2025. The rights-based approach that Amazon protection plan calls for, and what the next steps are to making the plan a reality, are discussed.

Here's further reading and listening:

• "'The tipping point is here, it is now,' top Amazon scientists warn"

• "As COP15 approaches, '30 by 30' becomes a conservation battleground"

• "'Join us for the Amazon,' Indigenous leaders tell IUCN in push for protection"

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

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Episode artwork: Participants at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in 2021, image via IISD. Please share your thoughts and ideas! [email protected].

Gabon recently received the first $17 million of a pledged $150 million from Norway for results-based emission reduction payments as part of the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI).

Gabon has 88% forest cover and has limited annual deforestation to less than 0.1% over the last 30 years, in large part possible due to oil revenues supporting the economy.

With oil reserves running low, Gabon is looking to diversify and develop its economy without sacrificing its forests by building a sustainable forest economy supported by schemes such as CAFI.

Will other countries follow suit?

This episode features the popular article, "Gabon becomes first African country to get paid for protecting its forests."

https://news.mongabay.com/2021/07/gabon-becomes-first-african-country-to-get-paid-for-protecting-its-forests/

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to have access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

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Photo Credit Elephants in Longue Bai, Gabon, by Jefe Le Gran via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jefelegran/857116478

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

We look at some of the biggest news from the recent IUCN World Conservation Congress, like the upgraded conservation status of 4 tuna species, including Atlantic bluefin.

Is it really OK to eat such tuna now, as some media outlets reported? Are bluefin no longer endangered, but a species of 'least concern?' Well, it's complicated.

Mongabay staff writer Elizabeth Claire Alberts was at the event and discusses important news and motions that passed, like Indigenous peoples' role in conservation and a resounding rebuke of deep sea mining, for instance.

Then, Pew Charitable Trusts' senior officer for international fisheries Grantly Galland discusses the reassessments of tuna extinction risks released by the IUCN during the event, and he shares why species-level assessments don't tell us the whole story about tuna populations.

Articles and podcast eps mentioned during the show:

• ​​"'Global Indigenous Agenda' for land rights, conservation launched at IUCN congress" by Ashoka Mukpo

• "Podcast: Two tunas and a tale of managed extinction" (episode 118 of the Mongabay Newscast)

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to get access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

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Episode artwork: Atlantic bluefin tuna. Photo by Richard Herrmann/Pew. Please share your thoughts and ideas! [email protected].

Monocultures of corn and soybeans carpet 75% of the U.S. Midwest, leading to soil erosion, water pollution, and massive greenhouse gas emissions.

However, a new wave of farmers is breaking the monocrop monotony by growing these annuals between long rows of perennial shrubs like American hazelnuts, which keep soils intact while harboring beneficial bugs and sequestering CO2 from the atmosphere.

Hazelnuts are a huge market internationally and have big potential in the U.S. either as a snack or an oilseed, since the fatty acid profile is very similar to olive oil.

Listen to an April 2021 report published at Mongabay.com about this news via this episode of Mongabay Reports, which shares evergreen articles from Mongabay.com, read by host Mike DiGirolamo.

This episode features the popular article, "Nuts about agroforestry in the U.S. Midwest: Can hazelnuts transform farming?"

Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to have access to our latest episodes at your fingertips.

If you enjoy the Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

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Episode artwork: Hazelnuts. Photo by George Hodan, CC0 Public Domain

Please share your thoughts! [email protected]