In 2022, the population of western monarch butterflies reached its highest number in decades, 335,000, according to the annual Western Monarch Count in California and Arizona, marking the second year in a row for a positive tally of the species numbers. While that count is celebrated by conservationists, they also point to the need to protect monarchs' overwintering sites in North America, which continue to suffer degradation and destruction each year. Read the popular article by Liz Kimbrough here: Western monarch populations reach highest number in decades Please invite your friends to subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever they get podcasts from, or download our free app in the Apple App Store or in the Google Store to gain instant access to our latest episodes and past ones. 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. Image caption: A monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus). Image by John Banks via Pexels (Public domain). Please send feedback to submissions@mongabay.com, and thank you for listening.

Mongabay Reports: Monarchs make a comeback

News and inspiration from nature’s frontline, featuring inspiring guests and deeper analysis of the global environmental issues explored every day by the Mongabay.com team, from climate change to biodiversity, tropical ecology, wildlife, and more. The show airs every other week.

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On this episode of Mongabay’s podcast, Rachel Donald speaks with campaigner and activist Jon Moses about the ‘right to roam’ movement in England which seeks to reclaim common rights to use private and public land to reconnect with nature and repair the damage done from centuries of exclusionary land ownership. In this discussion and the new book Wild Service: Why Nature Needs You he's co-edited with Nick Hayes, Moses recounts the history of land ownership change in England ('enclosure') and why re-establishing a common ‘freedom to roam’—a right observed in other nations such as the Czech Republic or Norway—is needed. English citizens currently only have access to 8% of their land, for example. “There needs to be a kind of rethinking really of [what] people's place is in the landscape and how that intersects with a kind of [new] relationship between people and nature as well,” he says on this episode. If you enjoy the Mongabay 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! See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates. Image credit: Participants of the 'Love Your River' event on the River Derwent. Image courtesy of Jon Moses. --- Timecodes  (00:00) Introduction (02:19) The 'Right to Roam' (06:06) The historical context of 'enclosure' (13:42) The modern struggle to reclaim access to nature (27:49) Cross cultural perspectives, and breaking the barriers (38:32) Post-chat (50:19) Credits

Public access to private land: Right to Roam boosts nature connection, restoration

On this episode of Mongabay’s podcast, we speak with a co-founder of the award-winning Canadian nonprofit news outlet ‘The Narwhal,’ Emma Gilchrist. She reflects on Canada’s unique natural legacy, her organization's successes, the state of environmental reporting in the nature-rich nation, how she sees ‘The Narwhal’ filling the gaps in historically neglected stories and viewpoints, and why something as universally appreciated as nature can still be a polarizing topic. She also details a legal battle her organization is involved in that could have significant implications for press freedom in Canada. 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! See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates. Image credit: Bow Lake in Banff, Canada. Photo credit: Rhett A. Butler. --- Timecodes  (00:00) Introduction (02:30) The mission and impact of 'The Narwhal' (05:16) The Canadian environmental paradox (24:40) Fighting for press freedom (29:31) An uncertain political landscape (34:50) Post-chat: independent outlets make waves (45:58) Credits

What's unique about Canada's environment? 'The Narwhal' brings top news and views

In recognition of her leadership and advocacy, Indigenous Wirdi woman Murrawah Maroochy Johnson has been awarded the 2024 Goldman Environmental Prize.  She joins the Mongabay Newscast to discuss a landmark victory for First Nations rights in Australia, led by her organization Youth Verdict against Waratah Coal, which resulted in the Land Court of Queensland recommending a rejection of a mining lease in the Galilee Basin that would have added 1.58 billion tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere over its lifespan. The court case set multiple precedents in Australia, including being the first successful case to link the impacts of climate change with human rights, and the first to include on-Country evidence from First Nations witnesses.  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! See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates. Image credit: 2024 Goldman Prize winner Murrawah Maroochy Johnson. Photo courtesy of Goldman Environmental Prize. --- Timecodes  (00:00) Introduction (02:51) An unprecedented victory (05:33) Including on-Country evidence (16:17) Future legal implications (20:34) Challenges of navigating the legal system (26:14) Looking to the future (28:16) Credits

How a grassroots legal effort defeated a giant Australian coal mine

Indigenous rights advocate and executive director of SIRGE Coalition, Galina Angarova, and environmental journalist/author of the Substack newsletter Green Rocks, Ian Morse, join us to detail the key social and environmental concerns, impacts, and questions we should be asking about the mining of elements used in everything from the global renewable energy transition to the device in your hand. Research indicates that 54% of all transition minerals occur on or near Indigenous land. Despite this fact, no nation anywhere has properly enforced Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) protocols in line with standards in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Further, local communities too seldom benefit from their extraction, while suffering their consequences in the form of reduced air and/or water quality. This conversation was originally broadcast on Mongabay's YouTube channel to a live audience of journalists but the conversation contains detailed insight and analysis on a vital topic listeners of the Newscast will appreciate. Those interested in participating in Mongabay's webinar series are encouraged to subscribe to the YouTube Channel or sign up for Mongagabay's Webinar Newsletter here.  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! See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates. Image credit: A symbol for a renewable charging station. (Photo courtesy of Nicola Sznajder/Flickr) --- Timecodes  (00:00) Introduction (02:57) Why are they called 'transition minerals?' (07:04) Geopolitical tensions and complications (16:04) Realities of mining windfalls (26:30) Cartelization concerns (32:50) Environmental and human rights impacts (39:46) Reporting on Free Prior and Informed Consent (46:49) Recycling (54:45) Additional Indigenous rights concerns (57:04) Certification schemes and community-led mining initiatives (01:03:22) Deep-sea mining (01:09:21) Credits

Energy transition minerals: questions, consent and costs are key

On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, journalist Dahr Jamail joins co-host Rachel Donald to discuss the ways many international conflicts are based on resource scarcity. Notable as an unembedded reporter during the US-led Iraq invasion, Jamail expands on the human and ecological costs to these conflicts, the purported reasons behind them, how those justifications are covered in the media, and the continued stress these conflicts put on society.  "There was a saying a ways back by Lester Brown [who] said 'land is the new gold and water is the new oil.' And I think that that perspective is really kind of driving what we're seeing," Jamail says. 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! See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates. Image credit: A U.S. Army soldier watching a burning oil well at the Rumaila oil field in Iraq in April 2003. Image by Arlo K. Abrahamson/DoD via  Wikimedia Commons (Public domain). --- Timecodes  (00:00) Introduction (01:57) From Alaska to Iraq (10:59) Resource scarcity and the geopolitics of war (29:31) New horizons and new tensions (35:09) Post-show discussion (50:05) Credits

Mongabay Reports: Monarchs make a comeback

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