Willan Gualinga first stepped onto a stage in his home community of Sarayaku, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, in the province of Pastaza. He recalls his hands sweating, his body trembling, and his mouth freezing up as words crowded his mind. Three years after that debut, he performed the same song at the Rizoma 2026 Festival in the Amazonian city of Puyo. This time, he was no longer in front of dozens of people. He was seeing thousands chanting his lyrics in his Indigenous Kichwa language. On this occasion, his body moved with the rhythm and with the strength his message demanded: “Allpamanda kawsay manda jatarishun,” or “Let us rise up for the land and for life.” That was the title of his first track and the phrase he shouted at the top of his lungs throughout his performance. The song draws on elders’ stories about the origins of Sarayaku (his traditional territory) and, like his other compositions, spotlights the threats facing his people. “Through music we can transmit the knowledge of our ancestors and, above all, defend the territory,” said Gualinga, a 23-year-old artist known on stage as “Taki Supay.” Like him, a new generation of Amazonian artists is using rap to bring attention to the threats facing Indigenous peoples and nationalities across the Ecuadorian Amazon — and to show why the rainforest must be protected. “Rap is talking about what you feel, what is happening, and our struggle,” Misael Elías Criollo Grefa, better known as Misa17, said. He is…This article was originally published on Mongabay

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Heavy rains lashed much of central Vietnam on Friday and caused flooding in parts of the historic city of Hue, a day after floods and landslides hit the coastal port city of Danang. Troops were mobilized and amphibious armored vehicles readied for rescue operations, state media reported. More rainfall was forecast through Sunday morning and authorities warned that continued downpours could trigger flash floods and landslides in mountainous areas and flooding in low-lying communities. In Hue, the country’s former imperial capital known for its centuries-old palaces, rainfall over the past three days exceeded 800 millimeters (31.5 inches), increasing the risk of flash floods and landslides. The rain was heaviest in coastal lowlands and hilly areas in the city’s south. In Danang, residential areas and streets were inundated on Thursday, with water levels more than waist-high in some areas, exceeding 1 meter (3.3 feet). Rescue teams helped evacuate children and move residents’ belongings to safety. A man remained missing after a boat carrying him and his wife capsized on the Truong Giang River on Wednesday afternoon, state media reported. The couple were returning home after cutting grass when their boat overturned. The woman, who could not swim, clung to a sack of grass and was swept nearly 300 meters (yards) downstream before residents rescued her. Her husband was carried away by the current. The military deployed nearly 130 troops in Danang and more rescue teams were formed. Amphibious armored vehicles were readied in case conditions worsen, state…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Construction of a power plant that will burn waste to generate electricity at a landfill near Bangladesh’s capital faces strong opposition from nearby communities, who say they fear severe health risks posed by toxic air pollution, reports contributor Eyamin Sajid for Mongabay. The $467 million project is being overseen by the municipal authority Dhaka North City Corporation, and is owned by the China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), backed by Chinese-headquartered multilateral lenders. It’s designed to incinerate up to 3,000 metric tons of municipal waste daily, tackling the capital’s escalating garbage crisis while also generating up to 42.5 megawatts of electricity. The project is slated for completion in December 2028. Densely populated communities, including several schools, sit less than a mile from the location of the power plant. Local farmers told Mongabay that unmanaged trash fires at the dumpsite already disrupt their work and well-being. “We can’t breathe when waste is burned in the dumping station,” said Md Naim, who grows rice and vegetables nearby. “Our nose closes with ashes, and we feel a headache from the smoke while working on the field.” According to the environmental impact assessment for the project, the incinerator will produce 74.8 metric tons of fly ash daily, enough to get airborne. An analysis by environmental groups indicates the plant will generate 73,576 metric tons of solid waste annually, along with 39.56 metric tons of toxic substances, including dioxins, furans, and heavy metals. “If the power plant is built and run regularly, local residents, especially children…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Happy World Octopus Day!  Every Oct 8, the world celebrates one of the more unusual creatures of the sea. Octopuses are well-known for their eight legs and ability to squirt ink when frightened. They’ve also been known to use tools, a sign of intelligence, and can shape-shift to mimic the colors and texture of their surroundings, an effective way to disappear from both predators and prey. Mongabay has reported on several octopus discoveries this year, including: Ancient octopus were apex predators Modern colossal squid are believed to be the largest invertebrates in the sea, but Mongabay’s Shanna Hanbury recently reported on an even larger ancient octopus species whose fossils were described by Japanese researchers in April 2026. The Japanese team found a fossilized jawbone from the now-extinct Nanaimoteuthis haggarti. Based on its jaw size, researchers suggest the octopus may have reached 6.6 to 18.6 meters (22 to 61 feet) in length. On the higher end, that’s around two-thirds the size of an adult blue whale, the largest animal to ever exist. “It suggests that it may have been among the largest invertebrates ever known,” study co-author Yasuhiro Iba, a paleontologist at Hokkaido University in Japan, told Mongabay by email. They were likely gigantic predators that roamed the late Cretaceous seas between 100 million to 72 million years ago. A rare look at baby octopuses From long dead octopus to newly born, Hanbury also reported on baby Argentine octopuses and a rare photo of them. Patagonian octopus eggs in Puerto Lobos Protected…This article was originally published on Mongabay

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — The families of thousands of people who remain missing in Nepal weeks after catastrophic floods devastated the country have expressed mixed feelings after the government said this week that it is stopping the search for victims. The office of Prime Minister Balendra Shah decided on Monday that search and rescue operations for victims of the Aug. 26 floods will cease. Instead, authorities will concentrate on rehabilitation and reconstruction including restoring roads and bridges cut off by floods, particularly in remote areas where damaged infrastructure has made aid deliveries difficult. Rescuers have so far recovered the bodies of at least 1,455 people, but 5,285 others remain missing, including hundreds of foreigners. The government estimates reconstruction and recovery will cost $4.77 billion. Nearly 33,000 people have been affected and about 7,500 homes were damaged or destroyed. Hopes for finding survivors were briefly revived after two Nepalese workers were rescued from an underground tunnel at the Trishuli hydropower project on Sept. 4, and again two days later when rescuers found a Chinese man at the same location. Families of victims have held protests and vigils in Nepal, calling for search efforts to be improved. “I am so angry at the government for giving up on search and rescue with thousands of people still missing. I just don’t understand how they can do that when we still have hope left that our loved one can still be found,” said Usha Khatri, who has spent days searching for her husband in…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Australian authorities have disrupted an alleged wildlife trafficking syndicate, uncovering a clandestine operation where smuggled native animals were hoarded alongside caches of cash and gold, reports contributor Johan Augustin for Mongabay. The operation reportedly seized 28 native and a few exotic species alongside approximately A$300,000 (nearly $210,000) in cash, gold, and silver bullion on July 16. The bust marks the first major wildlife crime investigation carried out by the new National Environmental Protection Agency (National EPA), Australia’s first independent federal environmental regulator, launched on July 1. In addition to the 28 native Australian reptiles — including shingleback lizards (Tiliqua rugosa), spiny-tailed skinks (Egernia stokesii), and lace monitors (Varanus varius) — there were heavily regulated nonnative species like a North American hognose snake (genus Heterodon) and a ball python (Python regius). The agency alleges the native species were supplied to foreign nationals for illegal export. “Illegal trade of Australia’s native wildlife is a serious crime,” Dani Yannopoulos, head of the National EPA’s environmental permitting and compliance division, said in a media release published Aug. 22. “Australia’s native wildlife is precious and we are working closely with [Australian] Border Force and international partners to stop those who attempt to exploit it through the illegal wildlife trade.” Yannopoulos added that anyone taking part in the illegal wildlife trade risks serious penalties. Under Australian federal environmental law, exporting native animals or eggs without a permit carries penalties of up to 10 years in prison and fines reaching A$364,000 ($253,000). Even so, immense profits continue…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Part of a forest in Malaysian Borneo that Indigenous communities had envisioned co-managing and self-governing has been turned into an active commercial logging concession, according to a recent civil society report. The 283,500-hectare (700,500-acre) Upper Baram Forest Area, in the northeastern part of the state of Sarawak, was proposed as a community-led conservation area more than 15 years ago. In 2021, the Sarawak Forest Department secured $1.4 million from the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), which promotes the sustainable use of forests, to develop a conservation initiative with 32 Indigenous villages, called the Baram Peace Park. However, the state government subsequently granted a 170,000-hectare (420,000-acre) timber concession in 2024 to a company called Borneoland Timber Resources Sdn. Bhd., overlapping key cultural and ecological zones, reports contributor Danielle Keeton-Olsen for Mongabay. According to a report from Swiss-based nonprofit Bruno Manser Fonds, a key funder of the Baram Peace Park project, between March and May 2025, community observers tracked more than 160 logging trucks exiting the concession monthly. These trucks hauled an estimated 10.5 million ringgit ($2.6 million) in timber per month. Logging paths have penetrated core primary forest around Gunung Murud Kecil, a peak central to the Indigenous Penan heritage, threatening protected species including helmeted hornbills (Rhinoplax vigil), sun bears (Helarctos malayanus), and Sunda clouded leopards (Neofelis diardi). Affected villagers allege loggers have violated native customary rights by bulldozing land and destroying ancestral fruit trees. Komeok Joe, CEO and founder of the Penan rights organization Keruan, said local communities are actively…This article was originally published on Mongabay

MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Isaias formed Wednesday in the warm waters off eastern Mexico and forecasters said it was expected to strengthen into the first hurricane of the Atlantic season before hitting the U.S. Gulf Coast later in the week. The rapidly strengthening storm was on track to tie or break a 121-year-old record as the latest arriving initial hurricane of the Atlantic season. According to the National Weather Service, the record dates to 1905, when the year’s first Atlantic hurricane formed on Oct. 8. The Miami-based National Hurricane Center on Wednesday issued a hurricane watch for the northern Gulf Coast from Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, to Indian Pass on the Florida Panhandle. The watch means hurricane conditions are possible within 48 hours. Isaias was centered about 260 miles (420 kilometers) northwest of Progreso, Mexico, and about 540 miles (870 kilometers) southwest of the Mississippi River’s mouth, according to the National Hurricane Center. It had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph) and was moving east-northeast at 8 mph (13 kph). Forecasters predict Isaias will become a hurricane by Thursday as it turns northward toward the U.S. Gulf Coast. Though its path and timing could shift, the storm is expected to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday. The hurricane center said residents of the northern Gulf Coast should prepare for dangerous wind, storm surge and heavy rain that could trigger flash floods. “It’s definitely time to look at your hurricane plan and put whatever you need into…This article was originally published on Mongabay

More than half of the world’s wild tulip species assessed so far are threatened with extinction, reports Mongabay’s Shreya Dasgupta. “For a flower this famous, it may surprise people how rare its wild relatives have become,” Brett Wilson, co-founder of the Wild Tulip Specialist Group at the IUCN, the global nature conservation authority, told Mongabay in an interview. Researchers have so far assessed the conservation status of 62 wild tulip species for the IUCN Red List, Wilson said. Of these, 32 are threatened with extinction. Most of the assessed species, 53, occur in Central Asia; five are critically endangered, seven endangered, 15 vulnerable, and 14 classified as near threatened. These at-risk wild tulips are concentrated in the massive Central Asian mountain systems of Tien Shan and Pamir-Alay, which Wilson calls the single richest region on Earth for tulip diversity. The biggest threats to most wild tulips are livestock overgrazing and climate change. Tulips grow underground as dormant bulbs in cold, harsh conditions, before emerging and flowering in spring. Grazing animals can trample tulip bulbs and eat the flowers before they produce seeds, Wilson said. Meanwhile, “a warming, drying climate is squeezing mountain species upslope with nowhere left to go while more unpredictable weather can lead to landslides and floods,” he added. Other threats including mining, infrastructure development, and overharvesting of bulbs from the wild, which affect specific species. The “classic victims of overcollection,” Wilson said, are the big, showy red-flowered species growing close to settlements. “Tulipa fosteriana in Uzbekistan and…This article was originally published on Mongabay