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

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

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