With host communities across the U.S. turning against their gargantuan data centers, America’s technology giants are promising to take fewer taxpayer handouts, keep fewer secrets or shower more money onto the communities willing to allow the server warehouses. The promises come as anti-data center sentiment has become a potent issue in the midterm election with control of Congress and 36 governors’ offices on the line. In addition to ramping up financial incentives, officials with Google and Meta said in interviews with The Associated Press they are trying to address mistrust by being more transparent with communities where they would like to build. By Marc Levy and Kaitlyn Huamani, Associated Press Banner image: Anti-data center demonstrators protest at the Pennsylvania state Capitol, Oct. 6, 2026, in Harrisburg, Pa. Image courtesy of Marc Levy, Associated Press. This article was originally published on Mongabay

PADANG, Indonesia — Four gold miners were killed after a hillside in the Jorong Jujutan forest of Sumatra’s South Solok district gave way in the early hours of Oct. 6. The landslide marked the latest fatalities in the so-called artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) sector, which has killed more than 50 people in just one of Indonesia’s 38 provinces in the last15 years, according to the country’s largest environmental pressure group. Local authorities identified the latest victims as Dani, Defriadi, Rafli and Zul Fatrianto. The men were recovered at around 5 a.m., approximately four hours after the fatal landslip. “The other workers who were nearby attempted to give assistance, but the thick layer of mud and rocks made it impossible to save the four,” the chief of South Solok district police Andreanaldo Ademi told Mongabay Indonesia. Illegal gold mining accidents have repeatedly led to loss of life in Indonesia, including recent landslides that buried miners in the West Sumatra districts of Sijunjung, Solok, South Solok and West Pasaman districts. The West Sumatra office of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), Indonesia’s largest environmental nonprofit, has recorded 52 deaths among miners in the last 15 years. However, Tommy Adam, director of Walhi’s chapter in West Sumatra, said the true number could be far higher. A gold mine operating in a forest area in Batang, in the upper reaches of the Batang Sangir River, South Solok. Image by Vinolia/Mongabay Indonesia. Global challenges and framework At least 20 million people work…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Wildlife traffickers are increasingly targeting critically endangered maleo birds from coastal Indonesia for the international exotic pet trade, according to a recent study. In 2024, enforcement agencies recorded three separate seizures totaling 25 live juvenile maleo birds (Macrocephalon maleo) en route to or within India. The ground-dwelling, black-and-white birds are endemic to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Just 4,000 to 7,000 breeding pairs are thought to remain there due to severe habitat destruction and egg poaching, reports Mongabay’s Spoorthy Raman. While all international commercial trade in maleos is banned under Indonesian law and CITES, the global wildlife trade convention, the new study marks the first documented evidence of the species entering illicit international commerce. Researchers found that trafficking syndicates recruited couriers including young couples, families with children, and a single mother. They were offered paid holidays and cash to carry the birds through international transit hubs in Jakarta, Mumbai, and Bangkok to avoid detection. “All evidence we have so far points to a domestic pet market in India,” said study co-author Uttara Mendiratta, a wildlife trade researcher in India and consultant with the Wildlife Trust of India. “We also see social media posts where influencers or celebrities are seen with rare wildlife as pets.” “We were not expecting to see maleos because we have not seen them in international trade before,” said lead author Chris Shepherd, senior conservation advocate at the U.S.-based Center for Biological Diversity. Shepherd said that while 25 birds may seem like a small number, removing them…This article was originally published on Mongabay

LUCERNE, Switzerland (AP) — A bow once used to fire arrows in an ancient hunt. A crunched tube of mayonnaise and a discarded wine bottle. An alpinist’s cracked helmet. A statuette dating back to Roman times. The Glacier Garden in Lucerne is showcasing artifacts like these in a new exhibit of relics that have emerged from Switzerland’s vaunted glaciers over the years, with more expected to come as global warming accelerates the thaw. The exhibit, whose title translates as “Treasury of Ice” from German, comes as Swiss glaciologists recently reported that Switzerland lost 5.5% of its total glacier volume this year, the second-biggest decline on record. “The glaciers are disappearing very, very fast now and before that completely happens, we want to show to the people that this is a very important and interesting archive of what we will lose, unfortunately,” said Andreas Burri, director of the Glacier Garden, an open-air museum. The exhibit features an array of relics — a cow skull, boots, a primitive sort of Swiss army knife, ski gear — as well as videos from Swiss glaciers, charts showing the level of thaw over the years, and a mockup of a glacier flow. Some, Burri says, was just rubbish. “It’s trash. People either lost it or threw it away. We don’t really know for sure,” he said. “But it does give an idea of the variety of things that are now being found as the glaciers melt away.” The remnants from the ice are stacked on…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Cambodia’s population of critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphins has increased to an estimated 118 individuals since the confirmed birth of six calves this year. They were born along a 120-kilometer (75-mile) stretch of the river in Kratie and Stung Treng provinces, in the country’s northeast. Conservation officials say the births are a strong sign that the river’s sole cetaceans can recover if severe environmental threats are curbed, reports contributor Eung Sea for Mongabay. In Cambodia and Laos, Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris) are regarded as sacred animals representing the ancestral spirit of the river. They also generate vital ecotourism revenue for riverside communities. “Irrawaddy dolphins are very important for our community,” said Heang Koeurn, a boat driver at the Kampi dolphin pool, a 60-meter-deep (nearly 200-foot) stretch of the Mekong that serves as a protected habitat for some 20 Irrawaddy dolphins in Kratie. “People here can make more income from tourists by driving them to see the beauty of Irrawaddy dolphins.” “They are a source of Cambodian national and local pride,” said Ian Baird, a professor of geography at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the U.S. “They may also inspire people to protect the river and its tributaries from the impacts of more dams in the future.” Yet the Irrawaddy dolphin population in Cambodia’s section of the Mekong remains far below late-1990s estimates of roughly 200 individuals. The steep decline is largely from electrofishing, habitat degradation, and gillnet entanglement, which is especially deadly for calves, Sea reported. Additionally, more than 160 dams…This article was originally published on Mongabay

MALANG, Indonesia — Four people were killed on Oct. 15 as they fought to contain a wildfire in the east of Java Island at the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, a complex of active volcanoes and one of Indonesia’s best-known tourism destinations. The fire took place by a savanna and hillside in a crater visited by hundreds of thousands of domestic and international tourists every year. “Their dedication serves as a reminder that behind every effort to protect nature and society lies struggle, courage, and sacrifice that deserve respect,” said Berton S.P. Panjaitan, a spokesperson for Indonesia’s disaster management agency, the BNPB. Indonesia’s environment minister identified the four victims as Sukaris, a national park civil servant; Wisnu Yuda Pratama and Sefriel Ardiansyah, who were employees of a hotel services company PT Mitra Indo Permai; and Hendra Rony Wagiyanta, a member of the state firefighting unit, Manggala Agni. Hendra, who was evacuated to Tongas hospital in Probolinggo, the nearest town, died due to the injuries hours later. Much of Indonesia’s most severe fire damage occurs in carbon-rich peatlands on the islands of Borneo, New Guinea and Sumatra. Fires are common in other parts of the country, but rarely lead to fatalities. Tanker trucks have been deployed to help extinguish the fire in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park area. Image courtesy of Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park. Forest and land fires on Mount Arjuno, Sept. 2. Sea of sand On Oct. 10, Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park officers received notification of…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Typhoon Champi has moved from the western Pacific into the Philippine Sea and has become a Category 5 super typhoon, according to the U.S. National Weather Service. It had maximum sustained winds of 160 mph (258 kph) by late Monday Asia time, and was not near land. Champi earlier passed close to Guam, and the governors of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands requested emergency disaster declarations Friday. U.S. President Donald Trump approved the emergency declaration for Guam. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said federal assistance was available for the territory to supplement local response efforts. Airports, harbors and some health facilities in the territories were closed. Relief supplies were unlikely to reach the islands for three to five days, FEMA said Saturday. Meanwhile, former hurricane Trudy weakened to a tropical storm early Monday after it lashed parts of Mexico’s Pacific coast with rain and winds. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (100 kph) and was moving west at 6 mph (9 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. Trudy was moving away from the coast and its center was forecast to pass south of the Baja California Peninsula on Monday and Tuesday. Some further rainfall was possible in the region where the ground has been saturated by successive storms. By Associated Press Banner image: This GOES-19 GeoColor satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and taken on Thursday, Oct. 15 2026, shows Hurricane Trudy in the Pacific. Image courtesy…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Promises by nations to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to finance nature and increase protections for oceans around the globe are falling short ahead of a key U.N. biodiversity conference. The warnings from the head of the conference and environmental groups comes as the countries gather Monday in Yerevan, Armenia for the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, or COP17. The conference running from Oct. 19 to Oct. 30 is a chance for countries to take stock of their progress after agreeing to a historic deal in 2022. Countries agreed to protect 30% of land and water considered important for biodiversity by 2030 and raise at least $200 billion by 2030. By Michael Casey, Associated Press Banner image: Flamingos feed at Duden Lake near the town of Kulu, in Konya province, Turkey, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026. Image courtesy of Emrah GurelThis article was originally published on Mongabay

ISTANBUL (AP) — A heavy downpour has shut down Istanbul, flooded homes and roads and killed at least three people, officials said Thursday, as rescuers evacuated hundreds of stranded people. The downpour Wednesday night flooded homes and businesses and inundated roads and underpasses, stranding vehicles and causing traffic chaos in Turkey’s largest city. In some neighborhoods, the floods swept away cars, sending them crashing into one another. It was the heaviest rainfall in the city in 83 years, said Murat Kurum, the minister for the environment, urbanization and climate change. The Istanbul governor’s office on Thursday reported three deaths in the city and said five other people were reported missing. A 14-year-old was electrocuted after stepping in a puddle at a park in the Fatih district, and a 34-year-old slipped on a sidewalk in the Sariyer district and hit their head, local media reports said. The governor’s office said the body of a third victim was discovered near another park in the Kagithane district. More than 3,000 people who were stranded by the floods were safely evacuated throughout the city, Kurum said. The minister, who will chair the U.N. climate change conference, COP31, in the Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya next month, linked the floods to the climate crisis. “Climate change is no longer an issue of the future; it is the most important issue of today,” he told reporters. “Unfortunately, climate change is affecting rainfall patterns. We are now facing more intense rainfall events.” In Sakarya province, around 150…This article was originally published on Mongabay

For most Indigenous peoples in the Bolivian Amazon, the forest is far more than a collection of trees. It is the casa grande, Spanish for “the main house”, where communities, rivers, wildlife, spiritual beings and ancestral memories coexist. For them, conserving the forest means conserving life itself. Yet data analyzed by Amazonía Traficada (Trafficked Amazon) — a journalistic collaboration backed by the Pulitzer Center in partnership with Mongabay, Bolivian independent environmental journalism platform RAI Bolivia and the multiplatform newsroom Asuntos Centrales — show that this casa grande is now under siege. According to the analysis, between 2003 and 2023, more than 186,500 hectares (460,900 acres) of forest were cleared across the 48 Indigenous territories of the Bolivian Amazon basin — an area nearly three times the size of Madrid. Of that total, the Bolivian Authority for the Supervision and Social Control of Forests and Land (ABT) authorized only 10%; the remaining 90%, or 168,670 hectares (416,800 acres), was cleared illegally. For Rivelino Segundo, leader of Isoso — the Bolivian Indigenous territory with the largest area of illegal forest clearing, more than 43,000 hectares (106,000 acres) — the deforestation eating into ancestral lands is directly tied to land invasions and an expanding agricultural frontier. Those occupying the land illegally seek to convert forest into farmland, he told Mobgabay: “We are not the ones clearing the land. It is the invaders. [In Isoso], they do it to plant large-scale soy. We, as the Guaraní Indigenous people, coexist with nature.” These findings stem…This article was originally published on Mongabay

“The wet markets in Laos are like wildlife parks; however, while you can only look at the animals in our zoos back in China, the wild animals in Lao markets can be eaten.” So proclaimed a Chinese vlogger as he toured a wildlife market. As he explored, he filmed himself showing off bear paws, various birds, dried rats, monitor lizards, and a live pangolin in his hands. The Chinese Embassy in Laos has issued repeated warnings to citizens that “Lao law prohibits the sale of ivory, rhinoceros horns, pangolins, and other wildlife products. Violators will be punished by law.” But vloggers continue to imply, incorrectly, that such sales are legal. “Brothers, look at what this is. This is not a zoo, but a wet market in Laos. The owner just weighed it and said it’s 3.3 kilograms for 1,200 Chinese yuan [about $54 per kilo or $24.60 per pound]. Back in China, let alone 3.3 kilograms, even for a single scale, you would have to go to jail,” he added, referring to the pangolin. Videos like this are easily found on Chinese social media platforms — WeChat Channels (known as Weixin Channels in mainland China), Douyin, and Xiaohongshu — using Chinese search terms like 老挝穿山甲 (Laowo chuanshanjia or Lao pangolin); 老挝野味 (laowo yewei or Lao wild game); and 老挝熊掌 (Laowo xiongzhang or Lao bear paw). With the opening of the China-Laos Railway in 2021 and the lifting of China’s pandemic lockdowns in early 2023, Laos has become a top choice…This article was originally published on Mongabay

El Niño, a naturally occurring climate pattern that involves unusually warm surface waters in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean can alter atmospheric circulation and significantly influence rainfall and temperatures patterns far beyond the ocean, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The WMO, the United Nations’ weather agency, says this warming is already underway and getting stronger. In an Oct. 8 update, it put the chance of an El Niño continuing through February 2027 at nearly 100%. It expects the event to be strongest in December. Regional forecasters predict a 90% chance of heavier-than-usual rain in southern Ethiopia, central to southern Somalia and northeastern Kenya between October and December 2026. Excessive rainfall could cause flooding, destroy crops, spread disease and make health services inaccessible in some areas, depending on local conditions and the season. A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) map illustrates typical seasonal rainfall shifts associated with El Niño, rather than a specific forecast for 2026. Graphic courtesy of NOAA. Action Against Hunger, an international aid organization, says families in southern Madagascar are enduring food shortages earlier than usual following a season of poor harvests. Its teams are treating children for malnourishment, as households continue to endure worsening food insecurity. Cuts in aid are also making help to tackle malnourishment harder to obtain. The United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported on Aug. 21 that 205 health and nutrition facilities in Somalia had closed because of funding cuts, forcing families to travel farther to find care.…This article was originally published on Mongabay

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of a lobster fisherman who alleged the government requiring commercial fishing boats to use electronic tracking devices amounts to unreasonable search and seizure. Maine lobster fisherman Frank Thompson sued after his state began requiring all federally permitted lobstermen to install GPS trackers on their boats to collect data that will help manage the industry. Thompson appealed to the high court after losing at the appeals court level. The Supreme Court formally denied Thompson’s petition on Oct. 5. The decision allows the state to collect “critically important” data, said Carl Wilson, commissioner of the Maine Department of Marine Resources. “It will inform the lobster stock assessment, enhance offshore enforcement, and support better decision-making in a range of federal management contexts,” Wilson said in a statement. Thompson’s lawsuit raised questions about the limits of government surveillance and the ways commercial fisheries are managed. Pacific Legal Foundation, which represented Thompson, said in a Tuesday statement that “the fight over whether the government can use industry regulations to sidestep Fourth Amendment protections is far from over.” The foundation said in a blog post that the court’s decision means some 1,200 Maine lobster fishermen who hold federal permits can be tracked. However, the legal battle over government surveillance isn’t over, the foundation said. Environmental groups that have called for more commercial fishing surveillance cheered the decision. Some have said the industry needs to be monitored more closely to protect rare North Atlantic…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Fishers have caught at least 440 invasive lionfish off the coast of Porto Seguro in northeastern Brazil in recent weeks. The local government paid fishers to harvest the fish in an attempt to curb the rapid spread of a species that can decimate native fish stocks, Mariana Martins writes for Mongabay Brasil. Lionfish (Pterois volitans), which are native to the Indo-Pacific and Red Sea, have no natural predators along Brazil’s coastline and are preying upon the young of local species. The fish have already damaged coral reef ecosystems in the North Atlantic, including the Caribbean. Now they have also reportedly reached the Abrolhos reefs, the largest and richest reef system in the South Atlantic. “By preying on juveniles of commercially exploited species, there is a depletion of fish populations,” Carlos Hackradt, biologist and coordinator of the Marine Ecology and Conservation Laboratory at the Federal University of Southern Bahia, told Martins. “This brings serious consequences for the ecosystem, affects the fishing economy and harms tourism on degraded reefs.” Abrolhos is home to mushroom-shaped coral structures, locally known as chapeirões, and supports at least 90 coral and 266 fish species, including the goliath grouper (Epinephelus itajara) and blue parrotfish (Scarus coeruleus), which are nationally listed as critically endangered and endangered, respectively. Abrolhos is also the main breeding and nursing ground for humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Western South Atlantic. While the presence of lionfish there has been confirmed, their extent has not yet been measured. “It has only just happened,” Hackradt…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Seven of Brazil’s nine Amazonian states are set to be governed by politicians aligned with far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, Karla Mendes and Lucas Berti reported for Mongabay Brasil. On Oct. 25, Brazil will have an electoral face-off between the top two candidates for several races that were not able to secure more than 50% of the vote in the first round of the elections. The second round election includes the decision for president, where incumbent leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is up against Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro who is barred from public office after being convicted of planning a coup d’état in 2022. The second vote will also define many of the state governments in the Brazilian Amazon. In the first round on Oct. 4, five candidates won a clear majority and have already been elected. Mato Grosso, an agricultural state in the southwest of the Brazilian Amazon, elected agribusinessman Otaviano Pivetta, aligned with the right-wing party Republicanos. Pará elected Daniel Santos, known as Dr. Daniel, with the Podemos party. He has promised to designate Vinícius Borba to lead the environment department. Borba is a lawyer who gained notoriety for representing farmers illegally raising cattle on Indigenous land. In Roraima, Brazil’s northernmost state that borders Venezuela and Guyana, nearly 70% of voters elected Arthur Henrique, affiliated with Flávio Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party. He previously served as the popular mayor of the state’s capital city, Boa Vista. He supports legalizing mining in Indigenous territories.…This article was originally published on Mongabay

SERANGAN ISLAND, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities on the tourist island of Bali released 20 protected green sea turtles back into the ocean Tuesday after they were found and seized on an empty boat seemingly abandoned by wildlife smugglers fleeing a police raid. Officers conducted final checks on the turtles at a conservation center on Serangan Island, also known as Turtle Island, in southern Bali. They then carefully lifted the turtles using blue cloths and transported them by small truck to the shoreline. Marine police officers in Bali on Saturday foiled an attempt to smuggle 22 green sea turtles, known by the scientific name Chelonia mydas, in the waters off Serangan Island after receiving a report from residents who suspected sea turtle smuggling activity in the area. Two of the 22 turtles are still sick and need to be treated before they can also be released, Gusti Agung Purnama Wirahadi from the Bali Water and Air Police said Tuesday. All of the turtles, which are protected species in Indonesia, were found alive on the boat, but the suspected smugglers had already fled the scene by the time officers arrived. “We hope that no one will dare to capture, keep, or trade these protected species anymore,” Wirahadi said. Turtle species in Indonesia have been legally protected under conservation and fisheries laws since 1990. A 2018 Environment Ministry regulation further clarified protections for the six species of sea turtles found in the country’s waters. Additional government regulations also prohibit their trade. According…This article was originally published on Mongabay

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Wildfires sweeping across parts of Indonesia’s Borneo island have left endangered orangutans struggling to survive, prompting rescuers to evacuate animals found injured, stranded and surrounded by thick haze. A female Bornean orangutan nicknamed Novita was among dozens of apes rescued from wildfires in parts of Sumatra and Borneo in recent months. She was found clinging to a nearly leafless tree as dense smoke billowed across the scorched landscape in the Katune forest in Central Kalimantan province, said Jamartin Sihite, the chairman of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation. “The palms of her hands and the soles of her feet suffered burns that were likely sustained when Novita crossed a burned area while trying to reach a tree,” Sihite told The Associated Press in an interview. He said that Novita, estimated to be 3 to 4 years old, was tranquilized, given oxygen and intravenous fluids and taken to the rehabilitation center in Nyaru Menteng. Once her burns have healed, Novita will be evaluated to see if she can climb and survive in her natural environment, Sihite said. “We have previously released orangutans missing several fingers and they were still able to survive in the forest, so we remain hopeful that Novita can eventually return to the wild.” Forest and land fires in Indonesia have worsened this year as El Niño intensifies a prolonged dry season, not only in the Indonesian part of Borneo but also in some regions on Sumatra island. Water shortages in the areas have hampered…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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