Mongabay Newscast

Katharine Wilkinson has a Ph.D. in geography and the environment, is well known for being a co-author of the book Drawdown and co-founder of The All We Can Save Project. She joins the Newscast this week to discuss her latest book Climate Wayfinding: Healing Ourselves and the Planet We Call Home. As a journalist, it's unhelpful for me to divorce myself from the topic of this interview, as I have experienced, time and again, the sense of "murky overwhelm" this book is specifically designed to address. But Wilkinson didn't just write this book for journalists like myself who cover ecological crises for a living. She wrote it for readers and listeners like you. "I think we're all in our own ways grappling with this increasingly mapless time, right? And that is quite literally true," Wilkinson says. "'Is there hope?' and 'What can I do?' I think these are fundamentally navigational questions as much as they are questions of action." What Climate Wayfinding does that I think is unique is it directly addresses the reader and takes them through a process of self-examination. Of sitting with the uncomfortable emotions one feels about our ecological crises, without judgment. And from that self-compassion, asking the reader to imagine the world they want to see instead and encouraging them to map out how they see themselves working to achieve it. Please take a minute to let us know what you think of our podcast here. Mike DiGirolamo is the host & producer for the Mongabay Newscast based in Sydney. Find him on LinkedIn and Bluesky. Thumbnail image: Climate Wayfinding with a design background. Image by Amerpsand, courtesy of Katharine Wilkinson. —— Timecodes (00:00) Facing our increasingly 'mapless' time (09:43) Following our emotions (15:07) "I don't feel hopeful today" (18:22) Possibilities that become reality (25:32) Culture as an accelerator for change (35:17) A crisis of leadership (41:40) To love something instead of fixing something

Australia is one of 17 "megadiverse" countries that account for 70% of Earth's biodiversity. However, Australia is unique in having the highest mammalian extinction rate in the world. That makes conservation on the island continent, where most of the wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth, all the more urgent. Conservation and environmental scientists have come out against the Australian federal government's claim that it's "on track" to meet most of its targets under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreed upon at the U.N. biodiversity summit in 2022. This week on the Mongabay Newscast, Euan Ritchie, a professor of wildlife ecology and conservation at Australia's Deakin University, and a councilor with the Biodiversity Council, an academic alliance in the country, argues why conservationists say the Australian government is failing its commitments. "The short answer, unfortunately, is that Australia is doing terribly in terms of honoring its international obligations to meet those targets in the agreement. If we look at the number of threatened species in Australia, it's more than 2,200 now, and that list continues to increase," Ritchie says. Despite being a relatively wealthy nation by gross domestic product per capita, Australia funds conservation at a diminutive scale compared to other industrialized countries. The latest annual budget allocates 0.06% of federal spending to nature. Ritchie and some 60 fellow experts suggest that it would only take about 1% of the federal budget to save most threatened species and restore soils and rivers. In 2024, the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists published its findings, which took six years to complete. The Biodiversity Council has separately found that around 95% of Australians surveyed would support increased spending on the environment. "Essentially, the federal government is ignoring a majority of Australians by not doing that," Ritchie says. He argues the money to fund conservation already exists — or at least could easily exist by reducing subsidies for harmful industries (such as the fossil fuel industry), which currently amount to around A$26 billion ($19 billion) a year. Separately, a 25% tax on liquefied natural gas exports could generate A$17 billion ($12 billion) a year, a move nationwide polling suggests is supported by 70% of Australians. Despite the perceived strong public support, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out a 25% tax on gas exports for the time being, which Ritchie says is very hard to understand, pointing to countries like Norway, which built its own sovereign wealth fund off similar measures. As of this writing, the Australian government has lost about A$70 billion ($50 billion) in revenue it could have collected had it taxed these resources, according to an online tracker by the Australia Institute, an independent think tank. "We could bring in tens of billions of dollars in additional revenue if we taxed the resources that we are giving away, essentially in many cases for free," Ritchie says. Instead of increasing direct conservation funding, the Australian government intends to close the gap by launching a "Nature Repair Market," a voluntary biodiversity offset scheme. It's essentially a way for industry and private investors to pay for the damage they cause. Research indicates this is unlikely to protect endangered wildlife and biodiversity without taxpayer funding. Other researchers from the University of Melbourne and the University of New South Wales have also weighed in, explaining that a biodiversity market is unlikely to work. Ritchie says this is problematic for a number of other reasons, ranging from the complexity of biodiversity itself, to the way the government intends to measure environmental impacts from various projects. Currently, the national environmental standards in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) doesn't "account for cumulative impacts," Ritchie says. "So if you imagine that you're a threatened species and you're widely distributed … Individual projects are not being assessed in relation to other projects that may also impact on that same species," he says. "So it is literally death by a thousand cuts." Listen to a conversation on biodiversity offsets in Australia with Yung En Chee here. Please take a minute to let us know what you think of our podcast here. Image Credit: Black-flanked rock wallaby (Petrogale lateralis) in Cape Range National Park, Western Australia, Australia. The Australian government has classed the species as endangered under the EPBC Act. Image by Dsyzdek via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). —- Time codes (00:00) 'Failing miserably' on the environment (10:21) A 'Nature Repair Market' is not a solution (23:47) New nature reform laws passed (29:44) Plentiful sources of funding (35:37) Native forest logging harms

"We are experiencing what some people call sort of a shutdown of the public square in the United States and around the world," says veteran environmental activist André Carothers. Along with the former executive director of Greenpeace US, Annie Leonard, the two have co-authored a new book about the history of protest, why it works, and why it's under attack. Protest: Respect It. Defend It. Use It. was written to "remind readers about the role protests played in gaining a lot of the progress that we take for granted today," Leonard says. Earth Day 1970 famously saw around 10% of the U.S. population actively participating in one of the largest demonstrations in the nation's history. This led to a number of landmark environmental laws that are arguably taken for granted today. Protest highlights how movements begin, and ultimately shape public discourse leading to these significant victories. The authors also highlight how some in society often lionize protest movements of the past, while condemning ones of the present, forgetting that at their inception, protests and the movements they represent are often unpopular. Leonard and Carothers point to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose approval rating never went above 50% in all his years as a civil rights leader. His disapproval rating stood at 75% the year he was assassinated. "There's something about the gymnastics of history that allows us to honor these people well after they're dead, but not when it's happening right in front of them," Carothers says. You can find a copy of Protest: Respect It. Defend It. Use It. at theprotestbook.com. Please take a minute to let us know what you think of our podcast here. Mike DiGirolamo is the host & producer for the Mongabay Newscast based in Sydney. Find him on LinkedIn and Bluesky. Image Caption: Photographer Jonathan Bachman was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for capturing a photograph of Ieshia Evans being arrested in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was Ieshia Evans first protest, and Bachman's first time covering one. The photo was included in The New York Times' "The Year in Pictures 2016," among other honors. jonathan bachman / reuters. Shepard Fairey—a prolific artist and activist who often addresses social and political issues in his work—was invited by the authors of 'Protest' to interpret Bachman's photograph for the book. Image credit to Shepard Fairey. Image Courtesy of Patagonia Books. —- Timecodes (00:00) The attack on protesters (10:32) Combatting vilification of protesters (16:27) Amplifying messaging through art (21:05) Why non-violence works (32:04) A red line has been crossed (36:56) How students are stopping a pipeline (39:46) Earth Day 1970 (42:48) Protest is not enough

Forester and scientist Suzanne Simard is well known for her landmark 1997 paper, which demonstrated that two distinct species of trees could share resources. At the time, it turned traditional Western forestry thinking on its head. Instead of the Darwinian view of trees as being in competition with each other, it introduced the idea that these trees may actually help each other, and that industrial logging practices may be missing the forest for the trees. In recent years, Simard has been advocating for Indigenous knowledge as the only way to save the Earth and its forests. Environmental reporter Erica Gies spent some time in the field with Simard and her colleagues, looking into her latest project, The Mother Tree Project, which seeks to find the most sustainable form of forestry for both people and ecosystems. Gies joins the Mongabay Newscast to explain what she learned from Simard and why she advocates Indigenous knowledge and systems, which are governed by rules of reciprocity. A shift in her thinking occurred when she read the dissertation of fisheries ecologist Teresa Sm'hayetsk Ryan, who now works with Simard. "She realized that, you know, the people were also a very important part of the complex forest relationships," Gies says. "Which is much more of a reciprocity kind of mentality. If you take, you also give back. There is a responsibility to care for the system. Because if you don't, and if you overexploit it, it would be really easy to starve, right?" Please take a minute to let us know what you think of our podcast, here. Listen to our previous conversation with Erica Gies here. Mike DiGirolamo is the host & producer for the Mongabay Newscast based in Sydney. Find him on LinkedIn and Bluesky. Image Credit: Goose Island Archipelago is a cluster of tree-covered islands with wild, rocky beaches located off the central coast of British Columbia. Image courtesy of Alex Harris. —— Timecodes (00:00) The 'wood-wide web' (15:49) The Mother Tree Project (19:33) Why reciprocity is needed (30:27) Questions that remain

Coyotes are now present in almost every major urban-metropolitan area in the United States, yet conflicts between the canines and humans are exceptionally low. Between 1960 and 2006, only 146 documented coyote attacks on humans occurred in the U.S. and Canada. Yet there are 4.5 million dog attacks on humans annually in the U.S. alone. Despite the low number of conflicts with coyotes, nearly one coyote is killed every minute in the United States on average, according to the nonprofit organization Project Coyote. Camilla Fox, the group's founder and executive director, joins this week's podcast to discuss the myths and misconceptions around coyotes (Canis latrans), why they're largely peaceful and critical for ecosystem health, and how humans can coexist better with the growing urban population of coyotes. "For a lot of people … who grow up in urban areas, a coyote is the first predator they've ever experienced in their lives," she explains. "But … if you can arm yourself with knowledge and educate yourself about this animal, you'll come to see not only their ecological role, but also what an amazing animal" it is. Please take a minute to let us know what you think of our podcast, here. Image Credit: A coyote in Chicago. Image courtesy of Cook County Coyote Project. —— Timecodes (00:00) Why coyotes are in so many cities (08:23) One coyote killed each minute (15:14) Myths and misconceptions (27:52) Impacts of trapping in the United States (33:53) Towards better co-existence with coyotes

The people and policies that control how humans treat the natural world are increasingly dominated by a small class of elite political entities and corporations, argues our guest, political ecologist Bram Buscher at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, on this week's Newscast. This power, he says, is concentrated on platforms that have no allegiance to fact or truth, but rather serve only what increases their bottom line. Understanding this power dynamic and speaking truth to it is essential for the environmental movement to succeed. "If you keep on doing the same kind of things and not take the root causes, the root structural forms of power into account, you may have nice terms like nature-based solutions, ecosystem services, natural capital, but they don't actually challenge the power structures to change," he says. That structure he refers to as "platform capitalism." Tasks humans used to do through various options or pathways are now gate-kept by tech companies. These companies have monopolized these platforms, including social media, generative artificial intelligence, and search engines that prioritize data collection over sincere citizen engagement. This makes it difficult for the environmental movement's message to find an open audience. In some cases, people cannot tell the difference between what is real and what is not anymore. Buscher has written his thoughts in his book The Truth About Nature: Environmentalism in the Era of Post-Truth Politics and Platform Capitalism, which explains why "speaking facts to power" does not fundamentally change the policies currently failing the environment. Speaking truth to power, Buscher argues, is the only way to truly address the root causes of environmental destruction. "Unless we understand how power works … also authoritarian power … we can't go beyond it and or speak truth to it. To do something deliberately and consciously different." Please take a minute to let us know what you think of our podcast, here. Banner image: Wallace's Passage between Gam and Waigeo islands in Raja Ampat, Indonesia. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay. —- Timecodes (00:00) What is political ecology? (12:31) Why conservation is inherently political (17:03) What is 'speaking truth to power'? (29:35) Understanding 'platform capitalism' (42:02) How to speak truth to power (53:24) Convivial conservation

Tiger populations have risen in some countries, such as Bhutan, Nepal and India, but the global population of the big cat species remains critically endangered, says Debbie Banks, campaign lead for tigers and wildlife crime at the Environmental Investigation Agency. The global tiger population was recorded at roughly 5,574 in 2022, with the species having disappeared from roughly 95% of its historical range. Banks joins Mongabay's podcast this week to detail the status of Panthera tigris, the successes and failures of the first Global Tiger Recovery Program (GTRP), what the second iteration (2.0) seeks to do differently, and what she thinks range countries need to focus on. "This story is very much a mixed bag of localized successes and elsewhere just stagnation … and a lack of political and financial investment to bring tigers back from the brink in some places." Making good on the commitments of GTRP 2.0, Banks says, would also benefit nations seeking to fulfill their environmental protection commitments under the Global Biodiversity Framework agreed upon by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). That's because tigers are what's known as an umbrella species, meaning that protecting them also protects ecosystems and a host of other species and biodiversity contained within these ecosystems. "Tigers are an apex predator, therefore a keystone species, an umbrella species, a flagship species. And by saving tigers…we save so much more." Please take a minute to let us know what you think of our podcast, here. Image Credit: A tiger in Sumatra. The Sumatran subspecies is critically endangered due to habitat loss and hunting, and now faces additional threats from two hydropower dams planned to be constructed within their habitat. Image courtesy of Pete Morris. ——— Timecodes (00:00) Introduction (03:07) The global status of the tiger (10:33) Threats to the tiger (24:16) Law enforcement and reducing tiger demand (33:35) The Global Tiger Recovery Program (42:02) Protecting tigers 'saves so much more'

Indigenous scholar Tyson Yunkaporta (Apalech clan (Wik) Lostmob Nungar) joins the Mongabay Newscast to detail the Aboriginal perspectives behind his latest book, Right Story, Wrong Story: Adventures in Indigenous Thinking. The book explains how stories shape society, how they can harm us and the environment, and how they may save our species and the natural world. Yunkaporta explains how Indigenous laws, systems and lore can help us improve modern society, specifically in how humans relate first to the land, then to each other, and why this shapes how we exploit nature and care for it. Identifying the "wrong story" is critical, Yunkaporta explains, to correcting harmful behaviors or ways of governing. Ultimately, it's a lie, he says. Personified by what he characterizes as narcissistic or selfish behavior, it's generally seen by those who exploit the natural world at the expense of community well-being. "It's a terrible thing to … misrepresent things, make false claims, bear false witness in a way that is bending story, the story that everybody follows. The narratives that people tell that weave together to make a community and to hold a community on the right path that's sustainable for thousands of years." Please take a minute to let us know what you think of our podcast, here. Mike DiGirolamo is the host & producer for the Mongabay Newscast based in Sydney. Find him on LinkedIn and Bluesky. Image Credit: Mt. Taranaki, Aotearoa New Zealand, captured March 16, 2022. Image courtesy of Planet Labs PBC. —- Timecodes (00:00) What is 'Wrong Story'? (14:26) The 'Sacred Mind' (17:54) First Law (27:24) The environment and Wrong Story (38:13) The tale of Tidalik the frog (42:28) Totems and kinship (47:06) Serpent law

National Geographic photographer Kiliii Yuyän returns to the Mongabay Newscast to share his experience creating his new book, Guardians of Life: Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Science, and Restoring the Planet from specialty publisher Braided River. This book documents the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of nine Indigenous communities worldwide, featuring contributions and essays from many members of these communities, along with Yüyan's own photography. TEK, Yüyan says, isn't exactly traditional so much as it is ecological knowledge that is place-based. While it draws on thousands of years of knowledge, it also innovates in society as we know it, and can offer social, cultural and ecological benefits that neoliberal economics does not. Yüyan highlights that some of the most significant environmental victories of the past few years, such as the removal of the Klamath River dams in the United States — the largest dam removal project ever — were led by Indigenous people. Yüyan's imagery captures the essence of the decades it took for Lisa Moorehead-Hillman, Leaf Hillman and others to advocate for their removal. "I think what the great power of the book is in a lot of ways is the power of photography … actually seeing it. That this is what it means when we're talking about what is shamanism, what does it mean when you remove a dam … and you see it in people's faces." Please take a minute to let us know what you think of our podcast, here. Mike DiGirolamo is the host & producer for the Mongabay Newscast based in Sydney. Find him on LinkedIn and Bluesky. Image Credit: Lisa Morehead-Hillman and Leif Hillman, both Karuk, celebrate the removal of the dams on the newly exposed reservoir floor in 2024. The former head of the Karuk Natural Resources Department, Leif spent two decades working with other Indigenous groups, environmental organizations and government officials to bring back the Klamath River. Image courtesy of Kiliii Yüyan. —- Timecodes (00:00) What is traditional ecological knowledge? (08:00) When values and governance go together (17:38) Why and when hunters share their bounty in Greenland (27:26) In Mongolia ceremonies are conservation (39:12) How to get a dam removed (46:08) Why the buffalo is the best environmentalist

It's been more than half a century since the publication of Silent Spring by the scientist and creative writer Rachel Carson. The seminal volume caught the attention of U.S. presidents, artists and musicians, spurring the environmental movement and leading to the eventual ban of the toxic pesticide DDT. Joining the Mongabay Newscast is environmental writer and director of the creative writing program at Middlebury College, Megan Mayhew Bergman. She unpacks the impact of Carson's work, which came under public attack from chemical companies seeking to discredit her, and how, eventually, the truth broke through. "We don't change our minds usually based on data. We change our minds based on emotion, but historically, it's been pretty taboo for scientists to include emotion in the way that they write. And I feel like Carson risked that here in a way that was really powerful." Please take a minute to let us know what you think of our podcast, here. Image: Megan Mayhew Bergman. Image by Cameron Russell. Environmental writing and authors mentioned in this conversation: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer Florida by Lauren Groff The Home Place by J. Drew Lanham Hope Is the Thing With Feathers by Christopher Cokinos How Strange a Season by Megan Mayhew Bergman Silent Spring by Rachel Carson Under a White Sky by Elizabeth Kolbert Vesper Flights by Helen Macdonald The Wild Flag by E.B. White Zora Neale Hurston Other works and authors mentioned: Ecology of a Cracker Childhood by Janisse Ray Men We Reaped by Jasmyn Ward A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid Speak Memory by Vladimir Nabokov —- Timestamps (00:00) Changing hearts and minds (02:46) Rachel Carson's journey to Silent Spring (08:22) Controversy and impact (14:40) Room for a new voice (20:55) Bioaccumulation and what it means (24:07) "We don't change our minds based on data" (26:43) Recommended reads (35:21) The American South and environmental writing (39:57) Lessons for writers

Professional drag artist and environmental activist Pattie Gonia has more than 2 million followers on Instagram and has raised $1.2 million for environmental nonprofits by hiking 100 miles, or 160 kilometers, in full drag into San Francisco. She has gained international recognition for using drag artistry to advocate for the environment, in acknowledgment and celebration of hundreds of researchers and scientists in the field who identify as queer. She joins Mongabay's podcast to explain why joy is a fundamental ingredient missing in the environmental advocacy space, how she prioritizes it in her work as a drag performer and activist, and why she feels the environmental movement must prioritize it to succeed. "If we want people to join this movement, we have to make it freaking fun," she says. The Mongabay Newscast is available on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify, and previous episodes are also accessible at our website's podcast page. Please take a minute to let us know what you think of our podcast, here. Hear our top 10 most listened to podcasts from 2025, here. Image Credit: Pattie Gonia. Image courtesy of Pattie Gonia. —— Timecodes (00:00) Hiking 100 miles in drag for the climate (04:50) The origins of Pattie Gonia (12:53) Looking at science through a lens of humanity (16:38) On drag artistry and nature (21:10) Bridging the gap between culture and nature (26:19) What can we build instead of burn? (35:22) "We have to make it freaking fun"

Gregg Treinish didn't start out as an outdoor enthusiast, but found solace and purpose in nature during his youth. After years of enjoying the outdoors, he was left feeling a need to give something back to the world. He found fulfillment by using his passion for outdoor adventures to gather critical data that researchers need for conservation and scientific research. That's how his nonprofit organization, Adventure Scientists, came to be. "We harness the collective power of the tens of thousands of people that are outside every day — who love the outdoors and have a passion for exploring the outdoors — and we give them real scientific missions that they can do while they're out there that benefit conservation," Treinish says. The Mongabay Newscast is available on all major podcast platforms, including Apple and Spotify, and previous episodes are also accessible at our website's podcast page. Please take a minute to let us know what you think of our podcast, here. Image Credit: Gregg Treinish in the Oakavango. Photo courtesy of Adventure Scientists ——— Timecodes (00:00) From "at-risk-youth" to conservation professional (19:03) Current initiatives and future plans (26:25) Studying killer whales (29:15) Tracking white bark pine (32:12) Antibiotic resistance research (35:55) Empowering people to make an impact