
Mongabay Newscast
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.
Latest episodes

Apr 30, 2019 • 33min
Paying for healthcare with a healthy rainforest
Kinari Webb founded Health in Harmony, providing healthcare to people to save Indonesian rainforests. She realized that most illegal deforestation happens when villagers have to pay for medical care, because they have little to generate cash with, except timber. The program has reduced infant deaths by more than 2/3 and the number of households engaged in illegal logging dropped nearly 90%. Her story was one of the most-read articles at Mongabay.com in 2017, so now with Webb expanding the program to new regions, we asked her for an update. If you enjoy this show, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep it growing. Mongabay is a nonproft media outlet, so all support helps. We love reviews, so please find the reviews section of the app that delivers your podcasts and say what you like about the Mongabay Newscast, and how we can improve. Thank you! Also, please invite your friends to subscribe via Android, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify or wherever they get podcasts. Thank you! And please send thoughts, questions, or feedback about this show to submissions@mongabay.com.

Apr 16, 2019 • 26min
Unusual tool-using chimp culture discovered in the Congo
Primatologist Cleve Hicks leads a research team that has discovered a new tool-using chimp culture in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After 12 years of research, their findings include an entirely new chimpanzee tool kit featuring four different kinds of tools. These chimps also build ground nests, which is highly unusual for any group of chimps, but especially for ones living around dangerous predators like lions and leopards. But these chimps’ novel use of tools and ground nesting aren’t even the most interesting behavioral quirks this group displays, Hicks says on this podcast. If you enjoy this show, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge any amount to keep it growing. Mongabay is a nonproft media outlet, so all support helps. We love reviews, so please find the reviews section of the app that delivers your podcasts and tell the world about the Mongabay Newscast, so that we can find new listeners. Thank you! Also, please invite your friends to subscribe via Android, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify or wherever they get podcasts. Thank you! And please send thoughts, questions, or feedback about this show to submissions@mongabay.com.

Apr 2, 2019 • 21min
Sloths' amazing survival skills create a challenge for their survival
Dr. Rebecca Cliffe joins us to challenge myths about sloths like the popular perception of them as lazy creatures: moving slowly is a survival strategy that has been so successful in fact that sloths are some of the oldest mammals on our planet. But Dr. Cliffe also warns of a “sloth crisis” driven by deforestation, roadbuilding, and irresponsible tourism including “sloth selfies,” and what you can do to help protect sloths. If you enjoy this show, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge any amount to keep it growing. Mongabay is a nonproft media outlet, so all support helps. We love reviews, so please find the reviews section of the app that delivers your podcasts and tell the world about the Mongabay Newscast, so that we can find new listeners. Thank you! Also, please invite your friends to subscribe via Android, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify or wherever they get podcasts. Thank you! And please send thoughts, questions, or feedback about this show to submissions@mongabay.com.

Mar 19, 2019 • 15min
Studying secretive humpback dolphins through sound
How do you study a marine mammal that lives in waters so murky that it can hide from you in plain sight, even in shallow water? On this episode we speak with marine biologist Isha Bopardikar, a researcher using one technique, bioacoustics, to unlock the hidden behaviors of humpback dolphins on the west coast of India. Mongabay's India bureau recently published a story about her work, “What underwater sounds tell us about marine life”, which noted that although humanity is making the underwater world even noisier through oil and gas exploration, shipping, and other mechanized vessels, today's research tools can still reveal many of the ocean's mysteries. Bioacoustics combines the study of sound and biology and is increasingly being used to understand marine mammals, so Bopardikar joins us to discuss how, exactly, and play some recordings she's collected of her mysterious cetacean subjects. If you enjoy this show, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge any amount to keep it growing. Mongabay is a nonproft media outlet, so all support helps. We love reviews, so please find the reviews section of the app that delivers your podcasts and tell the world about the Mongabay Newscast, so that we can find new listeners. Thank you! Also, please invite your friends to subscribe via Android, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify or wherever they get podcasts. Thank you! And please send thoughts, questions, or feedback about this show to submissions@mongabay.com.

Mar 5, 2019 • 28min
Amazon explorer Scott Wallace: Uncontacted indigenous peoples are a true treasure
“The uncontacted and isolated tribes represent a true treasure,” National Geographic writer and author Scott Wallace says in this episode. “Their knowledge of the rainforest, of the medicinal properties of the plants, of all the animals, their spirit world — all of this is an incredibly rich trove of knowledge.” Wallace's book The Unconquered tells the story of an expedition into remote Amazon rainforests undertaken by the head of Brazil’s Department of Isolated Indians to gather information about an uncontacted tribe known as “the Arrow People” in order to protect the indigenous group from the ever-advancing arc of Amazonian deforestation. He joins the podcast to share his experiences and to discuss this particularly perilous time for indigenous peoples in the Amazon. If you enjoy this show, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge any amount to keep it growing. Mongabay is a nonproft media outlet, so all support helps. We love reviews, so please find the reviews section of the app that delivers your podcasts and tell the world about the Mongabay Newscast, so that we can find new listeners. Thank you! Also, please invite your friends to subscribe via Android, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify or wherever they get podcasts. Thank you! And please send thoughts, questions, or feedback about this show to submissions@mongabay.com. Episode artwork courtesy of FUNAI.

Feb 20, 2019 • 16min
How sound can save a rare bird with an AI assist
On this episode we speak with Oliver Metcalf, lead author of a new study using bioacoustics and machine learning (artificial intelligence or "AI") to study a very rare bird in New Zealand. We play some recordings of the beautiful hihi bird that illustrate the success of a last ditch reintroduction effort for this species (and in a place) that are otherwise very difficult to monitor. The findings suggest that bioacoustics can play a key role in assessing the effectiveness of conservation efforts. If you enjoy this show, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge any amount to keep it growing. Mongabay is a nonproft media outlet, so all support helps. We love reviews, so please find the reviews section of the app that delivers your podcasts and tell the world about the Mongabay Newscast, so that we can find new listeners. Thank you! Also, please invite your friends to subscribe via Android, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify or wherever they get podcasts. Thank you! And please send thoughts, questions, or feedback about this show to submissions@mongabay.com.

Feb 5, 2019 • 22min
Good news from Mexico monarch reserve despite looming threats
On this episode we hear from Mongabay's Mexico City-based contributor Martha Pskowski who recently traveled to central Mexico during the winter 'high season' when tourists flock to see monarch butterflies covering the trees. Her fascinating report on threats to monarchs in these overwintering grounds was tempered by cheerful news that the number of monarchs wintering in Mexico is up 144% in 2019. Pskowski spoke with locals who rely on monarch tourism for their livelihoods, and she investigated impacts on the monarchs' habitat from agriculture and a proposed mine. If you enjoy this show, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge any amount to keep it growing. Mongabay is a nonproft media outlet, so all support helps. We love reviews, so please find the reviews section of the app that delivers your podcasts and tell the world about the Mongabay Newscast, so that we can find new listeners. Thank you! Also, please invite your friends to subscribe via Android, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify or wherever they get podcasts. Thank you! And please send thoughts, questions, or feedback about this show to submissions@mongabay.com.

Jan 23, 2019 • 36min
We need nature more than nature needs us: IUCN's Inger Andersen
The IUCN is probably best known for its Red List of Threatened Species, a vital resource on the conservation statuses and extinction risks of tens of thousands of species. But the IUCN does much more than just maintain the Red List, as Inger Andersen, the organization’s director general, explains in this episode [producer's note: just after this episode was published, Andersen accepted the role of director at the UN Environment Program]. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature was founded in 1948 and is neither a government body nor an NGO, but is rather a science-based hybrid of these, with the goal of ensuring nature conservation worldwide. Speaking from their Swiss headquarters, Andersen shares insights about how the Red List is built, the key role of women in conservation ("Women represent 3.5 billion conservation solutions"), and plans for the next World Conservation Congress in 2020, which will dictate how conservation progresses in the wake of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which sunset that year. If you enjoy this show, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge any amount to keep it growing. Mongabay is a nonproft media outlet, so all support helps. We also love reviews, so please find the reviews section of the program that delivers your podcasts and tell the world about the Mongabay Newscast, so that we can find new listeners. Thank you! Also, please invite your friends to subscribe via Android, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify or wherever they get podcasts. And please send thoughts, questions, or feedback about this show to submissions@mongabay.com.

Jan 8, 2019 • 25min
Sound can save forests and major rainforest trends to watch with Mongabay's founder
Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett A. Butler joins the podcast to discuss the biggest rainforest storylines to watch in 2019, and a major new paper he co-authored in Science that looks at how bioacoustics can monitor forests for greater assessment of conservation goals and corporate responsibility commitments. This year marks the 20th anniversary since Rhett founded Mongabay, and subscribers to our new Insider Content already know the story of how it happened after travels to places like Madagascar, Ecuador, and Borneo. So overseeing this global environmental news service has provided him with a wealth of insight into the science and trends that are shaping conservation, and he appears on the podcast to discuss his recent articles looking at the top rainforest stories of 2018 and the tropical forest trends to watch in 2019. If you enjoy this show, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge any amount to keep it growing. Mongabay is a nonproft media outlet, so all support helps. We also love reviews, so please find the reviews section of the program that delivers your podcasts and tell the world about the Mongabay Newscast, so we can find new listeners. Thank you! And please invite your friends to subscribe via Android, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify or wherever they get podcasts.

Dec 11, 2018 • 28min
How 96 rare sea turtle hatchlings survived a NY City summer
On this episode, the largely untold [and very heartwarming] story of how 96 critically endangered sea turtle hatchlings survived this past summer in New York City—with help from dedicated scientists and a cozy office closet. In July, Big Apple beachgoers spotted a Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle laying eggs on West Beach. Two of them called a 24-hour wildlife hotline to report it, which very likely saved 96 tiny, precious lives. This was by far the farthest north a Kemp's has ever been known to nest. But it soon became clear that unusually high tides would swamp the nest, which would have meant disaster for the developing embryos, so an unusual plan was hatched to save them. We speak with scientists and conservationists who cared for the nest and answer questions such as whether it's a good sign that a Kemp's Ridley came all the way to NYC to nest. If you enjoy this show, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge any amount to keep it growing. Mongabay is a nonproft media outlet, so all support helps. We also love reviews, so please find the reviews section of the program that delivers your podcasts and tell the world about the Mongabay Newscast. Thank you! And please invite your friends to subscribe via Android, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify or wherever they get podcasts.