Malavika Vyawahare
Mongabay
Madagascar
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Past articles by Malavika:
Humans are decimating wildlife, report warns ahead of U.N. biodiversity talks
In 2014, as temperatures topped 40° Celsius, or 104° Fahrenheit, in eastern Australia, half of the region’s black flying fox (Pteropus alecto) population perished, with thousands of the bats succumbing to the heat in one day. This die-off is only one example of the catastrophic loss of wildlife unfolding globally. On average, wildlife populations tracked […] → Read More
Industrial mining’s tropical deforestation footprint spills beyond concessions
Industrial mining wiped out nearly 2,000 square kilometers, or 770 square miles, of forests in Indonesia between 2000 and 2019. The country is one of four worldwide where direct tropical forest loss from large-scale mining — 8 out of every 10 square kilometers — is concentrated. “Indonesia alone accounts for 60% of forest loss among […] → Read More
Maldives shark-fishing ban tested by ebbing support from small fishers
In 2021, faced with an economy battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the island nation of Maldives considered lifting a ban on shark fishing that had been in place since 2010. A global outcry followed, and the government quickly abandoned the idea. The 2010 ban effectively turned Maldivian waters, a marine area the size of Portugal, […] → Read More
Climate change amplifies the risk of conflict, study from Africa shows
In October 2021, the city of Guriel in Somalia’s Galguduud region became the epicenter of fierce fighting between the national army and a paramilitary group that left more than 100 people dead and displaced another 100,000. In November, the government declared a national emergency as drought intensified over 80% of the country, including in Galguduud. […] → Read More
Latest ‘plan for the planet’ calls for protecting 44% of land, home to 1.8b humans
How much of Earth’s terrestrial area needs protection to secure the planet’s biodiversity? A new estimate says 44%, or 64 million square kilometers (25 million square miles), an area that is home to almost a quarter of humanity. “Our study is the current best estimate of how much land we must conserve to stop the […] → Read More
‘Strange’ giraffoid fossil shows giraffes evolved long necks to win mates: study
Scientists have puzzled over the distinctive form of giraffes at least since Charles Darwin and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (figuratively) butted heads over how the towering ungulates got their long necks. The Darwinian theory still prevails, but which of the two processes —natural selection or sexual selection—plays a more important role still divides evolutionary biologists. A new […] → Read More
Madagascar’s insistence on using seized rosewood rattles conservationists
Madagascar is the custodian of some of the world’s most valuable contraband: seized rosewood worth millions of dollars on the international market. Since 2013, global trade in Malagasy rosewood has been banned under CITES, the international convention on the wildlife trade. Now, the African nation is proposing to use part of the seized timber domestically. […] → Read More
In Mozambique, mystery of tuskless elephant points to poaching as the culprit
Mozambique’s 15-year civil war changed the face of its national parks, which underwent rampant poaching of big mammals, including elephants. It did much more. It changed the face of female African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana). The unusually large number of tuskless females at the Gorongosa National Park today can be traced back to the ravages […] → Read More
‘A leap of faith’: Q&A with Robin Radcliffe on airlifting rhinos upside down
Rhinos aren’t built for flight. Robin Radcliffe, a veterinarian at Cornell University with several decades of experience taking care of rhinos, is well aware of this. So when Namibia, one of the places where he works, decided to move critically endangered black rhinos (Diceros bicornis) hanging upside down from helicopters, he had one question: Is […] → Read More
NGOs say FSC label offers little protection for forests, Indigenous people
As the annual meeting of the world’s most recognizable ethical wood certifier, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), kicked off on Oct. 25, environmental NGOs accused the body of failing to protect forests and indigenous groups. Drawing on years of investigation, U.K.-based NGO Earthsight highlighted problems at FSC-certified concessions ranging from forest destruction to human rights […] → Read More
Tanzanian gold miners ten times more likely to die from road injuries, study finds
Mining areas are dangerous for many reasons: they’re linked to a heightened risk of cancer, poisoning, heart and respiratory diseases. Now, researchers have identified a hitherto overlooked hazard: roads. Miners were 10 times more likely to die of traffic-related injuries than people who did not work in mining, according to a new study of Tanzania’s […] → Read More
Extreme heat exposure in cities tripled in less than 35 years, study finds
Of all the extreme weather phenomena experienced by humans today, heat is the deadliest. A heat wave that scorched Europe in 2003 claimed 70,000 lives. At least 15,000 people died in France alone, with the Paris region reporting the most excess deaths. The French capital is not alone; cities the world over are bearing the […] → Read More
When North America locked down, birds filled the gap left by people
An analysis of bird sightings in Canada and the U.S. showed that many North American species, from mighty eagles to diminutive hummingbirds, gained ground during COVID-19 lockdowns as humans sheltered in place. “Bald eagles changed their use of the entire North American continent,” said Nicola Koper, professor of conservation biology at the University of Manitoba […] → Read More
Congo’s bongos are in danger, and curbs on trophy hunting could save them
When the first bongo was reported dead by the Sangha River in the Republic of Congo in 1997, it was believed to have drowned. Several more turned up in the following weeks. Some were spotted tottering along open roads, unusual for a mostly nocturnal animal. Others appeared uncharacteristically fearless. All were emaciated. At least 17 bongos […] → Read More
With coral cover halved, curbing climate change is only way to slow the loss
Scientific literature is rife with accounts of desolate reefs bereft of corals, drained of color and sea life. A meta-analysis published Sept. 17 shows that these are not isolated incidents — coral cover today is half of what it was 70 years ago. “Over the last several decades, I have watched these ancient complex coral […] → Read More
One in three tree species is in the red, new global assessment says
When Frank Mbago, a Tanzanian botanist, learned that the IUCN, the global conservation authority, had declared the Erythrina schliebenii plant extinct, he was wary. His skepticism was justified: in 2011, a team he helped assemble “rediscovered” the tree in the coastal forests of southern Tanzania. That expedition unearthed another species feared lost: Karomia gigas. But with fewer than […] → Read More
L.A.-sized tract of primary forest went up in flames in DRC province in 2020
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Sankuru province saw record-breaking fires in 2020 — 9500 square kilometers (3,700 square miles) of land burned. More than 1,500 km2 (580 mi2) of this was old-growth forest, an area the size of Los Angeles, including extensive tracts in the Sankuru Nature Reserve. Burnt area in and around Sankuru Nature […] → Read More
Even as the government bets big on carbon, REDD+ flounders in Madagascar
REDD+ is an idea that has launched a thousand projects. It’s essentially a way to monetize forests’ ability to store carbon and put that money in the hands of communities who can protect them. Blue Ventures, a U.K.-based NGO, saw the U.N.’s reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) program as an opportunity to […] → Read More
Color-changing robo-chameleon showcases promising camouflage tech
It doesn’t sport swivelly eyes or an absurdly long tongue, but a new robot does boast of a chameleon’s most eye-catching trait: being able to change colors on demand. With its clunky, segmented body, the robo-chameleon unveiled by South Korean researchers could easily be mistaken for a children’s toy or a real chameleon in body […] → Read More
For Malagasy trapped in poverty, threatened lemurs and fossas are fair game
In Madagascar’s jungles, the fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) is king. A cousin of the mongoose, this cat-like creature is the island’s top predator, able to hunt Madagascar’s other unique offering to the world: lemurs. Humans feed on both. The problem: lemurs and fossas are threatened and endemic species protected under Malagasy law. About half of the households […] → Read More