Pilot whales now need to shout to be heard over the rumble of ship traffic in the Strait of Gibraltar, the narrow strip of water between Morocco and Spain. Researchers looked at near and long-distance communication between long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas), which are actually a species of large dolphin. They found the mammals were able to increase the volume of their calls used for short distances, but long-distance calling was more challenging, according to their recently published study. The dolphins may not be able to overpower noise pollution in the Strait of Gibraltar when calling pod mates far away, raising concerns that they could become lost and isolated from the group, the researchers said. Roughly 60,000 ships pass through the Strait of Gibraltar each year. Study: Hegeman, M., Macfarlane, N. B. W., Verborgh, P., Gauffier, P., Esteban, R., de Stephanis, R., Tyack, P. L. and Jensen, F. H. (2026). Vocal compensation to noise in long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas). J. Exp. Biol. 229, jeb251217. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.251217

For the first time in the modern history of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a Congolese nongovernmental organization will co-manage a protected area in the country. “It is an honor,” Dominique Bikaba, founder of the NGO Strong Roots, told Mongabay by phone. Strong Roots has been entrusted with the management of Itombwe Nature Reserve (RNI), located in South Kivu province in the northeast DRC. Under a public-private partnership Strong Roots will manage the reserve for the next 10 years. The Congolese Wildlife Authority (ICCN), the national authority responsible for natural parks, will retain oversight of the park. “I think the government chose us, because they have observed the work we have done in the biodiversity corridor and the way we have put local communities at the center of conservation,” Bikaba said. Strong Roots has spent about a decade securing land for communities and wildlife to create a 1-million-hectare (2.5-million-acre) corridor through community forestry concessions. This corridor spans the area between Kahuzi-Biega National Park and Itombwe Nature Reserve. To date, Strong Roots has secured 23 community forest concessions in the area, covering nearly 600,000 hectares (1.5 million acres) of land. “Itombwe is made up of seven chiefdoms, and we are already working with four of them in the corridor,” Bikaba said. “So we have a very good knowledge of the reserve; we know its problems and its needs.” Bikaba is a member of an Indigenous community in the area that was evicted to make way for another protected area. So, putting local populations at the center of conservation is particularly close to his heart, he said. Most protected areas in the DRC were created by evicting Indigenous populations, resulting in conflicts between park personnel and the local communities. In addition to conflicts with park managers, the area is also the site of clashes involving the M23, Wazalendo and Mai-Mai armed groups. Bikaba said Strong Roots will bring together aspects of traditional and modern conservation to help reduce the decline of species as well as the conflicts that exist. For example, Strong Roots plans to recruit people from the communities to be patrol members. “By working hand in hand, we aim to make the population less likely to turn to armed groups for their survival,” Bikaba said. He added his organization also hopes to strengthen enforcement of laws against poaching and mining, but also demilitarize conservation and move away from armed, military-like law enforcement. The Itombwe Nature Reserve was created in 2006 and covers around 760,000 hectares (1.9 million acres). It is home to nearly 600 bird species and is a sanctuary for the critically endangered eastern lowland or Grauer’s gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri). Banner image: Critically endangered Grauer's gorillas live in Itombwe Nature Reserve. Image courtesy of Strong Roots Congo.  

Three male African wild dogs in Zambia have travelled more than 4,000 kilometers, about 2,500 miles, in search of new territory and mates, according to a new study. This nine-month odyssey, about half the distance between Cairo and Cape Town, reveals how these endangered animals connect populations and ecosystems that are far apart within Southern Africa and potentially beyond, researchers say. “It’s the longest African mammal movement on record, and the longest [recorded] wild dog dispersal,” study co-author Matt Becker, chief executive of the Zambian Carnivore Programme, told Mongabay. The trio of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus), litter mates known as the Mayukuyuku males, left their birth pack in Kafue National Park in mid-2025. They travelled east out of the park, then north toward the industrial cities of Kitwe and Ndola, then doubled back before heading east toward the Luangwa River Valley and its 400-or-so-strong wild dog population. By April 2026, the pack had traversed 4,126 km (2,564 mi) to reach a game management area (GMA), a partially protected buffer zone, between the national parks of South Luangwa and Lower Zambezi. “We think they’ve actually established a [territorial] range, but we haven’t quantified who they’re with and how many dogs there are,” Becker said. The Mayukuyuku males were among 19 wild dog groups the team tracked using GPS collars fitted to individuals. Some journeys ended in tragedy. A female wild dog, nicknamed EWD-1355, set off with her two sisters from a pack in South Luangwa in 2021. After travelling more than 2,300 km (1,400 mi), including through Mozambique, EWD-1355 was killed in a hunter’s snare set in a GMA in southern Zambia to catch animals like antelope for meat. It’s unclear what happened to her sisters, but snares are often laid in sets, Becker said. Dogs are reluctant to leave injured pack mates, and several can be trapped and killed in a single event, he added. All 19 tracked groups moved within or around seven national parks in Zambia. Four groups separately reached within a few kilometers of neighboring Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. Researchers previously recorded similar wild dog migrations in Botswana, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, suggesting most wild dog populations in Southern and Eastern Africa remain connected, the authors write. “If we conserve and continue to improve these connections, a lot of species like wild dogs can make the rest happen,” Nyambe Nyambe, executive director of the secretariat governing the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area, who wasn’t involved in the study, said in a statement. With much of the landscapes where wild dogs live and disperse changing, Becker called for improved conservation models, such as ones that provide economic benefits through nature-based tourism or that produce meat sustainably and legally through game ranching. “We don’t need to separate people from nature,” he said. “We can have these large landscapes, large, connected areas, beneficial to both.” Banner image: A pack of endangered African wild dogs moving along a small dirt track in Kafue National Park, Zambia. Image courtesy of Scott Creel.

Nigerian conservationist Rachel Ikemeh has been named the 2026 Rolex Award laureate, for her work with communities in the Niger Delta to protect the region’s ecology and the critically endangered Niger Delta red colobus monkey. The red colobus (Piliocolobus epieni), a monkey known as epieni by the region’s communities, is listed as one of the world’s 25 most endangered primates by the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. It was first described scientifically in 1993. At the time, there were about 10,000 epieni estimated to be living across its limited range in the Niger Delta. However, by 2013, their numbers had plunged to just hundreds rather than thousands of individuals, Ikemeh noted in a study. In 2021, Ikemeh and her colleagues helped establish a 1,010-hectare (2,496-acre) community-protected area for the epieni in Apoi, a town within the monkey’s range. By 2024, the monkey’s population had doubled within the community-protected forest, from 180-200 individuals in 2021, Ikemeh told Mongabay by email. She added the team has since helped create community conservation areas in the neighboring communities of Garnaut and Kokoloama. The award “feels less like a personal honour and more like validation for the community model itself,” Ikemeh said. She added she’s optimistic about the epieni’s future because she’s seen community perception around their conservation model shift over the years. “[T]he same community who once suspected we'd come to ‘collect their forest’ for the government now talk about epieni as a source of pride, something that put their village on the map,” Ikemeh said. “That change in attitude is the real conservation infrastructure; it's what makes this conservation story very meaningful to tell.” Ikemeh said Apoi community members have even hosted six other communities to learn about their community conservation model. However, epieni conservation still faces challenges. “Outside the protected areas and across the Niger Delta region, there are still threats from oil pollution, logging is rampant, overfishing, indiscriminate hunting and recently black sand mining by the seashores amongst others,” Ikemeh said. “Also, the overall population of epieni is still small and confined to a tiny area, so a disease outbreak, or spike in unrest could undo a lot of this progress quickly.” She said most funding for their work is also still tied to specific short-term grants and projects. Furthermore, while communities have embraced conservation, Ikemeh said the underlying economic pressures, including poverty and the lack of jobs, still remain. Ikemeh said the 100,000 Swiss franc ($123,000) Rolex Award will allow for her team to set up four new community conservation areas around Apoi. This will include the first locally managed marine community conservation area in the region. She added the money will also help them establish a mobile environmental education program to reach communities they haven’t been able to visit. Banner image: Nigerian conservationist Rachel Ikemeh is a winner of the 2026 Rolex Awards. Image courtesy of Rolex Awards.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Carbon credit financing is helping to drive Africa’s clean cooking transition by making cleaner stoves affordable for millions of low-income households. As governments introduce new policies, securing $900 million in fresh financing commitments, companies such as Kenya's BURN are using carbon credits to subsidize electric and efficient biomass cookstoves across the continent. As such devices replace charcoal stoves and open fires, supporters say the approach could accelerate access to clean cooking, help to reduce deforestation and cut hazardous household air pollution. Still, its long-term success depends on sustained demand for high-integrity carbon credits. By Allan Olingo, Associated Press Banner image: Mary Kavutha prepares breakfast using a fuel-efficient cookstove made by BURN in Kiambu, Kenya, on July 31, 2026.  Image courtesy of Allan Olingo, Associated Press.

Ogbono is one of Africa’s most iconic plants, and its seed is one of African cuisine's iconic ingredients. Providing both food and shelter for a great many species; this canopy tree is integral to many of the continent's rainforests! In this 4-part series on NTFPs (non-timber forest products) with The Rainforester and Mongabay, we explore the ways that harvesting sustainably from our forests can keep them alive!