PODCAST · science
Mongabay Explores
by Mongabay.com
A podcast about the world's unique places and species – from areas of amazing natural heritage to environmental challenges and conservation solutions – hear inspiring conversations with experts, scientists, authors, and activists on Mongabay Explores.
Episodes
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Circular Economy, Pt 3: Are there circular solutions for global housing unaffordability and climate change?
According to UN-Habitat, a global housing affordability crisis is underway, with 1.6 billion people currently in need of adequate, affordable homes. That number could rise to three billion in just a few years. Home prices in urban markets have reached "impossible" levels of unaffordability while...
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Circular Economy, Pt 2: How Finland is leading the world in circular economy planning
In 2016, Finland became the first nation to design a circular economy roadmap, in an effort to design goods to be less resource-intensive, from their manufacture to disposal and recycling. Tim Forslund of the Finnish Innovation Fund (SITRA) was one of its architects and joins this episode of...
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Circular Economy, Pt 1: EV issues are about 'more than just cars'
The fifth season of Mongabay Explores dives into the circular economy: the effort to design goods to be less resource intensive, from their manufacture to disposal and recycling. In this episode, we speak with circular economy researcher and policy expert Jessika Richter, associate senior…
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Congo Basin, Bonus: Pollution & impunity in the DRC
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), pollution from extracting minerals commonly used in the energy transition like cobalt and copper is on the rise, and miners generally ignore their legal obligations to clean it up. Cases of such pollution have killed and displaced people and caused major...
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Congo Basin, Part 6: How the Congo Rainforest is shaped by elephants
The African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) plays a critical role in shaping the Congo rainforest, experts say. Though they represent incalculable and intrinsic value, there is much scientists still do not know about this critically endangered species of megafauna. On this final episode of…
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Congo Basin, Part 5: Where's the money for Congo Basin conservation?
How much does it cost to protect the Congo Rainforest? The world's second-largest rainforest provides critical ecological services that millions of people and myriad species rely on. It is also a massive carbon sink, storing tens of billions of tons of carbon in its trees, soils and peatlands.…
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Congo Basin, Part 4: A 'just energy transition' requires justice in the DRC
The global 'just energy transition' has increased demand for critical minerals – such as cobalt and copper – for products like lithium-ion batteries, solar panels, and other renewable energy sources. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which produces nearly 70% of the global supply of cobalt,...
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Congo Basin, Part 3: Big challenges and potential for ape conservation
Recent research shows that great apes of the Congo Basin stand to lose up to 94% of their habitat due to climate change. In the world's only habitat of bonobos and mountain gorillas, time (and land) is running out to save them. Hunting, natural resource extraction, disease, and other human…
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Congo Basin, Part 2: Can we right the wrongs of fortress conservation?
The debate about how to best protect the Congo Basin's rainforest increasingly finds experts and Indigenous leaders arguing that it's time for a change, one that brings local and Indigenous people into the conversation. Fortress conservation, a model exported to Africa during the colonial era,...
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Congo Basin, Part 1: Second-largest rainforest in the world at a turning point
The Congo Basin contains the world's second-largest rainforest, a staggering 178 million hectares: containing myriad wildlife and giant trees plus numerous human communities, it is also one of the world's biggest carbon sinks. On this first episode of a new season of Mongabay Explores, we take…
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Sumatra, Bonus: Can young Indonesians help their iconic elephants survive?
Leif Cocks returns to the podcast to discuss the status of the Sumatran elephant, a critically endangered species that we discussed with him in season 2, which is estimated to have less than 10 years to find a conservation solution or face extinction: he says the ranks of passionate, young...
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Sumatra, Bonus Ep: She's here! Rare Sumatran rhino calf born
Indonesia's Ministry of Environment and Forestry recently announced the birth of an incredibly rare Sumatran rhino calf at a captive breeding facility at Way Kambas National Park in Indonesia's Lampung province. For this bonus episode of Mongabay Explores, we speak with Mongabay's senior staff...
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New Guinea, Part 7: Galip nut drives community empowerment and forest conservation
By 2025 the global, edible nut industry will be worth an estimated $2 billion. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), the traditional and plentiful staple, the galip nut (Canarium indicum), holds promise of tapping into that demand. Its relative ease of access for smallholder (non-commercial) farms means a…
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New Guinea, Part 6: Who is destroying these rainforests? The Tanah Merah mystery.
The Tanah Merah project sits in the heart of New Guinea covering 2,800 square kilometers (1,100 square miles). Roughly twice the size of Greater London, it threatens not only dense, primary, tropical rainforest and Indigenous land, but also could release as much carbon as the U.S. state of…
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New Guinea, Part 5: 'Ghosts of the rainforest'
New Guinea's dense tropical montane forests are home to 12 of 14 tree kangaroo species. Over the past couple of decades, conservationists have leveraged these charismatic, intelligent marsupials to spearhead community development, conservation efforts, and the establishment of protected areas. In...
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New Guinea, Part 4: A long and winding road
Spanning over 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) and being built over the course of decades, the Trans-Papua Highway cuts across the entire length of Indonesian New Guinea's two provinces, including 7 key protected areas. While the project is nearly complete, experts warn it will cost billions…
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New Guinea, Part 3: Defending paradise
New Guinea is home to the third-largest tropical rainforest in the world—of which 80% is still intact. The two-nation island also contains 44 species of unique birds-of-paradise and dense biodiverse regions unlike anywhere else on the planet. Because of its one-of-a-kind biodiversity, and...
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New Guinea, Part 2: 'Carbon cowboys' and illegal logging
Since 2014, Papua New Guinea has been the world's largest tropical timber exporter: more than 70% of that is considered illegal. Timber companies continue to possess land originally owned by local Indigenous communities through legal loopholes: while the carbon market has gained popularity as an...
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New Guinea, Part 1: Protecting unparalleled biodiversity
New Guinea is one of the most most biodiverse regions on the planet and also the world's largest tropical island. It makes up less than 0.5% of the world's landmass, but is estimated to contain as much as 10% of global biodiversity. To unpack the vast biodiversity of New Guinea, conservation...
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Sumatra, Part 10: Solutions and optimism that drive conservation
'I'm amazed how resilient, adaptable and optimistic the people of Sumatra are,' conservationist and HAkA Sumatra founder Farwiza Farhan says in the first moments of this episode about the women and communities she works with during the final episode of Mongabay's special series on Sumatra. The...
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Sumatra, Part 9: Restoration for peat's sake
Once drained for palm oil or other agricultural uses, Indonesia's peatlands become very fire prone, putting people and rich flora and fauna--from orchids to orangutans--at risk. Over a million hectares of carbon-rich peatlands burned in Indonesia in 2019, creating a public health crisis not seen...
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Sumatra, Part 8: Where are the rhinos?
The Sumatran rhino is a ridiculously cute but cryptic species that teeters on the brink: with an estimated 80 individuals left in the wilds of its super dense rainforest home, experts are also divided on *where* they are. With conflicting and sometimes misleading data on their whereabouts, it is...
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Sumatra, Part 7: Omens and optimism for orangutans
The Sumatran orangutan is a lowland species that has adapted to life among this Indonesian island's highlands, as it has lost favored habitat to an array of forces like deforestation, road projects, plus the trafficking of young ones to be sold as pets, so this great ape is increasingly in…
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Sumatra, Part 6: Elephants and eternity
The Sumatran elephant is a small species of Asian elephant whose numbers are dwindling as their lowland forest habitats are converted to crops like oil palms. Experts say that Indonesia has 10 years to turn this trend around and save them from the eternity of extinction--and that doing so will…
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Sumatra, Part 5: Tiger on the highway
The wildlife rich island of Sumatra is experiencing a road building boom, causing some of its iconic creatures to be seen by construction workers: a photo of a Sumatran tiger crossing a highway work-site went viral this summer, for example. This smallest of all tiger subspecies still needs its...
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Sumatra, Part 4: Will the world's newest great ape species face a dammed future?
North Sumatra is home to 1 of only 8 known great ape species in the world, the newly described Tapanuli orangutan, first classified in 2017 after its habits and DNA proved them to be unique. As with many animals in Sumatra, they are amazing creatures that are critically threatened, with a maximum...
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Sumatra, Part 3: Deforestation demystified
Sumatra contains some of the largest tracts of intact rainforest left in the world, but it's at the center of a complicated web of deforestation drivers, many of which began during the Dutch colonial era and are now spurred further by corruption and the global demand for cheap palm oil used in a...
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Sumatra, Part 2: Saving the singing rhino
Sumatran rhinos are unlike anything else in this world: small in stature and docile by nature, they sport a coat of fur and sing songs reminiscent of a dolphin. In other words, this ancient species surprises and enchants anyone lucky enough to encounter it. But Sumatran rhinos are also one of the...
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Sumatra, Part 1: A land like no other
"Sumatra is like a fossil relic of rare species...a giant, rhino horn-shaped island blanketed in the richest rainforest you can imagine...there's nothing like it," one of our guests declares. The 6th largest island in the world and the 2nd largest economy in Indonesia, Sumatra is the only place…
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The Great Salamander Pandemic, Part 6: Hellbenders and super spreaders
Hellbenders are North America's largest salamanders, living in rivers and growing to an incredible length of over two feet. Eastern newts are tiny and terrestrial, but both are susceptible to a fungal pathogen called Bsal. While Bsal has yet to make an appearance in the global hotspot of…
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The Great Salamander Pandemic, Part 5: Policy possibilities?
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service imposed a trade ban on 201 salamander species in 2016 in order to prevent the import of the the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans ('Bsal') which could be a major threat to the world's salamander hotspot of North America (and the U.S. in...
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The Great Salamander Pandemic, Part 4: The 'Bsal battalion'
North America (and the US in particular) is the world's hotspot of salamander diversity, hosting about 1/3 of all species. Researchers think that about half of these may be susceptible to a deadly fungus called Bsal, and believe it's a matter of time before it gets to North America. If and when…
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The Great Salamander Pandemic, Part 3: On the Hunt
Reporter Benji Jones and wildlife disease ecologist with U.S. Geological Survey, Daniel Grear, join this third episode to discuss the hunt for Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) in North America, which Benji has described as "searching for a needle in a haystack except the needle is…
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The Great Salamander Pandemic, Part 2: Great diversity and danger
How big a role do these ubiquitous animals play in the environment, and what would it mean to forest biodiversity, climate change, and forest food chains to lose whole populations of salamanders? This second episode of Mongabay Explores' first season tackles these important questions with Senior...
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The Great Salamander Pandemic, Part 1: Are We Ready?
You may not have heard about 'Bsal' before, but it nearly wiped out a population of salamanders in Europe, and scientists worry it could invade the United States--the home of the world's greatest diversity of salamanders--next. Is the U.S. ready for Bsal, and can a pandemic in this global...
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Mongabay Explores Trailer
Mongabay Explores is a podcast series diving deep into the world's unique places and species – from areas of amazing natural heritage to environmental challenges and conservation solutions. We've explored the science behind the curiously large diversity of North American Salamanders, to the…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A podcast about the world's unique places and species – from areas of amazing natural heritage to environmental challenges and conservation solutions – hear inspiring conversations with experts, scientists, authors, and activists on Mongabay Explores.
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Mongabay.com
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Mongabay Explores have?
Mongabay Explores currently has 36 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Mongabay Explores about?
A podcast about the world's unique places and species – from areas of amazing natural heritage to environmental challenges and conservation solutions – hear inspiring conversations with experts, scientists, authors, and activists on Mongabay Explores.
How often does Mongabay Explores release new episodes?
Mongabay Explores has 36 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Mongabay Explores?
You can listen to Mongabay Explores on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Mongabay Explores?
Mongabay Explores is created and hosted by Mongabay.com.
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