JAKARTA — Wisye Sahambangung is a fisher, community leader, and mangrove conservationist from Sarawet, a coastal Indonesian village in North Sulawesi province. Since 2022, the 45-year-old has led Rhizopora, a women’s group that restores mangroves and helps create economic opportunities for women in the village. Rhizopora, named after the Rhizophora genus of mangrove trees, has become a community-based conservation movement. Its members collect mangrove propagules and seedlings, support restoration projects, monitor coastal areas, and teach other villagers how to plant mangroves. They revive the mangrove forest that is home to crabs and fish, which are their primary source of income. In collaboration with the NGOs Yayasan Bumi Tangguh and CARE Indonesia, Rhizopora helped plant 30,000 mangrove trees during an eight-month restoration project this year. For Wisye, protecting mangroves is about protecting the people who depend on the coast. The group sells seedlings, collects and sells mud crabs, and runs savings-and-loans activities that boost their incomes. Her work has taken her from Sarawet’s muddy coastal areas to an international forum in Australia, where she shared the women’s experiences of protecting their coastal environment. “Since Rhizopora was established, Sarawet has become more widely known nationally and internationally,” she said proudly. Wisye Sahambangung in Australia during her trip to Melbourne for Women Deliver 2026. Image courtesy of Wisye Sahambangung. Wisye spoke with Mongabay via video call about how she leads Rhizopora in protecting coastal ecosystems while creating income opportunities for women in the community, the challenges of community-led conservation, and the impact on…This article was originally published on Mongabay

SEOUL — Wedged between skyscrapers and a bustling passenger ferry port in Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city, a celebrity of sorts is drawing thousands of admirers as it has been swimming for weeks now in a shallow city canal. Bukangi, a shark named after the waterfront park where she is trapped, has attracted nearly 1.4 million spectators since she was first spotted in mid-September in the southeastern coastal city, according to local authorities. At least two failed attempts to guide the shark from the canal to the open sea have added to the spectacle. Meanwhile, online videos of the marine creature swimming amid Busan’s urban landscape have gone viral on social media. The 3-meter (10-foot) female dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus), categorized as endangered on the IUCN Red List, is so popular that she has been named an official “honorary ambassador” to the city. On Oct. 6, South Korea’s National Institute of Fisheries Sciences (NIFS) identified Bukangi as a dusky shark from the ridge between its dorsal fins. Image by NIFS, Fisheries Resources Research Department via Wikimedia Commons. The Busan city government deploys more than 100 workers daily to monitor her condition and watch out for signs of poor health. Meanwhile, the city’s baseball team released special edition merchandise in her likeness, with a local distillery offering the same treatment on its bottles of soju rice liquor. The public has “developed a sense of affection” for Bukangi, said Hong Sun-kee, director of the Institution for Marine and Island Cultures at Mokpo…This article was originally published on Mongabay

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s coastal waters are home to 27 species of marine mammals. These include protected species like the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis), Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris), Indo-Pacific finless porpoises (Neophocaena phocaenoides), dugongs (Dugong dugon) and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus). But few Malaysians know about these sea animals, and even fewer are aware that there is a scientist who studies the vocal communications of these aquatic mammals. Meet Saliza Bono, the bioacoustics officer at MareCet, the country’s only NGO dedicated to research and conservation of marine mammals. Saliza, 32, who also leads the NGO’s Langkawi Dolphin Research Project, studies marine mammal sounds, as she believes learning about these animals is the first step toward saving them. Her research focuses on the impacts of underwater noise, particularly on Indo-Pacific humpback and Irrawaddy dolphins in Malaysia. Saliza Bono is a bioacoustician at Malaysia’s only marine mammal conservation organization, MareCet. Image courtesy of MareCet. In an interview with Mongabay via video call, the marine biologist discusses her journey into bioacoustics, how underwater noise pollution impacts dolphin behavior and the challenges of her research. Mongabay: How did you get interested in becoming a bioacoustician? Saliza Bono: I think I saw my very first dolphin when I was in Australia. As a 10-year-old, I was amazed at how these are mammals. They have lungs like us but live underwater. I was so curious, and I wanted to know more. Then I heard the term “marine scientist,” and I knew I wanted to…This article was originally published on Mongabay

BANGKOK — Marine biologist and photojournalist Sirachai “Shin” Arunrugstichai has taken many notable photographs in Thailand, from white bleached coral reefs to beaches blackened by oil spills. He shot the viral, award-winning photo of orphan baby dugong (Dugong dugon) Marium being hugged by her carer. Many of Shin’s works have ignited public awareness of marine conservation in Thailand. He recently took part in a scientific study on necrophilia behavior in squids, which was inspired by his photographs. In an interview with Mongabay, Shin, 39, talks about his career journey, recent research and how his work can make a difference. Trained as a marine biologist, Thai photojournalist Sirachai Arunrugstichai has a passion for taking pictures of marine wildlife and telling stories through photographs. Image courtesy of Pratch Rujivanarom. Mongabay: Can you tell me how the research about necrophilia behavior in squid began? Sirachai Arunrugstichai: I was working at Mergui Archipelago in Myanmar from 2019 to 2020. We found ghost fishing nets wrapped around an entire reef. So, our team went diving to retrieve the net. I caught a glimpse of what appeared to be two squids mating. I thought it was strange, so I swam closer. I found that one squid was trapped in the net while another was outside, mating with it. I felt it was very unusual that a dying squid would still be mating. However, after I finished photographing them, I noticed that the trapped squid was actually already decaying. Its tentacles were completely severed, and there were…This article was originally published on Mongabay

PHNOM PENH — In Cambodia’s Koh Sdach archipelago, where turquoise waters hide mounting environmental pressures from overfishing and plastic waste to climate change, one local leader has turned grassroots action into a model for marine conservation. Koh Sdach commune deputy chief Sorn Srenh, a marine advocate who studied fishery science at the Royal University of Agriculture in Phnom Penh, stands at the intersection of science, policy, and community advocacy. For years, the 38-year-old has worked relentlessly with the fishing community to protect their livelihoods while pushing for sustainable practices that safeguard marine biodiversity. His efforts, ranging from organizing community capacity to lobbying for stronger local enforcement of fishing regulations, have made him a trusted voice among villagers and a rare example of commune-level leadership driving tangible environmental change. For years, Srenh has also been working with the Cambodian government’s Fisheries Administration and the UK-based NGO Fauna & Flora to help establish Koh Sdach’s community fisheries management area, known as a Marine Fisheries Management Area (MFMA). In a phone interview with Mongabay, Srenh shared his vision for community-led conservation, the challenges of balancing economic survival with ecological stewardship, and why protecting Cambodia’s seas matters far beyond its shores. Fishers in Koh Sdach, Cambodia, on July 19, 2026. Image by Eung Sea for Mongabay. Mongabay: Can you describe your journey from studying fishery science to becoming a grassroots conservation leader in Koh Sdach? What encourages you to protect marine ecosystems? Sorn Srenh: I love fisheries management because of a formative experience in…This article was originally published on Mongabay

SEOUL — At 2 a.m. one night, two Indonesian fishers were gripping a flimsy, makeshift rope, hanging on for dear life. The precarious rope dangled from the eighth-floor window of a motel room overlooking a dark alley in the South Korean port city of Busan, swinging left and right with the wind. The men had been locked up in that room for nearly 24 hours, and they were trying to make their escape. But the crude rope, made out of tied bed sheets, unraveled, sending the men plunging. One fell to his death, hitting the pavement headfirst. The other survived with a broken leg, according to Lee Han-sook, director of the Migration and Human Rights Institute, a Busan-based civic group. She was briefed on the July 21 incident by the survivor, whom she declined to name. According to activists, the incident served as one of the last straws that prompted the government to boost efforts to crack down on human trafficking, especially abuses against migrant workers in the country’s $7.5 billion fishing industry. On Sept. 2, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced they had amended national guidelines on human trafficking to make it easier for law enforcement officials to spot and stop forced labor and other abuses in the fishing industry. The new guidelines outline specific situations in which the likelihood of human rights abuse is high, such as seeing workers who have physical injuries being left untreated, workers who have…This article was originally published on Mongabay

HONG KONG — “Spiderman … Tom Holland,” two secondary school boys repeated to each other as they watched conservationist Harry Wong nimbly climb a tall tree at their school, St. Louis School, in downtown Hong Kong. On a humid September afternoon, Wong installed a nest box for yellow-crested cockatoos (Cacatua sulphurea) on a candlenut tree (Aleurites moluccanus). Equipped with a harness and ropes, he climbed up the tree, installed the box, and quickly rappelled down. Wong and Astrid Andersson, a biologist and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), are the dynamic duo behind HK Cockatoo Watch, a conservation project that seeks to protect the city’s feral yellow-crested cockatoos. Arborist and conservationist Harry Wong installs a nest box for yellow-crested cockatoos on a tree at St. Louis School in Hong Kong on Sept. 7, 2026. Image by Yenni Kwok/Mongabay. Yellow-crested cockatoos are considered to be critically endangered, with fewer than 2,000 individuals remaining in their native range in eastern Indonesia and Timor-Leste. However, few people know that Hong Kong is home to the largest wild population of the species outside the two Southeast Asian countries. There are roughly 200 cockatoos in the city, or about 10% of the global wild population, believed to be descendants of released or escaped pets. The number is stable, thanks to the lack of natural predators and strict legal protection. A recent DNA analysis study by Andersson and her research team found that Hong Kong’s feral cockatoos have unexpectedly high genetic diversity and…This article was originally published on Mongabay

HONG KONG — On a mid-September day, Wong Ping-kuong, 74, and his colleagues worked quickly to spray clean an outdoor staircase and elevator landing. It was only mid-morning, but already hot. The temperature later rose to 31°Celsius (87.8°Fahrenheit). Wong has felt the impact of climate change in the half-century that he has worked as a construction worker and later an outdoor cleaner. “It’s gotten hotter. Before, I didn’t sweat; now my back is often covered with sweat,” he told Mongabay. Wong and his colleagues consider themselves lucky. They say when temperatures are high, they can go inside their truck, turn on the AC, and cool down a little. However, heatstroke can occur quickly, setting in within 10-15 minutes. Outdoor workers like Wong are exposed to increasing risks of heat-stress-related health problems, such as dizziness, headache, nausea, heatstroke, or acutely worsening pre-existing chronic conditions such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Like many places around the world, Hong Kong is suffering from extreme temperatures. Official figures show it is warming by nearly half a degree Celsius per decade. The city also experiences longer and hotter summer months, with the number of “very hot days” quadrupling since the 2000s, data from the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) shows. On Aug. 9, HKO logged 36.9°C (98.4°F), the highest temperature at its main monitoring station since record-keeping began in 1884. In the outskirts of Hong Kong, the weather service measured even higher temperatures that day: 39.8°C (103.6°F) — another record. Unlike other developed economies, Hong Kong…This article was originally published on Mongabay

CANBERRA — Australia has a problem with the very creature that is its official national symbol: The kangaroo. Endemic to Australia, they live across the country, from north to south, and from east to west. Australia has four main kangaroo species: The red kangaroo (Osphranter rufus), the largest of all species, mainly found in the outback through the Northern Territory; the western grey kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus), in the southeastern part; the eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus), in most eastern states, including Tasmania; and antilopine kangaroo (Osphranter antilopinus), in the northern part. Population surveys by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water estimate there are between 30 million and 50 million kangaroos in Australia. Their number fluctuates from year to year depending on drought periods, and it even exceeds the country’s 27.8 million human population. The abundance of the macropods across the country creates a conservation dilemma. They have been blamed for overgrazing and causing environmental damage such as soil degradation and biodiversity decline. Many Australian states have resorted to kangaroo culling. A recent culling in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which includes the federal capital Canberra, encapsulates the controversy about the policy. The Australian Capital Territory, home to an estimated 122,000 eastern grey kangaroos, has one of the highest recorded densities in Australia. Image by Shane Lin via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0). Record kill At 2,358 square kilometers (910 square miles), the ACT is only slightly smaller than Luxembourg. The territory, home to an estimated 122,000 eastern grey…This article was originally published on Mongabay