Nance

Trump administration reverses decision to scrap ocean monitoring system

Move to dismantle $368m sea observatory initiative faced opposition from experts and lawmakers The Donald Trump administration has reversed its decision to dismantle a $368m deep-sea observation system following an outcry from lawmakers and ocean experts. On Thursday, the National Science Foundation announced that it would halt plans to dismantle the Ocean Observatories Initiative, stating: “effective immediately, [it] will not proceed with further removal or descoping of equipment from the remaining arrays and will continue operations including planned maintenance”. Continue reading...

The Guardian Environment · 6/18/2026

Stingless bees in Peru become the first insects with legal rights. Will it happen globally?

Two municipalities in the Peruvian Amazon have granted native stingless bees the legal right to exist, thrive and be represented in court. This is the first time any insect has been recognized as a rights-bearing entity anywhere in the world, according to a correspondence published in Nature. The ordinances passed in the municipalities of Satipo […]

Mongabay · 6/17/2026

Global ocean faces ‘deepening crisis,’ but governance is improving: UN report

From pollution to overfishing to the escalating effects of climate change, human activities are placing mounting pressure on the world ocean, fueling what U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres describes as a “deepening crisis.” Those warnings are detailed in the third U.N. World Ocean Assessment, released June 8 and authored by approximately 600 experts from 86 countries. […]

Mongabay · 6/12/2026

Why are people buying pet ants?

Move over cats and dogs. There’s a new hot favorite pet in town: ants. More and more people are raising pet ants around the world. They are small, low-maintenance and display complex behaviors that fascinate humans. But this fascination is leading to a bigger issue: an underground global trade of ants. Wild ants are now […]

Mongabay · 5/23/2026

Sour on the ‘blue economy,’ small-scale fishers seek ‘blue justice’ instead

Globally, the “blue economy” dominates discussions of ocean-related projects. At the United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC) in France in June 2025, references to the blue economy abounded, and the government of Monaco co-sponsored a two-day event on the blue economy and finance that featured world-famous dignitaries. The tagline for the upcoming Ocean Impact Summit in […]

Mongabay · 5/12/2026

Ocean philanthropy: small sums for a vast domain

For a realm that covers most of the planet, the ocean attracts a modest share of charitable attention. In philanthropic terms, it remains a niche cause: widely discussed, but thinly financed. That gap has narrowed in recent years, though only slightly and from a low base. Estimates suggest that ocean-focused philanthropy accounts for well under […]

Mongabay · 5/11/2026