Adventure Diaries

Zambian authorities have ordered Konkola Copper Mines to assess its infrastructure for structural failures and clean areas affected by pollution after residents downstream of the company’s tailings plant reported changes in the Kafue River’s colour, taste and smell on 28 September.

The pollution was traced to a leaking pipe at KCM’s tailings leach plant and an overf...

More than 61.5 million hectares of protected and conserved areas across tropical countries overlap with ongoing and planned oil and gas blocks, according to a report released 8 October by Earth Insight and a coalition of conservation organisations. Another 42.7 million hectares of protected lands overlap with mining blocks or concessions.

The analysis, released two ...

Maputo National Park shelters migratory birds that travel thousands of kilometres between Eurasian breeding grounds and southern African wintering zones, providing critical coastal habitat as nearly half the world’s assessed migratory bird species decline. The 1,700-square-kilometre protected area in southern Mozambique combines coastal lagoons, wetlands, mangroves, intertida...

A search for one of the world’s rarest large mammals now depends on donations secured month by month after a funding collapse nearly ended fieldwork in October. The Saola Foundation, which organises the hunt for the saola in Laos, secured funds to resume operations this month largely through zoo contributions, but the long-term future of the effort remains uncertain.

The dissolution of USAID in early 2025 removed $1 billion annually from international conservation budgets, triggering sudden fiscal crises for organisations across the world. Total international development aid fell by roughly a quarter last year, driven by political forces and financial pressures affecting both American and European donor budgets.

The collapse rep...