Erik Hoffner
@erikhoffner.bsky.social
Editor, photojournalist & award-winning podcast producer for nonprofit news outlet @Mongabay. Member of Society of Envi Journalists & Vermont Center for Photography
Pinned
Indigenous leaders killed as narco airstrips cut into their Amazon territories
Mongabay and Earth Genome detected 67 clandestine airstrips used for transporting drugs in the Peruvian regions of Ucayali, Huánuco and Pasco. The analysis used artificial intelligence (AI) and satell...
news.mongabay.com
Our Latin America bureau @mongabaylatam.bsky.social won the Global Shining Light award last night 🏆 💯
One of the highest honors in investigative journalism, it's given at the annual @gijn.org conference
Their winning project moved Peruvian officials to protect land defenders in the Amazon:
One of the highest honors in investigative journalism, it's given at the annual @gijn.org conference
Their winning project moved Peruvian officials to protect land defenders in the Amazon:
Reposted by Erik Hoffner
Researchers are developing solutions to help Brazil nut collectors in the Amazon Rainforest reduce the physical toll of the trade.
@nandawenzel.bsky.social for @mongabay.com
news.mongabay.com/2025/11/braz...
@nandawenzel.bsky.social for @mongabay.com
news.mongabay.com/2025/11/braz...
Brazil nut hauling effort gets easier with zip lines and ‘Amazon Waze’
Lugging 50-kilo bags through the rainforest’s rough terrain is a vital piece of the nut trade, but could soon change.
news.mongabay.com
November 26, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Researchers are developing solutions to help Brazil nut collectors in the Amazon Rainforest reduce the physical toll of the trade.
@nandawenzel.bsky.social for @mongabay.com
news.mongabay.com/2025/11/braz...
@nandawenzel.bsky.social for @mongabay.com
news.mongabay.com/2025/11/braz...
“It would be really great if we could get some solar energy before the Sun rises and after sunset, because then you could actually charge higher prices and make a lot more money.”
...at the expense of wildlife, the beauty/wonder of the night sky, etc:
...at the expense of wildlife, the beauty/wonder of the night sky, etc:
FCC should stop this before launch
“Give us 4 minutes. If everyone hates it, we can turn it off,” they say, but once up there, would they?
Beaming a 'sun spotlight' anywhere on earth has nasty military applications & unknown (bad) effects on wildlife, just to boost #solar energy output further 🤔
“Give us 4 minutes. If everyone hates it, we can turn it off,” they say, but once up there, would they?
Beaming a 'sun spotlight' anywhere on earth has nasty military applications & unknown (bad) effects on wildlife, just to boost #solar energy output further 🤔
A New Kind of Satellite Could Damage Your Eyes
Reflect Orbital's gigantic satellites could harm our eyes, alter sleep patterns, and block out the starry sky.
skyandtelescope.org
November 26, 2025 at 2:56 PM
“It would be really great if we could get some solar energy before the Sun rises and after sunset, because then you could actually charge higher prices and make a lot more money.”
...at the expense of wildlife, the beauty/wonder of the night sky, etc:
...at the expense of wildlife, the beauty/wonder of the night sky, etc:
Reposted by Erik Hoffner
This week on the Newscast I speak with Nonette Royo, executive director of The Tenure Facility, a group of lawyers that have made progress in securing land rights for local and Indigenous peoples' land covering 34 million hectares, an area larger than Greece.
news.mongabay.com/podcast/2025...
news.mongabay.com/podcast/2025...
Rights to millions of hectares of Indigenous & local communities’ lands restored by ‘barefoot lawyers’
Nonette Royo is a lawyer from the Philippines and executive director of The Tenure Facility, a group of “barefoot lawyers” working to secure land tenure for Indigenous, local and Afro-descendant commu...
news.mongabay.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:31 PM
This week on the Newscast I speak with Nonette Royo, executive director of The Tenure Facility, a group of lawyers that have made progress in securing land rights for local and Indigenous peoples' land covering 34 million hectares, an area larger than Greece.
news.mongabay.com/podcast/2025...
news.mongabay.com/podcast/2025...
FCC should stop this before launch
“Give us 4 minutes. If everyone hates it, we can turn it off,” they say, but once up there, would they?
Beaming a 'sun spotlight' anywhere on earth has nasty military applications & unknown (bad) effects on wildlife, just to boost #solar energy output further 🤔
“Give us 4 minutes. If everyone hates it, we can turn it off,” they say, but once up there, would they?
Beaming a 'sun spotlight' anywhere on earth has nasty military applications & unknown (bad) effects on wildlife, just to boost #solar energy output further 🤔
A New Kind of Satellite Could Damage Your Eyes
Reflect Orbital's gigantic satellites could harm our eyes, alter sleep patterns, and block out the starry sky.
skyandtelescope.org
November 26, 2025 at 1:25 PM
FCC should stop this before launch
“Give us 4 minutes. If everyone hates it, we can turn it off,” they say, but once up there, would they?
Beaming a 'sun spotlight' anywhere on earth has nasty military applications & unknown (bad) effects on wildlife, just to boost #solar energy output further 🤔
“Give us 4 minutes. If everyone hates it, we can turn it off,” they say, but once up there, would they?
Beaming a 'sun spotlight' anywhere on earth has nasty military applications & unknown (bad) effects on wildlife, just to boost #solar energy output further 🤔
Reposted by Erik Hoffner
Remember last year, when bioGraphic and Hakai Magazine were both facing uncertain futures? Your donations saved the day--we raised $140,000 and lived to publish another day!
Now we need help balancing our 2026 budget. Please donate via the link below, and snag some cool stickers to boot!
Now we need help balancing our 2026 budget. Please donate via the link below, and snag some cool stickers to boot!
November 25, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Remember last year, when bioGraphic and Hakai Magazine were both facing uncertain futures? Your donations saved the day--we raised $140,000 and lived to publish another day!
Now we need help balancing our 2026 budget. Please donate via the link below, and snag some cool stickers to boot!
Now we need help balancing our 2026 budget. Please donate via the link below, and snag some cool stickers to boot!
Reposted by Erik Hoffner
Iceland has designated the potential collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) a national security concern and an existential threat.
Yet still fossil fuel usage continues to grow, and they barely agreed to *name* the problem at #COP30.
www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
Yet still fossil fuel usage continues to grow, and they barely agreed to *name* the problem at #COP30.
www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
Iceland deems possible Atlantic current collapse a security risk
Iceland has designated the potential collapse of a major Atlantic Ocean current system a national security concern and an existential threat, enabling its government to strategize for worst-case scenarios, the country's climate minister told Reuters.
www.reuters.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Iceland has designated the potential collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) a national security concern and an existential threat.
Yet still fossil fuel usage continues to grow, and they barely agreed to *name* the problem at #COP30.
www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
Yet still fossil fuel usage continues to grow, and they barely agreed to *name* the problem at #COP30.
www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
Reposted by Erik Hoffner
Bolsonaro and fellow coup-conspirators (such as the former army and navy commanders) start their prison sentences today
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Jair Bolsonaro ordered to start 27-year prison term for plotting Brazil coup
Ex-president to start serving term in 12 sq metre bedroom in police base in Brasília after time for appeals elapses
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Bolsonaro and fellow coup-conspirators (such as the former army and navy commanders) start their prison sentences today
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Reposted by Erik Hoffner
Rich nations blamed operational rifts and budget constraints to hold off funding TFFF, a struggle that reflects a worldwide crisis in climate finance; nearly one-third of the funds raised by global forest mechanisms remain undisbursed.
Carla Ruas on @mongabay.com
news.mongabay.com/2025/11/braz...
Carla Ruas on @mongabay.com
news.mongabay.com/2025/11/braz...
Brazil’s forest fund faces a slow takeoff at COP30 despite initial support
Operational rifts and budget constraints choked ambitious funding from rich nations for TFFF at Belém’s summit.
news.mongabay.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Rich nations blamed operational rifts and budget constraints to hold off funding TFFF, a struggle that reflects a worldwide crisis in climate finance; nearly one-third of the funds raised by global forest mechanisms remain undisbursed.
Carla Ruas on @mongabay.com
news.mongabay.com/2025/11/braz...
Carla Ruas on @mongabay.com
news.mongabay.com/2025/11/braz...
Reposted by Erik Hoffner
Finally published a major story I've been working on for some time, with my colleague @atikarehman.bsky.social and @sushmitaw.bsky.social.
Leaked documents have revealed Amazon's "dirty energy empire", as families in Mumbai suffer.
www.source-material.org/amazon-data-...
Leaked documents have revealed Amazon's "dirty energy empire", as families in Mumbai suffer.
www.source-material.org/amazon-data-...
Leak reveals Amazon’s hidden data centres' impact on emissions
Soaring electricity demand in Mumbai, where Amazon has 16 data centres, has led to crumbling coal power stations being kept open.
www.source-material.org
November 25, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Finally published a major story I've been working on for some time, with my colleague @atikarehman.bsky.social and @sushmitaw.bsky.social.
Leaked documents have revealed Amazon's "dirty energy empire", as families in Mumbai suffer.
www.source-material.org/amazon-data-...
Leaked documents have revealed Amazon's "dirty energy empire", as families in Mumbai suffer.
www.source-material.org/amazon-data-...
Reposted by Erik Hoffner
Founders on LinkedIn still seem to be struggling with the difference between telling people about their humble beginnings and admitting to straight up committing fraud.
November 24, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Founders on LinkedIn still seem to be struggling with the difference between telling people about their humble beginnings and admitting to straight up committing fraud.
Reposted by Erik Hoffner
"Letting the government control which journalists can cover the highest office in the land and setting rules about what those journalists can say or write is a direct attempt to undercut the First Amendment."- AP Executive Editor Julie Pace
apnews.com/article/asso...
apnews.com/article/asso...
OpEd: Executive Editor Julie Pace on why AP is standing for your right to speak freely
The executive editor of The Associated Press says the news organization is fighting for the right of the press and public to speak freely without being targeted by the government.
apnews.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:43 PM
"Letting the government control which journalists can cover the highest office in the land and setting rules about what those journalists can say or write is a direct attempt to undercut the First Amendment."- AP Executive Editor Julie Pace
apnews.com/article/asso...
apnews.com/article/asso...
Reposted by Erik Hoffner
Latest for @mongabay.com w. @andyball.bsky.social & @vantha.bsky.social uncovers a gold mine has poisoned the O'Ta Bouk River in Virachey National Park.
Water, soil & fish from the river are contaminated, sickening the Indigenous communities downstream who depend on the river for everything.
Water, soil & fish from the river are contaminated, sickening the Indigenous communities downstream who depend on the river for everything.
Toxic runoff from politically linked gold mine poisons Cambodian rivers, communities
*Sources have requested pseudonyms be used to protect their identity out of fear of retaliation from the government or mining companies BANGKOK, Thailand/RATANAKIRI, Cambodia — “When you touch the wat...
news.mongabay.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Latest for @mongabay.com w. @andyball.bsky.social & @vantha.bsky.social uncovers a gold mine has poisoned the O'Ta Bouk River in Virachey National Park.
Water, soil & fish from the river are contaminated, sickening the Indigenous communities downstream who depend on the river for everything.
Water, soil & fish from the river are contaminated, sickening the Indigenous communities downstream who depend on the river for everything.
Reposted by Erik Hoffner
Our Latin America bureau @mongabaylatam.bsky.social won the Global Shining Light award last night 🏆 💯
One of the highest honors in investigative journalism, it's given at the annual @gijn.org conference
Their winning project moved Peruvian officials to protect land defenders in the Amazon:
One of the highest honors in investigative journalism, it's given at the annual @gijn.org conference
Their winning project moved Peruvian officials to protect land defenders in the Amazon:
Indigenous leaders killed as narco airstrips cut into their Amazon territories
Mongabay and Earth Genome detected 67 clandestine airstrips used for transporting drugs in the Peruvian regions of Ucayali, Huánuco and Pasco. The analysis used artificial intelligence (AI) and satell...
news.mongabay.com
November 23, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Our Latin America bureau @mongabaylatam.bsky.social won the Global Shining Light award last night 🏆 💯
One of the highest honors in investigative journalism, it's given at the annual @gijn.org conference
Their winning project moved Peruvian officials to protect land defenders in the Amazon:
One of the highest honors in investigative journalism, it's given at the annual @gijn.org conference
Their winning project moved Peruvian officials to protect land defenders in the Amazon:
Reposted by Erik Hoffner
Congratulations to these guys! Fantastic to see this work being recognized.
Our Latin America bureau @mongabaylatam.bsky.social won the Global Shining Light award last night 🏆 💯
One of the highest honors in investigative journalism, it's given at the annual @gijn.org conference
Their winning project moved Peruvian officials to protect land defenders in the Amazon:
One of the highest honors in investigative journalism, it's given at the annual @gijn.org conference
Their winning project moved Peruvian officials to protect land defenders in the Amazon:
Indigenous leaders killed as narco airstrips cut into their Amazon territories
Mongabay and Earth Genome detected 67 clandestine airstrips used for transporting drugs in the Peruvian regions of Ucayali, Huánuco and Pasco. The analysis used artificial intelligence (AI) and satell...
news.mongabay.com
November 23, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Congratulations to these guys! Fantastic to see this work being recognized.
Reposted by Erik Hoffner
If you’re a journalist who’s still on Twitter, from now on in your writing you have to replace “the American people want” with “troll bots in Eastern Europe demand”
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
November 23, 2025 at 4:27 PM
If you’re a journalist who’s still on Twitter, from now on in your writing you have to replace “the American people want” with “troll bots in Eastern Europe demand”
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
Our Latin America bureau @mongabaylatam.bsky.social won the Global Shining Light award last night 🏆 💯
One of the highest honors in investigative journalism, it's given at the annual @gijn.org conference
Their winning project moved Peruvian officials to protect land defenders in the Amazon:
One of the highest honors in investigative journalism, it's given at the annual @gijn.org conference
Their winning project moved Peruvian officials to protect land defenders in the Amazon:
Indigenous leaders killed as narco airstrips cut into their Amazon territories
Mongabay and Earth Genome detected 67 clandestine airstrips used for transporting drugs in the Peruvian regions of Ucayali, Huánuco and Pasco. The analysis used artificial intelligence (AI) and satell...
news.mongabay.com
November 23, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Our Latin America bureau @mongabaylatam.bsky.social won the Global Shining Light award last night 🏆 💯
One of the highest honors in investigative journalism, it's given at the annual @gijn.org conference
Their winning project moved Peruvian officials to protect land defenders in the Amazon:
One of the highest honors in investigative journalism, it's given at the annual @gijn.org conference
Their winning project moved Peruvian officials to protect land defenders in the Amazon:
Reposted by Erik Hoffner
As a photographer I’m always looking for a new angle
Extreme fisheye lens on a phone can provide that, with all of beauty’s imperfections
Full set at Instagram: www.instagram.com/erikhoffner
Extreme fisheye lens on a phone can provide that, with all of beauty’s imperfections
Full set at Instagram: www.instagram.com/erikhoffner
November 23, 2025 at 1:42 PM
As a photographer I’m always looking for a new angle
Extreme fisheye lens on a phone can provide that, with all of beauty’s imperfections
Full set at Instagram: www.instagram.com/erikhoffner
Extreme fisheye lens on a phone can provide that, with all of beauty’s imperfections
Full set at Instagram: www.instagram.com/erikhoffner
Reposted by Erik Hoffner
I served as our Ambassador in Ukraine for 3 years under Putin’s missiles and drones but resigned when Trump kept appeasing Putin. America does not bow to dictators. It’s not who we are.
Here's why this Trump-Putin so-called "peace plan" is a disaster:
Here's why this Trump-Putin so-called "peace plan" is a disaster:
November 21, 2025 at 4:51 PM
I served as our Ambassador in Ukraine for 3 years under Putin’s missiles and drones but resigned when Trump kept appeasing Putin. America does not bow to dictators. It’s not who we are.
Here's why this Trump-Putin so-called "peace plan" is a disaster:
Here's why this Trump-Putin so-called "peace plan" is a disaster:
Reposted by Erik Hoffner
"Brazil’s former far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has been arrested at his villa in the capital, Brasília, amid suspicions he was poised to abscond to a foreign embassy to avoid going to prison for masterminding a military coup."
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Brazilian police arrest Bolsonaro amid suspicions he was about to flee
Politician reportedly taken from his villa into custody at a federal police base about 7 miles from presidential palace
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 12:44 PM
"Brazil’s former far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has been arrested at his villa in the capital, Brasília, amid suspicions he was poised to abscond to a foreign embassy to avoid going to prison for masterminding a military coup."
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Reposted by Erik Hoffner
"Where is their humanity?"
Developing country negotiators speak candidly about meetings behind closed doors at the #COP30 climate summit
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Developing country negotiators speak candidly about meetings behind closed doors at the #COP30 climate summit
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘It’s like arguing with robots’: negotiators on the state of Cop30 talks
Three representatives of developing countries speak candidly about meetings behind closed doors in Belém
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:52 PM
"Where is their humanity?"
Developing country negotiators speak candidly about meetings behind closed doors at the #COP30 climate summit
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Developing country negotiators speak candidly about meetings behind closed doors at the #COP30 climate summit
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
“If the Amazon COP ends with a decision that ignores Indigenous rights and props up offset markets that science says cannot work, it will squander the moral clarity of this moment,” a new op-ed at @mongabay.com by @ran.org argues
Forests cannot be used as offsets, as the COP30 Science Council said:
Forests cannot be used as offsets, as the COP30 Science Council said:
It’s time to end the carbon offset era, COP30 scientists & communities say (commentary)
At COP30 in Belém, the first climate summit held in the Amazon, something rare has happened. For years, the risks and failures of carbon offsetting have been dismissed as activist exaggeration or tech...
news.mongabay.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:52 PM
“If the Amazon COP ends with a decision that ignores Indigenous rights and props up offset markets that science says cannot work, it will squander the moral clarity of this moment,” a new op-ed at @mongabay.com by @ran.org argues
Forests cannot be used as offsets, as the COP30 Science Council said:
Forests cannot be used as offsets, as the COP30 Science Council said:
Reposted by Erik Hoffner
The CDC has altered its website on autism and vaccines, removing unequivocal statements that immunizations don’t cause the neurodevelopmental disorder and replacing them with inaccurate and misleading information. @corinnepurtill.bsky.social @jennyagold.bsky.social www.latimes.com/science/stor...
CDC replaces website on vaccines and autism with false and misleading statements
The CDC removed its own research into the safety of vaccines and replaced it with inaccurate statements.
www.latimes.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:37 AM
The CDC has altered its website on autism and vaccines, removing unequivocal statements that immunizations don’t cause the neurodevelopmental disorder and replacing them with inaccurate and misleading information. @corinnepurtill.bsky.social @jennyagold.bsky.social www.latimes.com/science/stor...
Reposted by Erik Hoffner
Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett A. Butler has been announced a winner of this year’s Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize. The annual prize is awarded to “outstanding leaders whose work is courageous, innovative, impactful, rooted in universal values, and global in perspective."
Mongabay founder Rhett Butler wins Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Prize
Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett A. Butler has been announced a winner of this year’s Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize. The annual prize is awarded to “outstanding leaders whose work is…
news.mongabay.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett A. Butler has been announced a winner of this year’s Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize. The annual prize is awarded to “outstanding leaders whose work is courageous, innovative, impactful, rooted in universal values, and global in perspective."
Reposted by Erik Hoffner
Nature is not an optional “extra” in the fight against climate change: It is a living system that underpins our survival.
news.mongabay.com/2025/11/no-b...
news.mongabay.com/2025/11/no-b...
No, Bill Gates, we don’t have to choose between people & planet (commentary)
Bill Gates has long been a leading voice in the global response to human health and climate change. His climate investments and advocacy have helped drive innovation, expand access to clean energy and...
news.mongabay.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Nature is not an optional “extra” in the fight against climate change: It is a living system that underpins our survival.
news.mongabay.com/2025/11/no-b...
news.mongabay.com/2025/11/no-b...