Mongabay

Mongabay.com is a web site that publishes news on environmental science, energy, and green design, and features extensive information on tropical rainforests, including pictures and deforestation statistics for countries of the world. It was founded in 1999 by economist Rhett Ayers Butler in order to increase "interest in and appreciation of wildlands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging local and global trends in technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development".[1] In recent years, to complement its US-based team, Mongabay has opened bureaus in Indonesia, Latin America, and India, reporting daily in Indonesian, Spanish, and English respectively. Mongabay's reporting is available in nine languages.

Mongabay Corporation
Founded1999
FounderRhett Ayers Butler
Type501(c)(3)
45-3714703
FocusConservation journalism
Location
Area served
Global
Key people
CEO Rhett Ayers Butler
Revenue
Donations, grants, and advertising
Employees
50 (Jun 2019)
Volunteers
over 150 (Jul 2016)
Websitemongabay.com

History

In an interview with Conjour, Butler said his passion for rainforests drove him to start Mongabay: "I was intrigued by the complexity of these ecosystems and how every species seemed to play a part. As I became more passionate about rainforests, I grew more concerned about their fate, including the threats they face."[2]

Etymology

The founder of the website explains that "mongabay" originated from an anglicized spelling and pronunciation of Nosy Mangabe, an island off the coast of Madagascar. He goes on to note that it is best known as "a preserve for the Aye-aye, a rare and unusual lemur famous for its bizarre appearance".

Business model

Mongabay.com is independent and unaffiliated with any organization. The site has been used as an information source by CNN, CBS, the Discovery Channel, NBC, UPI, Yahoo!, and other such outlets.

Revenue

All of Mongabay's content is free to access on its site, thanks to the volumes of visitors per month - as of January 2008, 2.5 million. In 2008, Butler said that the traffic brought the site $15,000 to $18,000 a month from AdSense,[3] but the decline in advertising revenue across the environmental media sector after the financial crisis, sharply reduced the site's income.[4] In 2012, Butler launched mongabay.org, a 501(c)(3) organization, to support Mongabay's education program and non-English reporting initiatives as well as expand its environmental reporting initiatives, including grants for journalists.[5] Mongabay phased out advertising on its news content in 2017.[6]

Publications

Academic journals

Mongabay.com formerly published Tropical Conservation Science, a peer-reviewed, open-access academic journal on the conservation of tropical forests and of other tropical ecosystems.[7] Since its inception in 2008, it has four issues a year, in March, June, September, and December. It used to provide opportunities for scientists in developing countries to publish their research in their native languages, but as of September 2012, Tropical Conservation Science publishes papers only in English. It has been published by SAGE Publications since August 2016.[8]

Other websites

On May 19, 2012, Mongabay.com launched an Indonesian language affiliate.[9] In June 2016, Mongabay launched a Spanish-language news service in Latin America.[10] And in January 2018, an Indian website was launched.[11]. In 2019, Mongabay established Mongabay-Brasil, a Portuguese-language bureau staffed by Brazilians. [12]

Non-profit
Mongabay's mascot is the Scale-crested pygmy tyrant (Lophotriccus pileatus), a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae

The Mongabayorg Corporation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California that raises awareness about social and environmental issues relating to forests and other ecosystems.[13] Mongabay.org was established in 2012 as the non-profit arm of Mongabay.com, an environmental science and conservation news web site launched in 1999.[14] In 2014, Mongabay.com's news production was shifted under Mongabay.org.[15]

By November 2015, Mongabay.org had three main program areas: environmental news production in English, Indonesian, and Spanish; Tropical Conservation Science,[16] an open-access academic journal that was acquired by SAGE Publications in August 2016;[17][18] and K-8 education. The Bay Area Tropical Forest Network, a social network in the San Francisco Bay Area,[19] is an additional project under Mongabay.org.

Mongabay.org is a member of the Global Investigative Journalism Network.[20]

History

Mongabay.org was founded in 2012 by conservation journalist Rhett Ayers Butler.[21] Butler established the non-profit due to his desire to expand the scope of Mongabay's environmental science and conservation news service.[15] By mid-2020, Mongabay was receiving 7 million unique visitors a month on its Mongabay.com and Mongabay.co.id web sites[22].

The first project under Mongabay.org was Mongabay-Indonesia,[9] an Indonesian-language environmental news service run by a team of journalists in Indonesia.[23][24] Within a year of launch, Mongabay-Indonesia was the most widely read Indonesian-language environmental news service.[25] By 2015, the site was drawing more than 500,000 unique visitors per month and had correspondents in more than 30 cities and towns across the archipelago.

Butler applied the Mongabay-Indonesia model to Mongabay's global operation in 2014, launching a network-based approach to covering environmental stories in English. The pilot project focused on using data from Global Forest Watch to develop stories about what was happening on the ground the world's forests, including deforestation, conversion to plantations, and conservation.[26][27] After the nine-month pilot produced over 180 stories in more than 40 countries, including articles that generated significant interest in policy circles,[28] the project was expanded to a range of other topics.[29] The network of paid English-language correspondents reached 50 by mid-2015.

Mongabay.org also provides small grants to journalists to help with travel and reporting costs for stories published in high-profile third party media.[30]

Acknowledgements and awards

In 2008, Mongabay was named by Time magazine as one of the best "green websites".[31] In 2014, the founder Rhett Ayers Butler became the first journalist to win the Field Museum's Parker-Gentry Award for contributions "in the field of conservation biology whose efforts have had a significant impact on preserving the world's natural heritage and whose actions and approach can serve as a model to others".[32] The website was also the winner of a Science Seeker award in the environment category.[33]

Finances

Mongabay.org relies primary on grants and donations to fund its activities.[34] Most grants come from philanthropic organizations like the Ford Foundation[35] and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.[36] Less than one percent of the organization's revenue came from advertising in 2014.[37]

Mongabay.org's network-based approach allows it to run with a small staff relative to its volume of content production.

In 2013, Mongabay.org reported total revenue of $528,128,[38] a five-fold increase from its 2012 revenue of $92,319. Overhead costs amounted to 2.9 percent in 2013, while fundraising costs came in at 2.2 percent.[34] Revenue in 2014 reached $910,569, while in 2015, it hit $1.3 million.[39] In 2017, total revenue eclipsed $2 million.

Leadership

Mongabay.org is governed by its board of directors, which consists of several members. Anthropologist Brodie David Ferguson is chairman of the board. The founder is a member of the board.[40] Operationally, Mongabay.org is run by Butler, who serves as CEO and executive director.[14][41][42]

Mongabay.org also has a non-governing advisory board, which includes biologist Peter H. Raven, primatologist Jane Goodall, and William F. Laurance.

gollark: `​`
gollark: `const`, which is not remotely confusing.
gollark: `compilify`
gollark: My laptop isn't configured with a warmable spacebar, unfortunately.
gollark: Of course. It's a great system.

References
  1. About Mongabay.com. Who is mongabay.com?
  2. "How to get robbed and save rainforests - an interview with Rhett Butler of Mongabay", Conjour.world, Joel Howland 2018. http://conservationjournal.world/editorial/get-robbed-save-rainforests-interview-rhett-butler-mongabay/
  3. Spors, Kelly K. (15 January 2008). "New Services Help Bloggers Bring in Ad Revenue". Wall Street Journal.
  4. Butler, Rhett. "The Business of Conservation Journalism", Haas School of Business, Berkeley, CA, 13 October 2014.
  5. Butler, Rhett K. (27 December 2012). "Mongabay.org".
  6. Wood, Barbara (8 November 2017). "How a curious kid from Atherton started and grew a global environmental news site". Almanac News.
  7. Butler, Rhett. "Mongabay.com". Editorial Affiliates. Environmental News Network.
  8. "About Tropical Conservation Science". Tropical Conservation Science.
  9. Mongabay.co.id. "Situs Berita dan Informasi Lingkungan", "Mongabay-Indonesia, 11 November 2015. Retrieved on 11 November 2015.
  10. https://es.mongabay.com Mongabay-Latam
  11. https://india.mongabay.com Mongabay-India
  12. https://brasil.mongabay.com Mongabay-Brasil
  13. Guidestar "MONGABAYORG CORPORATION-GuideStar Nonprofit Profile Charting Impact Report", 17 November 2013. Retrieved on 17 November 2015
  14. Guynn, Jessica. "A site of inspiration", San Francisco Chronicle, 5 July 2006. Retrieved on 17 November 2015.
  15. Butler, Rhett. "Shifting to a non-profit model for environmental news reporting", Mongabay.com, 29 October 2013. Retrieved on 11 November 2015.
  16. Tropical Conservation Science. "Tropical Conservation Science", Tropical Conservation Science, ISSN 1940-0829 11 November 2015. Retrieved on 11 November 2015.
  17. "Tropical Conservation Science". Mongabay.com. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  18. "Tropical Conservation Science". SAGE Publications Australia. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  19. Bay Area Tropical Forest Network. "Bay Area Tropical Forest Network", BATFN, 11 November 2015. Retrieved on 11 November 2015.
  20. Global Investigative Journalism Network "GIJN: Mongabay.org", 2015. Retrieved on 17 November 2015
  21. Mongabay.org. "About Mongabay.org", Mongabay.org, 11 November 2015. Retrieved on 11 November 2015.
  22. Mongabay. "Mongabay-News", news.mongabay.com, 16 July 2020. Retrieved on 2 August 2020.
  23. Sagita, Dessy. "Environmental portal launches in Indonesia", Jakarta Globe, 22 May 2012. Retrieved on 17 November 2015.
  24. Schonhardt, Sara. "New Satellites to Help Save Indonesian Forests", Voice of America, 12 June 2012. Retrieved on 17 November 2015.
  25. Mongabay.org. "Mongabay-Indonesia", Mongabay.org, 11 November 2015. Retrieved on 11 November 2015.
  26. Tempo Magazine. "Map the World", Tempo (Indonesian magazine), 16 May 2014. Retrieved on 11 November 2015.
  27. Mongabay.org. "Telling the tales behind the data", Mongabay.org, 11 November 2015. Retrieved on 11 November 2015.
  28. Payne, Octavia Aris and Mann, Sarah Alix. "Zooming In: “Sustainable” Cocoa Producer Destroys Pristine Forest in Peru", World Resources Institute, 9 June 2015. Retrieved on 17 November 2015.
  29. Mongabay.org. "Mongabay.org opportunities", Mongabay.org, 11 November 2015. Retrieved on 11 November 2015.
  30. Mongabay.org. "Supporting mainstream media coverage of environmental concerns", Mongabay.org, 2015. Retrieved on 11 November 2015.
  31. Roston, Eric (17 April 2008). "Green Website: Mongabay". Time.
  32. Field Museum. "Parker-Gentry Prize 2014 Rhett Butler", Field Museum, 2014. Retrieved on 17 November 2015.
  33. http://www.scienceseeker.org/2018/04/announcing-winners-of-science-seeker.html 2018
  34. Mongabay.org. "Mongabay.org Annual Report 2013", Mongabay.org, 2014. Retrieved on 11 November 2015.
  35. Ford Foundation. "Ford Foundation Grants Database", Ford Foundation, 2015. Retrieved on 17 November 2015.
  36. MacArthur Foundation. "GRANTEE PROFILE: Mongabay.org", MacArthur Foundation, 2014. Retrieved on 17 November 2015.
  37. Mongabay.org. "Mongabay.org Annual Report 2014", Mongabay.org, 2015. Retrieved on 11 November 2015.
  38. Mongabay.org. "Guidestar: MONGABAYORG CORPORATION", Guidestar, 11 November 2015. Retrieved on 11 November 2015.
  39. Mongabay.org. "Guidestar: MONGABAYORG CORPORATION", Guidestar, 26 August 2017. Retrieved on 26 August 2017.
  40. Mongabay.org. "Mongabay.org board", Mongabay.org, 11 November 2015. Retrieved on 11 November 2015.
  41. Treehugger. "The TH Interview: Rhett Butler of Mongabay.com", TreeHugger, 24 August 2006. Retrieved on 17 November 2015.
  42. Meehan, Emily. "Not Letting Success Get to Your Head", The Wall Street Journal, 8 September 2006. Retrieved on 17 November 2015.
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