Fernanda Wenzel
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nandawenzel.bsky.social
Fernanda Wenzel
@nandawenzel.bsky.social
1.2K followers 89 following 42 posts
Brazilian investigative journalist specialized in the Amazon. Staff writer for Mongabay.
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nandawenzel.bsky.social
Do you know that sloths are known as the Miss Congeniality of the Amazon? However, their peaceful appearance and their apparent smile have turned them into one of the primary targets of animal trafficking organizations. More on that in my latest to @mongabay.com

news.mongabay.com/2025/11/slot...
Sloth selfies are feeding a booming wildlife trafficking trade
It’s not easy to find a sloth in the middle of the forest. They spend most of their time in the tree canopy and are masters of camouflage, thanks to their slow movements and the algae attached to thei...
news.mongabay.com
November 18, 2025 at 8:47 PM
nandawenzel.bsky.social
Last year, a group of landless people risked their lives in a conflict with land grabbers in one of the most dangerous parts of the Amazon, in the hope of securing a piece of land. This story is now revealed in a short documentary by @mongabay.com

news.mongabay.com/video/2025/1...
On the frontline of the Amazon land war
TERRA NOSSA, Brazil — In 2024, Mongabay investigative reporter Fernanda Wenzel traveled to one of the most dangerous spots in the Brazilian Amazon — a region where a silent land war is destroying the ...
news.mongabay.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Reposted by Fernanda Wenzel
mgangelo.bsky.social
Ótima matéria da @nandawenzel.bsky.social na @mongabay.com. Contribuí com uma entrevista: EU appetite for EVs drives new wave of deforestation in tropical forests news.mongabay.com/2025/06/eu-a...
EU appetite for EVs drives new wave of deforestation in tropical forests
Brazil, which accounts for large reserves of nickel, graphite, rare earths, lithium and niobium, would be one of the most affected countries.
news.mongabay.com
June 9, 2025 at 6:52 PM
nandawenzel.bsky.social
A demora do governo Lula em retomar a reforma agrária está levando a uma nova onda de ocupações de terras na Amazônia, em situações que muitas vezes terminam em conflito.
June 9, 2025 at 3:00 PM
nandawenzel.bsky.social
While the world is focused on the threat of oil exploration in the Amazon River Mouth, the auction of oil wells near Indigenous lands goes unnoticed in another part of the Amazon. @mongabay.com @alexdesanti.bsky.social

news.mongabay.com/2025/06/unno...
Unnoticed oil & gas threat looms for Indigenous people near Amazon blocks
While oil prospects in the Amazon north shore attract international attention, the offer of exploration blocks around Indigenous territories goes unnoticed in Mato Grosso state.
news.mongabay.com
June 9, 2025 at 2:48 PM
nandawenzel.bsky.social
My last contribution to @mongabay.com European efforts to become net zero may trigger carbon emissions in Brazil and Indonesia.
June 9, 2025 at 2:44 PM
nandawenzel.bsky.social
Six months from COP30, Brazil is about to approve what experts call the worst environmental setback in four decades.
May 30, 2025 at 12:00 PM
nandawenzel.bsky.social
Os garimpeiros ilegais da Amazônia são muito criativos. Anos atrás, um grupo criou uma mina subterrânea falsa para enganar as autoridades sobre a origem do ouro. Esse buraco da foto, pequeno demais para acomodar um homem adulto, foi a origem de 379,4 kg de ouro, segundo eles.
May 28, 2025 at 6:15 PM
nandawenzel.bsky.social
The Lula government's delay in unlocking agrarian reform is leading to a new wave of land occupations in the Amazon, in situations that often end in conflict.
May 21, 2025 at 2:42 PM
nandawenzel.bsky.social
Depois de projetos REDD terem ido parar nas páginas policiais, iniciativas de restauração florestal surgem como a nova aposta dos créditos de carbono na Amazônia. Até a mineradora Vale e a indústria de carne Marfrig entraram na onda. Leia no @mongabay.com

brasil.mongabay.com/2025/05/rest...
Restauração da Amazônia oferece redenção para créditos de carbono após escândalos em projetos REDD
Em 2024, uma operação policial contra o maior produtor de créditos de carbono do Brasil marcou o ponto mais baixo da já longa crise de reputação dos projetos REDD. Grandes empresas que compraram crédi...
brasil.mongabay.com
May 12, 2025 at 7:00 PM
nandawenzel.bsky.social
Garimpeiros estão fugindo das operações em Roraima e no Pará e procurando novas fronteiras de exploração de ouro. Uma delas é o Amapá, onde eles estão perigosamente próximos de uma das maiores árvores da Amazônia. @mongabay.com

brasil.mongabay.com/2025/05/gari...
Garimpo ilegal se instala a 1 km da segunda maior árvore da Amazônia
Desde 2019, pesquisadores têm utilizado laser e realizado incursões na Amazônia brasileira para identificar árvores gigantes, que se elevam muito acima do dossel da floresta. Além de serem um patrimôn...
brasil.mongabay.com
May 5, 2025 at 4:35 PM
nandawenzel.bsky.social
Illegal miners in the Brazilian Amazon are very creative. Years ago, a group created a fake underground mine to cheat authorities about the origin of the gold. This small hole, too small to accommodate a grown man, was the origin of 379.4 kg of gold, according to them.
April 22, 2025 at 2:37 PM
nandawenzel.bsky.social
The Amazon's second largest tree is in danger, as illegal gold miners are operating just one kilometer from this 85-meter (279-foot) red angelim. My latest on @mongabay.bsky.social with @alexdesanti.bsky.social

news.mongabay.com/2025/04/ille...
Illegal gold mining creeps within a kilometer of Amazon’s second-tallest tree
Illegal gold miners have been moving into Amapá in the wake of federal raids on mining hotspots in other parts of the Brazilian Amazon, including the Yanomami and Munduruku Indigenous territories.
news.mongabay.com
April 14, 2025 at 7:25 PM
nandawenzel.bsky.social
Restoration projects in the Amazon are the carbon market's new bet after scandals involving REDD projects. Big techs, large banks, and even companies like Vale and Marfrig came on board. Find out more in my report for @mongabay.bsky.social

news.mongabay.com/2025/04/for-...
For scandal-ridden carbon credit industry, Amazon restoration offers redemption
As REDD projects around the world face setbacks, restoration projects in the Amazon are flourishing as a means of reviving market confidence in forest-based carbon credits.
news.mongabay.com
April 9, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Reposted by Fernanda Wenzel
latoyaabulu.bsky.social
Pressure bears down around uncontacted tribes at the edge of Brazil’s arc of deforestation

@nandawenzel.bsky.social reports for @mongabay.bsky.social

news.mongabay.com/2025/03/isol...
Pressure bears down around uncontacted tribes at the edge of Brazil’s arc of deforestation
“They’re curious about us, and we’re curious about them.” That’s how Daniel Cangussu describes the recent interaction with a small Indigenous group that had just contacted non-Indigenous society in th...
news.mongabay.com
March 21, 2025 at 8:08 PM
nandawenzel.bsky.social
Estou no episódio da @radionovelo.com.br desta semana explicando os detalhes da minha investigação sobre Ricardo Stoppe, grileiro e madeireiro que posava de salvador da floresta e lucrava milhões com créditos de carbono.

brasil.mongabay.com/2024/05/gran...
Grandes marcas compram créditos de carbono de esquema suspeito de esquentamento de madeira na Amazônia
Dois grandes projetos de carbono na Amazônia brasileira, cujos créditos foram vendidos a empresas como Gol, Nestlé, Toshiba e PwC, podem ter sido usados para lavar madeira retirada de áreas desmatadas...
brasil.mongabay.com
March 21, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Reposted by Fernanda Wenzel
erikhoffner.bsky.social
Impact: @mongabay.bsky.social reporter @nandawenzel.bsky.social suspected fraud in 2 Brazilian carbon projects & investigated for a year

By shining a light on this crime, Mongabay’s award-winning 🏆 #nonprofit #journalism continues to protect the Amazon via greater scrutiny of global carbon markets:
How investigative reporting led to a crackdown on illegal carbon credit schemes in Brazil - Environmental Journalism and Education
In May 2024, Mongabay published an analysis that uncovered irregularities in two REDD+ carbon credit projects in the Brazilian Amazon that found that they may be connected to illegal timber laundering...
mongabay.org
February 22, 2025 at 2:27 PM
nandawenzel.bsky.social
The cutest video you will see today. What a nice work @mongabay.bsky.social

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xwg...
Giant Rats: Sniffing Out Wildlife Crime | Wild Targets
YouTube video by Mongabay
www.youtube.com
February 13, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Reposted by Fernanda Wenzel
alexdesanti.bsky.social
As the federal administration closes miners’ siege of Indigenous territories, the illegal miners are migrating to less-monitored areas, experts says.

@nandawenzel.bsky.social on @mongabay.bsky.social

news.mongabay.com/2025/02/mini...
Mining dredges return to Amazon River’s main tributary, months after crackdown
The return of the floating structures shows the resilience of illegal gold mining in the Amazon, which destroys the riverbeds and contaminates the water with mercury.
news.mongabay.com
February 13, 2025 at 6:07 PM
nandawenzel.bsky.social
Legal advice, deforestation maps, fraudulent contracts. Know the tricks of one of the Amazon's largest deforesters in my last investigation for @mongabay.bsky.social / edited by @alexdesanti.bsky.social

news.mongabay.com/2025/01/prob...
Probe details the playbook of one of Amazon’s top land grabbers
According to the Brazilian Federal Police, Bruno Heller is one of Amazon's largest deforesters and relied on legal and technical advice, including a fake contract, bribing police officers, and near-re...
news.mongabay.com
January 21, 2025 at 2:44 PM
nandawenzel.bsky.social
In 2024, Brazil registered the highest number of fires in ten years. The prospects for 2025 are gloomy, especially for the Amazon. Local and federal governments should already be working to avoid another tragedy. My latest to @mongabay.bsky.social.

news.mongabay.com/2025/01/afte...
After a searing Amazon fire season, experts warn of more in 2025
South America recorded the highest number of fire outbreaks in 14 years in 2024, with Brazil at the epicenter of the crisis.
news.mongabay.com
January 9, 2025 at 1:26 PM
nandawenzel.bsky.social
Em maio, mostramos no @mongabay.bsky.social que a Carbonext se associou a madeireiros ilegais para criar um projeto de carbono no sul do Amazonas. Nossa investigação, em parceria com o CCCA, foi confirmada pela PF na Operação Greenwashing, e 5 pessoas foram presas.

news.mongabay.com/2024/05/top-...
Top brands buy Amazon carbon credits from suspected timber laundering scam
An analysis of two carbon credit projects in the Brazilian Amazon has found that they may be connected to illegal timber laundering.
news.mongabay.com
December 10, 2024 at 6:07 PM
nandawenzel.bsky.social
A convite do Pulitzer Center, vou compartilhar amanhã um pouco da minha investigação sobre projetos REDD+ na Amazônia, publicada pelo @mongabay.bsky.social. A reportagem antecipou a Operação Greenwashing, da PF. É amanhã às 9h. Inscrições no link!

pulitzercenter.org/es/event/int...
October 7, 2024 at 4:09 PM
nandawenzel.bsky.social
I was so honored to see my presentation poster in the student lounge of Davidson College in North Carolina! Tomorrow, I will talk about my work as an investigative journalist in the Amazon. Thanks, Pulitzer Center, for the invitation!
September 22, 2024 at 2:39 PM
Reposted by Fernanda Wenzel
alexdesanti.bsky.social
Amid an extreme, unprecedented drought, almost all major Amazon rivers have registered their lowest levels in history.

@nandawenzel.bsky.social for @mongabay.bsky.social

news.mongabay.com/2024/09/extr...
Extreme drought pushes Amazon’s main rivers to lowest-ever levels
Experts say the outlook for the next months is even worse, putting researchers on alert for the possibility of Amazon’s worst drought ever.
news.mongabay.com
September 11, 2024 at 8:26 PM