Newsletter
FEBRUARY 2026
Indonesia’s decision to sue six companies after deadly floods and landslides in Sumatra signals a growing recognition that deforestation is not a side issue but a direct threat to public safety, one long warned about by scientists, communities, and environmental groups.
Climate-driven migration delays and shrinking wetlands are disrupting long-established flyways across Bangladesh, threatening bird populations that once shaped the ecology and seasonal rhythms of the delta.
As Australia records another year of extreme heat, scientists warn that the country’s conservation system is under growing strain. Despite decades of protected areas and recovery plans, Australia continues to lose small mammals faster than anywhere else on Earth. Researchers and Indigenous land practitioners say the losses reflect not only climate stress, but a land-management model that sidelined Indigenous stewardship and now struggles to cope with fire, heat, and ecological change.
ONGOING FIELD STORIES
Rohingya: The Meaning of Belonging explores the Rohingya beyond crisis narratives, tracing how history, language, faith, and cultural practice shape identity in the face of displacement. Grounded in historical research and lived experience, the article examines belonging not as a legal category alone, but as something carried through memory, movement, and everyday life across borders.
A Short Film from the Field
In November, during Lagos Fashion Week, a team of fashion promoters went into three Lagos waterfront communities to showcase the work of local fashion designers. They planned to release this as an upbeat short piece highlighting community creativity, but the world had other plans.
Join ETHNOMAD’s River Transect: Climate and Change, a journey tracing the Teesta River from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal. Discover how tribal, Indigenous, and river-based communities live, adapt, and sustain their traditions amid shifting waters and a changing climate. Explore stories of resilience, heritage, and hope at ethnomad.com and fadingcultures.org.
Mokhtarzadeh Caravanserai:
Phase One: Rebuilding women's heritage and trade in Herat, Afghanistan
This project marks the planning and initiation phase of the restoration of the Mokhtarzadeh Caravanserai in Herat, undertaken in partnership with Mr Mokhtarzadeh, with restoration work scheduled to begin mid-year. Historically a place of trade, exchange, and movement, the caravanserai is being reimagined as a working centre for women’s economic activity in a city long shaped by commerce and craft. Grounded in local partnership, the project links heritage conservation with livelihoods and dignity at a moment when women’s access to public and economic life in Afghanistan has been sharply constrained. By restoring both the structure and its function, the Mokhtarzadeh Caravanserai aims to reconnect women to historic networks of trade while supporting practical, income-generating opportunities rooted in place.
We have launched a new core section on the ETHNOMAD website: Field Notes & Foundations. This space brings together our deeper research and methodological work, including ethnographic guides, Yarning frameworks, conference papers such as From Cave to Canvas, and long-form field research across heritage, ecology, and community-led conservation. It is a living archive of how we work in the field and how knowledge is built over time, grounded in lived experience rather than abstraction.
Most Widely Read Article of January
Carbon Elsewhere is an essay on climate responsibility, conservation, and the quiet ways its costs are displaced. Drawing on years of fieldwork from Madagascar to East Africa, the article examines how carbon offsetting, fortress conservation, and climate finance reshape land, livelihoods, and power, asking who truly bears the burden when responsibility travels further than emissions.