Camera-trap Ecotourism: the next big thing in conservation?
By Gregory McCann, Habitat ID Ecotourism is a popular growing trend, and this is especially true in tropical countries that have a wealth of biodiversity to offer the interested trekker. Cambodia is no exception. I have been visiting Virachey National Park in northeastern Cambodia for the past five years, but my most recent trip involved a special purpose: setting up 14 motion-triggered camera-traps throughout the park. Without giving...
Is ‘human rights’ the right approach for protecting the interests of forest-dependent people?
Commentary by Dr. Prakash Kashwan, University of Connecticut Nature conservation is often promoted in the name of the greater good of humanity. However, in a large number of cases, nature conservation is associated with increased militarization of resource control (see the select bibliography below). International conservation organizations have responded to such concerns by developing proposals for what they refer to as ‘rights-based...
Meet Max: the 285 lbs baby
A 285 lbs baby Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), that is. Max was on his feet in just a few minutes and entertaining his keepers and elephant family with his independent and playful nature. Max is now three weeks old and zookeeper Stefan Groeneveld said: “[He] has come on so much in just three weeks and is already showing an independent streak. He’ll happily leave his mum’s side to go and play in the paddock with the rest of the...
World’s largest (harmless) bat inspires Halloween-worthy tales in the Philippines
By Simon Bradley and Tammy Mildenstein It’s Halloween time again, and around much of the world people are decorating with images of ghosts, vampires, witches, black cats, and, of course, bats. For the superstitious, there may be nothing scarier than the flying foxes of the Philippines, whose 2-meter wingspans make them the largest bats in the world! In keeping with a popular fear and mistrust of nocturnal animals, Philippine flying...
A jungle day-trip: studying brazil nuts in the Peruvian Amazon
By Eleanor Warren-Thomas The day begins at around 5 a.m., when the sounds of motorbikes revving, dogs barking, wood being chopped and shouting men start to permeate the room. I haven’t needed to set my alarm for weeks. I am here to help run a project on Brazil nut harvesting from lowland rainforests in Madre de Dios, in the Peruvian Amazon. Brazil nut collection from these forests forms a huge part of many people’s livelihood in this...
Indonesians working together to save Sumatran tigers
Reader contribution by Matthew S. Luskin Indonesians are committed to ensuring the persistence of Sumatran tigers. The gamut of island-wide conservation efforts was discussed this week in Padang, West Sumatra, during the annual meeting of HarimauKita (harimau means “tiger” in Indonesian), which brought together a consortium of stakeholders for Sumatran tiger conservation. Members worked late into each night to coordinate and evaluate...
New York attempts to save one of the world’s largest salamanders
By Phyllis Sena The WCS’s Bronx Zoo is joining the fight to save the world’s largest salamander, the Eastern Hellbender, by teaming up with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Buffalo Zoo in reintroducing 38 of these animals into wild streams in the state of New York. Juvenile eggs were collected from the Allegheny River drainage at the start of the program, and they were raised off-location...
Goodbye, Gus: Central Park says goodbye to famous polar bear
Gus was visited by more than 20 million zoo goers in the 24 years he graced the waters of The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Central Park Zoo. Sadly, Gus, the adult male polar bear, passed away last week at the age of 27. “Gus was an icon at the Central Park Zoo and a great source of joy for our visitors and staff,” said Jim Breheny, WCS Executive Vice President of Zoos and Aquarium. “He was an important ambassador for his...
Sneaky Snakes in Indonesia
A shocking 449 species of reptiles call Sundaland home, of which 249 are endemic to the region. Indonesia has an extremely high level of biodiversity, which is most likely due to the great size and tropical archipelago make-up of the land. The Indonesian fauna is so vivid, that the colors of these snakes actually camouflage them into the background. Each of these snake’s coloring has evolved to blend in with where it tends to...
Change on the roof of the world: new book explores climate change and the Tibetan Plateau
Excerpt from the new book Meltdown: China’s Environmental Crisis by Sean Gallagher Adapted By Caroline D’Angelo With soaring mountains and vast grasslands, the Tibetan Plateau covers approximately one quarter of China. The plateau’s glaciers hold the largest store of freshwater on earth outside the North and South Poles. Though remote and sparsely populated, the plateau is of crucial importance to China and its downstream...
Into the future: DNA barcoding plants in the Alaskan wild
By Ellen Jorgensen There’s nothing so final as watching the bush pilot take off in his tiny plane, leaving you stranded in the Alaskan backcountry. We had plenty of food for a three-day expedition, but no satellite phone or any other way to contact anyone. In Alaska, the phrase ‘primordial indifference’ pretty much sums up your relationship with the vast, glacier-carved landscape. Mother Nature does not care if an ant like you lives...
The cloud forests and hummingbirds of Ecuador
By Claire Salisbury The bus journey to Mindo winds up and out of the high, dry valley in which Quito sits between volcanic peaks, and then down into the wet, lush cloud forest on the western slopes of the Andes. This is one of the most biodiverse places on earth, within the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena hotspot, and recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International. Mindo is a quiet little place, surrounded by forested hills...
Deep inside Guyana: the beautiful and biodiverse Rupununi region
By Benedicte de Waziers Deep inside Guyana’s territory hides an enigmatic ecosystem that few people have heard of. The Rupununi region–Raponani in Carib–is located in the Takutu basin in Southern Guyana. The Rupununi is home to many Amerindian tribes, including the Makushi. Despite its fast-growing population and urbanization, the Rupununi provides invaluable services for its inhabitants. The majority of the Makushi people settle...
Unique Nicaraguan volcanic lake under threat
By Elizabeth Loudon Laguna de Apoyo, a volcanic crater lake between two of Nicaragua’s most populated cities, is known as a tourist destination for locals and backpackers. This section of tropical dry forest is part of a corridor that is vital for many long and short distance migrations. Unbeknownst to many visitors, this site is also rich in pre-Columbian history and biodiversity. Ancient Chorotega petroglyphs remain intact...
Five elephants collared in Bornean wildlife sanctuary
By Brandon Allen A small group of students and volunteers in Malaysia successfully collared five Bornean elephants earlier this month in the Lower Kinabatagngan Wildlife Sanctuary. This collaring mission was an effort led by Cardiff University PhD student Nurzhafarina Othman who is seeking to obtain data on the elephants that will support her research on the social behaviors of female Bornean elephants. This recent collaring is of...
The Joint Declaration of Intent on REDD+ in the Congo Basin between Central African and Donor Countries: making history, déjà vu, and which way forward ?
Op-ed by Ngembeni Wa Namasso, special to mongabay.com The Declaration on REDD+ expected as part of ongoing climate talks in Durban, South Africa, by the Central Africa Commission on Forests (COMIFAC) and some donor countries, was released, Wednesday, December 07, 2011. To many observers this declaration is a ritual and therefore, expected after every meeting by ‘high-level’ decision-makers on forests from that part of the World....
“Don’t Be Trashy”: campaign hopes to inspire teens to recycle
Landfill in the U.S. Photo by: Jeremy Hance. A new campaign by Do Something.org is working to motivate teens in the U.S. to recycle. With the opportunity to win free movie tickets or even a $500 scholarship for college, the campaign, working with Nestle Waters, brings the plight of trash home through illustrative statistics such as the fact that the average American throws away four pounds of trash everyday. Do Something.org works to...
Activism: funds needed to replant forest for nearly-extinct loris
Note: as a news organization mongabay.com does not endorse the action below, but believes its readers may be interested in taking action or discussing the issue in comments. Horton Plains slender loris. Photo courtesy of EDGE. Researchers estimate that only 80 Horton Plains slender loris (Loris tardigradus nycticeboides) survive in the world. After believed to be extinct ZSL EDGE rediscovered the subspecies in a dwindling Sri Lanka...
Banana plantation threatens rainforest valley (video)
Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains were recently spared a titanium mine, however now the region faces a new peril: bananas. The Australian firm Indochina Gateway Capital Limited has proposed a banana plantation in the Southern Cardamom Mountains. The plantation would likely destroy an elephant corridor for one of Cambodia’s last wild elephant populations. In addition, pesticides used in the plantation could pollute local...
Connecting the climate dots (video)
This video is based on an op-ed by Bill McKibben, author and founder of 350.org, with narration and illustration by Stephen Thomson of Plomomedia.com. To see additional coverage of the connections between climate change and extreme weather: Burning up: warmer world means the rise of megafires (05/12/2011) Megafires are likely both worsened by and contributing to global climate change, according to a new United Nations report. In the...
