Posts for the ‘Communities’ topic
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Drought in East Africa: The Human Benefits of Standing Forests
This week, an Associated Press article about drought in Kenya brought millions of people’s attention to the deep connections between the environment and human well-being. It is during years of extreme weather events such as severe drought, flooding, hurricanes and wildfires that we are all reminded how close many people live to the very edge of survival and at the behest of Mother Nature. This is the case for many in East Africa, which is now plagued by the worst drought in nearly 50 years. The failure of the last two anticipated rainy seasons has led to rivers drying up and ... -
Notes from the Field: Sheep Tagging in South Africa
Although the people of South Africa's Namaqualand region have raised domestic herds for millennia, herding has recently become a more difficult livelihood. Overgrazing has led to significant land degradation, a problem which will only get worse if the effects of climate change – such as increased temperatures and more frequent drought – come to pass. Thanks to Conservation International's Conservation Stewards Programme, CI-South Africa's new Biodiversity and Red Meat Initiative (BRMI) is now working with local farmers to reduce herd size and restore degraded territories, prolonging the life of the land in the process. In August, 16 farmers in the ... -
Freshwater, Forests, and Fishing Cats
CI’s Freshwater, Forests and Fishing Cats project in Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake has been selected by The Walt Disney Company as a recipient of funding through Disney’s Friends for Change: Project Green. Nearly three million people living around the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia rely on it for fresh water and food. But as people cut down the flooded forests that keep the lake clean, the water gets dirtier and fish populations decrease, along with the otters and fishing cats who rely on them for food. CI has been researching hairy-nosed otters (Lutra sumatrana) in Cambodia since 2006, and supports a higher ... -
Fresh Water and Cultural Stability
As CI prepares for World Water Week later this month, the human connection to fresh water is evident everywhere I look. Although we may take it for granted in developed countries, access to fresh water underlies all of our other concerns; without it, we would cease to exist. Yet despite this reliance, climate change and other man-made forces continue to threaten water security around the world. No one is immune to the issues facing freshwater ecosystems. However, it is becoming clear that small indigenous communities in isolated areas are among the first to feel the impacts of these threats. Members ... -
From burning to replanting in Madagascar
Diego Suarez is a picturesque natural harbor in northeastern Madagascar. Towering above it is Montagne de Francais, a large mountain covered in pristine forest, which shelters dozens of rare species and protects the region’s watershed. Uncontrolled demand for wood-based products and charcoal threatened to wipe out millions of acres of forest, and in turn threaten the health of local people by disrupting their -
Amazing species new to science discovered in Ecuador
Today, CI announces a scientific expedition has revealed a fascinating array of species, many of which are believed to be new to science. The new species were found by Conservation International’s Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) in the mountainous forests of the Cordillera del Condor of southeastern Ecuador, an area of high biological, ecological and social importance near to the border with Peru. The survey concentrated on the Upper Nangaritza River Basin, which is geologically isolated from other parts of the Andes, helping to stimulate the evolution of species which are found nowhere else (endemic species). The newly discovered creatures – four amphibians, a ... -
The Galápagos & Climate Change: Lessons for the Greater World
Intrepid science is nothing new to the Galápagos Islands. They are iconic. They are biologically important. And – like many areas around the world – they are already suffering the effects of climate change. As you might know, Conservation International is working around the globe to protect forests – which when destroyed release massive amounts of climate change-causing pollution into the air – in quantities larger than all the world’s cars, trucks, and planes combined. Calculate carbon emissions >> But in addition to our pioneering work preventing climate change, we’re also doing groundbreaking work to help people in regions – like the Galápagos ... -
Ecotouring Costa Rica
Tom Friedman has long been a good friend to CI. In his most recent column, he's exploring Costa Rica with CI's Carlos Manuel Rodríguez. Costa Rica is a great success story, and Rodríguez has been one of the country's most ardent proponents of environmental conservation. From Friedman: Rodríguez ... helped to pioneer the idea that in a country like Costa Rica, dependent on tourism and agriculture, the services provided by ecosystems were important drivers of growth and had to be paid for.... Costa Rica took the view that landowners who keep their forests intact and their rivers clean should be paid, because ...
