Posts Tagged ‘Communities’
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In the Field with Cybertracker
Back in October, we posted a story about a new technological tool called Cybertracker that is being used by indigenous San communities in southern Africa to track and monitor wildlife. Last week, Botswana’s largest daily newspaper published another story on the CI-funded project, providing new insight into the lives of the trackers as they deal with long treks, staggering temperatures and potentially dangerous animals on a daily basis. The life of a tracker is difficult, but its benefits outweigh the challenges. The Cybertracker project provides a rare employment opportunity for local people, encouraging them to continue the millennia-old cultural tradition of animal ... -
Saving the Whales: In the Philippines, a Quick Response
Several years ago, CI conducted a seminar on marine mammal and sea turtle rescue training in the Philippines' Verde Island Passage. When a beached whale was found in the region this past December, Jessie de los Reyes, a graduate of the seminar, helped mobilize the community's response. Corina Bernabe, the communications coordinator for CI-Philippines, recounts the experience. Village patrolman Hernan Reyes was conducting a routine patrol along the shores of Nasugbu, in the Philippines’ Batangas province, when he met with an unusual sight: a 29-foot whale stranded in the shallow waters. It was 3 AM. A series of phone calls ... -
Extra! Extra! The New Issue of Team Earth Magazine Has Arrived
Where can you find stunning photographs and inspiring stories highlighting CI’s work around the globe? What does it mean when CI says we are taking our activities to a whole new scale? It means this—Among other things, the new issue of Team Earth will: summarize the outcomes from December’s United Nations meetings in Copenhagen, and examine the next steps we must take to tackle climate change; explore how partner organizations in southern Africa are working with CI to save elephants while improving human livelihoods; reveal CI’s ambitious new plan to save the world’s oceans; and visit the forests and farms of Tanzania, where CI’s TEAM ... -
A Groundbreaking Birthday
Twenty-three years ago today, CI was founded by a group of dedicated conservationists who believed that true sustainability of the Earth’s resources depended on a combination of rigorous science, local knowledge and the informed and engaged participation of people all over the world. For its first major project, CI set out to protect 728,000 hectares (1.8 million acres) in and around La Amistad International Park on the border between Costa Rica and Panama. Partially funded by McDonald’s, this initiative emphasized local community participation in economic growth, seeking not only the conservation of biodiversity, but also the protection of the watersheds ... -
CI Partner Wildlife Works Pioneers Kenya’s First GOLD Level REDD Project
In 2005, CI’s Verde Ventures program helped to finance the establishment of Wildlife Works’ eco-factory in Rukinga Kenya as a critical piece of the long term vision of Wildlife Works. Founded in San Francisco in 1997, with an innovative mission based on “consumer-powered conservation,” Wildlife Works aimed to use revenue from the sale of sustainable products to finance wildlife protection efforts in Kenya and around the world. Now, thirteen years later, Wildlife Works has expanded from selling clothes and accessories to selling something that is more vital to life on Earth, yet also harder to see: carbon. Last month, Wildlife Works ... -
Despite Troubled History, New Hope in Liberia
As I stood in front of our new office in Congo Town this week, just steps away from the sprawling Chinese Embassy complex, I was taken back to my introduction to Liberia in 2005. CI had already been in the country for three years, seeing our partners through the end of war, a transitional government and the election of the first female African Head of State. At that time, the only way to get to Monrovia was with the UN peacekeeping mission or on one of the Nigerian carriers, all of which overbook and work on a first-come, first-serve basis. ... -
New Social and Environmental Standards for REDD Initiatives launched at Copenhagen
CARE International and the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA) launched at Copenhagen a new set of standards for REDD projects that take into consideration not only environmental benefits, but social aspects as well. REDD stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation. The main idea behind it is that deforestation is one of the main contributors to climate change and that reducing it is one of the quickest and most cost-effective ways of lowering carbon emissions. REDD projects give financial incentives to those communities or nations that are effectively working to prevent forests form being cut. The new set ... -
CI Vice President Receives Conservation Award
Last week in New York City, Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, CI’s Vice President for Conservation Policy, received an award for his outstanding effort in the fight to conserve jaguar (Panthera onca) populations in Central America. The former Minister of the Environment and Energy in his home country of Costa Rica, Rodriguez has been instrumental to regional conservation efforts for many years. He has helped pioneer the concept of payment for ecosystem services, a system that CI is now implementing with local communities in ecosystems around the globe. The Rabinowitz-Kaplan prize was presented to Rodriguez by the Panthera Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated ... -
Global Security and the Climate
Whether they are facing stronger storms, agricultural declines or vanishing coastlines, communities and ecosystems across the globe are already dealing with the impacts of climate change. For years, CI has been sounding the alarm on the issue, emphasizing the need for immediate action in order to reduce the effects of climate change and empower communities to adapt to the changes that will occur. Now U.S. leaders agree on the direness of the situation. Military and intelligence analysts have acknowledged that climate change will pose an increasing threat to U.S. security as effects such as drought, flooding and food shortages cause ... -
Expansion of Protected Area Ensures Long-Term Water Security for at least 800,000 people
We are pleased to announce the expansion of the Três Picos State Park (Three Peaks State Park), located at the Serra do Mar Biodiversity Corridor, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, in southeastern Brazil. The park, which protects headwaters of important river basins that are the major freshwater sources for the densely populated state, was expanded from 46,350 hectares (114,533 acres) to 58,790 hectares (145,273 acres), an increase of 21 percent. To put the region’s fresh water importance into perspective, a single portion of the park’s headwaters was estimated to provide water for more than 800,000 people. With support ...
