Tag: conservation
Earth Month: Reimagining conservation for the benefit of all
Editor’s note: April is Earth Month, when we honor humanity’s shared responsibility for nature and the climate. At Conservation International, this responsibility drives us — and in honor of Earth Month, Conservation News is highlighting stories of our impact. We hope that this inspires you to carry the spirit of Earth Month throughout the year.…
What on Earth is a ‘conservation agreement’?
In this installment, we break down “conservation agreements,” an approach that helps conserve biodiversity while improving the quality of life for local communities. So: What is a ‘conservation agreement’? It’s a deal between a community and a group or person funding a conservation project (that could be a government, a non-profit, a foundation, a business…
What does gender have to do with conservation?
In a remote, arid region of southwest Madagascar, the main source of local income is women’s work. In this case, it’s octopus fishing. Each day, as the men of the community set sail at dawn to fish in deep waters, women wait for the tide to recede. Joined by their children and armed with well-used…
Meet a scientist: To study conservation, she studies people
Editor’s note: A 2017 survey found that 81 percent of Americans could not name a living scientist. No, not a single one. At Conservation International, we have lots of scientists you should know. Here’s one Studying nature is the work of environmental scientists. But studying the conservation of nature — how it works, and how…
‘Future of nature restoration’: Conservation International wins Microsoft challenge
Data — the key to understanding and tackling some of the world’s toughest problems — suffers from at least one major challenge. It’s often scattered and disorganized. Whether stored in a university database, a government server or a scientist’s hard drive, data is not useful if no one knows where it is or has access to…
Women conservation leaders ‘a tide lifting everyone’
The climate crisis affects women disproportionately: They’re 14 times more likely to die during a disaster and constitute 80 percent of all climate refugees. But a new wave of women conservation leaders is spearheading efforts around the world to prevent and adapt to the impacts wrought by climate breakdown. ELLE magazine dedicated its July issue…
Study: To make conservation go ‘viral,’ keep it simple, social
What makes a video go “viral”? What makes people stand in line for hours to buy a new smartphone or eat at a hip restaurant? And what does any of that have to do with conservation? A new study suggests that some of the same features that make a new gadget popular, such as simplicity,…
New science: deep-sea hotspot, Indigenous ocean conservation and more
Protecting nature starts with science. Here’s a roundup of recent research published by Conservation International experts. Off the coast of Chile, the deep waters surrounding Easter Island are brimming with some of the densest populations of black corals on Earth, according to new research. Black corals create critical habitat for an abundance of deep-sea life,…
One in Three U.S. Bird Species Are Struggling and Need Conservation Support
Birds Are in Trouble across the U.S. But It’s Not Too Late to Protect Them In the U.S. 42 species of birds have low and steeply declining populations that put them on the brink of disaster, scientists say By Meghan Bartels edited by Andrea Thompson An increasingly uncommon Pinyon Jay perches on the top of…
In Galápagos, novel conservation approach finds ‘sweet spot’ between production, protection
Scott Henderson is the vice president of the Sustainable Landscapes and Seascapes program at Conservation International. A visitor to the Galápagos Islands at the turn of the millennium would have found an archipelago booming. The Ecuadorian islands, a UNESCO World Heritage site, were a growing tourist hotspot. But for local communities on the islands, the…
In historic move, Costa Rica makes big splash for conservation
Costa Rica announced Friday that it will expand its protected ocean area from 2.7 percent to more than 30 percent of its territorial waters — a major leap that puts the Central American country nine years ahead of a global deadline to protect nearly a third of the world’s land and sea. The expanded Cocos…
Indonesian province leaps ahead in conservation
One of Indonesia’s easternmost regions is taking an unprecedented step toward sustainability. Last week, the government of the province of West Papua, on the island of New Guinea, announced legislation establishing it as Indonesia’s first “conservation province.” What this means is that the government will ensure that all future economic activity and development will be…
In Kenya, global crisis sparked ‘a new way to do conservation’
EDITOR’S NOTE: Few places on Earth are as evocative — or as imperiled — as the vast grasslands of sub-Saharan Africa. In a new Conservation News series, “Saving the Savanna,” we look at how communities are working to protect these places — and the wildlife within. MARA NORTH CONSERVANCY, Kenya — Under a fading sun, Kenya’s…