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Conservation Project News

Conservation projects news from the World Land Trust, an international wildlife conservation charity working to protect threatened wildlife habitats worldwide.

This page shows the most recent projects news updates, or a selection of posts in the same category. To read older posts, use the projects news archive in the navigation bar on this page. The newest posts can always be found at www.worldlandtrust.org/news/projects-news.htm.

Conservation projects news on this page:

Tuesday, 2 February 2010:

World Land Trust project partners establish presence in the Paraguayan Chaco 

Guyra Paraguay, the World Land Trust's project partner in Paraguay, has been given a piece of land in Mariscal Estigarribia, one of the largest towns in the central Chaco, initiating a project named 'Sustainable Mariscal Estigarribia'. Guyra Paraguay plans to build a small office in the town in order to create an institutional presence in the Chaco - an important step in the management of three protected areas that Guyra, the World Land Trust and the Paraguayan Ministry of the Environment are collectively responsible for under a Tripartite agreement.

Mariscal Estigarribia, situated in the Department of Boquerón, is the commercial centre for the surrounding region, with a population of around 7,000. It is a strategically-important area, with its position facilitating access to the National Parks and protected areas in the northern Chaco. It is hoped that this innovative agreement will create employment and build capacity of the local people in education, health, environment and sustainable production.

More information

Learn more about the project in Paraguay
See an interview with Guyra Paraguay's Executive Director, Alberto Yanosky talking about the organisation's conservation work, on YouTube.

Labels: Paraguay

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Thursday, 28 January 2010:

Paraguayan Eco Club impresses corporate supporters with their environmental work 

In 2005, Guyra Paraguay, project partner of the World Land Trust (WLT), established an open community group for the people of the remote town of Bahía Negra, the nearest population to the Pantanal Reserve and Three Giants Biological Station. Since then the Eco Club Pantanal Paraguayo, consisting mainly of young people, has gone from strength to strength.

The Eco Club outside the Bahía Negra radio station, which the club helped to set up.

The group undertakes a variety of activities, including bird surveys with Guyra Paraguay staff, arranging local events and visiting the nearby reserve and biological station. They have a newly-built cultural centre, which houses a small library as well as the radio station the club started; 'Bahía Negra Radio Poty', which broadcasts in the local Guaraní language.

The mission of the Eco Club is "Working for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the Paraguayan Pantanal through the awareness of local people" and so successful has the Eco Club been in training and improving prospects for the young people of this remote town, that two of the members have recently been recruited to work as National Park Rangers in Defensores del Chaco. This is part of the management for three protected areas in the northern Chaco, under the Tripartite agreement between the World Land Trust, Guyra Paraguay and the Paraguayan Ministry of the Environment.

A representative from WLT's corporate supporters, Swire Pacific Offshore (SPO), visited Bahía Negra in October 2008 and was so impressed by the work and activities of the Eco Club that SPO recently sent the Eco Club a gift package containing educational material.

SPO is working in collaboration with WLT and Guyra Paraguay to explore the potential for a carbon sequestration project in the Chaco-Pantanal and Atlantic Forests of Paraguay. SPO is an international shipping company based in Singapore, providing services to a diverse range of sectors including the oil and gas industries and fisheries protection. The company has a strong CSR policy and has made the decision to become 'carbon neutral'; introducing a comprehensive programme of energy efficiency and a commitment to offset its unavoidable carbon dioxide emissions.

The Eco Club members were very pleased with their gift and sent a hand-written letter of thanks to SPO.

Labels: Paraguay

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Friday, 22 January 2010:

A visit to Borneo: orang-utans, elephants and oil palm plantations 

Last summer, World Land Trust (WLT) representatives Mary Tibbett and Jo Finch met with Malaysian project partners and the Forestry and Wildlife Departments in Sabah, Borneo to discuss WLT projects in the area and find out more about Orang-utan conservation and the issues involving the palm oil industry.

The Kinabatangan River and floodplain in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo is a strong-hold for orang-utans, but threatened by conversion to oil palm plantations. Inserted photo: © KOCP (Kinabatangan Orang Utan Conservation Project). (Click on the image to see a larger version.)

WLT have been working to fund strategic land purchases to conserve wildlife corridors for Orang-utans and other Bornean species in Sabah since 2008.

WLT's main project partner in the area, LEAP believes site visits to project areas are extremely important in terms of demonstrating outside support for conservation measures to local communities. Whilst local communities are well aware about the importance and significance of orang-utan conservation, the price of conservation is high due to the incredible land use pressure from crops.

WLT are delighted to be able to collaborate with the local communities by investing in conservation in Sabah and the trip provided a good opportunity for Mary and Jo to meet some of the key players involved with conservation of the orang-utan in Sabah.

Oil palm plantations such as this are very important to the local economy and WLT partners LEAP and HUTAN are therefore trying to get oil palm companies involved in conservation, rather than calling for an outright ban of palm oil. (Click on the image to see a larger version.)

Land in demand: Conservation vs. palm oil

Land in Sabah is in demand from both conservation groups and the palm oil industry. Conservationists want to save the land because it protects a wealth of biodiversity, with more than the average number of orang-utans and other wildlife such as Bornean Elephant and Proboscis Monkey. However, this fertile land makes it the best place to grow oil palm too which means that land is expensive.

LEAP believes it is vitally important not to polarise the palm oil debate. The industry is generally viewed as the 'bad guy' but its importance to the Malaysian and Indonesian economies must not be underestimated since a large proportion of income is generated through palm oil exports. Plantation workers are carrying out their job in an industry which is essentially driven by consumers (1 in 10 supermarket products contain palm oil). WLT is keen not to criticise the industry out of hand since this could significantly hinder conservation progress, and negative media reports could well discourage plantation owners from entering into round table discussions or being sympathetic to conservation.

(From left) Cynthia Ong (LEAP Conservancy), Priya Shetty (journalist), Mary Tibbett (WLT), Sahdin Lias (Director of Red Ape Encounters) Marc Ancrenaz (Kinabatangan Orang-utan Conservation Programme - KOCP), Takrin Hj. Abdullah (Nature Heritage Conservancy), Jo Finch (WLT) and Peter Hughes (journalist) outside the KOCP headquarters.

LEAP takes the stand that it is better to pave the way for discussions with the palm oil industry, as there is the potential for oil palm plantations to become financers of conservation. WLT partners HUTAN, believe that compromises would be appropriate. For instance, they suggest that unproductive crop areas might be left as forest corridors for wildlife, keeping them connected and thereby allowing wildlife to have larger habitats and to safely avoid plantations.

Alternative uses of the forest: Sustainable tourism and forestry

It is also encouraging that the Sabah Forestry Department (SFD) and Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) are looking into and finding alternatives to using the forest for oil palm. The SFD are hoping to make sustainable use of the forest and in 2005 they produced the first FSC certified forestry area in the tropics.

The SWD aim is to reduce human-animal conflict by translocating individual orang-utans away from conflict areas. They also fund an orang-utan rehabilitation centre and believe it is possible to rehabilitate 95% of individuals. Tourists visiting the centre also generates valuable income.

Environmentally sensitive tourism is providing a sustainable livelihood for local people in Sabah. For example, a percentage of the money provided by Red Ape Encounters goes back into conservation and MESCOT, a community-based conservation and ecotourism initiative, have created a rainforest eco-camp for tourists. The entire camp is built from locally produced materials and designed to have no lasting footprint on the forest. (Find out how to visit the eco camp here.)

Orang-utans are not the only animals threatened by deforestation in Borneo. The Bornean Elephant - also referred to as Pygmy Elephant (above), Proboscis Monkey and many other species rely on these forests for their survival. When you support WLT's Orang-utan Appeal, you help protect these other species as well. (Click on the image to see a larger version.)

Saving forests for wildlife in Borneo - how you can help

So far, with funds raised by WLT, the Kretam-Kulamba corridor has been secured, and WLT are now in the process of funding the purchase of 222 acres in Lower Kinabatangan.

We urgently need your help so that we can fund other strategic parcels of land in Borneo. To give you an idea of what wildlife your donation to WLT's Orang-utan Appeal will protect, Mary describes what she saw on her trip: "We had been on the river for less than 10 minutes when we saw a herd of Pygmy Elephants on the banks. They were enormous - nothing pygmy about these animals!"

"The forests of the Lower Kinabatangan support over 200 elephants. When you donate to the World Land Trust's Appeal you are helping protect so many amazing species. We saw hornbills, macaques, the bizarre Proboscis Monkey, langurs, monitor lizards, snakes and of course, the orang-utan living wild, free and beautiful. That wasn't even the half of it, so many more animals and plants rely on this unique jungle for their survival."

To help the World Land Trust save more Bornean forests and the wildlife these habitats protect, please support the Borneo Orang-utan Appeal.

Labels: Malaysia

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Friday, 15 January 2010:

World Land Trust's Brazilian project partners visit the UK 

Nicholas and Raquel Locke, Directors of REGUA (Reserva Ecológica de Guapiaçu),World Land Trust's Brazilian project partner, visited the UK in December. As part of their visit Nicholas gave a presentation to representatives from the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) at Paradise Wildlife Park in Hertfordshire. BIAZA members have been working with the World Land Trust (WLT) as part of the Trust's Wild Spaces Programme to raise funds to purchase and protect a 1,700 acre reserve in Brazil.

Raquel Locke (REGUA), Kelly Jacobs, centre (WLT) and Nicholas Locke (REGUA) at Paradise Wildlife Park.

The impressive BIAZA Reserve was purchased in August 2009 and Nicholas' presentation enabled BIAZA members to see images of the reserve they had helped to protect. Nicholas also brought some great news: A puma had been spotted on the reserve, the first time this species has been seen on BIAZA land and an exciting indication of the health of the forest in this area.

Recognising the importance of this habitat and to secure the land as quickly as possible the purchase was made with a loan, a proportion of which is still outstanding. WLT still urgently needs to raise funds to complete payment of the loan and then to ensure the permanent protection of this vital section of Atlantic Rainforest.

Find out more about the BIAZA Reserve and how zoos are helping conservation in the field on WLT's Wild Spaces and on the rest of the work at REGUA and how you can help on our Brazil project pages.

Labels: Brazil

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Wednesday, 13 January 2010:

Wildlife pond created on WLT's UK reserve 

Beech Woodland on the Kites Hill Reserve.

In November 2009, the World Land Trust (WLT) created a pond on the Trust's UK reserve Kites Hill, located near Painswick in Gloucestershire, with the aim of enhancing the biodiversity of the area.

Ponds are a natural part of the British landscape but due to land-use changes, mainly as a result of farming, many of our natural ponds have been lost and many amphibian and reptile species are in decline.

Created as part of the county's Local Biodiversity Action Plan, the wildlife pond will encourage more amphibians and reptiles to the reserve and will provide them with essential habitat in addition to benefiting other species on the site.

The construction of the pond by contractors from JPR Environmental (top, © JPR Environmental) and the finished pond (above) at Kites Hill.

WLT's Kites Hill Reserve can be visited and is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The beech woodland is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is the only reserve actually owned by the Trust and demonstrates WLT's successful conservation work.

More information

Find out more about Kites Hill and how to visit the reserve »

Learn more about the construction of the pond (with photos) on the JPR website »

Supporters of the pond

The pond was created with financial support from Natural England, The European Outdoor Group's Association for Conservation, The D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust and Gloucestershire Environmental Group.

Labels: UK

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Friday, 8 January 2010:

In search of an ancient and remarkable tree (Ecuador) 

Dr Nigel Simpson is a Trustee of the World Land Trust (WLT) and co-founder of Fundación EcoMinga and Fundación Jocotoco, two of WLT's Ecuadorian project partners. When colleagues at Fundación EcoMinga informed Nigel of a giant ancient tree found on the Candelaria Reserve, he and other members of the Foundation set out on an expedition to find this amazing tree. Here is Nigel's account of the trip.

As most expeditions do, ours began with breakfast. Lou Jost, of Fundación Ecominga, Juan Pablo Reyes who is part time manager for Fundación Ecominga and I were meeting up to start an adventure into the depths of the Candelaria Reserve in search of a spectacular tree which we had only heard about third hand. Juan Pablo is a keen herpetologist and conservationist, and participant in a program to census and protect the globally endangered Mountain Tapir in and around Sangay National Park.

After breakfast the three of us drove for about fifteen minutes down the valley of the Pastaza, past the hydro-plant, through the tunnels to the village of El Placer, where the Recalde family lives. The Recalde family was the original owner of the Cerro Candelaria Reserve, and three of the younger family members - Luis and Fausto Recalde, and Israel Valencia are now the guardeparques (park guards) for Ecominga and were joining us on our expedition.

We left our truck behind, gathered up our rucksacks and camping gear, and descended the steep side of the gorge of the river to cross the suspension footbridge. Here the water volume is reduced to about a quarter as the rest is underneath in tunnels generating electricity. The sides of the gorge reveal lava flows created by Tungurahua volcano in a very active phase about 300,000 years ago. This particular morning the influence of the volcano was limited to a few deposits of ash on the leaves of bushes along the trail.

It was a three hour walk along a slowly ascending trail through a mixture of orchards, pastures and then secondary forests to our first stop at the wooden cabin which the family uses as a base for farming. Two-metre long plants of the orchid Sobralia luerorum arched over the trail.

The gorge of the Río Pastaza with exposed lavas from ancient eruptions; a group of children greeted us at the edge of the suspension bridge; Sobralia luerorum named after two distinguished orchidologists.

A snack for lunch was prepared in the cabin, during a rainy spell, before we continued further along the trail to enter the reserve where temperate cloud forest was predominant. A cable remained stretched across a valley, left over from timber extraction many years ago.

Our team on the trail, and lunch in the cabin.

A young Black and Chestnut Eagle by Luis Ricalde.

After walking another hour along the trail (which had been very well constructed by our companions) we reached our campsite in an area of beautiful pristine rainforest in the deep valley of the Río Chinchín Grande. We heard a bird of prey calling from the forest - it was an immature Black and Chestnut Eagle, the same bird which a couple of weeks before Luis had been able to approach and obtain a superb photo. We also encountered three examples of the new Blakea tree species which Lou had discovered a year earlier and is now named after Sir David Attenborough.

Lou and I camped overnight while Juan Pablo returned to Baños to meet a group who were starting the Mountain Tapir census, and the Recalde family returned to their cabin to overnight there. After putting up our tents, Lou and I climbed up a steep trail above the campsite for about an hour to sample the forest. This trail provides access to the páramo on the summit ridge 1900m above and another two or three more hours hike away.

We returned to our tents for a dinner of bread rolls, cheese and salami, nuts and yoghurt and promptly fell sound asleep to the forest's night noises of frogs, drips and falling leaves from the trees, an occasional owl, and the rushing water in the Río Chinchín.

Our campsite in the Cerro Candelaria forest, and views of the Río Chinchín Grande nearby.

Bright and early the next morning we set of on what was the main objective of expedition: to try and find this magnificent tree that we had been told about. Colleagues said it was an ancient 'Cedro' towering above the main canopy of the forest. Our route lay further upstream along the gorge of the Chinchín, but we were unsure of the distance as one source had told us it was a half hour hike and the other had said a good two hours! If is was much more than two hours I doubted my ability to get there and back along the very steep terrain, and then return from the campsite back to the road at El Placer.

The weather was perfect - cool, dry and cloudy - when we set off along the simple track which our guards had cut into the side of the gorge. After an hour of climbing and crossing two stream valleys we had noticed large emergent trees on the mountainside opposite and above us, but we had not encountered anything similar on our side. A large waterfall which we crossed had an Andean Dipper perched halfway up it. A Black-billed Mountain-Toucan and a Highland Motmot called from the canopy, and an unidentified Guan flew away. Then twenty minutes later there it was, unmistakably, about thirty metres in front of us.

Views of the remarkable Cedro tree in Candelaria.


A similar forest giant emerging from the canopy on the opposite side of the valley.

Considering the location - on a steep (greater than 45 degree) slope, very heavy rainfall (about 5 metres a year), and very prone to earth tremors and landslides - it was quite astonishing that the tree could have survived for the several hundred years needed to reach this size. It was over two metres diameter at its base, we measured (with difficulty) about 5.5 metres circumference at chest height, and the height was somewhere between 50 and 70 metres. It was difficult to get a clear sighting of the top as it broke into multiple branches, and the steep rough terrain and surrounding trees prevented our getting a clear view. The roots at the base were wrapped around a large rock. This may have improved its stability.

Usually in this type of forest, the large trees will topple down slope before they reach maturity. We noticed a serious landslide immediately above the tree, containing a couple of fairly large fallen trunks but it stopped short of the mound from which the tree emerged.

Trees of this stature are rare in montane cloud forest. Few locations in the Andes have escaped the effects of clearance or selective felling. We also noticed several large Podocarpus sp trees, another genus highly prized for its timber. It was a majestic sight, made all the better by the effort of getting there.

The páramo and summit of Cerro Candelaria - 3,800 metres above sea level.

After many photographs - none of which could do justice to this giant, we returned along the gorge to our camp where Luis and Juan Pablo were awaiting us with a lunch. We then hiked back to El Placer, the weather continuing to be perfect - no burning sun and no rain. En route we met up with Señor Ricalde sr and his daughter at the cabin. They had been planting trees in an old pasture, as part of a reforestation project.

Back in the modern world, a mobile phone call summoned a taxi to return us to Baños. The volcano Tungurahua was now erupting spectacularly about once every 5 to 10 minutes. At dawn the next morning, the indefatigable Juan Pablo would be climbing up to the páramo on Candelaria to begin the census of the Mountain Tapirs.

Labels: Ecuador

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Friday, 11 December 2009:

Protecting Lake Natron and its flamingos (Tanzania) 

Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania supports the local communities' vow to protect Lake Natron and its unique population of Lesser Flamingos.

Flamingos at Lake Natron, threatened by the proposed soda extraction development. Click on the image to see a larger version. Photo by hansco used under Creative Commons Licence.

Villagers living around Lake Natron in Tanzania have reaffirmed their pledge to protect 'their' lake from the development of an environmentally destructive soda ash extraction plant on its shores. Lake Natron is a salt lake located in northern Tanzania and the only known breeding ground for 2.5 million endangered Lesser Flamingos (Phoeniconaias minor).

Back in 2007, a multinational company began making plans to develop a soda extraction plant that would use the sodium carbonate in the production of washing powder for export. In 2008, a community delegation from Lake Natron rejected this proposal. In October, the community claimed their stand remains.

World Land Trust partner, The Wildlife Conservation Society of Tanzania (WCST) proposed instead the development of an environmentally-sensitive tourism industry. Lesser Flamingos are very sensitive to disturbance and the implementation of a soda ash extraction plant in the area would seriously threaten their survival. Such a development could wipe out one of the highlights of East Africa's natural heritage and drive the East African Lesser flamingo to extinction.

WCST has called for the support of stakeholders and governments in the development of a small-scale tourism to enable the Natron community generate a sustainable income. Taking advantage of the natural beauty of this region and sensitive use of the lake for tourism will provide income for the local community and ensure the survival of the fragile and beautiful wildlife that it supports.

Labels: Tanzania

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Wednesday, 9 December 2009:

World's smallest orchid discovered in World Land Trust supported reserve (Ecuador) 

A new species or orchid with flowers measuring just over 2mm across has been discovered in Cerro Candelaria Reserve, Ecuador.

The newly discovered orchid. Note the ruler at the top of the photo, showing just how tiny this plant is. The space between each vertical line is one millimetre. Click on the photo to see a larger version. Photo © Lou Jost/EcoMinga.


Three orchids that are found only in the Río Zuñac Basin: Lepanthes spruceana, Lepanthes sp. nov. and Lepanthes zunagensis. Click on the photo to see a larger version. Photo © Lou Jost/EcoMinga.

The tiny orchid, which is of the Platystele genus, was discovered by botanist Lou Jost among the roots of a much larger orchid previously collected in the reserve. The orchid's flowers are so small that its petals are just one cell thick and almost completely transparent.

Protecting orchids in Ecuador

Cerro Candelaria: A unique location for orchids

Cerro Candelaria Reserve is a 6,793 acre (2,750 hectare) reserve owned and managed by World Land Trust project partners Fundación EcoMinga. The reserve protects virgin Cloud Forest that contains a unique diversity of endemic orchids. The area is known for the high number of species of orchids of the genus Teagueia that have evolved in the region.

Río Zuñac: Reserve extension gives further protection for orchids

Río Zuñac is another of EcoMinga's reserves and also located in a centre of plant endemism; the Río Topo-Río Zuñac side valley of the Upper Río Pastaza Watershed. At least 20 species are unique to the area where the 144 hectare reserve is situated. The World Land Trust supported the purchase of a strategic 50 hectare property in 2008 and now the reserve will be extended by a further 150 hectares, thanks to a grant from IUCN-Netherlands.

Viscaya: a new reserve saved from logging

EcoMinga has successfully purchased "Viscaya", a 40 hectare property named after the local community. Located adjacent to the Llanganates National Park, Viscaya is a region of considerable biodiversity value: the primary forest the property supports contains unique endemic orchids and other plants that are absent from other reserves owned and managed by EcoMinga. The purchase was of utmost urgency as a logging company had also expressed interest in the property.

More information

To learn more about how WLT and EcoMinga are protecting orchids and other plant and animal species in Ecuador and how you can support the reserves, see our projects pages Help Save Rainforests in Ecuador.

The discovery of the new orchid species gained widespread media coverage, being featured in among others The Independent, National Geographic, The Telegraph and BBC Radio.

For more information on the species radiation of the Teagueia orchids in Cerro Candelaria, see the article Teagueia Explosion! on the website of Lou Jost.

Labels: Ecuador

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