Conservation Project News

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

You are viewing the archived pages, return to the current projects news here.

Conservation projects news on this page:

Wednesday, 30 April 2008:

Paraguayan government to conserve over 2.5-million acres thanks to WLT donors 

Alberto Yanosky, Exec. Director of Guyra Paraguay (left) and Carlos Antonio Lopez-Doze, Paraguay's Minister of the Environment sign the agreement in the UNDP Meeting Room, Asuncion, on 11 March 2008.


John Burton, WLT CEO (and Alberto Yanosky) speaking at the meeting when the Minister of the Environment announced the co-management agreement.


Aerial photo of the Dry Chaco, showing extensive soil erosion (light brown patches) where the vegetation has been degraded. See a larger image here.

WLT is currently funding the purchase of three very different habitats in Paraguay: Dry Chaco (Campo Iris), the Chaco-Pantanal Reserve and Atlantic Forest (San Rafael). Each is unique and all are threatened, primarily by the spread of agriculture, and in particular the growing market for biofuels and soya.

Even the Dry Chaco, a seemingly impenetrable habitat, isn't safe as a new dry-adapted variety of soy has been developed and trials are already taking place in the Chaco. But there is good news...

In March the Government of Paraguay signed an innovative co-management agreement which will conserve over 2.5-million acres of threatened habitat in Paraguay. This initial agreement is with the WLT's partners, Guyra Paraguay and in making the announcement, the Minister of the Environment, Carlos Antonio Lopez-Doze, supported by the Minister of Tourism, Liz Cramer, stated that the support of the World Land Trust and its donors in recognising the international importance of Paraguay's biodiversity, was a key factor in this momentous decision.

Over the next few months a formal tri-party Agreement between the Ministry of the Environment, Guyra Paraguay and the World Land Trust will be drawn up and signed, giving Guyra Paraguay the responsibility for the management of three national parks within the Northern Chaco Biosphere Reserve, as well as the Atlantic Rainforest of San Rafael, on behalf of the people of Paraguay.

The role of the WLT will be to co-ordinate international fundraising to support the conservation of the region, as well as providing technical assistance on carbon sequestration and 'avoided deforestation' projects which is all part of the overall vision for the Reserve.

Message from Sir David Attenborough congratulating the Government of Paraguay on its decision to protect the Dry Chaco:

"This is one of the last great wilderness areas left in the world, and it is hugely encouraging that much of it is still as it was when I was there half a century ago. The Government of Paraguay is to be congratulated on recognising the international importance of its wild heritage. Not only is it vital to save the incredible biodiversity of the region but part of the land is also home to people who still live in the forests largely unaffected by the outside world. I think it is wonderful that the World Land Trust has been able to play such an important role in saving it for future generations and I hope the rest of the world will respond generously and support WLT as it raises funds for the long term protection of this vast wildlife paradise."
Sir David Attenborough, Patron, World Land Trust

Learn more about the World Land Trust's Chaco/Pantanal Project in Paraguay

Labels: Paraguay

| Permanent location of this post | Read comments (0) |

Share this post with your friends

Ecuador's Minister of Tourism visits Buenaventura Reserve (Ecuador) 

Recognising the wealth of wildlife protected by Fundación Jocotoco Reserves, Ecuador's Minister of Tourism, Veronica Sion de Josse, together with her husband and son, recently visited the Buenaventura Reserve.

This year's tree planting activities are in full swing at the reserve and as well as helping plant some tree seedlings, the minister and her family were captivated by the webcam, strategically placed in front of a hummingbird feeder. As can be seen in the photo, the visitors enjoyed watching not only the multitude of birds coming to the feeders but also a group of coatis, who frequently turn up to feast on bananas and other fruit.

See the hummingbird webcam in action

Learn more about the Buenaventura Reserve

Labels: Ecuador

| Permanent location of this post | Read comments (0) |

Share this post with your friends

Tuesday, 29 April 2008:

A visit to two totally different potential reserve sites in Ecuador 

The Ayampe River valley (top), home of the Esmeraldas Woodstar hummingbird (above). Click on the images to see larger versions.


The Northern Ghost Bat, about which little is known. Click on the image to see a larger version.


Andean Fox (also known as the Paramo Wolf) in Antisana. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Last month the World Land Trust's Chairman, Renton Righelato, made a self-funded trip to Ecuador to join representatives of Fundación Jocotoco exploring two potential new reserve sites.

"Ecuador is remarkable in the diversity of its natural habitats and the range of species they contain - this is why it is such an important area for the World Land Trust. In February, Nigel Simpson and I were lucky enough to be part of a team from our Ecuadorean partner, Fundación Jocotoco, exploring two, wholly different, potential new reserve sites: Ayampe, warm and at sea level; and Antisana, at 4,000-6,000 metres and cold!"

"Near the settlement of Ayampe in the warm, semi-arid, Tumbesian region, where the River Ayampe enters the Pacific, is a pocket of more humid forest. It is one of two known sites of an endangered and virtually unknown hummingbird - the Esmeraldas Woodstar - a bird not much bigger than a bumble bee. Here we saw a male displaying by towering from its treetop perch out of sight in the sky and diving back down to a nearby female, who is then left to do everything else, nest-building, incubating and feeding the young, on her own. It was reassuring to see several nests, some with eggs and one with a tiny chick. The Jocotoco researchers will be returning later in the year to learn more of the life history of this species and work out how best to protect it."

"There were bigger things to see as well - including parties of Magnificent Frigate Birds soaring over and the remarkable Ghost Bat pictured here."

"In contrast, the paramo on the slopes of the high volcanoes of Ecuador is cold and wet. Like alpine meadows, unspoilt paramo is a rich mixture of plants with many beautiful flowers; but years of overgrazing and drainage have degraded much of it and plantation of foreign pine defaced it."

"Antisana is home to some of the few remaining Great Condors of Ecuador, which can occasionally be seen feeding on carcases of dead animals, along with the beautiful Paramo Wolf (really a large fox), shown here."

"The prospect of protecting and restoring up to 100,000 hectares of paramo and of polylepis forest of the lower slopes of one of the great volcanoes could not be more exciting - we await further news from Fundación Jocotoco."

Learn more about the Tropical Forest Project in Ecuador and the reserves protected by Fundación Jocotoco.

Labels: Ecuador

| Permanent location of this post | Read comments (0) |

Share this post with your friends

Monday, 28 April 2008:

John Sparks visits the Jocotoco Foundation's reserves in Ecuador 

John (in the foreground) and Sally meeting with the Jocotoco Foundation at Tapichalaca Reserve. In the background, from left: Niels Krabbe (ornithologist) and Rene Rivas (Forester at the Foundation) .


While at the Tapichalaca Reserve, John Sparks had good views of the Jocotoco Antpitta and took various pictures, including this one, which appears in his account of the trip.

Former Head of BBC Natural History Unit, Dr John Sparks has been a friend of the World Land Trust for a long time. He has travelled all over the world making wildlife films, including five of Sir David Attenborough's Life on Earth programmes.

In January John, and his wife, Sally, visited Ecuador and spent time at two of the reserves owned and managed by WLT's Ecuadorian partners, the Jocotoco Foundation: Buenaventura and Tapichalaca. He has recently posted a wonderfully illustrated account of his visit on his website.

Amongst the birds John saw was the endangered Jocotoco Antpitta. Here is an extract of John's account of meeting these birds, sometimes described as 'melons with pogo-stick legs':

"Franco duly sliced up the long, juicy forest worms and called the Antpittas. They needed no encouragement because within a minute or two, we got our first view of these secretive, groundliving birds."

"The adults were recognisable by their very white cheeks - the immatures were less distinctly marked. One juvenile was 7 months old and another only about one month. It is thought that in this species, the older young help their parents to rear their younger siblings. If so, I might have obtained some proof of this trait because I managed to obtain some shots of the two youngest birds in deep cover by changing the sensitivity of the camera to 1600ASA (no flash equipment is allowed on this site)."

Read the full account, visit John Sparks' website. (Choose the pdf document named "Two Rain Forests".)

Labels: Ecuador

| Permanent location of this post | Read comments (0) |

Share this post with your friends

First camera trap photo of Mountain Tapir (Ecuador) 

This is the first camera trap photograph of a Mountain Tapir taken at Tapichalaca, although they are occasionally seen.

The tapir is the largest native mammal in South America and is classed are Endangered. They weigh up to 300 kilos and measure approx 2 m from snout to tail, however they are relatively short in height standing at about 1.2 metres at the shoulder. An unusual feature of the tapir is its toed, or 'split' hoof, which spreads to form toes: four on the front and three on the back.

Learn more about the Tropical Forest Project in Ecuador

Labels: Ecuador

| Permanent location of this post | Read comments (0) |

Share this post with your friends

Thursday, 24 April 2008:

More wild cats - and other animals - captured on camera (Mexico) 

Ocelot, Puma, Gray Fox and Javelinas. (Click on the images to see larger versions.) Camera traps put up by Roberto Pedraza, along with Ben and Alina Lenth.

Roberto from Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda in Mexico has been busy collecting camera trap images from the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve and surrounding areas and recently wrote to us:

"I'm attaching some of our latest cat photos, an ocelot and a beautiful puma. The ocelot pic happened in one of the private nature reserves properties of one of our local partners, Asociacion Filantropica Cummins, that is under our management and the puma in one of the core areas of the reserve, in a beautiful old growth cloud forest of firs, white cedars and yews, it is so rewarding to know they are still present and doing fine."

"I'm also attaching a nice gray fox photo of the same camera and javelinas* (the local pizzas for jaguar and pumas!) from another site."

They are all great images, but WLT's favourite has to be this extreme close up of a jaguar Roberto sent us a couple of weeks later, captured by the camera in the Arenitas area:

And a day in the field doesn't just result in amazing camera trap images: here are some 'live' discoveries Roberto made:

"We went to place the camera traps in the Arenitas area, and just after a hundred meters from the jeep we found a pair of red-crowned parrots, a highly endangered Mexican endemic which I have recorded before for the reserve, but first time in the Arenitas area. And later finally I found an ornate hawk-eagle (Spizaetus ornatus) a very rare eagle that for years I was hoping to record for the sierra, and finally appeared in that area!"

Learn more about the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve in Mexico

(* Javelina is another name for a Peccary, or Musk hog)

Labels: Mexico

| Permanent location of this post | Read comments (0) |

Share this post with your friends

Funding needed for urgent sheep fencing removal (Patagonia, Argentina) 

Young Guanacos are getting caught in fencing and injured as a result. We urgently need to fund the removal of fencing and old corrals to enable wildlife to move freely without these hazards.

Sheep ranching at Ranch of Hopes Wildlife Refuge (Estancia la Esperanza), Patagonia helped establish a solid foundation of local support from the other estancias in the area, but there has been increasing evidence that the aging network of internal fences and corrals on the refuge are a deadly hazard to wildlife, especially young guanacos. It has therefore been decided to remove the sheep from the refuge and to clear the internal fencing and corrals to enable wildlife to move freely across the refuge.

Funds are urgently needed to undertake this work. For more information and to donate, see Coastal Steppe Project, Patagonia - Current Work

Labels: Argentina

| Permanent location of this post | Read comments (0) |

Share this post with your friends

Monday, 7 April 2008:

Conservation Highlights from last year 

A round-up of last year's activities by World Land Trust (in the UK and USA) in our conservation project areas around the world.

Brazil

Partner organisation: REGUA

Land Purchase

In 2007, WLT helped REGUA add 1,000 hectares of land to the reserve, and the Trust is currently attempting to raise the funds for eight active land acquisition projects.

35 hectares of the land adjoining the REGUA reserve were purchased following a successful application for €46,000 to IUCN-NL's Small Grants for the Purchase of Nature Programme. Funding for this small but significant piece of land also came with an additional €2,000 for REGUA to use in exchange visits or towards attendance at conferences abroad.

More information:

Land protection and re-introductions at the REGUA reserve

Habitat restoration

Habitat restoration work at REGUA was supported by Scottish and Southern Energy. This covered establishment of 12,200 trees this year.

More information:

Tree planting

Site Visits

A visit to REGUA was made by the winners of the competition run by the Express Newspapers and World Land Trust and organised by Trips Worldwide.

More information:

• Competition winner enjoys her stay in the Atlantic rainforest
• Guapi Assu Bird Lodge

John Burton, CEO of WLT (UK) hosted a very successful journalists' visit to REGUA that included Simon Barnes (journalist from The Times), Peter Hughes (journalist from The Telegraph) and Emily Mott (photographer for The Telegraph). The visit resulted in several news articles about the reserve and WLT's work in the area:

• Reassembling Eden
• A beer with the nectar slurpers
• Reverence in a green cathedral
• Good news from the forest

Research

The Red-Billed Curassow re-introduction programme continued to be a success - so much so that it has led to a re-introduction programme for a second bird species: the Black-fronted Piping Guan, which is also highly endangered but was previously found within the reserve area.

More information:

• Land protection and re-introductions at the REGUA reserve
• Re-released curassows are persisting in the wild
• Re-released curassows may already be breeding

Ecuador

Partner organisations:

• Fundación Jocotoco
• Fundación Eco Minga
• Fundación Pro-Bosque

Land Purchase

WLT donors helped Fundación Jocotoco (FJ) fund critical acquisitions at four of the foundation's eight reserves:

• Yunguilla
• Tapichalaca
• Jorupe
• Buenaventura

The land purchases at Buenaventura and Tapichalaca Reserves were funded in conjunction with WLT's Carbon Balanced Programme (see carbon sequestration, below). Match funding was also received for from the American Bird Conservancy for further extension at Buenaventura.

2,113 hectares was purchased as phase one of a new project to preserve a large tract of virgin forest containing a unique diversity of endemic orchids. This followed a proposal submitted to WLT by Lou Jost of Fundación EcoMinga to create a corridor between two National Parks, Sangay and Los Llanganates.

More information:

Co-operation in Saving Rare Orchid Sites
• Forest saved! Land destined for logging saved by corporate donation
• New land purchases in Ecuador and Paraguay

Habitat restoration

The reforestation work funded by Scottish and Southern Energy was fully established in 2007, working with Fundación Pro-Bosque and Fundación Jocotoco at four sites:

• Cerro Blanco
• Jorupe
• Buenaventura
• Tapichalaca

Some 61,000 native trees have been planted, which involved setting up and/or re-equipping tree nurseries in each of these areas. All of the plantings buffer, connect or fill cleared areas in the reserves.

The nurseries and field teams are now prepared to meet the 2008 target of planting a further 380,000 trees. The funding also covers field staff, fire training and construction of a new forest guard station.

More information:

Tree planting at Buenaventura

Carbon sequestration

The Yanacocha carbon sequestration project was fully established this year, including a nursery for native species with an output capacity of 20,000 seedlings per year. This has been used to restore forest cover with the financial support of Maryvale Farms and Bird Holidays.

Two new Carbon Balances projects were also established at Tapichalaca and Buenaventura. Both offset CO2 emissions using a mixture of forest protection, natural regeneration and enrichment planting with native species.

More information:

Carbon Balanced project areas

India

Partner organisation: Wildlife Trust of India

The final instalment of WLT's commitments towards the Siju-Rewak Elephant Corridor was made in June. Following this, 200 hectares adjacent to the corridor has been officially declared as the Siju Arthika Reserve Forest which is one of the first community designated reserve forests in India.

The progress of the Tirunelli-Kudrakote Elephant Corridor continues in Kerala. Activities have included the straight purchase of land, as well as providing alternative housing outside the corridor area for some of the residents. These were formally handed over in 30th April by a Member of the Legislative Assembly during a local ceremony leaving the Thirulakunna settlement completely without human inhabitants.

More information:

• Elephants reclaim vacated land
• New Village Reserve Declared for India's Elephants

Paraguay

Partner organisation: Guyra Paraguay

Land purchase

Dry Chaco
3,500 hectares has been purchased in the Dry Chaco, representing the first phase of this project.

San Rafael
World Land Trust, World Land Trust-US, and American Bird Conservancy joined forces - and funds - for a purchase of 600ha at San Rafael, with the funds raised by WLT and WLT-US matched by ABC.

More information:

New land purchases in Ecuador and Paraguay

Chaco-Pantanal
The first phase of the construction of the "Three Giants" biological station was completed last year. Land purchase continues at the reserve with a strategic purchase encompassing a large portion of the river bank covering an area of 1779 hectares.

More information:

• The Three Giants Lodge becomes a reality
• Chaco-Pantanal Reserve

Tree planning

Scottish and Southern Energy funding was used to support a 12 ha pilot planting at San Rafael. This will now be maintained and expanded to about 50 ha per year, plus maintenance for three years after planting.

More information:

Tree planting

Other projects

Fundación Avifauna Eugene Eisenmann, Panama

WLT has helped US donors participate in the international effort to build the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center on Pipeline Road of the Panama Canal. This state-of-the art facility will promote conservation of rainforest habitat to the canal's international visitors and the millions of Panamanians who live close by.

Kites Hill Reserve, United Kingdom

Kites Hill, located in Gloucestershire, is the only reserve owned by the World Land Trust rather than a partner organisation. An application submitted to the Gloucestershire Environmental Trust resulted in a pledged donation of £5,000 to go towards the construction of a pond at Kites Hill that aims to increase the biodiversity at the Reserve.

Osa Biodiversity Center, Costa Rica

The Osa Peninsula holds a fairly intact remnant of Pacific coastal rainforest. WLT donors are supporting research on three rare bird species restricted to the region of the peninsula, the Mangrove Hummingbird, Yellow-billed Cotinga, and Black-cheeked Ant-Tanager. The research supports efforts to permanently protect areas of habitat.

Sierra de Alamos Reserve, Mexico

WLT supported Nature and Culture International in purchasing land to expand their 7,500-acre private reserve within the Sierra de Alamos reserve in northern Mexico. This reserve protects the northernmost tropical deciduous forest in the Americas, a highly diverse but endangered ecosystem that used to extend from Sonora to southern Central America, but is now highly fragmented.

Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, Mexico

This reserve is recognised as being the most ecologically diverse of all the natural protected areas in Mexico. A purchase of 100 hectare property at the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve represents the first half of WLT's avoided deforestation and assisted regeneration project in the reserve.

For more information about the WLT's projects, see

http://www.worldlandtrust.org/projects/index.htm

http://www.worldlandtrust-us.org/projects/index.html

Labels: All

| Permanent location of this post | Read comments (0) |

Share this post with your friends