An Interview with Dr Caleb Ofori-Boateng, Founder of Herp Conservation Ghana Dr Caleb Ofori-Boateng was the first formally trained herpetologist in Ghana, and has become a global champion for Ghana’s biodiversity, particularly its unique and threatened amphibians. He is the founder of Herp Conservation Ghana, the latest partner in our Amphibian Programme, and has [...]
CFLEDD (Coalition of Women Leaders for the Environment and Sustainable Development) is a growing movement of women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) advocating for women’s land rights and sustainable development. We spoke to Néné Mainzana, the President of CFLEDD, who explained why now is a critical moment to advance land rights [...]
The world’s largest rubber processor has called for a ‘cease and desist’ on deforestation in a rubber plantation approaching the edge of Cameroon’s Dja Biosphere Reserve. This is in response to a statement from local communities and pressure from international NGOs about unsustainable environmental practices, lack of transparency, and negative impacts on local communities. [...]
We often think about trees as a means: a means to timber or to paper, as providers of oxygen or more recently, as a means to capture carbon. Even within the conservation sector, trees are most often thought about as a means for conserving other species, a habitat for mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and [...]
Isabelle Lackman founded Hutan in Kinabatangan, Malaysian Borneo with her then husband Marc Ancrenaz in 1998 with the aim of conserving the Critically Endangered Bornean orang-utan (Pongo pygmaeus). In the almost two decades since, Hutan has worked with the local community to restore areas of degraded forest and help people and orang-utans to live [...]
The scientists joining forces with local champions to protect a hidden natural treasure in the remote Chocó region of northwest Ecuador. Tesoro Escondido (Hidden Treasure) is a remote ‘island’ of lush, tropical rainforest in the province of Esmeraldas in northwest Ecuador, a gruelling day’s travel from the capital, Quito. Surrounded on all [...]
Q: What links a critically endangered brown-headed spider monkey, an Ecuadorian NGO, a London-based Fund Manager and a University of Sussex biologist? A: Synchronicity Earth (and chocolate). Synchronicity Earth has recently secured a multi-year funding package from a London-based Fund Management business to support the Cambugán Foundation, an Ecuadorian NGO working to conserve the critically [...]
By Rudo Sanyanga A native of Zimbabwe, Rudo holds a PhD in Aquatic Systems Ecology from Stockholm University. She is the Africa Program Director of International Rivers and is based in Pretoria. This article was first published here. It’s been three years since the governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Africa signed [...]
By Robert Tumwesigye A guest blog by Robert Tumwesigye from Pro-Biodiversity Conservationists in Uganda (PROBICOU). One of the last refuges of the Mountain Gorilla, Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, is under threat from plans to clear fell ancient rain forest on the park’s perimeter to make way for tea plantations. Tea growers, backed by [...]
Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) recently launched Mapping for Rights, a web-based tool developed to improve forest governance in the Congo Basin. What is it? Mapping for Rights provides geographical information on the presence of indigenous peoples and other forest communities in the Congo Basin; it maps their rights and their use of forests. It [...]