Author: erinwilligan

The Lungs of the Planet Are Burning

September 3, 2019 erinwilligan

Burning tropical forests is a major factor in climate change. Deforestation contributes one fifth of all the greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere due to human activity–more that all the emissions from Europe.

September 3, 2019: Rewilding Earth

As the world watches the Amazon fires rage, destroying one of our most important global treasures there is only one question on everyone’s mind:

Can we survive this unchecked destruction?

In his recent article for Rewilding Earth, Stuart Pimm, President of Saving Nature, shares his insights into the Amazon fires and explains the potential consequences.

Days of Fire

by Stuart Pimm

Fly from the USA to Rio de Janeiro and choose a day-time flight. Reject all demands to lower your window shades. You must not miss the view. One heads southeast, crosses Cuba, and makes landfall near Caracas, Venezuela. The next two and a half hours are a planetary spectacular, while the final three are apocalyptic.

The transect from Caracas to Manaus on the Amazon shows vast, unbroken tracts of forest. I’ve done this on crisp, clear days and, on magical ones, when the tepuis rise above low-lying mist. They inspired Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World. I don’t think undiscovered dinosaurs live there, but undiscovered species? Bet on it.

At Manaus, the black waters of the Rio Negro, coming in from the north, meet the coffee-coloured ones from the Andes. From the plane, I see they refuse to mix for a long way downstream. Unbroken forest returns – but not for long. Soon, there will be huge columns of smoke rising to the height of the plane, their plumes trailing downwind for as far as we can see. All too soon, thick grey smoke will completely cover the ground below. It will continue for most of the rest of the journey.

No other journey tells me what wonderful places we still have of our planet — and how we might lose them in a generation.

Click here to read the entire article.

Categories: Climate Change, News, Saving Nature Collection

Logging and Mining Threaten Unique Biodiversity

August 1, 2019 erinwilligan

August 1, 2019

In this article published by Mongabay, Saving Nature’s Dr. Stuart Pimm was asked to share his perspective on the trade-off between logging and conservation in this remote island swathed in old growth forest.

Logging, Mining Companies Lock Eyes on a Biodiverse Island Like No Other

While many of the world’s forest have been exploited by logging, mining,, and energy production, Woodlark Island has survived relatively unscathted…that is, until now.

Lured by high-value timber, a logging company is planning to clear 40 percent of Woodlark’s forests. Compounding the threat to this unique ecosystem is an open-pit mine approved to operate in the middle of the island. Researchers fear the resulting habitat destruction will drive many species to extinction.

“The massive logging proposed will destroy much of the island’s forests and the essential ecosystem services they provide and jeopardise those species,” says Stuart Pimm, an expert in extinction and professor of conservation at Duke University.extinction.

Are this island’s endemic species worth their weight in gold? Read the full article here.

Categories: News

Stuart Pimm Awarded Cosmos Prize

July 22, 2019 erinwilligan

July 22, 2019

We are proud to announce that Stuart Pimm, Founder and President of Saving Nature, has been awarded the 2019 International Cosmos Prize in recognition of his outstanding achievements in promoting “The Harmonious Coexistence between Nature and Mankind” and for his contributions to the advancement of a global outlook and long-term vision for Earth’s future.

The prize, widely viewed as one of the most prestigious honors presented in the environmental field, recognizes the culmination of Dr. Pimm’s leadership in preventing the loss of biodiversity. Past recipients of the Cosmos Prize include Jane Goodall, E.O. Wilson, Richard Dawkins, and Sir David Attenborough, among other luminaries in the fields of conservation science and natural history.

In selecting Pimm as this year’s laureate, the prize jury cited not only his research and scholarship but also his leadership of Saving Nature and the impact the organization has had, particularly in protecting and restoring habitat for threatened biodiversity in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, India, and Sumatra.

The jury also cited Pimm’s commitment to fostering future environmental leaders by mentoring students at all levels – doctoral, master’s, undergraduate and even high school — and giving them hands-on experience in the lab and field as members of his research team.

A prolific and widely cited scientist, Pimm has published more than 330 peer-reviewed research studies, including seminal works on biodiversity and species loss in the Everglades, the coastal forests of Brazil, and the northern Andes, the latter two of which are among the planet’s hotspots for threatened species.

His work has helped shed light on the threats facing hundreds of endangered species, from iconic ones such as giant pandas, African elephants, and lions, to humble creatures like the Cape Sable seaside sparrow, a sentinel species of environmental health in Florida’s Everglades.

In addition to his scientific papers, he has published four books intended for mainstream audiences, including a widely praised assessment of human impacts on the planet, The World According to Pimm: A Scientist Audits the Earth, in 2001.

Pimm also has testified before both the U.S. House and Senate on the reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act.

It’s no exaggeration to say that much of what we know today about endangered species and what can be done to reverse their declines is directly attributable to Stuart.

Over the course of his remarkably productive career so far, he’s developed quantifiable methods for estimating extinction rates and identifying global patterns of species and habitat loss.

He’s championed the use of big data, geospatial analysis, remote sensing and other tools that have revolutionized how we do conservation and measure its impacts.

And he’s pioneered a more strategic approach for investing limited conservation resources and partnering with local communities.

This is a richly deserved honor.

Toddi Steelman, Stanback Dean of the Nicholas School

Categories: News, Saving Nature Collection

Why Saving Small Spaces Matters

July 20, 2019 erinwilligan

July 15, 2019

Humans have disproportionately harmed those places where small-ranged species are concentrated.

Why Saving Small Spaces Matters

In a recent article published in American Scientist, Drs. Stuart Pimm and Clinton Jenkins of Saving Nature make the case for why saving biodiversity means thinking small….as in spaces.

They take a deep dive into setting conservation priorities by analyzing how range size affects the risks of extinction and conclude that species with small ranges are at the greatest risk of extinction. For these species, an area smaller than 1,000 square kilometers is their entire world. When it’s gone, they are too.

Setting aside habitat for species with small ranges is a practical approach to protecting biodiversity in the face unrelenting population growth. Saving Nature applies these principles to set conservation priorities, saving the greatest number of species at risk of extinction with a very cost-effective approach.

We look for opportunities to restore and protect corridors that link habitat remnants to create viable ecosystems for vulnerable and endangered species.

For over a decade, the team at SAVING NATURE has worked with local partners to create wildlife corridors in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, India, and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. All areas high in biodiversity and endemism. All areas that have lost a great deal of their once expansive forests.

Read More about the science behind SAVING NATURE and why saving small spaces has a big impact.

Help us save small spaces for endemic species suffering habitat loss.

Categories: News, Saving Nature Collection, Science

Horned Marsupial Frog Rediscovered in Ecuador

December 4, 2018 erinwilligan

Marsupial Horned Frog, recently rediscovered in Ecuador's Tumbes-Choco biodiversity hotspot

December 4, 2018

HORNED MARSUPIAL FROG REDISCOVERED IN ECUADOR

There is nothing more rewarding than learning that a species thought to be extinct has managed to somehow survive against formidable odds. The horned marsupial frog (Gastrotheca cornuta) is one such species.

Horned marsupial frogs are unique among amphibians. Named for the leaf-like horns on the top of their head and for the pouch on the female’s back to gestate tadpoles, they live in the rainforest canopy. The male’s call, like the pop of a champagne cork, celebrates the mating season. Males fertilize eggs externally and place them in the female’s pouch. Here the developing tadpoles, with umbrella-like gills, eventually emerge as tiny frogs, without a having free-swimming phase.

Once having ranged from Costa Rica to Ecuador, their numbers have steadily dwindled as their habitat has been polluted and destroyed by commercial interests. Finally disappearing from sight in Ecuador in 2005, this reclusive amphibian was presumed to have succumbed to deforestation, the lethal chytrid fungus, agricultural pesticides, and crop fumigation.

It turns out that we haven’t lost them yet. A small population of horned marsupial frogs was able to survive in a remote area of the Choco rainforest. A team of scientists recently discovered six individuals and heard more vocalizing on a parcel of land our local partner acquire earlier this year. As the research continues, we hope to learn more about these survivors, as well as other isolated species taking refuge here.

The property is now protected as part of our broader vision to prevent large-scale commercial logging and oil palm plantations from intruding farther into what remains of this richly diverse tropical forest.

Western Ecuador ranks among the most threatened biodiversity hotspots in the world. The most threatened habitat is the lowland Chocó rainforest, which almost rivals the Amazon in terms of biodiversity but far surpasses it in terms of endemism and of course deforestation. The Chocó has more endemic birds than any other region in the world; it also harbors >2,250 endemic species of plants.

Having already lost nearly 98 percent of the original forest, the Ecuadorian Choco is facing the highest rate of deforestation in the country. We are currently developing an ambitious strategy to establish a mosaic of strictly protected reserves by building wildlife corridors that connect, protect, and restore disjointed forests.

Help us save the last 2% of the Ecuadorian Choco for the horned marsupial frog and thousands of other endemic species.

Categories: Amphibians, Ecuador, News, Saving Nature Collection

Lessons in Camera Trapping

October 26, 2018 erinwilligan

October 26, 2018

by Bridgette Keane

LESSONS IN CAMERA TRAPPING

As a student at Duke University, I worked with Dr. Stuart Pimm during the spring to plan a trip to monitor protected areas in Ecuador and Colombia that his organization is working to connect and restore. As part of the “camera trap team,” I spent a semester familiarizing myself with the use of camera traps for conservation work. This involved skimming dozens of scientific articles and reviewing different camera trap models from outdoor retail websites.

Once I arrived in the field, I realized that you can only learn so much from websites and articles. I was lucky to have received advice from Dr. Jim Sanderson about how to set-up camera traps. His guidance helped reduce the amount of troubleshooting we needed to conduct in the field.

We visited two project locations, starting with the Jama Coaque Reserve, run by the Third Millennium Alliance. We then travelled to La Mesenia in the Colombian Western Andes, run the The Hummingbird Conservancy for our second installation.

Navigating the Owner’s Manual

We spent the first few days at Jama Coaque placing traps on nearby trails to evaluate various camera settings. Basic recording options included pictures, videos, or both – but there was so much more to consider.

Other settings included image/video format and size, LED control (how many LEDs you want to go o for night images), motion sensor level (how sensitive you want the sensor to be set to), and the time interval between pictures (how long you want the camera to wait before it takes another picture/video if it is being triggered many times in a row).

Setting Our Traps

Once we actually started positioning cameras in the field, I quickly discovered that there was much more to think about than just the camera settings, as Jim Sanderson had warned me. First of all, I was not familiar with the reserve. I came in with an idea of a placement pattern for monitoring the corridor. Once there, I realized that placing the traps depended much more on the trails and in some cases, security issues.

I had to do my best to crawl my way through game trails, scouting locations in the path of animals, but away from people. I carried a machete to clear any vines or branches along the trails near the camera. Anything moving in the wind in front of the camera may inadvertently trigger it.

Finding the right spot was just one of the many challenges to placing camera traps. My days in the field usually involved hiking for hours up steep hillsides to a predetermined GPS location. Once there, I spent another hour finding the right tree, clearing the area, and positioning the camera. (Picture me jamming sticks behind it to get the perfect angle and checking the line of sight by squatting in front of it, resulting in some wonderful photos).

Unexpected Discoveries

As we learned the in’s and out’s of camera trapping, we start rethinking the technology’s possibilities. In the short-term we simply wanted to understand what species are using wildlife corridors in various stages of renewal. For the Jama Coaque Reserve, it was especially important to monitor areas of forest that were newly restored.

We were beyond thrilled to find ample movement of various species through very young forest in just the two weeks that we spent at the site. The most surprising and exciting discovery was a video of an ocelot moving through forest that was open cattle pasture just a few years ago.

Our two week stay at the reserve at La Mesenia, Colombia was even more challenging from a terrain perspective. The hikes were steeper, longer, and much more treacherous. They often took an entire day and needed to be planned out with and led by one of the reserve’s local rangers. In the short time we had at the reserve, it was simply too difficult to check them. However, our partners will be checking the cameras regularly to make sure they are running properly and will hopefully find some quality videos!

A View From the Canopy

For long-term research, the camera trapping project in Jama Coaque will next extend into the canopy. The idea is to record pictures and videos of animals that rarely come down to the ground. The research team will also pair each canopy trap with one on the ground. This protocol for corridor monitoring transcends the typical limits of camera traps by expanding camera placement to include a vertical dimension. As a result, we’ll have a more complete picture of how the entire forest is being used.

Ongoing Research

The team in La Mesenia is also shaping a long-term plan to monitor species moving through the corridor. As we collect date over the long-term, we will better understand what species use the corridors as they mature. These insights will help conservation scientists understand how to best reverse the dynamics of forest fragmentation and help species have access to the resources they need.

Please support our research into the science of wildlife corridors and species recovery. Your support helps mentor young scientists.

Categories: Camera Trapping, Ecuador, Research, Saving Nature Collection

Protecting 20% of Land to Save Two-Thirds of Plant Species

September 5, 2013 erinwilligan

September 5, 2013

You’ve heard the adage, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” But new research by Saving Nature scientists offers an amazing conservation ‘deal’. Backed up by top-flight science and data, it’s too good to pass up. So what is the deal? The new paper, published today in Science, was co-authored by Saving Nature founder Stuart Pimm and Vice President Clinton Jenkins, and by Lucas Joppa of Microsoft Research, who completed his Ph.D. with Pimm.

PROTECTING A FIFTH OF THE WORLD'S LAND TO SAVE TWO-THIRDS OF ALL PLANT SPECIES

The key finding of the paper is that protecting a fifth of the world’s land area will save two-thirds of the world’s endemic plant species. Using the Kew Gardens plant database, the authors looked at the geographical distributions of 110,000 plant species. From this analysis, the researchers identified the smallest set of regions that contain the largest number of plant species.

They discovered that nearly two-thirds of the world’s plants occur in just 17 percent of the world’s land. The bad news is that less than a sixth of that 17 percent is currently protected. “Our study identifies regions of importance. The logical – and very challenging – next step will be to make tactical local decisions within those regions to secure the most critical land for conservation.” Pimm said.

Incorporating years of data, Jenkins created a detailed, color-coded map of Earth. The map illustrates where endemic plants are concentrated. This information helps conservation ecologists, policy makers, and economists to prioritize locations for conservation eorts. Because of ecological food webs, protecting endemic plants not only helps save rare plant species—it helps save dependent species, such as specialist herbivores, epiphytes and so on. “We also mapped small-ranged birds, mammals and amphibians, and found that they are broadly in the same places we show to be priorities for plants,” said Jenkins. “So preserving these lands for plants will benefit many animals, too,” he said.

According to Pimm, to achieve biodiversity conservation goals, the world needs to protect more land than we currently do and much more in key places such as Madagascar, Colombia, and coastal Brazil. These are all places where Saving Nature works.

Saving Nature relies on cutting-edge science to make its conservation decisions. With the limited amount of conservation funding available, we must use the best science to maximize the number of threatened species of wildlife and plants we can save. The report’s findings truly oer conservationists a great deal.

SCIENTIFIC NOTE: The work in Science focused on endemic species of plants. Endemic species exist only in specific places, such as a particular mountain range or forest. Endemic species are typically very rare, because of their limited geographical distribution. Endemic plants are also crucial to ecosystems that support other endangered species and, more broadly, biodiversity. Because they exist only in one place, endemic plants are often hosts for other endemic species that depend on them—insects, animals, and even other plants such as epiphytes.

Categories: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Research, Saving Nature Collection, Science, Science Corner, Sumatra

Exploration 101: The Dream Jobs Begin with a Slog

October 25, 2009 erinwilligan

October 25, 2009

Conservation biologist Stuart Pimm has a long and brilliant career as a scientist. Author of numerous research papers and books, he has given lectures in distinguished forums across the world. Yet he is never happier than as a teacher and mentor.

In this blog entry Pimm addresses what it takes to be a young explorer in the field, interviewing some of his protégés about the high and low points. He finds that much of the excitement and challenges of getting started have not changed over the past forty years. It all begins with a willingness to pay your dues.

Exploration 101: The Dream Job Begins with a Slog

By Stuart L. Pimm

Special Contributor to NatGeo News Watch

The Seven Stars is not the oldest pub in Derby, England. Nearby, the Dophin dates from 1580–a hundred years earlier. But in the late 1960s, the Seven Stars served draft Newcastle Brown ale. It was worth hitchhiking home to Derby from Oxford at the weekend. Beer in the south of England was terrible.

As I elbowed my way to the bar, a vaguely familiar face introduced himself, a conversation ensued, and seven months later, I drove with him and ten others overland to Afghanistan.

My career as an explorer had begun.

That it almost ended that summer–I came back so sick that I had to miss a year of university–is another story.

The story I write here is how one starts a career in exploration–and in this century, rather than in the last one, when I started mine.

So I turned to three remarkable young explorers: Dr. Luke Dollar is a National Geographic Society Emerging Explorer–and a former student of mine. The other two are undergraduates at Duke–Varsha Vijay and Ciara Wirth.

“How did you get started,” I asked them.

Luke was first. “I spent three years cleaning up lemur poop at the Duke Lemur Center. I ingratiated myself in every way with Professor Patricia Wright and eventually was invited to do equally menial stuff in Madagascar.” (Like me, Pat is a former member of the National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration.)

“I was the first up, the last down, and at the end of the day the dirtiest, most tired, most sweaty of everyone.”

From that experience, Luke returned year-after-year, working first for Pat, then on his own, with the island’s largest predator–the fossa.

Almost every year, Luke takes teams to his study sites with Earthwatch–an organization which people pay to do field research for a couple of weeks each northern summer.

Each year, Luke needs the same kind of assistance that Pat needed–someone who is prepared to start by doing the very basic stuff in the field and what is often quite numbing organization to get there.

(I remembered from the first expedition I led, how much time we spent on calculating how many rolls of toilet paper we’d need for 14 people in the field for several months. We didn’t think it would be easy to buy in Afghanistan.)

Varsha got her start helping Luke for one summer in Madagascar.

Then came Ecuador. This was a chance to work with Ciara Wirth, other students from Duke, and Save America’s Forests. Varsha did not hesitate.

Ciara and Varsha worked with Waorani Indians in a remote part of the Amazon.

I told them: “You fly to Quito, then fly across the Andes into the Amazon lowlands, then take a bus for a day — or longer if it gets stuck in the mud — then two days by canoe.”

“Madagascar, the Amazon … two of the most amazing places on Earth! How could I say no?” Varsha replied. And after the first summer there, she took a year off from Duke to continue her work in the field. Ciara came back for a second summer too.

“What were the high points and what were the low points?” I asked them.

“Food”–was near the top of Varsha’s list. ”Growing up in a Hindu family, we did not eat meat. Going from that to eating monkey parts and every kind of rodent was a challenge.”

And the language. Ciara had traveled extensively with her very adventurous parents and spoke Spanish. Varsha did not. Remarkably, both have learned the language of the Woarani Indians.

Initially, they did so in a remarkable way–by talking over Skype in the evenings whenever their Woarani guide, Manuela, came into Puyo and would log onto the computer in an Internet café. The transition from rain forest nomad to using the latest communications technology happens within a generation.

“How did you make friends?”

Varsha’s story was that she regularly joined the women in the traditional villages in making chica–manioc “beer.” “You chew the manioc for a few minutes, spit it back into the bowl, grab another mouthful, and start chewing again.” And yes, it’s a communal bowl.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.

“So what went wrong?” All of us have stories of bad experiences.

Ciara’s project depending on mapping–and the essential tools were the GPS units she had taken with her. She left them in a taxi–threatening the viability of the entire project.

After a frantic night and a visit to the police station–” a scary place at night”–they found the taxi and within hours were on their way.

When they arrived, “it was one of the greatest experiences Varhsa and I had the entire summer–a really beautiful community,” Ciara said.

Through all the challenges, all the things that go wrong, Luke and Varsha were all excited about going back into the field. And Ciara is there now, working in Africa.

Luke’s final advice: “Keep your mind open–and be prepared for anything.”

Categories: Madagascar, Saving Nature Collection

Better REDD Than Dead When It Comes To Climate Change

September 28, 2009 erinwilligan

The meeting on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD) convened by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the United Nations, New York. Photo courtesy United Nations

September 28, 2009

By Stuart Pimm

Special Contributor to NatGeo News Watch

BETTER REDD THAN DEAD WHEN IT COMES TO CLIMATE CHANGE

Time is running out in the fight against the world’s two most critical environmental crises: global warming and mass species extinction. A significant driver of both climate change and extinctions is deforestation and its aftermath of degraded, fragmented, and isolated landscapes. Such places lose their capacity to absorb carbon emissions and to sustain species.

Swapping field clothes for a suit and tie, conservation biologist Stuart Pimm attended a United Nations event last week on forests and climate change. He was among world leaders and distinguished thinkers and activists invited to publicly express their commitment and support for the role of forests as an option to mitigate the emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The forest event followed the Summit on Climate Change, convened at the UN a day earlier “to mobilize political will and strengthen momentum for a fair, effective, and ambitious climate deal” in Copenhagen this December.

Officials from almost every country will gather in Copenhagen to try to agree a new climate treaty as a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, the first phase of which expires in 2012. The conference, also known as COP15, is widely regarded as a critical opportunity for humanity to try to get a grip on the problem of climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.

The meeting on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD) convened by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the United Nations, New York.

United Nations, New York, September 23, 2009, 5 a.m.

Another morning when the alarm goes off while it’s still very dark. When I dress, it’s not my boots and field khakis that I put on, but a white shirt, fumbling at this early hour with the cufflinks, and a charcoal grey suit.

The flight to New York is just over an hour. Then a taxi. It can’t get me very close to my destination. First, I see what must be every policeman in the city, then the traffic slows to a crawl, then a standstill, and I continue my journey on foot.

Different Kind of Jungle

This morning I’m off to a different kind of “jungle” and it requires different field clothes. The United Nations General Assembly is in session and I have an invitation to watch a “high level event.” What happens here may decide whether the world’s forests, their biodiversity, and their indigenous peoples, have a future.

The last few blocks have the feel of a street fair. Lots of noisy people waving posters, shouting slogans–and one, carrying a placard reading simply “Indict him!”, nearly knocks me over. I wonder who the “him” is, thinking there might be 192 national leaders to choose from, then remember that some would be “her,” so that narrows the field just a bit.

Finally, I reach the right street corner, see someone holding a small sign “REDD,” and, in short order, I am whisked through security into the relative tranquility of the UN building.

REDD: Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation

REDD is for “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation.” It is a UN program that seeks to generate income for countries that provide sustainable management of forests while also contributing to important reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

There’s a lot of science involved and the world’s forests are at stake. I worry: will this meeting of the world’s top politicians–its presidents and prime ministers–have got the message?

The United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, introduces the proceedings. He recognizes the commitment to the meeting–more than 85 governments are represented in the room, 18 of them by their heads of state.

Then he nails the key points:

Deforestation causes 20 percent of the emissions of global greenhouse gases.
Hundreds of million of mostly poor people live in forests and depend on the ecosystem services they provide.
Forests harbor the greatest share of the planet’s biodiversity.
Some background: A total of 183 countries have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol–an agreement to reduce the greenhouse gases that are disrupting the planet.

People often think that this is entirely a problem for industrial nations, such as the U.S., European countries, Japan, and so on. If so, the list of top emitters would surprise: after China and the U.S., come Brazil and Indonesia.

Brazil and Indonesia get to that position because of their high rates of deforestation.

Stopping Deforestation is a Bargain Compared to Other Solutions

Under the Kyoto Protocol, developing countries cannot receive credit for the benefits their forests provide as the major stores of global carbon. REDD aims to change that.

Brazil’s neighbor, Guyana, still has most of its forests. Its president, Bharrat Jagdeo, gave the event’s most forceful presentation. “We all profess to know how important forests are,” he started, then asked why REDD hadn’t been given the attention of other solutions. “We need to correct that this afternoon.”

Certainly, there were technical problems, he noted, but there are also technical problems with alternatives such as employing renewable energy. He felt that countries were focusing too much on REDD’s difficulties. “This is the lowest-cost [greenhouse gas] abatement solution,” he said. Indeed, studies done by the Union of Concerned Scientists show that about U.S. $25 billion in forest conservation would prevent a billion tons of carbon going into the atmosphere.

From the point of view of the developed world, Sweden’s prime minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, spoke on behalf of the European Union. He too started with the importance of forests–home to “70 percent of the world’s biodiversity.”

Enough to Effect Real Change?

Deforestation was running at “13 million hectares [50,000 square miles] per year between 2000 and 2005,” Reinfeldt said. Unless the world’s nations could reduce that by half by 2020, there would be no way to keep the planet from warming at least two degrees, he warned.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did not attend. Neither did British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. But a British official read Brown’s statement. Yes, public funding was vital, the British agreed, but so too was the private sector who could use carbon markets to offset their emissions. (Companies could compensate for their carbon emissions by investing in carbon-trapping opportunities like forests.)

With colleagues, I have spent a career documenting forest-loss and the species extinctions it causes. Would this science get onto the political agenda? I need not have worried. It has.

But would the broad international agreements on the science be enough to effect real change? The core point is will there be adequate funds to do this?”

REDD is About Human Rights

While president Jagdeo applauded Norway’s financial commitments and Brazil’s efforts to reduce deforestation, his main point was emphatic: “the core point is will there be adequate funds to do this?” Can enough money be raised through carbin markets and other global sources to make forest conservaton sustainable?

I knew from previous events, drinks and canapés would follow. From the windowless meeting chamber, we trouped into a lounge with an impressive view overlooking the river.

I wasn’t just there for the snacks, for there were short talks by two women who I have long admired, but never met.

Wangari Maathai is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, rewarded for her work in environmental conservation, women’s rights and–so relevant to the day’s events–planting trees.

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz chairs the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. She played a central role is getting the UN to adopt the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Yes, REDD is about billions of tons of carbon. And about millions of species. Maathai and Tauli-Corpuz understood that. But their unique and powerful message is that REDD is about people–whose lives and whose homes are destroyed when we clear the world’s forests.

How Can You Help?

We will continue to use both science and savvy to Connect, Protect, and Restore forest corridors. We invite you to join us in this ambitious effort!

Donating to Saving Nature puts trees in the ground for biodiversity, and sequesters carbon from the atmosphere. In short, supporting Saving Nature helps fight the two most pressing environmental problems the world faces—mass species extinction and global warming—at the same time!

Please support our forest restoration and connectivity efforts, and help fight climate change for a sustainable future!

Categories: Climate Change

The Lungs of the Planet Are Burning

Can we survive this unchecked destruction?

Days of Fire

Logging and Mining Threaten Unique Biodiversity

Logging, Mining Companies Lock Eyes on a Biodiverse Island Like No Other

Stuart Pimm Awarded Cosmos Prize

Why Saving Small Spaces Matters

Why Saving Small Spaces Matters

In a recent article published in American Scientist, Drs. Stuart Pimm and Clinton Jenkins of Saving Nature make the case for why saving biodiversity means thinking small….as in spaces.

Horned Marsupial Frog Rediscovered in Ecuador

HORNED MARSUPIAL FROG REDISCOVERED IN ECUADOR

Lessons in Camera Trapping

LESSONS IN CAMERA TRAPPING

Navigating the Owner’s Manual

Setting Our Traps

Unexpected Discoveries

A View From the Canopy

Ongoing Research

Protecting 20% of Land to Save Two-Thirds of Plant Species

PROTECTING A FIFTH OF THE WORLD'S LAND TO SAVE TWO-THIRDS OF ALL PLANT SPECIES

Exploration 101: The Dream Jobs Begin with a Slog

Exploration 101: The Dream Job Begins with a Slog

Better REDD Than Dead When It Comes To Climate Change

BETTER REDD THAN DEAD WHEN IT COMES TO CLIMATE CHANGE

United Nations, New York, September 23, 2009, 5 a.m.

Different Kind of Jungle

REDD: Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation

Stopping Deforestation is a Bargain Compared to Other Solutions

Enough to Effect Real Change?

REDD is About Human Rights

How Can You Help?

Help Us Have a Bigger Impact

before you fly

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