Conservation International - Feature Articles

Climate + Religion

2009-11-19 00:00:00

The Prince’s Rainforest Project event kicks off in England today, bringing together leaders from the government, business and nonprofit worlds in solidarity for global action against deforestation. Earlier this month, one of the British monarchy’s royal residences played host to a similarly-themed meeting with a slightly different guest list: spiritual leaders from across the globe.

Mapping Nature’s Benefits

2009-11-17 00:00:00

Depending on how seriously you take the horoscope in your local paper, you may be dubious of the claim that a new product called ARIES can help predict the future. However, the newly-developed Artificial Intelligence for Ecosystem Services (ARIES) technology is based on hard science that has much more in common with R2D2 than the fortune-teller at the local carnival—and its predictions have a much higher accuracy rate.

An Unlikely Refuge

2009-11-12 00:00:00

A prison might seem like the last place you’d want to live. However, the suffering of the inmates of Coiba Island, a former prison off the coast of Panama, was not shared by the multitude of wildlife species living nearby. Heightened security around the prison’s walls helped create a de facto nature reserve, providing a refuge for species which have declined elsewhere.

In Defense of Forests

2009-11-05 00:00:00

This week, at the last major climate conference before Copenhagen, WILD9 participants are making a final push for the inclusion of forest conservation in Copenhagen’s international climate agreement.

Disney's Commitment to REDD

2009-11-03 00:00:00

The Walt Disney Company makes the single largest corporate commitment to date in REDD projects.

Raising Voices

2009-10-29 00:00:00

Throughout the history of the environmental movement, the word “conservation,” has signified hope in the minds of some, and suspicion in others. Many indigenous and other rural communities have historically opposed conservation measures not from lack of environmental concern, but because in the past, some of these efforts restricted their use of the land, threatening traditional livelihoods and cultural practices.

Adapting to Climate Change (Part II)

2009-10-27 00:00:00

Adapting to Climate Change (Part I)

2009-10-22 00:00:00

Houses on stilts. Down jackets. A taste for sea urchin. As long as humans have walked (and ridden and kayaked) the Earth, we have been adapting to the conditions of our local environments. Present and future effects of climate change indicate that this cycle of adaptation must not only continue but increase in order for species and the natural ecosystems we rely on to survive.

Turning Science into Sustainable Fishing

2009-10-18 00:00:00

More recently, melding cultural tradition and modern science, some villages have begun using tabu to protect spawning grounds and depleted fish stocks. One village, Nagigi, had imposed a traditional tabu as recently as 2004, reopening the area to fishing two years later.

Thinking Big About Forest Carbon

2009-10-08 00:00:00

At a recent CI event intended to draw the attention of the United Nations General Assembly to the role of forests in combating climate change, President Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana spoke passionately of his commitment to tropical forest conservation and the potential transformation of his country’s economy through the international sale of carbon credits.

In Botswana, Merging Tradition and Technology

2009-10-06 00:00:00

A young man sweats in the African sun, his eyes scanning the dirt for signs of the greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) he’s been following for miles. He comes from a long family history of trackers, and, like them, he cannot read or write.

Moses Selebatso: A Passionate Ecologist with a Belief in Coincidences

2009-10-06 00:00:00

Moses Selebatso, CI’s Biodiversity Manager for the Western Kgalagadi Conservation Corridor (WKCC) Project in Botswana, believes in coincidences and passion.

Singapore Is Open For Business

2009-10-02 00:00:00

With its skyline of gleaming office towers, Singapore has the buzz of a city-state that is open for business.

New Partners For Forests: Climate Tours

2009-09-30 00:00:00

The worldwide effort to rally progress in the fight against climate change is reaching new heights.

CI's OSIRIS Database: A New Climate Tool

2009-09-15 00:00:00

Need some help muddling through Shakespeare? Pick up the CliffsNotes. But what if you want to examine the international economic incentives being developed to reduce deforestation and combat climate change? Then OSIRIS can help you understand.