International Conservation & Development

Santa Cruz-based Community Agroecology Network’s (CAN) Food Security & Sovereignty in Las Segovias, Nicaragua project was selected as a finalist for the 2015 Specialty Coffee Association of America Sustainability Award. Read more

“In 2003 researchers predicted that most of this area would be reforested by 2020,” explained Jefferson Hall, director Agua Salud. “But it’s already 2015, and we’re not seeing that happen. People aren’t stupid. They won’t give up their farms to plant teak on infertile soils.” Read more

Sharon Smith co-authored the Union of Concerned Scientists' Palm Oil Scorecard 2015, which found that many of America's biggest brands are still using palm oil that contributes to deforestation and peatland destruction. Read more

When it comes to wildlife conservation a huge personality or bags of charisma tends to help your cause. But scientists are beginning to call for more attention to be paid to those that fail to make the list of nature’s big and beautiful.

Ryan Carle's Switzer-funded work in Chile with the Pink Footed Shearwater for Oikonos Ecosystem Knowledge was recently featured in a Spanish-language publication in the region. Read more

Was the four-year-old military conflict in Syria, which has claimed the lives of over 200,000 people, mostly civilians, triggered at least in part by climate change? A new study by Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory says “a record drought that ravaged Syria in 2006-2010 was likely stoked by ongoing man-made climate change, and that the drought may have helped propel the 2011 Syrian uprising.”

Switzerland announced its post-2020 climate action plan yesterday, making it the first country to officially submit its contribution to the international climate agreement to be finalized in Paris at the end of this year. More countries are expected to propose their commitments, known as intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs), over the coming months.

The Chinese government banned the environmental documentary Under the Dome, which went viral upon release garnering 200 million views in the week after it was released on the Internet for free on Feb. 28. The film exposes the devastating impact China’s polluting industries have wreaked on the environment, bringing home the issue for Chinese citizens by focusing on Chinese cities’ appalling air quality. ...

When it comes to wildlife conservation a huge personality or bags of charisma tends to help your cause. Prefacing any group of animals or plants with the words 'big', 'great' or 'giant' seems to win them fans. Big cats, great apes and giant redwoods are all the focus of on-going research, campaigns and policies attempting to preserve them for future generations. The public are easily drawn to helping iconic and visually-impressive species, which in turn leads to their plight being prioritised.