CONSERVATION NEWS

News, views and features from the front lines of conservation

© Kyle Obermann
© Jonathan Irish. Rufescent tiger heron in Madidi National Park

How one South American country became a lab for conservation

By Mary Kate McCoy

October 26, 2023
In 1987, Conservation International had a radical idea to reduce Bolivia's debt in exchange for nature conservation. Since then, the country has become a laboratory for the protection of nature, field-testing ideas that would spread around the world.
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Yasuní National Park in Ecuador
© Joshua Bousel/Flickr Creative Commons. Yasuní National Park in Ecuador

Ecuadorean voters reject oil drilling in Amazon

By Mary Kate McCoy

August 23, 2023
Following a decade-long fight led by Indigenous activists and environment leaders, Ecuadorians voted decisively to end oil drilling in one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth — a move heralded by supporters as “historic.”
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At Amazon summit, a milestone on the road to protecting the rainforest

By Mary Kate McCoy

August 9, 2023
Eight Amazonian nations have agreed to create an alliance to protect the world’s largest rainforest, following decades of rising deforestation and warnings of a “tipping point” that could alter the ecosystem — and Earth’s climate.
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© Jonathan Irish. Black caiman

News spotlight: How Indigenous communities brought a sacred caiman back from the brink

By Mary Kate McCoy

May 26, 2023
For years, two communities in southeast Colombia have worked to protect the black caiman — the largest predator in the Amazon River basin, which was hunted to near extinction in the area for its highly-prized skin.
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© Gabriela Villanueva. Alto Beni, Bolivia

In Amazon, small towns are a force of nature

By Mary Kate McCoy

April 12, 2023
Years ahead of schedule, Bolivia has met an ambitious goal to protect 30 percent of its land — and that's thanks in large part to Amazonian towns and villages that are accelerating the pace and scale of conservation in the country.
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