CONSERVATION NEWS
News, views and features from the front lines of conservation
© 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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© 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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© Jorge Illich-Gejo
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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