CONSERVATION NEWS
News, views and features from the front lines of conservation
© Keith A. Ellenbogen
News spotlight: Just how big is the ocean plastic problem?
By Emma Cummings-Krueger
June 21, 2023
Every year, up to 10 million tons of plastic end up in the world’s oceans — an amount so large it’s hard to visualize. Two journalists from Al Jazeera found that if flattened, ocean plastic today would cover an area roughly the size of Jamaica.
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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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© Adrián Portugal
When protecting nature helps build peace
By Vanessa Bauza
May 25, 2023
As climate change accelerates, there's a growing sense of urgency to address how changes to our ecosystems can lead to conflict. For years, Conservation International has worked to bring environmental peacebuilding and conflict sensitivity to its work.
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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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© FLAVIO FORNER | Conservation International
News Spotlight: Indigenous land stewardship key to preserving Amazon carbon sinks
By Matthew Ribel
January 23, 2023
In case you missed it: The Amazon is the ecological jewel of the world, home to nearly 400 billion trees and 10,000 species at risk of extinction. It’s also the world’s largest terrestrial carbon sink. Yet a new report shows those climate benefits are not uniformly distributed.
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