As the planet continues to warm and wildlife species vanish at an unprecedented rate, five leading environmental organizations have come together to target the world’s greatest undervalued and unprotected solution to the climate and extinction crises— forests. The organizations—Global Wildlife Conservation, Rainforest Foundation Norway, United Nations Development Programme, Wildlife Conservation Society and World Resources Institute—will announce the new Forests for Life Partnership during an event celebrating the role of Nature-based Solutions at the U.N. Climate Action Summit in New York tonight, Sept. 25.

Sharks and rays are one of the most endangered groups of animals on the planet.There are more than 1,000 species of sharks and rays living today.Approximately 100 species of sharks and rays are regularly traded for their fins and meat.Since 2013, CITES began to list regularly commercially traded species of sharks and rays under the convention’s appendices, mainly under CITES Appendix II, which is about sustainable trade and utilization.There are 18 species up for listing at CITES Cop 18 (a...

Mako sharks, also known as the ‘cheetahs of the sharks,’ are the fastest of all shark species, but they cannot outswim the threat of overfishing in the world’s oceans, say conservation experts from WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) and other groups who applaud plans by government delegates to increase protection for makos and other sharks and rays fishes at CITES, convening this week in Switzerland.

The fate of the saiga, a prehistoric antelope species, found on the windswept steppes of Central Asia, will be decided as CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) gathers for its 18th Conference of the Parties (CoP18) August 17-28 in Geneva. The saiga is on the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered and is vital to the ecosystem of Mongolia’s steppe.

A new study says that the tropical forests of Western Equatorial Africa (WEA) – which include significant stands of Intact Forest Landscapes (IFLs) – are increasingly coming under pressure from logging, poaching, and associated disturbances.

Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, formed between WCS, the government of the Republic of Congo, and the local communities, is arguably the most advanced and demonstrably successful conservation models of its kind in Africa

 

The WCS New York Aquarium will celebrate World Oceans Day (Saturday, June 8th) with a “March for the Ocean” on the Coney Island Boardwalk to bring attention to the threat of plastic waste to the world’s marine environments. Participants will join in the fun by decorating wagons, designing “trashion” costumes, and creating signs.

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina (Vida Silvestre), the associate organization to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Argentina, with funding from The Rainforest Site and GreaterGood.org, have negotiated the resignation of grazing rights from livestock producers for 43,570 acres in the Payunia Natural Protected Area of Mendoza, Argentina.

For the past 20 years, members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) have celebrated our planet with annual Party For The Planet^® events. The New York Aquarium will commemorate the annual Party for the Planet® celebration with two events. On June 1^st there will be a volunteer clean-up of Coney Island Creek, bringing attention to this urban waterway that is now the focus of a revitalization effort. On the following Saturday, June 8th, the aquarium will celebrate World Ocean’s Day with a “March for the Ocean”, a parade on the Coney Island Boardwalk to highlight the challenges posed by plastic waste to the waters of New York and celebrate New York’s commitment to healthier, cleaner waters. 

 

Scientists with the Universidad San Francisco de Quito and WCS Ecuador Program publishing in the journal BioTropica say that subsistence hunting in Neotropical rain forests – the mainstay of local people as a source of protein and a direct connection to these ecosystems – is in jeopardy from a variety of factors.