Books for Conservation

World Land Trust Conservation News

• Wildlife photography: triumphs and disappointments

  Related topics: 

  Mexico

  

  Award-winning photographer Roberto Pedraza captures a rare flowering cactus in the wilds of Mexico, yet Bearded-Wood partridge chicks run rings around him

  In the most diverse region of Mexico, Roberto Pedraza is working to protect the vast wilderness of the Sierra Gorda – where he was born and his family set up the conservation organisation, Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda (GESG).

  World Land Trust (WLT) helps GESG create nature reserves to protect this threatened habitat and funds rangers who safeguard the reserves’ threatened wildlife – from roaming Jaguars and Pumas, to vibrant hummingbirds.

  As an award-winning photographer, Roberto loves nothing more than capturing the beauty of the environment that surrounds him. Following his latest adventures on a photography expedition to some of the remote nature reserves, he sent WLT this up-date about his wildlife encounters:

  

  Flowering cactus hangs from a cedar tree in a nature reserve protecting ancient cloud forest in the most diverse region of Mexico, the Sierra Gorda © Roberto Pedraza Ruiz

  “I have just arrived back after a whole day in the field, surveying the reserves in the Hoya del Hielo area and its ancient cloud forests, which I’ve not been to in a couple of months. I went by myself, so I could go off the trail and visit some of my favourite spots where I know there are special plants.

  “April is the flowering month for the epiphytic cacti that hang from the big oaks and cedars up there, as well as some orchids and pinguicula (commonly known as the butterworts, a genus of carnivorous plants that use their sticky, glandular leaves to lure, trap and digest insects). All were on full display and after a rainy night and light fog there was a beautiful light.

  “On returning from the trip, a friend identified one of the cacti as the Aporocactus flagelliformis (main image); it happens to be a rare species and Hoya del Hielo is the only area where it occurs in the Sierra Gorda state, so extra-nice to have them here.

  “The best bit of the trip was spotting a family of Bearded-Wood partridge – it is a most valuable bird, endemic to Mexico and quite in trouble. I found the small guys as I climbed some rocks to get a better shot of the cacti; two tiny chicks tried to hide when I appeared, while the mama (about a football size) went almost crazy trying to rescue her kids.

  

  An endangered species of orchid, Rhynchostele rossii, spotted by Roberto on his latest photography expedition to remote nature reserves in the Sierra Gorda © Roberto Pedraza Ruiz

  “It’s incredible how they can hide just a meter away and are camouflaged really well, but I was able to imitate the chicks call with excellent results. Soon the mama was making circles around me (for sure she thought was an oversized-ugly chick!) trying to find the source of the call. I have never seen the chicks before – they are beautiful cinnamon balls.
  
  “This was a once in a lifetime encounter with a very rare species; I had plenty of good sightings but no photo, even though I was at the right place and time with all my photography gear. These chickens are incredibly fast moving - hopping and running deep in the bushes - so no luck.
  
  “But this is yet more proof that we are doing the right thing, protecting these wild pockets where humans appear just every two months to scare the poor chicks.”

  More information 

  • Explore our conservation project in Mexico
  • Find out about our partner GESG
  • Learn more about the Buy an Acre appeal
  • Donate to the Buy an Acre Appeal
  • Learn more about the Keepers of the Wild
  • Donate to Keepers of the Wild
  • View Roberto Pedraza’s Photo Gallery  

  Watch this video interview with Roberto on his conservation work:

• Landmark conservation agreement with indigenous communities

  Related topics: 

  Argentina

  Indigenous

  

  World Land Trust (WLT) celebrates signing an agreement to increase the protection of the last remaining Atlantic Rainforest in Argentina, settling years of dispute over Guarani communities’ indigenous rights

  For at least 16 years, Guarani communities have been disputing with their neighbours and the government of Misiones over the future of their shared land within the Yabotí Biosphere Reserve in north-eastern Argentina.

  On 16 April, in an unprecedented agreement never before seen in the country, the three Guarani communities approved a Multicultural Alliance that would see the 9,301 acres (3,764 hectares) of land designated as a protected nature reserve, the Emerald Green Corridor (Esmeraldas Corredor Verde), and managed for conservation.

  

  Guarani family welcomes John Burton (WLT CEO) to their village the day after he signs the Multicultural Alliance, they later sing a traditional song in thanks © WLT

  Under the final agreement, the title to the land will be held as Traditional Indigenous Lands, which under Argentine law means that it belongs to the Guarani communities and is ‘inalienable in perpetuity’ – probably the strongest legal protection of any sort available.

  The indigenous groups agreed to and strongly support a number of restrictions that will protect the biodiversity of the habitat. All parties decided that the area would be subject to a conservation management plan, drawn up by a WLT partner organisation.

  The Guarani representatives stated that this agreement respected their rights and traditional way of life, while also ensuring the future conservation of the rainforest ecosystem.

  Former owners of the land, Moconá Forestal, also want to support and continue work to strengthen the Alliance, so that together we rehearse modes and innovative methodologies to defend the native forest as a source of strategic environmental services.

  John Burton, WLT’s CEO, flew over to Misiones on 13 April to help with negotiations and was delighted that we could successfully forge such a strong alliance for conservation:

  “The agreement that has been reached is truly ground-breaking”, he said, “and it’s been heralded as such by the government of Misiones. In my view, it is probably the most important land purchase the WLT will ever make, because of the innovations involved and the wealth of biodiversity it protects.”

  

  Overlooking the Atlantic Rainforest and Uruguay River in Misiones, then onwards to neighbouring Brazil; here the Emerald Green Corridor connects two protected areas, creating a safe haven of over 100,000 acres for a wealth of threatened wildlife © WLT

  Why is this land so important?

  Home to an array of endangered wildlife that is found nowhere else in the world, the Yabotí Biosphere Reserve protects the last remaining remnants of Atlantic Rainforest in Argentina – one of the most threatened habitats on Earth.

  Once stretching in a huge swathe through Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina, today the Atlantic Rainforest has been reduced to isolated fragments with only seven per cent of forest cover remaining. 

  Despite the crucial role the reserve has in protecting this fragile habitat, much of the land within it is privately owned and so is still at risk from development to create new housing and roads, exploitation for its natural resources such as timbre, and destruction through forest clearance for tobacco and soya plantations.

  The 9,301 acre land, formerly owned by Moconá Forestal but has Guarani communities living on it, is part of an important wildlife corridor that links with Moconá Provincial Park and Turvo State Park in Brazil – that is next to the River Uruguay opposite Moconá Falls. WLT aims to fund the purchase of more privately owned areas alongside it so that eventually the wildlife corridor will connect to the Esmeralda Provincial Park – creating a continuous protected area of over 100,000 acres (42,000 ha).

  By protecting wildlife corridors like this one, you enable animals to roam safely in search of food and breeding partners; this can increase their gene pool, decreasing conflict between people and animals, and help towards securing their continued survival. This is particularly important for far-ranging predators, like the Puma and Jaguar, which are known to live in Yabotí Biosphere Reserve.

  

  Jaguars need large protected areas to roam safely. Pictured lounging in a WLT-funded reserve in neighbouring Paraguay, this Jaguar has been spotted much more regularly thanks to its increased protection © Hugo del Castillo

  In 2006, WLT began working on a proposal to help our partner organisation to purchase the land from Moconá Forestal and designate the wildlife corridor as a protected nature reserve.

  Although in principle both Moconá Forestal and the Guarani communities agreed to this, how the land would be managed was a contentious debate between the two parties for years – leading to stalemate.

  Resolving the debate

  To ensure that dialogue remained open and constructive, John (WLT’s CEO) undertook several site visits to Misiones throughout 2010 and 2011, meeting with Guarani representatives, government officials from the Ministry of Environment of Misiones Province, and the CEO of Moconá Forestal, Nicolás Laharrague.

  Despite this, progress was slow and WLT feared that dialogue between the parties would collapse. At the beginning of 2012, John decided that a completely new approach was needed and that it was vital to have someone on the ground who could oversee negotiations with all parties involved.

  Professional negotiator, Javier Jimenez based in Buenos Aires, was recommended by our partner organisation in Barcelona, Accionatura. Javier’s vast experience and skills working to up-hold indigenous rights quickly became apparent and he made significant progress over the first few weeks of the year. This resulted in a spectacular achievement, better than WLT could ever have anticipated.

  

  The Minister of Environment of Misiones Province, Viviana Rovira, signs the Multicultural Alliance. Later she asks if WLT would be happy for the Provincial Government to take this project to the Rio +20 Conference © WLT

  Indigenous rights at Rio +20 Conference

  On Monday 16 April, the agreement was announced in the Governor’s Office in Posadas, the capital of Misiones Province, in a presentation that was made in front of 11 ministers of the government, with three Guarani Caciques (heads) speaking to emphasise its importance.

  The parties to the final agreement were the Ministry of Environment of Misiones Province, the representatives of the Guarani communities, Nicholas Laharrague (CEO of Moconá Forestal), and Luis Castelli, president of La Fundación Naturaleza para el Futuro (FuNaFu) a local Argentinian non-governmental organisation nominated by WLT.

  At a lunch hosted by Viviana Rovira, the Minister of Environment, John was asked if WLT would be happy for the Provincial Government to take this project to the Rio +20 Conference to be held between 20 and 22 June, as an example of innovative methods of conserving biodiversity and solving problems. 

  One of the reasons that the deadlock had been solved was because WLT sent a draft copy of a report from a symposium we held in Kew Gardens between 31 January and 3 February, entitled Symposium on Practical Solutions for Working with Communities for Land Purchase and Management for Biodiversity Conservation. John explained:

  “The representatives of the Guarani realised that from what was written in the report that WLT was well-informed and sympathetic to the issues confronting the Guarani and their territorial claims.”

  

  After signing the Multicultural Alliance, John Burton (WLT CEO) is photographed with the three Guarani Caciques (heads), Viviana Rovira (the Minister of Environment of Misiones Province), and Nicholas Laharrague (CEO of Moconá Forestal) © WLT

  The day after signing the agreement, John visited one of the Guarani communities, where some of the children sang tradition songs in thanks and the cacique expressed his gratitude for the work of WLT in achieving the agreement.

  The future of the Emerald Green Corridor

  Now that this collaborative Multicultural Alliance is in place, we can begin conservation work within the Emerald Green Corridor thanks to a significant donation from the Bake Family Trust and funding from WLT corporate supporters Eurojersey, Calypso Soft Drinks, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Conoisseur Dry Cleaners and Treadz.

  Without their commitment and patient understanding of the complexities of this project, the continued conservation of this biodiversity-rich habitat would not be possible.

  Sir Ghillean Prance, former Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Scientific Director of the Eden Project, has been an instrumental advisor for this project. He said:

  “The rainforest of Misiones is the largest remaining fragment of the Atlantic Rainforest of South America. It is full of unique plants and important animal species – it is vital to preserve the best sample of this ecosystem.” 

  Ghillean added: “The World Land Trust has filled a vitally important niche in the conservation world by funding the purchase and protection of threatened rainforest habitats, and I am heartened by the contribution they are making to preserve the Atlantic Rainforest. I urge everyone to support this important endeavour."

  More information

  • Find out more about the Misiones Rainforest Corridor
  • Donate to the Misiones Rainforest Corridor

   

   

• Launch of Wood Positive with The Body Shop

  Related topics: 

  Corporate Support

  

  World Land Trust (WLT) enables The Body Shop to further reduce their impact on the environment by protecting threatened habitats

  Wood Positive is a new intiative to compensate for The Body Shop’s annual paper and cardboard consumption in product packaging.

  Having already minimised their packaging as much as possible, The Body Shop approached WLT to fund the protection and regeneration of habitats in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest and the Andean foothills of southern Ecuador to compensate for the wood consumed in their primary, secondary and transit packaging.

  How does Wood Positive work?

  Taking 2010 as a sample year, The Body Shop worked out that they use about 6,000 tonnes of paper-based packaging every year.

  WLT converted the 6,000 tonnes to an equivalent weight of woody biomass to calculate how many hectares of natural forest would have to be preserved and reforested to compensate for this consumption.

  By adding 10 per cent to the weight of the packaging, we ensure that each year more hectares of habitat are being reforested and preserved than used – making it Wood Positive.

  In the first year of the project, we have reforested and preserved a total of 102 hectares (252 acres). In the years that follow we will repeat the process, using data from the previous 12 months to work out how many more hectares must be regenerated or protected.

  

  Reserve ranger in Brazil's Atlantic Rainforest helps a school child plant a tree in Guapi Assu Reserve, supported by WLT © REGUA

  How does WLT protect habitats?

  WLT works with local partner organisations across the world to help them protect threatened habitats and wildlife by creating protected nature reserves.

  Often, once habitats are protected our partners must carry out reforestation or natural regeneration to improve degraded areas within the reserve, which have previously been deforested by farming or building developments.

  Small patches of fragmented forest are very vulnerable; for example, the trees are often unable to compete with non-native invading species. So even if this habitat is turned into a protected nature reserve, it will continue to degrade unless it is successfully managed.

  Through Wood Positive, The Body Shop will be helping to fund  habitat management carried out by our partners Nature and Culture International, Ecuador and REGUA (Reserva Ecológica de Guapi Assu) in Brazil.

  How do you regenerate habitats?

  

  Far ranging species, like the puma, need large areas of forest cover to roam in search of food and breeding partners. Pumas are found in a large number of WLT-funded nature reserves throughout Central and South America © Terry McManus

  Our partners use a mixture of reforestation and assisted natural regeneration to protect and re-establish habitats. Habitats will naturally regenerate if certain barriers are removed or controlled, such as preventing cattle from grazing and removing invasive species.

  When reforestation is needed, a mixture of native species are planted in a similar composition to the plants found growing naturally in the surrounding forests. Tree planting can connect fragmented forests to one another to create a continuous habitat; this is particularly important for far ranging species, such as pumas and jaguars.

  For these animals, being able to roam under forest cover is essential as it gives them room to forage and to avoid conflict with people. Linking fragmented areas of forest can also allow separated populations to meet, helping them find breeding partners.

  Why do tree planting projects fail?

  Without a long-term maintenance plan, tree planting can be futile. Many tree planting projects fail because there is no strict monitoring process in place to secure the long-term success of the reforestation. This is largely because it is labour intensive, time consuming, and costs money.

  All our partners employ a thorough maintenance and monitoring plan to ensure that the saplings grow well for at least 10 years. The trees are then deemed to be mature and any mortality incidences will be low, but in reality the trees will continue to be looked after as they are in permanently protected nature reserves.

  Through Wood Positive, The Body Shop working with WLT is actively supporting the regeneration and long-term preservation of habitats – providing a rich home for threatened wildlife.

  More information

  • Find out about WLT's conservation projects world-wide
  • Plant a tree in the Atlantic Rainforest
  • Explore WLT's conservation projects in Brazil and Ecuador
  • Support WLT's conservation projects in Brazil and Ecuador through Keepers of the Wild

• Year of the Bat: fact and fiction guide

  Related topics: 

  Brazil

  Paraguay

  

  World Land Trust (WLT) on how bats contribute to the world’s rich biodiversity and ways to support their continued conservation

  The United Nations declared 2011 and 2012 as International Year of the Bat; a great opportunity for WLT to raise awareness about the Earth’s only flying mammal and how our partners are working to protect them.

  In some countries bats are shrouded in myth and mystery, which has often led to their misunderstanding and persecution.

  But bats play an essential role in our global environment; they contribute to the world’s rich biodiversity through pollination, seed dispersal and insect control – to name just a few of the services they perform in ecosystems across the world, from rainforests, woodlands and wetlands, to grasslands, deserts and cities.

  WLT’s partners in Brazil and Paraguay, who we have supported through land purchase and currently assist through the Keepers of the Wild programme, have been studying local populations of bats to find out more about their habits and access their importance as an indicator species. 

  

  The Great Fruit-eating Bat shows his magnificent white head line; he is responsible for dispersing many seeds of the fruiting trees in the rainforest © REGUA

  Bat fact and fiction

  Following a recent media scare about rabies in Paraguay, our partners Guyra Paraguay – who have been monitoring bats in the Three Giants Biological Station funded by WLT – sent out information to reassure the public and give them more clear information on the habits of bats and explain their importance. 

  • There are more than a thousand species of bat worldwide, making them one of the largest groups of mammals of Earth.

  • In Latin America, over 500 species of plants depend on bats, this is because many bat species feed on fruits and disperse the seeds to help the natural regeneration of forests.

  • In Mexico, bats feed on the agave plant that is used to produce tequila – in doing so, they help with the dispersal of plant’s seeds, making the tequila industry dependent on bats.

  • Bats generate millions of dollars from tourism; people around the world travel to watch the spectacle of bats emerging from their shelters in the USA, Mexico and Cuba – as far as is known none of these tourists has ever been bitten by a bat.

  • Bat species that feed on insects have been known to eat over 1,000 mosquitoes in an hour, helping the natural control of insect pests. Mosquitoes can transmit diseases like yellow fever or dengue fever, also known as breakbone fever.

  • Other species feed on fruit, pollen, fish, and lizards. Of over a thousand species, only three feed on animals’ blood (hematophagous).

  

  After feeding, the vampire bat's metabolism accelerates and  dramatically increases their blood temperature; the males deliberately show their testicles to cool them, to prevent loosing the fertility of their sperm © REGUA

  • In Paraguay there are 56 species of bat, many are insectivorous (a type of carnivore whose diet consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures) and only one species are hematophagous, known as the vampire bat.

  • The vampire bat is highly valued in medicine, as their saliva contains an anticoagulant (a substance that prevents the clotting of blood) that is used to treat heart disease, strokes, and more generally within post-operative treatment.

  • Bat species living in urban areas are not vampire bats. The only way a person can be bitten by a bat is by sleeping in the open without protection in areas where there are vampires, mostly in tropical locations, or by handling a bat that could bite in self-defense.

  • All mammals are susceptible to the rabies virus; so bats can contract the disease but there is a greater chance of being bitten by a dog than a bat.

  Guyra Paraguay is supporting Year of the Bat, a global awareness campaign, by conducting research projects and organising environmental education activities.

  

  Researcher Camila Sant' Anna (in the foreground) and her fellow students studying fruit eating bats on the Guapi Assu Reserve in Brazil's Atlantic Rainforest © REGUA

  Bat research in Brazil’s Atlantic Rainforest

  As part of her master’s thesis, researcher Camila Sant’ Anna and her fellow students visited the Guapi Assu Reserve to study the reproduction period of three species of common fruit bat: the Little Yellow-shouldered Fruit Bat (Sturnira lilium), Seba's Short-tailed Fruit Bat (Carollia perspicillata), and the Great Fruit-eating Bat (Artibeus lituratus).

  WLT partner organisation REGUA (Reserva Ecológica de Guapi Assu), who own and manage the reserve, sent us this report about bats from the Atlantic Rainforest:

  “With a gestation period of three to five months, most Atlantic Rainforest bats have two litters each year, mainly at the beginning of the rainy period and another at the end of the rainy period.

  “Born about 30 per cent of the adult size, these predominantly single babies clamber their way to their mum’s mammary gland that is concealed under her wings; they cling here, tucked away, even in their mums’ flight. They are collectively treated along with many other young, with a number of adult females taking turns to look after the brood.

  “The common vampire bats (Desmodusrotundu) are different; the females have young all year round and the mums fly with their young well fastened to them.

  

  Researchers carefully handle the the common Hairy-legged Long-tongued Bat. Protruding from its mouth, its tongue needs to be extra long so that it can feed from flowers © REGUA

  “Vampire bats land on the ground in front of their hosts and crawl up the animal, making a snip in the skin to feed on the blood. After feeding, their metabolism accelerates and dramatically increases their blood temperature; the males then deliberately show their testicles to cool them, to prevent loosing the fertility of their sperm.

  “The other fascinating aspect is that the vampire bats have developed a very large thumb that gives them the extra leverage needed to catapult themselves off the ground and into flight. If other species of bats land on the ground they have a great difficulty in taking-off.

  “Researcher Camila marks her bats by puncturing a small hole in the membrane which rapidly heals; this allows her to gauge the usual 20 year life span of the bats. Indeed, one bat was recaptured after being studied seven years previously.

  “It’s always very exciting to see these bats close-up; the nectarivorous bats are especially interesting as their tongues are extra long to feed from the flowers, as a consequence their tongues protrude from their mouths.”

  Support this conservation work

  WLT currently supports Guyra Paraguay and REGUA through the Keepers of the Wild programme, which is successfully putting more rangers in WLT-funded reserves across the world.

  Rangers help with important conservation research and wildlife monitoring, they prevent illegal hunting and habitat damage within the reserve, and raise environmental awareness by working with local communities.

  More information

  • Read about the Keepers of the Wild programme
  • Discover WLT’s conservation projects in Brazil and Paraguay