Conservation International’s Post

“I love elephants; my work is all about protecting them. And that means seeing the conflict from both sides — starting with meeting people’s basic human needs and addressing issues of inequality. Then the pressure on wildlife is reduced.”   A Conservation International fellow, Greta Francesca Iori leads the Elephant Protection Initiative’s program to prevent human-elephant conflict. Her guiding philosophy is that saving Africa’s elephants requires understanding and supporting rural communities that share spaces with them — that people and wildlife can only prosper together.

A rewilding success story: Kapai and 12 other elephants have been released back into the wild by the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, marking a significant milestone in the conservation efforts of the local Samburu community.   The sanctuary has dramatically improved the survival rates of orphaned elephants through innovative care methods, including the use of goat's milk.   Conservation International is proud to be one of the early supporters of the ambitious vision that led to Reteti and the related conservation successes in the region.   Read the full story by Ami V. and Rael Ombuor:

Today, BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group (TIG) and its Chief Sustainability Officer, Mark Wishnie receive three Sustainable Investment Awards wins. Wishnie himself was named as the Real Assets Manager of the Year, partially due to TIG’s $1 billion program in Latin America that aims to protect and restore approximately 135,000 hectares of forests. In 2023, around 2,600 hectares of Latin American forests were regenerated—and more than five million seedlings planted—through the programme. TIG has partnered with Conservation International to conduct restoration training with local communities in the region to ensure the program leaves positive climate and community impacts. Learn more about this incredible program, our involvement, and TIG’s win. ⬇️

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning to doctors last week about an increased risk of dengue, a mosquito-borne virus most prevalent in tropical climates. This notice comes in the wake of a recent heat wave that smothered much of the eastern United States. The timing offers a foreboding glimpse of a future in which climatic change enables diseases to spread into new environments.

Congratulations to First Nations and their partners on the Great Bear Sea announcement, which realizes decades of collaboration to conserve 10 million hectares of ocean off the coast of British Columbia. These new agreements create a model for co-governance between 17 First Nations, the Government of Canada and the Province of BC towards the conservation of culturally and environmentally significant waters, through a network of marine protected areas and sustainable, long-term financing. Learn more about the Great Bear Sea and this exciting new pathway for collaborative conservation at https://lnkd.in/eZE6Jgfs.

"Climate action should not – and cannot – become a victim of politicking...Climate change affects all of us, and it's going to take all of us to ensure that our planet remains habitable for generations to come." – Conservation International CEO Dr. M Sanjayan ABC News Leah Sarnoff