Archive for the "C. N. Jenkins" Category

  • Researchers hail innovative plan to save rainforest, reduce greenhouse gas emissions

    An innovative proposal by the Ecuadorian government to protect an untouched, oil rich region of Amazon rainforest is a precedent-setting and potentially economically viable approach, says a team of environmental researchers from the University of Maryland, the World Resources Institute and Save America's Forests. More

  • Will Ecuador’s plan to raise money for not drilling oil in the Amazon succeed?

    Ecuador's Yasuni National Park is full of wealth: it is one of the richest places on earth in terms of biodiversity; it is home to the indigenous Waorani people, as well as several uncontacted tribes; and the park's forest and soil provides a massive carbon sink. More

  • Áreas de proteção ambiental aumentam no mundo

    Recent research by Clinton Jenkins and Lucas Joppa is covered by Folha de São Paulo, one of Brazil's largest newspapers. The results of the research showed mixed news for conservation, finding that more of the world than ever is in protected areas, but that many ecosystems still miss the mark. Optimistically though, Brazil has vastly increased the amount of protected area in the Amazon, and Brazil accounts for almost 75% of the world's new protection since 2003! Read more (Portuguese)

  • Novos caminhos para salvar a floresta

    On May 27, coinciding with the Dia da Mata Atlântica (Day of the Atlantic Forest), a new book was launched with a plan of action for saving Rio de Janeiro's biodiversity. Compiled by more than 100 experts on conservation of the Atlantic Forest, including Clinton Jenkins and Stuart Pimm, the book contains detailed explorations of the problems, and proposed solutions, for all of the regions of the state. Read more in O Globo

  • World governments to miss goal protecting 10 percent of every ecoregion by next year

    It is unlikely that world governments will keep their pledge to protect 10 percent of every ecological region by 2010, according to a new study published in Biological Conservation. This goal is just one of many agreed upon by world governments through the Convention on Biological Diversity. With less than a year to the goal’s deadline, the study found that half of the world’s ecoregions are currently below the 10 percent threshold. Click to enlarge Percent of each ecoregion protected. (a)

  • Drilling for Oil Way, Way Offshore

    Time Magazine - U.S. - August 18, 2008 Going Green Drilling for Oil Way, Way Offshore By BRYAN WALSH Anyone who ever doubted the centrality of oil and natural gas to the global economy should have been convinced by the political events of the past few months. INCLUDES AUDIO PODCAST INTERVIEW

  • Oil development may destroy richest part of the Amazon rainforest

    688,000 square kilometers (170 million acres) of the western Amazon is under concession for oil and gas development, according to a new study published in the August 13 edition of the open-access journal PLoS ONE. The results suggest the region, which is considered by scientists to be the most biodiverse on the planet and is home to some of the world's last uncontacted indigenous groups, is at great risk of environmental degradation. Tracking some 180 oil and gas projects operated across Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and western Brazil, researchers from Save America's Forests, Land Is Life, and Duke

  • Oil and gas projects in western Amazon threaten biodiversity and indigenous peoples

    The western Amazon, home to the most biodiverse and intact rainforest left on Earth, may soon be covered with oil rigs and pipelines. According to a new study, over 180 oil and gas "blocks" – areas zoned for exploration and development – now cover the megadiverse western Amazon, which includes Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and western Brazil. These oil and gas blocks stretch over 688,000 km2 (170 million acres), a vast area, nearly the size of Texas. The study appears in the August 13 edition of the open-access journal PLoS ONE. For over three years, researchers from two U.S. non-profit organizations –

  • Presidential advisers duel for green cred—but not too hard

    Environmental issues, particularly global climate change, enjoyed a star turn a few years ago, mainly as the result of some very bad weather and a newly hirsute Al Gore and his 2006 film An Inconvenient Truth. For a time, as the initial presidential contenders began their campaigns, there seemed to be an historic number of pols willing to accept the premise that climate change was a reality and that environmental issues were at the forefront of voters' minds. Read

  • Conservation success in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil!!

    It's one of those rare days. One where you can read conservation news and NOT hear something depressing. A hugely important and strategic piece of land has been purchased in Rio de Janeiro, purely for the environment. It will reconnect one of the most important protected areas on the planet, União Biological Reserve, to nearby tropical rainforest, ending a decades long isolation. This is hugely exciting for me! I identified this piece of land early in my research career (I think in 2000) as probably THE most important place for bird conservation in all of the Americas. Luckily there were many

  • Defining conservation priorities in a global biodiversity hotspot

    A contribution from Stuart and me toward one of the first Brazilian conservation biology textbooks. This is the English version but our colleagues graciously translated it into Portuguese for the published book. Jenkins, C.N and S.L. Pimm. (2006). Defining conservation priorities in a global biodiversity hotspot. Chapter in Biologia da Conservação. (in English & Portuguese) (PDF - Read it

  • Refining biodiversity conservation priorities

    Harris, G.M., C.N. Jenkins & S.L. Pimm. 2005. Refining biodiversity conservation priorities. Conservation Biology 19:1957-1968. (PDF - Download it

  • Land cover mapping of Greater Mesoamerica using MODIS data

    The first in a series of studies resulting from a collaboration between Duke University and the U.S. Geological Survey. Our new land cover map for MesoAmerica is part of an effort to better understand the landscape and conservation status of North America. Giri, C. & C. Jenkins. 2005. Land cover mapping of Greater Mesoamerica using MODIS data. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing 31:274-282. (PDF - Read it

  • Sustaining the Variety of Life

    Click on the Magazine Cover to Download a PDF

  • How Big is the Global Weed Patch

    Where do you usually find "weeds," those species that are a nuisance and you wonder why they are everywhere? Well, most are in the ecosystems that humanity has radically changed, and thus made into a weed patch. Places like the world's forests that we cut down for agriculture or grazing, or the Midwestern United States where we plowed the land for food. This paper has one of the early maps to show which parts of the world we've changed and identifies what those weed patches once were. (PDF - Download it