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Conservation International

Conservation International (CI) is a nonprofit organization headquartered in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, that seeks to protect Earth's biodiversity "hotspots," high-biodiversity wilderness areas as well as important marine regions around the globe. The group is also known for its partnerships with local non-governmental organizations and indigenous peoples.

CI was founded in 1987 by Spencer Beebe and now has a staff of more than 900 employees. Its work occurs in more than 40 countries, primarily in developing nations in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Central and South American rainforests.

Mission statement

Conservation International's mission is to conserve the Earth's living natural heritage, our global biodiversity, and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature.

Administration

Renowned primatologist, herpetologist and wildlife conservationist Russell A. Mittermeier has served as Conservation International's president since 1989. Peter A. Seligmann is chairman and CEO.

Its board of directors includes prominent names such as Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, actor Harrison Ford, Queen Noor of Jordan, former Starbucks CEO Orin Smith, Rob Walton of Wal-Mart, and media mogul Barry Diller.

In addition, the non-profit hosts a series of events around the country throughout the year with high-profile keynote speakers such as Dr. Jared Diamond, E.O. Wilson, Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, Thomas L. Friedman, Bill Bryson, Wade Davis, and even Jimmy Buffett.

Projects and achievements

In December 2005, as part of the organization's Rapid Assessment Program (RAP), scientists from Conservation International surveyed a previously unexplored area of the Foja Mountains in Papua, Indonesia. They found 20 previously unknown frog species, four new butterflies, five new palms and a new species of honeyeater bird. The researchers also found the golden-mantled Tree-kangaroo -- a species not previously known to live in Indonesia, and hunted nearly to extinction elsewhere -- and took the first photographs of Berlepsch's six-wired bird of paradise. The area was so isolated that many of the animals they found had no fear of humans. Conservation International's findings were widely reported throughout the world in February 2006 including Nightline, The NBC Nightly News, and the New York Times.

CI is actively seeking a United Nations General Assembly moratorium on high seas bottom trawling through their participation on the Steering Group of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition.

CI has recently endorsed the Forests Now Declaration, which calls for new market based mechanisms to protect tropical forests.

Defying Nature's End: The African Context

During June 20–24, 2006, Conservation International organized a major symposium in Madagascar, one of the planet's most important biodiversity hotspots. The symposium, titled "Defying Nature's End: The African Context", aimed to help African nations prosper by protecting their natural habitats and brought together more than 450 international representatives from governments, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and local African communities.

The symposium also presented the latest research on links between the environment, poverty and health, and new strategies on resource management and governance to realize the greatest benefits from nature.

This symposium produced a final document called the “Madagascar Declaration,” which CI’s Olivier Langrand read at the ceremony. Subsequent speakers including Jeffrey Sachs, head of the U.N. Millennium Project, CI President Russ Mittermeier and Prime Minister Jacques Sylla all heralded the declaration as a catalyst for making biodiversity conservation a pillar of development policies.

Discovery of new species

As part of a Conservation International survey, scientists reported they had discovered 52 new species (including 24 new types of fish). Among these, they found (and photographed) a bottom-dweller shark that walks on its fins as well as a praying mantis-like shrimp, while exploring a region of water near Indonesia's Papua province (known as the Bird's Head Seascape or Asia's Coral Triangle). Conservation International (CI) and the Indonesia Institute of Science (LIPI) discovered 2 putative new mammals upon visit of the Foja Mountains in June 2007: a Cercartetus pygmy possum, one of the world's smallest marsupials, and a Mallomys giant rat (5 times the size of a city rat) - found in Indonesia's Papua in 2005.

References

External links

Conservation International - Official site
Global Symposium 2006 Madagascar
Defying Ocean's End, A Conservation International led Agenda for Action in ocean conservation
Charity Navigator Evaluation by America's premier independent charity evaluator
Youtube video Al Gore explaining the need for more action on climate change
Deep Sea Conservation Coalition - A union of 60+ international organizations working towards biodiversity conservation on the high seas.