Green Heart of Guyana

“The Green Heart of Guyana” produced and directed by Benjamin Driver will premiere at the 2018 WCFF in New York, NY. The WCFF mission is to inform, engage and inspire wildlife conservation through the power of film. Join us for our eight year anniversary is October 18-28, 2018. Ten days of film screenings, panel discussions, receptions, field trips, networking, virtual reality and more. All Access Film Festival passes are available now for purchase: wcff.org/nyc-festival-2018/

https://vimeo.com/256662126

Synopsis: The Green Heart of Guyana is a look into the conservation research that is carried out in the Iwokrama reserve of Guyana. Guyana holds one of the largest intact tropical rain-forests in the world, and here we see renown scientists working with indigenous people of the region to try and protect this wonder. Political pressure is making the fate of Guyanas vast expanse of wilderness unknown. A country the size of Britain that is almost entirely covered in either tropical rain-forest or savanna grassland is in danger of being slowly infested with development that could fragment and erode the forests there. Looking at the different taxa within the tropical habitat, we see how surveys are carried out and building to construct a better understand of how the forests and all its inhabitants are responding to a changing environment and ultimately how the country is trying to use its wealth of resources without trying to exhaust them. Guyana is one of the last strongholds of intact tropical rain forests in the world. This is a unique opportunity, where experience and knowledge can help preserve Guyana’s wildlife before it becomes yet another race to extinction.

Contact: info@wcff.org to join the planning committee. Sponsor the film festival, advertise on the big screen during the outdoor summer series and the October festival. Take a page in the full color program book to be distributed in USA, China and other countries.

Christopher J. Gervais, FRGS
Twitter: @CJGERVAIS
Christopher@WCFF.org

Wildlife Conservation Film Festival
October 18-28, 2018 | New York, NY
http://www.WCFF.org
Facebook.com/WCFForg
Twitter: @WCFF_org
Instagram: @wcff_org
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LinkedIn: Wildlife Conservation Film Festival

Nigeria to restore nearly 10 million acres

Nigeria has announced plans to restore nearly 10 million acres, of degraded lands within its borders.

The West African nation is now one of 26 countries across the continent that have committed to restoring more than 84 million hectares (over 200 million acres) of degraded lands as part of the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100), an effort that aims to bring 100 million hectares of land under restoration by 2030. These commitments also support the targets of the Bonn Challenge, a global initiative to restore 150 million hectares by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030.

Nigeria’s economy is the largest in Africa, but deforestation has become widespread amidst the country’s rapid pace of urban development and population growth.

To read more visit: https://news.mongabay.com/2017/12/nigeria-pledges-to-restore-nearly-10-million-acres-of-degraded-land/?n3wsletter&utm_source=Mongabay+Newsletter&utm_campaign=7658972b22-newsletter_2017_12_7&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_940652e1f4-7658972b22-67230511

Christopher J. Gervais, F.R.G.S.
Twitter: @CJGERVAIS
Christopher@WCFF.org

Wildlife Conservation Film Festival
October 18-28, 2018 | New York, NY
http://www.WCFF.org
Facebook.com/WCFForg
Twitter: @WCFF_org
Instagram: @wcff_org
Vimeo.com/wcff
LinkedIn: Wildlife Conservation Film Festival

Papua New Guinea gets its largest-ever conservation area

Papua New Guinea has been granted its largest-ever conservation area, a 1,390-square mile protected area of rainforest, nearly 900,000 acres. The newly formed Managalas Conservation Area is home to the endangered Matschie’s tree kangaroo and cassowary among thousands of other species.

Papua New Guinea has been granted its largest-ever conservation area, a 3,600-square kilometer (1,390-square mile) protected area of rainforest in the country’s southeast that stretches from near the ocean up into the mountains. Called Managalas Conservation Area, the move is being celebrated by conservation organizations and local communities that have been working for 32 years to establish more protections for the region. Managalas Conservation Area was officially declared on November 29 by Minister for Environment and Climate John Pundari and Northern Governor Gary Juffa at Itokama village. “Without environment, and without you and I, we will never enjoy the blessings of life,” said Pundari, as reported by PNG’s Post-Courier. “If we lose [the environment], we lose ourselves and that is also a global message.” Local communities held a party following the announcement to celebrate the declaration, the culmination of their decades of work towards protection of their forests. Minister for Environment and Climate John Pundari and Beate Gabrielsen from  the Norwegian Embassy at the declaration ceremony.

The region, called the Managalas Plateau, still has expansive tracts of primary forest. But it has been increasingly eyed by extractive industries like logging and mining, according to Rainforest Foundation Norway (RFN), which is supporting conservation activities in the region. Industrial agriculture is also a big threat, with several areas of the plateau suitable for oil palm plantations.

Read more: http://www.envirolink.org/2017/12/08/papua-new-guinea-gets-its-largest-ever-conservation-area/

Huon Tree Kangaroo (Dendrolagus matschiei) female and joey peer over branch. Endangered species from the Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea.

Christopher J. Gervais, F.R.G.S.
Twitter: @CJGERVAIS
Christopher@WCFF.org

Wildlife Conservation Film Festival
October 18-28, 2018 | New York, NY
http://www.WCFF.org
Facebook.com/WCFForg
Twitter: @WCFF_org
Instagram: @wcff_org
Vimeo.com/wcff
LinkedIn: Wildlife Conservation Film Festival

 

New Species of Great Ape Confirmed

A new and third species of orangutan has been confirmed by genetic testing,  nearly 90 years after scientists first heard rumors of its existence.

A study indicates what was once assumed to be an isolated population of the Sumatran orangutan is in fact a distinct species.
The Batang Toru orangutan in western Sumatra differs from the Sumatran orangutan in morphology, behavior and genetics. Genomic analysis suggests it diverged from other orangutan species 3.4 million years ago.
There are fewer than 800 Batang Toru orangutans in existence, making it one of the rarest of all the great apes.

For additional reading visit: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/newly-discovered-orangutan-species-is-also-the-most-endangered/

Wildlife Conservation Film Festival
October 18-28, 2018
http://www.WCFF.org

Christopher J. Gervais, F.R.G.S.
Christopher@WCFF.org
Facebook.com/WCFForg
Twitter: @WCFF_org
Twitter: @CJGERVAIS
Instagram: @wcff_org
Vimeo.com/wcff
LinkedIn: Wildlife Conservation Film Festival