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"Green Heart" Trilogy on world's tropical forests out now! |
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Monday, 08 November 2010 11:04 |
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 Tropical rainforests are home to more than half the world’s species and play a crucial role in maintaining the health of our planet and the stability of our climate through the ecosystem services they provide. Independent filmmaker Steve Taylor has traveled across Africa, Amazonia and Borneo to explore first-hand the complex issues of deforestation and degradation. The first two in a trilogy of films about tropical forests and the people and wildlife who depend on them are now available. The Year of the Gorilla campaign, alongside others, supported the making of these films and is happy to announce their completion.
Africa’s Green Heart takes us from the slums and diamond pits of Sierra Leone to the depths of the Congo Basin. Dramatic film of bushmeat hunters and life on Congo riverboats contrast with rare gorilla behaviour and moving interviews with forest communities, loggers and conservationists. Latin America’s Green Heart documents life in the Amazon Basin, from melting glaciers in the Andes to the lush rainforests and boom-towns of Peru and Brazil. A shaman explains the medicinal uses of plants, contrasting with the drivers of deforestation – cattle ranching and soy farming. The third part, Asia's Disappearing Green Heart, focuses on the devastating forest losses in South East Asia, which are driven especially by timber felling and the creation of gigantic plantations for the production of palm oil. It will be completed this week and will also become available for purchase soon. YoG Ambassador Ian Redmond opined: ”These beautiful, thought provoking films are both an educational resource and a call to action to ensure the forests survive.”
To find out more about Steve's exciting journeys and the movies, please go to his website www.greenheartfilm.com
You can order your copy with this order form.
For a look at the fascinating trailers, click on "Read more" below !! |
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Read more...
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France supports YoG with generous contribution |
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Wednesday, 11 August 2010 09:53 |
 The Year of the Gorilla benefited very much from a contribution of €100,000 by the Government of France, which was received by YoG Partner GRASP (UNEP Great Ape Survival Partnership) and used to implement several YoG activities, including the Rapid Response Assessment "Last Stand of the Gorilla - Environmental Crime and Conflict in the Congo Basin". Further to this contribution, France also organized a large YoG event at the Museum of Natural History in Paris, which was aimed particularly at children and youths. We thank France for this generous support!
For an overview of GRASP's YoG activities financed by the Government of France, as well as their practical outcomes, please click here. |
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Association of Zoos and Aquariums launches Ape Conservation Initiative - call for proposals |
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Monday, 02 August 2010 09:59 |
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 “Catastrophic decline, precipitous loss, decimation”— these are the words used to describe the current situation for apes in the wild. Illegal hunting, habitat loss to mining, logging and agricultural conversion, disease and the pet trade all threaten the fragile existence of apes and their habitats. It is estimated that if current trends continue unabated, some species or sub-species of apes will be extinct in as little as one human generation (20 years). Some gorilla populations are among the hardest hit.
The Association of Zoos and Aquarium's Ape Taxon Advisory Group Conservation Initiative represents a collective effort by zoos to help conserve wild populations of apes - together. the numerous AZA zoos can raise a significant sum for this end. Launched in early 2010, the primary aim of the Initiative is to increase the amount and duration of zoo support for in situ ape conservation. The UNEP/CMS Gorilla Agreement and the numerous priority sites and activities outlined in its Action Plans stand to benefit from the funds provided by AZA members, and we very much encourage the submission of gorilla project proposals. With all gorilla subspecies facing severe threats, and especially Eastern Lowland Gorillas and Cross River Gorillas coming increasingly close to extinction, there are good chances for such projects to be awarded funding. Specific goals of the initiative include:
- Provide multi-year support (minimum three years) for high priority ape populations and sites.
- Increase the number of zoos contributing to the in situ conservation of apes.
- Increase the presence of the zoo community in ape conservation.
- Encourage law enforcement and in situ education through the support of sanctuaries.
- Provide zoos with resources to convey ape conservation messages to the public and promote their support for in situ conservation.
Funds are generated by contributions from supporting zoos; these funds are placed into a general fund that is equally distributed among projects selected for support. To find out more about the program and how to submit project proposals, please go to http://www.clemetzoo.com/gorillassp/ConservationInitiative.html |
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A conversation on poachers, gorillas and copper wires (Audio Interview) |
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Wednesday, 21 July 2010 08:32 |
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 Ian Redmond is a tropical field-biologist. He's renowned for over 30 years of work with great apes, elephants and other species. He calls himself a 'reluctant conservationist' – he would rather study his subjects in peace than document their continued decline.
After being Year of the Gorilla Ambassador in 2009, Ian was this year named Ambassador for the UNEP Convention on Migratory Species (www.cms.int). He was recently in Bonn, where the Convention's secretariat is located, for a scientific advisory meeting on the state of migratory species, and took the opportunity to join Deutsche Welle Radio in their studio. In the interview, Ian describes what it was like to come face to face with gorilla poachers during last year's State of the Gorilla journey.
Click here to go to the interview. |
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British Cross River Gorilla expert killed in Cameroon |
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Friday, 02 July 2010 12:10 |
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 Ymke Warren, 40, was killed by an intruder at the home she shared with partner and fellow gorilla researcher Aaron Nicholas in the coastal town of Limbe. The Cameroonian police are investigating. The couple were working on the Takamanda-Mone Landscape Project, run by the American Wildlife Conservation Society. They were studying Cross River Gorillas, the world’s most threatened great ape species.
The Year of the Gorilla team, and especially YoG Ambassador Ian Redmond, who knew Ymke well, are deeply saddened by this senseless loss of life. A tribute page for Ymke has been created on the Ape Alliance website at www.4apes.com/Ymke The Gorilla Organisation has set up a fund in Ymke's name. Donations will serve to support the work of African Conservationists. To find out more, click here. |
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