Vets were called in and as the animal had managed to survive the savage attack and was still eating properly, they decided to try and save it. They darted it and administered masses of antibiotics in the hope that the horrific wound will heal.

Also of great concern is the fact that this rhino had been dehorned last year and the poachers were not deterred by the fact that it had only a small stump of horn. Despite the obvious determination of the poachers, the authorities are reluctant to provide the conservators with suitable weaponry to protect these endangered animals.

The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force relies soley on public donations. Your donation can help to preserve the wildlife in Zimbabwe. If you would like to assist, please contact them.

More than 90 per cent of all rhino species have already been wiped out. We must act now before it’s too late. Join our campaign to save these endangered species from extinction.

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Bag It Intro from Suzan Beraza on Vimeo.

Click here to learn more.

Faces of Climate Change — Introduction from Darcy Dugan on Vimeo.

This is the first of three compelling short videos showcasing the dramatic changes in Alaska’s marine ecosystems through interviews with scientists and Alaska Natives. This introduction to the impacts of climate change in Alaska includes interviews with Alaska Natives, commentary by scientists, and footage from Alaska’s Arctic.

These videos were produced by the Alaska Sea Grant program, the Alaska Marine Conservation Council, COSEE Alaska, and the Alaska Ocean Observing System.

Faces of Climate Change – Life on the Ice from Darcy Dugan on Vimeo.

Life on the Ice

This is the second of three compelling short videos showcasing the dramatic changes in Alaska’s marine ecosystems. This video highlights the marine mammals and birds and how they depend on Arctic sea ice, as well as questions about how these animals will cope in the face of climate change.

Faces of Climate Change – Disappearing Sea Ice from Darcy Dugan on Vimeo.

Disappearing Sea Ice

This is the third of three compelling short videos showcasing the dramatic changes in Alaska’s marine ecosystems due to climate change.

This video highlights disappearing sea ice through interviews with Alaska Natives and scientists.

Originally posted at http://indigenouspeoplesissues.com/

The findings are particularly relevant for small forest patches in regions with high population density—instances that present special challenges for achieving sustainability.

Using evidence from more than 80 forest sites in six tropical countries, researchers tested how local participation affects social and environmental benefits in tropical developing countries in East Africa and South Asia and found improved household access to forest products, including firewood, fodder for livestock, and timber for housing; and higher biodiversity.

“There are substantial disagreements among scientists about whether it’s possible to achieve both economic and ecological benefits together from forests, but little work to understand conditions that might lead to this,” says Lauren Persha, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan and lead author of the paper.

“Our study is one of very few that has been able to do this kind of analysis in a systematic way across a large number of cases and countries.”

Report details are published in the journal Science.

Persha and colleagues analyzed patterns of biodiversity conservation and forest-based household livelihoods at 84 study sites. Tree species richness was used as the indicator of forest biodiversity.

The percentage of households that depend significantly on a forest for subsistence livelihoods was used as an indicator of the forest’s livelihood contributions. A sustainable forest system was defined as one in which both tree species richness and livelihood contributions were above average.

Most cases were a mixed bag, where either tree species richness or livelihood dependence were below average. But in 27 percent of the cases, both biodiversity levels and livelihood dependence were above average, meeting the criteria for a sustainable forest.

Forests are significantly more likely to be sustainable when local users have a formally recognized right to participate in forest rulemaking, according to the study, while unsustainable forests are more likely when users do not have this right.

“It’s a lesson for governments about how to make policies to manage and govern their forests,” says Arun Agrawal professor of natural resources and the environment at the University of Michigan.

Hundreds of millions of people in the tropics depend on forests. In recent years, governments in nearly two-thirds of the developing world have tried to involve rural households and organizations in forest management. Often, the goal is to improve both social and ecological results by giving local residents incentives to manage forests sustainably.

Such reforms have doubled the area of forest land under community management in the past 15 years. Whether allowing local people to participate in forest rulemaking improves forests or leaves them worse off remains a matter of debate.

“These disagreements have persisted for decades because the evidence needed to resolve them simply didn’t exist,” Agrawal says. “The current study is an important step toward improved evidence and analysis on this subject.”

Researchers from the University of Illinois contributed to the project, funded by the Ford Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and the National Science Foundation.

Posted by Jim Erickson-Michigan at http://www.futurity.org/

Click here to learn more about what YOU can do to save tigers.

To support the Global Tiger Initiative, visit www.globaltigerinitiative.org

To learn more about the Save Tigers Now campaign, visit www.savetigersnow.org.

Twenty years ago elephants were being wiped out by poachers. International outcry halted the trade in ivory and elephant herds started to recover. Now, elephants are in crisis once again. The ivory trade continues to flourish and seizures of illegal ivory are skyrocketing. Recently, stockpile sales to Japan and China sent a signal to poachers that it is open season on elephants. The lesson is crystal clear: any legal ivory trade leads to illegal killing.

Join the fight to help free elephants from the threat of ivory poaching. Please sign the petition to urge the European Union to protect the world’s remaining elephants by opposing any further international trade in ivory.

Please visit www.savetheelephants.org to learn what YOU can do to save elephants.

In 1972, there were more than 1.5 million elephants roaming the Earth. Today, there are few than 500,000 left.

Join the fight to help free elephants from the threat of ivory poaching.

www.wildlifedefenseusa.org