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<title><![CDATA[environmental heroes news from mongabay.com]]></title>
<link>http://www.mongabay.com</link>
<description><![CDATA[environmental heroes news.]]></description>
<language>en-us</language>
<copyright>Copyright 2006 mongabay.com</copyright>
<pubDate>Sun, 15 Oct 2008 12:58:39 -0800</pubDate>
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<title><![CDATA[Rainforest chief killed in Borneo for his opposition to logging]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Keleasu Naan, a Penan chieftain and longtime activist against logging, disappeared in October while checking animal traps.  His tribes' worst fears were confirmed when they found what they believed to be Naan's remains last month.  According to the Associated Press, the chieftain's nephew, Michael Ipa, has stated that the body had several broken bones, leading Ipa to believe that "he has been killed by people involved in logging".]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0103-borneo_hance.html</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 03 Jan 2008 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0103-borneo_hance.html</guid>
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<title><![CDATA[Amazon Conservation Team wins "Innovation in Conservation Award" for path-breaking work with Amazon tribes]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[The Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) was today awarded mongabay.com's inaugural "Innovation in Conservation Award" for its path-breaking efforts to enable indigenous Amazonians to maintain ties to their history and cultural traditions while protecting their rainforest home from illegal loggers and miners.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1211-conservation_award.html</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 11 Dec 2007 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1211-conservation_award.html</guid>
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<title><![CDATA[Carbon credits for forest conservation concept faces challenges]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[While environmentalists, scientists, development exports, and policymakers across the political spectrum are ethusiastic about the idea of offsetting carbon emissions by preventing deforestation (a concept known as "avoided deforestation" or Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD)), the concept still faces many challenges, especially in implementation.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1127-sekala_interview.html</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 27 Nov 2007 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1127-sekala_interview.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[7-year old nature guide becomes Belize environmental hero as adult]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Each year hundreds of thousands of nature-oriented tourists visit Belize to see the Central American country's spectacular coral reefs, biodiverse rainforests, and ancient Mayan ruins.  However few visitors realize that Belize's natural resources are at risk.  Timber and oil extraction, agricultural encroachment, coastal development, pollution and unrestrained tourism are all increasing threats to Belizean ecosystems.  Unless something is done to address these concerns, within a generation these pressures could present considerable problems for Belize.  Dr. Colin Young, head of the environmental science program at Galen University in Belize, says that while he is greatly concerned about these issues, there is still time to ensure healthy forests and reefs in Belize.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1116-interview_young_belize.html</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 16 Nov 2007 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1116-interview_young_belize.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Conservationist Schaller named to Time's 'Hero of the Planet']]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Renowned conservationist Dr. George Schaller of the Wildlife Conservation Society was recently named by Time Magazine as one of 60 'Heroes of the Planet.'  He joins an elite group of environmental champions, including former Vice President Al Gore and former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1113-wcs.html</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 13 Nov 2007 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1113-wcs.html</guid>
</item>
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<title><![CDATA[Subtle threats could ruin the Amazon rainforest]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[While the mention of Amazon destruction usually conjures up images of vast stretches of felled and burned rainforest trees, cattle ranches, and vast soybean farms, some of the biggest threats to the Amazon rainforest are barely perceptible from above.  Selective logging -- which opens up the forest canopy and allows winds and sunlight to dry leaf litter on the forest floor -- and 6-inch high "surface" fires are turning parts of the Amazon into a tinderbox, putting the world's largest rainforest at risk of ever-more severe forest fires.  At the same time, market-driven hunting is impoverishing some areas of seed dispersers and predators, making it more difficult for forests to recover. Climate change -- an its forecast impacts on the Amazon basin -- further looms large over the horizon.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1107-interview_carlos_peres.html</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 07 Nov 2007 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1107-interview_carlos_peres.html</guid>
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<item>
<title><![CDATA[Carbon for forests will help Aceh recover from war, tsunami]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Carbon credits through forest conservation will play an important role in Aceh's recovery from decades of civil war and the devastating 2004 tsunami, which left more than 167,000 people dead and 500,000 homeless in the Indonesia province, said Aceh governor Irwandi Jusuf in meeting in San Francisco.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0918-aceh.html</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 18 Sep 2007 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0918-aceh.html</guid>
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<item>
<title><![CDATA[Ethnobotanist honored for contributions to wilderness medicine]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Renowned ethnobotanist and conservationist Dr. Mark Plotkin of the Amazon Conservation Team was honored Wednesday with the 2007 Paul S. Auerbach Award, a distinction awarded by the Wilderness Medical Society (WMS).]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0808-plotkin.html</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 08 Aug 2007 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0808-plotkin.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Leading Amazon biologist imprisoned in Brazil; witch-hunt suspected]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[A world-renowned primatologist has been arrested in the Brazilian Amazon under charges that he was illegal sheltering 28 primates in his home, according to The Guardian. Supporters say Marc van Roosmalen, 60, has been framed by illegal loggers who have long been adversaries of the prominent conservationist.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0623-roosmalen.html</link>
<pubDate>Sat, 23 Jun 2007 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0623-roosmalen.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[An interview with author and eco-lodge pioneer Jack Ewing]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[In 1970 a young man went to Costa Rica, a place he initially confused with Puerto Rico, on an assignment to accompany 150 head of cattle.  37 years and several lifetimes' worth of adventures later, Jack Ewing runs a eco-lodge that serves as a model for a country  now considered the world leader in nature travel.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0613-interview_ewing.html</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 12 Jun 2007 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0613-interview_ewing.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[World's largest movement has no leader but 100M employees]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[The world's largest movement has no name, no leader, and no ideology, but may directly involve more than 100 million people, said a green business pioneer.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0611-hawken.html</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 11 Jun 2007 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0611-hawken.html</guid>
</item>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[Dorothy Stang fought for social equity in the Amazon]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Murder is not a pleasant place to start an article. Destruction of enormous amounts of virgin forest also does not help improve ones feelings and thoughts. Leaving out millions of people and talking about only the rights of thousands is pretty discouraging if you wish to be transparent, progressive and see a future for a beautiful country with enormous potential.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0607-david_stang.html</link>
<pubDate>Thu, 07 Jun 2007 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0607-david_stang.html</guid>
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<title><![CDATA[Can cattle ranchers and soy farmers save the Amazon?]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[John Cain Carter, a Texas rancher who moved to the heart of the Amazon 11 years ago and founded what is perhaps the most innovative organization working in the Amazon, Alianca da Terra, believes the only way to save the Amazon is through the market.  Carter says that by giving producers incentives to reduce their impact on the forest, the market can succeed where conservation efforts have failed.  What is most remarkable about Alianca's system is that it has the potential to be applied to any commodity anywhere in the world. That means palm oil in Borneo could be certified just as easily as sugar cane in Brazil or sheep in New Zealand.  By addressing the supply chain, tracing agricultural products back to the specific fields where they were produced, the system offers perhaps the best market-based solution to combating deforestation.  Combining these approaches with large-scale land conservation and scientific research offers what may be the best hope for saving the Amazon.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0607-carter_interview.html</link>
<pubDate>Wed, 06 Jun 2007 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0607-carter_interview.html</guid>
</item>
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<title><![CDATA[Globalization could save the Amazon rainforest]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[The Amazon basin is home to the world's largest rainforest, an ecosystem that supports perhaps 30 percent of the world's terrestrial species, stores vast amounts of carbon, and exerts considerable influence on global weather patterns and climate. Few would dispute that it is one of the planet's most important landscapes. Despite its scale, the Amazon is also one of the fastest changing ecosystems, largely as a result of human activities, including deforestation, forest fires, and, increasingly, climate change. Few people understand these impacts better than Dr. Daniel Nepstad, one of the world's foremost experts on the Amazon rainforest. Now head of the Woods Hole Research Center's Amazon program in Belem, Brazil, Nepstad has spent more than 23 years in the Amazon, studying subjects ranging from forest fires and forest management policy to sustainable development. Nepstad says the Amazon is presently at a point unlike any he's ever seen, one where there are unparalleled risks and opportunities. While he's hopeful about some of the trends, he knows the Amazon faces difficult and immediate challenges.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0604-nepstad_interview.html</link>
<pubDate>Sun, 03 Jun 2007 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0604-nepstad_interview.html</guid>
</item>
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<title><![CDATA[Amazon nun-killer sentenced to 30 years in Brazil]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura, a Brazilian rancher charged with ordering the killing of Dorothy Stang, an American nun, in the Amazon rainforest in February 2005, was convicted today of murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0515-stang.html</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 15 May 2007 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0515-stang.html</guid>
</item>
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<title><![CDATA[Conservation is saving lemurs and helping people in Madagascar]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Madagascar, an island nation that lies off the coast of southeastern Africa, has long been famous for its unique and diverse species of wildlife, especially lemurs--primates found nowhere else on the planet. In recent years, the island country has also become world-renowned for conservation efforts that are succeeding in spite of extraordinary pressures from a poor population that relies heavily on forest burning for basic subsistence. A large part of this success is due to the early efforts of Patricia Wright, a primatologist who has been working in the country for more than 20 years. Wright led the effort to launch the country's leading protected area and helped Madagascar become a leading global example of conservation despite its economic adversity.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0507-interview_pat_wright.html</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 07 May 2007 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0507-interview_pat_wright.html</guid>
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<title><![CDATA[Indians are key to rainforest conservation efforts says renowned ethnobotanist]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Tropical rainforests house hundreds of thousands of species of plants, many of which hold promise for their compounds which can be used to ward off pests and fight human disease.  No one understands the secrets of these plants better than indigenous shamans -medicine men and women - who have developed boundless knowledge of this library of flora for curing everything from foot rot to diabetes.  But like the forests themselves, the knowledge of these botanical wizards is fast-disappearing due to deforestation and profound cultural transformation among younger generations. The combined loss of this knowledge and these forests irreplaceably impoverishes the world of cultural and biological diversity. Dr. Mark Plotkin, President of the non-profit Amazon Conservation Team, is working to stop this fate by partnering with indigenous people to conserve biodiversity, health, and culture in South American rainforests.  Plotkin, a renowned ethnobotanist and accomplished author (Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice, Medicine Quest) who was named one of Time Magazine's environmental "Hero for the Planet," has spent parts of the past 25 years living and working with shamans in Latin America.  Through his experiences, Plotkin has concluded that conservation and the well-being of indigenous people are intrinsically linked -- in forests inhabited by indigenous populations, you can't have one without the other.  Plotkin believes that existing conservation initiatives would be better-served by having more integration between indigenous populations and other forest preservation efforts.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1031-interview_plotkin.html</link>
<pubDate>Tue, 31 Oct 2006 06:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1031-interview_plotkin.html</guid>
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<title><![CDATA[Global warming could cause catastrophic die-off of Amazon rainforest by 2080]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[For the Amazon, there is an immense threat looming on the horizon: climate change could well cause most of the Amazon rainforest to disappear by the end of the century. Dr. Philip Fearnside, a Research Professor at the National Institute for Research in the Amazon in Manaus, Brazil and one of the most cited scientists on the subject of climate change, understands the threat well.  Having spent more than 30 years in Brazil and now recognized as one of the world's foremost experts on the Amazon rainforest, Fearnside is working to do nothing less than to save this remarkable ecosystem. Fearnside believes saving the Amazon will require a fundamental shift in perception where the Amazon is recognized as an asset beyond the current price of mahogany, soybeans, or cattle, where its value is only unlocked by its destruction. The Amazon is far worth more than this he says.  It can play a key role in fighting climate change while providing economic sustenance for millions through sustainable agriculture and rational utilization of its renewable products.  It can serve as a storehouse for biodiversity while at the same time ensuring reliable water supplies and moderating regional temperature and precipitation.  In short, maintaining the Amazon as a viable ecosystem makes sense economically and ecologically -- it is in our best interest to preserve this resource while we still can.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1023-interview_fearnside.html</link>
<pubDate>Sun, 22 Oct 2006 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1023-interview_fearnside.html</guid>
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<title><![CDATA[Rainforests face myriad of threats says leading Amazon scholar]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[The world's tropical rainforests are in trouble.  Spurred by a global commodity boom and continuing poverty in some of the world's poorest regions, deforestation rates have increased since the close of the 1990s.  The usual threats to forests -- agricultural conversion, wildlife poaching, uncontrolled logging, and road construction -- could soon be rivaled, and even exceeded, by climate change and rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Understanding these threats is key to preserving forests and their ecological services for current and future generations. William F. Laurance, a distinguished scholar and president of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) -- the world's largest scientific organization dedicated to the study and conservation of tropical ecosystems, is at the forefront of this effort.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1016-interview_laurance.html</link>
<pubDate>Mon, 16 Oct 2006 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1016-interview_laurance.html</guid>
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<title><![CDATA[A look at the biodiversity extinction crisis]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[As tropical forests -- the world's biological treasure troves -- continue to dwindle, biologists are racing to devise ways to save them and their resident biodiversity.  While many conservation biologists talk about population viability analysis and intricacies of reserve layouts, David L. Pearson, a research professor at the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe, Arizona, focuses on a different approach: education.]]></description>
<link>http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1005-interview_dlp.html</link>
<pubDate>Fri, 06 Oct 2006 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
<source url="http://www.mongabay.com/">Mongabay.com</source>
<guid>http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1005-interview_dlp.html</guid>
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