Conservation International
| Conservation International
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| legal form | Non-profit organization |
| founding | 1987 |
| Seat |
Washington, DC , USA
|
| management | Russell Mittermeier |
| Number of employees | 900 |
| Website | www.conservation.org |
Conservation International (CI) is a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC. Its goal is to preserve the world's biodiversity of plants, animals and landforms. Conservation International places a special focus on the “ biodiversity hotspots ”, ie areas with a particularly rich biodiversity on land and in the sea worldwide.
CI was founded in 1987 a. a. Founded by Spencer Beebe and now employs a staff of around 900 people. CI works in 45 countries, including mainly developing countries in Africa, Asia, Oceania and Central and South America. Russell Mittermeier, the founder of the biodiversity hotspots concept, is today President of CI.
The organization also became known through its cooperation with local NGOs and the indigenous population in the protected areas.
Projects
In 1988 CI developed the concept of megadiversity countries in order to raise the awareness of the world community to the fact that more than 70% of the total species living on land occur in the 17 identified countries .
Through the work of CI, new habitats were discovered and scientifically described. In December 2005, CI scientists from the Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) discovered a previously undescribed area in the Foja Mountains in Papua , Indonesia . There they found 20 previously unknown frog species, four undiscovered butterfly species , five undescribed palm species and new subspecies of the honey eater (Meliphagidae). The researchers also found the gold-coated tree kangaroo , a species not previously seen in Indonesia that was hunted to extinction in other parts of the world. The area is so isolated that it has remained largely free of human influence. The results of this work by Conservation International were published in both academic publications and popular US media (Nightline, The NBC Nightly News, and New York Times ) in February 2006.
See also
- Biodiversity hotspot
- Leonard Co , Filipino botanist who worked for CI who was shot dead in November 2010