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Nicaragua Bosawas Biosphere Reserve under threat from illegal logging

Bosawas-biosphere-reserve-nicaragua-rainforest-diversity-logging-development-threat
Saslaya-National Park Bosawas Bioshpere Reserve Nicaragua Map

Nicaragua cloud forest 'under siege' by illegal loggers. Bosawas forest - the Bosawas Reserve is a critically important rainforest but native people say it is being destroyed by "colonists" A famed rainforest in Nicaragua is under growing threat from illegal loggers, say indigenous leaders. The Bosawas Biosphere Reserve is Central America's largest tropical forest with clouds constantly drifting over the hilly terrain. But the Mayangna and Miskito people who live there say 30,000 hectares a year are being deforested by "colonists". They are calling on US president Barack Obama, who is visiting the region, to support their battle. Described by the United Nations as a global biological treasure, the reserve is located on the border between Nicaragua and Honduras and teems with wildlife. “We believe that if there is no intervention there will be no Biosphere Reserve in five to 10 years” Taymond Robins, Mayangna people The two million hectares are said to be home to 150,000 insect species, rare jaguars, eagles and crocodiles as well as the world's last populations of Baird's Tapir and the Central American Spider Monkey. Landless invaders The Bosawas reserve also overlaps the homes of indigenous communities who have been there for centuries, living by hunting and fishing. The Nicaraguan government recognised the full legal title of the Mayangna to their lands in 2007. Since then, they say they have been subject to what they term an "invasion" by landless people from other parts of the country.

Measuring habitat divesity loss audibly

A landscape may look healthy, but how does it sound, and what does that say about how its wildlife is doing?

Saving Ecuador's "Lungs of the World" Yasuni National Park.

Race to save Ecuador's 'lungs of the world'

Napo river, Ecuador
 
The Napo River in Ecuador, an Amazon tributary, runs for 1,075km (668 miles).

The Yasuni National Park, known as "the lungs of the world" and one of the most bio-diverse places on earth, is under threat from oil drilling. The race is on to find the funds required to develop new sustainable energy programmes that would leave the oil - and the forest - untouched. In the early light of dawn, the Napo River, running swiftly from its headwaters in the high Andes, swirled powerfully past the bow of our motorised canoe. Suddenly, a dense cloud of green parrots swooped down from the canopy of the jungle and in a cackling din started scooping tiny beakfuls from the exposed muddy bank. The heavy mineral rich clay, the birds seem to know, is an antidote to the toxins present in the seeds of the forest which are a major part of their daily diets.

Up to 900 tropical bird species could go extinct.

Up to 900 tropical bird species could 'go extinct'

 

          wire-tailed-manakin-312x176.jpg The wire-tailed manakin faces an uncertain future

 

Up to 900 species of tropical land birds around the world could become extinct by 2100, researchers say.

The finding is modelled on the effects of a 3.5C Earth surface temperature rise, a Biological Conservation Journal paper shows. Species may struggle to adapt to habitat loss and extreme weather events, author Cagan Sekercioglu says. Mountain, coastal, restricted-range, and species unable to get to higher elevations could be the worst affected.

 
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