April 2021 Newsletter: Wildlife of Mirador Video, and More

New Mirador Video, as Guatemala Cooperates with Mexico

We’ve just released a new video highlighting the incredible wildlife in Mirador National Park, Guatemala! Watch it above, and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube Channel.

Over the past 2 years, the Mirador Park Rangers, led by Francisco Asturias, have patrolled an average of 2,364 km/month in order to protect that incredible wildlife. Recently, the Mirador Rangers and Community Ecoguards have begun joint patrols with Mexican authorities, allowing them to better address cross-boundary threats. Already, the joint team closed down a major illegal logging syndicate working inside Mirador. Mirador Rangers also collaborated with the Guatemalan army, Guatemalan park rangers, firefighters from Calakmul, Mexico, and volunteers to construct a firebreak along the border between Mexico and Mirador. Read more here.

We recently talked to Dr. Gerardo Ceballos, GC Senior Advisor and Senior Researcher at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, about Mirador and his work to conserve jaguars in Mexico and Guatemala. He explained how forest destruction is one of the main drivers of disease emergence. 

“By destroying tropical forests, temperate forests, and coral reefs, we’re destroying the Earth's capability to maintain life and to maintain civilization,” he said, “COVID-19 is just one symptom of the destruction of nature by humans. If that destruction continues, we’re vulnerable to many more problems." 

Mission to La Amistad International Park, Costa Rica

Our team recently undertook a scouting mission to La Amistad International Park (Parque Internacional La Amistad or PILA), Costa Rica, to initiate a Global Park Defense program.

PILA is a transboundary protected area and World Heritage Site that is shared between Costa Rica and Panama. Covering 401,000ha, it is the largest nature reserve in Central America and an incredible biodiversity resource for both the region and the world. It harbors a stunning 20% of Central America’s and 60% of Costa Rica’s species diversity.

The team discovered that PILA faces poaching, illegal logging, and an extreme shortage of staff for patrolling the park and responding to threats. During the mission, Global Conservation donated critical equipment including 2 laptops, Garmin InReach GPS Units, smartphones for SMART patrols, and cellular trail cameras. Greg Brown provided basic training on the use of GPS units and trail cameras. We’re thrilled to begin our GPD program to protect PILA.

2020-2021 Progress: Leuser Ecosystem, Sumatra, Indonesia

Recently, Global Conservation partnered with the Rainforest Action Network to support their work against conflict palm oil. We strategically invested $100,000 in RAN's work, which complements our Global Park Defense deployment against illegal activity threatening Leuser’s forests.

"Leuser is teetering on a precipice: will it be protected and maintain the value that it’s providing for local communities, for nature, and for the global community as a carbon sink and biodiversity hotspot, or will it go the same direction as the forests all around it in Sumatra, destroyed rapidly over the past two decades?” asked Gemma Tillack, “It’s not a question of: Can we save the Leuser? It’s: We must save the Leuser, how can we?” Learn how you can help.

Myanmar Conflict Closes Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park

In January, Myanmar’s military launched a coup against the country’s most popular political party, seizing full control of the government and ending a brief period of quasi-democracy that had begun in 2011. Since the coup, protests have broken out across the country, resulting in the deaths of more than 600 civilians to date.

Political stability is key for successful conservation, and unfortunately this unrest has led to the closure of Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park (AKNP), one of our Global Park Defense sites. AKNP is the country’s oldest and largest national park, protecting the largest remaining tracts of intact forest in the country.

We hope, for the sake of the people of Myanmar and for its threatened wildlife, that peace and stability will arrive soon.

Global Park Defense Handbook Now Available

Our Global Park Defense Handbook is available on our website or as a PDF. GPD is an effective method to achieve “No Cut, No Kill” protection and financial sustainability for national parks and World Heritage sites. 

This book provides in-depth guidance for conservation managers and law enforcement on how to start a GPD program and measure its success. Along with the handbook, we’ve produced a series of four companion videos.