Global Conservation events were held in San Francisco and Stanford University September 13 and 15 2016.
Special Thanks to our Hosts John Freidenrich (Stanford Cantor) and George Sycip (SF Villa Taverna).
Dr. Eric Dinerstein, Dr. Richard Hansen and Ms. Farwiza Farhan show us how a few great leaders can enable large-scale park and wildlife protection using proven technologies, economic models, and policy and legal strategies.
Dr. Richard Hansen and Ms. Farwiza Farhan, a recent Whitley Award for Nature winner, keynoted Global Conservation-supported efforts to protect two of the world’s most important and endangered UNESCO World Heritage and National Parks – Mirador National Park in Guatemala and Leuser Ecosystem in Aceh Sumatra, Indonesia.
The speakers profiled two very different but complementary models for conservation.
Click here for an overview of Global Conservation.
Mirador, Guatemala – A wilderness archaeological World Heritage Park whose protection is sustainable through community-based tourism (over 3,000 visitors a year).
Leuser Ecosystem, Indonesia – 2.6 million hectares protected by local communities against flooding from illegal logging and extinction of the last Big5 megafauna in Asia.
Both Mirador and Leuser are UNESCO World Heritage and National Parks which are critical for the protection of our last large-scale intact primary tropical forests and wildlife habitats in Latin America and Asia, respectively.
Mirador National Park
Peten, Guatemala
Dr. Richard Hansen PhD has dedicated his life to the conservation of Mirador’s ancient Pre-Classic Mayan cities and its intact biodiversity and natural and cultural ecosystem – The Mirador Basin. The proposed Mirador National Park is a unique opportunity to protect and conserve over 800,000 hectares – the heart of the Maya Biosphere - forever.
Global Conservation and its founder, Jeff Morgan, have worked to protect Mirador for over 10 years by securing critical funding and Guatemalan and international recognition to permanently protect Mirador World Heritage for all mankind.
Dr. Hansen presented his work of over 25 years in Mirador which has been featured in National Geographic, BBC, CNN and Discovery. He is the founder and president of the Foundation for Anthropological Research and Environmental Studies (FARES) and earned his PhD. in Archaeology and Biophysics from UCLA. The Mirador Project has been one of the most successful community development programs in Guatemala, bringing employment and training for hundreds of local families, and has built a new economy based on sustainable tourism and conservation.
Leuser Ecosystem
Aceh Sumatra, Indonesia
Ms. Farwiza Farhan (PhD Candidate) is Chairperson of Forest, Nature, and Environment Aceh (HAkA), a leading NGO working to secure the protection and scienti c conservation of the Leuser Ecosystem. Winner of the prestigious Whitley Award for Nature in 2016, Farwiza has spearheaded legal and community-led campaigns to ban mining and logging in the Leuser Ecosystem, as well as implement long-term protection needed on the ground.
The Leuser Ecosystem is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage on the scale of Yellowstone National Park. Due to greed and poor management, the Leuser Ecosystem is currently being destroyed by illegal logging, poaching, encroachment and land clearing. The Leuser Ecosystem is the last place on earth where the Critically Endangered Sumatran orangutan, tiger, elephant and rhino coexist in the wild.
Farwiza highlighted current campaigns — and recent successes and challenges, in protecting Leuser Ecosystem and a new model for conservation based on ecosystem services and community-led protection systems vital for the survival of four million Acehnese people living in the surrounding areas. In 2016, she secured a $2 million grant from the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation for establishing a new Megafauna Sanctuary and to help bring global recognition to the threats facing Leuser Ecosystem.
Click Here To View the Presentation.
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Breaking News: Company Ordered to Pay Record $3.7 Million for Causing Fires in Sumatra. As more and more of Sumatra's natural ecosystems are cut down, burned, and destroyed, which severely threatens already imperiled wildlife and keeps local people clogged with smoke, local communities are putting incredible effort into patrolling and restoring their jungle habitats, aided by Global Conservation.
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