On Thursday 3rd Nov, Dr. Steve Green (who recently completed his PhD at DICE) delivered a talk about the various conservation research projects run across the globe by the volunteer funded organisation, Operation Wallacea. Dr. Green spoke about Operation Wallacea’s projects in Honduras, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mexico, Cuba, Guyana, South Africa, Mozambique, Egypt, and Peru.
Highlights included a quick summary of Operation Wallacea’s struggle to curb deforestation in the Cusuco National Park in Honduras, which is home to endemic and critically endangered amphibians found nowhere else in the world. Here, Operation Wallacea are mobilising volunteers and scientists to collect data on the Park’s fauna and flora, to attract funds from the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) mechanism. These funds are aimed at protecting the Park, and generating alternative livelihoods for the local communities that are currently clearing the forest to make way for coffee plantations. Volunteers fund these projects when they join to assist scientists in data collection, and as such Operation Wallacea have been able to maintain long-term research projects across the world, providing key data to inform the conservation management decision making process.
For more info see www.opwall.com
Report by: Jake Bicknell