Belize City, Belize, December 16 — The first season of Punta Fuego may have come to a close, but thanks to its roaring success it will officially be back on air next June! By the end of its first season the hit radio show has given us many causes for celebration, including elevating the importance of ordinary Belizean fishers and of sustainable fishing practices.

SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA/BEIJING, CHINA, December 16, 2015 –The Science for Nature and People (SNAP) partnership announced it has convened a new Expert Working Group, which will result in one of the most comprehensive studies to date of China’s illegal trade in ivory.

 

NEW YORK (December 15, 2015) – The Criminal Investigation Division of the Indonesian National Police and the WCS’s Wildlife Crimes Unit (WCU) announced today an enforcement action against a major tiger skin trader and an intermediary who offered tiger skin products to potential buyers. Both were  arrested in Jakarta, on December 11, 2015. 

December 14, 2015 -- There’s a feeling of hope, and rightly so, coming out of Paris this past weekend: The climate accord, signed by 195 countries, shows a commitment by the global community to reduce the greenhouse gases warming our planet. 

NEW YORK, December 11, 2015—Today Harvard University, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and a range of other partner organizations are launching the Planetary Health Alliance, a new effort to dramatically improve our understanding of the linkages between environmental change and human health across the globe.

Kuala Lumpur, December 10, 2015 -- WCS Vice President for Species Conservation Dr. Elizabeth Bennett has been awarded the 2015 Merdeka Award, Malaysia's premier civil society award.  This prestigious honor recognizes and celebrates the achievements and significant contributions of individuals to Malaysia and her people, within their respective fields. Bennett received the award at a ceremony here tonight.

PARIS - December 10, 2015 – Bolivia’s Tacana indigenous council has been awarded the Equator Prize for its efforts to reduce deforestation. For 14 years, the group has worked in the Madidi landscape to implement a community-based land-use vision for their ancestral territory.

WASHINGTON (December 10, 2015) – WCS applauded the introduction of the Eliminate, Neutralize, and Disrupt Wildlife Trafficking Act in the U.S. Senate. The legislation is led by Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and would bolster wildlife trafficking law enforcement and increase support for wildlife rangers. 

WCS and partners report from Bastak Reserve, a 162 square mile (420 km²) protected area in the Pri-Amur region of the Russian Far East, a tiger cub who lost her mother and nearly died, has became a “Cinderella” and is now a mother.  

December 8, 2015 – The Government of Mozambique has issued a decree suspending the issue of all new logging licenses for a period of two years in order to close a regulatory loophole that is threatening the country’s fragile forest ecosystems , according to WCS.