Over 20,000 smallholder coffee farmers in southern Sumatra will benefit from a unique collaboration whereby global food and agri-business Olam International will grant use of its platform, the Olam Farmer Information System (OFIS), to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to tackle forest encroachment in the Bukit Barisan Selatan (BBSNP) landscape in southern Sumatra.

As the planet continues to warm and wildlife species vanish at an unprecedented rate, five leading environmental organizations have come together to target the world’s greatest undervalued and unprotected solution to the climate and extinction crises— forests. The organizations—Global Wildlife Conservation, Rainforest Foundation Norway, United Nations Development Programme, Wildlife Conservation Society and World Resources Institute—will announce the new Forests for Life Partnership during an event celebrating the role of Nature-based Solutions at the U.N. Climate Action Summit in New York tonight, Sept. 25.

The following comments were released by: Jason Patlis, Executive Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Marine Conservation Program; and Jon Forrest Dohlin, WCS Vice President and Director of the New York Aquarium: 

The following congratulatory statement was released by Dr. John Robinson, WCS’s Executive Vice President for Conservation and Science:

The following statement was issued by the Wildlife Conservation Society as the United Nations focused on the importance of nature-based solutions to the world’s climate crisis.The Nature-Based Solutions Coalition of the UN Climate Action Summit hosted a high-level event today to highlight the critical role of nature for climate action and the pathways to unlocking nature’s full potential for mitigation and adaptation to deliver the Paris Agreement and carbon neutrality by 2050. ...

Local and international NGOs—including Global Wildlife Conservation and Wildlife Conservation Society—joined forces with four Central American Countries and the Central American Commission for Environment and Development (CCAD), indigenous peoples and local communities today to launch the 5 Great Forests Initiative, a critical collaboration to protect Mesoamerica’s five largest forests. Mesoamerica’s five great forests—the Maya Forest in Mexico, Guatemala, and Beliz...

The Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) announced that WCS’s New York Aquarium and Queens Zoo have been recognized with Top Honors in two separate categories during AZA’s Annual Conference in New Orleans. AZA’s 2019 Exhibit Award went to the New York Aquarium for the Donald Zucker and Barbara Hrbek Zucker Ocean Wonders: Sharks! exhibit. With this award, AZA recognizes excellence by an AZA-accredited facility (US or international) or certified related facility member in th...

Wilderness areas, long known for intrinsic conservation value, are far more valuable for biodiversity than previously believed, and if conserved, will cut the world’s extinction risk in half, according to a new study published in the journal Nature.

WCS is hosting an event on September 25 at Central Park Zoo that will focus on how nature-based solutions for climate can also deliver for biodiversity and the Sustainable Development Goals. 

The Bronx Zoo is once again celebrating the coming of fall with a Halloween tradition that has become a family favorite for New Yorkers and tourists alike.  Boo at the Zoo returns to the Bronx on weekends starting Saturday, September 28 through Sunday, November 3 (including Columbus Day, October 14). Boo at the Zoo activities will include traditional favorites such as daily magic shows, costume parades, professional pumpkin carving demos, crafts, the spooky extinct animal graveyard, and muc...