Mongabay.com: Innovative technology creates safe haven for rhinos

28 November 2016 / Laurel Neme Unveiled last week, the new system integrates a set of technologies — Wi-Fi, thermal cameras, biometrics, closed-circuit televisions, and sensors — to create a security network across an entire game reserve. The new technology system — called Connected Conservation — is a joint initiative between two international technology companies: Dimension Data…

Read More

Mongabay.com: Tripa’s Trials: protecting key orangutan habitat through the courts

First posted on 2016-04-13 Mongabay Series: Great Apes 13th April 2016 / Laurel A. Neme Prime Sumatran orangutan habitat is under attack by oil palm companies, but conservation NGOs are learning to use the law to halt that destruction. Many developing countries, such as Indonesia, have fairly good environmental laws against deforestation and protecting threatened species, such as orangutans.…

Read More

Mongabay.com: Leuser’s Legacy: how rescued orangutans help assure species survival

30th March 2016 / Laurel A. Neme Mongabay.com Meet two blind orangutans: Leuser and Gober, their offspring, and the people of the SOCP rescue group. Together they’re creating a future for Indonesian orangutans. Agribusiness is rapidly razing the prime forest habitat of Sumatra’s 14,600 remaining orangutans; replacing it with vast stretches of oil palm plantation. The species’…

Read More

Mongabay.com: Latin American illegal wildlife trade exploding in scope and scale

Mongabay Series: Latin American Wildlife Trade 4th November 2015 / Laurel A. Neme Millions of tropical birds, sharks, sea cucumbers, totoaba, queen conch, sea turtles, caimans and a vast number of other animals are falling victim to wildlife trafficking. Latin America is astoundingly biologically diverse, while its enforcement of wildlife trading laws is extremely weak, creating the perfect…

Read More

Mongabay.com: Wildlife forensics unmask poachers and traffickers

Mongabay WildTech 10th July 2015 / Laurel Neme When border agents seize two tons of smuggled ivory, how do they tell where it’s from? When meat on sale in Southeast Asia is suspected to be from a tiger, how can the police prove it? And when blood in a hunter’s truck is thought to come from a poached…

Read More

Mongabay.com: World Ranger Day: honoring our wildlife protectors

World Ranger Day: honoring our wildlife protectors Commentary by: Laurel Neme July 31, 2014 Like Memorial Day, when we honor our nation’s military veterans, World Ranger Day is a day to recognize and celebrate the thousands of rangers who put their lives on the line as they protect wildlife and natural resources around the world.…

Read More

Mongabay.com: CITES 40th Anniversary: Reflections of CITES Secretary-General John Scanlon

By Laurel Neme, special to mongabay.com March 04, 2013 Part 3 of 3 The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is often hailed by scholars and conservationists as the most effective international environmental agreement. On March 3, CITES celebrates its 40th anniversary. What accounts for its success? In the following interview, CITES Secretary-General John Scanlon…

Read More