World Rhino Day: Powerful beast still faces existential threat

Saturday was World Rhino Day. The rhinoceros, a powerful, majestic creature that is found in parts of southern Asia and Africa, is still threatened with extinction, impacting the stability of the five keystone species that play a crucial role in keeping our ecosystem and environment safe, according to a press release from luxury watchmaker Hublot, sponsor of Save Our Rhinos Africa and India, or SORAI, founded by former international cricketer Kevin Pietersen in 2018. According...

IBM roped in to design systems to monitor keystone species

IBM, provider of global hybrid cloud, artificial intelligence, and consulting expertise to clients in more than 175 countries, and the World Wide Fund for Nature-Germany have announced that they will work together to develop a solution to help monitor keystone species. The first keystone species to be taken up by the project is the critically endangered African forest elephant. The International Union for Conservation of Nature defines keystone species as those that are critical to...

FAO programme helps beekeepers in Rwanda, Vietnam double output, income

Patrick Uwingabire started learning about beekeeping when he was just 11. In his village in Huye, in Rwanda’s Southern Province, his uncle and grandfather taught him all they knew about making beehives and tending to the bees. Beekeeping offered the young Patrick a way forward when his family could not pay his school fees. “It was not possible for me to go to school,” said Uwingabire, now 39. “That wasn’t within reach. So, bees and...

World Migratory Bird Day: Those insects you detest play an important role in nature

Today is World Migratory Bird Day, an annual awareness campaign highlighting the need to conserve migratory birds, their habitats, and their journeys across borders. The campaign has a global outreach and is an effective tool to help raise awareness worldwide of the threats faced by migratory birds, their importance to the environment, and the need for international cooperation to conserve them. Each year, the campaign features a central theme, prompts action, and coordinates global efforts...

Conservationist Jane Goodall going strong at 90

Renowned English conservationist, primatologist, world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees, and U.N. Messenger of Peace Jane Goodall turns 90 today. Born April 3, 1934, Jane Goodall was just 26 years old when she followed her passion for wildlife to Gombe, Tanzania, where she began her groundbreaking research into the social and family interactions of chimpanzees in the wild. Her work changed forever humans’ understanding of our relationship with the animal kingdom. Her work extends beyond scientific innovations,...