The months of June and July are an exciting time for the Conservation Leadership Programme – our staff and a group of our most recent award winners came together for two enriching weeks of learning and cultural exchange at our annual Conservation Management and Leadership Training Workshop.

We welcomed 24 participants from 18 countries to Barrier Lake Field Station in Alberta, Canada. The days were full of interactive exercises and discussions intended to enable our award winners to implement their CLP projects with greater impact. Facilitators guided the group through sessions on leadership, project planning, behavior change through education and outreach, communicating conservation, climate change, fundraising, and best practices of training.

The training included two “Culture Nights” where we experienced the culture of each country represented by the participants with presentations of music, food, images and dance. A day trip into Banff National Park was the perfect way to recharge and enjoy the beautiful Canadian Rockies. And if all this wasn’t enough, we even caught a glimpse of a large female grizzly bear with two cubs.

In the next few months, CLP will be busy preparing our 2015 Call for Proposals for Conservation Awards, as well as planning several local training courses for our alumni, partner staff, and other budding conservation leaders. Our next message will contain the details of the 2015 awards application process. In the mean time, I hope you enjoy this issue of our newsletter where we feature a new CLP donor, some impressive alumni accomplishments, and other updates from the field. Don't forget that you can follow our latest news via Facebook and Twitter.

Robyn Dalzen
CLP Director

Deputy Director at the Mabuwaya Foundation and winner of a 2014 Whitley Award, Tess Gatan Balbas has been involved in the conservation of the Critically Endangered Philippine crocodile since 1999. Thanks to the work which she and her team are doing, crocodile numbers are increasing and human-crocodile conflict is decreasing. Find out what makes her an award-winning conservation leader.

Yufang Gao has returned to China after completing his Masters at Yale University. He has been hired as the Executive Director of a new organization, the Snow Leopard Conservation Center based in Tibet.

Emile Mahabub has received the Erasmus Mundus scholarship to study a Masters in Sweden on Geo-information Science and Earth Observation for Environmental Modeling and Management.

Read more Alumni Accomplishments

Marsh Awards go to two CLP Alumni

19-22 Aug 2014: 3rd SCB Asia Regional Conference - Malaysia

18-24 Aug 2014: 26th International Ornithological Congress - Japan

15-17 Oct 2014: Student Conference on Conservation Science - USA

12-19 Nov 2014: IUCN World Parks Congress - Australia

24-27 Nov 2014: World Biodiversity Congress - Sri Lanka

Kate Stokes Memorial Award Winner

Hope for Grey-breasted Parakeet

Interns & Mentors Supported by CLP's Newest Donor 

Finding and Conserving the Little Spotted Cat of Yungas, Argentina (2010)

Supatá's Golden Frog Project: Conservation of New Amphibians from Colombia (2009)

Ameliorating Threats to the Manatee in the Heart of Belize (2012)

Read final report summaries here

Atuo, F.A., Ivande, S.T., Wala, Z., & O’Connell, T.J. (2014) Effects of hunting camps on breeding grey-necked picathartes Picathartes oreas in south-east Nigeria. Oryx, 48: 460-464. doi:10.1017/S0030605313000719.

The dependence of forest communities on bushmeat as a source of protein and income is a challenge to wildlife conservation in Sub-Saharan Africa. We investigated the use of caves and overhanging rocks as hunting camps and the consequences for breeding grey-necked picathartes Picathartes oreas in the forests of Cross River in south-east Nigeria. We recorded 84 nesting colonies during guided and random searches. We found 14 (16.7%) breeding sites that had been used as hunting camps, with evidence including fire stands, sleeping spots, cooking utensils and drying racks. Fire stands were the most frequently recorded evidence of camping and were found in 11 of the camps. At the 14 breeding sites only two nesting attempts were made by P. oreas during the survey. Thirty-seven nests (c. 95%) recorded in hunting camps were empty and showed no evidence of ongoing or potential breeding activities, suggesting that the nests may have been abandoned...

Cortés-Gómez, A.M., Castro, F., & Urbina-Cardona, J.N. (2013) Small changes in vegetation structure create great changes in amphibian ensembles in the Colombian Pacific rainforest. Tropical Conservation Science, 6(6):749-769.

We determined the composition of amphibian ensembles along a vegetation gradient in the coastal Pacific rainforests in Colombia. A strong relationship was found between changes in canopy cover and the amphibian composition pattern. Habitats with over 76% canopy cover, combined with a high density of individual woody plants (> 176 individuals per 500 m2) and a high depth of leaf litter (> 16 cm), provide the necessary habitat conditions for typical rainforest composition of amphibian species. However, for amphibian ensembles to have a mature forest composition, the habitat must have a canopy cover over 89%, a density of woody plants exceeding 231 individuals per 500 m2, and a leaf litter depth above 23 cm.

Kamel, M., Ghazaly, U.M., & Callmander, M.W. (2014) Conservation status of the Endangered Nubian dragon tree Dracaena ombet in Gebel Elba National Park, Egypt. Oryx, available on CJO2014. doi: 10.1017/S0030605313001385.

The Nubian dragon tree Dracaena ombet, which is categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, is found on the highest slopes of Gebel Elba National Park in Egypt, with scattered populations in Sudan, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia. The Gebel Elba population is threatened by drought. Surveys were conducted in the Park to assess the condition and document the distribution of the species to prepare a baseline for conservation efforts. Eight sites were surveyed during 2007–2009: trees were tagged and their locations were recorded using a global positioning system, and tree density, diameter at breast height and population status were estimated. Of 353 trees recorded only 46% (161 individuals) were alive and only 27% (96 individuals) were in a healthy condition. Only 1% (2 individuals) were young trees, indicating a low regeneration level. Field-based observations suggest that 80% of the D. ombet population in Gebel Elba may soon be extinct. A conservation action plan is needed for this flagship species in Egypt and throughout its range.

See a full list of recent alumni publications

Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity in Kazakhstan | Applied Environmental Research Foundation (India) | Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (India) | Aves y Conservación (Ecuador) | Bat Census in Crimean Caves (Ukraine) | Birds-Indonesia | BirdLife Zimbabwe | Calidris (Colombia) | Centro Ballena Azul (Chile) | Community-based Conservation of Lake Kuyucuk, Kars (Turkey) | Community Centered Conservation (C3 - Comoros) | Conservacion Argentina | EcoLeague (Russia) | EcoMuseum (Kazakhstan) | Faunagua (Bolivia) | Fundación Conserva (Colombia) | Fundación CEBio (Argentina) | Guyra (Paraguay) | Instituto de Pesquisas Cananéia (Brazil) | Jampatu - Conserving Bolivian Amphibians | Katala Foundation (Philippines) | Kuzeydoga (Turkey) | Life on Chalk (Ukraine) | Mabuwaya Foundation (Philippines) | Macedonian Ecological Society | Madagasikara Voakajy | Maio Biodiversity Foundation (Cape Verde) | Mpingo Conservation & Development Initiative (Tanzania) | Nature Conservation Foundation (India) | Nature Iraq | ProDelphinus (Peru) | ProAves (Colombia) | Project Karumbé (Uruguay) | Proyecto Washu (Ecuador) | Samoan Birds | Save the Frogs Ghana | SAVE Brasil | Sea to Shore Alliance (USA) | South Rupununi Conservation Society (Guyana) | Strizh Ecological Centre (Russia) | Tide Belize | WildlifeDirect (Kenya) | Zoo Outreach Organization (India) |