The Kinkajou (Potos flavus) is a mammal found in most parts of the Neotropical Region, from Mexico to Bolivia, as well as in the Brazilian Amazon.
Just like the Coati (Nasua nasua) and the Raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus), it belongs to the Procyonidae family. The Kinkajou lives high up in the trees, and its survival depends on continuous and pristine forested areas. The Kinkajou’s prehensile tailmakes it easier for it to move among the trees. The Kinkajou is a nocturnalanimal and spends most of its time alone. It feeds mainly on fruits, although it also eats some flowers and leaves, as well as termites and small vertebrates.
Even though it is not classified as a threatened species, the Kinkajou is impacted by deforestation and illegal hunting. The Montanhas do Tumucumaque National Park shelters Kinkajou populations, providing the animal with an intact and wild environment, where it is safe from human threats.
Photo: WWF-Brazil/Luciano Candisani
The forest for the trees: Environmental education in Tumucumaque
Education contributes to conservation of Ecosia’s beneficiary national park
Conserving Brazil’s rainforests is no simple task. Realistic, effective and sustainable solutions require a deep understanding of the issues first. Human politics, economics and culture all have profound influence over the survival of these unique biospheres - and while there seems to be no quick-fix answer, many contend that it is best to start at the beginning. WWF-Brazil did just that with its one-of-a-kind educational program geared at teachers in communities in and near protected areas (PA). Ligia Paes de Barros explains the details of the Ecosia-supported program.
They produce the oxygen we breathe, support continuing biodiversity, create millions of jobs and cover some 30% of the Earth’s surface. Yet year after year, the trees in our forests come under ever greater threat from unsustainable consumption.
Into the wild: Montanhas do Tumucumaque National Park
WWF-Brazil teamed up with ICMBio this September to explore the Amazonian roads and rivers of the Montanhas do Tumucumaque National Park. The group travelled more than 1,500 kilometers to visit communities near the region. Following is Part One of a multi-leg report on this week-long expedition through Ecosia’s beneficiary region, the Tumucumaque Conservation Landscape.
Millions of people pass through them each day for millions of different reasons. They represent both the starting point and the culmination a journey. But a week ago Monday, hundreds of people lined up single file on Platform 8 at Gare de Lyon in Paris for a common purpose. The Planetworkshops’ special train they were boarding was reserved for government officials, non-profit employees, businesspeople, journalists and others. While the question at hand was clear (“What revolutions do we need to govern a vulnerable world?”), the answer felt keenly uncertain.
“We like to talk, but not solve problems”
Once aboard, it was clear that this train was special. Shoes were shiny and smiles bright for the occasion, while eyes shifted from face to face, badge to badge followed by typical introductory exchanges. The usual concerns also pervaded: “Can you take care of my luggage?”, ”We won’t get a chance to eat”, ”Where’s the bar?”.
Six hours later in Evian, the themes of peaceful co-existence, governance and environmental urgency were on everyone’s tongue. Two of the event’s most highly-anticipated guests opened the conference, sparing the crowd no critical or passionate words:
“The Egyptian revolution was not a Facebook revolution,” asserted Gigi Ibrahim, dubbed one of the faces of this year’s “Arab Spring”. The citizen journalist relied on the build-up of protests against Mubarak’s regime, with the revolution representing a natural step towards democracy. “We have the power, the hope. We just need to organize,” said Ibrahim.
Captain Paul Watson later harpooned the audience with a scathing criticism of “meetings”: “We like to talk, but not solve problems.” The Captain - known worldwide for his commitment to the protection of the world’s oceans - also highlighted the human drivers of change: passion, imagination and courage. If the assembly rose to applaud the activists, the full effect of their words would be somewhat short-lived.
“A constitution for the future”
The question humans face today is complex. Dealing with social upheavals spreading like oil through the Gulf of Mexico, or a financial crisis in the States, whose debt ratio is as serious as the fallout around Fukushima, we seek a new model for development. As summarized by Bettina Laville, we must draft a constitution for the future, focusing on the following parameters:
• Create an immediate model that integrates the long term. • Respond to global issues at the local level. • Place people at the heart of the action.
“To make decisions, we need a reliable process by which to make them”. The words of Karl Falkenberg lay it on the line: In shaping a sustainable development model we will need to use out heads. “But we will also need to feel it in our guts,” adds Nick Robins. ”Our collective sense of morality has evolved.” “We all have the tools to create forums” and “learn from one another.” So everyone agrees on the state of things. But how do we turn this into a solution?
“From the infinitely broad to the infinitely finite”
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone: after a long train connection from Berlin to Paris to Evian, I turned in by 10:00 p.m. on Day One of the conference, meaning I would miss the discussion on “Spirituality and Sustainability.” The next day at the lunch table, between a piece of foie gras and a beautiful Burgundy, I caught some excerpts: “A circular view of human relationships should prevail over a pyramidal one. The moral of the story? We must understand how humans work in order to create a fully sustainable system.
Revolutions co-ordinated over Facebook and the decline of the journalism industry show that social networks are now major hubs of public expression. According to Eric Giuily and Herve Digne, they foster connections between people with a holistic approach: everything is one. Institutions are struggling to jump on this bandwagon, as evidenced by Pascal Husting of Greenpeace, who points out that we need to find ways to connect with our allies on the ground - those out on the streets calling for a better world.
But when the question “Would each of you disclose your monthly salary?” came, the room fell silent.
Is it necessary to demonize economic and financial influence? No: it will be part of the engine for change. If we seek form for our model, it must encompass both the infinitely large and infinitely small. We have all the tools and knowledge we need: it is simply time to mobilize.
Humans, like all animals, are subject to the law of evolution. Collective consciousness is changing, and some of the conference’s delegates described how:
Céline Alleaume explained how a well-known bank in England has seen a flux of customers move to mutual banks - not out of fear, but for the sake of investing in the spirit of sharing. Civil society simultaneously denounces and stimulates change.
African youth coming home after years of diaspora are breathing new life into the continent. “Africa is not the problem, rather the solution,” says Isidore Mvouba. In all respects, Africa is moving forward and urges international organizations to do the same. Much work remains to be done, but the process has been initiated.
In Rio in 1992, a child was the hope of a sustainable future for the UN. The tone of Severn Cullis-Suzuki’s speech in 2011 is different, but its message is timeless: “We are human animals (…) interlinked by a shared destiny.“ Rather than get lost in the complex equation of a sustainable model, would it not be more efficient to return to the basic variable, the nature of man?
To sum up, I would say that the error of man is to complicate what is simple, to divide what is one. “We have fragmented a united system,” as summarized by Pierre Rabhi, the farmer whom the establishment prefers to call a philosopher. The vision of man becomes lost in the spectrum of categories and subcategories that it creates. Do society, economy, environment and all of their ramifications not refer to the same reality?
It’s a question of vocabulary. So group the terms. Look to the future. The generation that is taking a stand today grew up with ecology as a fundamental concern, and vulnerable governments must understand that they are now waiting for permission to act. Aren’t we already suffering from a logical disconnect between mankind and its actions?
Revolutions are taking place in the street, in public squares, at the station where the Evian conference grinds to a halt. To say that these three days have transformed our leaders into revolutionaries would not be entirely accurate. Despite a general consensus that something needs to be done, we may never have the answer. This is more likely to come from the streets.
Either way, we must hurry, the clock is ticking. As noted by Prince Albert of Monaco: “One must move swiftly.”
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