Large Landscape News

Field Notes from Ecuador I: Exploring Connectivity Conservation in a Biodiversity Hotspot

This past weekend, I visited the newly established Parque Nacional Río Negro Sopladora, a national park that covers more than 30,000 hectares of undisturbed habitat in Ecuador, ranging from high peaks at 12,800 feet above sea level eastwards into the humid Amazon basin, at 2,600 ft. A highlight of hiking in this lesser-known park was seeing hours-fresh footprints of mountain tapir and a large cat (my guess is cougar). It was nice to finally get my boots muddy after two weeks in the city, getting situated in the country I will call home for a month and a half.

New Staff Members Enhance the Center’s Conservation and Science Work

The Center for Large Landscape Conservation is pleased to announce the addition of two staff members who are helping to lead our programmatic work in the U.S. and worldwide. Project Director Megan Parker and Senior Conservation Scientist Annika Keeley each bring an impressive array of accomplishments in the field of conservation. We are excited to have these two leaders on our team to further elevate our science, policy, and partnership work.

Career Opportunity: Senior Director of Conservation

The Center for Large Landscape Conservation is seeking an experienced management professional with a strong background in the conservation field and a desire to help shape the future of a growing and dynamic organization. The Senior Director of Conservation will lead and inspire program staff to deliver innovative and strategic programs and initiatives that support the Center’s mission, strategic vision, and guiding philosophy. They will develop and implement program strategies at the local, regional, national and international level to advance and promote ecological connectivity.

The Traveling Scientist: Emma Spence

Emma Spence has been busy circling the globe with one goal in mind: to help answer the question, “Do corridors work?” She recently returned to the US from Poland and Italy, where she and local collaborators collected data and genetic samples at wildlife corridor sites. They want to see whether these linkages between areas of habitat are helping promote gene-flow for native mammal species such as the European pine marten and the yellow-necked mouse. As the Wildlife Corridor Field and Lab Manager at the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, Spence is utilizing her expertise in GIS and conservation genetics to identify what factors make a corridor successful.

Diving In: The Center Helps Advance Marine Connectivity

When we hear the term “ecological corridors” we tend to think of the natural pathways that land animals like elk or elephants use to move among larger natural areas to eat, drink, mate and meet other survival needs. Corridors are equally important for marine life like whales, turtles, fish, and seabirds, which depend on linkages between ocean areas for daily movement, seasonal migration, and completing their life cycles. Until recently, collaborative research and guidance on marine ecological connectivity had been lacking, but now the Center for Large Landscape Conservation is supporting coordination of work by a unique group of experts that is making the issue a top priority.

New Infrastructure Funding Unites Transportation and Wildlife Experts

The opinion piece below, authored by two Center for Large Landscape Conservation staff members, originally appeared on Smerconish.com on November 24, 2021. Since then, the Center has created a “toolkit” to help interested applicants and their partners understand the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program criteria and design projects that will make the most of this new federal funding.

First-ever Asia Transportation Ecology Forum Was Co-sponsored by the Center

More than 20 speakers and nearly 200 attendees made history last week as participants in the first-of-its-kind gathering to share knowledge for making transportation infrastructure more sustainable across Asia. As many countries in the region expand their networks of roads, rails, and other modes of transportation, such development can provide vast economic and social benefits but also present challenges to nature conservation and local communities. Therefore, on December 16-17, 2021, the 1st Asia Transportation Ecology Forum was held to explore how this development is already impacting ecosystems—affecting species from butterflies to elephants—and how science-based solutions can be applied to conserve Asia’s rich biodiversity.

New Report: Experts Say Roads, Rails, and Canals are Threatening Asian Elephant Survival

An international group of more than 25 elephant biologists and infrastructure ecologists released a report today with an urgent message: All efforts to avoid key Asian elephant habitats and their migration corridors need to be made when developing linear infrastructure like roads, railways, and canals. If this is not possible, wildlife crossings are key to providing safe passage for this endangered species. The report comes in response to an explosion of new linear infrastructure across Asia that is increasingly blocking elephant movement and leading to deadly collisions.

The Center’s Kylie Paul Wins Emerging Conservationist Award

A Montana group that has been recognizing conservation heroes for the past several decades is honoring Kylie Paul. Kylie joined the staff of the Center for Large Landscape Conservation as a road ecologist earlier this year to advance the development and implementation of wildlife-friendly transportation policies and projects. But she has been making a positive impact on wildlife and ecosystems for many years.

2021 Annual Report: Celebrating 10 Years of Connecting People & Landscapes

We are pleased to announce the release of our 2021 Annual Report and are proud to share with you a few of our noteworthy accomplishments from the past year. From on-the-ground projects and cutting-edge research to our influence on state, national, and international conservation policy, these are efforts that you—our community of supporters—helped make possible. In addition, we celebrate the ways in which we have successfully connected people and landscapes in the last ten years since becoming an independent nonprofit organization.