Our research success stories over the years are all contributing to our shared mission to leave a positive legacy for future generations
Australia: Earthwatch volunteers collect data to produce detailed animal distribution maps in threatened ecosystem
Earthwatch volunteers working in the North Queensland Wet Tropics UNESCO World Heritage Site have provided a staggering 46,987 individual records of vertebrates, including numerous species of mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs. Teams also collected an additional 100,000 insect records, which will almost certainly contain a number of species new to science. These data were collected by multiple teams as part of the Climate Change in the Rainforest Earthwatch expedition and have already been used in various publications, including a report that provides the most detailed distribution maps and ecological information to date on these species in northern Australia.
Kenya: 2000 successful mangrove plantations will form long term carbon sinks
Earthwatch researchers are investigating how mangrove plantations can act as carbon sinks. By September 2007, a total of 2,120 mangrove trees were planted. Mark Huxham, the Earthwatch scientist leading the Tidal Forests of Kenya project confirms there has been an 87 per cent survival rate of the trees at the site, and his conservative estimates predict 180 tons of carbon will be absorbed over the 25 year forest growth. Because mangrove forests collect peat, they will continue to act as carbon sinks for many years to follow. Earthwatch is working in partnership with the local community to ensure the plantations can be sustainably managed beyond our initial involvement.
Mongolia: New information may help save threatened vulture
Evidence gathered by Earthwatch teams on the Wildlife of the Mongolian Steppe project shows that the threatened cinereous or Eurasian black vulture migrates up to 12,000 miles away from its homelands. These new data will contribute to understanding the bird's behaviour and help Earthwatch scientists and conservation decision makers to better understand its conservation requirements. This research project also hopes to investigate further the factors influencing the vultures' nesting success in order to assist the recovery of the species.
Australia: Changed Logging Practices to Protect Endangered Possums
Research undertaken in the forests of Victoria has not only discovered an entirely new species of possum but has also led to changes in logging practices in the central highlands - with experiments underway to find more environmentally friendly methods which are less harmful to wildlife.
Mexico (Baja Peninsula): Volunteer efforts pay off for black sea turtles
After a six-year campaign, conservationists are celebrating the designation of the Bahia de los Angeles in Baja, Mexico, as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Hundreds of Earthwatch volunteers contributed to this success by helping gather data during the Black Sea Turtles of Baja expeditions. The bay is home to numerous marine species as well as birds and other coastal wildlife. This new protected status for the area may also help the critically endangered vaquita, (the world's smallest and most endangered cetacean), a shy porpoise found only in the northern part of the Gulf of California and believed to be close to extinction.
Kenya: Earthwatch puts clean water on the map for local communities
Earthwatch scientists and volunteers have developed a comprehensive new Geographic Information Systems (GIS) database that will help local communities in the Samburu region of Kenya gain sustainable access to improved water supplies. Compiled over several years, the maps detail permanent and temporary water sources and will help reduce the outbreak of serious diseases such as cholera by avoiding the use of contaminated water supplies.
Barbados, Caribbean: Endangered hawksbill turtle populations on the increase
Data collected on the Hawksbill Turtles of Barbados project suggest that the number of nests of the critically endangered hawksbill turtle in Barbados have increased significantly as a result of efforts by Earthwatch and other conservation organisations. Recent findings suggest that Barbados is now the second largest rookery of hawksbills in the wider Caribbean.
Brazil: Largest ever biometric survey of peccaries will help to conserve Pantanal wetlands
The Pantanal in Brazil is the world's largest freshwater wetland, protected by UNESCO World Heritage status, and home to various species of peccary and feral pig. Recent studies have shown that their role as fruit eaters and dispersers affects the biodiversity of certain forest habitats. Earthwatch volunteers working on Conserving the Pantanal have sampled a total of 233 white-lipped peccaries, the largest survey of its kind for this species. These efforts have yielded valuable information regarding individual mammal's age, weight, diet and other biometric parameters, which will help researchers and scientists to develop a conservation plan for these mammals in the Pantanal.
Kenya: Secured RAMSAR status for Lake Elmenteita
In September 2005, Earthwatch teams enabled Lake Elmenteita to be designated a RAMSAR wetland of international importance. The lake currently supports more than one per cent of the global population of lesser flamingoes and more than 20,000 water birds, as well as providing a habitat for locally threatened species.
Spain: Mediterranean shipping lanes diverted to protect dolphins
Through extensive dialogue with oil companies, the Spanish navy, the European Union and Spanish fishermen, scientists from Earthwatch's Spanish Dolphins project secured agreement from the International Maritime Organisation to divert shipping lanes off the southern coast of Spain from the start of 2007. This monumental agreement has safeguarded crucial foraging grounds for common and bottlenose dolphins.
Tanzania: Wildlife Corridors to Protect African Biodiversity
Thanks to data collected by Earthwatch teams in the Usambara Mountains the Amani Nature reserve has been expanded and wildlife corridors have been designed to help protect the astonishing biodiversity in the region which is currently under threat from increasing habitat fragmentation. The project has also contributed to the formation of a community-based conservation project in the region and the training of local technicians in monitoring techniques.
Costa Rica: Vastly expanded a conservation area
After more than 10 years of research by Earthwatch teams in Costa Rica, Las Baulas National Park, the most important nesting colony of leatherback sea turtles in the Pacific, has been expanded from 10,700 hectares to 110,000 hectares and consolidated to provide a necessary buffer between the beach and any human development. "Without Earthwatch, I believe that Leatherback turtles would already be extinct in the Pacific" said the project's lead scientist Dr. Frank Paladino.