Through facilitating scientific research & monitoring we better support the case for nature when habitats are threatened by extractive industries. This research also helps to steer our conservation approach.
Through long-term partnerships with institutions such as the Royal Botanical Gardens Edinburgh and universities such as Austral University of Chile, we have created research centres and scientific bases from which students carry out investigation. A number of scientific discoveries have been made in and around our reserves, including, in Ecuador, the rediscovery of the Longnose Harlequin frog (Atelopus Longirostris), and the nearby finding of the olinguito, a mammal previously unknown to science. These discoveries are vital in helping formulate conservation strategies, and in providing evidence of the conservation importance of project areas.
Current research projects supported by Rainforest Concern include:
- Monitoring the spectacled bear in the Neblina Reserve, Ecuador
- Monitoring spectacled bears in unusual habitat of the dry forests of Peru
- Assessing the water balance and role of Araucaria forests in ecosystem
services in Chile
- Monitoring marine turtles in Costa Rica
- Study of rare, endemic plant species in the Western Ghats, resulting in unprecended taxonomic and biogeographic knowledge bank