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Engineering Marvels of the Silver State

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Monday, April 14, 2025

Imagine stepping onto the scenic Marlette Flume Trail, winding high above the shimmering blue expanse of Lake Tahoe. The crisp mountain air fills your lungs as you take in the panoramic views—but you may not realize you’re also standing on the remnants of a 19th-century engineering marvel. Beneath your feet was once an innovative wooden flume and pipeline system that helped channel water from Tahoe’s forests to Virginia City and the silver mines of the Comstock Lode.  The Marlette Flume was hardly Nevada’s only 19th-century engineering wonder: the Silver State’s rise was built on ambitious projects. To extract the vast wealth beneath the desert, environmental and logistical hurdles had to be solved with similar large-scale innovations.  The Comstock Lode: Supplying America’s First Major Silver Discovery  The 1859 discovery of the Comstock Lode—an immense silver deposit—was a turning point in American mining history. This rich vein of silver and gold, buried beneath the mountains of western Nevada, transformed the region into an economic powerhouse, drawing thousands of prospectors and engineers eager to stake their claim. At its height, the Lode produced hundreds of millions of dollars in silver, fueling the growth of Nevada and even financing the Union during the Civil War.   However, extracting silver from deep underground came with significant challenges. Virginia City—the Comstock Lode’s largest settlement—was built on a remote mountaintop in what was already a remote desert. This made supplying the town (and keeping its miners happy) a logistical nightmare. Critical resources like food, water and building materials were simply not available locally, which meant the city had to import pretty much everything it needed.   Today, visitors can take a 24-mile round-trip tour from Carson City to historic Virginia City aboard the Virginia & Truckee Railroad (V&T). Travel Nevada Most supplies came via an endless stream of wagon and mule teams that navigated the steep mountain passes. This included fresh water. But as Virginia City grew, officials knew they needed a more permanent solution to their water woes. The answer came in the early 1870s, when developers constructed an intricate flume and pipeline system. The Marlette Flume took fresh water on a 50-mile journey from Marlette Lake—located just above Lake Tahoe—down the slope of the Sierra Nevada, and then back uphill into mountains of The Comstock.   Additional supply relief came in 1869 with the completion of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad (V&T). Not only did rail make the Comstock much easier to supply, but its silver mines were finally connected to processing centers and markets across the country. The line ran supplies until 1950 before shuttering. In 1976, the V&T Railroad was revived as a heritage railroad, and today it still offers tourists the chance to ride the historic route from Carson City to Virginia City. Experience It Today: The Marlette Flume Trail (otherwise known as the Lake Tahoe Flume Trail) has been transformed into a world-renowned hiking and mountain biking route that offers breathtaking views of Lake Tahoe. Remnants of the original flume system are still visible along portions of the trail. The Flume Trail: A Water Slide That Fueled the Mines Although Comstock officials were able to solve logistical supply issues to keep the town running, building and maintaining the mines were an entirely different problems that required cutting-edge Wild West technology.  One of the biggest issues miners faced was that the silver was far below the earth—sometimes more than half a mile down. To extend (and support) mine shafts at that depth, new construction methods would need to be developed. One of those pioneering technologies came from German mining engineer Philip Deidesheimer. His system—known as square-set timbering—used interlocking wooden frames to stabilize the soft, collapsing rock, making deep mining not only possible, but far safer. The only problem was that this method required a significant amount of timber.   Timber was not abundant around the Comstock Lode. However, the dense forests surrounding Lake Tahoe were relatively nearby. To bring the lumber to the mines, developers had to build an advanced rail and flume system, today called the Incline Flume. This incredible feat of engineering brought trees harvested from the Tahoe basin to Incline Village. The timber was then winched up 35-percent grade incline railway to the top of the mountain then launched down the Sierra Nevada via a spectacular wooden flume system.  The Incline Flume—essentially a waterslide for logs— carried logs more than 30 miles using only the force of gravity. The wooden scaffolding snaked along cliffsides, through rugged canyons, and across vast expanses of desert terrain, delivering the timber necessary to keep the Comstock mines operational and structurally sound.   While it was an effective innovation, the Incline Flume helped accelerate deforestation in the Tahoe Basin, altering the landscape at the time. However, by the late 19th century, efforts to replant and conserve the region’s forests were already underway, and dedicated conservation initiatives continue to this day.  Experience It Today: Not to be confused with the more-popular Marlette Flume Trail above Lake Tahoe, portions of the Incline Flume are still accessible today via Mt. Rose Highway. Sutro Tunnel: A Game-Changer for Nevada’s Mining Industry  By the 1860s, mining operations in the Comstock Lode had hit a major obstacle: deep tunnels flooded with water, while stagnant air polluted with toxic gases combined to make working conditions treacherous. Miners often found themselves wading through knee-deep water, with ventilation shafts struggling to supply fresh air throughout their shifts. Enter Adolph Sutro, a Prussian-born engineer with a radical idea: an underground tunnel that would drain the mines, improve airflow, and create a safer passage for miners and supplies.  Sutro envisioned a 4-mile drainage tunnel running beneath the Comstock Lode, diverting floodwaters and allowing mining operations to continue at even greater depths. Construction began in 1869, employing thousands of workers who blasted through rock with dynamite—an innovation at the time. Progress was slow, however, and by the time the tunnel was completed in 1878, the silver boom had begun to decline.  Entrance to the Sutro Tunnel site today. Travel Nevada [/] A historic photo of the Sutro Tunnel site circa 1870. Courtesy of Friends of Sutro Tunnel [/] A photograph of an early entrance to the Sutro Tunnel. Courtesy of Friends of Sutro Tunnel [/] Despite this, the Sutro Tunnel proved valuable, remaining in use for decades as a critical drainage system for nearby mines. While debates persist over whether it was worth the effort, its engineering impact was undeniable. The tunnel influenced later mining operations and set a precedent for large-scale infrastructure projects in Nevada and around the world.  Experience It Today: The Sutro Tunnel is currently being restored, and expert-guided tours offer visitors a rare glimpse inside this ambitious engineering project. Today, explorers can walk along the same underground pathways that miners once used to navigate the depths of Nevada’s silver industry. The Lasting Legacy of Nevada’s Silver Boom  Nevada’s history is deeply intertwined with engineering innovation. The breakthroughs of the 19th century shaped the state’s economy and influenced mining technologies in other Western states and beyond. Today, remnants of these once-cutting-edge feats can still be explored—no longer as functioning infrastructure, but as part of Nevada’s rich and proud heritage. Ongoing preservation efforts are helping to restore and protect these historic landmarks, ensuring they remain accessible for future generations. From trail access along the Flume Trail to the restoration of the Sutro Tunnel to guided tours of Virginia City and more, historical tourism plays a vital role in keeping Nevada’s mining legacy alive today. Plan Your Visit  Whether hiking the Flume Trail, touring the Sutro Tunnel, or walking the streets of Virginia City, visitors can experience Nevada’s rich industrial heritage firsthand. These historic sites invite travelers to step into the past, engage with the stories of grit and innovation, and support the ongoing conservation of the state’s most iconic engineering landmarks. Plan your trip to stunning Nevada to experience the nation’s proud history of engineering and innovation. 

Discover the 19th-century innovations that put Nevada on the map

Imagine stepping onto the scenic Marlette Flume Trail, winding high above the shimmering blue expanse of Lake Tahoe. The crisp mountain air fills your lungs as you take in the panoramic views—but you may not realize you’re also standing on the remnants of a 19th-century engineering marvel. Beneath your feet was once an innovative wooden flume and pipeline system that helped channel water from Tahoe’s forests to Virginia City and the silver mines of the Comstock Lode. 

The Marlette Flume was hardly Nevada’s only 19th-century engineering wonder: the Silver State’s rise was built on ambitious projects. To extract the vast wealth beneath the desert, environmental and logistical hurdles had to be solved with similar large-scale innovations.  

The Comstock Lode: Supplying America’s First Major Silver Discovery 

The 1859 discovery of the Comstock Lode—an immense silver deposit—was a turning point in American mining history. This rich vein of silver and gold, buried beneath the mountains of western Nevada, transformed the region into an economic powerhouse, drawing thousands of prospectors and engineers eager to stake their claim. At its height, the Lode produced hundreds of millions of dollars in silver, fueling the growth of Nevada and even financing the Union during the Civil War.  

However, extracting silver from deep underground came with significant challenges. Virginia City—the Comstock Lode’s largest settlement—was built on a remote mountaintop in what was already a remote desert. This made supplying the town (and keeping its miners happy) a logistical nightmare. Critical resources like food, water and building materials were simply not available locally, which meant the city had to import pretty much everything it needed.  

Engineering Marvels of the Silver State
Today, visitors can take a 24-mile round-trip tour from Carson City to historic Virginia City aboard the Virginia & Truckee Railroad (V&T). Travel Nevada

Most supplies came via an endless stream of wagon and mule teams that navigated the steep mountain passes. This included fresh water. But as Virginia City grew, officials knew they needed a more permanent solution to their water woes. The answer came in the early 1870s, when developers constructed an intricate flume and pipeline system. The Marlette Flume took fresh water on a 50-mile journey from Marlette Lake—located just above Lake Tahoe—down the slope of the Sierra Nevada, and then back uphill into mountains of The Comstock.  

Additional supply relief came in 1869 with the completion of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad (V&T). Not only did rail make the Comstock much easier to supply, but its silver mines were finally connected to processing centers and markets across the country. The line ran supplies until 1950 before shuttering. In 1976, the V&T Railroad was revived as a heritage railroad, and today it still offers tourists the chance to ride the historic route from Carson City to Virginia City. 

Experience It Today: The Marlette Flume Trail (otherwise known as the Lake Tahoe Flume Trail) has been transformed into a world-renowned hiking and mountain biking route that offers breathtaking views of Lake Tahoe. Remnants of the original flume system are still visible along portions of the trail. 

The Flume Trail: A Water Slide That Fueled the Mines

Although Comstock officials were able to solve logistical supply issues to keep the town running, building and maintaining the mines were an entirely different problems that required cutting-edge Wild West technology. 

One of the biggest issues miners faced was that the silver was far below the earth—sometimes more than half a mile down. To extend (and support) mine shafts at that depth, new construction methods would need to be developed. 

One of those pioneering technologies came from German mining engineer Philip Deidesheimer. His system—known as square-set timbering—used interlocking wooden frames to stabilize the soft, collapsing rock, making deep mining not only possible, but far safer. The only problem was that this method required a significant amount of timber.  

Timber was not abundant around the Comstock Lode. However, the dense forests surrounding Lake Tahoe were relatively nearby. To bring the lumber to the mines, developers had to build an advanced rail and flume system, today called the Incline Flume. This incredible feat of engineering brought trees harvested from the Tahoe basin to Incline Village. The timber was then winched up 35-percent grade incline railway to the top of the mountain then launched down the Sierra Nevada via a spectacular wooden flume system. 

The Incline Flume—essentially a waterslide for logs— carried logs more than 30 miles using only the force of gravity. The wooden scaffolding snaked along cliffsides, through rugged canyons, and across vast expanses of desert terrain, delivering the timber necessary to keep the Comstock mines operational and structurally sound.  

While it was an effective innovation, the Incline Flume helped accelerate deforestation in the Tahoe Basin, altering the landscape at the time. However, by the late 19th century, efforts to replant and conserve the region’s forests were already underway, and dedicated conservation initiatives continue to this day. 

Experience It Today: Not to be confused with the more-popular Marlette Flume Trail above Lake Tahoe, portions of the Incline Flume are still accessible today via Mt. Rose Highway. 

Sutro Tunnel: A Game-Changer for Nevada’s Mining Industry 

By the 1860s, mining operations in the Comstock Lode had hit a major obstacle: deep tunnels flooded with water, while stagnant air polluted with toxic gases combined to make working conditions treacherous. Miners often found themselves wading through knee-deep water, with ventilation shafts struggling to supply fresh air throughout their shifts. Enter Adolph Sutro, a Prussian-born engineer with a radical idea: an underground tunnel that would drain the mines, improve airflow, and create a safer passage for miners and supplies. 

Sutro envisioned a 4-mile drainage tunnel running beneath the Comstock Lode, diverting floodwaters and allowing mining operations to continue at even greater depths. Construction began in 1869, employing thousands of workers who blasted through rock with dynamite—an innovation at the time. Progress was slow, however, and by the time the tunnel was completed in 1878, the silver boom had begun to decline. 

Entrance to the Sutro Tunnel site today. Travel Nevada

[/]

A historic photo of the Sutro Tunnel site circa 1870. Courtesy of Friends of Sutro Tunnel

[/]

A photograph of an early entrance to the Sutro Tunnel. Courtesy of Friends of Sutro Tunnel

[/]

Despite this, the Sutro Tunnel proved valuable, remaining in use for decades as a critical drainage system for nearby mines. While debates persist over whether it was worth the effort, its engineering impact was undeniable. The tunnel influenced later mining operations and set a precedent for large-scale infrastructure projects in Nevada and around the world. 

Experience It Today: The Sutro Tunnel is currently being restored, and expert-guided tours offer visitors a rare glimpse inside this ambitious engineering project. Today, explorers can walk along the same underground pathways that miners once used to navigate the depths of Nevada’s silver industry. 

The Lasting Legacy of Nevada’s Silver Boom 

Nevada’s history is deeply intertwined with engineering innovation. The breakthroughs of the 19th century shaped the state’s economy and influenced mining technologies in other Western states and beyond. 

Today, remnants of these once-cutting-edge feats can still be explored—no longer as functioning infrastructure, but as part of Nevada’s rich and proud heritage. Ongoing preservation efforts are helping to restore and protect these historic landmarks, ensuring they remain accessible for future generations. From trail access along the Flume Trail to the restoration of the Sutro Tunnel to guided tours of Virginia City and more, historical tourism plays a vital role in keeping Nevada’s mining legacy alive today. 

Plan Your Visit 

Whether hiking the Flume Trail, touring the Sutro Tunnel, or walking the streets of Virginia City, visitors can experience Nevada’s rich industrial heritage firsthand. These historic sites invite travelers to step into the past, engage with the stories of grit and innovation, and support the ongoing conservation of the state’s most iconic engineering landmarks. Plan your trip to stunning Nevada to experience the nation’s proud history of engineering and innovation. 

Read the full story here.
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UK's rarest wildlife being 'pushed to extinction' by grass fires

Wildfires could spell the end for rare species like water voles and hen harriers, conservationists warn.

UK's rarest wildlife being 'pushed to extinction' by grass firesSteffan MessengerEnvironment correspondent, BBC Wales NewsClare HutchinsonBBC Wales NewsGaran ThomasThis blaze on the Rhigos Mountain in south Wales in June 2023 destroyed an area the size of 140 football pitchesSome of the UK's rarest wildlife is being "torched alive" and pushed closer to extinction after weeks of intense grass fires, conservationists have warned.They include endangered birds like hen harriers and water voles, which are now the UK's fastest declining mammal.The National Trust said it believed ongoing wildfires at Abergwesyn common in Powys had destroyed "the last remaining" local breeding habitat for golden plovers - considered one of the most beautiful birds of the British uplands.So far this year 110 sq miles (284 sq km) of land has been burnt by wildfires around the UK - an area larger than Birmingham.Figures obtained by the BBC show that in Wales, fire crews have battled almost 1,400 wildfires already this year, leading fire services to urge people to "act responsibly" and report any suspicious behaviour to the police.The National Trust said 2025 was "turning out to be the worst year ever for these human-caused fires across the country"."We're extremely worried, this is looking like it's going to be the worst year for seeing our wildlife going up in flames," said Ben MacCarthy, the charity's head of nature conservation.A record dry spell and unusually high temperatures in March are believed to have contributed to the fires. A low number of blazes in 2024 also left more vegetation to fuel them.Getty ImagesWater voles are already on the UK's Red List for endangered animals due to loss of habitatCoed Cadw, the Woodland Trust in Wales, said an "irreplaceable" area of temperate Atlantic rainforest had been affected at Allt Boeth near Aberystwyth, with damage to protected bluebells too.Also known as Celtic rainforest, the habitat harbours scarce plants, lichens and fungi, and is considered more threatened than tropical rainforest.In England, the National Trust said several thousand newly planted trees at Marsden Moor, in West Yorkshire, had gone up in flames.While on the Morne Mountains, in Northern Ireland, invertebrates and ground dwelling animals like reptiles were "simply being torched alive"."That then cascades through the food web because without the invertebrates you don't get the birds who are reliant on them for food," Mr MacCarthy said.He said government funding to help farmers and land managers restore peat bogs in the uplands, to prevent fires while also soaking in planet-warming carbon and providing habitat, was essential.National Trust/PAThe hen harrier nests in upland moorlands and is one of the most endangered breeding birds of prey in the UKConservation charities including The Wildlife Trusts and the Initiative for Nature Conservation Cymru (INCC) also voiced fears for the future of the water vole, which is already under serious threat from habitat loss and predation by American minks.Small animals like water voles and shrews, which live in burrows, can survive fast-moving fires but their habitats and the food they rely on are destroyed.Water voles are "the fastest-declining mammal ever" according to Rob Parry of the INCC."Their last foothold [in Wales] is in the uplands so when those sites are burned it is awful for that particular population, but from a UK point of view we are one step closer to the extinction of an entire species," he said.Rob ParryThe scorched burrow of a water vole, following grass fires in CeredigionThe INCC is also monitoring five breeding pairs of barn owls in the Amman Valley in south Wales, where wildfires have destroyed huge areas of habitat. "A few weeks ago they had all of this area to find food for their chicks and suddenly they don't have that any more," said Mr Parry."I don't know how they are going to cope. A wildfire just makes that habitat disappear overnight."Other rare birds are also affected, including hen harriers, which have been subject to recent conservation efforts to increase their numbers in the Welsh uplands, and skylarks, which have declined in huge numbers since the 1970s."We're worried enough as it is about wildlife," said Mr Parry."We're one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world and wildfires every spring at the worst possible time is a burden that wildlife and the environment just can't cope with."Eddy BlancheFire crews have reported more than 1,100 wildfires in Wales so far this year - including this one near in Merthyr Tydfil in MarchThe INCC has called for closer oversight of controlled burns by farmers and better monitoring of the impact of wildfires on the environment.Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said wildfires were a "massive issue", particularly in south Wales, where Welsh government figures showed more than half of wildfires in Wales took place last year.Becky Davies, a senior officer at NRW, said: "In the last three days we've had over 75 fires in the south Wales valleys alone."We have a lot of hillsides that are linear, the valley side has a lot of bracken, a lot of heathland, grassland and coal spoil and that is the sort of hillside that goes up in flames."The environmental impact of wildfires can also be felt more widely.When it rains after a fire, the newly bare soil and the phosphates that were trapped inside it can wash off into streams and rivers, affecting water quality.'Deliberate fire setting is a crime'Numbers of wildfires vary year-on-year depending on when spells of dry weather happen.But figures obtained by the BBC show that in south Wales, grassfires have increased by 1,200% from the same time period last year.In north Wales, crews have attended 170 fires this year, and Mid Wales Fire and Rescue said it had tackled 772 blazes.Wildfires are also up in England and Northern Ireland compared to last year, while the fire service in Scotland has issued an extreme wildfire alert covering the whole country.Statistics show the majority of wildfires are started by people, including accidental fires from disposable BBQs or controlled burns that get out of hand.Firefighters and police are teaching children in schools about the damage wildfires can cause to wildlifeIn south Wales, firefighters are going to primary schools to teach children from a young age about the devastating impact.At Pontnewydd Primary School in Cwmbran, staff from South Wales Fire and Rescue Service and Gwent Police brought along animals like snakes, hedgehogs and foxes for children to meet.Station manager Mark Bowditch said his crews saw the damage to wildlife from wildfires first-hand."We see the death of local wildlife, we see the destruction of their habitat," he said."We accept that some fires can be accidental, but deliberate fire setting is a crime and that's the message we'd like to get out."Additional reporting by Dylan Greene.

Conservation
Extinction
Water

Acclaimed Lion Conservationist Paola Bouley on Her Second Chance: ‘It Feels Like a Homecoming’

Bouley’s new project at Macossa-Tambara in Mozambique is part of an effort to double the African lion population by 2050. The post Acclaimed Lion Conservationist Paola Bouley on Her Second Chance: ‘It Feels Like a Homecoming’ appeared first on The Revelator.

Ecologist Paola Bouley recently spent a day with local women in central Mozambique as they whirled around in colorful skirts, dancing near ancient baobab trees as part of a community ritual. The next day she heard zebras, saw evidence that an elephant had passed by, and followed large lion pawprints down a forest path in central Mozambique. Bouley with lion tracks. Photo courtesy Macossa.org The day stirred up echoes of her childhood, when she first felt an innate draw to the natural world. As a 10-year-old in apartheid South Africa, she preferred climbing trees in her backyard, sitting on rock outcrops with her dogs observing the animals. But the neighborhood around her was rapidly suburbanizing. The untouched landscape was soon paved over. “I found refuge in nature,” she says. “So when the development happened, I had this feeling of loss.” Today Bouley finds herself back in nature, helping lead a team of Mozambican and international conservationists and scientists rehabilitating the Macossa-Tambara region, an ecosystem the size of Yellowstone National Park. Centered around a river basin, the area supports lions, leopards, pangolins, a vast forest, and 40,000 people. “When you’re in an area like Macossa-Tambara, you feel very whole,” says Bouley. “It’s the birthplace of humanity. We all have roots in a place like this.” Bouley became the codirector of Macossa-Tambara in 2023. Her goals there include supporting efforts to double African lion populations by 2050. In many ways that’s a return to form. Macossa-Tambara sits to the west of Gorongosa Mountain and Gorongosa Park, where Bouley first earned international recognition for her efforts conserving lions and other endangered species. But the journey between the two sites posed many challenges and nearly pushed her out of conservation altogether. Gorongosa Park Bouley found her way to Mozambique through a series of magnetic pulls. After moving to the United States for college, Bouley studied engineering with a plan to become an astronaut, but she says she left classes feeling that she was being pushed into a soulless military-industrial complex. A chance poetry class returned her to her interest in the natural world, and she switched majors to biology with a focus on marine conservation. In graduate school and afterward, she worked on a program that conserved a nearly extinct salmon population in the San Francisco Bay. But missing her native continent — and grappling with persistent seasickness that made being on boats challenging — Bouley returned to Africa in 2010 to work on a large carnivore project in Zambia. In 2011, when she was waiting to board a flight in a small airport for a holiday in Mozambique, an old park warden asked her if she was going to Gorongosa Park. Bouley had never heard of it. Gorongosa Park in Mozambique had once been seen as a crown jewel of Africa. Then its war of independence from Portugal and subsequent civil war — spanning the 1960s to 1990s — ravaged the ecosystem. Gorongosa was an epicenter of resistance. During the war animals were caught in the crossfire, leaving the park barren. But the worst part for the park came after the war, a period marked by further unrest that enabled a trophy hunting free-for-all as foreign and national wealthy hunters descended on the land to kill what they wanted, whether for ivory or food. During this difficult transition period for the country, rural people in poverty and in desperate need of cash would set snares and steel door traps, mainly to kill animals and sell bushmeat to buyers in the city. The traps were meant for warthogs, waterbuck, and antelope, but lions frequently traversed the same trails. By the time Bouley first heard of Gorongosa, the lion population there had fallen to just 30 big cats, many of whom bore permanent injuries from traps and snares. Common sightings included a lion without a paw or a three-legged lioness hopping around with her cubs because a snare or steel jaw trap had severed her limb. Some lions had gnawed off their own limbs to handle the pain. But in 2007, after three years of negotiation, the Mozambican government inked a deal with an American tech entrepreneur named Greg Carr to fund the rehabilitation of Gorongosa, an effort called the Gorongosa Restoration Project. Gorongosa also received significant investments from other donors, including the governments and taxpayers of the United States, Norway, Ireland, Canada, and Portugal (according to an email from Carr, he and his contacts via outside fundraising fund the majority of the park’s efforts today). At the time many hoped the infusion of money would lead to jobs for the local community and renewed conservation of the wildlife. Rehabilitating the Lions In 2012 Bouley was still traveling back-and-forth between California and Africa. One of her former professors volunteered to connect her with Princeton ecologist Rob Pringle, who was on the board of Gorongosa. Pringle was working closely with Carr who, after pioneering voicemail technology and making many millions in tech, became a powerful name in conservation and human rights spaces (Harvard’s Carr Center for Human Rights is named after him). That year, while still a graduate student, Bouley made her first trip to Gorongosa to meet Carr and the local team and embark on a large carnivore rehabilitation program as part of her doctorate to study the restoration of lions. Bouley remembers landing and being “whisked away” by Carr’s entourage, which included a filmmaking crew and biology and conservation legend E.O. Wilson. By 2014 she’d begun an intended five-year fellowship program at the University of California Santa Cruz, splitting time between California and Gorongosa to focus on the lion population with an academic lens. One day she heard about a mother lioness named Helena and her cub; a couple of months later, Helena was killed by a snare. Bouley realized then that there wasn’t much she could do in California to help, so she decided to forgo her fellowship and embark on lion recovery at Gorongosa full-time. Helena and cub before her death. Photo courtesy Paola Bouley. When it came to the lions, Carr recognized the potential for saving large carnivores. He put his weight behind the project and gave Bouley autonomy to implement her program. Bouley transferred from the science department to the conservation department, which she says had completely collapsed. She found that wildlife rangers had no training and were being paid close to nothing. Bouley took on a highly operational role, and their first conservation plan was to put satellite collars on the lion prides. Lions are surprisingly difficult to locate, especially with so few remaining in the 1,500-square-mile park, and the collars would allow Gorongosa to track where families moved — or if they stopped moving. Snares remained a big threat to the cats at the time. Bushmeat sellers would place traps near watering holes and grazing areas where prey such as waterbucks and warthogs would dwell, but lions also seeking those prey often stumbled into the traps. They even trapped humans; Carr himself got snared one day while he was hiking. The team needed a veterinarian to subdue the lions and put on the collars, so Carr called in a native Mozambican named Rui Branco to partner with Bouley. The lions slept by day, and at night the conservation team would use a dart gun to safely tranquilize the lions and collar them. If a collared lion’s signal went static for more than 24 hours, Bouley’s team would know whether the animal had been ensnared and could send a rescue team. The collars worked: Branco and Bouley found themselves all-too-frequently called out to rescue snared lions and other animals. Bonded by the intimacy of treating and de-snaring maimed animals, they would go on to forge a close friendship that ultimately developed into a romantic partnership. Branco, who saw the need to empower and manage local rangers, soon became the head of law enforcement in the park. He also felt that foreign hunting, conducted legally in certain areas, needed to be controlled to meet conservation goals. Bouley, working alongside a team of Mozambican rangers and in partnership with Indigenous communities, launched a range of initiatives that included addressing elephant-human coexistence, first-response during the unprecedented devastation of historic Cyclone Idai, and providing support for communities during multiple severe drought and famine periods. It paid off. They removed more than 20,000 snares and reduced lion deaths by 95%. Today, as a result of that work, the population in Gorongosa has grown to more than 200 lions. They also eliminated the poaching of elephants over multiple years, established the nation’s first pangolin rescue and rehab center, and laid the foundations for and reintroduced populations of endangered painted wolves, leopards, and hyenas. During that time the number of large mammals in the park surged to more than 100,000 — up from fewer than 71,000 in 2014. The efforts earned Bouley and Gorongosa international acclaim. But behind the scenes, long-brewing concerns had started to boil over. Problems in Paradise “Greg Carr did it,” announced CBS News anchor Scott Pelley. In 2022 Pelley toured Gorongosa Park for 60 Minutes, a follow-up to a 2008 story about Gorongosa. The satellite collar program had been successful for years in monitoring lion families. But in the 13-minute report, Bouley and Branco were nowhere to be seen. Bouley says they’d resigned the previous year after clashing with Carr over what she describes as his increasing centralization of power — and the organization not doing sufficient work to protect women. According to Bouley and people with familiarity of the culture at Gorongosa over the years she was there, this was indicative of another problem: Carr maintained a team of highly paid white male foreigners as senior leaders, including two communications leads, the head of science, and the former head of finance. Locals like the Mozambican rangers were paid far less than expats, a problem that Bouley said she raised frequently with leadership. Sources say some foreign leaders had a long leash. In 2021 an American employee — now no longer at Gorongosa — was found to be having a relationship with someone who reported to him. He was asked to leave the organization. According to an email written to Bouley by a Gorongosa employee, that employee “kept a journal” about his alleged “sex addiction,” divulging that he “has slept with many of his employees.” According to Bouley, multiple Mozambican women in mid-management positions under the supervision of this employee had suddenly resigned before he was let go. Despite the former employee’s transgressions, tax records show that the Carr Foundation paid him a consulting fee of $136,000 in 2023 after his departure. Carr says the man’s knowledge of “carbon credits” was critical to a program that would net the park $30 million, so the payment was part of ensuring that intellectual property wouldn’t be lost. In response to questions about Gorongosa’s sexual harassment policy, Greg Carr wrote over email: “It is a fact that we support women’s rights and we have a strong anti-harassment policy, and people are terminated immediately who violate it. There has been no exception to this.” He cites the fact that this employee is no longer with the organization is a prime example of their anti-harassment policy. In 2021, faced with the options of reporting their concerns to Carr, human resources, or the Mozambican government or silencing themselves, Bouley and Branco decided to resign. In an email to Branco on Sept. 3, 2021, Carr wrote about Bouley’s “anger,” writing “she is not the same person now that I met 10 years ago in Chikalango who was happy and enthusiastic about studying and protecting lions. I want that Paola back again. That Poala [sic] was my friend.” Bouley in an email says, “I have since owned being ‘combative.’ I believe being combative and ‘not a team player’ in an org plagued with racism, abuse of women and Mozambican employees, and bullying is not only a good thing to be, but the right thing to be.” Changes at Gorongosa People familiar with the organization say that Carr formed a new oversight board in late 2023 and early 2024, placing Mozambicans and women prominently in leadership positions. But Bouley remembers one time when Carr told her it was the “Machiavellian in me” that put Bouley at the top of an organizational chart to show a face of women in leadership. Bouley left the meeting disturbed by this tokenization of women. Over email, Carr shared that “99% of our employees are Mozambican.” The current president of Gorongosa, Aurora Malene, who joined in 2021, and director of human resources Elisa Langa, who joined in 2020, are both Mozambican women. The current head of conservation and program director are Mozambican men. In Carr’s words, he spends most of his time on the “outside” fundraising, and that his giving is “unrestricted” — meaning that the money is in the hands of the leaders who are accountable to the board and the Mozambican government. Carr shares that Malene is one of the most talented leaders he knows, and that the “Machiavellian” comment was meant ironically. “She’s the boss, and she’s amazing.” He admits that pay equity has been at the forefront of his mind after Bouley left, citing several examples of Mozambican women whose salaries have doubled or tripled since becoming employed with Gorongosa. We spoke with several current Gorongosa employees. But almost a decade ago, during Bouley’s time there, getting people to go on the record about work at Gorongosa without explicit approval was more difficult. When journalist Stephanie Hanes embarked on a book called White Man’s Game, which showed the darker underbelly of conservation efforts at Gorongosa, several staff at Gorongosa signed ghostwritten letters to the publishers that Bouley now describes as “smearing” Hanes and her work. Bouley sent Hanes two letters at the time that painted Gorongosa in a positive light. She tells me she “felt pressured” to sign the letters at the time to continue with her work, adding      “those who refused to sign were quietly dismissed from his project.” Bouley has since apologized to Hanes for signing those letters. Carr says in an email that Hanes last traveled to Gorongosa 18 years ago and that her reporting is not connected to practices today. Under the new leadership, Carr and the female Mozambican leadership team say that the organization is building a hospital in Gorongosa with a hospital and women’s health center, as well as scaling an after-school program to steer at-risk girls away from child marriage. He says the organization is fully run by Mozambicans to whom he has deferred power, and that six out of seven of the people on the board are Mozambicans. Bouley, remembering her own “Machiavellian” placement on the organizational chart, wonders if this is good marketing and a “facade,” and questions whether the changes have genuinely taken place for the purpose of prioritizing Mozambicans or women as leaders in the organization. In a Zoom conversation, Gorongosa president Malene reiterated that “our policy is zero tolerance for women abuse but also for any kind of disrespect.” Supporting girls’ education and protecting girls is their north star, and they also reference their community ranger work to distribute food to people currently experiencing hunger. A New Beginning: Macossa-Tambara After leaving Gorongosa Bouley had what she calls “limiting beliefs” about what she could achieve next. She was unsure that she could build anything of value again in conservation, worried that her passion could be weaponized against her — and that there would never be anything like Gorongosa. She began working with the Malamba Coastal Collaborative, helping communities to strengthen governance of coastal and marine areas. One area of focus is the Inhambane Seascape, which according to Bouley is under severe threat from oil and gas prospecting and heavy sand mining extraction. Then, in 2023, the Mozambique government identified a territory double the size of Gorongosa Park in need of restoration, in a region called Macossa-Tambara. There was a high level of poaching in Macossa, especially among the elephant communities and in communal grazing areas. But Macossa remained a critical habitat for pangolins, lions, elephants, and endemic species of zebra and buffalo. Bouley and Branco, along with a coalition of local Mozambican and international conservationists and scientists, applied to manage the land. In 2024 they won a 15-year extendable agreement with the government to restore and protect a block of land called C13, an area of 1,900 square miles. They then forged an agreement with neighboring block C9, based on their belief that the environment needs to be collectively managed rather than in blocks (or coutadas), which were imposed on the people by colonial, imperial Portugal in the 1920s. Since then the Macossa-Tambara project has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants, allowing the team to hire local staff on the ground and create a fully functional camp with tents, Wi-Fi, energy, and bathrooms. Their partners include the Lion Recovery Fund, the Wildlife Conservation Network, Women Together, and the Mozambique Wildlife Alliance. Today an estimated 30-50 lions call the greater Macossa-Tambara landscape home. The team believes that with its vast and intact Miombo woodlands, riverine and savanna habitats, and a shared boundary with corridors connecting to national parks, the landscape has enormous potential to support a robust population of lion, prey, and other wildlife. Despite the poaching pressure, Bouley says it’s not uncommon in Macossa-Tambara to bump into a lion on foot. “You have to turn on all of your senses, walking through lions, elephants, snakes, and warthogs,” she says “We recently walked into a lioness with cubs, with zero room to run. She roared at us — it was overwhelming and goes right through your bones and into your blood, you think this might be the last moment of life.” Bouley says lions can be very forgiving, contrary to what mainstream media has us believe. “We usually get many signs before we are ourselves in danger. But we have to tread carefully in some of these places.” Two greater kudu at Macossa. Photo: Paola Bouley   Associação NATURA, the nonprofit receiving the grants for Macossa, is the only Mozambican-led NGO in Mozambique to ever win a tender for such a project. Bouley, Branco, and their team work directly with local communities on youth well-being and health services, fully supporting a vision where Mozambicans lead. “There is a high-level of eco-literacy among Indigenous people,” says Bouley. “They know the land more than any of us.” Malene of Gorongosa says in an email that local people in Macossa are starving, and that “it is no longer considered morally correct to focus only on wildlife.” Bouley shares that one of their most critical projects now is helping communities manage elephants who move through agricultural fields that are also elephant corridors. Because endangered species can move in and out of areas where communities eat crops, the animals can fall quickly out of favor with people whose entire year of food is in those fields. The team is working on a proactive approach here rather than “old defensive modes,” says Bouley, so conflicts between people and elephants can be prevented before they arise. This includes landscape planning and zonation, to avoid development in the middle of elephant corridors, and deterrents like beehive and chili fences — tactics that Malene and Langa at Gorongosa share. The Macossa team’s vision is to create a living space where native Mozambicans can authentically lead as environmental leaders, health experts, and peace-building educators. Bouley says that stands in stark contrast to some other conservation efforts. “Even if you’re trained and have degrees, you’re always under an expat or foreign organization that earns 4-10 times the amount that you earn,” she says. “You never have the space to be leading.” There are moments where Bouley feels blown away by the beauty and immensity, but she also describes a fast-paced and demanding environment where they’re responding to needs of the team and engaging in community development with the approximately 40,000 Indigenous people in the region. Bouley says Macossa has also provided a comforting space for her and helped to fill the void of what she’d lost. “We had been so rooted in Gorongosa, I felt like I left part of myself there,” she says. “To be back in a landscape that felt so familiar, it felt like a homecoming.” Previously in The Revelator: Giraffes for Peace The post Acclaimed Lion Conservationist Paola Bouley on Her Second Chance: ‘It Feels Like a Homecoming’ appeared first on The Revelator.

Conservation
Animals
Education

Renowned conservationist Jane Goodall urges Oregon students: ‘Choose what impact you make’

Famed conservationist Jane Goodall spoke about hope and personal impact at Lincoln High School in Portland, Oregon.

Conservation icon Jane Goodall made a stop in Portland on Friday to encourage students and other Oregonians to make a positive impact on the planet through daily actions and community projects. ”We can choose what impact we make,” Goodall told an auditorium brimming with students, teachers and others at Lincoln High School. The event was organized by Roots & Shoots, the youth-action program of the Jane Goodall Institute founded by Goodall. Portland is one of a half-dozen basecamps for Roots & Shoots, serving as a local hub in support of community-led projects throughout the state that help people, other animals and the environment. A dozen Roots &Shoots and other environmental clubs from throughout Oregon presented their projects and research to Goodall, who turned 91 earlier this month and spends most of her time traveling around the world to inspire people young and old. Students from Heritage School in Salem told Goodall about setting up bird feeders and boxes and successfully bringing back bluebirds to their school. Fir Grove Elementary students from Beaverton recounted partnering with Urban Gleaners to rescue discarded food that would otherwise go to waste and holding a free food market for their local community. Students at Jane Goodall Environmental Middle School in Salem shared projects that included installing bird feeders, collecting bikes for people who can’t afford them and growing indigenous foods in a greenhouse, among others. And the Corvallis-based Franklin Middle School’s sustainability club told Goodall about planting native plants for pollinators, improving the school’s recycling and composting programs and moving to reusable lunch trays. Other schools presented science research projects and told of their experiences testifying in front of legislators in Salem on environmental issues. Goodall praised the students and said they were among thousands around the world who are doing similar work to make the world a better place. Roots & Shoots is active in 75 countries and all 50 U.S. states, she said. “Young people are my greatest reason for hope,” she told them, “because you’re learning about the importance of respecting the environment and each other.”Goodall received loud applause throughout the speech and a standing ovation from the students. “She represents hope and that we can all change the world even if on a small scale,” said Ella Schaffner, an eighth grader at Jane Goodall Environmental Middle School. Goodall, who is best known for studying the chimpanzees of Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania, has visited Oregon numerous times over the past few decades. She also befriended three chimpanzees at the Oregon Zoo years ago when the animals were still young (two are still alive) and helped the zoo find funding for a large outdoor area to house the chimps.During her speech at Lincoln, Goodall also introduced several stuffed toys to the students that she carries with her throughout the world to connect people with animals. The stuffies sat on the lectern by the microphone as Goodall spoke and she later told their stories as examples of animal intelligence. Jane Goodall spoke at Lincoln High School's auditorium on Friday, April 11th, 2025.Allison Barr/The OregonianRatty represents the African giant pouched rats that are trained to sniff out landmines from past armed conflicts across the globe, she said. The rats also are now being trained to find rhino horns, elephant tusks and other illegally smuggled items at airports, Goodall said. A piglet stuffy “told” the story of PigCasso, a pig rescued from slaughter by an artist in South Africa. When the artist gave the pig a brush and set it before an easel, the animal began to paint, Goodall told the crowd. Its paintings have since sold for thousands of dollars. Octavia the octopus, another of the stuffed toys, represented an octopus that Goodall said stealthily stole some fish from a tank, carefully closing the lid so that no one would notice. Goodall also used a cow stuffy to tell the children that the world’s growing meat consumption has led to massive swaths of land cleared to grow feed for cattle. The cows also burp methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that warms the planet, Goodall said. But dairy and eggs are also a problem, the conservationist said, because dairy cows – which have a deep connection with their calves, just like humans with their babies – are immediately separated from their calves after birth and most chickens are kept in cages or amassed in large warehouses with little room to roam. That’s why, Goodall said, she is a vegan.But most of all, Goodall encouraged the audience to take responsibility for their own acts and get involved in conservation and community-building efforts in their town or city. Those efforts can make a real difference, she told the crowd, due to the resilience of nature. “Nature, if you give her a chance, time and maybe some help, she will come back,” Goodall said. That comeback may include animals and plants on the brink of extinction, she said. Goodall also praised the human intellect – “if only we use it wisely” – and said efforts to develop solar, wind and other renewable energy are a good start. In the end, she added, it’s “the indomitable human spirit” that makes her believe “we will come through the dark times.”“Every single one of us has that spirit, all of us, but some of us are afraid to make it shine,” she said. “Just know, you matter as an individual, you make a difference every day. Just carry on.” — Gosia Wozniacka covers environmental justice, climate change, the clean energy transition and other environmental issues. Reach her at gwozniacka@oregonian.com or 971-421-3154.Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.

Conservation
Animals
Energy

‘Every year matters’: Queensland’s critically endangered ‘bum-breathing’ turtle battles the odds

Guardian Australia is highlighting the plight of our endangered native species during an election campaign that is ignoring broken environment laws and rapidly declining ecosystemsExplore the series – Last chance: the extinction crisis being ignored this electionGet Guardian Australia environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as an emailA rare “bum-breathing” turtle found in a single river system in Queensland has suffered one of its worst breeding seasons on record due to flooding last December. It has prompted volunteers to question how many more “bad years” the species can survive.A freshwater species that breathes by absorbing oxygen through gill-like structures in its tail, the Mary River turtle is endemic to south-east Queensland. Its population has fallen by more than 80% since the 1960s and its conservation status was upgraded from endangered to critically endangered last year.Get Guardian Australia environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as an email Continue reading...

A rare “bum-breathing” turtle found in a single river system in Queensland has suffered one of its worst breeding seasons on record due to flooding last December. It has prompted volunteers to question how many more “bad years” the species can survive.A freshwater species that breathes by absorbing oxygen through gill-like structures in its tail, the Mary River turtle is endemic to south-east Queensland. Its population has fallen by more than 80% since the 1960s and its conservation status was upgraded from endangered to critically endangered last year.Volunteers have worked for more than two decades at Tiaro, about 200km north of Brisbane, to save the species. The Mary River typically flows low at the start of summer – about two metres depth. But when Guardian Australia visited in December it had surged above 10 metres after unusually heavy rain.Scientists consider the turtle one rung away from extinction. Illustration: Meeri AnneliThe result was the number of nests on the riverbanks – and the number of hatchlings that survived – was one of the lowest in the conservation program’s 24-year history. Seventeen nests, known as clutches, were laid during the season. Usually 30 to 40 are expected during the turtle’s breeding months of October, November and December.Eggs in nine clutches hatched successfully but eight were lost to flood waters. The head of the conservation effort and Tiaro Landcare project leader, Marilyn Connell, said the Mary River turtle already had “lots of things going against it, making it difficult to recover”.“You sort of can’t believe it,” she said. “We felt despondent.”‘How many of these bad years can a species that has already declined this much deal with?’ Photograph: Chris Van Wyk/ZSL/PAThe volunteers made the difficult decision to intervene and move two nests higher up the riverbanks. One of these survived the flood waters.The river eventually peaked at 11.5 metres at Tiaro in December, one of only six times it has been recorded at that height at that time of year in the past 100 years, according to Connell.The Mary River turtle’s formal listing of critically endangered means scientists consider it one rung away from extinction. The remaining wild population is estimated to be about 10,000. They face threats from foxes and other nest predators, invasive species and developments that disturb the flow of the river, including dams and weirs.“Every year matters, that’s how we feel,” Connell said. “You just have to ask: how many of these bad years can a species that has already declined this much deal with?”Community volunteers protect nests and hatchlings on the riverbanks from predators but even after successful breeding seasons the population has not recovered. The turtle is a long-lived species and can bounce back from a poor breeding season. But too few turtles are reaching maturity, which occurs after about 25 to 30 years.The volunteers are now working with researchers from Charles Darwin University to investigate why many juvenile turtles are not surviving to adulthood and what can be done to address this. Results are expected later this year.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Clear Air AustraliaAdam Morton brings you incisive analysis about the politics and impact of the climate crisisPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionDr Mariana Campbell, a researcher at the university, said “obviously there is something else happening in the river”, and little would be being done to help the turtle were it not for the Tiaro community.Mary River turtle hatchlings. Photograph: Caitlin JonesConnell said volunteers were concerned that the climate crisis was compounding the threats facing the species. She said sea temperatures off the southern Queensland coast had been at record levels before the floods. Scientists say this leads to more intense rain as the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere increases. “You think to yourself, is more of this what we’ve got to look forward to?” Connell said.She said despite the turtle’s critically endangered status, volunteers have had to rely on fundraising drives, selling chocolate turtles and chasing financial support from overseas to continue their conservation work.She was shocked in 2010 when the Landcare group received a conservation grant from the United Arab Emirates. The same fund gave them further grants in 2011 and 2018.After a 2022 flood in Queensland and New South Wales, volunteers also received a $300,000 grant through a state government disaster fund. Connell said this was typical of her experience – that “you have to have a disaster, or the species has to be on its last legs, to get funds”.“It is ironic but that’s the way conservation works in Australia,” she said.She said while community projects like hers could “chip away” at environmental work they ultimately needed serious government and philanthropic support. “We can’t be doing it all off our own backs,” she said.

Conservation
Crisis
Extinction

Costa Rica Teams Up with NASA and FECOP to Transform Ocean Monitoring

A groundbreaking collaboration between NASA, the Costa Rican Fishing Federation (FECOP), the University of Costa Rica (UCR), and the National University (UNA) is revolutionizing how Costa Rica monitors its oceans, with a focus on promoting marine conservation and sustainable fishing practices. The partnership recently launched the Pacific Color Expedition (Pcolor), a multi-year project that hit […] The post Costa Rica Teams Up with NASA and FECOP to Transform Ocean Monitoring appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

A groundbreaking collaboration between NASA, the Costa Rican Fishing Federation (FECOP), the University of Costa Rica (UCR), and the National University (UNA) is revolutionizing how Costa Rica monitors its oceans, with a focus on promoting marine conservation and sustainable fishing practices. The partnership recently launched the Pacific Color Expedition (Pcolor), a multi-year project that hit a major milestone with its first expedition in February. Aboard a research vessel equipped with a hyperspectral radiometer, scientists collected optical and pigment data along the Pacific coast, from Herradura to Golfo Dulce. This effort aligns with NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem) satellite mission, launched in 2024, which uses advanced hyperspectral technology to study ocean color and detect environmental changes from space. Marina Marrari, FECOP’s Executive Director and a marine biologist, emphasized the initiative’s importance. “At FECOP, I work with an incredible team of scientists to promote sustainable fisheries, protect key species for sport fishing, and support coastal communities through science and education,” she said. “This collaboration unites researchers, conservationists, and policymakers to safeguard our oceans.” The Pcolor expedition’s primary target? Red tides—harmful algal blooms caused by certain phytoplankton that threaten marine ecosystems, fisheries, and public health. By combining satellite data from PACE, aerial observations from NASA’s JPL Avuelo campaign, and on-the-water measurements, the team is building a comprehensive picture of phytoplankton dynamics along Costa Rica’s coast. UCR and UNA researchers contributed critical analyses, studying taxonomy, bacterial communities, chlorophyll levels, nutrients, and oceanographic conditions. “Each data point helps us improve red tide detection and develop strategies for sustainable marine resource management,” Marrari explained. The data will refine algorithms for PACE, tailoring them to Costa Rica’s unique phytoplankton species—information freely accessible via FECOP’s PezCA app. The five-day expedition also expanded its scope, collecting samples to study microplastics, heavy metals, and microbial populations, amplifying its impact. Joaquín Chaves, a Costa Rican scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, joined the effort, bridging local expertise with global technology. For Costa Rica, the stakes are high. Red tides disrupt fishing tourism—a vital economic driver—and endanger marine life. “Being at sea, uncovering its secrets, and using science to benefit our communities is a privilege,” Marrari said. “This work empowers policymakers with evidence to protect our coasts.” This partnership marks a scientific leap forward, blending cutting-edge technology with local knowledge to ensure a healthier ocean for future generations. The post Costa Rica Teams Up with NASA and FECOP to Transform Ocean Monitoring appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

Conservation
Sustainable
Health

Suggested Viewing

Fish With A Story

Hear the voices of five resolute fisherwomen – mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, nurturers, feeders, providers, leaders – tell their Story of resilience in the face of social and environmental injustice. Stand in solidarity and join them in the fight to affirm their role as ocean custodians and protectors ...

Social Justice
Conservation

Can Hydroponic Farming Help Reduce the Effects of Climate Change?

"Can Hydroponic Farming Help Reduce the Effects of Climate Change?" is an entertaining and educational short film. Rachel and her remarkable robot companion, Rex, witness the dire consequences of climate change through news reports of devastating natural disasters. When Rex encounters an alien emissary, he embarks on a journey to a ruined world where pollution and climate change led to the collapse of an entire civilization. Returning to Earth the three main causes of global warming are reveal—electricity production, transportation, and wasteful agriculture—and stress the importance of transitioning to clean energy sources, electric transport, and hydroponic farming. Rex takes on the mission of educating robots and humans alike about combating climate change. The film ends with a global commitment to address the crisis and a poignant celebration of Rex's role in this vital endeavor, reminding us of the urgency to protect our planet from climate catastrophe.

Conservation
Education
Climate

Giants of Big Sur: California Condor Stories Part 2: Leading the Way with Non-Lead

Through experiencing the work of Ventana Wildlife Society, Ross comes to understand the greatest threat to condors is lead ammunition. Ross meets Mike Stake, Non-Lead Ammunition Program Manager, who takes him to meet with a rancher in a key condor area to better understand these complex issues. Through responsible gun use, California condor recovery is achievable. We thank hunters and ranchers who switched to using non-lead ammunition.

Conservation
Extinction
Pollution

Primal State

Set at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center, Port Aransas, Texas, the film is supportive of the international efforts to utilize wastewater treatment facilities as bird sanctuaries. The film features an original jazz score and commentary by naturalist Jeff Anderson and provides a glimpse of some of the diversity of bird life found along the Texas Coast while conjuring a Zen-like union with nature.

Animals
Music
Conservation

Mayday Terranean

Mayday Terranean is a documentary film portraying the problems of the Mediterranean Sea as well as the beauty it still has to offer. Scientists, conservationists and activists from countries around the Mediterranean Sea talk about the topic, their relationship to ocean conservation and shed light on the story of this wonderful but endangered place.

Water
Pollution
Conservation

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