As the human population grows, the demand for energy, especially from renewable resources such as wind and solar, has drastically increased. This has accelerated the construction of wind turbines, solar farms, and power lines in the United States. When new energy infrastructure is placed in or near crane habitats, it can disrupt their movement patterns and reduce available resources.
Aug. 29, 2024 (Kenya, Africa) – The International Crane Foundation installed six freshwater springs in Nandi County, Kenya, this year, providing more than 5,000 families with fresh water, thanks in part to a one-million-dollar commitment from the Leiden Conservation Foundation and the support from the local communities and governments. Families throughout Nandi County rely on water for domestic use and to care for their livestock, yet 54 percent of people in this county do not have access to safe water.
“The haunting calls of the world’s cranes are sadder today because they have lost a devoted friend, and the conservation community has lost a true hero.” ~ Kenneth Strom, National Audubon Society
On September 19, 2018, we lost a dear friend and champion for the conservation of cranes and wetlands, Jim Harris.
I was working in Zambia when word came that the United States would pull out of the international Paris Agreement on climate change. Listening to this news with a group of Zambian colleagues, I was saddened. In Zambia, and nearly everywhere we work around the world, climate change is treated as a life or death matter. The prospect of intensely prolonged droughts and water shortages, chronic food insecurity, power outages, coastal land loss under rising seas, and extremely violent storms doesn’t bode well for poor countries like Zambia that lack the resources to adapt to these daunting challenges. These countries have contributed little to global warming but face the brunt of its impacts.
