Initiative: Ecosystem Management

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After a successful 10-year partnership for Siberian Crane Flyway Conservation, the International Crane Foundation announced the population of Siberian Cranes in the eastern flyway region has increased from less than 3,500 in 2015 to almost 7,000 cranes today. The Foundation held closing ceremonies in China last week to celebrate the Saving Wildlife for Siberian Crane Project, with 110 representatives from government departments, protected areas, scientific research institutions, non-governmental organizations, volunteers, and communities attending the ceremony and workshop.

Initiative: Ecosystem Management

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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.

Initiative: Ecosystem Management

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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.

Initiative: Ecosystem Management

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This spring, our Curator of Birds, Kim Boardman, and Director of Conservation Medicine, Dr. Diana Boon, traveled to Vietnam and Thailand to join Dr. Tran Triet, our Southeast Asia Program Director.

Initiative: Ecosystem Management

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On a recent visit to the flats: To get an idea of where the birds were, we visited a fishing camp. The fisherfolk said, there and there and there! The Ranger helped us get there. And there and there. And behold. Congregations of water birds of global significance. In the Kafue Flats. The vision of the Kafue Flats Restoration Partnership is “A Thriving Wetland For All.” — Mwape Sichilongo

The Kafue Flats in Zambia is the most important floodplain in Africa for Wattled Cranes. More than 3,000 of these majestic birds (a third of the total population) depend on the Kafue Flats for their breeding, feeding, and roosting needs. Local communities who share this floodplain with Wattled Cranes call them, Nakaala, meaning “the one who lays only one or two precious eggs.” They are the most wetland-dependent of Africa’s cranes and important indicators of the health and ecological functioning of this enormous floodplain.

Initiative: Ecosystem Management

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Garlic mustard, black locust and buckthorn… At the International Crane Foundation’s headquarters in Wisconsin, these three plant species are on the most wanted list of invasive species that our staff and volunteers work to eradicate each year. We remove these species as part of the broader habitat restoration program at our headquarters, which serves as both a living classroom and a home to many species of native plants and animals.

Initiative: Ecosystem Management

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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.

Initiative: Ecosystem Management

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ICF President Dr. Rich Beilfuss recently returned from a three-week field visit to advance ICF’s Africa Program in three important “crane countries” — Uganda, Rwanda, and Zambia. Following is part two of Rich’s field notes, highlighting wetland restoration and conservation activities in Rwanda. Read Rich’s field notes from Uganda and Zambia.