Rural Development Foundation USA

Beyond Black: How do crows see crow feathers?

New research by Jessica Yorzinski of the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology at Texas A&M University and Anne B. Clark of the Department of Biological Sciences at Binghamton University reveals that what looks simply black to humans may appear far more complex through avian vision.

Using crow specimens from the Biodiversity Research and Teaching Collections (BRTC) at Texas A&M University, and published in the Journal of Avian Biology, the study offers fascinating new insights into sensory ecology and animal behavior.

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From Curiosity to Creation, Part 7: Expanding 3D Printing from Wildlife to Wider Impact
This series began with a single 3D printer and a lot of questions. Along the way, the focus has turned from wildlife forensics, like printing TRAFFIC’s shark fin replicas, to developing field kits that help distinguish animal from human remains, and then to creating curated 3D collections to support real decisions in real places. Part 6 explored how those libraries can be designed for specific contexts—Georgia vs. South Africa, patrol officer vs. customs agent—rather than trying to print everything for everyone. This final installment looks outward: how these same tools and habits of mind can broaden into new applications and new forms of collaboration, while staying rooted in wildlife and forensic work.

From Curiosity to Creation, Part 7: Expanding 3D Printing from Wildlife to Wider Impact - Laker Wildlife Initiative Discover how 3D printing for wildlife forensics grows into regional bone sets, mixed-scene kits, and assistive projects, connecting conservation, justice, and care.

Happy New Year from all of us at RDF-US

Good news for African birds! - Both African hornbills and vultures just received new protections from trade through CITES

Negotiators discussing wildlife trade rules have agreed overwhelmingly to back a proposal that regulates the currently unrestricted trade in all seven species of African forest hornbills.

Eight West and Central African countries had tabled the proposal at the ongoing summit of CITES, the global wildlife trade convention, taking place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It calls for listing the seven species, from the genera Ceratogymna and Bycanistes, in CITES Appendix II, which would allow the commercial international trade in the species, but under stringent oversight, including import and export permit requirements. No country objected to the proposal, and it was accepted by consensus.

“This decision will go a long way in providing urgently needed protections to keep African hornbills where they belong, wild in African ecosystems, rather than in markets for wildlife trade,” Nico Arcilla, president and research director at the International Bird Conservation Partnership (IBCP), told Mongabay in a text message.

African forest hornbills gain new protections from unsustainable trade Negotiators discussing wildlife trade rules have agreed overwhelmingly to back a proposal that regulates the currently unrestricted trade in all seven species of African forest hornbills. Eight West and Central African countries had tabled the proposal at the ongoing summit of CITES, the global wild...

Belem Call to Action for the Congo Basin¬ Forests” at the heart of the international agenda on forests, climate, and biodiversity

“Political Declaration between the Countries of Central Africa and their Partners for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of the Congo Basin Forest Ecosystems”

In accordance with the roadmap adopted by participants at the meeting of the CBFP held in Libreville on October 23 and 24, 2025, under the effective co-chairmanship of the Executive Secretary of COMIFAC and the co-facilitation of the French and Gabonese Republics with the support of Germany and the United Kingdom, the launch of the “Belem Call to Action for the Congo Basin Forests” took place on November 6, 2025, and was celebrated at the ministerial level on November 18 in the UNFF Forest Pavilion.

Central African countries took several commitments, and donors have pledged to raise more than $2.5 billion over the next five years, in addition to the national resources that will be mobilized by Central African countries to protect and sustainably manage the forests of the Congo Basin. This is a historic ambition that marks the international community's growing recognition of the ecosystem and environmental services provided by the forests of Central Africa.

Let us act together to promote the “Belem Call to Action for the Congo Basin Forests”.

23-24 November, Libreville, Gabon: "Belem Call to Action for the Congo Basin Forests" at the heart of speeches by the Presidents of France and Gabon, CBFP Co-facilitator in Libreville, Gabon … Revivre l’événement : https://pfbc-cbfp.org/en/news/detail/belem-call-to-action-for-the-congo-basin-forests-at-the-heart-of-speeches-by-the-presidents-of-france-and-gabon-cbfp-co-facilitator-in-libreville-gabon
CoP30- Belem, 18 November: Celebration of the Launch of the Belém Call to Action for the Congo Basin Forests : https://pfbc-cbfp.org/en/news/detail/celebration-of-the-launch-of-the-belem-call-to-action-for-the-congo-basin-forests
Belem, November -6th: Belém Call to Action for the Congo Basin Forest - Read again the launch announcement on the sidelines of the World Leaders Summit: https://pfbc-cbfp.org/en/news/detail/belem-call-to-action-for-the-congo-basin-forest Read also: Joint press release - The Belem Call Posted on 6 November 2025 : https://www.elysee.fr/en/emmanuel-macron/2025/11/06/joint-press-release-the-belem-call

Joint press release - The Belém Call Read the Belém Call.

🌿💚 They Didn’t Just Replant Trees — They Rebuilt an Entire Ecosystem 🐘🐅

Meet Dr. Anil Malhotra and Pamela Gale Malhotra — the visionary couple behind India’s only private rainforest sanctuary, the SAI Sanctuary in Coorg, Karnataka.

In 1991, they walked away from a life of comfort in the U.S., sold everything, and bought 55 acres of degraded farmland in India — land that no one believed could recover.

Over the next three decades, they planted native trees, restored water bodies, and created what is now a 300+ acre thriving rainforest teeming with life.

🌳 Over 200 endangered species now call it home — including:

• Asian elephants 🐘
• Bengal tigers 🐅
• Indian leopards 🐆
• Malabar giant squirrels 🐿
• King cobras 🐍
• Over 300 species of birds 🦜

💧 They also helped revive local water tables, microclimates, and biodiversity corridors, proving that individuals can reverse ecological collapse.

⚰️ Dr. Anil passed away in 2021 from a heart attack while still working for the land he loved.

Pamela passed in 2024. But their sanctuary — and their mission — lives on.

👉 Their story is not just about trees and animals.
It’s about hope, legacy, and the belief that a few people with vision and heart can still save the Earth.

🌎 One couple. One dream. A forest reborn.

⸻

Exclusive: European countries back $2.5 billion initiative to protect Congo rainforest
European nations have backed a $2.5 billion plan to save the Congo rainforest, France's presidency told a United Nations climate summit, launching a conservation scheme that may steal some thunder from the flagship initiative of COP30 host Brazil.
Mobilizing more money to protect and restore the world's last remaining rainforests is a central goal of the U.N. climate talks, deliberately held in the Brazilian Amazon this year to focus on the need to fight emissions from rampant deforestation.

Exclusive: European countries back $2.5 billion initiative to protect Congo rainforest European nations have backed a $2.5 billion plan to save the Congo rainforest, France's presidency told a United Nations climate summit, launching a conservation scheme that may steal some thunder from the flagship initiative of COP30 host Brazil.

Climate change is a major threat to primates worldwide.

Are you, or do you know someone, interested in studying for a PhD on primates and climate change?

Durham University are offering PhD studentships for research and researchers aligned to SDG13: Climate Action for projects that aim to address issues associated with climate change and building a more resilient global future.

They are especially keen to support multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary projects or supervision, especially where these involve more than one of our Faculties, so you could combine Anthropology and Biosciences for a project on climate change and primates, for example.

If you have an appropriate project which we can develop into an application, please let me know!

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Global Grand Challenges Studentships - Durham University Durham University is delighted to launch The Global Grand Challenges Studentships (Hunt-Raymond GGC Studentships) which are designed to support excellent early career researchers wishing to pursue doctoral research and training in areas aligned to a highlighted Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)

Jabi Katy Chale
Journalist, Documentary Filmmaker and Cultural Ecology Researcher

Jabi Katy Chale is a journalist, filmmaker and cultural ecology researcher from Buea, Cameroon. Since 2022, she has explored the intersections of environmental issues, marine conservation and cultural heritage through powerful storytelling and media. Growing up in a maritime and inland area, she witnessed how natural resources sustain communities and shape identity. This inspired her to promote sustainable, community-driven management by documenting and amplifying untold stories. She holds a Bachelor of Science in journalism and is currently pursuing a Master of Science in anthropology. Her environmental reporting has appeared on Hi TV and the Cameroon News Agency and was featured in Al Jazeera. Her YouTube channel, “Journey with Jabi,” hosts her acclaimed documentary “Agony of the Blue,” spotlighting illegal fishing practices. She was awarded the 2023 VIMMA Tourism and Cross-Cultural Reporter of the Year. She is also a NEWF Fellow and currently serves as the communication officer and environmental education assistant at Voice of Nature (VoNat).

Explorer Home Where National Geographic Explorers start.

We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Jane Goodall at age 91—a visionary primatologist, conservationist, and global voice for the natural world. Over more than six decades, she transformed how humanity understands chimpanzees, revealing their tool use, emotional lives, and social complexity. Her pioneering spirit inspired generations of scientists, conservationists, and dreamers to see our kinship with all living beings and to act as stewards of Earth.

Today, we remember that legacy—and in her honor, we reaffirm our commitment to science, compassion, and conservation.
“We honor the legendary Primatologist, Jane Goodall who passed today at the age of 91. Pictured here with Dr Kevin Njabo in Budapest in 2005 during the World Science Forum.”

Her life reminds us that one person’s steadfast curiosity, courage, and care can ripple through time and across continents—transforming not just our understanding of nature, but how we live with it.