Saving wildlife & wild places
03/02/2020
Saving wildlife and wild places for a healthy planet.
Have you ever seen a blue morpho butterfly? The blue morpho is among the largest butterflies on the planet. Its vibrant blue wings span from five to eight inches!
Considered one of the most beautiful and impressive butterflies in the world, the blue morpho surely has value beyond, and apart from, any practical worth to humans. But this species is also one small component that contributes to a healthy Amazon ecosystem, and a healthy planet.
Due to their size and striking beauty, blue morpho butterflies are one of the most emblematic of all Amazon species.
The plants and animals that live in the wild are vital to sustaining all life on Earth. We depend on wildlife and the planet’s rich biodiversity for the air we breathe, the food we eat, the energy we use, the materials we need, for our survival and wellbeing.
Nature and Culture International helps save endangered plants and animals – like the blue morpho – by protecting habitats across Latin America. By conserving wildlife and wild places, we ensure that future generations can enjoy the natural world and the incredible species that live within it.
Because of the generosity of donors, Nature and Culture saves habitats that are home to thousands of plants and animals. Here are just a few of the awe-inspiring species that Nature and Culture protects.
Jaguar
Jaguars once roamed from the southern tip of South America north to the region surrounding the U.S.-Mexico border. Today significant numbers are found only in remote regions of the Americas – particularly in the Amazon Basin. At Nature and Culture, you play a key role in protecting jaguars throughout Latin America. From Bolivia’s Chaco to Mexico’s tropical dry forest, your support safeguards vast areas of land so that jaguars and other far-ranging species can thrive. Learn more about the jaguar here.
Spectacled Bear
Spectacled bears – also known as Andean bears – make their home in the dense Andean jungles of South America. Conservation threats have caused the spectacled bear’s IUCN status to reach ‘vulnerable’, meaning the species is at high risk of extinction in the wild. Learn more about South America’s only bear species here.
Andean Condor
Andean condors play a key role in a healthy, well-balanced environment because of their important role as nature’s recyclers. Consuming wild animal carcasses helps reduce the spread of diseases. Yet Andean condors are threatened over most of their range. According to the last national census, fewer than 100 individuals remain in Ecuador. Learn more about the Andean condor here.
Goode’s Thornscrub Tortoise
Recently discovered on Nature and Culture’s Monte Mojino Reserve, this desert tortoise lives in thorn scrub and tropical deciduous forest ecosystems. First recorded in 2016, it is already listed as vulnerable. Learn more about Monte Mojino here.
Cinchona Tree
The cinchona tree grows to the east of the Andes in the high jungles of the Amazon Basin. It is well-known globally as the source of quinine, a medication used to treat malaria. Learn more about this special tree here.
An important time for biodiversity
An intergovernmental panel of scientists recently said one million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction. Unsustainable human activities and overexploitation of wildlife and wild places are destroying the planet’s biodiversity.
The stakes have never been higher. But you can fight extinction and save the planet’s biodiversity.
Together we can save wildlife and wild places for a healthy planet.
“Never in a million years could I create a songbird, a pink river dolphin, or a blue morpho butterfly. That has helped me to dedicate my time and resources to help conserve the variety of life on earth.” Ivan Gayler, Founder of Nature and Culture International
