At CI, we’re dedicated to the protection of all life on Earth, recognizing that all species play a role in the healthy ecosystems that sustain us. However, even we’ll admit that some of them are less … cuddly … than others. With Halloween upon us, we recently asked CI scientists to recollect on some of their most harrowing wildlife encounters. Here is cephalopod expert Christine Huffard’s story.

The earthworm found by Trond Larsen in Papua New Guinea, with his field assistant, Danil, in the background. (© CI/Photo by Trond Larsen)

Teachers participate in an activity called "Tree of Values" at the Bahia environmental education workshop.

Earlier this year, Brazilian journalist Herton Escobar traveled to Indonesia’s Raja Ampat archipelago to see how CI and partner organizations are improving local livelihoods while increasing protection for one of the world’s most spectacular marine sites.

Friends of the Earth International, October 2011: Friends of the Earth International promotes the respect and
enforcement of community rights as a means to resist corporate
power and create social change. Our member groups around the
world are working closely with local communities, demanding a
just transition towards sustainable rural and urban societies, in
contrast to the current profit-driven, neoliberal paradigm. This report focuses on campaigns that have the defence
and enforcement of community rights at the heart of their
struggles.

Lots of news this time. First, graduate students of the University of California, Santa Cruz and California State University, Monterey Bay teamed up to do a most excellent on-line presentation of our work in the Gulf of Guinea Islands, called Documenting Eden; it includes a slide show and can be found here:  http://sciencenotes.ucsc.edu/2011/pages/…

In the mountains of northern Papua New Guinea, Conservation International is collaborating with the Woodland Park Zoo and James Cook University on the YUS Conservation Program, which engages local communities in the long-term study and management of the 76,000-hectare (180,000-acre) YUS Conservation Area.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Succulent Karoo Ecosystem Programme (SKEP), an initiative seeking to protect threatened species and raise public awareness about this unique ecosystem that provides fresh water and other critical resources for local people. Conservation South Africa’s Tessa Mildenhall reflects on what SKEP has accomplished so far.

Town of Amaluza (downstream) with upstream watershed in background