Species
Protected
Since 2017, our expedition surveys at the Rio Manduriacu Reserve in Ecuador have documented several species that were either thought to be extinct or completely new to science. According to our partners Fundación Cóndor Andino, which founded the reserve, Fundación EcoMinga, which manages it today, and neighboring Los Cedros Reserve, that work was critical to defeating the mining concession that threatened the reserve from upstream, to doubling the reserve’s size, and to its 2025 declaration as a national Wildlife Refuge. We are proud to have helped protect the very last sanctuary for these endangered species!
In 2014 we, along with our Vietnamese partners, helped get the rare and imperiled Chinese Crocodile Lizard (Shinisaurus crocodilurus; pictured as the banner image for this page) listed as an endangered species. Poaching is largely responsible for the profound decrease in numbers of this sole survivor of an ancient lineage. Given their demand as pets and for folk medicine, this IUCN red-listing will be crucial to protecting these waterfall clinging lizards from extinction.
Our survey work in Jama Coaque Reserve in coastal Ecuador has helped the Third Millennium Alliance purchase hundreds of hectares of some of the most threatened habitat on earth!
Through our novel, altruistic fiscal sponsorship program, we have been facilitating the work of several other organizations whose mission is to protect biodiversity. And with our Connect and Conserve partnership, we are helping the entire conservation community better understand the needs of the world and which species and habitats we need to focus on.