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Photos: Two unknown mammal species discovered in "lost world" mongabay.com December 16, 2007
"It's comforting to know that there is a place on earth so isolated that it remains the absolute realm of wild nature," said CI Vice President Bruce Beehler, who led the expedition. "We were pleased to see that this little piece of Eden remains as pristine and enchanting as it was when we first visited."
"The giant rat is about five times the size of a typical city rat," said Kristofer Helgen, a scientist with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. "With no fear of humans, it apparently came into the camp several times during the trip." According to CI, the Indonesian Government has declared the Foja Wilderness a National Wildlife Sanctuary and may seek carbon credits for protecting the forest area. Yesterday delegates at the U.N. climate meeting in Bali agreed that carbon-for-forest conservation initiatives should be developed and promoted as a way to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Globally, deforestation account for roughly 20 percent of anthropogenic climate-warming emissions.
"It's as close to the Garden of Eden as you're going to find on Earth," said Bruce Beehler. New Guinea's forests are some of the most biodiverse in the world, but they are increasingly under threat from commercial logging. However, the Foja Mountains of western New Guinea are so isolated — in the furthest reaches of the Indonesian province of West Papua - they remain relatively untouched. In other parts of Indonesia poaching is taking a heavy toll on wildlife populations.
Tags: asia avoided deforestation new species species discovery carbon finance new guinea happy-upbeat environmental animals wildlife environment biodiversity indonesia mammals Photos green News index | RSS | News Feed | Twitter | Home Advertisements: Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing
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