An American entomologist is singing the praises of Suriname’s rich biodiversity and calling for it to be comprehensively protected and preserved:
Entomologist Andrew Short, who in 2010 “discovered” at least 20 species of water beetles in Suriname –all new to science-, says the country has a huge opportunity. “Suriname has an almost entirely intact forest — except for a little bit along the coast where most of the people live and a little bit of mining,” he said. “There really exists a huge opportunity for this country to preserve in wholesale its entire biodiversity. There is no loss yet, which is really rare for most developing countries.”
The 30-year-old assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology has taken part in 20 expeditions to South America, eight in the past four years to Venezuela to study aquatic insects. But his latest expedition directed him to what he describes as “a high-difficulty place to get into” — an unspoiled tropical rain forest. “Hundreds of miles from the nearest road, he canoed from camp to camp through one of the planet’s few remaining untouched tropical forests, one of a band of international scientists searching for unknown plants and animals,” the University of Kansas — which he works for — reports in a news release.
“When you’re standing in the middle of a stream and you collect a tiny brown beetle, no bigger than a pinhead, it’s really difficult to know exactly the significance,” said Short, who had already described 103 species of beetles before his last trip to Suriname. Indeed, of the 85 species of water beetles he collected, the KU researcher said that 20 were likely new to science.
Short was among 30 scientists who flew to Suriname on August 15 to search for unknown plants and animals. The expedition was part of Conservation International’s Rapid Assessment Program, which provides biological information from various countries to accelerate conservation efforts and improve biodiversity protection.
Read the complete article at devsur.com. See also: the original Kansas University press release.
[Photo: mark ponte]
This article is so true, The world needs to take some action to help us preserve our unique eco rainforest, filled with an unkwon number of undiscovered wild life species.