Guinea | Save African Forest Elephants from Mining in Guinea
Proposed protection : 560,512 acres Partner : The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation
The largest and only viable population of the Critically Endangered African Forest Elephant in Guinea survives in rainforest and shrubby savanna stretching along the border with Sierra Leone . Threats abound , linked to illegal logging , bushmeat hunting , and slash-and-burn agriculture , but the most significant is the construction of a 100-mile iron ore railway requiring four tunnels and 43 bridges .
Goal | Government declaration of the Pinselli-Soyah-Sabouyah National Park to link wide-roaming species like elephants to a vast wildlife corridor stretching into Sierra Leone , and mitigate the impacts of the railway .
Myanmar | Save Asia ' s Last Wild River for Dolphins
Proposed protection : 74,132 acres Partner : Fauna and Flora International
The Ayeyarwady River ( or Irrawaddy River ) and its lush wetlands represent the largest remaining undammed river system of Southeast Asia . It supports outstanding biodiversity and globally significant populations of a Critically Endangered local subpopulation of the Irrawaddy Dolphin as well as Critically Endangered Black-bellied Tern and White-bellied Heron and Vulnerable Wallago attu , a freshwater catfish . Threats to the long-term health of the ecosystem include unsustainable fishing practices , hunting and trapping of water birds and turtles , illegal gold and sand mining , pollution and channelization of water .
Goal | Formal designation of a community-based network of Fish Conservation Areas and Community Protected Areas that will protect critical wetland habitat .
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