Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Protecting the World's Living Landscapes

Aired January 18, 2002 - 06:55   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: New efforts underway to save what's called the world's last living landscapes. They're some of the most beautiful places on the planet, and CNN's Gary Strieker shows us their splendor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY STRIEKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are some of the most important wild areas left on earth. Among them, Indoki Lee Koala (ph) in the Republic of Congo, the greater Yellowstone in the United States, and Mamirowa Amanya (ph) in Brazil. All of them largely intact ecosystems with a full compliment of wildlife, including what are called landscape species like elephants, tigers and bison, wide ranging animals that deeply influence their surroundings both biologically and culturally.

These critical wild areas on the planet are the basis of a new conservation initiative called Living Landscapes now being developed by the Wildlife Conservation Society based in New York.

STEVEN SANDERSON, WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: Our ability to do this has been advanced by a visionary gift by Robert Wilson, a $20 million challenge grant to try to address conservation in 50 of the world's wildest and most valuable places.

STRIEKER: Many of these living landscapes already contain protected areas. But all of them are places of potential conflict between wildlife and humans where migrations often take animals outside existing parks and reserves to logging, mining or agricultural areas.

(on camera): In the Living Landscapes initiative, conservationists will focus their work in areas outside parks and reserves, building alliances with local people, governments and the private sector to find a workable balance between the needs of wildlife and humans.

(voice-over): The objective is to reach long-term sustainable ways for people and wildlife to coexist together and to save these last wild Edens on the planet.

Gary Strieker, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE) TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com