People Resources and Conservation Foundation (PRCF) is an international non-governmental organization that helps local people in developing countries protect their natural environment. Its headquarters are in the United StatesGuideStar Quick View: People Resources and Conservation Foundation. http://www.guidestar.org/organizations/75-2641707/people-resources-conservation-foundation.aspx but its conservation fieldwork is carried out in a number of Southeast Asian countries. PRCF has joined collaborative research projects on new animal species in Southeast Asia, such as the Myanmar/Burmese snub-nosed monkey. The organization also sets up programs to help native cultures retain their cultural identity through projects such as basket and fabric weaving.

Mission

PRCF’s stated mission is to ‘conserve biodiversity, ecosystem services and local cultural identities through participatory solutions that protect and promote the wise use of natural resources, support socioeconomic development of communities and enable effective adaptation to climate change’.About the People Resources and Conservation Foundation. http://www.prcfoundation.org/about-us/ The organization is concerned with endangered species (species assigned an IUCN category of threat) and loss of their critical habitat, land degradation and climate change. It also works with local communities to promote sustainable livelihoods, participatory land use planning and the revitalization of traditional cultural arts.Sutton, Nicola. Weaving a Future: PRCF helps Dayak women fight Environmental Destruction. Youth Leader: The Asian Region

History

The organization was founded in 1995People Resources and Conservation Foundation - About us - History. http://www.prcfoundation.org/about-us/history/ by two biologists-cum-conservationists from the United States and Colombia, Marla and Fernando Potess. In 1995 the first of the PRCF country programs – PRCF Indonesia – was established, with conservation and community development projects based in West Kalimantan, an Indonesian province on the island of Borneo.Welcome to PRCF Indonesia. http://www.prcfoundation.org/countries/indonesia/ Other country programs were later established in Cambodia,Maltby, Matthew and Bourchier, Gavin. Current Status of Asian Elephants in Cambodia. Gajah 35 (2011) 36-42 http://www.asesg.org/PDFfiles/2012/35-36-Maltby.pdf Myanmar/Burma,Looking out for the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey May 25, 2012 Phys.org. http://phys.org/news/2012-05-myanmar-snub-nosed-monkey.html VietnamStout, David. A green breakthrough? The Word Ha Noi, November 2011: 34-43. and Thailand.

Funding

PRCF is a nonprofit foundation,GreatNonprofits (2012. People Resources and Conservation Foundation. http://greatnonprofits.org/reviews/people-resources-and-conservation-foundation/#r_id-111176--user_id-151318 receiving gifts and donations from individuals as well as grants from private and government organizations. In 2010, PRCF derived funding as follows: 15% from the public, 63% from private sources (such as the McKnight Foundation) and 22% from government sources (such as the United States Fish and Wildlife Service [USFWS]). Major donors to PRCF during 2010 were the Arcus Foundation and the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF).Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund: Partners. http://www.cepf.net/partners/Pages/default.aspxCritical Ecosystem Partnership Fund. Indo-Burma (Indochina Region) Project Database. http://www.cepf.net/grants/project_database/indo-burma/Pages/default.aspx

Conservation work

PRCF works collaboratively with local communities and government authorities at field sites. It also partners with national and international conservation organizations in the countries of operation.

In 2010 PRCF was a member of a joint survey team that discovered a new primate species in northern Myanmar: the Burmese Snub-nosed Monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri).Geissmann, T, Lwin, N, Aung, SS, Aung, TN, Aung, ZM, Hla, TH, Grindley, M and Momberg, F (2011). A new species of snub-nosed monkey, genus Rhinopithecus Milne-Edwards, 1872 (Primates, Colobinae), from northern Kachin state, northeastern Myanmar. American Journal of Primatology, 73: 96–107. doi: 10.1002/ajp.20894 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajp.20894/full The species was named in honor of Jon Stryker, President and Founder of the Arcus Foundation.Our Founder. Arcus Foundation. His organization's grant to PRCF helped lead to the discovery of the species.

As of June 2012, PRCF and partners have worked to protect 16 endangered or threatened species in Southeast Asia. These include the critically endangered White-shouldered Ibis (Pseudibis davisoni)Largest ever White-shouldered Ibis count (2010). BirdLife International in Indochina http://birdlifeindochina.org/content/largest-ever-white-shouldered-ibis-count and Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey (Rhinopithecus avunculus)Tonkin snub-nosed monkey. ARKive: Images of life on earth. http://www.arkive.org/tonkin-snub-nosed-monkey/rhinopithecus-avunculus plus the endangered Western Hoolock Gibbon (Hoolock hoolock)Geissmann T, Grindley M, Momberg F, Lwin N, Moses S (2008). Hoolock gibbon and biodiversity survey and training in southern Rakhine Yoma, Myanmar: preliminary report. Yangon: Myanmar Primate Conservation Program, BANCA, FFI, PRCF and Yangon University. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajp.20894/full and Francois’ Langur (Trachypithecus francoisi).Save Our Species. Sustainably funded community-based conservation of the largest known remaining population of the Francois’ Langur http://www.sospecies.org/sos_projects/mammals/francoislangur Community-based planning of the Lam Binh Forest Area Francois‘ Langur Conservation Landscape, Tuyen Quang Province, Vietnam. Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund. Indo-Burma (Indochina Region) Project Database. Strategic Direction 1: Safeguard priority globally threatened species in Indochina by mitigating major threats. http://www.cepf.net/grants/project_database/indo-burma/Pages/strategic_direction_1.aspx

References

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