The two lizards are the first species described as a result of the largest inventory of Squamate reptile diversity in the Brazilian Cerrado, concluded in 2006 by the Brazilian herpetologist Cristiano Nogueira. The research, funded by FAPESP (the State of São Paulo Research Foundation) and CI, recorded 253 squamate species, 73 more than the 180 previously known for the Cerrado savannas. Of these 253 species, at least 103 are endemic, challenging earlier notions of low vertebrate endemism in the Cerrado Hotspot. The inventory covered the entire Cerrado region, with field samplings in ten localities. This kind of basic study is still crucial in Brazil, especially in the Cerrado which harbors one of the least studied herpetofaunas in the Neotropics.

“Without good taxonomy and good biogeographic information, it will be hard to know what to protect in central Brazil, where habitat loss is still a major problem” says Nogueira, a Biodiversity Analyst for CI-Brazil’s Cerrado Program. Recent estimates show that at least 2 million hectares of natural Cerrado are destroyed each year, primarily due to the expansion of mechanized agriculture. It is projected that by 2030, only the legally protected areas (now covering less than 3 percent of the region) will remain as original Cerrado habitats unless conservation action is swift.

The Massif de la Hotte in the southwest of Haiti is home to a staggering 13 species of Critically Endangered and Endangered amphibians found nowhere else in the world. This exceptional level of threatened endemism resulted in the site's recent ranking by the Alliance for Zero Extinction as the number one global priority for urgent conservation action.

Since 2001, extreme poverty, political instability and suspension of all conservation programs threaten Haiti’s rapidly diminishing forest, despite its exceptional importance for biodiversity. Chris Rimmer of the Vermont Institute of Natural Sciences, who has extensive experience in Haiti, implored CI to get invovled. Discussions ensued with local partners Philipe Bayard of the Societe Audubon Haiti (SAH) and Eladio Fernandez of the Sociedad Ornitologica de la Hispaniola (SOH) to explore possibilities for conservation in this challenging country. As CI’s amphibian conservation officer, I traveled to Haiti in February to meet with partners and familiarize myself with the areas of concern.

As I left the bustling capital Port Au Prince and traveled the length of the southern Peninsula, I could feel any sense of optimism evaporate as barren hillsides completely stripped of trees filled the landscape, where people living in abject poverty eked out a living in any way they could.

Many long hours on rough, rocky vertigo-inducing roads and six flat tires later I was treated to the sight of the Massif de la Hotte; home to the last intact broadleaf forest on Haiti. Macaya Biosphere Reserve, encompassing 5,500 hectares at the core of the Massif, provides a refuge for diverse forested habitat ranging from wet limestone forest at lower elevations to a complex mosaic of pine and cloud forest at upper elevations. An invigorating hike from 1000 m elevation to Pic Formond, at around 2200 m, confirmed that the forest is still teeming with life. Trees dripping with bromeliads in the cloud forest provided homes for an extraordinary abundance of frogs and the calls of Bicknell’s Thrush provided a thrill for the ornithologists in the group.

Despite its status, Macaya Biosphere Reserve is not immune from the degradation that has ravaged the rest of Haiti. The forest is threatened by agricultural expansion into increasingly unsuitable terrain. Major tree cover was lost in Haiti when mangoes and coffee – both environmentally important tree crops - became unprofitable and were cut down in favor of marginally profitable annual crops. In addition, park agents are losing their authority, credibility and motivation to protect the forest because most have not been paid by the government for over two years.

The Fouta Djallon Plateau is part of the Guinean Forests of West Africa Hotspot and constitutes one of the few mountainous areas within an otherwise flat landscape. These mountains teem with endemic species, including 10 bat species found nowhere else. Despite this global conservation relevance, the Fouta Djallon Plateau has been little explored, and particularly so with respect to bats, which provide crucial ecosystem services as predators of insects and as pollinators and seed dispersers of plants. The recent bat survey filled critical data gaps for ongoing projects aiming to identify priority areas for the establishment of new protected areas or improved management of existing ones. Results directly feed into analyses that strive to pinpoint and delimit areas of special conservation relevance, specifically, the BIOTA-West project at the regional scale as well as a project to identify Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) at the national scale (Guinée Ecologie and CI).

The main threat to these montane habitats is their exceptional mineral wealth: substantial bauxite and iron ore reserves are likely to be exploited during the next decades, with potentially far-reaching consequences. For example, most of the endemic bat species are restricted to a few mountains and critically depend on caves as day roosts. Major landscape impacts such as open cast mining would have the potential to push some of these fascinating creatures over the brink. During the next years, it will be of paramount importance to identify areas that are irreplaceable for the long-term conservation of biodiversity and to safeguard their ecological integrity.

During one expedition in February 2007, a research team coordinated by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) found that about half the organisms in some groups that were collected are new to science. New species were even found amongst relatively well-studied groups, such as the gorgonians and octocorals, which yielded 15 new species over three years in a complementary project organized by STRI staff scientist Hector Guzman.