New species of poison dart found in Guyana – By mistake

Scientists found new species without looking

July 2013. Ecotourism and Conservation - Can it work? That was the question a team of scientists from the Senckenberg Research Institute in Dresden were investigating when, by chance, they found a previously undiscovered species of frog that only exists in a very confined area of the so-called Iwokrama Forest.

The Guiana Shield in the north of South America accounts for more than 25 percent of the world's tropical rain forests, and is one of the four remaining extensive pristine forested areas left in the world (Amazon, Congo, Papua New Guinea and Guiana Shield).

Iwokrama study centre

In a study sponsored by the Stiftung Artenschutz [Species Conservation Foundation] and the Verband Deutscher Zoodirektoren [Association of German Zoo Directors], the Dresden team, led by biologists Dr. Raffael Ernst and Monique Hölting investigated whether conservation of amphibians and ecotourism can be reconciled in the forests of Guyana. The investigations are being carried out in close co-operation with the international not-for-profit organization Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development.

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