FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 4, 2004

CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119, lisa.lacher@drake.edu

EXPERT TO DISCUSS SAVING PRIMATE FROM EXTINCTION

Denise Rambaldi, a forestry engineer, attorney and ecostatesman, will speak Friday, Oct. 8, at Drake University, about her efforts to save an endangered primate from extinction in her native Brazil.

Rambaldi's talk, which is free and open to the public, is titled "Integrated Efforts to Save the Golden Lion Tamerin and its Natural Habitat." The event will start at 3 p.m. in room 101 of Olin Hall, 27th Street and Forest Avenue. Refreshments will be served following the presentation.

Rambaldi is secretary general of the Golden Lion Tamarin Association of Brazil, overseeing an internationally recognized model program for the conservation of biological diversity. She has worked to triple the number of the highly endangered golden lion tamarins and to triple the amount of protected habitat in the Atlantic Coastal Rainforest near Rio de Janeiro.

The golden lion tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia rosalia) is an endangered primate endemic to the Atlantic Coastal Rainforest of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Since the early 1970s, scientists, educators and conservationists from Brazilian and foreign institutions have been studying and managing the species and its habitat with the long-term commitment of local Brazilians and many international sponsors.

The work includes study of the behavior and ecology of wild golden lion tamarins, translocation and reintroduction, public education, forest recovery, regional planning and watershed management. These efforts have emerged as an internationally recognized model of successful conservation based on science, sustainable development and human welfare.

For more information about the event at Drake, call (515) 271-3924.

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