A new project aims to promote co-operation between biodiversity researchers across the UK and six Latin American countries. Funded by the British Council’s Newton Fund and in partnership with the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), Researcher Links aims to enhance scientific collaboration by promoting an international exchange of researchers between universities in UK, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Argentina and Brazil.

Leslie Koo, chairman of the Taiwan Cement Corp., whose family set up the center, said they want to contribute to protecting the world's biodiversity and demonstrate Taiwan's soft power in the area of botanic conservation.

It was a bright morning as nearly 200 people gathered in Manatuto, Timor-Leste, to share ideas about how to conserve their community’s marine resources with a team from USAID’s Coral Triangle Support Partnership. Being lucky enough to attend, I saw firsthand how this meeting of the minds linked program staff from Conservation International — USAID’s implementing partner — with the perspectives of one coastal community.