Wild Spots Foundation

Jaguar - San Martin Ecological Center - Ecuador

Welcome to our world of biodiversity!

We take enormous pride in our projects. They range from documenting species in a variety of ecosystems around the world, to assessing ecotourism venues for developing countries, to researching DNA from Andean Puma in the Amazonia Cloud Forest of Ecuador. Our member participants range in age from 18 to 93 with educational backgrounds from high school degrees to PhDs. Our ongoing projects to collect photographic data on threatened/endangered species have us traveling to the Amazonia Cloud Forests of Ecuador, the Amazon basin in Peru, the bamboo forests of China where we have volunteer programs established with the Ya'an Panda Preserve near Chengdu, the deserts of Namibia, the tropical rain forests of Borneo and Southeast Asia, and the Florida Everglades, to name a few. Our ecotourism assessment projects have taken us to service governmental clients in St. Lucia, Uruguay, Kenya, Botswana, Ecuador, Malaysia, Borneo, and the United Arab Emirates. Our travel photographers and writers are divided into smaller groups to document simultaneous events throughout a country within a 7-10 day period. Photographic inventories include national park systems, indigenous peoples, cultural attributes, adventure venues, as well as colonial/historical areas. Money funneled to science goes to two separate activities: one is to support DNA research comparing the South Florida Panther with the Andean Puma, tropical veterinarian medicine, captive breeding programs, and reforestation projects. The other activity delivers innovative environmental science education to middle and high students and their teachers.

We accept all major credit cards to pay for travel expenses for projects, expeditions, and workshops:

Call for papers
2012 Annual International Biodiversity Conference
July 29 - August 4, 2012
Baños, Ecuador
The program selection committee of the 2012 International Biodiversity Conference is now accepting abstracts to participate in its third conference in Baños, Ecuador, July 29 – August 4, 2012. The committee encourages all researchers and field practionners to share their research and findings in the areas of biodiversity, field ecology, environmental conflict resolution, and biogeography. Why Baños, Ecuador? Considered by many of our colleagues this area of Ecuador is one of the most biodiverse places on earth and one of the most dynamic in terms if speciation. Wild Spots Foundation over the past 25 years has involved ecologists, zoologists, geologists, and photographers to develop a photographic inventory of endangered/threatened plant and animal species in this part of the world. It is also a region where Ecuadorian and American scientists are defining new ecological habitats and discovering new species. The Foundation with the support of its friends in Ecuador and around the world wish to learn more about this unique ecosystem, share research from all over the world, and develop new questions for further study.
The 2012 International Biodiversity Conference is bilingual and sponsored by Wild Spots Foundation, San Martin Zoological Gardens, City of Baños. Contact Dr Barry Barker: barkerb@wildspotsfoundation.org

Call for International participants, Conference details, Costs, Getting there

Panda Partners Program for students ages 11-17.

Chengdu, China, Summer 2012.

Join Wild Spots Foundation group leader Dr. Barry W. Barker for a fascinating visit to China to volunteer in the care and feeding of Giant Pandas at Bi Feng Xia Panda Base in Ya’an. After the devastating earthquakes in Sichuan Province in May 2008, many of the pandas being kept at the Wolong Nature Preserve were transferred to Ya’an. Dr. Barker, a professor at Nova Southeastern University and Biodiversity expert states, “This once-in-a-lifetime experience provides the opportunity to participate first-hand in the care and feeding of these fascinating animals.” Volunteers will have the opportunity to visit the Panda Reproductive Center, temples, and the Chinese Opera in Cheng Du before heading to Ya’an. Two days will be spent with the pandas as a volunteer keeper with ample opportunities for photography. Duties may include gathering and delivering bamboo to the panda enclosures, as well as washing the enclosures and feeding the pandas. According to Barker, “The program at Ya’an is one of the most successful panda husbandry programs in the world and volunteers will have an incredible behind-the-scenes experience participating in the conservation of this endangered species”. Dr Barker is a nationally known environmental educator whose students have been recognized and published for their photographic work, including the National Geographic's World Magazine.

EarthLink e-Newsletter
(updated news, notes, information, & announcements for WSF members)
1.   March 2012...: 2012 weekly trips to Ecuador... This is an excellent opportunity to photograph endangered animal and plant species. Total cost from Miami $1850. Stay in our compound at the San Martin Zoological Gardens in Baños. Enjoy the incredible diversity of people and cultures, as well as the awesome beauty and eruptions of the local Volcano Tugurahua.
2. July 21-30, 2012: Ya'an Panda Preserve near Chengdu, China. Total cost from JFK $9999.00. Family Exploration trip for 2 parents + 2-3 kids. This is a special trip for students ages 12-17 to work with the Pandas. The entire itinerary is oriented to that age group. Parents are invited to provide support. This is not an adult trip! Contact Dr Barker for more information: barkerb@wildspotsfoundaiton.org
3.   Endangered species expeditions to Thailand (Elephants), India (Tigers), and Madagascar (Lemurs) $2850 + air ...for more information: barkerb@widspotsfoundation.org
4.   Nov 19-28, 2011: Kenya Photo Safari is scheduled for November 19-28, 2011. Total cost from JFK $4350. This project is open to all interested, particularly environmental science middle/high school teachers. If the reports are true, global warming is occurring at a faster rate than predicted; consequently, fragile ecosystems like the tropical savannah in Western Kenya may soon be threatened. The vast store-house of incredible species may be gone in less than 50 years. We hope to photographically document the species in this region of the world before this happens. email barkerb@nova.edu for more information.