extinction

In 2010, Mountainfilm in Telluride examined the issue of extinction for our Moving Mountains Symposium. The list of endangered creatures has been growing for generations, a crisis E.O. Wilson and other scientists say is caused by human destruction to natural habitats.

World governments have committed to try to halt the extinction of species and safeguard important biodiversity sites for nature by 2020, but this promise hasn’t seen much serious number crunching. Until now.

A recent study, published in Science, sets the price at $80 billion per year — the sum of $4 billion annually and another $76 billion to protect and manage key habitats.

In 2009, the Center for Biological Diversity, an organization dedicated to stopping the extinction of rare plants and animals in the world, started handing out condoms with rhyming environmental slogans on the wrappers. Condoms to prevent extinction? Exactly.

At Mountainfilm’s 2012 Moving Mountains Symposium, keynote speaker Paul Ehrlich presented this overarching message: Population and consumption are inseparable. In 2011, the human population passed the 7 billion mark, and the consumption of humans drives the major environmental problems that plague the planet. From climate change to species extinction, humans with our endless appetite for resources, are at the heart of the problem.

It's Sunday afternoon and by now you have watched some incredible films, listened to inspiring people talk and taken in powerful images. Just walking down the Main Street, it's impossible to not feel the buzz of energy, the slight unrest and the overwhelming inspiration. So, now with all of that inspiration, what will you do to create positive change? How will you turn that inspiration into action?

At this year’s Moving Mountains Symposium, we’re focusing on the Extinction Crisis. Why? Because with a species dying off every 20 minutes, there is real cause for concern. Part of changing that problem is through education, so follow along each Wednesday as we bring you a little more information on extinction, endangered species and biodiversity. What exactly is biodiversity? The International League of Conservation Photographers put together this great multimedia piece that showcases what biodiversity is and why it's important. Watching it, you'll quickly realize that biodiversity is something that affects all of us...

At this year's Moving Mountains Symposium, we're focusing on the Extinction Crisis. Why? Because with a species dying off every 20 minutes, there is real cause for concern. Part of changing that problem is through education, so follow along each Wednesday as we bring you a little more information on extinction, endangered species and biodiversity. Climate change is changing the world that we live in, and for ten species it's having an effect in a very big way. The Endangered Species Coalition recently identified America's "Hottest Endangered Species;" species severely affected by increased disease, diminished reproduction, lost habitat, reduced food supply and other impacts. What are they?

Each Memorial Day weekend, artists and activists, filmmakers and photographers come to Telluride for Mountainfilm. At our core, we are about exploring, preserving and sustaining environments, cultures and conversations, so this unique gathering is part film festival and part ideas festival with leading edge thinkers – and doers – getting together to change the world. Leading up to this year’s festival we wanted to focus on conversations worth sustaining and we’ve asked some of Mountainfilm’s special guests to help us out. Throughout the coming weeks we’ll be posting our conversations with them. We hope that they engage and inspire you. If you want to participate in this discussion, just submit your questions via our Facebook page or our Twitter account.

Each Memorial Day weekend, artists and activists, filmmakers and photographers come to Telluride for Mountainfilm. At our core, we are about exploring, preserving and sustaining environments, cultures and conversations, so this unique gathering is part film festival and part ideas festival with leading edge thinkers – and doers – getting together to change the world. Leading up to this year’s festival we wanted to focus on conversations worth sustaining and we’ve asked some of Mountainfilm’s special guests to help us out. Throughout the coming weeks we’ll be posting our conversations with them. We hope that they engage and inspire you. If you want to participate in this discussion, just submit your questions via our Facebook page or our Twitter account.