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Scientists working to preserve the rich fauna and flora of the Philippines are facing a campaign of intimidation that they fear will erupt into violence.

The Philippine Endemic Species Conversation Project (PESCP), funded by the Frankfurt Zoological Society, is involved in anti-hunting and anti-logging campaigns, and educates local communities in alternative, forest-friendly livelihoods.

But recently, PESCP members have been exposed to intimidation. Some locals, suspicious of the group’s campaigns against logging and hunting, have left cartridge cases and shot hornbills in front of the conservation station, and in some areas it has become too dangerous for scientists to spend the night in the forests.

Reference: Nature 416, 669 (2002)

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