While peering into the eyes of a giant thorny phasmid, a walking stick from Malaysia, Norman Gershenz, Director of the Center for Ecosystem Survival (CES), told me that its green face was perhaps the inspiration and possible model for creating an alien creature in "Star Wars".   I didn't feel the need to stroke its antennae.   But when Norm placed a sure-footed Thailand walking stick in my hand that looked like a leafless twig with legs, we bonded in more ways than one. The feather-light, nine-inch creature felt right at home - so much so that it didn't want to leave my arm.  I was hooked.

The Insect Discovery Lab in San Francisco is one of the few places in the United States where you can hold a rainforest insect in your hand.

Norman Gershenz is a biologist with a dream. His dream is to save the planet by preserving ecosystems around the world -- a dream that he has been putting into action for the past 18 years. With rainforests shrinking as quickly as 70,000 acres per day, the world is losing 50,000 plant, animal and insect species per year. Nearly half of the earth's species will be gone in the next few decades - unless we do something about it. As the director and cofounder of the Center for Ecosystem Survival with Leslie Saul, Norm has created programs that encourage individuals, schools, institutions and corporations to contribute to rainforest and coral reef protection.  

While rainforests occupy only 6% of the world's land surface, they are home to over half of all living animal and plant species of the world. Since only a small percentage of them are currently identified, saving their habitat is critical.   

"On-the-ground academic scientific studies are critical for understanding and saving biodiversity, but if the habitat disappears, then where will the scientists do their research?" Norm said. Some experts say if the rainforests continue to diminish at the present rate, in 40 years there won't be any rainforests left.  With them, the myriad plants and animals that are uniquely adapted to rainforest habitats will also vanish without a trace. 

Norm conceived of the Center for Ecosystem Survival in 1987 after a trip to Costa Rica, where he met Dr. Daniel Janzen, a world-famous conservationist, considered by some to be a twenty-first century Charles Darwin. Dan challenged Norm (who at that time was working for the San Francisco Zoo) when he stated that zoos didn't do much for conservation.

 
 "I thought about what Janzen said  - and came back to the United States and researched every zoo and aquarium in the country and discovered that there were only 4 institutions out of 140 in the United States that were addressing in situ conservation (saving wildlife in nature) beyond the walls of the zoo," Norm remarked. "And the zoo world had never asked the public for support of this kind. No one had said - now that you have visited our institution, how would you like to save the animal you just saw in its home in the wild? Over 143 million people visit zoos every year, that's more than attend all the sporting events in the United States except for car racing. I thought when the public visits a zoo, they are thinking about nature - it is the perfect place to ask - wouldn't you like to save the place where the jaguar or spider monkey lives? "
 
Shortly afterwards, Norman Gershenz and Leslie Saul created the Center for Ecosystem Survival (CES), a nonprofit conservation organization. Then, Norm conceived the Adopt-an-Acre and the Adopt-a-Reef programs, and, was the brainchild behind the award winning Conservation Parking Meter.

CES's Adopt-an-Acre and Adopt-a-Reef programs promote the "adoption" of an acre of land in countries such as Costa Rica, Peru, Brazil and Bolivia, as well as coral reefs in Palau, the Komodo islands and other locations around the world. All contributions go directly towards the purchase or protection of land adjoining rainforest and marine protected areas, the management of these specific areas, as well as conservation education and employment opportunities for local people.  CES partners with other institutions like The Nature Conservancy, ANAI, Inc., a conservation group in Costa Rica, and the Guanacaste Dry Forest Conservation Fund.

The Conservation Parking Meter Program, another one of Norm's innovations, places parking meters adorned with hummingbirds and butterflies in over 135 institutions, zoos, natural history museums, and botanical gardens. If your local zoo doesn't have one, call Norm. Like a regular parking meter, it accepts quarters.  However, the twenty-five cent donation does not provide time on the meter - rather, it will help save 90 square feet of rainforest and possibly an insect species or two or three or four or more. Through these programs Norm, the Center, zoos, aquariums, and children all around the world have raised more than $3.2 million dollars to help protect hundreds of thousands of acres in 11 million acres of rainforest and coral reefs. 

The idea for the Insect Discovery Lab arose while Norm was teaching a course at San Francisco State University called "Our Endangered Planet".  As a conservationist who would rather be watching insects all night in hot, humid Costa Rica than lying on the beach, Norm believed by bringing back live insects from around the world, and by placing them into the hands of school children as well as adults, he could change their perception and understanding for saving rainforests.  By holding a foot-long Thailand walking stick or watching a giant African millipede uncurl, he could tell the story of how important insects are to our very own survival --- and then to inspire children and the public to care about threatened and endangered habitat and then do something about it. This year Norm is running over 650 programs in the Bay Area alone.

"Putting nature into people's hands changes their lives," Norm said.  "A dynamic creature, like the Australian walking stick looks like a sculpted piece of art found in the Louvre - but it is a living masterpiece.  We have the opportunity to save this precious biological diversity and these wild places before they disappear. And by placing an insect into someone's hand, inspiring them, and then letting them know they can make a difference right now - they get excited, they will take action. That is when they ask, how can we help, and I say Adopt An Acre."

The biomass of insects is much greater than any other species on the planet, with the staggering number of 20 to 50 million insect species waiting to be named. However, if their habitat is gone - which will happen unless we slow down or halt rainforest destruction - they, too, will be gone. Coupled with the disappearance of millions of types of insects is the loss of countless unnamed plants and animals.    

"I understand the allure of the charismatic mega-vertebrate like the tiger - people rally around something with fur, four legs and eyes facing forward - but mark my words, there are species of insects that pollinate plants that are critical to the survival of all species in the forest, including the tiger.  Without those species of insect, that ecosystem would not survive," Norm remarked. "Let's elevate the pollinator to the status of tiger.  Biodiversity isn't just about invertebrates, but invertebrates certainly are key to the evolutionary processes that drive all the biodiversities on earth."

It is easy to overlook the important of insects to ecosystem survival until we are able to clearly see the connection between bug, plant and man.  Considering that some of our most effective medicines come from rainforest plants, when rainforests are destroyed, possibility of uncovering cures to life-threatening diseases is also eliminated.

Scientists know there are hundreds of plants yet to be discovered and many have never been screened for medicinal uses. There are currently over 120 prescription drugs sold worldwide from plant-derived sources, many from rainforest habitats. Over 2000 rainforest plants have been identified by the US National Cancer Institute. Twenty-five percent of cancer-fighting drug ingredients used today are found in the rainforest, with the potential of much more. Experts believe that there are at minimum 300 more drugs that are yet undiscovered in South American rainforests. Much of the plant knowledge has been passed down by oral history among medicine men and women, and, has been lost over the past few centuries with the demise of the shamans. Plants like the rosy periwinkle, found in the rainforests of Madagascar, have been used to fight childhood leukemia. Quinine, a malaria treatment, is extracted from the bark of a tropical cinchona tree.

AIDS research has included some rainforest plants, such as the Calophyllum lanigerum var austrocoriaceum, an extremely rare member of the Guttiferae or mangosteen family, discovered by a National Cancer Institute-sponsored expedition in Sarawak Malaysia on the island of Borneo in 1987.  This tree yields a compound known as Calanolide A, which has demonstrated significant anti-HIV effects.  This promising drug was very nearly lost due to the inexorable deforestation that plagues rainforest regions, especially in developing nations.  When scientists discovered Calophyllum's effectiveness against HIV, they returned to the location of the tree, only to discover that it was gone, likely felled by locals for building material or fuel.  This led to a mad search by botanists for other Calophyllum specimens.  Fortunately, the Singapore Botanic Garden had several plants collected by the British over 100 years ago, so AIDS research using Calanolide A could continue.

Rainforest protection involves recognizing the important interrelationships between all the inhabitants of an ecoystem, from ants to jaguars to humans.  The Center for Ecosystem Survival is working in 10 conservation areas throughout the world.  In addition to the long-term conservation of plants and animals, CES also assists in the sustainable development of surrounding communities.  These areas have been carefully selected for their biological significance, land availability, protection and management programs. All areas are managed with oversight by local in-country conservation NGO's - non-governmental organizations.   One example is Guanacaste Conservation Area, Costa Rica, a 247 sq. mile area park that reaches from volcanic mountains and rainforests down to the oceans. These multiple habitats, when protected, will save at least 500 bird species, 3000 plant species, 100 mammal species and thousands of species of insects. By saving this area and others like it, these animals and plants have a chance to be around for future generations. And who knows what miracles will be discovered there under a leaf or in the bark of a tree.
 
 Like Norm says, "Nature is in your hands."

Rainforest Insects at the Center for Ecosystem Survival

Australian Walking Stick
Extatosoma tiaratum

The Australian walking stick is found in the tropical rainforests of Australia.  These stick insects are sexually dimorphic, live approximately 3-4 months, and are herbivores, feeding primarily on eucalyptus leaves.  The males are much thinner, stronger flyers, with well-developed wings.  The larger, plumper female has rudimentary wings and is unable to fly.

Giant Thorny Phasmid
Heteropteryx dilatata

The giant thorny phasmid, also known as the jungle nymph, is found in the tropical rainforests of the Malay Peninsula. Giant thorny phasmids feed on guava leaves, as will as other large-leafed tropical plants. As with most stick insect species, giant thorny phasmids are sexually dimorphic.  Females grow to be 7 inches long, and bright green in color.  Females are unable to fly, but can use their small, pink wings to make a startling hissing sound.  Males are thinner,  grow to be about 4 inches long and can fly.  They are dark brown in color, and resemble twigs.  Males have reddish-purple wings, which they conceal under brown wing cases.

Giant African Millipede
Archispirostreptus giga

Giant African millipedes are found in the rainforests of Africa and are among the largest millipedes in the world.  They are herbivores  and quite docile in nature.  When they are threatened, their main defense is to coil into a tight armored ball, and excrete a foul-tasting, smelly liquid from their stink glands to discourage their predators.

Giant African millipedes are "nutrient recyclers", primarily feeding on and helping  break down dead plant material on the rainforest floor.  They are mostly active at night, and typically found under rocks, leaves, and in most soil.  Giant African millipedes can live up to 7 years and grow to be 12 inches long.

Madagascar Hissing Cockroach
Gromphadorhina portentosa

The Madagascar hissing cockroach is one of the largest species of cockroach in the world.  Hissing cockroaches can grow to be 2-3 inches long and live up to 5 years.  They are brown, with orange abdominal markings.  Unlike most cockroaches of the world, they are wingless, however, they are known for their unique ability to "hiss" by forcing air through breathing pores on their abdomen.  They hiss when they are disturbed or threatened, or to establish dominance between males.

Hissing cockroaches are herbivores and important "nutrient recyclers" that mostly eat fallen fruit, rotting plant material on the rainforest floor.  They are often found in rotting logs or in the underbush on the forest floor, and like to establish large colonies, where one male will dominate over several females.