Adventures in the Jungle and Beyond - Sarah Beynon.

West Wales Biodiversity Centre Newsletter: Bulletin 4. By Dr Rob Davies

Sarah Beynon entertained a group of us here at Landsker Business Centre just before Christmas with a wonderful slide show of her adventures in South- and Central America as well as the Galapagos Islands.  It was a great evening with beautiful photographs of bizarre and fascinating animals from the tropics and from Darwin's favourite archipelago.

Jewel Scarab Beetle, Chrysina spectabilis. Honduras.  Sarah Beynon, 2007 ©

Over mulled wine and mince pies we learnt how to trap a Dung Beetle and how the communities are faring in the Amazon - its wonderful natural riches and its alarming rate of destruction.  Sarah had an amazing trip there and worked with other biologists from Operation Wallacea.  It is a great concept that different specialists can come together and combine their knowledge in such a way. 

Along her way, Sarah came across critically endangered primates, deadly snakes and a beetle new to South America! The rainforest is an incredibly tough environment to work in so it was great to see that Sarah and her partner Andy still got some surfing in, slightly different from Whitesands.  Long discussions followed what was a great talk.