Our blog & news: Get involved to help wildlife

 
 

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world;
indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." 
Margaret Mead, American anthropologist, 1901-1978
 


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  1. Do it for nature!  Join the State of Nature campaign!

    Why?

    Nearly half of the UK’s wildlife is in a long term decline.  15% of species are at risk of extinction.

    The Wildlife Trusts have emailed about a campaign to call on the Prime Minister to strengthen the Environment Bill to ensure it includes a LEGALLY BINDING TARGET to reverse nature loss in  England by 2030.

    The campaign is called the State of Nature. 

    They are doing this in a major collaboration with organisations across the environmental sector from the Wildlife and Countryside LINK Coalition.

    Examples of this campaign’s supporters include the RSPB, Earthwatch, Plantlife, The Rivers Trust, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, the Shark Trust, Whale and Dolphin Conservation, the People’s Trust for Endangered Species, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust,  Four Paws, the Mammal Society, Butterfly Conservation, Open Spaces, National Trust, WWT, Woodland Trust, ZSL, the Marine Conservation Society  and a host more.


    So what’s the State of Nature campaign about?

    The UK is hosting the UN Climate Change Summit in Glasgow from 1 to 12 November 2021 so this is a good chance to lead the way.  

    The Prime Minister has called on world leaders to turn around the decline of nature by 2030.   


    But, Boris Johnson, words are meaningless

    We need you to lead the world by example and put this commitment into law.

    It’s no good saying you’ll turn the decline of nature around if you then destroy wildlife habitat for a theme park or allow a coal mine in Cumbria to go ahead or give oil and gas drilling the go ahead in the North Sea. 

    Nearly 100,000 people have signed it already but come on, everyone, we really need to let out a big noise for wildlife and let the Government know that we care.   The wildlife can’t do it – they are relying on each and every one of us.

    Please let’s push our Government to put its good intentions into law.   Words are meaningless.  ACTION is what wildlife need now.

    Please give wildlife your support today. 
    Please sign the petition here
    Thank you!


    Take a look at LINK – its role is to bring its members together on key issue and present a clear, consistent message to the Government, opinion leaders and the general public.

     

  2. March 2021:  There’s news about African elephants.

    The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has recognised the African elephant as two separate species after the emergence of new evidence.

    1. The Forest Elephant – the number in the wild has fallen by over 86% in three decades – they are now critically endangered, a step away from extinction



    Getting involved

    There are more elephant charities here.

    PLUS!  News of a special appeal!

    The World Land Trust has launched its first appeal of 2021 to help Tanzania's coastal forests and a crucial corridor for elephants, lions, leopards and others.   



    Find out more and please donate if you can and spread the word at the World Land Trust's website

     

  3. There’s good news for spectacled bears in Peru from the World Land Trust!

    Locals in the Amazonas Department have successfully expanded a reserve in one of the most biodiverse ecoregions in the world.   It’s essential for spectacled bears and critically endangered primates.


    Originally 8,155 acres were envisioned but the community owned area has been enlarged by 21,530 acres! 

    This was made possible by Natureleza y Cultura Peru and World Land Trust supporters such as Puro Coffee.  Well done and thank you to them!  The reserves now protects 64,700 acres in what is a key biological corridor.

    130 flora species and 29 mammal species call the area home, and there are 65 avian species as well.

    The success of this project just shows how important it is to have local communities steer conservation efforts and how vital it is to involve them at every stage.   The communities manage the land, and NCP give them training and support in such areas as reserve mapping, fire prevention and tourism.  The area is rapidly being turned into agricultural land so you can see how important this development is.

    Find out more about the Peruvian milestone to add 21,500 plus protected acres to spectacled bear country!

    Find out about the Action Fund here. #Nottoolate

  4. There’s good news from Ecuador, brought to us by the World Land Trust and their partner Naturalez y Cultura Ecuador (NCE for short). 

    The Santiago Municipal Reserve was officially declared early this month.

    It’s is an important expansion of vital habitat for species, covering 34,051 acres, and it’s a link between two national parks.  Essentially it’s expanded the Sangay-Podocarpus Connectivity Corridor which spans 1.4 million acres as well as parts of the Podocarpus-El Condor Biosphere Reserve.   WLT and NCE work here, too.



    However the protected land doesn’t stop there.  North of the aforementioned connectivity corridor, there’s a 200 mile long area of reserves and national parks.  They like along the eastern Andes, connected by the Llanganates-Sangay Biological Corridor which is managed by Fundacion Ecominga, another WLT partner.  So the network of protected areas now covers about 4 million acres.

    The most recent acquisition of 34,051 acres was partly funded by donations to the World Land Trust’s Action Fund.   The idea behind the Action Fund is that the World Land Trust can respond rapidly to any need to purchase land.

    This purchase is an excellent example of the Action Fund at work and how important it is to be able to move fast in conservation.

    The forests and grasslands would have faced cattle ranching and timber chopping, but thanks to the efforts of supporters like you and me, they have been saved.   Scientists have already recorded 344 plant species, 152 species of birds, 57 amphibian species, 47 mammal species and 11 reptile species.  They all call the area home.

    Their home was saved just in time!

    Visit the World Land Trust's website here

  5. It’s been quite a week for gorillas, thanks to Reddit’s WallStreetBets (WSB) community.  It’s the group behind the GameStop Movement.

    Imagine - 3,500 gorillas have been adopted!

    In short, Reddit investors have adopted 3,500 gorillas in just six days to help the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International.   That’s an incredible investment!

    Normally, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International have about 20 new adoptions on a weekend, so this is truly quite an astonishing leap up!

    And it started with one post...

    It all started to happen on Friday.  A member of the WSB community posted that they had sent a donation to Dian Fossey Fund International which allowed them to adopt their own gorilla.   The charity protects endangered mountain gorillas. 

    And the post was upvoted over 112,000 times – members of the WSB community followed suit and adopted a gorilla!

    Not only that, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International received  over $350,000 (£252,000) in donations as well!

    It’s wonderful to see people wanting to do their bit and it just shows what can be done when one person sows the seed and drops an idea into a community.

    A huge thank you to the Reddit WSB community for supporting the apes!  Dr Stoinski from the charity thanked WSB for their amazing support – the video was posted and upvoted over 159,000 times!


    Essentially, the Fund works in four ways:

    1. Daily protection of the gorillas
    2. Scientific research
    3. Education Conservationists
    4. Helping Communities

    Visit the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International

    How you can help gorillas

    Adopt a gorilla here

    Shop in their store here for gorilla products and support the Fund that way

    Find out more about the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International

    Spread the word #gorilla and on social media

    Twitter:  @SavingGorillas

    Facebook:  @SavingGorillas

    Instagram

    Just donate whatever you can

     

    Source:  BBC News