"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
A spectacular wilderness in Uganda is under threat from Uganda’s Electric Regulatory Authority which is looking for approval for a new hydroelectric plant connected to the park’s amazing waterfalls.
The Murchison Falls National Park is not only one of the most popular tourist attractions in Uganda. It’s also home to elephants, lions, hippos and giraffes and many other species. A few years ago in fact, scientists surveyed the area – they found it twice as rich in wildlife as previously thought.
If the ERA gets approval for this plant, it would be devastating for both wildlife and locals who need tourism. Across many sectors, there’s growing outcry that this damming of the river which feeds the Murchison Falls is a bad idea.
And the wildlife and locals in Murchison Falls need support from outside Uganda to stop the building of the plant.
There needs to be a global response which emphasise the importance of this national park – and others like it. We all need to make it clear that protecting Uganda’s biodiversity is important to all of us, not just Uganda.
Will you add your support? The Wildlife Conservation Society is asking as many people as possible to speak up by 3 July so that they can delivery comments to the ERA
Please show your support. Let the ERA know the plans for a new dam should not go ahead.
We need all the good news we can get for rainforests at the moment, and there's two sets of good news from the Sumatran Orangutan Society today!
Temporary Moratorium set to become a Permanent one!
In an email, SOS sent a link to Mongabay which report that a temporary moratorium which prohibits the issuing of new permits to clear primary and peat forests is set to become permanent later this year. There is more that can be done to strengthen this action, such as including secondary forests, say environmental activists.
When it was first introduced back in 2011, the moratorium was largely ineffective in stemming deforestation; but since 2016, it has been shored up by peat-protection regularions which have helped to slow the loss of forest cover. And fears that the move would harm the economy have been unfounded.
There's also a need to close a loophole which allows primary and peat forests to be razed for rice, sugarcane and other crop planatations.
But the move to make the moratorium permanent is a start. Indonesia has pledged to slash its carbon dioxide emissions by at least 29% by 2030. Although it is one of the top emitters world-wide, most of the emissions come from deforestation and not the burning of fossil fuels.
The public did it and the money was raised - and on 17th June 2019, a restoration team will start to clear the oil palm trees using chainsaws. Once the oil palms have gone, the next phrase of restoration will start, bringing the land closer to being forest again!
The World Land Trust has just launched its new appeal, to protect forest in Kenya on the coastline.
Dakatcha has been identified as a Key Biodiversity Area and an Important Bird Area. It has no official protection – but the future of this habitat could be secured under the ownership of Nature Kenya.
The World Land Trust partners with Nature Kenya and their current project is to protect 810 acres before the threats of illegal charcoal production, hunting, controlled pineapple farming and the persistent threat of deforestation see this rare area burn.
Save land by sponsoring an acre – or even quarter of an acre, and you can help save a species.
You can get involved by sponsoring an acre for £100, half an acre for £50, or a quarter of an acre for £25.00
So why save Dakatcha?
The You Tube video below shows the reasons why we should all help save the area. It’s a vital area for people and animals locally, but it also is the case that every single healthy intact forest we can save will help us in the fight against climate change.
New species are still to be found here, as little is known about the forest – but it is known that endangered species such as the Clarke’s Weaver, the Sokoko Scops Owl and the Golden Oriole need this area.
The World Land Trust are looking to save 810 acres and people have started to donate to save these acres already :-)
I’m making a donation in memory of my wonderful father on this Father’s Day. He loved his feathered friends and his trees – and he enjoyed a family holiday to Kenya many years ago. So the ties are there, and I can’t think of a better way to remember my father than save an acre of forest in his memory.
There’s news from South Korea of a rare Asiatic black bear having been spotted in the DMZ.
The DMZ is the Demilitarised Zone which divides North and South Korea. The area is very cut off and as a result, it’s become a pristine nature reserve.
In fact, the DMZ has become a real haven for plants and wildlife; the South Korean government predict that over 100 endangered species call the area home and the Ministry of Environment estimates that there are over 5,097 animal and plant species there, such as the red-crowned crane and black-faced spoonbill.
It’s thought there are about 3,050 red-crowned cranes left in the world so they are a very endangered species indeed. However, it’s also a migrating route for birds and the Eurasian lynx has been spotted in the area too.
Although South Korean soldiers reported seeing bears in the past, there wasn’t any photographic evidence. The South Korea National Institute of Technology installed cameras – and the bear was spotted!
The bear seen is thought to be between 8 to 9 months old, weighing about 25 to 35 kilograms. They think the bear is a descendant of the Asiatic black bears lived in the DMZ for a long time
The DMZ is 155 miles long and 2.5 miles wide and it runs across the Korean Peninsula. It’s heaviliy mined and fortified with barbed wire with surveillance cameras and electric fending. It was created after the armistice which brought an end to the 1950-53 Korean War.
Hiking trails are being established in the DMZ now as recently ties between North and South Korea have improved.
Researchers doing some photo monitoring in the Vorontsov Land of the Leopard National Park have identified 91 adult leopards, as well as 22 cubs!
As a rule, a qualitative increase is possible when the population has at least twice as many females as males. The high percentage of cubs too is good news.
The new trend amongst Far Eastern Leopards suggests stabilisation of this rare cat’s population. They are also known as Amur Leopards.
The Land of the Leopard National Park accounts for about 70% of the leopard’s natural habitat. This was a key decision: it means that the Far Eastern Leopard can now live safely on an area of almost 2,800 square kilometres.
To count the wild cats, national park employees went through nearly a million camera trap images. About 10,000 of them had leopards on them!
To complete the picture, experts from the Russian national park are eagerly waiting for the results that their Chinese colleagues are producing; they too have been monitoring photos.
These data are vital now that the Land of the Leopard has become a “birth centre” for the spotted cats; many young leopards move to the Chinese borders to look out new territories. Some return, but a certain number stay in China – and that means that the leopard population can grow!
Far Eastern Leopards is an autonomous non-profit organisation. Far Eastern Leopards’ mission is “to protect and restore the Far Eastern Leopard population in its historical habitat in the Russian Far East.
It supports the photo monitoring at Land of the Leopard and the Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve. About 360,000 hectares are being monitored in the national park. 400 automatic camera traps can be found in the national park, so it’s the largest camera trap network in Russia!
Camera trap images enable scientists to do several things:
to determine the size of the animal population
to monitor changes in their life cycle
to estimate their physical condition
to determine their behavioural traits.
Find out about Far Eastern Leopards here – there’s lots of information on Far Eastern Leopards and also the organisation trying to protect and restore the species.
Reasons for the very low numbers of these leopards are:
Reduced feeding supply – the prey they live off have been dying out because of poaching and deforestation
Habitat destruction and infrastructure development – forest fire risks have increased because of deforestation and mining; roads make the areas more accessible to humans
Poaching – leopard skin and body parts are used in oriental medicine
