Category: Business helps wildlife

1. Chitwan National Park - Entrepreneurs and Conservationists work together

   Posted on 9:00pm Monday 11th Mar 2019

   There’s been an interesting development in Chitwan between conservationists and the local business community. The conservationists held an interactive programme with the business community to discuss the responsibility of all stakeholders in conserving wildlife in the area.  The programme was organised by the Ratnanagar Chamber of Commerce and Industry.   The conservationists said that conserving wildlife is vital to both save the ecosystem and help local communities enjoy economic benefits. The Chitwan National Park is home to areas such as one-horned rhinos, tigers, elephants and others.  It’s the first conservation area of the country and as such the area – especially the tourism industry – will benefit if wildlife is part of the agenda. Tourists will come far and wide to see the animals.   As well as revenue coming into the area, there will be employment opportunities for local people.  Businesses were urged to refrain from undertaking activities which could affect wildlife conservation.   And information was distributed about the legal repercussions of harming, poaching and smuggling wild animals.  Businesses were asked for help in raising awareness about smuggling animal parts and helping the local authorities to stop it.  Businesses were also reminded about their legal responsibilities in meeting and maintaining environmental standards so that the balance of the ecosystem would be preserved. The business community as a whole agreed to carry out their work while taking steps to protect animals and forests.  The interaction programme was organised to enable entrepreneurs to be aware of the conservation of the environment and wildlife as they ran their businesses.   About 100 entrepreneurs attended the event. This is a terrific initiative and wouldn’t it be great if there was more collaboration between businesses and conservationists elsewhere?  Well done to everyone involved :-)

    

2. New partnership to curb elephant poaching in Kenya

   Posted on 8:00pm Wednesday 20th Feb 2019

   The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has partnered with the TUI Care Foundation to prevent the poaching of elephants and stop human-elephant conflict in the Tsavo conservation area in Kenya. TenBoma is IFAW’s innovative wildlife security initiative.  It means that government and community rangers are trained to better predict and respond to threats and protect the animals and local communities. In short, the tenBoma approach combines tradition – taking traditional knowledge from communities – with modernity – incorporating this knowledge into modern methods and technology. The support from the TUI Care Foundation has enabled IFAW to provide urgently needed equipment to community rangers.  This equipment includes items such as mobile devices, cameras and boots.  These items enable the rangers to gather information on potential threats to wildlife and people. Technology, systematic data processing systems and intelligence will enable the two organisations to implement the initiative. Rangers have communications and mobility equipment such as GPS, smartphones and radios so that they can respond more quickly and effectively to intercept poachers.   These also enable the rangers to get to areas where elephants are raiding crops and so coming into conflict with people. The Tsavo Conservation Area is one of Kenya's most visited tourism destinations.  IFAW say about 12,850 elephants live there, and amongst them are at least 11 of the world’s remaining big tuskers.  They are all facing a threat from poachers who want their ivory and from human-elephant conflict. Find out more

    

3. Apathy kills, action inspires

   Posted on 8:00am Wednesday 31st Oct 2018

   It’s very motivating to browse the internet and come across something which really strikes into your heart. The sort of thing I’m thinking of spurs you to take action – not just to want to take action, but to actually do it. How often do we come away having read something, thinking," That’s terrible," and then go on as if we had read nothing or not been affected at all? The key to successful wildlife conservation is to moving people literally to take action, to do something, in whatever way we all can, to do something to save this wildlife on this planet and most particularly, to save and protect their habitats.  Number of actions for wildlife... ___________________________________________________________ 0              1             2              3              4              5              6              7                                          1 action                 is better than                 no action at all The good thing about taking one action is that we tend to feel good about doing it.  And often we may think, "That was easy!  What else can I do?"  Sometimes it’s just the getting started and doing something however little time it takes. The one thing wildlife cannot afford at all is for us all to sit at the zero action position.  We need a total army of people who will move from the zero point to doing stuff.  And if each of us already do stuff, we need to do more. E.O.Wilson is a scientist.  In his book , (which inspires us to set aside half of the earth’s surface for nature), Mr Wilson writes: “To those who are steering the growth of reserves worldwide, let me make an earnest request:  don’t stop, just aim a lot higher.” We all need to act for the sake of wildlife and this beautiful planet of ours. Please take an action to help wildlife today.  One way is to support those already working to grow and protect reserves around the world or protecting the wildlife already there.

    

4. Mansion House Declaration is signed commiting bank signatories to tackle illegal wildlife trade

   Posted on 9:00pm Thursday 11th Oct 2018

   The illegal wildlife trade is estimated to be about £18 billion.  And it’s linked to extreme violence and drugs/weapons trafficking. In London from the 11-12 October 2018, the UK Government is hosting an international illegal wildlife trade conference.  And ahead of the conference, the  Duke of Cambridge, President of United for Wildlife, hosted a meeting of the United for Wildlife Financial Taskforce for the signing of the Mansion House Declaration Over 20 banks are clamping down on money laundering by criminal gangs who are involved in poaching elephants, rhinos, tigers and other threatened species.  HSBC, Barclays, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Chartered and the Bank of America Merrill Lynch are all signing an agreement committing them to training their staff to spot transactions which are linked to the trade in rhino horn, ivory and other animal parts. The Duke met with senior staff from the banks back in May and they agreed to join a new wildlife financial taskforce set up by United for Wildlife.  Traffic (a wildlife trade monitoring network) and the Royal United Services Institute are also signing. The Duke of Cambridge launched the initiative and the commitment made by these financial institutions is laid out in the Mansion House Declaration. The six commitments in the declaration are:   1. Increasing awareness of how the financial industry can combat IWT 2. Providing training to identify and investigate suspicious activity 3. Providing intelligence to regulatory bodies and law enforcement agencies 4. Reviewing intelligence alerts received through the Taskforce and taking appropriate actions 5. Considering additional actions such as policy amendments 6. Supporting and promoting the work of the Taskforce and external supporting The Duke of Cambridge thinks that the wealthy overseeing the trade need to be tracked down as well as the poachers. Britain’s Penny Mordaunt, the UK’s International Development Secretary, will also sign.  She will also announce that the Government will give £3.5 million to an international project to tackle money laundering by gang leaders who profit from the illegal wildlife trade. In part, the money will help improve detection and the sharing of intelligence by law enforcement bodies in Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Uganda and the Ivory Coast. If the UK can protect these species, it will also help some of the world’s poorest people to benefit from sustainable jobs which depend on the nautral world and endangered, wild animals. The creation of the Financial Taskforce follows on from the success of the of United for Wildlife’s Transportation Taskforce.  In March 2016, the Buckingham Palace Declaration in March 2016 was signed.  It saw global transport industry leaders unite to identify ways the transport sector can close down criminal supply routes to thwart traffickers as part of efforts to tackle the poaching crisis.  Find out here. Go to United for Wildlife here

    

5. Wildlife Friendly Gardening - help from the RSPB & Barrett Homes

   Posted on 1:00pm Monday 13th Aug 2018

    

   Here’s news of a great partnership. The RSPB have just joined forces with Barrett Homes.   They apparently are looking to create developments and green spaces that’s friendly to nature. Give them a home, and they will come - as the RSPB advert says There's no doubt in my mind that having wildlife in a garden give the place far more colour and life. There's nothing like watching the birds from a corner of the garden take a splash in a bird bath, or feast on the food you've put out for them - or to discover a hedgehog, or watch butterflies flutter from one group of flowers to another.  Honestly, it's like having your own nature show. 60% of the species which have been monitored in the UK in the last 50 years are declining.   And yet, private gardens in the UK cover about 450,000 hectares of land – an area larger than Suffolk. So the potential to create fantastic places for wildlife is huge.  And they don’t need a lot of room, as Butterfly Conservation’s Pot for Pollinators  shows – you just need a pot with a butterfly friendly plant stuck in it and anyone can put that on a patio or balcony.  Anyway, back to the RSPB and Barrett Homes. They’ve created some advice to help you get started giving nature a home in your garden.  The guide has basic steps on how to make your garden wildlife friendly, garden features that will help you make the most of any size garden (so there’ s no need to have a garden the size of Kent to get started), and a full plant guide of what to plant and what not to plant. Get shopping for the birds at the RSPB's online shop So take a look at it – you can DOWNLOAD IT FOR FREE from the RSPB’s website HERE.