"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
In Africa’s Cameroon, 60,000 hectares of rainforest are at risk from deforestation.
The area is home to western lowland gorillas, chimpanzees, elephants, buffalo, panthers and pangolins.
Threat to wildlife living in these hectares
Unfortunately, the government is in the process of allocating 60,000 hectares of rainforest to the Cambert SARL company for palm oil plantation.
Did I mention that Cameroon is one of the few countries in the world where there are gorillas? They, and the Campo Ma’an National Park are in danger from deforestation.
There’s a cost to the fishermen and Bagyeli indigenous people living there, too. They are already suffering the effects of rubber and palm oil plantations and now they risk losing their livelihood.
How to help this rainforest
Rainforest Rescue need as many of us as possible to sign their petition, or call to action.
But what does Camvert actually REALLY want the area for? One possibility is that they want it for wood.
Nearly 40 envrionmental protection organsiations are fighting against this destruction.
Please support the resistance in Cameroon and sign Rianforest Rescue’s petition.
On 16 January 2020, the Governement of Belize signed the declaration of North-eastern Biological Corridor of Belize. It covers an area of nearly 70,000 acres and links the northernmost nature reserve in Belize with more central natural habitats.
It’s really important, because it’s the first step towards achieving a total North-South corridor crossing the whole country as the map shows!
It’s a tremendous example of public-private partnership: the government of Belize, local NGOs, private landowners and many international donors – including the World Land Trust – have been involved.
UNITED FOR CONSERVATION, WE CAN DO GREAT THINGS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR THE BETTER
The corridor connects a system of three protected areas in one system. Deforestation has caused the loss of over 25,000 acres of forest in tihe last 10 years.
This will now allow big animals such as jaguar and Baird’s Tapirs enough space to move freely between protected areas and so ensure their long term survival! It will also help build climate resilience into Belize’s network of protected areas.
Why was this acquisition necessary?
In Belize, about 50% of the country is under natural vegetation cover. About 35% of the country is under some form of protection.
So it is still possible to create biological corridors between protected areas.
It’s vital that these acquisitions take place, and speedily, because agricultural development are increasingly encroaching on forest.
How did supporters of the World Land Trust – people like you & me – help in this achievement?
The World Land Trust mobilised its supporters and inspired new ones to raise funds to support this land acquisition. It included 2018’s Big Match Fortnight Jungle for Jaguars campaign, and another Buy an Acre opportunity a few months after that. (The Big Match Fortnight normally comes in October when donations are matched for a specific appeal – it is incredible how much and how speedily this builds up.)
Donate in memory of someone special I donated to this campaign during the Big Match Fortnight (actually in memory of my wonderful Dad as his birthday is in November and I plant a tree or do a buy an acre on his birthday and at Christmas for him, as Dad loved trees).
Ask someone to donate as a gift for you I asked my husband to also donate as my early Christmas present and it was by far the best present I had. It really meant something to me. We had made a difference.
I cannot tell you the glow and warm feeling I have in my heart when I think of my jaguar roaming the biological corridor. I call him “my jaguar” – he obviously isn’t, and I’m never going to meet him – but it’s lovely to think that because I donated and my husband has too, we’ve helped him and lots of other animals.
Please do donate to the World Land Trust if you can, and keep an eye on their website. I often post news of their new appeals here, so you can watch this space as well. They are a wonderful charity and it’s good to give a meaningful gift which will last, so if you’re looking for a gift for a wildlife lover, making a donation could be a great way to do something to really make a difference – a win, win, win all round!
This was the You Tube Video for Jungle for Jaguars – it raised £532,000 in the Big Match Fortnight (normally early October) alone and hit the £600,000 target by Christmas, helping to save 8,154 vital acres. A further 1,818 acres were saved a few months later.
There’s a programme on Channel 4 tonight (Monday 3 February 2020) at 8pm that I’m not sure I really want to watch, but I can’t help feeling I should.
I am watching it and there are graphic images and footage, just to warn you.
Australia on Fire: Climate Emergency is the story of the battle to save Australia form the bushfires. It includes first-hand accounts from firefighters on the front line, and looks at the long-term impact of the fires on the animal population and ecology.
Drone footage show the extent of the devastation.
There’s also coverage of those who just escaped their burning properties – and we hear from those who have gone back to properties that are burnt out.
Thank you to all those everywhere who fought the fires and worked so hard and continue to work hard to help the animals in Australia.
There are as few as 172,000 chimps left in the wild. Their populations continue to decline to such an extent that they could be gone in all our lifetimes.
We need to turn their situation around.
Chimps are facing real threats.
Wildlife traffickers want them for bushmeat.
There’s an illegal global trade in skulls and other body parts
Traffickers want the baby chimps for the exotic pet trade. Sometimes a protective chimp family is killed in the process.
There’s a match funder going on until 20 December for the African Wildlife Foundation. In other words, your gift will double if you donate by 20 December 2019.
This could be a great gift for anyone who loves elephants, lions, giraffes, rhinos etc.
The AWF protects nearly 40% of Africa’s elephants, and your gift can support their programmes to stop elephant poaching and ivory trafficking, for instance.
The need to help is more urgent than ever: if they haven't got enough threatening their survival through poachers and the demand for their skin and ivory, Africa's elephants are facing a devastating natural disaster. 200 elephants recently died due to a horrific drought in Zimbabwe. Giraffes, hippos, rhinos, and other species are at risk too.
AWF can continue providing incentives to locals to prevent hunting cheetahs whose numbers have declined by 90% - there are about 9,000 left compared to the 100,000 in 1901.
Lion populations once stood at over 100,000 but there are now less than 25,000 of them AWF protects large carnivores and the communities that live near them.
© African Wildlife Foundation
