» Listings for February 2020

1. Tell These Big US Banks That Arctic Drilling Is Bad Business!

   Posted on 5:00pm Wednesday 26th Feb 2020

   The Sierra Club (a grassroots environmental organisation in the US) has announced that there’s big, exciting news from a bank! JPMorgan Chase have announced at its annual Investor Day that: It will not finance oil and gas extraction in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge It will not continue financing many coal-related enterprises, including thermal coal mines and coal-fired power plants across the world. The bank is by far the leading US investor in fossil fuels, and environmentalists and indigenous peoples have put pressure on the bank for years trying to move away from projects which threaten the climate. They promised to stop investing in and providing services to companies which derive “the majority of their revenues from the extraction of coal” by 2024, and not to provide financing to offshore and onshore oil and gas extraction in the Arctic Goldman Sachs also made a similar commitment not to financial oil drilling in the Arctic two months ago. Now, it’s vital that we put the pressure on other big banks to follow suit.  I wonder... Could their executives and shareholders live with themselves if there was an accident drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic which they had agreed to finance?  It only takes ONE spill to do unrepairable damage.  As the Sierra Club say, “Clean air, safe drinking water, wildlife and wild places are under attack-and once they're gone, they're gone for good.”  © istockphoto.com Mario Hoppmann Tell These Big US Banks That Arctic Drilling Is Bad Business! The Sierra Club say that banks worldwide are refusing to fund Arctic drilling.  Some US banks are dragging their feet.  But Goldman Sachs have done it;  they were the trail-finders who have ruled out financing Arctic oil and gas drilling, thermal coal mines and coal-fired power projects around the world.  Thank you, everyone at Goldman Sachs. Sierra Club Big banks don’t want to fall behind on industry trends.   The Sierra Club is asking us all to focus our efforts on the other US funders which, they say, are notorious for propping up dirty fuels:  Wells Fargo, Citi, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley. The Sierra Club are asking everyone to: Send a message to the CEOs of the other major US banks, telling them that bankrolling Arctic drilling isn’t just bad business -- it’s a threat to Indigenous human rights and to the climate. Add your name here and you can send a message too, if you want to add power to it. Let’s all fight for wildlife and indigenous peoples and drill hard and deep for change in the right direction.  Let’s put pressure on.

2. Help wildlife and people in Columbia

   Posted on 8:25pm Sunday 23rd Feb 2020

   MAY 2020:   SUCCESS:   The target has been reached! I’m a big fan of the World Land Trust and I always thinking it’s very exciting to see where they are going to work to save land next and follow the appeals. The new appeal they have just launched (end February 2020) is in Columbia and here it is: ©World Land Trust WLT are working with Fundacion Biodiversa Colombia to save 260ha of lowland forest and wetlands.  They need to raise £295,000 to ensure these habitats are safe.  The area has already suffered from extreme deforestation and degradation – a whopping 90% of the original forests have been lost, so it’s vital to protect the remaining 10%. ©World Land Trust Many endangered species live there, from the American Manatee and Magdalena River Turtle to the Lowland Tapir and Jaguar.  There are a lot of monkeys there – the White-footed Tamarin, the Brown Spider Monkey and the Varied White-fronted Capuchin. The World Land Trust works closely with local conservation organisations and it speaks very well of FBC’s track record of conservation. Your donation and mine will make a difference. If you can't donate, please please spread the word Our support will mean that this area is immediately protected – either that, or the logging industry will get it. Support land purchase for conservation and help ensure that healthy, biodiverse habitats survive.

    

3. Help orangutans with the Sumatran Orangutan Society

   Posted on 7:00pm Sunday 23rd Feb 2020

   SOS (Sumatran Orangutan Society) has a new project partner – Nature for Change (NFC). They work to save the forests of the Leuser Ecosystem by addressing the survival of people living near the ecosystem’s buffer zone. Back in 2019, they enabled farmers to plant 5,000 fruit trees.   They are growing another 5,000 in their community tree nursery – and these will be planted in 2020. The team has started to work with farmers on bee-keeping as another way to make a living.  An expert visited them in January 2020 to train the farmers who were taking part in how to set up beehive and the hives will have bees in them very soon! NFC also has implemented its border patrol team.   They have been trained by national part officers and they are working on a number of things: They maintain the trails along the national park border They fix and replace signs They record observations about wildlife tracks and signs along the border They meet with farmers to build trust and gain their understanding so that they can appreciate how the farmers feel about wildlife. The team has also installed camera traps along animal trails.  These will give them a good understanding of the kind of wildlife in the area – wild pigs, Thomas leaf monkeys and porcupines have been spotted already.  This is invaluable information because it helps the team plan their work with farmers and their crops. This is all very exciting, because locals are essential in any battle to preserve habitat for wildlife and yet give those living there an income. You can find out more and donate here.

4. One Minute Action : Help save the animals in the rainforests of Madagascar

   Posted on 1:00pm Sunday 16th Feb 2020

    

   The rainforests in Madgascar and the animals living there needs our help. The rainforests there are affected by two things:  climate change – and deforestation on a large scale. The thing is, that these rainforests are home to wildlife that isn’t found anywhere else on earth. It’s got 101 different lemur species, for example.  Losing Madagascar’s rainforests would lead to an enormous and irreversible loss of biodiversity. But it doesn’t have to be that way.   The key is for those in power to do something now to prevent the destruction f their homeland forever. Sign the petition to urge officials in Madagascar to impose strict protections to save their rainforest.

    

5. One Minute Action: Stop the depletion of forests in Cameroon

   Posted on 8:00pm Saturday 15th Feb 2020

   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. Take action now - Sign the petition