This forest land lies in the coalfields of Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia.

The Cumberland Forest Project will do several things:

• Protect the land
• Make money through sustainable forestry, recreational leases and the eventual sale of the properties.
• Help offset carbon
• Benefit wildlife
• Help water quality

The forest lands cover 100,000 acres in Kentucky & Tennessee.   Some 153,000 acres are in south-west Virginia.  As such, this project’s land is one of the largest conservation efforts the group has taken up in the east of the US. Theland was bought from timber investment management companies for $130,000.

The Cumberland Forest Project won’t own the mineral rights of the land.  This means mining could still take place – but the Nature Conservancy says just a small percentage of the land would be subject to mining and the group would have  a say in the process.

The area includes the central Appalachians which are especially important to preserve biodiversity and help wildlife adapt to climate change. 

The Nature Conservancy hopes that this model can be done in other areas, so that long term, a super highway of protected land could be created along the mountain range. 

It means conservation can happen on a scale which can’t be achieved through philanthropy on its own.

Conservation needs all the help it can get and it also needs new ways of working so it will be interesting to what this model can achieve. 

Visit the Nature Conservancy here to see how you can help

The West Virginia Governor, Jim Justice, and his family have made a donation to the future of Virginia.

They have donated 4,500 acres in Virginia and in doing so have forfeited hundreds of development rights.   That’s about 7 square miles.

The area will remain as timberland and for agriculture – but at least it won’t be full of sprawling housing developments and shopping malls.  

Known as Presidential Estates, 2,657 acres of the property are ranked as having “High” or “Very High” forest conservation value, according to the Virginia Department of Forestry.   The property also has over 18 miles of watercourses.  These contribute to the aquatic habitat and public drinking water supplies of communities downstream.

There are plenty of opportunities for us all to make land donations and every single square foot we can donate help.  

Pledge a patch for wildlife - you don't need thousands of acres to make a difference.   

Every square foot helps.  
Your patch can be as big as this pot with wildlife friendly flowers in it!
pic copyright to Worcestershire Wildlife Trust.

Worcestershire Wildlife Trust are asking people in the area to Pledge a Patch – which means dedicating an area to wildlife.   This patch could be in your garden, school, community or work place.  It could be a window box, woodland, a bed full of wild-flowers, a tiny pond – anything that makes a difference to wildlife.

The more of us who can do this, the better.  We have turned our garden over to wildlife and consider it theirs, as much as ours.

Meantime, donations such as Governor Justice and his family make also help considerably, of course, so if you have a patch of land…. please consider leaving it to a local conservation charity or work out ways to make the most of for wildlife.   Keep it safe from human development. 

There’s good news from Tanzania.   Elephant and rhino numbers have started to rebound after the government cracked down on organised criminal networks who were involved in industrial-scale poaching.  These networks were dismantled.

You may have heard about a well-known Chinese businesswoman who smuggled the tusks of over 350 elephants to Asia.  The “Ivory Queen” got 15 years in prison as a result.

A special task force was launched in 2016 to fight wildlife poaching.

Elephant numbers had been 110,000 in 2009 but their numbers tumbled, with conservation groups blaming poaching.   Ivory turned into jewels and ornaments had caused poaching to surge, thanks to a demand from countries such as China and Vietnam.

Tanzania Travel Guide from Lonely Planet


However, a presidential statement stated last week that elephant numbers have gone up to 43,330 in 2014 (according to the 2015 census) to over 60,000 at the moment. 

Rhinos had gone up from only 15 to 167 in the last 4 years.  This number 15 is at variance with the CITES estimation of 133 in 2015.  Mind you, either way it means the number of rhinos has gone up.

It just shows the damage poaching can do to wildlife numbers – and how that damage can be reversed, with real effort. 

Tourism is the main source of hard currency for Tanzania. Wildlife safaris, Indian Ocean beaches and Mount Kilimanjaro are its most famous “attractions”.

Revenues from it were up from $1.9 billion in 2015 to $2.5 billion in 2018.

Tanzania has set aside 32% of its total land area for conservation projects.  I must say this doesn’t sound a very high percentage to me, given the amount of land wildlife used to have, but then if it’s for specific projects maybe that makes it better.

Unfortunately, it’s dismissed criticism from environmentalists about a $3 billion hydropower dam project in the famous Selous Game Reserve – which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Still lots of room for improvement, then, Tanzania.

There’s good news in Northumberland, thanks to nature lovers.

Nature lovers there have got together to help buy and protect a tract of land there.  It’s a 600 acre site called Benshaw Moor in Redesdale, with heather habitat, peatland and limestone waterfall and springs.

Birdlife at Benshaw include curlew, snipe, skylark, meadow pipit and short-eared owls.

It’s now Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s 63rd nature reserve.

©Duncan Hutt

Thanks to a united effort, 600 acres at
Benshaw Moor in Northumberland is safe.

The Trust was concerned that the land be used for business such as a commercial conifer forestry, or windfarm.  Shooting will not be allowed there any longer.

£570,000 was raised from charitable trusts, businesses and a significant bequest.   The public donated £75,000.  The bequest came from the late George Swan, who wrote the Flora of Northumberland which was a record of the county’s plant species.  Mr Swan specified that the bequest be used to buy a site of botanical importance.

Nature lovers will still be involved:   the wildlife charity’s team and volunteers will do surveys to better understand the site to help guide its future management.  Possible options include areas of native woodland, and conservation grazing, with Exmoor ponies or cattle.

It just shows what can happen if we all get involved and unite for wildlife.  

Find out how you can get involved in and help the Northumberland Wildlife Trust – even if you don’t live in this beautiful area!

Get involved  - volunteer, visit nature reserves, go to events etc

Support the Northumberland Wildlife Trust – donate, become a member, leave a legacy.

There are 46 Wildlife Trusts around the UK and in Alderney and the Isle of Man – find your local here

There’s a lot of talk about sea ice melting at the moment, and charity Polar Bears International have created Arctic Sea Ice Day to call attention to the sea ice loss in the Arctic.

Arctic Sea Ice Day is on 15^th July, because the breakup on Western Hudson Bay has historically been in mid-July.  These days, the break-up is 3 weeks earlier on average than it was in the 1980s.

Polar Bears International say that key to getting our climate back to working the way it should – and to give polar bears a future – is to move away from using fossil fuels for energy altogether. We need to shift to renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. This will help reduce the carbon emissions which are warming up the planet and melting sea ice.  It will also create jobs – and improve the environment and our health.

This shift to renewable energy is making progress.  Polar Bears International say solar and wind power cost less than coal now.  Over 9.8 million people around the world work in the renewable energy industry.  In the US for instance, jobs in wind and solar outnumber fossil fuel jobs 5 to 1.

Crucially, the future generations of polar bears, all Arctic animals in fact, and people depend on the actions we all take today.  Using less energy produced by fossil fuels will reduce our carbon emissions and can slow or even stop global warming and improve our climate. 

Ways to help

1. Learn more about your local and regional renewable energy options and programs.  Find out what’s available with solar and wind.  Use solar chargers where you can.  Look for local programmes which reduce emissions.
2. Support a state/province/country-wide renewable energy program.
Vote for politicians who commit to investing in programmes which make renewable energy affordable and accessible. Show your support for carbon pricing plans – a highly effective path to a renewable energy future. You can start by calling, writing a letter, or reaching out on social media.
3. Share facts about Arctic sea ice.
Read (and share) Polar Bear International’s post "9 Facts About Arctic Sea Ice." You'll learn surprising facts about sea ice, including the role it plays in our global climate.
4. Learn from experts.
Join Polar Bears International for live chats on our Facebook page as part of our Arctic Sea Ice Day celebration.

Without sea ice, polar bears will decline in range and numbers.  They will be more vulnerable to extinction. 

But sea ice doesn’t just help polar bears.  It is our global air conditioner, and helps cool the earth.

We need to preserve the conditions which have allowed people to flourish.

The other thing I think we all need to do is simply switch off more often.   In the old days, people didn’t have items which used up electricity and power supplies. They didn’t use heating in the same way we do now.  We all need to look at our habits and see what we can do to change them.