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.

Swing over to Mongabay for more information. 

And there's more!

Palm oil plantations to be cleared ready for new forest

From 2018 to 2019, SOS ran an urgent appeal - the Rainforest Home Appeal.   They needed to raise £870,000 to buy 890 acres. 

Visit SOS, the Sumatran Orangutan Society

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! 

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. 

Donate £25 to save a quarter of an acre of Dakatcha.

Donate £50 to save half an acre of Dakatcha.

Donate £100 to save an acre of Dakatcha.

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.

Save land, save species here.

Thank goodness!  The Zambian Government has done an about-turn on its plan to cull over a thousand hippos in the Luangwa Valley.

There had been increasing international pressure for the Zambian Government to justify why such a cull should take place.  The National Association of Community Resources Board in Zambia had also called for the cull to be reversed.  Born Free say local community representatives had also been against the cull. 

Hippos across Africa are under more and more pressure – there are only 115,000 to 130,000 of them left, and the IUCN lists them as “Vulnerable”.

There has been a lot of effort to end the elephant ivory trade – and now hippos are being targeted more and more for their ivory instead.

We must do more to stop such exports.  And to stop trophy hunting in the first place.

Born Free say they remain committed to working with the Zambian Government "to help secure a future of peaceful and prosperous co-existence between Zambia’s wildlife and its people."

For more info from Born Free, click here

There are some really good programmes on TV about nature and wildlife - we are very blessed with them.  Their quality is incredible.

Here's another - the series is called Equator from the Air.   Gordon Buchanan takes an amazing journey round the Equator with experts who are racing to save wildlife and people.  

Tonight (9th June 2019, 8pm UK time on BBC2), he croses the Pacific and drops in on the Galapagos Island.

There he discovers huge evidence of human intervention - domesticated pigs have gone wild and decimated the tortoise population.  Drones are helping to track these species in danger.

He also joins in to see how a tropical lake may hold clues about how to secure the world's coral reefs.

Do watch - the series has been really good so far and is really sending a message home.

Visit BBC2's website here.

Tonight (Sunday 9 June 2019) on More4, there’s a repeat of the fabulous Orangutan Jungle School at 8pm UK time.

The series follows the orangutans who are based at the world’s biggest orangutan rescue centre.

The orangutans have reached that point in their jungle school curriculum where they need to find out  how to be safe around snakes.   And staff head out to rescue an infant orangutan who, it turns out, has  a broken wrist.

Swing over to More4’s website and find out more