"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
What do you want to achieve in 2019? What would you think if you were able to play a part in delivering anti-poaching techniques, protecting wild landscapes and helping to expand a ranger force to protect wildlife?
Well, I’ve had an email from African Parks, a non-profit conservation organisation. It takes on the rehabilitation and long-term management of national parks in partnership with governments and local communities.
In their email, they share their goals to make an impact for people and wildlife in Africa. And they need supporters to help them achieve their targets.
Here are African Parks’ goals:
To expand their ranger force by recruiting 200 new Rangers and growing their force to 1,200. The rangers come from local communities so this is a great way to involve local people in conservation – it gives locals a chance to take charge of their futures
To grow and deliver successful anti-poaching techniques. Its K9 anti-poaching unit in Akagera, Rwanda, is helping to bring poaching to an all-time low in the park. New puppies are training to join the unit next year, and the plan is to deploy a new K9 unit in Garamba in the DRC where parks have been hard hit by militarised elephant poaching
To restore and protect more wild landscapes. At the moment, African Parks manages 15 parks in 9 countries, conserving 10.5 million hectares in Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, the DRC, Malawi, Mozambique, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Zambia. Its aim is to manage 20 parks by 2020. Several parks are in the pipeline already.
I love the World Land Trust; it’s one of my favourite charities and I’ve been a supporter for some time now, doing what I can. After all, every £1 matters.
So I was very pleased to see from their website that the supporters of the Trust, of which I am one very small part, has reached its £600,000 target to save 8,154 acres of Jungle for Jaguars in Belize.
The target has been reached far faster than the World Land Trust anticipated, so they are going to press on and look for donations to go towards the purchase of another vital piece of corridor. A £100 donation can save one acre of habitat there, thanks to a government subsidy, but frankly every bit helps and you don’t have to donate that amount to be a part of something really very special.
I donated towards the Jungle for Jaguars appeal in memory of my father on the occasion of his birthday and I feel a warm glow inside my heart every time I think of a jaguar on the prowl through a jungle, doing what jaguars do.
Like every species on the planet, they deserve the right conditions to thrive and survive and it’s up to us humans to ensure they get it.
Donate here to the World Land Trust. Every £1 will help the jaguars and all the wildlife who need these corridors to move safely from one area to another.
There’s news from Wilmar International. They are important, because the Singapore based company supplies 40% of the world’s palm oil.
They say (which is different to actually doing) that they will commit to map its suppliers’ entire landbank by the end of 2019.
Wilmar is going to use satellite monitoring to check for deforestation. If they catch companies cutting virgin forest for plantations, those companies will immediately be suspended from doing business with Wilmar.
Greenpeace say they will be watching this development carefully and its activists have been busy in the last few months. If Wilmar does what it says, it means that by 2019 it will be almost impossible for its suppliers to get away with forest destruction.
The problem with palm oil is that it’s cheap – so used in a major way in cosmetics, toiletries and food products.
Huge areas of rainforest have been destroyed to allow for palm oil plantations.
Wildlife species have been badly hit, most notably the orangutan.
Wilmar’s decision comes about because people are showing a backlash against companies that use unsustainable and unverified palm oil.
We must all watch this development and see what Wilmar International actually does. As I said at the start, making these plans is different to actually carrying them out and DOING them. But it’s a start and could be a useful benchmark with which to see what progress they make by the end of 2019.
Make a Difference NOW to Rainforest Conservation
An Indonesian oil palm plantation is up for sale and the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) has a golden opportunity to buy this land and restore the lush forest that once stood there. They need to raise £870,000 by February 2019 to do this and help save the habitat for orangutans. As I write, over £512,000 has been donated already. Find out more and donate here.
Lots of people are giving £5 or £10 or whatever they can to this appeal. What matters is that lots of us take action and give something to make a difference and get this land to protect it for wildlife. I donated for my aunt’s birthday present as she adores orangutans. Every £1 or $1 helps. Donate here
Canada is investing C$14.7 million – that’s the equivalent of about £8.5 million – to put aside 7,900 hectares for wildlife conservation in the Rocky Mountains.
They are beautiful – I visited there far too long ago – and I’m delighted to hear of this move.
The funding will expand a tract of land in the south-east of British Columbia. The initiative will help protect about 40 species. Grizzly bears, wolverines, peregrine falcons and mountain caribou will benefit.
The investment comes from federal and provincial governments. It will add 14% more land to the existing Darkwoods Conservation Area, which has valleys, mountains and lakes and which connects to an existing network of wildlife management areas and parkland.
The investment means that both wildlife and plant life will have improved protection in an area which lies within the world’s only inland temperate rainforest.
The African Wildlife Foundation will invest $25 million over the next 4 years to support the work being done by local communities and African governments to protect wild lands and wildlife in Africa.
The pledge was made at the recent Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) conference in London. AWF’s President Kaddu Sebunya said that poaching and illegal trade in wildlife poses an acute threat to Africa’s rich heritage of natural wealth.
Kaddu says that there is some recovery and stabilization of some vital wildlife populations. AFW has invested $13.1 million to tackle the illegal wildlife trade in Africa and also a further $5.5 million with public-sector partners. The total of $18.6 million has been used to:
Support anti-poaching efforts on the ground
Strengthen prosecutorial and judiciary processes
Put sniffer dogs in critical transit points
Campaign to stop demand in Asia
As a result:
10 out of the 14 populations of elephants the funding has been targeting are increasing or are stable.
All rhino populations and 7 out of 9 carnivore populations that AWF supports are increasing or are stable
Prosecutors are building stronger case; judges are delivery stronger sentences for wildlife crimes
Sniffer dogs have made over 250 finds
And now this most recent pledge will support programmes putting the priorities in place that came out of the London IWT conference:
To build African leadership and ownership of the illegal wildlife trade in Africa
Protect habitats and key populations of rhinos, elephants, great apes, large carnivores and giraffes
Enhance detection of wildlife crimes and strengthen the ability to prosecute and judge, putting criminals behind bars.
The belief is that Africa must own and drive the illegal wildlife trade work. The London conference will help strengthen partnerships across borders to fight the illegal wildlife trade in an effective way.
Four key elements are crucial to give Africa’s wildlife a chance, according to AWF Chief Scientist and VP of Species Protection, Dr Philip Muruthi, and they are:
