» Listings for 2019

1. Counting Tigers: A Survival Special on ITV

   Posted on 1:00pm Tuesday 30th Jul 2019

   On ITV tonight (that’s Tuesday 30 July 2019) at 9pm UK time, ITV are showing Counting Tigers:  A Survival Special and it should make very interesting viewing. Tiger Numbers fell drastically There are now just about 4,000 tigers left in the wild around the world and about 60% of those live in India.  Estimates suggest that the tiger population has gone down 95% in the last century alone. India Tiger Survey now takes place every 4 years India has just undertaken its next tiger survey to count these magnificent animals in the country’s borders.  If the tiger numbers go up, there’s hope for the species.  If they don’t… The programme has exclusive access to India’s tiger count, an event which takes place every 4 years.  The results come in area by area.   Please be warned that the programme has terrible evidence of poaching. What’s behind the fall in tiger numbers? Their numbers dropped because of people, of course;   people encroaching on tiger habitat, and poachers who wanted every bit of the tiger to sell. India has been changing very rapidly – with roads, railways and industry spreading all over the place which makes it very difficult for the tiger to survive.   Trophy hunters also want to shoot tigers, no doubt many of them claiming that’s in the cause of “conservation”. Greed and ignorance drive the demand for the tiger.   Poachers claim 2 tigers a week, often leaving cubs to fend for themselves and try to make it to adulthood. Poachers need tigers for their fur as luxury home décor, tiger bone to treat rheumatism and arthritis, and to make a tonic wine, as a general bone-strengthening tonic. Tiger bone wine is often use for bribery, and in some places, it’s sold a virility product. Its teeth and claws become jewellery.  This is all luxury goods – there is no reason why a tiger body part should be traded at all. Technology helps the tiger survey in India Martin Hughes-Games is a campaigner and conservationist and he tracks the new count from its start to finish, using the latest technology to determine numbers.   He follows wardens and scientists across the India landscapes. Camera traps take over 30,000 tiger images, their stripes, (like fingerprints) identify each individual tiger.  Mobile phone mapping apps and DNA analysis are used too. The new technology gives far greater accuracy to the survey. Counting tigers can be dangerous – they have become lighter on their paws and trackers can easily get trapped in the Sunderbans’ marshlands and become prey.  What will happen to the tiger? Hughes-Games finds that in at least one of India’s 50 conservation parks, the tiger is now extinct.  Will other parks find an increase in numbers or have the same sad numbers to report? Joanna Lumley narrates this programme, and it’s clear that the future of tigers may depend on the efforts of conservationists in India.  Once the count is complete, the documentary reveals whether the number has risen or fallen - a key moment for the survival of the species because if the count shows a decline then this could spell the end for the tiger in the wild, whereas an increase might indicate that this is one of the world’s most successful conservation stories.

    

2. It's back! Orangutan Jungle School returns for a second series!

   Posted on 8:00pm Wednesday 24th Jul 2019

   If you watched the first series of Orangutan Jungle School, then there's good news - the programme is back for a second series! The programme follows the adventures, trials and tribulations, successes and failures of the orphan orangutans who are attending Orangutan Jungle School to learn the skills they will need to survive and thrive in the wild.  One of them is a character called Beni - you can see Beni's Fan Page here - and here is Beni trying to undertake a banana heist... The school is run by the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation.   Orangutan habitat is being destroyed by us cutting down their forest home, so they need all the help you can get. You can adopt an orangutan to help.   #StandOrange!  The programme starts in the UK on 24 July 2019 at 8PM on Channel 4 but it shows in other countries as well and you can find out more here

    

3. Rare Wildlife and Plants are Blooming in Welsh Meadows

   Posted on 9:00pm Tuesday 16th Jul 2019

   Thanks to a conservation scheme, rare wildlife and plants are coming back to meadows in Wales! Since the 1930s, meadows have been vanishing from the landscape there.  In fact, 97% of wildflower meadows were lost due to heavy fertiliser use and early hay crops – which also meant that 63% of butterflies disappeared as well. However, the National Trust Wales have been working hard to reverse this disappearance. Last year, the charity created 40 acres of new meadows across the country.   They care for 582.2 acres of meadow.  And good news!   Amongst them was Chirk Castle, where 6 hectares of herb rich meadows were re-established. Wildlife flowers such as the yellow rattle – not seen since World War Two – have been sighted in Chirk, in North Wales.  There’s been a 50% increase in yellow rattle and eyebright plants! Chirk Castle in Wales The idea is to form a basic habitat.   The Trust have already noticed an increase in the numbers of insects and small mammals in the grass on the ground;  and kestrels in the skies above them, hunting them.   Green-winged orchids are also blossoming at Bodnant Garden near Colwyn Bay. Farmers are also benefitting.  Allowing their hay crops to grow wild for longer before they cut them means that they get more minerals and fibre.  A win-win, all round then!

4. More forest land bought up for safe keeping with the Cumberland Forest Project

   Posted on 9:00pm Tuesday 16th Jul 2019

   The non-profit organisation the Nature Conservancy announced on Monday that  it has partnered up with private investors to acquire 101,000 hectares of forest land.  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

    

5. Land donated - Presidential Estates in Eastern USA

   Posted on 8:00pm Tuesday 16th Jul 2019

   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.