» Listings for 2019

1. Crackdown on poaching works for elephants and rhinos in Tanzania

   Posted on 8:00pm Monday 15th Jul 2019

   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.

    

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

   Posted on 5:00pm Monday 15th Jul 2019

   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

    

3. Arctic Sea Ice Day takes place on 15th July

   Posted on 8:00am Monday 8th Jul 2019

   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 15th 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.

    

    

4. Save the Murchison Falls in Uganda

   Posted on 9:00pm Saturday 29th Jun 2019

   There’s news from the Wildlife Conservation Society. A spectacular wilderness in Uganda is under threat from Uganda’s Electric Regulatory Authority which is looking for approval for a new hydroelectric plant connected to the park’s amazing waterfalls. The Murchison Falls National Park is not only one of the most popular tourist attractions in Uganda.  It’s also home to elephants, lions, hippos and giraffes and many other species.  A few years ago in fact, scientists surveyed the area – they found it twice as rich in wildlife as previously thought. If the ERA gets approval for this plant, it would be devastating for both wildlife and locals who need tourism.  Across many sectors, there’s growing outcry that this damming of the river which feeds the Murchison Falls is a bad idea. And the wildlife and locals in Murchison Falls need support from outside Uganda to stop the building of the plant. There needs to be a global response which emphasise the importance of this national park – and others like it.   We all need to make it clear that protecting Uganda’s biodiversity is important to all of us, not just Uganda. Will you add your support?   The Wildlife Conservation Society is asking as many people as possible to speak up by 3 July so that they can delivery comments to the ERA Please show your support.  Let the ERA know the plans for a new dam should not go ahead. Give your support to wildlife and sign here

    

5. Help snow leopards by protecting their habitat

   Posted on 9:00pm Friday 28th Jun 2019

   High in the Himalayas, one of the world’s most beautiful big cats – the snow leopard - roams the lonely mountain slopes There are only about 4,000 snow leopards left in the wild.   And now their habitat is threatened with new roads, dams and mining projects disrupting habitats and leaving them with no-where to go.   One of the snow leopards’ last refuges could have a highway built straight through the middle of it. But there’s a cunning plan. Two Avaazers are working with the local community and the Rainforest Trust to buy up and protect snow leopard habitats.   And if they can raise enough money, they’ll create a vast, permanent snow leopard conservation corridor which blocks the road completely. Snow leopards, red pandas, pangolins, wild yaks, the Himalayan Black Bear, clouded leopards, and hundreds of species of butterflies all need us to dig in and lend a paw to make this purchase happen and keep it safe from road construction and mining. They need our help  We need to buy this precious corner of the world and protect it for snow leopards and all the other wildlife who live there.  The money must be raised within a few weeks – the more of us who chip in the better – and then we can create this snow leopard sanctuary together. Chip in now to protect this precious corner of the world, and to help preserve the planet's most threatened biodiversity hotspots -- before we lose them forever:   In the last few years, Avaaz has bought a rainforest in Indonesia for orangutans, its funded a Maasai-led wildlife corridor in the Seregeti, and protected a vital piece of the Galapagos.  Now it’s time to fight for the snow leopards.  Donate here