"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
It’s a popular tourist area, known for its mountain gorillas. It covers 3,000 square miles, and its three sectors – north, central and south – have an unrivalled diversity of landscapes and ecosystems. It was founded back in 1925 as Parc Albert, and it was the first national park to be established on the African continent, primarily to protect the mountain gorillas who were living in the forests of the Virunga Massif. The park is a Unesco World Heritage site. It is home to several hundred species of birds, mammals and reptiles.
The world’s entire population of critically endangered mountain gorillas live only ini the Virunga Massife and Bwindi. The Virunga National Park is home to about a third of these wonderful animals. Currently it is estimated that there are about 1,000 mountain gorillas. Find out more about the park’s history here
There are currently over 700 male and female rangers actively protecting the park and the communities surrounding its borders. And let’s not forget the dogs who are part of the Virunga National Park Canine Unit, an invaluable part of the team.
Urgent funds are needed:
To protect the endangered mountain gorillas
To support the rangers
To support the families of rangers who have fallen in the line of duty. Over 175 rangers have been killed in the line of duty.
To deliver essential disease prevention efforts
Challenge such as this need heroes and each and every ranger is one, fighting to protect these amazing animals and give their families an income at the same time. Rangers do an extremely dangerous job, putting their lives on the line every day, to look after wildlife. Find out about the Rangers Project here.
Leonardo DiCaprio has contributed to a new fund which aims to support the Virunga National Park. Earth Alliance, a group co-founded by DiCaprio, has donated part of the initial £1.65 million funding. Di-Caprio was an executive producer on the documentary Virunga. (It was nominated for an Oscar in 2014.)
Its closure to tourists due to the coronavirus has resulted in a considerable loss of income.
Covid-19 poses an existential threat to the gorillas – WWF has warned that they are at risk of catching the coronavirus because they share 98% of their DNA with humans
A month after the park was closed, 12 park rangers, a drive and four members of the local community were killed in a terrible attack by 60 militiamen, who ambused a group of civilians being protected by the rangers. At the time, a statement from the park said it was an attack on local civilians, rather than the rangers themselves.
The rangers are racing against the clock to protect the local communities around the park and the gorillas.
You can help:
You can help by spreading the word - following the Virunga Park on social media and making a donation
$8 funds a pair of new boots for a ranger
$32 funds a ranger for a day (including family health insurance)
$50 funds a month of support for the widow and children of a Fallen Ranger
$150 funds two weeks of food and supplements for an orphan gorilla
$300 funds an hour of flight time for an anti-poaching patrol
$500 funds a one day tactical elephant protection operation
$1,000 funds a comprehensive sweep and remove of deadly snares in the mountain gorilla sector.
On 16 May, the UK’s Daily Telegraph brought news of an amazing secret operation to dehorn hundreds of African rhinos.
They are all threatened by increased poaching during the pandemic.
Over the next two weeks, up to 400 black and white rhinos will have their horns removed to protect them from poachers. About 70 have been dehorned so far
The rhinos are dehorned with electric saws. They are sedated. The horns grow back in about 3 years.
The exact location in Africa is secret at the moment. There is an enormous risk to the team of vets and rangers and the last thing anyone wants is for poachers to find out their whereabouts, for the safety of all concerned, people and animals.
Rhino horn can trade for tens of thousands of pounds a kilo. It is used in medicine and as a status symbol.
This really is a last resort; because tourists have stopped visiting as the coronavirus brought lockdown into being, poachers have stepped up to do more poaching.
Treating rhinos and transporting them if they have injuries or need surgery;
De-horning rhinos, which has been shown to be one of the most effective ways to deter poachers from harming and killing rhinos;
Rescuing rhinos; many are treated for injuries and airlifted to one of many rhino orphanages that Rhino 911 works with. Plus, of course donations are given to the orphanages so that they can buy the special formula milk every growing rhino needs!
There’s a video you can watch at but carries a warning that some parts of it may be disturbing to some viewers.
I’ve had an email from SumOfUs.org about a petition for pangolin lovers. They have some really good campaigns on SumOfUs and are achieving some great results
Pangolins they need our voice, and our signature to tell Facebook "to increase the enforcement of wildlife trafficking policy and make sure that no threatened or endangered species’ parts are sold on your platform."
Pangolins are the most trafficked animal on the planet. Up to 2.7 million of them are killed by poachers every year. Poachers want to sell their parts to traditional medicine shops.
A new report says that Facebook it worse, because they are letting traffickers sell pangolin parts on their platform! Report investigators searched translations of pangolin in different languages, and there was listing after listing, even though Facebook has already signed an international coalition to stop this sort of thing! They just need to enforce their own rules.
It’s a global campaign and it’s dedicated to raising awareness of migratory birds and the need for countries around the world to co-operate in their efforts to save them.
This year, the theme is “Birds Connect Our World”.
It was picked to highlight how important it is to conserve and restore the ecological connectivity and integrity of ecosystems which support the natural cycles that are essential for migratory birds to survive and thrive.
The day gives us all an opportunity to discover more about migratory birds and be in awe at their amazing feats.
Migratory birds need networks with stops
Migratory birds travel far. They need to be able to stop to rest and feed and breed. If you like, you could liken it as a journey along a motorway system and every so often, they need to stop for a break to fill their tummies and have a break.
Birds need networks of sites
They need a network of sites along these routes to breed, to feed, to rest and spend the winter. They need different sites and habitats, irrelevant of which country they are in. They can cross incredible distances and over impossible terrains such as deserts and open seas. They cross national borders and soar above any national agenda. What they do need is for countries to co-operate to ensure their routes are kept open and safe for them.
Examples of migratory birds’ routes
The East Asian – Australasian Flyway goes from the Russian Far East and Alaska through East Asia and South-East Asia, down to Australia and New Zealand – 22 countries in all. The Flyway is home to over 50 million migratory waterbirds from over 250 different populations. They need a system of wetlands to rest, feed and build up the energy they need for the next part of their journey.
RSPB has information about the Arctic tern who travels a rather amazing 22,000 miles a year – the longest migration of all – as they move continually between the Arctic summer and the Antarctic summer.
So you can see how important it is that countries work together to give these birds the flight paths they need, with all the facilities along the way.
What can be done at a national/international level:
Increase action globally via environment treaties such as the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and the Africa-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA). These are vital to protect migratory birds on their international flight paths.
Creating habitat corridors which are protected and which go across boundaries would really help animals who migrate and fly over national boundaries.
Networks of crucial sites which are imperative to migration needs must be safeguarded and managed properly. Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas as described by BirdLife International give migratory birds all they need during their long flights - necessary feeding, breeding, nesting and sheltering grounds.
What individuals like you & me can do:
Have a bird-friendly garden with safe shelters and a bird bath. Give them bird food. Put feeders out of reach of cats.
Spread the word about how important it is to protect migratory birds.
Download and use birding apps – it’s a great way to connect to like-minded bird lovers.
Find out more about migratory birds. There are resources on the WMBD website so fly off and nest and rest there a while and peck at all the information you can.
This day is held twice a year , on 9 May and 10 October so you could prepare an event or attend an October event.
If you’re a tiger or lion lover, take a look at AD International.
One of the things AD International does is to rescue animals from circuses.
But years of confinement, deprivation and physical abuse has left a mark on the animals they rescue, sometimes for months, or years.
These animals need looking after, of course. They need food, and veterinary care, often surgery, medicines and vitamin/mineral supplements to give them the quality of life they now deserve.
The ADI Wildlife Sanctuary in South Africa is now home to 42 ex-circus lions and tigers from Guatemala, Peru and Columbia, and one lion from a zoo. They have more space and freedom than ever before. Staff at the sanctuary are committed to giving these wonderful big cats the care they need to enjoy the rest of their lives.
An example of rescuing the animals was in Guatemala.
The use of animals in circuses was banned there in April 2017 and the government invited ADI to help enforce the law 12 months later, because some circuses were defying the new law.
ADI launched Operation Liberty in May 2018 and established a Temporary Rescue Centre to look after the rescued animals until they could go to their new homes.
15 tigers and 6 lions were rescued; tigers Max, Simba and Kimba went to their forever home at Big Cat Rescue in November 2019.
17 lions and tigers went to the ADI Wildlife Sanctuaryin South Africa, arriving in January.
