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"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
 


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  1. Buy a French Lottery Ticket and help wildlife!

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    The French have introduced a new lottery!

    Called the ‘Loto de la biodiversité’, its aim is to raise funds for the preservation and restoration of French wildlife.

    It’s a scratch card game and it offers players the chance to win up to €30,000 for €3 a card. There are up to 15 million scratch cards available

    About 0.43 euros per card sold will be directed to the Office Français de la Biodiversité

    The French Biodiversity Agency is dedicated to the protection and restoration of biodiversity, both in France and its overseas territories.

    The lottery will debut on 23 October and it will be available at tobacconists in France.

    France already has a Heritage lottery which has funded restoration projects for over 745 heritage sites in France since it started back in 2018. So the French government are hoping that this new biodiversity lottery will be as successful! The hope is that it will generate €6.5m in revenue soon after the launch.

    The Office Français de la Biodiversité is going to be distributing the funds out to nature conservation projects, and so far over 60 charities have applied for grants. A committee will decide on who gets awards, and these will range from €50,000 euros to €1 million.

    One of the aims behind this new lottery is to make people aware of the challenges in protecting and restoring natural habitats, and to make biodiversity more accessible.

    Good luck to everyone buying a ticket! Perhaps more countries can follow suit?

    A French jackpot lottery winner created a fund to protect the environment. (April 2022)

  2. Saving Wildcats in Scotland

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    Give Scottish wildcats a paw up…and help save the Highland Tiger

    Wildcats were once widespread in Scotland and sad to say, they are now on the brink of extinction there. The population is viable no longer.

    Why have their numbers reduced so much?

    • Habitat loss
    • Persecution
    • Breeding with domestic cats
    • Disease

    So we need to take action and POUNCE TO HELP before things get even worse.

    Saving Wildcats (#SWAforLife) is a project which is dedicated to the conservation and recovery of Scottish wildcats.

    And the project aims to:

    • Establish the first large-scale dedicated conservation ‘breeding for release’ centre for wildcats, bringing wildcat experts together with a dedicated veterinary unit and a specialised pre-release training programme so that the cats can hep develop the life skills they need for a wild life.
    • Grow the population of wildcats through releasing wildcats into the wild – the aim is 20 a year, potentially within the Cairngorms National Park. They’ll all wear a special GPS collar so that both movement and behaviour can be recorded
    • Remove threats facing wildcats in the Highlands, thereby creating other safe areas where wildcats can be reintroduced
    • Work with local communities to work out how best people can benefit from the presence of wildcats

    Take a look at the Independent's You Tube Channel report when Scottish wildcats were released into the wild!

    This is an exciting project.  And there are a number of ways in which you can get involved and help save the Highland Tiger!

    Ways to help the Scottish wildcat


    You could sponsor a Scottish wildcat such as Cranachan
    Find out more here
    Image copyright Saving Wildcats

    1. Sponsor a wildcat from £5 a month – this could be the purrfect gift for a cat lover!
    2. Donate, as a one off or monthly
    3. Raise funds through Just Giving
    4. Subscribe to the Scottish Wildcats mailing list so that you can hear all the news and discover how you can help
    5. Donate straight to the wildcats in the conservation ‘breeding for release’ centre through the Amazon wishlist
    6. Help classify wildlife in images taken with camera traps (find out more about that here)
    7. Become a Co-op member and contribute towards the project as you spend instore!

    Here's how to identify a wildcat - if you think you've seen one, you can report your sighting.  This is the case for wildcats you see that are alive, or who have sadly died.  

    Saving Wildcats has been shortlisted for the Great British Wildlife Restoration competition, organised by BIAZA (British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums).  This is a one-off award scheme which recognises the amazing work being done to restore native species.

    A number of organisations and businesses are involved Saving Wildcats, so good luck to everyone involved, especially the wildcats themselves!

    #SWAforLIFE

    Visit Saving Wildcats on You Tube 

    Saving Wildcats is supported by the LIFE programme of the European Union.   It is led by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) in collaboration with NatureScot, Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS), The Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA), Norden’s Ark, Consejería de Sostenibilidad and Medio Ambiente y Economía Azul de la Junta de Andalucía.  Releases are conducted by Cairngorms Connect.  


  3. It's #Brocktober, and it's time to #LoveBadgers!

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    Did you see Steve Backshall’s two part programme on badgers recently?  Channel 5 had this amazing couple of hours of TV with Badgers: Their Secret World in which we got to see a wild European badger giving birth on camera.

    Badgers: Their Secret World also showed us nine week old cubs emerging from their sett for the first time, and we found out what badgers will do to keep a clean, tidy home.

    You can see the episodes here (you need to sign in to Channel 5 to do that)

    Which brings us to October – or should we say, #Brocktober – a whole month to celebrate badgers.

    The Badger Trust and Scottish Badgers come together to celebrate our love for this native, British wildlife species.  Both charities are dedicated to the conservation and protection of badgers

    There’s a special day right at the end of the first week, with National Badger Day on the 6th (#NBD23). 

    Please make Space for Badgers!

    This year, the Badger Trust is encouraging us all to make Space for Badgers, and there are a number of ways we can do that:

    • Help protect local green spaces so that badgers can thrive in their natural habitats
    • Learn how to live with badgers – leave space for them
    • Get involved in the State of the Badger, a citizen science project, to help the Trust understand the population health of badgers and ensure they have a future
    • Take a look at responsible badger watching tips – so that you can get to know local badgers!
    • Use the Trust’s free planning and development guides to help protect badgers’ homes

     

    Please find out how you can make #SpaceforBadgers
    Please find out how you can make #SpaceforBadgers


    #NBD23, #Brocktober #LoveBadgers #SpaceforBadgers

    Visit Scottish Badgers


    How can you help badgers?

    1. Find out more about them! 
    2. Be a badger champion – fundraise, educate the next generation of badger champions using the Badger Trust’s free education resources
    3. Spread the word about how amazing badgers are and the campaigns to protect them.  Tell people about the threats they face and what can be done to help them.
    4. Join the campaign to stop the badger cull.  Over 210,000 badgers have died – and yet they are vital eco engineers;  the Trust says they “rejuvenate the soil and provide shelter and nesting sites for other wildlife, like pollinating insects”.  You can see the reasons why the badger cull doesn’t work here.
    5. Give badgers a break – over 50,000 were killed on roads last year so please slow down and report deaths and injuries to the campaign, and raise awareness
    6. Developers should have a look at the Badger Trust’s  guide for developers to safeguard badgers from planning and development activities
    7. Have a look at Living with Badgers which has advice on badgers & gardens – and what to do if your woof ventures down a badger sett 
    8. Sign up for the Badger Trust’s newsletter
    9. Become a member of the badger clan and give the Badger Trust your support! 
    10. Why not join a local badger group?  Badger groups are run by volunteers and there may be one local to you which you can find out here.  They offer varying services – these depend on the number of volunteers and when they’re available 

    Now, Scottish Badgers have ways to get involved too:

    Get Sett Scotland is aiming to create a nation of badger champions in Scotland by 2025.  And there are a number of ways you can get involved – such as becoming a Badger Champion or taking part in the national survey of badgers.  You can also donate and become a member, or do some shopping at the Scottish Badger shop.   You can report a badger and you can earn your stripes!

    Earn Your Stripes is a skills development to support the next generation of wildlife champions, and it’s a partnership between Scottish Badgers and the Scottish Wildlife Trust.  Although it’s aimed at 16 to 24 year olds, anyone can take part, and thanks to the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the course is free!

    All you need to do is to complete 4 modules:  Meet the Mammals, Tracker School, Wildlife Conservation and Threats and Championing Wildlife

    Why not use this #Brocktober to discover lots about badgers and see what you can do to help them?

    Image copyright Badger Trust

  4. 2,000 Southern White Rhino saved by African Parks

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    Imagine 2,000 southern white rhino – and then imagine them being re-wilded.  Now, these 2,000 rhino make up to 15% of the word’s wild population, so they are important.

    Enter African Parks.

    They are now the official custodian of these 2,000 southern white rhino and their goal is re-wild them over 10 years. They want to move them to several well-managed protected areas across Africa and in so doing, to establish and supplement strategic populations.  This should help secure the future of the southern white rhino species in Africa.

    How did this happen?  Well, African Parks purchased the world’s largest captive rhino breeding operation to try to rescue and re-wild these amazing animals.

    African Parks manages 22 protected areas in partnership with 12 governments across Africa.

     

    “Platinum Rhino” was a 7,800 hectare property.

    It sits in the north-west province of South Africa.  It went up for auction in April 2023 but sadly there were no bids. This put the rhinos at risk of poaching and fragmentation so African Parks were asked by a number of concerned individuals from the world of conservation to help. 

    African Parks undertook due diligence, and with the support of the South African Government and with emergency funding to make everything possible, African Parks agreed to buy the farm AND the 2,000 rhino!7

    Read all about it!

    The breeding programme is to be phased out and after all the rhino have been released into the wild, the project will come to an end.  African arks will be working with multiple governments, funding partners and conservation organisations.

    Southern white rhino had reached a terrifying 30 to 40 animals in the 1930s, but conservation measures enabled their numbers to rise to about 20,000 by 2023.  Poaching for their horns  has led to their numbers declining to below 13,000. 

    Non-profit conservation organisation African Parks takes on the responsibility for the rehabilitation and long-term management of protected areas, in partnership with governments and communities.  It manages 22 national parks and protected areas in 21 countries, covering over 20 million hectares in ngola, Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

    Visit African Parks here.

     

  5. The Koala Clancy Foundation breaks all records to plant trees for koalas

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    Well, 2023 has been an incredible year for the Koala Clancy Foundation in Australia.

    They have a mission, you see:  to plant 300,000 trees by 2030 in order to save koalas from extinction.

    They started planting in 2016 and since then, they’ve constantly surpassed the number of trees they’ve planted every year.   And now, they’ve planted 129,422 trees!!!

    It's been a tree-mendous effort in 2023 to plant trees to save koalas

    Every tree counts!
    Working together to achieve a goal really makes a difference.
    Find out more 
    Image © Koala Clancy Foundation

    2023 has been no exception – these are ALL records for the Foundation:

    • 33,518 koala trees total in one season.
    • 10,663 koala trees on one site in one season.
    • 1,931 Koala trees in one day.
    • 3,618 Koala trees in one weekend.
    • 5,891 koala trees in 7 days – their biggest week ever

    The work doesn’t stop there, however!  The Koala Clancy Foundation will be busy weeding in the You Yangs – a vital activity to restore koala habitat – and they are running regular bonus events for Koala Clancy members.  For instance, they’re doing visits to past tree planting sites to collect tree cards so that they can use them in future projects.

    You can become a member here, and if you live outside Australia, why not support the work of the Koala Clancy Foundation and simply donate?

    Visit the Koala Clancy Foundation here.