» Listings for 2024

1. It’s World Ranger Day on 31 July.

   Posted on 8:00am Sunday 28th Jul 2024

   World Ranger Day is on 31st July  Around the world there are many people who are willing to put their lives on the line in order to protect endangered animals and habitats. The International Ranger Foundation (IRF) is the official body representing rangers around the world.  It was established on 31st July 1992, after a year spent setting up and planning for the establishment and development of the organisation.  The aim now is to drive through this development so that there is a professional body of rangers around the world.  It's based in Australia.  International Ranger Foundation UK is here.    Mokala National Park observing World Ranger Day, South Africa This shows how dangerous the job of being a ranger can be and gives you an insight into the life of a ranger. THANK YOU to rangers, everywhere.   2023 was an important year because it was the first year of the newly set biodiversity framework, with lots of targets.  Target three is especialy important because it sets a target of 30% of the world having effectively managed areas by 2030.  To achieve this, it will be vital to have a professional body of rangers around the world and the numbers of rangers worldwide will need to increase from 286,000 today to 1.5 million.  There will be benefits for wildlife and biodiveristy of course, but also for people, who will benefit from the economic and social services outcomes which come about from such a development.   So the theme for World Ranger Day for 2024 is 30 x 30, reflecting target three. Take a look at the "I am a ranger" video on You Tube here from the IRF It introduces rangers from different parts of the world. Celebrating our rangers on World Ranger Day Tasmania Celebrating gorilla trackers and World Ranger Day, Rwanda & DRC Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund A salute to Hayley on World Ranger Day Australia Efforts intensify to protect rhinos There is a lot of information about rangers on their website, so please explore their website.   It works with The Thin Green Line to promote the initiative of World Ranger Day.  World Ranger Day is a chance for all of us to show our appreciation for the work that wildlife rangers and guardians do and offer our support in whatever way we can and to remember those who have died or been injured doing this vital work and to think of the families they leave behind.  The Thin Green Line says that often rangers' families are left behind without any support.  Donations and support give a gift of hope and an urgent lifeline to families left behind.   And it’s good to know that there is something you can do to help wildlife and locals in their communities at the same time, and we thought we’d do a roundup of charities and organisations working to help in this way.  Sometimes wildlife rangers are called wildlife guardians.  Celebrating our Rangers  Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association Please give rangers your support on World Ranger Day Above graphic ©International Ranger Foundation This graphic was for World Ranger Day 2022 but why not do them in 2024 as well? Let us thank the rangers everywhere who are protecting  wildlife and habitats, and let us thank their families too. Support World Ranger Day on social media with hashtags: #WorldRangerDay2024 #WorldRangerDay #WildlifeRangers #RangersDeserveMore #Istandwithrangers  The Thin Green Line Foundation The Foundation works with ranger groups, ranger associations and conservation partners in over 60 countries.  They say it’s estimated that over 1,000 park rangers have been killed in the line of duty over the past 10 years. They are dedicated to providing Rangers worldwide with the assistance they deserve and need.   Other organisations supporting wildlife rangers Ol Pejeta Ol Pejeta Conservancy is a 90,000 acre wildlife conservancy in Kenya.  They have 150 rangers who are dedicated to protecting the wildlife there and neighbouring communities.  They also have a K9 unit, whose dogs work hard also to protect wildlife.    Visit Ol Pejeta Conservancy here Project Ranger Project Ranger supports a range of patrols such as horse patrols, foot patrols, motorbike, aerial, truck and K9 patrols.  In doing so it protects a number of species in national parks, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, conserved land and wildnerness areas.  There are plenty of ways to support their work so visit their website to find out more! The World Land Trust The World Land Trust has a Keepers of the Wild initiative.  The rangers are working on the front line of conservation, safeguarding some of the world’s most threatened animals and the crucial habitats in which they live.  They protect reserves from poaching and logging, and importantly, link to local communities, building trust, helping to change attitudes and find practical solutions to problems.  You can support Keepers of the Wild by making a donation. David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation works to support rangers in both Asia and Africa. You can support wildlife rangers here and help them conserve nature.  Their work includes carrying out anti-poaching and anti-trafficking patrols across national parks, finding and removing wildlife snares and collecting essential data on endangered speices and their habitats.   They also work with communities to raise awareness and mitigate wildlife conflict.  The Global Conservation Force This organisation works to save wildlife from extinction through education, anti-poaching and conservation efforts.  It does this by using anti-poaching units, awareness and education and on the ground action, working on wildlife’s problems.  You can adopt a ranger (also there’s a K9 poacher tracking unit) – find out what the options are to adopt a ranger here. African Parks African Parks has an anti-poaching team of 1,000 rangers making up their law enforcement team.  Thei rangers are stabilising force both for parks and regions Virunga  Virunga National Park is located on the eastern edge of the Congo Basin in Africa, and it's home to over 1,000 species of mammal, bird, reptile, and amphibian and a third of the world’s endangered mountain gorillas. It has 750 male and female rangers, all working hard and putting their lives on the line to protect the park and local communities. There's a canine unit as well.  Find out more The Gorilla Organisation The Gorilla Organisation has a supporting rangers scheme in the Democratic Republic of Congo and they act as the eyes, ears and voice of the forest. They cut snaes, save injured gorillas, combat the militias running the blood minerals trade, monitor the gorillas’ health and collect vital conservation data every day.  Find out more here. Tigers4ever Tigers4ever have anti-poaching patrols in Bandharvagh, India, to protect tigers.  They equip forest patrols, provide anti-poaching patrols and provide permanent solutions to water scarcity for wildlife Help Tigers4Ever help tigers on their Global Giving pages Orangutan Foundation Become an Orangutan Guardian and help the Orangutan Foundation’s 60 Indonesian staff work on the frontline of conservation in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve.  Their role is to guard and patrol the forests and rivers, to rescue and monitor the orangutans and to replant and nurture tree saplings.  And crucially, they need to gain the trust and support of local communities.  Become an Orangutan Guardian! Lewa Wildlife Conservancy The Lewa Security Team consists of field rangers, radio operators, gatekeepers, baby rhino keepers, anti-poaching rangers and the tracker dog unit.   The Anti-Poaching Rangers and Tracker Dog Unit work day and night to protect wildlife and keep them safe, especially rhinos and elephants.  The tracker dog unit has four dogs and their handlers, the dogs act as efficient trackers, as they can pursue suspects for lengthy distances. Save the Rhino Save the Rhino makes sure that ranger teams have the the equipment they need to do their job as safely as possible.  It has expanded canine units across the projects it funds, which in turn helps apprehend criminals.  Find out more from Save the Rhino Tusk The charity Tusk give a Wildlife Ranger Award every year to give international recognition to the men and women who face danger every day to protect the wildlife and its ecosystems in Africa.   There are also rangers in other countries such as Australia and America and the UK, working for organisations such as national parks and they are also essential to protecting the environment and keeping wildlife safe. And a very big thank you to each and every wildlife ranger working to care for and protect our wildlife and their habitats.  And thank you to their families too.   Please everyone show you support them too.

    

2. World Rainforest Day

   Posted on 10:00am Saturday 22nd Jun 2024

   Visit the World Rainforest Day's website The 22nd June is World Rainforests Day.  Rainforests are vital for life to survive on Earth.   Their loss  threatens our biodiversity and imperils earth’s health. We ignore this loss at our peril. World Rainforest Day was founded back in 2017 by the Rainforest Partnership.  It celebrates the importance of healthy, standing rainforests for climate, biodiversity, culture and livelihoods.  Crucially, it convenes a global movement to protect them and restore them.  The Pledge programme mentioned below is launching in 2024 to drive rainforest and climate action across all sectors immediately.   Natural climate solutions such as protecting and restoring forests could reverse global emissions by a third, according to World Rainforest Day. This day is held to celebrate rainforests and encourage us all to protect them.  If we can all unite and become a forest of action that rains on earth, then we can make a huge difference. The World Rainforest Day website has these things we can all do to make a positive impact on rainforests, today and every day: Ways to help rainforests Image copyright World Rainforest Day. They have a toolkit you can use to spread the word, which you'll find on their website. Make a pledge! World Rainforest Day says that "for a climate-stable future, we need standing rainforests. This #WorldRainforestDay marks the start of the Year of Action #forRainforests. Will you join us by making a pledge to take action?"  Pledge here. Find out more from World Rainforest Day’s website.   #WorldRainforestDay You could also visit Rainforest Rescue, whose mission is to give the rainforest a voice and preserve it in all its splendor.   It has petitions you can sign to give rainforests your voice, and projects it runs to protect them, thanks to donor support.  The petitions expose destructive projects and name the perpetrators, so they are important. Take a look at Panthera, too, and their blog Rainforest AMSR:  A Window into Wild Rainforests  and find out about the UK's temperate rainforests from the Woodland Trust.

    

3. World Giraffe Day 2024

   Posted on 8:00am Thursday 20th Jun 2024

    

   World Giraffe Day gives us all an important chance to raise awareness of the challenges giraffes face in the wild. 

   Giraffe face a Silent Extinction if we don’t act

   There are only about 117,000 giraffe left in the wild now, so every giraffe is important and matters.  West African giraffe are rarer than mountain gorillas.  In fact, their decline has been referred to as the Silent Extinction, by Sir David Attenborough in the BBC documentary, “Giraffes:  Africa’s Gentle Giants”.

   A video on You Tube from the Giraffe Conservation Foundation made 3 years ago (2020) tells us that:

   • Giraffe have gone extinct in at least 7 African countries
   • In the last 300 years, we’ve lost 90% of all giraffe habitat
   • Human population growth across Africa is having a huge impact on giraffe and other wildlife

   The Foundation updates State of Giraffe every year, and this highlights the conservation efforts that are being made and also the status of wild giraffe in Africa.

   Action is essential. 

   The Giraffe Conservation Foundation is the only organisation in the world which concentrates solely on the conservation and management of giraffe in the wild throughout Africa.  Giraffe are still vulnerable to extinction, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

   It works in 15 African countries across 45 million acres of giraffe habitat.  And it is making a difference to giraffe and I quote:   

   • Over 300 giraffe returned to their historical habitat
   • 18 new giraffe populations established
   • Over 85 giraffe born in original giraffe habitats
   • Over 12 million acres of giraffe habitat reclaimed
   • Over 5 million data points recorded
   • Impact on over 100 million acres of giraffe habitat

   Enter World Giraffe Day!

   Why is on the 21^st June?  Well, it’s the longest day or night of the year, depending on where in the world you live, and because it’s the longest, it’s also – naturally – World Giraffe Day!
   
   

   
   This an annual event was initiated by the Giraffe Conservation Foundation to celebrate this most beautiful of animals.

   Zoos, schools, governments, companies and NGOs are hosting events to help raise awareness, and you can get involved and do your bit.  Stick your neck out and raise awareness of giraffes and remind people of their beauty on social media!

   Crucially, it’s a great opportunity for the Giraffe Conservation Foundation to raise much needed funds to continue their work moving wild giraffe to their historical habitat. 

   Giraffe Translocation

   The charity has a translocation programme, moving giraffe.  Giraffe are moving to areas where there are very few or no giraffe.  They are also caught, and then given satellite tracking units so that they can be tracked which enables conservationists to find out more about their movements.  Catching and tracking giraffe provides an excellent opportunity to find out as much as possible about these beautiful animals. 
   
   

   
   All the giraffes which have moved thanks to the programme are doing well and thriving.  And the great news is that many new calves are being born!  The programme is a key part of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation’s programme to ensure that giraffe have a future in Africa.

   The Foundation works closely with local communities – many African children have never seen a giraffe so it has taken children into the field for a day to see giraffe.

   You can read about their recent work and news here.

    

   World Giraffe Day is an important fundraiser

   It’s the Giraffe Conservation Foundation’s biggest fundraiser of the year and the non-profit receives most of its support as a result of it.  So please, please if you can, chip in!   This year, the goal is $65,000 and every donation impacts on over 100 million acres of giraffe habitat

   Alternatively (or as well!), you could buy a limited edition charity print,  or shop in the Giraffe Conservation Foundation's online shop.  
   
   

   Why not Adopt a Giraffe? 

   You could also adopt a giraffe (or a family of giraffe) for yourself or as a gift for a loved one - the Adopt-a-Giraffe Program allows you to follow the lives of a few selected desert-dwelling giraffe in the remote north west of Namibia, next to the Etosha National Park. The adoption programmes help fund the giraffe  translocation programmes, so these matter.

   Join in the Social Media Challenge!
   
   

   

   #StandTallforGiraffe

   
   Show how you #StandTallforGiraffe – literally!   Take a photo of yourself standing tall – you could make it a group photo, but please bear social distancing rules in mind!  A baby giraffe measures about 2m at birth – whilst the adults reach the giddy heights of over 5m.

   Or come up with something that’s giraffe inspired – a cake with a giraffe on it, or paint a picture – just show how giraffes have inspired you and spread the message on social media of World Giraffe Day!

   And tag the Giraffe Conservation Foundation on social media - here are the tags…

   • Facebook: @giraffeconservationfoundation
   • Instagram: @giraffe_conservation
   • Twitter: @save_giraffe

   And use these hashtags to spread the message!

   • #GiraffeConservationFoundation
   • #WorldGiraffeDay
   • #WorldGiraffeDay2023
   • #StickYourNeckOutForGiraffe
   • #StandTallForGiraffe

   There’s an event guide too!
   
   

    Visit the Giraffe Conservation Foundation here and remember, Keep Calm and Save Giraffe!

    

4. SUCCESS!!! Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's Common Farm Appeal

   Posted on 11:00am Tuesday 19th Mar 2024

    

   Derbyshire Wildlife Trust have a new appeal, Common Farm, and the goal was to raise £300,000 by 30th November 2023. 

   Update on 18 March 2024:  SUCCESS!!!
   
   Derbyshire Wildlife Trust to say that they could officially announce they'd completed on the purchase of Common Farm!!!  
   
   Over 2,000 donated to the appeal (only launched last October), contirbuting nearly £300,000 to the purchase.  Major donors and philanthropic organisations gave the rest of the funding needed to secure the site.  Locals have been critical to the success of the appeal, organising walking tours for potential donors, delivering leaflets, donating and encouraging people to get involved.  And the Trust is working closely with the community to develop the site as a great place for people and nature.  

   This is great news, well done Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and to everyone involved!
   
   

   
   
   The Derbyshire Wildlife Trust want to re-wild 83 acres,
   creating vibrant habitat for wildlife

   It’s made up of 18 sheep-grazed grassland fields which the Trust is going to transform into a wildlife reserve.  The team will make every field count, as they make the most of the different types of habitat;  they will re-wet the land, by filling in ditches, as drainage ditches flush vital rainwater from the site.  Blocking or filling them in will create pools by filling in the ditches to re-wet  the land. 

   As the land gets wetter, so trees and vegetation and wildlife will benefit. And cattle and ponies may come in as grazers, their manure enriching the soil and their grazing stopping trees from becoming dominant.

   
   Please find out more and donate here

   The project should form a diverse habitat – woodland expansion, scrubby thickets and open grassland that are species-rich and will benefit barn owls and skylarks and curlew, as well as plants such as the ragged robin and harebell.  This will give a new territory to wildlife – native plants and animals will thrive – hopefully within a year!

   Please find out more and donate here.
   
   

   Images copyright Derbyshire Wildlife Trust
   
   

5. It's Digital Cleanup Day on 18th March 2023 so be prepared to get deleting!

   Posted on 11:00am Wednesday 13th Mar 2024

    

    

   Back in February 2023, the BBC’s Panaroma did a programme called “Is the Cloud damaging the planet?”  Reporter Richard Bilton investigated the question.

   Cloud stores our pictures and emails and it powers our internet searches.  It enables us to stream movies and box sets.  So far, that’s great. 

   The problem with digital pollution

   The problem is that it depends on huge data centres which use huge amounts of power and water – so every time you and I go online, that increases our carbon footprint.

   Then there’s all the emails you don’t need or want, duplicates of photos and videos, files and apps you’ve got but don’t use. Cloud stores them and needs energy to do it.

   It all creates a type of pollution called digital pollution, and it consumes energy – even when we don’t think of it or use it.  It just sits there, consuming electricity, forgotten and all too often unnecessary.

   And yet, when we think of carbon emissions, we tend to think of things such as farting cows, car journeys, dirty factories, planes in the sky, and all that sort of thing.  How many of us think of digital pollution and the damage it does?

   Let's get deleting!

   Delete your unnecessary stuff and there are a number of advantages such as, we can extend the life of our gadgets, and we pollute less and help the environment.

   Plus, it gives you a feeling of control of your digital stuff.  I’ve just spent a 30 minutes deleting a lot of stuff from my phone – old messages, three pictures taken of the cat because she kept moving her head when only one was any good, photos sent of things I no longer want or need.  And my phone seems to have a new lease of life and burst of energy as a result of it.  I’ve cleared a lot of rubbish to create more space.

   A date for your diary!

   Now there is an event in March (on the 16^th) which gives you the chance to do your own digital de-tox, or you could make a start whilst waiting for something, or someone.

   It’s the Digital Cleanup Day and its on 16^th March 2024.  It’s a really good opportunity to raise awareness of digital pollution – most of us wouldn’t even think of it.  Clean up your data stored in i-Cloud such as files, pictures and videos, your mobile phone, and social media accounts.  And take a look at your email account. Often it’s a good chance to see if you can get better organised with it all, too – which will help with the general organisation and running of life.  Why not have a digital clean up party and see who can delete the most?!

   So there are four things to do:

   1. Clean up your smartphone
   2. Clean up your computer hard drive
   3. Clean up your mailbox
   4. Make new arrangements and do things in a different way - there are lots of ideas on the website
   5. You could share your results - you'll need to register to do that

    Visit Digital Cleanup Day 2024 here.