Category:

1. Save land, save species

   Posted on 5:00pm Thursday 13th Jun 2019

   The World Land Trust has just launched its new appeal, to protect forest in Kenya on the coastline. Dakatcha has been identified as a Key Biodiversity Area and an Important Bird Area.  It has no official protection – but the future of this habitat could be secured under the ownership of Nature Kenya. The World Land Trust partners with Nature Kenya and their current project is to protect 810 acres before the threats of illegal charcoal production, hunting, controlled pineapple farming and the persistent threat of deforestation see this rare area burn. Save land by sponsoring an acre – or even quarter of an acre, and you can help save a species. You can get involved by sponsoring an acre for £100, half an acre for £50, or a quarter of an acre for £25.00 So why save Dakatcha? The You Tube video below shows the reasons why we should all help save the area.    It’s a vital area for people and animals locally, but it also is the case that every single healthy intact forest we can save will help us in the fight against climate change.  New species are still to be found here, as little is known about the forest – but it is known that endangered species such as the Clarke’s Weaver, the Sokoko Scops Owl and the Golden Oriole need this area.  Donate £25 to save a quarter of an acre of Dakatcha. Donate £50 to save half an acre of Dakatcha. Donate £100 to save an acre of Dakatcha. The World Land Trust are looking to save 810 acres and people have started to donate to save these acres already :-)  I’m making a donation in memory of my wonderful father on this Father’s Day.   He loved his feathered friends and his trees – and he enjoyed a family holiday to Kenya many years ago.  So the ties are there, and I can’t think of a better way to remember my father than save an acre of forest in his memory. Save land, save species here.

    

2. Join 500 people who want to help fight poaching.

   Posted on 7:00am Thursday 16th May 2019

   The African Wildlife Foundation has an opportunity to match all donations made by new donors by 31 May 2019. New donors can DOUBLE THEIR IMPACT Help the charity raise $100,000 by that date and your gift will be doubled. Give $10, and will become $20.  Give $25 and it will become $50.   Double your impact with your gift – you give what you can and want to give, and it will be doubled!  The funds raised will help save elephants, rhinos, lions and other species from wildlife traffickers. So how will your donation help?  What difference will it make? The African Wildlife Foundation says that: Sniffer dogs will track poachers to their hiding places Co-ordination among wildlife authorities will deter poachers Canine detection teams will bust smugglers with 90% accuracy Law enforcement and prosecutors willuse AWF training to build cases against wildlife criminals and impose just sentences New technologies, including drones, will incrase surveillance and a new cybersecurity initiative will help identify international trafficers and disrupt online sales The charity are looking for 500 new donors by 31 May 2019  UPDATE:  THEY GOT THEM :-) But you can still donate! The email I had this morning says that Candice Bergen will kindly double your gift of any amount.  But the charity is needing these donors if that’s to happen. They are on the way to achieving that goal – so if you can donate to charity, please take a look at the African Wildlife Foundation and join 500 others (or maybe more!) in making a difference to wildlife. I'm in - will you join in as well?   DONATE TODAY

    

3. Support the PTES's Garden Wildlife Appeal

   Posted on 9:00pm Monday 13th May 2019

   The People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) says that the biggest challenge for wild animals today is finding safe places to live. Cities are expanding Farming is intensifying Green spaces are rapidly disappearing And so animals have fewer places to live.  However, gardens have an important top play in providing havens for wildlife – in giving them food and shelter.  The more wildlife friendly we can make our gardens, the better a chance wildlife will have. There’s plenty we can all do to help, such as making a feeding station for hedgehogs – we’ve put a hedgehog hotel in our garden.  You can build a small pond for amphibians, or create a log pile for insects.  Pretty much all the flowers in our garden are wildlife friendly and it gives us huge pleasure to watch the wildlife enjoying them.  It’s easy to do.   And the good news is that PTES have put a kit together to help you make your garden more wildlife friendly! All you need to do is to donate £5 and you can receive your special Wildlife Friendly Garden Kit, with everything you need to turn your garden into a wildlife haven. Kits include: garden wildlife guide on the importance of your garden to wildlife and the species you’re likely to see. garden wildlife planner of monthly wildlife friendly activities all year round. garden wildlife poster with 12 top tips to make your garden more wildlife-friendly. PTES supporter booklet introducing PTES and their vital conservation work. Donate now to the PTES Garden Wildlife Appeal

    

4. Rare Asiatic black bear spotted in the DMZ between North and South Korea

   Posted on 4:35pm Thursday 9th May 2019

   There’s news from South Korea of a rare Asiatic black bear having been spotted in the DMZ. The DMZ is the Demilitarised Zone which divides North and South Korea.  The area is very cut off and as a result, it’s become a pristine nature reserve.  In fact, the DMZ has become a real haven for plants and wildlife;   the South Korean government predict that over 100 endangered species call the area home and the Ministry of Environment estimates that there are over 5,097 animal and plant species there, such as the red-crowned crane and black-faced spoonbill.  It’s thought there are about 3,050 red-crowned cranes left in the world so they are a very endangered species indeed.  However, it’s also a migrating route for birds and the Eurasian lynx has been spotted in the area too. Although South Korean soldiers reported seeing bears in the past, there wasn’t any photographic evidence.   The South Korea National Institute of Technology installed cameras – and the bear was spotted! KBS News   The bear seen is thought to be between 8 to 9 months old, weighing about 25 to 35 kilograms.   They think the bear is a descendant of the Asiatic black bears lived in the DMZ for a long time The DMZ is 155 miles long and 2.5 miles wide and it runs across the Korean Peninsula.  It’s heaviliy mined and fortified with barbed wire with surveillance cameras and electric fending.   It was created after the armistice which brought an end to the 1950-53 Korean War. Hiking trails are being established in the DMZ now as recently ties between North and South Korea have improved.

    

5. Amur/Far Eastern Leopards on the rise

   Posted on 3:00pm Friday 19th Apr 2019

   Researchers doing some photo monitoring in the Vorontsov Land of the Leopard National Park have identified 91 adult leopards, as well as 22 cubs! As a rule, a qualitative increase is possible when the population has at least twice as many females as males. The high percentage of cubs too is good news.  The new trend amongst Far Eastern Leopards suggests stabilisation of this rare cat’s population.  They are also known as Amur Leopards. The Land of the Leopard National Park accounts for about 70% of the leopard’s natural habitat.  This was a key decision:  it means that the Far Eastern Leopard can now live safely on an area of almost 2,800 square kilometres.   To count the wild cats, national park employees went through nearly a million camera trap images.  About 10,000 of them had leopards on them! To complete the picture, experts from the Russian national park are eagerly waiting for the results that their Chinese colleagues are producing; they too have been monitoring photos. These data are vital now that the Land of the Leopard has become a “birth centre” for the spotted cats; many young leopards move to the Chinese borders to look out new territories.  Some return, but a certain number stay in China – and that means that the leopard population can grow! Far Eastern Leopards is an autonomous non-profit organisation. Far Eastern Leopards’ mission is “to protect and restore the Far Eastern Leopard population in its historical habitat in the Russian Far East. It supports the photo monitoring at Land of the Leopard and the Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve.  About 360,000 hectares are being monitored in the national park.  400 automatic camera traps can be found in the national park, so it’s the largest camera trap network in Russia! Camera trap images enable scientists to do several things: to determine the size of the animal population to monitor changes in their life cycle to estimate their physical condition to determine their behavioural traits.  Find out about Far Eastern Leopards here – there’s lots of information on Far Eastern Leopards and also the organisation trying to protect and restore the species. Reasons for the very low numbers of these leopards are: Reduced feeding supply – the prey they live off have been dying out because of poaching and deforestation Habitat destruction and infrastructure development – forest fire risks have increased because of deforestation and mining;  roads make the areas more accessible to humans Poaching – leopard skin and body parts are used in oriental medicine