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1. African Parks report 3 successes for big cats

   Posted on 8:00pm Tuesday 6th Mar 2018

   There’s an awful lot of bad news about big cats around at the moment; they are being hunted for their skins, claws, bones and other parts; killed to prevent human-wildlife conflict, and their habitats are increasingly fragmented and lost. So it’s great to hear from African Parks that there are some hopeful signs across the continent for these majestic animals. Lions are being restored to Malawi In 2012, African Parks reintroduced lions to the Majete Wildlife Reserve.  They secured the park and brought back key species, including prey populations.  The lions have formed a small but growing pride to such an extent that African Parks have moved the first two of 10 lions to Liwonde National Park – the first time lions have been there for at least 4 years! New cheetah population doubles in less than a year In 2017, African Parks reintroduced cheetahs to Liwonde National Park, also in Malawi.  They’d been absent for 100 years.  Several females have had cubs, so increasing their numbers in just a few months since their arrival. Lion numbers grow in Rwanda Lions were eradicated by refugees coming back to Rwanda after the genocide, so they had been absent for 20 years.   African Parks reintroduced 7 lions to the Akagera National Park.   With the space to thrive, lions have nearly tripled, and the park is now a real wildlife gem.  Tourism is flourishing with over 36,000 annual visitors to the park, bringing $1.3 million in tourism revenue.  This is reinvested in the surrounding areas. Restoring and protecting the big cat in Africa’s wild places does a number of things: It maintains vital ecological processes It gives tourism a boost Tourism gives much needed benefits to the local communities and revenue to the region Get involved You can help African Parks continue to protect Africa’s big cats and ensure they have the space, prey and safety they need to breed and thrive.    Donate here

    

2. Well done to everyone at Wicor Primary School in Portchester!

   Posted on 2:00pm Sunday 4th Feb 2018

   It's always great to see children getting stuck into nature and the natural world, and even better to ee them doing things to help protect it and create habitat.    So I was really pleased to see the efforts of the wonderful staff and pupils at Wicor Primary School in Portchester.   They've raised £500 which they donated to the Woodland Trust - a fantastic achievement.   They did it through the sales of sausages which they devised with a local butcher using Jack in the Hedge, a garlic mustard that grows in the school grounds. Well done to the butcher, as well, for getting stuck in!  The money was also raised by bake sales, sponsored events and proceeds from a blend of tea devised with a Portsmouth tea merchant. Headteacher Mark Wildman presented the cheque to the Woodland Trust after the children had spent a day tree planting!  The school had received 179 free hazel, whitebeam, aspen and spindle saplings from the Woodland Trust along with four larger trees – Oak, hornbeam and cherry.  Every child had helped plant a tree, and the Headteacher commented that he'd seen many a child dragging their parents across to the tree they had planted saying "I planted that!"    Strong winds actually blew some of the trees over after the planting - but the kids just got on with re-planting them and the school thinks this shows the children that nature needs looking after and nurturing - an important lesson in life when caring for our natural world. I love the ethos of this school - they also grow fruit and vegetables in their allotment as part of their Environmental Curriculum.  They sell these back to the community to promote healthy eating and to raise money for the allotment. Find out more here So well done to all the children and staff at Wicor Primary School!   Here's a video from the Woodland Trust on the Green Tree Schools Award.  Over 8,000 schools are now involved and it's free to join in.  There's a guide to the Green Tree School Award here which you can download

    

3. Schools help rainforest by fundraising

   Posted on 5:00pm Monday 25th Sep 2017

   It's always wonderful to read about schools helping with fundraising towards wildlife and environmental causes. Reading through my copy of the excellent "Rainforest Review 2017" from Rainforest Concern, I was really excited to see a number of schools supporting the charity.   Cake sales, farmer's markets, a raffle and rainforest calendars were just a few of the ways in which young people raised funds for this charity.  The charity reported on 10 schools who did their bit for Rainforest Concern and raised funds - it would be great to see more schools getting involved. One young supporter raised a very impressive £553, which saved 11 acres of rainforest!  And Angharad is only eight years old!  She ran 20 km over 4 weeks.   A big well done to her :-)  There some great teacher resources for schools on Rainforest Concern's website which you can find here, and there are even Amazonas Comics for the children too! It costs £50 to sponsor one acre of rainforest.  If you sponsor an acre, Rainforest Concern will give you a personalised certificate recording your sponsorship and regular updates on their progress.  Your sponsorship will protect many plants and animals who need rainforest to live in.  Click here for more information.

4. Wild Horses of Alberta Society....

   Posted on 4:00pm Monday 31st Jul 2017

   So yesterday I was having a canter around the BBC website and having a browse and I came across a video made by the Wild Horses of Alberta Society. The Society is "committed to the preservation of these magnificent animals in their natural environment" and they have a number of videos on their You Tube page which I must say I did enjoy.   As well as informing the public about the history of these wonderful horses, the Society  is also working with the government to establish reasonable and achievable wild horse population management solutions, and also another objective I particularly like is their work to promote the welfare of wild horses by rescuing, gentling and rehoming of wild horses providing veterinary care. They also have a wild horse adoption programme. Of course, being a horse lover I had to have a look, and the video was just wonderful!   The wilds of Alberta, the care the people took of these wild horses and the spirit of the horses was just - for me - really moving.   Here's one of their videos, A Year with the Wild Horses - do take a look!   The organisation entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the province of Alberta back in November 2014 - a 5 year agreement.  It means WHOAS can run 2 programmes in a large area of the Sundre Equine Zone -  Firstly, a contraception program for wild horse mares - this should help manage horse populations Secondly, an adoption program so that WHOAS can rescue wild horses in trouble on private land or that are found abandoned or injured. It's always interesting to see how people are working to help animals and I do wish the Society well in its work. Click here to visit the Wild Horses of Alberta Society's website

    

5. Help stop bear farming in Vietnam - your voice is needed now

   Posted on 10:00pm Wednesday 28th Jun 2017

   Today I had an email from the amazing charity Four Paws asking for all our help in supporting their petition to encourage the Vietnamese government to stop bear farming once and for all.

   In just six weeks, 275,000 people have signed the charity's petition - including comedians Matt Lucas and John Bishop, MEP Jean Lambert and VietPro.  

   Will you add your voice to the petition to stop bear farming?  

   Four Paws are hoping to have half a million names on their petition.  
   
   

   

   Every single signature could help encourage the Vietnamese authorities to end bear farming once and for all.   Four Paws is asking everyone to share, share, and share - and if you know any famous people who can help raise the profile of the petition, that would be great :-) 

   Please sign now

   Share now using #saddestbears

   Although the Vietnamese government has taken steps to end bear farming over the last 10 years, there are still about 1,300 bears living in tiny cages.  Bears are being used for bile extraction. So more action is needed to end bear farming once and for all. 

   The petition calls on the Vietnamese government to (and I quote):

   • Take even greater steps in ensuring that bears are not farmed for bile extraction.
   • Ensure bears currently on bear farms are strictly monitored with confiscations and penalties for noncompliance.
   • Close all bear farms by 2020 and ensure the transfer of all remaining bears to rescue centers and sanctuaries.

   Please take action and sign the petition here