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1. US$1.8 million to combat wildlife trafficking in Namibia

   Posted on 8:00pm Thursday 27th Jul 2017

   The IUCN  says that over 111,000 elephants have been poached in the 10 years before 2016.   So it's good news to hear that Namibia’s Environment Ministry will get help worth US$1.8 million from the U.S. Embassy to fight wildlife trafficking.  Anything that can be done to help combat this terrible crime will help many animals. The grant will be implemented in partnership with Namibian NGOs such as Intelligence Support Against Poaching, Legal Assistance Centre, Namibia Nature Foundation NNF, Natural Resources Working Group and Save the Rhino Trust.   Source:  Newsghana.com.gh More useful information on global wildlife trafficking:   Visit TRAFFIC

    

2. Good news from South Africa for bird species from Birdlife

   Posted on 9:00pm Thursday 20th Jul 2017

   Birdlife International report there were celebrations in April 2017:  the Mpumalanga’s Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs declared the Greater Lakenvlei area a Protected Environment. New Protected Environment Declared in South Africa  ©Romy Antrobus-Ruth Greater Lakenvlei is an important conservation area: It has many “specials” e.g. Wattle Crane, Blue Crane, White-winged Flufftail, Yellow-breasted Pipit and many others. BirdLife South Africa recognises this area as the Steenkampsberg Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA). It is an important water catchment area. Lakenvlei (a wetland) is a peatland which helps with the storing and purification of water. The peatland holds a huge amount of carbon, so minimizing the impact of climate change. The tourism and agricultural activities provide jobs for hundreds of people, connecting tourism to the beauty of the area and outdoor activities South African legislation provides for different categories of formal protection: Nature reserves and national parks, where activities are strictly controlled Protected Environment where some activities e.g. farming practices can continue but destructive and unsustainable activities are not allowed Areas are divided into zones such as natural areas and degraded areas.   In natural areas, activities are strictly controlled – over-grazing and indiscriminate use of pesticides are not allowed. Greater Lakenvlei now has a Management Plan which will be implemented to benefit the birds in this area.  Hopefully this declaration will encourage more bird lovers and nature lovers to visit, which should lead to more jobs and help conserve the area. It was made possible by the collaborative efforts of the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) and their NGO partners, the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) and BirdLife South Africa Click here to go fly away to Birdlife International

    

3. National Trust goes wilder for wildlife

   Posted on 9:00pm Tuesday 18th Jul 2017

   The National Trust is the largest private landowner in the UK.   It recently announced plans to help reverse the decline of wildlife on the land in its care. The National Trust was set up to protect places of natural beauty; it has a plan! It is going to create and restore 'priority'  wildlife habitats on 10% of its land - chalk, grassland and arable field margins. By 2025, at least 50% of its farmland will be nature friendly with protected hedgerows, field margins, ponds, woodlands and other habitats allowing plants and animals to thrive. Over 1,500 farm tenants on National Trust land are already farming in ways which benefit wildlife.  The Director of Land, Landscape and Nature is called Peter Nixon.  He says, "Nature has been squeezed out to the margins for far too long.   We want to help bring it back to the heart of our countryside."   Nature can rejuvenate.   Wildlife just need the right conditions to survive and we can all help create them.   We just need to make it happen.  And then birds such as the cuckoo, lapwing and curlew may come back and return to the fields, woods and meadows again.   Visit the National Trust

    

4. Elephant news from Liberia

   Posted on 9:00pm Wednesday 5th Jul 2017

   There's good news for elephants!

   The Librarian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has formally signed off on a National Elephant African Plan.

   The plan was devised by Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and its partners and it's being funded by Stop Ivory.  It aims to tackle the increasing threat to Liberia's forest elephants. 

   Poaching has escalated, and forest elephants are severely threatened.   Numbers are difficult to estimate with any degree of accuracy but they are thought to be as low as 300 individuals. 

   

   The National Elephant Action Plan helps to identify specific actions and interventions for which targeted funding will be sought to address this data gap.  The first nationwide baseline assessment of forest elephants in Liberia is one such action. 

   West Africa has lost over 90% of its suitable elephant habitat over the last 35 years, due to logging, mining and agriculture.  Elephants need enormous areas to roam, so in order for them to survive, it's essential to safeguard their remaining habitats and the wildlife corridors that connect them.  

   Fauna and Flora say that you can only find forest elephants in 8 African countries now.  Liberia has the largest forest cover, so the population of forest elephants there is really important.

   The new National Elephant Action Plan will complement the broader African Elephant Action Plan by providing a guide for the protection and conservation of forest elephants in Liberia.

   This plan is vital as FFI's Liberia Programme Manager, Michelle Klailova, says, "and I quote,  “It will allow us to obtain a better understanding of the issues surrounding the distribution and conservation of Liberia’s elephants, identify the key threats and establish a programme of measures to ensure the survival of the species in Liberia.

   “The Liberian President’s signature will ensure the ideas and objectives towards elephant conservation are not just theoretical but actually implemented through the action plan,” she added.

   This new commitment by the Liberian President proves the government’s commitment to protecting its natural environment.

   FInd out more from Fauna and Flora International here

5. Africa's largest marine conservation area is being created in the waters of Gabon

   Posted on 9:00pm Monday 12th Jun 2017

   There's news from the west coast of Africa. The largest marine conservation area in the continent is being created - a network of 9 new national marine parks and 11 new aquatic reserves is going to extend across a massive 20,500 square miles in territorial waters and out into Gabon's economic zone.  The area covers 26% will protect 26 percent of Gabon’s territorial seas. The move will help protect fish stocks from over-fishing and also help the area cope better with changing climates and give the corals there a chance to recover. The goal is to protect the waters for generations to come, and Ali Bongo Ondimba, who took over the presidency of the country after his father died in 2009, sees them the areas as precious as the rainforests which cover 90% of Gabon.   The Gabon waters have some of the world's largest stocks of Altantic tuna, so there is a danger of overfishing.   The hope is that fish stocks will be revived and the breeding grounds of whales, dolphins and turtles will be protected by the move.  Thank you, Gabon, for caring about the future of our waters for generations to come, both people and marine life.