Category: Help a species

1. Good news for Jaguars in Belize

   Posted on 10:00pm Thursday 20th Dec 2018

   I love the World Land Trust; it’s one of my favourite charities and I’ve been a supporter for some time now, doing what I can.  After all, every £1 matters. So I was very pleased to see from their website that the supporters of the Trust, of which I am one very small part, has reached its £600,000 target to save 8,154 acres of Jungle for Jaguars in Belize. The target has been reached far faster than the World Land Trust anticipated, so they are going to press on and look for donations to go towards the purchase of another vital piece of corridor.  A £100 donation can save one acre of habitat there, thanks to a government subsidy, but frankly every bit helps and you don’t have to donate that amount to be a part of something really very special. I donated towards the Jungle for Jaguars appeal in memory of my father on the occasion of his birthday and I feel a warm glow inside my heart every time I think of a jaguar on the prowl through a jungle, doing what jaguars do. Like every species on the planet, they deserve the right conditions to thrive and survive and it’s up to us humans to ensure they get it. Donate here to the World Land Trust.  Every £1 will help the jaguars and all the wildlife who need these corridors to move safely from one area to another.

    

2. Apathy kills, action inspires

   Posted on 8:00am Wednesday 31st Oct 2018

   It’s very motivating to browse the internet and come across something which really strikes into your heart. The sort of thing I’m thinking of spurs you to take action – not just to want to take action, but to actually do it. How often do we come away having read something, thinking," That’s terrible," and then go on as if we had read nothing or not been affected at all? The key to successful wildlife conservation is to moving people literally to take action, to do something, in whatever way we all can, to do something to save this wildlife on this planet and most particularly, to save and protect their habitats.  Number of actions for wildlife... ___________________________________________________________ 0              1             2              3              4              5              6              7                                          1 action                 is better than                 no action at all The good thing about taking one action is that we tend to feel good about doing it.  And often we may think, "That was easy!  What else can I do?"  Sometimes it’s just the getting started and doing something however little time it takes. The one thing wildlife cannot afford at all is for us all to sit at the zero action position.  We need a total army of people who will move from the zero point to doing stuff.  And if each of us already do stuff, we need to do more. E.O.Wilson is a scientist.  In his book Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life , (which inspires us to set aside half of the earth’s surface for nature), Mr Wilson writes: “To those who are steering the growth of reserves worldwide, let me make an earnest request:  don’t stop, just aim a lot higher.” We all need to act for the sake of wildlife and this beautiful planet of ours. Please take an action to help wildlife today.  One way is to support those already working to grow and protect reserves around the world or protecting the wildlife already there.

    

3. Help the Sumatran Orangutan Society reclaim and restore forests for orangutans

   Posted on 9:00pm Wednesday 3rd Oct 2018

   Reclaim and restore forests for orangutans Back in August, the Sumatran Orangutan Society launched its Rainforest Home Appeal. The appeal is aiming to buy an oil palm plantation on the edge of the Leuser Ecosystem, so that the land can be reclaimed and restored for orangutans and other wildlife.  It means the habitat will be extended from the neighbouring national park.   The Sumatran Orangutan Society will work with its Indonesian partners - Yayasan Orangutan Sumatera Lestari (YOSL) to buy and restore this 890 acre site to its former natural glory. There’s a very helpful FAQs page so that you can find out why this land matters, how it will be kept safe and how local communities will be involved. There’s been great progress so far! In only 6 weeks, the appeal has raised over £325,000 towards its £870,000 target! There’s more good news – the Lion’s Share Fund has pledged to donate a further $190,000 and that will move the appeal over the half way point Let’s keep the appeal moving The appeal has to hit three targets along the way – it hit the first in September, and the second instalment is due in November, and the third is due in February 2019. Please do what you can to tell others about the appeal and/or make a donation.  Another £108,000 is needed to be able to pay the second instalment in November.  Swing over to SOS, the Sumatran Orangutan Society here.

4. Panda conservation to benefit from ecological corridors in China

   Posted on 9:00pm Monday 1st Oct 2018

   Forestry authorities in China's north western Shaanxi Province have launched an ecological corridor programme. The programme will connect fragmented giant panda habitat, making it easier for pandas to make their way across the region safely.   Six such corridors will be built by 2027 using bridge construction and road culvert clearance. In addition to building the corridors, bamboo trees are to be planted and vegetation restored along the route.  This means that the pandas willl have plenty to eat along the way. Human activities, road traffic and hydropower station construction meant that panda habitat was being divided into six parts in the Qinling area - it was hard for pandas to connect and move about.  Research shows that about 345 pandas live in the Qinling area.  May there be many more!  Useful information and ways to help pandas US charity Pandas International is busy working hard to help with panda conservation in China.  ″Endangered means we have time, extinction is forever.″  Pandas International  Visit their website to find out more.

    

5. Help the EIA help pangolins

   Posted on 10:00pm Monday 24th Sep 2018

   The Environmental Investigation Agency fulfils a number of roles: Its undercover investigations expose transnational wildlife crime, focusing on elephants, pangolins and tigers, as well as forest crimes e.g. illegal logging and deforestation for crops such as palm oil It safeguards global marine ecosystems by addressed threats presented by plastic pollution, bycatch and commercial exploitation of whales, dolphins and purposes It reduces the impact of climate change, campaigning to eliminate greenhouses gases, exposing related illicit trade and improving energy efficiency. And it uses its findings in hard-hitting reports to campaign for new legislation, improved governance and crucially more effective enforcement. In 2018, the EIA set up a dedicated Pangolin Project but it has already been busy gathering seizure data – you can see this on their interactive Pangolin trade map. Data is vital information; it shows the trends in the illegal trade and so is key for law enforcement and academics examining trends and for advocates of the international ban on the trade of all species of pangolins, which was secured in September 2016. The Pangolin Project will enhance enforcement against the criminal syndiates trafficking pangolins.  It gives actionable information to the authorities and ensures they have the capability to properly implement the protection of pangolins. The data gathered on the criminal networks will help raise awareness of the pangolin trade amongst the judiciary;  and provide training to a new intelligence unit in one of the key countries.   How you can help pangolins You can help by making a donation and also by making sure that you never buy products containing pangolins, especially if you live in or travel to China or Vietnam. If you buy Traditional Chinese Medicine ‘herbal’ products, check ingredients don’t include “Chuan Shan Jia”, also written as 穿山甲