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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. African Wildlife Foundation gives $25 million to help wildlife and wildlife habitats in Africa

   Posted on 8:00pm Tuesday 13th Nov 2018

   The African Wildlife Foundation will invest $25 million over the next 4 years to support the work being done by local communities and African governments to protect wild lands and wildlife in Africa. The pledge was made at the recent Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) conference in London.  AWF’s President Kaddu Sebunya said that poaching and illegal trade in wildlife poses an acute threat to Africa’s rich heritage of natural wealth. Kaddu says that there is some recovery and stabilization of some vital wildlife populations.   AFW has invested $13.1 million to tackle the illegal wildlife trade in Africa and also a further $5.5 million with public-sector partners.   The total of $18.6 million has been used to: Support anti-poaching efforts on the ground Strengthen prosecutorial and judiciary processes Put sniffer dogs in critical transit points Campaign to stop demand in Asia As a result: 10 out of the 14 populations of elephants the funding has been targeting are increasing or are stable. All rhino populations and 7 out of 9 carnivore populations that AWF supports are increasing or are stable Prosecutors are building stronger case;  judges are delivery stronger sentences for wildlife crimes Sniffer dogs have made over 250 finds And now this most recent pledge will support programmes putting the priorities in place that came out of the London IWT conference: To build African leadership and ownership of the illegal wildlife trade in Africa Protect habitats and key populations of rhinos, elephants, great apes, large carnivores and giraffes Enhance detection of wildlife crimes and strengthen the ability to prosecute and judge, putting criminals behind bars. The belief is that Africa must own and drive the illegal wildlife trade work.  The London conference will help strengthen partnerships across borders to fight the illegal wildlife trade in an effective way. Four key elements are crucial to give Africa’s wildlife a chance, according to AWF Chief Scientist and VP of Species Protection, Dr Philip Muruthi, and they are: Keep wildlife safe from poachers Make wildlife products difficult to move around Actively involve key local players Dampen the demand for wildlife products Visit the African Wildlife Foundation

3. Score a goal for jaguars and help with jaguar conservation

   Posted on 9:00pm Tuesday 2nd Oct 2018

   Here’s a chance to double your donation during the 3rd to 17th July 2018 and really make a difference to jaguars and big cat conservation. The World Land Trust has been saving species and habitats since 1989, working with local conservation partners and supported by willing donors. Visit their website and you’ll see a range of projects they’ve undertaken.  In 2017 alone, thanks to donors and supporters, they supported local partners in the land purchase of acres in Ecuador – 873 Mexico – 1,285 Guatemala – 2,579 Peru – 8,765 Bolivia – 380,395 India – 1,002 Malaysian Borneo – 45 acres Ecuador – 447 Honduras – 22 Ecuador – they planted 123,000 trees In Armenia, they are funding land lease and habitat management in the Causasus mountains, home to species such as the Grey Wolf, Brown Bear, Bezoar Ibex and the Caucasian Leopard. So there’s a project to help Jaguars in the jungle.   It’s called Jungle for Jaguars.  They need £600,000 to purchase 8,154 acres in Belize, which is threatened by deforestation.  The purchase will preserve the land and connect it to neighbouring protected areas, which will give these big cats the freedom to roam and help safeguard their future. ©World Land Trust The jungle is home to all five species of Belize’s wild cats – the Jaguar, Ocelot, Margay, Puma and Jaguarundi, and many bird species will be protected too such as a rare species of hummingbirds, the Keel-billed Toucan and Ornate Hawk-eagle. In the last 10 years, 25,000 acres of wildlife habitat has been lost for agriculture and development in Northern Belize.  The areas around the corridor the World Land Trust want to protect are under increasing threat.  Make your donation between 3rd and 17th October 2018 and your donation will be doubled so this really is a chance to make a critical difference.  The two weeks are known as the Big Match Fortnight. Donate here

    

4. Good news for Lions in the Liwonde National Park

   Posted on 9:00pm Thursday 23rd Aug 2018

   Lions haven’t been in the Liwonde National Park for 20 years. But good news!  They’re back! They are making a great come-back in Malawi and thanks to the Malawian Government, the Dutch Government, the Lion Recovery Fund and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, African Parks report that Liwonde National Park is welcoming these magnificent animals home. African Parks took on management of the park in 2015.  Since then, they have: removed 31,000 snares reintroduced cheetahs after they went extinct 100 years ago established a healthy founder population of lions after their introduction  Lions return to the Liwonde National Park African Parks need help to monitor and protect the lions from the threats around them.  Their rangers are on the ground, protecting these lions.  So if you can, please support African Parks and help provide for items such as a water filter for the rangers to have clean water when they are out on patrol; a ranger’s uniform; food rations, fuel for the monitoring team, and radio collars to monitor the lions. Over 100 years ago, more than 200,000 lions lived across Africa.  Now there are just 20,000, threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, a lack of wild prey and poaching for their body parks.  The lions need all the protection we can give them. All this helps people too - tourism revenue has increased by 70% in the last two years. Find out more here

    

5. Global Tiger Day is 29 July - and the World Bank is helping to protect tigers

   Posted on 11:00am Sunday 29th Jul 2018

   Did you know that the World Bank is involved in tiger conservation? Who would have thought that all those financiers had a passion for our stripy four pawed friends? Back in 2008, the World Bank joined the Global Environment Facility, the Smithsonian Institution, Save the Tiger Fund and the International Tiger Coalition (which represents over 40 non-government organisations.  And the Global Tiger Initiative was launched.   It’s led by the 13 tiger range countries. In November 2010, leaders of these tiger range countries got together in St Petersburg in Russia.   At this International Tiger Forum, they adopted the St Petersburg Declation on Tiger Conservation.  And they endorced the Global Tiger Recovery Programme. The goal of this programme was to double the number of wild tigers across their area by 2022.  This would take the number of tigers from 3,200 to over 7,000. Tiger Initiative Progress has been made in many tiger range countries: A 2 week hands-on training for over 800 wildlife conservation professionals was launched.  These are from national parks and protected areas in South East Asia.  The idea is that they share best practice which could help all the tiger range countries.  What’s worked to increase the number of tigers?  What hasn’t? In India, population numbers of tigers have gone up just a whisker over 30% from 2010 to 2015 Nepal has done even better, with a 60% increase in tiger numbers between 2009 and 2012. Crucially, livelihoods provided under the World Bank/GEF India Ecodevelopment Project led to a group of poachers giving up the practice in the Periyar Tiger Reserve, Kerala. The Bangladesh Forest Department did a census of Bengal tigers, using the data they got to monitor the size and density of tiger populations in the Bangladesh Sundarbans. 30 Bangladesh forestry department officials undertook a certificate training course on wildlife management at the Wildlife Institute of India. Over 800 forest department officials have had in-country training. 34 subprojects have been implemented on habitat improvement, eco-tourism development and human-wildlife conflict mitigation. So what challenges lie ahead for tigers??  Threats to Habitats and Connectivity will get worse with rapid infrastructure development and the investment in extractive industries Poaching and Wildlife Crime Control, especially to monitor trends. Capacity Building and making sure there are enough resources to boost current efforts and also to develop national centres of excellence. Scientific Monitoring – results must be monitored so that the right interventions can be made. An example is pinpointing poaching corridors around the world. Eliminating the demand for tiger products. . Rebuilding Tiger Populations – it is vital to share current experience and knowledge on how to rebuild tiger populations. You can find out more here from the jaws of the World Bank itself We need our message to reach out across the globe:  tigers are worth much more alive than dead. Actor Harrison Ford