Our blog & news: Get involved to help wildlife

 
 

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world;
indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." 
Margaret Mead, American anthropologist, 1901-1978
 


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  1. Act for wildlife in Cambodia with FFI's urgent appeal in the Cardamom Mountains

    Posted on

    I’ve had an email from Fauna and Flora International (FFI) about an impending crisis that is about to get catastrophically worse.

    The beautiful Cardamom Mountains in Cambodia are being covered in snares. 

    FFI say that the snares are shredding through clouded leopards, ripping elephant trunks in half and snapping the limbs of their calves.  Pangolins, sun bears, moon bears and indeed any mammal than a mouse are being badly impacted, as any animal larger than a mouse can be trapped in these cruel snares.

    To make matters worse, FFI’s project funding in the area has fallen through.  FFI patrol teams are still able to operate in some areas and maintain an effective resistance.  A very generous donor has enabled them to remove countless snares – and so save many, many animals.  FFI had hoped to extend the areas that they were covering.


    Unfortunately, the donor is unable to continue their support – and FFI must fill a £92,345 hole. 

    If FFI cannot fund the project, the warden leaders won’t be able to pay their patrol teams’ wages – and any who have the means won’t be able to have equipment and the backing to mount and maintain an effective resistance. 

    Funds will be spent on boots, machetes, camping gear, hammocks, rucksacks and everything wardens need to wear as they go out on one patrol after another.   The wardens need GPS kits, patrol mapping – and they need to be paid. 

    FFI say time is short. 

    What’s so important about the Cardamom Mountains?  Well, they have dense rainforest, mangroves and wetlands – and they have more than 60 globally threatened animal species and 17 globally threatened trees.  The Cardamom Mountains matter.  These include:

    • Asian elephants
    • Sun bears
    • The clouded leopard,
    • Dholes, a type of wild dog
    • The Sunda pangolin

    This elephant has been injured by a snare - the boot is protecting his leg
    Young elephant wears a protective boot
    to help recovery, after being caught in a snare.
    Credit: Charnwood Photo

    These snares are CRUEL – as the metal clasp tightens, causing the animal terrible pain.  The more they struggle, the tighter the snare gets, cutting more and more deeply into flesh and bone.  It is a terribly cruel and painful way to die.   

    At the same time, the animals have lost their habitat, because of illegal logging, land encroachment and unsustainable agricultural ways of doing things.  Over 10% of the forest has gone in 15 years  So the animals find themselves in smaller spaces, into what is known as a “wall of death”, because it is easy for them to get trapped by a snare.

    Enter the wardens. They are from the local communities and they cover over 100km every month, spotting and removing snares, watching for any signs of illegal poaching or logging, and undertaking biomonitoring and data-gathering activities.   These activities are important because they give a better understanding of the wildlife in the area, and enable the right decisions to be made about how to help them.

    The clouded leopard is well adapted to prowling through the forest

    The clouded leopard is well adapted to prowling through the forest
    Credit:  Bill – Adobe Stock

    Wardens also help by supplying the human-wildlife conflict teams with flashlights and noise-makers.  These can help deter elephants from the boundaries of farms and villages, so preventing damage to crops and property. These things make a huge impact – there have been no retaliation elephant killings since the wardens started such work.

    The warden team is essential to protect the animals of the Cardamom Mountains. 

    Please help today by making a donation.

     

  2. New Appeal from the World Land Trust: Save Tanzania’s Coastal Forests

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    The World Land Trust has launched the first appeal for this year and this one is in Eastern Africa.

    The coastal forests there did cover an area larger than the UK – now, they would fit into half of Scotland.

    There are 400 forest fragments from Somalia to Mozambique and biodiversity islands that are full of endemic life.

    The Appeal Target:   £360,000

    The Trust is working to raise £360,000.   With help from these donations, their partner the  Tanzania Forest Conservation Group (TFCG)  can save a crucial wildlife corridor.   Elephants, leopards, lions and other animals are counting on us all to save this land for them.

    Roads are bringing cashew plantations closer and closer.  The animals need their wildlife corridor to be saved.

    About the Rondo Appeal

    The Rondo Plateau is a 900 metre table-top mountain.  It is a microclimate of misty forests, chameleons and bush baby primates whilst below it, big cats, butterflies and elephants roam. 

    And with all our help, the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group is going to create a huge protected belt around this ancient landscape.


    The donations will help safeguard a crucial wildlife corridor between the Rondo Forest Reserve and the Nyerere National Park.  49,000+acres (20,000 ha) of land will be protected.  The corridor will come in the form of 10 Village Land Forest Reserves, each under the stewardship of a village, and the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group will work with them closely.

    Which animals will the appeal help? 

    These animals are examples of those who need the Ronda route:

    • Elephants who need space to roam and who need their migration routes,
    • The African Lion and African leopard manage prey species – they must do this or animals such as the African Bush Pig would go unchecked, and devastate local farms.
    • The lions in the area need the land between the forest and shrubland to hunt or they would become extinct in the area
    • Leopards need forests so that they can store their kills up in the trees where other animals can’t get them.
    • The dwarf galago is a tiny endangered primate, who lives in trees and who needs the connectivity the Ronda land will give it.
    • The bearded pygmy chameleon is very vulnerable to habitat disruption – even the loss of a few trees could be one loss too many for some
    • The chequered elephant shrew’s population is very fragmented because of habitat loss so the subspecies is under real pressure

    We all need to act

    Please help protect these animals by protecting their homes today – and please donate to the World Land Trust’s appeal

  3. African Elephants - Forest Elephants and Savanna Elephants

    Posted on

    March 2021:  There’s news about African elephants.

    The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has recognised the African elephant as two separate species after the emergence of new evidence.

    1. The Forest Elephant – the number in the wild has fallen by over 86% in three decades – they are now critically endangered, a step away from extinction



    Getting involved

    There are more elephant charities here.

    PLUS!  News of a special appeal!

    The World Land Trust has launched its first appeal of 2021 to help Tanzania's coastal forests and a crucial corridor for elephants, lions, leopards and others.   



    Find out more and please donate if you can and spread the word at the World Land Trust's website

     

  4. Petition to keep the oil industry out of Africa's treasures

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    Rainforest Rescue is a non-profit organisation which is committed to preserving rainforests, protecting those living there, and furthering social reforms.

    Have a prowl around their website and you will notice that they have a number of petitions we can all sign to add our voice to protect the powerless.

    They say that those living in forests are often powerless against the business interests and ambitions of timber and cattle barons, Western banks, corrupt politicians and oil and mining companies.

    And there’s a petition at the moment aiming to keep the oil industry out of Africa's natural treasures.

    ReconAfrica have got a lience for oil and gase exploration in the Kavango delta.  They’ve got a second-hand oil rig in the US and shipped it across the Atlantic.  Drilling began in December in 2020 and if successful, the companies plans to extract two billion barrels of oil before drilling into deeper layers of rock. 

    Rainforest Rescue say the ecological impacts of the projects will be devastating.  They say it would threaten bodies of water in the dry Namibian savannahs, and Botswana’s UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Okavango Delta and huge numbers of elephants, hippos, rhinos and birds.  Livelihoods of locals hang in the balance.

     

    Please help keep the oil industry out of Africa's natural treasures
    Please help keep the oil industry out of Africa's natural treasures
    image © Rainforest Rescue

    Rainforest Rescue say, “We need to stop ReconAfrica’s project for the sake of the climate, biodiversity, water, and the livelihoods of the local people. Please support our demands with your signature.”

    Hippos, elephants, rhinos and birds can’t have a voice in this – they need us to speak for them.  Please sign the petition and act on their behalf.