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. SUCCESS: The Green Match Fund 2023 is from 20-27 April 2023

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    #GreenMatchFund

    Update on 29 April 2023:  The Green Match Fund 2023 was a great success, and £4,349,330 was raised for 178 charities in 7 days.  There were 22,457 donations to make this happen!   Congratulations to all the charities involved! 

    Here's the background here: 

    Here’s a chance to make a donation for wildlife which gets DOUBLED

    From the 20th April at midday for one week, you can donate to an environmental charity taking part and your donation will be matched! 

    This is a great chance to really make your £ stretch to make a difference!

    If we all pull together, we can really go places for nature and the natural world
    If we all pull together, we can really go places 
    for nature and the natural world
    Visit the Green Match Fund here

    Charites taking part in the Green Match Fund include:

    • Wildlife Trusts (a number have their own individual appeals)
    • Rewilding Britain
    • Bees for Development Trust
    • Surfers Against Sewage
    • Northumberland Rivers Trust
    • Fauna and Flora International (for pangolins)
    • The RSPB
    • Buglife
    • Students organising for Sustainability (that's Hedgehogs Friendly Schools)
    • Blue Marine Foundation
    • Virunga Foundation (that’s for gorillas)
    • David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation
    • ZSL (for big cats)
    • Bumblebee Conservation Trust
    • Wild Fish Conservation
    • Royal Entomological Society (that’s for insects)
    • International Animal Rescue (for mangroves)
    • The Shark Trust
    • Sumatran Orangtuan Foundation
    • Beaver Trust
    • Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (wildcats)
    • Whale and Dolphin Conservation
    • Bat Conservation Trust
    • CPRE (for hedgerows, so important to lifestyle)
    • Wildlife Vets International (for vultures)
    • Space for Giants (elephant-human conflict)
    • South Downs National Park Trust (for a network for ponds)
    • Rhino Ark (UK)
    • Orangutan Foundation
    • Bees Abroad (bees and elephants)
    • Cetacean Research and Rescue Unit
    • Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust
    • Project Seagrass
    • Organisation Cetacea
    • People’s Trust for Endangered Species (for hedgerows)
    • International Otter Survival Fund
    • World Cetacean Alliance
    • The Falconry Centre – Vulture Conservation
    • South Georgia Heritage Trust (whales)
    • UK Wild Otter Trust


    Even if you cannot donate, this is a great opportunity to find out more about what the charities that interest you most do, and to spread awareness of what they do – spread the word!

    The above list doesn’t cover all the charities taking part, so visit the Green Match Fund’s page to find out more!

    #GreenMatchFund

     

  2. Please see this video from Gravitas - how nature is reclaiming its spaces due to the Coronavirus

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    Sometimes you see something on the internet or on television that really hits you hard and makes a point extremely well.

    I saw this video, this afternoon, and I wanted to share it with you.  Please share it with everyone you can.

    The ultimate message is that we SHARE this planet.  It demonstrates how dominant the human race has become - and how selfish.   I am not going to tell you anymore about it - please just watch it for yourself.   Here it is:



    Thank you, Gravitas.

    Please vow to make a difference today. 
    Find out how to reduce your impact on the earth's resources here.

     

     

     

     

  3. Land donated - Presidential Estates in Eastern USA

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    The West Virginia Governor, Jim Justice, and his family have made a donation to the future of Virginia.

    They have donated 4,500 acres in Virginia and in doing so have forfeited hundreds of development rights.   That’s about 7 square miles.

    The area will remain as timberland and for agriculture – but at least it won’t be full of sprawling housing developments and shopping malls.  

    Known as Presidential Estates, 2,657 acres of the property are ranked as having “High” or “Very High” forest conservation value, according to the Virginia Department of Forestry.   The property also has over 18 miles of watercourses.  These contribute to the aquatic habitat and public drinking water supplies of communities downstream.

    There are plenty of opportunities for us all to make land donations and every single square foot we can donate help.  

    Pledge a patch for wildlife - you don't need thousands of acres to make a difference.

    Pledge a patch for wildlife - you don't need thousands of acres to make a difference.   

    Every square foot helps.  
    Your patch can be as big as this pot with wildlife friendly flowers in it!
    pic copyright to Worcestershire Wildlife Trust.

    Worcestershire Wildlife Trust are asking people in the area to Pledge a Patch – which means dedicating an area to wildlife.   This patch could be in your garden, school, community or work place.  It could be a window box, woodland, a bed full of wild-flowers, a tiny pond – anything that makes a difference to wildlife.

    The more of us who can do this, the better.  We have turned our garden over to wildlife and consider it theirs, as much as ours.

    Meantime, donations such as Governor Justice and his family make also help considerably, of course, so if you have a patch of land…. please consider leaving it to a local conservation charity or work out ways to make the most of for wildlife.   Keep it safe from human development. 

     

  4. Chile receives amazing donation of land

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    There’s amazing news from Chile.

    It’s officially designated a national park network, including land which has been privately donated by a couple from the US.


    The government signed a deal with Kristine McDivitt Tompkins.  She and her late husband Doug worked for years to protect areas of Patagonia. They relocated to Chile in 1994 to work on conservation, and they bought up land to preserve as wilderness. He founded North Face clothing label and died in a kayaking accident back in 2015 in Chile.

    The couple set up a not-for-profit organisation, Tompkins Conservation.  The area being protected is about the size of Switzerland, and it’s thought to be the biggest donation of land by private owners to a country.

    The move will create 5 new national parks and expand 3 others.  Plus is adds about 10 million acres of land – about 10% of this was donated by the Tompkins.

    The Chilean government wants the national parks to span a tourist route of over 1,500 miles across the country.

    This is the most recent act of natural protection by Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.   Back in 2017, an area off the coast of Easter Island was designated as one of the largest marine protection zones. 

    Keep going, Chile, and may other countries follow your example.  Nature needs it.

     

  5. AWF Donates Land to Rwanda to Protect Mountain Gorilla Habitat

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    The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists mountain gorillas as critically endangered.   

    Mountain gorillas are only found in the Virunga Massive and in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda.  They are one of the four great apes living in Africa and are the only great age which is increasing in population. 

    The Mountain Gorilla needs more habitat to thrive©  Craig Sholley

    The Government of Rwanda, says the African Wildlife Foundation, has distinguished itself as a leader in conservation after the amazing recovery of the ape numbers.

    The 2010 cenuses of mountain gorillas in the Virunga Massife showed there were about 880 individuals - 480 in the Virunga Massive and 400 in Bwindi.  This means they had increased about 26% over the previous 7 years. 

    Visit the African Wildlife Foundation's website for more info
    Visit the African Wildlife Foundation's website for more info

    This success led to a key challenge:  enough habitat for the mountain gorillas.

    In 2017, the African Wildlife Foundation bought a 27.8 hectare property right next to the park.  

    However, the increase in mountain gorillas has led to a key challenge: adequate habitat.

    So in 2017, the African Wildlife Foundation bought a 27.8-hectare property next to the park.  

    In January, the Rwanda Development Board received a property that will help increase the size of Volcanoes National Park, vital habitat for the mountain gorillas.  The park was established in 1925 and it's home to mountain gorillas.  It is sited in the north of Rwanda bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda and it hoped that the handover of land from the African Wildlife Foundation to the Rwanda Development Board will help address the issue of adequate habitat.

    Visitor numbers have risen 82% since 2007, showing that more and more people want to see mountain gorillas.  Visitor numbers will help ensure their long term survival, provided that the gorillas are treated with respect and given the right habitat they need to survive and thrive.

    Responsible Travel is an ethical travel directory and it lists a number of gorilla safaris - click here for more information.