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1. Peru has a new national park - the Yaguas National Park

   Posted on 9:00pm Friday 2nd Mar 2018

   Peru has a new national park In January 2011, the Peruvian government established the Yaguas National Park. It is enormous – 2,147,166 acres.  And it’s a safeguard and home to hundreds of species of flora and fauna AND has the ancestral lands of over 1,000 indigenous people living in the region.  The park sits in a remote northwestern region of Peru.  It’s near the Colombain border, and it runs along the Putumayo River.  And it controls weather patterns in the United States. The area has a history of exploitation – logging, mining and rubber production.  Needless to say, some of this has been illegal.  The indigenous people were forced to collect rubber from the forest under terrible conditions, facing murder, mutilation and systematic rape, according to the Field Museum. But now, with the national park status, the land and people are protected.   Additionally, so are 3,000 plant species, 600 bird species and over 150 mammal species in the area.  Many of these are threatened or endangered.   And over 300 fish species live in the various rivers flowing in and out of the Yaguas National Park. Species such as giant otters, woolly monkeys, Amazonian river dolphins and manatees live there. South America is creating vast stretches of protected wilderness, so hopefully they are signs of both people and governments showing how important these regions of wilderness are, both for animal and human wellbeing.

    

2. Tanzania wildlife populations benefit from Wildlife Management Areas

   Posted on 9:00pm Friday 2nd Mar 2018

   In Tanzania, wildlife populations have really suffered in recent decades. Needless to say, this suffering is due to human activities such as poaching, farming, and mining. However, there’s good news which shows that community-based wildlife conservation can bring fast win-wins amongst all species great and small. The Journal of Mammology published a paper in which scientists from the Wild Nature Institute show significantly higher densities of giraffes and dik-diks, and lower densities of cattle in a community Wildlife Management Area, rather than an unprotected control site.  Before the Wildlife Management Area was established, the densities of wildlife and livestock were similar when both managed by the same authority.  However, the data showed that the establishment of Wildlife Management Areas had positive ecological outcomes with higher wildlife densities and lower livestock densities, which met the researcher’s definition of ecological success. Efforts to bring wildlife management under the control of local communities rather than central agencies have been made through the establishment of Wildlife Management Areas.   The idea is that several vilages set aside land for wildlife conservation in return for most of the tourism revenues from these areas.  There are 19 such areas already in operation, covering 7% of Tanzania’s land area, and 19 more are planned.  Hopefully this will provide an example to other countries they can follow.  Eco-tourism can provide an income for locals, and it’s the largest economic sector and money earner for Tanzania.   Click on the elephants above for ideas of holidays in Tanzania listed through Responsible Travel

    

3. Canadian wildlife benefit from 2018 Budget

   Posted on 9:00pm Thursday 1st Mar 2018

   Canadian wildlife would surely be leaping for joy (if they can leap) at the news that the Budget 2018 will earmark significant funds to protect Canada’s nature, parks and wild spaces. $1.3 billion will be invested over 5 years.  Preserving the country’s natural areas ensure that Canada will remain a place where people want to live, work, invest – and visit.  So protecting the environment and helping the economy can marry well. Finance Minister Bill Morneau said in his budget speech to the House of Commons, “Canada is one of the most beautiful places on Earth.   It is up to us all to help keep it that way.” Canada has pledged to protect 17% of her land and inland waters, and 10% of her coastal and marine areas by the end of the decade.   Countries are working to reach these global targets by 2020 around the world.                                                                   The budget recognises the importance of private land conservation and $500 million from the government towards the $1 billion nature fund will encourage collaboration as provinces, territories, corporate and charitable organisations work together to conserve land and protect species at risk. There is commitment to increase the federal capacity to protect species at risk, and there are new recovery strategies: expanding national wildlife areas and migratory bird sanctuaries, and establish a new network of conservation areas, working with provincial, territorial and – crucially – indigenous partners. There are expanded measures to include Indigenous Peoples in creating and managing protective areas.  Indigenous governments have played roles already in creating protected areas across the country, from Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve of British Columbia’s northern coast to the Torngat Mountains National Park in Labrador. This budget is being described as a game-changer for nature conservation in Canada.  It should support vital work to protect the habitats, animals and plants at greatest risk.   Canada has significant intact natural areas, and land trusts are specially placed to leverage the government’s investment to help slow or reverse species decline and mitigate the effects of climate change. This move was welcomed by organisations such as the Nature Conservancy of Canada and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

    

    

4. Saved: 730 acres of habitat-rich land in Ontario by the Couchiching Conservancy

   Posted on 8:00pm Thursday 1st Mar 2018

   The Couchiching Conservancy has acquired over 700 acres of habitat-rich land.   It sits alone one of southern Ontario’s wild rivers. The property includes over 4 kilometres of shoreline along the Black River.   This area is home to a number of species which are at risk, such as the Blanging’s turtle a species threatened by the loss or fragmenting of habitat, motor vehicles, and raccoons and foxes that prey on eggs, and the eastern hog-nosed snake, threatened by habitat loss and persecution by people. It’s an important acquisition, because it creates a large corridor of wilderness which enables species to move from one area to another.   As the climate changes, this will be all the more vital for them. Hundreds of donors enabled this purchase to happen, and there was also a major contribution from Ottawa’s Natural Areas Conservation Programme.     This programme is a private-public partnership which aims to conserve land across southern Canada, and federal funds are matched by contributions raised by the Nature Conservancy of Canada and its partners who manage the program  Here's more information about the Couchichong Conservancy:

    

5. Chile receives amazing donation of land

   Posted on 9:00pm Wednesday 31st Jan 2018

   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.