Today, I had an email from the amazing Trees for Life who are based in Scotland.

Nine years ago, they bought an estate – the Dundreggan Conservation Estate.  

And today’s news is that at the end of this autumn’s planting season, they will have planted 176,965 trees in the Allt Ruadh exclosure at our Dundreggan Conservation Estate.  This means, they say, that any day now, they will surpass 500,000 total trees planted on the estate since they bought it nine years ago.

Their Rewilding the Highlands project proposes to deliver an inspiring example of rewilding in the UK.  It is significantly expanding and enhancing the native Caledonian forest habitats on the Dundreggan Conservation Estate, while helping others to begin their own forest restoration initiatives.  It wants to develop the area into one of Scotland’s finest native woodlands, full of wildlife, for generations to come.  Over 3,000 species have been discovered. This will enable opportunities for wildlife watching to grow, fantastic for anyone who loves the outdoors. 

You can help by sponsoring an acre, becoming a friend of Dundreggan or even volunteering!  Find out more here

It's always wonderful to read about schools helping with fundraising towards wildlife and environmental causes.

Reading through my copy of the excellent "Rainforest Review 2017" from Rainforest Concern, I was really excited to see a number of schools supporting the charity.  

Cake sales, farmer's markets, a raffle and rainforest calendars were just a few of the ways in which young people raised funds for this charity. 

The charity reported on 10 schools who did their bit for Rainforest Concern and raised funds - it would be great to see more schools getting involved.

One young supporter raised a very impressive £553, which saved 11 acres of rainforest!  And Angharad is only eight years old!  She ran 20 km over 4 weeks.   A big well done to her :-) 

There some great teacher resources for schools on Rainforest Concern's website which you can find here, and there are even Amazonas Comics for the children too!

It costs £50 to sponsor one acre of rainforest.  If you sponsor an acre, Rainforest Concern will give you a personalised certificate recording your sponsorship and regular updates on their progress.  Your sponsorship will protect many plants and animals who need rainforest to live in.  Click here for more information.

So yesterday I was having a canter around the BBC website and having a browse and I came across a video made by the Wild Horses of Alberta Society.

The Society is "committed to the preservation of these magnificent animals in their natural environment" and they have a number of videos on their You Tube page which I must say I did enjoy.  

As well as informing the public about the history of these wonderful horses, the Society  is also working with the government to establish reasonable and achievable wild horse population management solutions, and also another objective I particularly like is their work to promote the welfare of wild horses by rescuing, gentling and rehoming of wild horses providing veterinary care.

They also have a wild horse adoption programme.

Of course, being a horse lover I had to have a look, and the video was just wonderful!   The wilds of Alberta, the care the people took of these wild horses and the spirit of the horses was just - for me - really moving.  

Here's one of their videos, A Year with the Wild Horses - do take a look!

The organisation entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the province of Alberta back in November 2014 - a 5 year agreement.  It means WHOAS can run 2 programmes in a large area of the Sundre Equine Zone - 

1. Firstly, a contraception program for wild horse mares - this should help manage horse populations
2. Secondly, an adoption program so that WHOAS can rescue wild horses in trouble on private land or that are found abandoned or injured.

It's always interesting to see how people are working to help animals and I do wish the Society well in its work.

Click here to visit the Wild Horses of Alberta Society's website

Birdlife International report there were celebrations in April 2017:  the Mpumalanga’s Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Land and Environmental Affairs declared the Greater Lakenvlei area a Protected Environment

Greater Lakenvlei is an important conservation area:

• It has many “specials” e.g. Wattle Crane, Blue Crane, White-winged Flufftail, Yellow-breasted Pipit and many others. BirdLife South Africa recognises this area as the Steenkampsberg Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA).
• It is an important water catchment area.
• Lakenvlei (a wetland) is a peatland which helps with the storing and purification of water. The peatland holds a huge amount of carbon, so minimizing the impact of climate change.
• The tourism and agricultural activities provide jobs for hundreds of people, connecting tourism to the beauty of the area and outdoor activities
  
  

South African legislation provides for different categories of formal protection:

1. Nature reserves and national parks, where activities are strictly controlled
2. Protected Environment where some activities e.g. farming practices can continue but destructive and unsustainable activities are not allowed

Areas are divided into zones such as natural areas and degraded areas.  

In natural areas, activities are strictly controlled – over-grazing and indiscriminate use of pesticides are not allowed.

Greater Lakenvlei now has a Management Plan which will be implemented to benefit the birds in this area.  Hopefully this declaration will encourage more bird lovers and nature lovers to visit, which should lead to more jobs and help conserve the area.

It was made possible by the collaborative efforts of the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) and their NGO partners, the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) and BirdLife South Africa

Click here to go fly away to Birdlife International