There's good news from the charity Tusk.   They've just formed a new partnership with Land Rover.  Tusk say that this new partnership will have a significant impact on their work in Africa.

Sharing an ethos.....
going Above and Beyond for the wildlife and people in Africa
- Tusk and Land Rover**

In the email I received from Tusk, Land Rover’s Global Marketing Director Mark Cameron was delighted to announce Land Rover's formal partnership with the Tusk Trust, as both have a similar ethos:  going Above and Beyond.

Tusk are trying to build a sustainable future for the African continent and its wildlife.  Since it was founded in 1990, it has invested over £30 million into a range of projects across Africa.  

Taking a look at their project list, I can't help but feel excited.  Projects include the AfriCat Foundation, Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Project, Durrell Madagascar, Coaching for Conservation, the Lamu Marine Conservation Porject, the Mali Elephant Project, Local Ocean Trust, various water projects, vulture conservation, rhino projects, those with primary and secondary schools, the South African Wildlife College and the Walikale Gorilla and Forest Conservation Project.  Click here to see their projects

Given some of the very tough and rugged terrain Tusk and its partners work in, the enhanced partnership with Land Rover must surely be good news for people and wildlife, and Tusk must be very excited as they work to help African have a sustainable future for people and wildlife. 

Click here to find out more about Tusk

I read this wonderful quote recently from somebody called Charley Willey, who worked out the following:

"Make one person happy each day and in 40 years, you will have made 14,600 human beings happy for a little time, at least." 

That struck a chord with me, and of course as an animal lover, I came up with an alternate version:

"Make one animal happy each day and in 40 years, you will have made 14,600 aniamls happy for a little time, at least."

Of course, you can make your dog or cat happy every day and at the end of that time, that will just have been one animal over the length of time that you are blessed with them.  

But then there are ways to reach out to help a vast number of animals.  

1. Feed the birds in your garden or via a window feeder, and you feed many (or more than one, at any rate). 
2. Grow wildlife friendly flowers in your garden with a simple packet of seeds, and you'll help butterflies and moths, bees and other insects.
3. Put a small wildlife pond in your garden or a bird bath and watch in enjoyment as animals come to drink or take a quick dip.
4. Plant a tree and you'll give hundreds of animals shade from the sun, shelter from the rain, and somewhere to rest and nest.
5. Sponsor an acre, and you'll help thousands of animals and many different species by providing them or protecting their habitat - the area where they live.
6. GIve a horse lover a virtual gift from a charity like the Brooke or Spana and you can help hundreds of horses, donkeys, mules and camels, all thirsty after working long hours in incredibly hot temperatures.   
7. Add your name to a petition and improve the lot of animals in your country or abroad.

Every act helps and every act has the power to improve the lives of animals and people world wide.  And every act has the potential to help not just one animal but millions of them.

There's news from the west coast of Africa.

The largest marine conservation area in the continent is being created - a network of 9 new national marine parks and 11 new aquatic reserves is going to extend across a massive 20,500 square miles in territorial waters and out into Gabon's economic zone.  The area covers 26% will protect 26 percent of Gabon’s territorial seas.

The move will help protect fish stocks from over-fishing and also help the area cope better with changing climates and give the corals there a chance to recover.

The goal is to protect the waters for generations to come, and Ali Bongo Ondimba, who took over the presidency of the country after his father died in 2009, sees them the areas as precious as the rainforests which cover 90% of Gabon.  

The Gabon waters have some of the world's largest stocks of Altantic tuna, so there is a danger of overfishing.   The hope is that fish stocks will be revived and the breeding grounds of whales, dolphins and turtles will be protected by the move. 

Thank you, Gabon, for caring about the future of our waters for generations to come, both people and marine life. 

It's always exciting to hear about projects to bring water to everyone, especially given that so many areas of the world are experiencing droughts.   I can't imagine anything worse that not having access to clean drinking water, for animals or people.

So I was very interested to hear about a project in India to revive a medieval way to fight the drought in the area of Karnataka.

The BBC have got a video on it, but essentially an enormous system of water channels connected by tunnels built by Medieval kings with pick axes and shovels sustained life in the settlements above.   These tunnels were carved out well below ground and they were discovered five years ago by Professor V Govindankutty.   A main well - known as a mother well - is dug in the place where there is enough water and taken to the place where you need it.   Volunteers spent ages clearing the channels of debris and silt.  

These techniques were developed in Ancient Persia, i.e. a very long time ago.  With the ancient system begun again with about 50 wells in the area, they've all started having water.  To date, none of them have dried up.   Even in May, the area is still getting a good supply of water.  

This is a very exciting discovery and I hope more places which experience tremendously dry spells will take a look at it.