On Sunday 10^th December 2023 at 18:20 UK time on BBC1, there’s the last in series of Planet Earth III.  The photography and filming has been just outstanding and incredible to watch. 

Tonight, the programme takes a look at people who are heroes. They are people around the world who are risking it all to save wildlife.  They travel to and work in dangerous places, and some – such as wildlife rangers – risk their lives.  Many lose their lives in the line of their conservation work.

As the programme's website points out, there are so very many people around the world making a difference for nature.  We need to hear more of their stories.   Take hedgehogs for instance.  Did you know there are 126,548 people (10th December 2023) registered as Hedgehog Champions with Hedgehog Street?  

Tonight’s Planet Earth III programme goes to South Africa, Ecuador, the Cote d’Ivoire, Austria and the Amazin rainforest to meet heroes there.

In South Africa, we see a team working to save black rhino, a species wanted for their horn.  They are saving htem by setting up new breeding populations in safe havens, and they need to sedate these huge animals first and then fly them by helicopter – or more accurately, in a sling under a helicopter – to their new home.

We meet Jaime Culebras who has devoted his life to saving frogs. Santiago is one of the very last Morona-Santiago harlequin frogs and Jaime wants to find Santiago a partner to set up a breeding colony.  He has to trek to a remote cloud forest in the Andes to find out, and explore for a mate for his beloved frog by night.

There’s Trang Nguyen who is working undercover to catch people trading in illegal ivory.  This trade is one of the main reasons why forest elephants have declined by two thirds in two decades.  Trang is incredibly courageous and she does very dangerous work to catch criminals in the act.

Katharina Huchler is working to help the Northern bald ibis, some of the rarest birds in the world who were hunted to extinction 300 years ago in Europe.  Katharina has to show them the way to bring them back to Austria – will these birds follow her over the mountains?

The destruction of the Amazon rainforest is well known.  The Munduruku is an indegeous group who live there, and the government is discussing new laws to open it up to mining and agriculture.  Leader of the Munduruku, Alessandra Korap, is organising a huge demonstration by indigenous people in Brail to get their voices heard. 

Planet Earth III accompanies the series narrated by Sir David Attenborough
Available from Foyles.co.uk

We need to save habitats to save species.  People power matter, even if they are in small numbers.  The recent Common Farm Appeal from Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, launched in late September 2026, shows us from its website that when people get together and support and join in, great things happen.  As a result of 1,893 people, just over £290,000 was raised to buy 83 acres of farmland which is going to be turned into a nature reserve.  It will bring back many species.  1,893 people have made a huge difference and acted for nature. 

Enter the former president of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, who goes to every climate conference, doing what he can to persuade politicians and leaders to act.  He says the more the environment is an election issue, the more action there will be on climate. 

We all need to vote for the planet in future elections.

Don't miss Planet Earth III tonight!

Be a hero yourself for conservation!

The programme's website has a section on how you can be a hero for conservation.  

And there's a new initiative starting as the series comes to an end, called Be a Voice for Nature.   It points out that there are so many things we can ALL do. 

Be a voice for nature.

So this week, there are two big events coming up in the calendar which are all about giving and making a difference.

Giving Tuesday 
28 November 2023

This was created back in 2012.  The idea is simple:  it’s a day that encourages people to do good.  And today, millions of people join in to give something:  their time, money, their skills, their voice, organising an event, cleaning up a local area – the choice is yours.  You could just even check on an elderly neighbour.  Please find out more and take a look here. 

And there’s lots of information about participating here.  There are plenty of ways to get involved, and they've got logos you can download to help spread the word. 

Global Giving
Global Giving had a match fund taking place on 28 November 2023!  Animals, conservation, ecosystem restoration are all here.

Also, the Snow Leopard Trust has a fundraiser (with a Giving Tuesday donation match to $80,000), as do Polar Bears International.   

The Big Give’s Christmas Challenge 
From mid-day on 28 November to 5 December 2023

The idea behind this one is to donate to one or more of the charities taking part in the Big Give's Christmas Challenge – but the good news is your donation is doubled at no extra cost to you!  The Challenge offers supporters of those charities taking part to double their donations for seven days, so this is a big chance to really make your donation go further.  vBack in 2022, £28.5 million was raised for 1,021 participating charities.  79,658 people donated, some twice.   

One thing you could do is to ask people to donate to a chosen charity for your Christmas gifts, instead of giving you an actual present that you may not want or need.   We do this in our family, rather than acquire more and more stuff we just don’t want or need, we prefer to do something which can be of real help.

The charities taking part in the Big Give’s Christmas Challenge are listed here.   They cover all sectors as you can see, but we particularly want to raise the profile of those helping animals and conservation and the environment.

Animal charities participating in the Big Give’s Christmas Challenge.

Otters, monkeys, elephants, cats and dogs, deer, water voles, oceans, beavers, bats, badgers, tigers, cheetahs, rhinos, red squirrels, wild cats, butterflies, turtles, orangutans are just some of the animals the Big Give’s Christmas Challenge will help.

Conservation and environment charities participating in the Big Give’s Christmas Challenge

Rivers, meadows, trees, forests, hedges and edges, rainforest, small woods are just some of the types of habitats included.  Some of the charities’ appeals may be listed in both the Animals’ and Conservation/Environment sections.

How much do you know about the participating charities?

Whilst you’re browsing through the lists, if there are charities you haven’t heard of, or know very little about, it’s a great opportunity to find out about them – what they do, what their aims are, how they help etc.  Visit their websites too, and increase your knowledge of what’s being done to help and make a difference.

 
Please do something, just one action will make a difference

Even if you don’t donate, please take a look at your local animal charities and see if you can help them in some way or another.  This could be as simple as taking old towels along to them that you don’t need any more.  

Whatever you do, please do something. And remember, every little helps. Thank you for making a difference. 

Grow a tree 2023!

It’s National Tree Week, and a chance to celebrate all things tree!  In 2023, National Tree Week is particularly special because it’s the 50^th anniversary of the “Plant a tree in 73” campaign – and from that event, both the National Tree Week and the Tree Council were born.

We need trees and every year, the Tree Council is in charge of National Tree Week, bringing conservationists, volunteers and tree-lovers to unite and hopefully plant thousands of trees to begin the tree planting season!

The Tree Council has a has a mission to care for our trees and our planet’s future.  It aims to champion trees in everything it does, and to encourage, inspire and persuade people of all ages and backgrounds to value and love trees.

It runs a volunteer Tree Warden scheme, and works to lead and connect organisations, to persuade decision-makers, to influence policy, and deliver local action. 

So this year, the Tree Council wants as many people as possible to have the chance to “Grow a Tree in 2023”, by taking part in an organised tree planting event or having your own National Tree Week Tree Party!

They’ve got lots of ideas, with activities for a tree tea party, for instance – mind you, you can also do the activities on your own.   Here’s the Tree Party Activity Booklet. 

You could simply find your favourite tree and give it a hug to thank it for being a tree!

 You could also think about becoming a volunteerTree Warden! 

It’s also a chance to increase your knowledge of trees and their role

The UK charity the Woodland Trust has information about:

• Why trees matter.
• 6 UK Trees to plant in small gardens for climate change
• How trees fight climate change

Starting on Thursday 2nd November 2023 on Channel 5 at 7pm, there’s a new series of Secret Life of the Forest. 

The secret cameras are back as summer ends, taking in the beauty of Forestry England’s Great Yorkshire Forest and the wonderful wildlife who live there.  Beavers, turtle doves, Exmoor ponies and very rare insect species found only in Yorkshire feature in the habitat there.  It spans over 8000 acres and it’s situated at the southern edge of the North York Moors National Park.

The Forestry Commission bought it in 1921, and as the UK was extremely short of trees after the Second World War (it still is), and Dalby was included in strategic planting schemes.  These now provide us with lots of timber and give homes to wildlife.   400,000 people visit every year.

The cameras cover the beaver  pond, also home to stunning kingfishers - and they are also waiting to capture footage of the pine-marten, too.  Forestry England staff and volunteers care for this beautiful places.  Actor Robert Lindsay is the narrator. 

The new series launches on Thursday 2nd November 2023 at 7pm on Channel 5 – and if you can’t see it, don’t worry, you can catch it on Channel 5 catch up.

Find out more from the Forestry Comission’s website

Find out about volunteering with the Forestry Commission here

By the way, it's worth taking a look at the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust which is re committed "to creating a Yorkshire rich in wildlife for everyone. From saving our wildlife and wild places to bringing people closer to nature".   There are lots of ways to get involved and help them, so fly off to their website here to take a look.  

It’s on its way….Planet Earth III!

Wow, on the 22^nd October 2023 at 18:15, Planet Earth III will come onto our screens, with BBC1.  What’s in store?

Well, rhino rambling down a street looking for something to eat in Nepal – to get food, he has to go through a world that’s new to him

“The rules of the game [for wildlife] have changed – to survive in the human world.” Sir David Attenborough

Both people and animals have to learn how to get along if we are to avoid mass extinctions. 

The 8 episodes cover the planet’s habitats, covering Oceans, Forests, Coasts and Deserts. 

We’ll see macaques in Bali, stealing goods from tourists – hats, sunglasses, shoes…. and even smartphones!  And the tourists can have them back in exchange for a piece of fruit – or in the case of smartphones, chocolate…

See the official trailer for BBC's Planet Earth III here.

There are sea lions off the coast of Chile, gorging on fish caught by fleets – the danger being that they may get caught in nets.

The smarter the animal, the more it can adapt.  The orcas have perfected their hunting technique, for example, as have mugger crocodiles who have a camouflage hunting technique.   They can lie in wait for hours, having dug out a waterhole and buried themselves in mud, wriggling to cover themselves in vegetation at the water’s edge.  They lie in wait for deer for hours.

Planet Earth III is available from Hive.co.uk

And watch out for the white wolf, right on the brink of extinction.  The fear is there may not be any to film the next time.

And as we have got smarter and developed new technology, so that can help with filming the most amazing footage.  Drones for instance can go anywhere and show us sights we’ve never seen before.  We can see how animals co-operate with each other.  And we see how people live with wildlife, in places such as Uganda where villagers welcome apes, one villager turning part of her garden over to grow wild as a primate haven. 

Watch out for Planet Earth III on Sunday 22 October on BBC1.  Can’t wait!

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