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1. There’s good news in Northumberland, thanks to nature lovers.

   Posted on 5:00pm Monday 15th Jul 2019

   There’s good news in Northumberland, thanks to nature lovers. Nature lovers there have got together to help buy and protect a tract of land there.  It’s a 600 acre site called Benshaw Moor in Redesdale, with heather habitat, peatland and limestone waterfall and springs. Birdlife at Benshaw include curlew, snipe, skylark, meadow pipit and short-eared owls. It’s now Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s 63rd nature reserve. ©Duncan Hutt Thanks to a united effort, 600 acres at Benshaw Moor in Northumberland is safe. The Trust was concerned that the land be used for business such as a commercial conifer forestry, or windfarm.  Shooting will not be allowed there any longer. £570,000 was raised from charitable trusts, businesses and a significant bequest.   The public donated £75,000.  The bequest came from the late George Swan, who wrote the Flora of Northumberland which was a record of the county’s plant species.  Mr Swan specified that the bequest be used to buy a site of botanical importance. Nature lovers will still be involved:   the wildlife charity’s team and volunteers will do surveys to better understand the site to help guide its future management.  Possible options include areas of native woodland, and conservation grazing, with Exmoor ponies or cattle. It just shows what can happen if we all get involved and unite for wildlife.   Find out how you can get involved in and help the Northumberland Wildlife Trust – even if you don’t live in this beautiful area! Get involved  - volunteer, visit nature reserves, go to events etc Support the Northumberland Wildlife Trust – donate, become a member, leave a legacy. There are 46 Wildlife Trusts around the UK and in Alderney and the Isle of Man – find your local here

    

2. Save the Murchison Falls in Uganda

   Posted on 9:00pm Saturday 29th Jun 2019

   There’s news from the Wildlife Conservation Society. A spectacular wilderness in Uganda is under threat from Uganda’s Electric Regulatory Authority which is looking for approval for a new hydroelectric plant connected to the park’s amazing waterfalls. The Murchison Falls National Park is not only one of the most popular tourist attractions in Uganda.  It’s also home to elephants, lions, hippos and giraffes and many other species.  A few years ago in fact, scientists surveyed the area – they found it twice as rich in wildlife as previously thought. If the ERA gets approval for this plant, it would be devastating for both wildlife and locals who need tourism.  Across many sectors, there’s growing outcry that this damming of the river which feeds the Murchison Falls is a bad idea. And the wildlife and locals in Murchison Falls need support from outside Uganda to stop the building of the plant. There needs to be a global response which emphasise the importance of this national park – and others like it.   We all need to make it clear that protecting Uganda’s biodiversity is important to all of us, not just Uganda. Will you add your support?   The Wildlife Conservation Society is asking as many people as possible to speak up by 3 July so that they can delivery comments to the ERA Please show your support.  Let the ERA know the plans for a new dam should not go ahead. Give your support to wildlife and sign here

    

3. Good news for Rainforests from the Sumatran Orangutan Society

   Posted on 6:00pm Thursday 13th Jun 2019

   We need all the good news we can get for rainforests at the moment, and there's two sets of good news from the Sumatran Orangutan Society today! Temporary Moratorium set to become a Permanent one! In an email, SOS sent a link to Mongabay which report that a temporary moratorium which prohibits the issuing of new permits to clear primary and peat forests is set to become permanent later this year.   There is more that can be done to strengthen this action, such as including secondary forests, say environmental activists.   When it was first introduced back in 2011, the moratorium was largely ineffective in stemming deforestation;  but since 2016, it has been shored up by peat-protection regularions which have helped to slow the loss of forest cover.  And fears that the move would harm the economy have been unfounded.  There's also a need to close a loophole which allows primary and peat forests to be razed for rice, sugarcane and other crop planatations.   But the move to make the moratorium permanent is a start.  Indonesia has pledged to slash its carbon dioxide emissions by at least 29% by 2030.   Although it is one of the top emitters world-wide, most of the emissions come from deforestation and not the burning of fossil fuels. Swing over to Mongabay for more information.  And there's more! Palm oil plantations to be cleared ready for new forest From 2018 to 2019, SOS ran an urgent appeal - the Rainforest Home Appeal.   They needed to raise £870,000 to buy 890 acres.    Visit SOS, the Sumatran Orangutan Society The public did it and the money was raised - and on 17th June 2019, a restoration team will start to clear the oil palm trees using chainsaws.   Once the oil palms have gone, the next phrase of restoration will start, bringing the land closer to being forest again!

    

4. Save land, save species

   Posted on 5:00pm Thursday 13th Jun 2019

   The World Land Trust has just launched its new appeal, to protect forest in Kenya on the coastline. Dakatcha has been identified as a Key Biodiversity Area and an Important Bird Area.  It has no official protection – but the future of this habitat could be secured under the ownership of Nature Kenya. The World Land Trust partners with Nature Kenya and their current project is to protect 810 acres before the threats of illegal charcoal production, hunting, controlled pineapple farming and the persistent threat of deforestation see this rare area burn. Save land by sponsoring an acre – or even quarter of an acre, and you can help save a species. You can get involved by sponsoring an acre for £100, half an acre for £50, or a quarter of an acre for £25.00 So why save Dakatcha? The You Tube video below shows the reasons why we should all help save the area.    It’s a vital area for people and animals locally, but it also is the case that every single healthy intact forest we can save will help us in the fight against climate change.  New species are still to be found here, as little is known about the forest – but it is known that endangered species such as the Clarke’s Weaver, the Sokoko Scops Owl and the Golden Oriole need this area.  Donate £25 to save a quarter of an acre of Dakatcha. Donate £50 to save half an acre of Dakatcha. Donate £100 to save an acre of Dakatcha. The World Land Trust are looking to save 810 acres and people have started to donate to save these acres already :-)  I’m making a donation in memory of my wonderful father on this Father’s Day.   He loved his feathered friends and his trees – and he enjoyed a family holiday to Kenya many years ago.  So the ties are there, and I can’t think of a better way to remember my father than save an acre of forest in his memory. Save land, save species here.

    

5. Join 500 people who want to help fight poaching.

   Posted on 7:00am Thursday 16th May 2019

   The African Wildlife Foundation has an opportunity to match all donations made by new donors by 31 May 2019. New donors can DOUBLE THEIR IMPACT Help the charity raise $100,000 by that date and your gift will be doubled. Give $10, and will become $20.  Give $25 and it will become $50.   Double your impact with your gift – you give what you can and want to give, and it will be doubled!  The funds raised will help save elephants, rhinos, lions and other species from wildlife traffickers. So how will your donation help?  What difference will it make? The African Wildlife Foundation says that: Sniffer dogs will track poachers to their hiding places Co-ordination among wildlife authorities will deter poachers Canine detection teams will bust smugglers with 90% accuracy Law enforcement and prosecutors willuse AWF training to build cases against wildlife criminals and impose just sentences New technologies, including drones, will incrase surveillance and a new cybersecurity initiative will help identify international trafficers and disrupt online sales The charity are looking for 500 new donors by 31 May 2019  UPDATE:  THEY GOT THEM :-) But you can still donate! The email I had this morning says that Candice Bergen will kindly double your gift of any amount.  But the charity is needing these donors if that’s to happen. They are on the way to achieving that goal – so if you can donate to charity, please take a look at the African Wildlife Foundation and join 500 others (or maybe more!) in making a difference to wildlife. I'm in - will you join in as well?   DONATE TODAY