Category: Business helps wildlife

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. BBC: Why are Nike trainers turning up on beaches?

   Posted on 12:00pm Wednesday 19th Jun 2019

   The BBC have a news report about Nike trainers turning up on beaches from the stunning Orkney Islands to the Channel Islands, from Bermuda and the Bahamas to Ireland.  It's thought that the trainers - along with a lot of other shoes and various products - toppled overboard in heavy seas.  This means that even more items are turning up on beach shores, endangering wildlife who may think they are something to eat, or who get tangled up in them. So wouldn't be great if companies who lose items at sea in such spillages do a team day where they help clean up the planet, whether it’s a beach or the countryside?   And if there is a spillage in sea, they have to give a certain amount of their profits to marine conservation charities at the nearest point to which the spillage happened?

    

3. Chitwan National Park - Entrepreneurs and Conservationists work together

   Posted on 9:00pm Monday 11th Mar 2019

   There’s been an interesting development in Chitwan between conservationists and the local business community. The conservationists held an interactive programme with the business community to discuss the responsibility of all stakeholders in conserving wildlife in the area.  The programme was organised by the Ratnanagar Chamber of Commerce and Industry.   The conservationists said that conserving wildlife is vital to both save the ecosystem and help local communities enjoy economic benefits. The Chitwan National Park is home to areas such as one-horned rhinos, tigers, elephants and others.  It’s the first conservation area of the country and as such the area – especially the tourism industry – will benefit if wildlife is part of the agenda. Tourists will come far and wide to see the animals.   As well as revenue coming into the area, there will be employment opportunities for local people.  Businesses were urged to refrain from undertaking activities which could affect wildlife conservation.   And information was distributed about the legal repercussions of harming, poaching and smuggling wild animals.  Businesses were asked for help in raising awareness about smuggling animal parts and helping the local authorities to stop it.  Businesses were also reminded about their legal responsibilities in meeting and maintaining environmental standards so that the balance of the ecosystem would be preserved. The business community as a whole agreed to carry out their work while taking steps to protect animals and forests.  The interaction programme was organised to enable entrepreneurs to be aware of the conservation of the environment and wildlife as they ran their businesses.   About 100 entrepreneurs attended the event. This is a terrific initiative and wouldn’t it be great if there was more collaboration between businesses and conservationists elsewhere?  Well done to everyone involved :-)

    

4. New partnership to curb elephant poaching in Kenya

   Posted on 8:00pm Wednesday 20th Feb 2019

   The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has partnered with the TUI Care Foundation to prevent the poaching of elephants and stop human-elephant conflict in the Tsavo conservation area in Kenya. TenBoma is IFAW’s innovative wildlife security initiative.  It means that government and community rangers are trained to better predict and respond to threats and protect the animals and local communities. In short, the tenBoma approach combines tradition – taking traditional knowledge from communities – with modernity – incorporating this knowledge into modern methods and technology. The support from the TUI Care Foundation has enabled IFAW to provide urgently needed equipment to community rangers.  This equipment includes items such as mobile devices, cameras and boots.  These items enable the rangers to gather information on potential threats to wildlife and people. Technology, systematic data processing systems and intelligence will enable the two organisations to implement the initiative. Rangers have communications and mobility equipment such as GPS, smartphones and radios so that they can respond more quickly and effectively to intercept poachers.   These also enable the rangers to get to areas where elephants are raiding crops and so coming into conflict with people. The Tsavo Conservation Area is one of Kenya's most visited tourism destinations.  IFAW say about 12,850 elephants live there, and amongst them are at least 11 of the world’s remaining big tuskers.  They are all facing a threat from poachers who want their ivory and from human-elephant conflict. Find out more

    

5. Apathy kills, action inspires

   Posted on 8:00am Wednesday 31st Oct 2018

   It’s very motivating to browse the internet and come across something which really strikes into your heart. The sort of thing I’m thinking of spurs you to take action – not just to want to take action, but to actually do it. How often do we come away having read something, thinking," That’s terrible," and then go on as if we had read nothing or not been affected at all? The key to successful wildlife conservation is to moving people literally to take action, to do something, in whatever way we all can, to do something to save this wildlife on this planet and most particularly, to save and protect their habitats.  Number of actions for wildlife... ___________________________________________________________ 0              1             2              3              4              5              6              7                                          1 action                 is better than                 no action at all The good thing about taking one action is that we tend to feel good about doing it.  And often we may think, "That was easy!  What else can I do?"  Sometimes it’s just the getting started and doing something however little time it takes. The one thing wildlife cannot afford at all is for us all to sit at the zero action position.  We need a total army of people who will move from the zero point to doing stuff.  And if each of us already do stuff, we need to do more. E.O.Wilson is a scientist.  In his book Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life , (which inspires us to set aside half of the earth’s surface for nature), Mr Wilson writes: “To those who are steering the growth of reserves worldwide, let me make an earnest request:  don’t stop, just aim a lot higher.” We all need to act for the sake of wildlife and this beautiful planet of ours. Please take an action to help wildlife today.  One way is to support those already working to grow and protect reserves around the world or protecting the wildlife already there.