Our blog & news: Get involved to help wildlife

 
 

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world;
indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." 
Margaret Mead, American anthropologist, 1901-1978
 


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  1. Explorers Against Extinction have a remarkable way to mark 2021.

    They are championing the work of 21 conservation projects around the world, many of which are small projects that have been badly hit by Covid-19 in 2020.  They are calling this initiative 21 for 21 and all the fundraising and donations this year are going towards it.

    Firstly, a bit about Explorers Against Extinction:

    It is a registered working name of The Real World Conservation Trust, a UK registered charity.   There’s another working name called Sketch for Survival. Their mission is to promote the conservation of rare and endangered species and the protection of their environments;  to advance the education of the public in the conservation issues around rare and endangered species and the threats to their environment; and to help local communities impacted by proximity to rare species benefit from their protection.


    Do a charity challenge or get creative for conservation or simply donate to help!

    About 21 For 21

    There are 21 projects and you can nominate a specific project from the 21 For 21 Directory to fundraise for or split your fundraising across several or all of the projects.  There are some UK projects but equally there are projects overseas – and this will help raise awareness of the work they are doing. 

    In each case, human activity is the biggest driver of destruction so this amazing initiative gives us all the chance to really and truly contribute to worldwide conservation from our homes – just £21 will support the 21 projects, unless you prefer to focus on one or a couple, for example.  So this is a very exciting chance to really make a difference while sitting at home!

    You could help sun bears in Borneo

    The 21 For 21 Projects are:

    1. Seagrass Restoration UK
    2. Saving the last West African Giraffe, Niger
    3. Kit for Conservation K9s
    4. Protecting Pangolins, South Africa
    5. Big Cat Conservation, Tanzania
    6. Protecting Ol Pejeta, Kenya
    7. Sowing Seeds to Save Gorillas, Uganda
    8. Whale Shark Conservation, Indian Ocean
    9. Turtle Watch, Sri Lanka
    10. Manta Ray Research, Indian Ocean
    11. Big Cats of Bandipur, India
    12. Elephant Sanctuary Support, Cambodia
    13. Saving the World’s Smallest Bear
    14. Trees for Koalas, Australia
    15. Saving New Zealand’s Dophins
    16. Wild Water Whales, Southern Ocean
    17. Spotlight on Alabratrosses, South Georgia
    18. Rewilding in the Pantanal, Brazil
    19. Floating Classroom, Galapagos
    20. Safeguarding the Maya Mountain Marine Corridor, Belize
    21. Wildlife Protection Programme, US and Africa

    There's more information on each project and you can access that on the 21 For 21 Directory of projects here

    Your donation could help protect pangolins in South Africa

     

    Ways to help are:

    • To simply donate – you could donate £21, with one pound going to each project, or £2.10
    • To get involved in Challenge yourself for Charity
    • To get creative for conservation – submissions are invited until 30 June 2021; there are three categories, namely Stories for Survival, Sketch for Survival and Focus for Survival

    Your donation could help protect the Maya Mountain Marine Corridor in Belize

    One of the things I LOVE about the 21 For 21 initiative is that if, like me, you find it really difficult to choose between all the conservation projects, you can choose to support them all in one go with £21 or whatever you choose to donate!  I always feel bad for choosing one project over another so this makes it easy for me to support the lot! 

    Go to Explorers Against Extinction here

    Just make a donation here

    All images on this particular blog are ©Explorers Against Extinction

  2. Have you ever stopped to think about the impact rat poison has on rats?

    Two inspiring women, one in her teens, have put a website together called Rat Poison Facts to help people understand the impact.

    Ways to keep rats and mice away from your home humanely

    They want to bring an end to animal mistreatment and the poisoning of the ecosystem by stopping the use of rat poison.

    So the goal of Rat Poison Facts is to raise awareness:

    • How some rodent control methods are inefficient
    • How some rodent control methods could be dangerous for children, pets and other wildlife
    • How some rodent control can harm our ecosystems
    • How cruel and inhumane some methods to get rid of rats can be
    • Humane alternatives to dealing with rats

    When a rat takes in rat poison, there are all sorts of possible implications for the rat, such as internal bleeding, dehydration and dramatically bloated stomachs from overfeeding substances containing gas).  Death can be very slow and painful.

    Rat poison can be dangerous to people as well – young children end up in hospital every year because of it.  Pets may eat it by mistake.

    The website has information on things such as where to release a rat


    The site has very helpful education resources, with useful links, including how you can get rid of rats in a humane way, with humane ways to keep your house rat-free that work.

    You can find more information  on RatPoisonFacts website.

     

  3. WCS Argentina has a new initiative!  And it involves dogs, sheep and pumas.

    WCS is working to reduce conflict between herders and the wild carnivores who stalk their sheep flocks. 

    The dogs are a mix of Anatolian shepherd and Great Pyrenees.   They watch over the domestic goats and sheep herds, protecting them from pumas, foxes, condors and other predators.

    And because the dogs are protecting their flocks, the herds have stopped resorting to shooting, poisoning or trapping wildlife.  And there are a couple of wins here:

    • Wild carnivores have a better future – many are endangered, such as the Andean cat
    • Herds don’t need so many animals in a herd – and that means there’s less overgrazing and desertification is reduced.

    Find out more from WCS Argentina

     

  4. One thing that has improved throughout history is the human race’s desire to support important causes and give voices to those who cannot speak up for themselves. We do this in several ways—signing petitions, protesting, donating, volunteering, etc., to name a few.

    Our need to support affects our daily lives, including the purchases we make on everything from groceries to mattresses. A growing number of consumers only shop at companies that have a social cause they care about. That’s especially true for younger demographics. Whether it be a cause for social groups, health, animal, nature, etc., many brands are working with nonprofits and charities to make product purchases go further.

    Nolah Mattress is an example of a consumer company wanting to do better.

    Defenders of Wildlife

    Nolah Mattress is working with Defenders of Wildlife (DOW) to help the world’s 41,415 threatened species. According to the organization, 16,3006 of those are in danger of extinction.

    The organization’s core mission is to save wildlife and their habitats from destruction and extinction. It also restores and protects vulnerable species’ habitats. DOW lobbies against laws that would harm these species and their habitats. To make that happen, the organization often works with other brands and companies to sponsor their efforts.

    Visit Nolah Mattress and Visit Defenders of Wildlife

    Nolah Mattress have partnered with Defenders of Wildlife
    to help wildlife.

    Nolah Mattress’s Conservation Mission

    Nolah Mattress has partnered with Defenders of Wildlife to help the organization on its mission. With every mattress purchase made, Nolah Mattress adopts an animal that’s in danger. Fees that customers would have paid for shipping are instead donated to DOW to help them defend that animal. Customers will even receive an adoption certificate with their mattress purchase.

    This partnership doesn’t raise prices for customers, either. Each mattress will still be shipped free with a free return if the customer changes their mind within 120 days. Plus, the product comes with a 15-year warranty.

    This partnership will help Nolah Mattress assist DOW to preserve and protect America’s biodiversity. Proceeds go toward both on-the-ground efforts and court battles against laws that hurt wildlife.

    Nolah Mattress and DOW are working together to save America’s lakes and lands from harm. DOW members will also use funds that Nolah Mattress raises to preserve biodiversity ranging from bees to bison.

    The Mexican Grey Wolf is just one species Defenders of Wildlife help


    How Your Business Can Help

    If you’re a business owner, there are many ways your business can pursue wildlife and environmental preservation initiatives. Even if you’re in a competitive industry, you can find ways to help the environment. Some common methods of helping out include:

    • Partnering with a Nonprofit or Charity- There are plenty of charities and nonprofits, both local and national, that need your help. If your business is ready to commit to a long-term partnership, reach out to an organization like Defenders of Wildlife or Wildlife Conservation Network to get started.
    • Becoming a Certified B Corporation- B Corps are a network of businesses committed to social and environmental causes. If you’re not already B-certified, you’ll need to work with the organization to become certified—click here to get started.
    • Creating an Eco Workspace- Even if you aren’t part of B Corps, you can still make gradual changes to your workplace that help the environment. You can:
      1. Limit how much your office prints,
      2. Use energy-saving practices,
      3. Recycle, if you aren’t doing so already,
      4. Ditch single-use products and plastics,
      5. Avoid packaging with styrofoam,
      6. And more.
    • Starting an Internal Donation Drive- This strategy is advantageous if you’re a small or new company. Choose an organization that your company wants to support, and pick a timeline in which employees can donate to that organization. If you work with clients or other companies, you could also provide them the opportunity to donate as well.
    • Having a Company-Wide Volunteer Initiative- If you’re a newer company or don’t have the resources to commit to a partnership right now, you can always start with this easy step. Ask your employees for a list of organizations and causes they care about. Work together to chose one, and pick a day to volunteer your time to help them out. A relatively inexpensive initiative that’s easy to implement into offices is creating an eco workspace, as mentioned earlier.
    • Making a Lump Sum Donation- You don’t have to have a long-standing partnership to help an eco-friendly organization. Make a lump-sum donation whenever your company is able to or donate supplies or other much-needed items to that organization.

    Preserving and Saving Our Biodiversity

    If Nolah Mattress’s partnership with Defenders of Wildlife inspires you, there are ways that you can help either as a consumer or business. As an employee or employer, talk to your company about ways that you can get involved in the important mission of preserving and saving America’s biodiversity.

     
  5.  

    Imagine 13,000 animals across 90,000 acres of wilderness in Kenya!

    Well, Secret Safari – Into the Wild is heading off to just that, on Channel 4 on Tuesday 26 January 2021 at 8pm!

    This programme visits the Ol Pejeta reserve.  It’s home to animals such as hippos, rhinos, elephants, cocktail ants and crowned cranes. 

    The programme tells the life and death stories of the animals through the rangers who protect them.

    The first programme includes a pride of lionesses left hungry when their alpha hunter vanishes, a crane romance and the birth of a critically endangered rhino.  There are six programmes in the series. 

    Andrew Scott is the narrator.

    Ol Pejeta is home to two of the world’s last remaining northern white rhinos.   It’s a sanctuary for over 110 critically endangered black rhinos. 

    Highly trained rhino protection squads are employed by the Conservancy, which partners with international veterinary experts.   Data is frequently gathered on each animal.   The Conservancy is a role model for rhino conservation in East Africa.

     

    Help safeguard rhinos and make a donation to the Safeguarding Rhinos campaign for the Ol Pejeta Conservancy with Global GivingHelp safeguard rhinos by making a donation at Global Giving
    Image © Ol Pejeta

    Find out about rhinos at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy


    Visit the Ol Pejeta Conservancy website here.

    Ol Pejeta is also home to the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary.   It was established through agreement between the conservancy, the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Jane Goodall Institute to provide lifelong refuge to orphaned and abused chimpanzees from West and Central Africa.  Currently there are 36 chimpanzees there, all getting a chance to start over.

     

    Ol Pejeta's mission (and I quote) is:

    To conserve wildlife, provide a sanctuary for great apes and to generate income through wildlife tourism and complementary enterprise for reinvestment in conservation and communities.

    and their vision is (and again I quote):

    To become an innovative and sustainable development model that conserves biodiversity (particularly endangered species) and contributes to economic growth and the improvement of livelihoods in rural communities.

    You can be a part of this journey and make a difference to wildlife by supporting Ol Pejeta's work.

    So let's introduce Helping Rhinos who partner Ol Pejeta:


    Ways to help:

    Adopt an Anti-Poaching Dog

    Adopt an Anti-Poaching Dog
    Image ©Helping Rhinos