In many parts of Africa and Asia and South America poor communities get virtually all their protein from wild mammal species that live nearby. As the human population increases and as people organise themselves to sell excess meat in markets this can become a threat to human life as has been shown through covid 19.
Sumatra is building good motorways across the island leading to the photo of a Sumatran tiger on the edge of the new motorway
Workers building a motorway through the Sumatran rainforest got a beautiful shot of a tiger before it ran back into the forest. Due to the destruction of its home the Sumatran tiger is highly endangered so while this sighting is encouraging it also suggests that the continued building is further eating into the habitat that is left.
Unfortunately this road not only endangers local Sumatran tigers but also elephants.
Continue reading “Sumatra is building good motorways across the island leading to the photo of a Sumatran tiger on the edge of the new motorway”Corvid 19 what should the impacts of this virus be on the natural world?
The majority of the Natural World is supported by tourism. As such, the current situation that is sweeping the world is not good.
Corvid 19 is thought to have originated in the wild animal markets of Wuhan, China. Why is this notable? These wild markets keep a huge range of animals, often kept alive in squalid cramped conditions close together.
The attack on the Brazilian rainforest by Bolsonaro continues – On to indigenous lands
As European settlers moved around the world, they often treated the local population badly. In a significant portion of the world this bad behaviour took the form of small parts of the land being given to the the local population and the rest of the country being taken by the Settlers.
In some places such as America, Many of these tribes have since used their land to run casinos and other things not allowed, outside the reserve. In other words these Reserves are less like the land would have been without the Europeans than if it was not tribal land.
There are similarly huge areas of tribal Or indigenous land around much of the Land that European settled, be that in Canada or Africa or or Australia. In parts of Africa and Australia those indigenous people who wish to continue to live as they always have, can choose to do so. Giving this land to the indigenous people was considered only fair, given how much land that they were losing. However in many of these places this indigenous land was also expected to remain in its wild state. Brazil still has a huge number of indigenous people, living in their tribes as they have done for millennia. Not only have many of these tribes thrived under this system, but they have also been far better at managing the forest within their reserves than outside their control.
For bolsonaro, these indigenous reserves are totally unacceptable. Being huge areas that are often totally outside the control of the Brazilian government and with the current rules unavailable for any of the Descendants of settlers to use.
Around the world it is not unusual when a road is built through a protected Forest that the area is rapidly deforested and often settled within several years. It would appear that this is what is wanted on this occasion to- forget simply building roads bolsonaro is giving permission for farms to be set up on these lands, As well as mining, and fossil fuel extraction. Not only with the indigenous people get no money for the land that is being stolen, but also they would gain nothing from the resources extracted.
In theory the bill does give the people a chance to give their feedback, but they have no veto to stop things done to their land.
Interestingly this also talks about the land being used for tourism. However any tourist worth their salt should be looking to do their trips that benefit the indigenous people and not help steal their land.
This is not the first time that bolsonaro has try something like this. Last year he tried to move control over. What is done with the land from the indigenous people to the agricultural ministry.
Yet, this was blocked by the most senior judges in Brazil who said it was not allowed.
Given that this latest move appears to be identical but done in a different way it should also be blocked. However Given that it is led by the president. We cannot be confident that the damage he is trying to do will be stopped until he can be removed from office.
If you visit Brazil on on a holiday, you must make sure that you do not compound to the damage being done but Instead visit places that will benefit the local indigenous people and the protection of the rainforest.
Liberia is expanding its premier Forest reserve again
The rainforests in much of west Africa have been devastated over the last few decades, however in small regions worker saved ecosystems from the chainsaw.
Sapo national park in East Liberia is one of the most important remaining fragments of rainforest in West Africa. However having been expanded only a few years ago the locals are fully behind a further expansion of this important protected area. More than 40% of Africa’s remaining upper Guinea rainforest lies within Liberia and so any increase in the protected land can only be positive.
Several years ago there was significant poaching within the park and the surrounding area. After the clashes with locals the people who ran the park engage properly with the locals and the surrounding area. As in many other parts of Africa, the locals don’t get much benefit from being next to this large tourism destination, in the past this has led to hunting and mining.
As the Education of locals improved the situation and they stopped taking part in these activities that damage the park authorities found that people were coming in from further afield.
A sensible solution was found for this problem. A team of people were employed in the vicinity of each entry point. Their job was to keep an eye out for Hunters and Miners going into the park and make sure that any news got back to the authorities. For this they were paid $50 each month which meant that they no longer needed to hunt themselves to be able to survive.
This solution lead to both the local people having a greater level of financial security and and greater security for the park with the locals invested in the long term pricing of the wildlife that they live alongside. This is a wonderful solution, though probably works better in places like this where the park is remote and a local population is small, while there are other projects like this we should hope that more of them are set up as they are very successful in reducing poaching where they exist.
Would you wish to pay a lot of money to go deer hunting with Donald Trump Jr?
The safari club International a group who lived to support the Hunting of various animals not minding how endangered they are, has recently Auctioned the chance to go hunting with Donald Trump Jr and his son in the Nevada wilderness.
You will not be hunting big game but will be hunting the local deer.
All the lots in the auction are being sold with the aim to raise 5 million to support the work of the safari Club. While some of this money raised will go to conservation, A significant portion of it will also go to supporting the Hunting of wild animals.
One of the major arguments given for the supporting of hunting is that the money it brings in can be used for conservation. Generally the goods that hunting does is vastly overstated. While the Photographic safari of the same animals may have a bigger impact on the local environment, It has been shown that in all but a very small number of places this impact is positive giving the locals a reason to protect the flora and fauna in the area and an income that allows the standard of living around the wild area to improve. Hunting is rarely run by locals, the tourist and the guides coming from far away shooting animal often without a penny going to the local population and then go away again. The only places where hunting is better, Is in places that for one reason or another few people can enter; one example is the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania. Because the area has a number of endemic illnesses few people are prepared to run the risk to visit- because of the size of the Game Reserve it is capable of coping with low levels of hunting, and therefore the area can make money even though few people visit.
It should be noted though that poaching undercuts this argument are therefore even in places like the Selous hunting of animals such as elephants should have been stopped due to the horrific poaching that has occurred over the last decade or two.
Give carbon credits for a dam which requires a large area of rainforest to be cut down? That’s absurd.
Indonesia is pressing ahead with its desire to build a dam in the Sumatran rainforest. Now when the Dam is filled and floods this vast area of rainforest, all the carbon currently stored in the trees will be released back into the air- either as carbon or as meeting due to the breakdown of the wood under water. Calculations were made suggesting that this damn could take decades or even centuries to reach carbon neutral based on the amount of Carbon released when it is filled.
UK government sued over decision to to give the go ahead for a large new gas powered power plant
The UK government is being sued after it gave permission for a large new gas powered power plant despite the fact that local planning refuse permission due to the carbon emissions it would produce.
Andrea Ledson overruled the local decision-making process. Drax the power producer, talked about adding carbon capture processes in the future, but not while building. If completed, this power station will emit 75% of the carbon dioxide emissions set aside for power generation in the government’s plans. Added to the plans to increase the size of the coal power plant in county Durham, it suggests a total lack of seriousness over Global warming with the UK government. Given our hosting of the next carbon cutting conference later this year, the governments behaviour is highly embarrassing and thoroughly foolish.
Their supposedly world-leading decision to make the country carbon neutral by 2050 is undone by their continued decisions that go against this aim. On the one hand they demand praise for an aim they have put in law, but on the other hand continue on with business as usual decisions that makes that aim impossible to meet.
African wild dog escape in the West Midlands Safari Park and what are they going to do?
African wild dog are some of the most efficient hunters on the planet. Significantly smaller than lion or leopard, often even than cheetah, African wild dogs are astoundingly efficient when they come to hunting, with one of the highest percentage success rates in the animal kingdom. Due to their need for huge reserves, to have a viable population, it is not unusual for them to spread into unprotected land.
12 of the African wild dogs in the West Midlands Safari Park got out of their enclosure. Before they could be caught, they had killed six Persian Fallow deer and 10 Barbary sheep. Their escape was not down to negligence or incompetence, but down to storm Clara.
However because of this need for large amounts of space they are seriously endangered. This means that more than many other animals In order to ensure their long-term survival as substantial population of captive wild dogs need to be built up in case they need to be reintroduced to the wild.
It should be noted that despite the damage, the wild dog whenever anywhere they were capable of attacking people. It should also be noted That generally wild dog are not a danger to humans.
Due to their need for large areas of land, there is only thought to be about 1400 wild dog left in the whole of Africa.
UK claims to lead the world on the global warming fight yet permission has just given to plans for a large expansion of a coal mine
One of the recognition’s worldwide is that if we are to avoid the worst of global warming the majority of carbon left in the earth must remain there. This particularly applies to coal.
