Tag: forest

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Great apes predicted to loose 90% of their range in the coming decades

It is thought that between global warming and habitat loss, 90% of the remaining great ape range will be lost – potentially as early as 2050!

Wild Bonobo resting in a tree Photo taken by Alexander Georgiev

The loss of these rainforests will make climate change mitigation far harder, and I do not wish for my grandchildren to grow up in a world where there is no such thing as a large rainforest. As elsewhere, the loss of the apex species such as great apes both makes conservation harder, and imperils the ecosystem as a whole, as less visitors come so there is less money for protection.

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A forest is replanted after minister is found to have illegally cleared it

This story is extremely encouraging. Around the world, large plantation companies often encourage small holders to clear the land and then buy it from them.

This area of deforested land was within a protected area, and should never have been cleared

The idea that this behaviour of getting other people to clear the land is permissible is insane. I personally would like countries to punish illegal clearance by always requiring full reforestation at the cost of the guilty party – this would likely end the scourge of illegal deforestation (then we must start working on so called legal deforestation)

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Sightings boards

Everywhere on the planet can have wildlife – even the most nature depleted country do still have wildlife. We aim to allow you to list sightings from all over the world, wherever you encounter them, from encounters on walks to sightings in the headlights of a car.

When you arrive in a wild place, it can seem overwhelming. You are given a large area to explore (even the small reserves are usually several hundred square miles, and while this doesn’t seem big, where do you go?). The aim of these pages is to change this. Often, the main reason that you hire a guide, is that they know where the animals are most likely to be.

Over time, by using this map, and putting down your sightings, we will build up a map of where animals are often found and when. It will also be possible to see where animals have been seen recently, though sighting will not appear instantly. While you might think this is not good, it actually makes sure that the person making the initial sighting gets to enjoy the animal to themselves for a while. While in theory this would allow day visitors to zoom around and tick off the big 5 in a couple of hours, this has been built for more interesting reasons.

Importantly, I am keen that this is not a tool for poachers. As such, it is possible for us to remove animals from being chosen to appear on the map, so you can feel confident in listing sightings of animals such as black rhino. If you see news of a poaching epidemic somewhere, let me know. In the long term I hope to create these sightings boards for all destinations.

Click on the maps below to go to the relevant sightings board.

Limpopo transfrontier park, Kruger Sabi Sands Limpopo, Gonarezhou and others
Serengeti, Ngorogoro, Massai Mara Mau forest and other wild regions

In the near future, before many people have found the map, it can operate very well as a personal guide to where you saw animals. Like us, animals have regular habits, and so if you find them in one place on one day, and put up the sighting, they are likely to be near the sighting on future days. However, as the sightings data builds up, there is likely to be a change in how you can use it. Of course you can continue to look at what has happened recently, however the filtering options have been designed so that you can look at the pattern of sightings – the hope is that with a little planning homework, you can give yourself information on wildlife habits, and become your own expert wildlife guide.

 

 

Apart from the big 5 I have included wild dog and cheetah, jackals, and hyena. I have also included the rarer antelope – these tend to be found in specific parts of the park, so knowing where to look can help in finding them. Finally I have listed some rarely seen nocturnal animals, like pangolins and aardvarks. It is unlikely that these are ones other people can look at, though if we get lots of data in this field, it may allow scientific study of these rarely seen creatures.

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Forest elephants make a significant difference to the amount of Carbon that trees hold

It is only in the last couple of decades that genetic research was done to find the forest elephants of Africa are a completely different species to the bush elephants found out on the Savanna – which is the species most people see. Talking about these elephant species, bare in mind that the forest elephant has been shown to be more closely related to the mammoth than to the African Savanna elephant. 

Continue reading “Forest elephants make a significant difference to the amount of Carbon that trees hold”
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On the hunt for wild boar in the Forest of Dean

Photo – Tim Welby

During half term I took my two children, aged 4 and 6, up to the Forest of Dean for a couple of days. As with many parts of Europe this forest is quite old and wonderfully wild. However this wilderness is helped by being far more natural than other forests in the UK. One of the many species that we killed off is highly important for forests as their hunting for food turns the soil and allows for regeneration. I am of course talking about wild boar.

Continue reading “On the hunt for wild boar in the Forest of Dean”
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