conservation

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Forests | Sustaining People and Planet … Wild at Home

Wild at Home Thousands of consumer products used in Europe and around the world contain ingredients obtained from wild plants. Wild ingredients often come from the most biodiverse ecosystems on earth and are collected by some of the most impoverished communities. However, thousands of harvested species are at risk mainly from a combination of overharvest and habitat loss, with over 20% of species estimated to be threatened with extinction. These declines threaten biodiversity and wider ecosystems also putting at risk...

Scouting & conservation | Baden Powell

Today – February 22nd –  is the birthday (Founders Day ) of Baden Powell of Gillwell , or “BP” for short. Lord Baden-Powell (1857-1941) was a British general and founder of the modern Scouting movement. Baden-Powell became a national hero during the Boer war of 1899-1900 when, with a small garrison, he commanded the defence of Mafeking. During the Boer War, Baden-Powell wrote “A Guide to Scouting”. This was published in 1908 and was a best-seller. Initially meant for military...

Celebrating penguins – hello New Zealand’s yellow-eyed!

It’s Penguin Awareness Day, so here we focus on the slightly unusual Yellow Eyed Penguin (YEP) and the important conservation and outreach  work of the YEP Trust… About the yellow-eyed penguin / hoiho Yellow-eyed penguins / hoiho are one of the rarest penguins in the world and are only found in New Zealand (endemic). The scientific name of the yellow-eyed penguin is Megadyptes antipodes which means big diver from the southern lands (mega = big, dyptes = diver, antipodes = southern...

Nature for new Ladybird readers

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, four slim volumes about the natural world, aimed at children, hit the bookshops. They bore the title What to Look for in… followed by each of the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. The books were an instant success and inspired a whole generation of naturalists. ( I still recall the delightful little books, as a staple of any young child’s library ). Now, more than 60 years later, Ladybird Books is publishing a new series under the same...

We are at a cross roads – Attenborough

MORE than 60 years after he first graced our TV screens, Sir David Attenborough’s passion for the natural world is greater than ever. The national treasure is a man on a mission. Now 94, our best-known naturalist believes the planet CAN be saved from global warming — and without us giving up life’s pleasures. Those famous bright-blue eyes glint like a schoolboy’s as Sir Daviddiscusses what we can do to tackle the looming ­climate crisis. Arms outstretched on the table, he...

Learn about … badgers

Video by my friend Alex Collins – wildlife scientist SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL FOR MORE VIDEOS – https://www.youtube.com/alexcollinswa… ————————————————————————————————————————————————————— FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER – https://twitter.com/AlexcollinsWaC...

IUCN great new chief

The International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN, has announced the appointment of Dr Bruno Oberle as Director General. “It is a great pleasure to welcome Bruno to IUCN,” said IUCN President Zhang Xinsheng. “He brings an impressive breadth of experience spanning over 40 years at a time when redefining our relationship with nature is more urgent than ever. Bruno has the high-level profile and track-record needed to lead IUCN into the post-2020 period. We are extremely grateful to Grethel Aguilar...

Wonderful ‘WildAndLIVE’ conversations

In these strange ‘coronavirus times’ , it’s great to come across fantastic resources. So here’s is a great wildlife person with an amazing online show…. “Welcome to #WildAndLIVE with me your host Patrick Aryee ‘WildAndLIVE’ is a new series of online conversations & live lessons that looks into the biology of the coolest creatures on our planet, and introduces you to some of the awesome people that get to work with them. Patrick has been interviewing lots of people who...

Conservation volunteers

Many environmental projects are undertaken by volunteers – lets note some of the groups as this is #VolunteersWeek2020 NAEE UK – the National Association for Environmental Education is a great example of ‘people power network’ across many groups. Here are our key volunteer Fellows…. and our journal (edited by Henricus Peters ). he Geography Association – GA in the UK – the membership network for geographers – is run mainly by volunteer committees. Listen to its GeoPod In South Africa,...