Wild Days Conservation

Wild Days Conservation is a new way of learning about and contributing to the conservation of British Wildlife.  They offer comfortable holidays with lovely accommodation and really nice food where you will learn about British Wildlife and get outdoors as part of a team working for wildlife.  On one of their holidays you will learn about landscapes and species, how to shape habitats, and how to survey for signs of some of our most elusive small mammals.  You will then get out there and undertake some of the work, removing invasive plant species, studying the wildlife, and generally having a good time in nature.

To celebrate the return of Springwatch to the BBC this year they are offering a free place on our 2 day taster experience in Dorset, running from Thurs 26th to Saturday 28th June.  You can join them as they collect data for the UK Mammal Atlas project and help to manage the landscape at one of Dorset Wildlife Trust's most beautiful protected areas.

HOW TO ENTER

Click on the link and complete the form with 100 words on what inspires you in the British countryside.  Entries must be received by midnight on Sunday 8th June to take part.  They will notify people on 9th June if they have been shortlisted and will invite them for a telephone interview during that week.  The winner will be announced on Wild Days Conservation website on Friday 13th June.

http://wilddaysconservation.org/spring-into-action-2/

David Attenborough at the The Open University - free ecology course

November 2013: Legendry naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough features in the The Open University’s first free, Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), called Introduction to Ecosystems. The six-week course starts on 18 November on the FutureLearn social-learning platform and is aimed at those who are new to the subject.

Sir David features in video case studies used in the course and said: “It’s tremendously important for us all to understand the world we live in and our own place in nature.  I am delighted to play a part in helping The Open University teach people about the delicate balance of our ecosystems.”

Dr David Robinson, who developed the course, said: “Understanding ecosystems transforms our view of the natural world. Those taking this course will discover how organisms are linked together by complex interrelationships, how such links are studied and the adaptations that organisms have to the physical properties of a particular habitat. It’s an exciting development to be able to extend this course free to anyone in the world who wants to learn.”

The course requires no special knowledge and is a commitment of just three hours per week.  Using high-quality video case studies throughout, OU academics illustrate how individual ecosystems function and the impact of humans on the natural world.

Registration is open now, and a trailer of the course is available to view at:
www.futurelearn.com/courses/ecosystems

Fossil prehistoric giant toothed platypus discovered in Australia

 November 2013: A giant carnivorous platypus with razor sharp teeth once roamed the Riversleigh World Heritage Area in Queensland, Australia, researchers from the University of New South Wales have discovered. Named Obdurodon tharalkooschild it is believed to have lived around 15 million years ago and was about one metre in length, twice the size of its modern day relative the peculiar looking, egg-laying, otter footed, beaver tailed duck-billed platypus. And unlike today’s relation it had functional, sharp teeth, which were used to slice and chew crayfish, frogs and small turtles.

The discovery of the new species’ tooth in a limestone deposit was made by Rebecca Pian, a PhD candidate at Columbia University and former UNSW Honours student, and Professor Mike Archer and Associate Professor Suzanne Hand, of the UNSW School of Biological Earth and Environmental Sciences.
 “A new platypus species, even one that is highly incomplete, is a very important aid in developing understanding about these fascinating mammals,” says Rebecca Pian.

 It is believed that, like other platypuses, it was probably a mostly aquatic mammal, and would have lived in and around the freshwater pools in the forests that covered the Riversleigh area millions of years ago.
“Discovery of this new species was a shock to us because prior to this, the fossil record suggested that the evolutionary tree of platypuses was a relatively linear one,” says Mike Archer. “Now we realize that there were unanticipated side branches on this tree, some of which became gigantic.”

The name Obdurodon tharalkooschild derives from the Greek for "lasting tooth" and an Australian folk story about the genus' origin that features a strong-willed female duck who ignored her parents' warnings and was set upon by Bigoon, a water-rat, leading to unusual-looking offspring.

New Government figures chart decline of UK wildlife

Leading wildlife groups have welcomed the publication of new official statistics charting the state of a range of threatened species in the UK.

Today (Thursday October, 24) the Government has unveiled a new indicator for priority species – described by conservationists as the FTSE Index for threatened wildlife. The official statistic uses records dating back 40 years for 210 native species, including birds, bats, moths, butterflies, hares and dormice, to build a picture of the health of our wildlife.

The figures show that priority species have declined on average by 58% since 1970. This echoes the findings of the State of Nature report, launched in May by Sir David Attenborough and 25 wildlife groups.

The list of species included features many of those deemed a priority because of the threats they face, and were chosen to represent wildlife in all four countries of the UK. Some have benefitted from conservation efforts in recent years, such as red kites and greater horseshoe bats, but others, including the high brown fritillary butterfly and the skylark have declined.

The Government has previously published indicators for individual wildlife groups including birds, bats and butterflies – but never before has there been a wider view of our most precious wildlife.

Several wildlife species groups have not been included in the current indicator, such as plants, molluscs and fungi due to the difficulties of recording long-term trends. However the story is the same for these groups – for example conservationists estimate 97% of the UK’s of wild flower meadows have been lost and 1-in-5 of all UK flowering plant species are threatened with extinction.

Richard Gregory, RSPB Head of Species Monitoring, said: “This new indicator is like the FTSE Index for threatened species – and it is showing a steady, and very worrying decline.

“What this new official biodiversity statistic does is act as an indicator of the health of our countryside. Every year the Government will be publishing these figures in the same way that they publish school league tables and crime statistics. We hope they will be a powerful new tool in the fight to halt the loss of our threatened native wildlife.

“These species were chosen mainly because they are under threat. Some of them are safer now than they were 40 years ago because of the hard work of conservationists, volunteers and government agencies – and we must celebrate some fantastic success stories - but the trend is downwards for 70% of the species on this list.

“There is a great deal of wildlife not included in this list including endangered species like the freshwater pearl mussel. We will be working with the Government to ensure data for these species are included in future to build a full picture of the state of our wildlife.”

Joan Edwards, The Wildlife Trusts’ Head of Living Seas, said: “The State of Nature report earlier this year showed that 60 per cent of the UK species assessed were in decline, and over one in ten threatened with extinction.  We hope that this official indicator for priority species takes that one step further and ensures that the problems facing our native species are factored into Government decision making.

“But we must remember the unsung heroes here – the legions of skilled amateur nature enthusiasts who have given up their spare time over many years to conduct surveys into everything from bees to basking sharks. Without them this would simply not be possible.”

Christmas Island, Australia

A random photograph of a crab posted by a tourist on Facebook has resulted in the rediscovery of a species.

“Imagine my surprise at coming eye-to-eye with a critter in cyber-space that eluded me for over twenty-years on the ground,” exclaims Max Orchard, a veteran ranger of Christmas Island National Park when he noticed a striking photograph of the rare White-tripe crab staring back at him from the Christmas Island Tourism Association’s page last week. 

The photograph of a medium-sized, purple-coloured crab scurrying amongst forest foliage near the island’s remote Dolly Beach was snapped earlier this year by tourist Chris Bray, and subsequently posted on the island’s tourism Facebook page. 

Both Bray and the island’s tourism authorities were blissfully unaware of the significance of the photo until Orchard logged onto the site last week.

“It was only on a whim that I checked the Facebook page,” says Orchard, who in over twenty years of fieldwork on the Australian island located 2 600km north-west of Perth, only once caught a fleeting glimpse of the mysterious crab. “I remember vividly - two bright yellow eyes looking at me around a tree trunk in the middle of a rainstorm, but unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me,” laments Orchard.

“The last known specimen was collected in 1989 and it hasn’t been photographed since,” says Orchard, a leading authority on the island’s crabs, having earlier this year published the encyclopaedic “Crabs of Christmas Island” which chronicles the island’s 33 eye-popping crabs, some as big as coconuts.

Bray, a keen photographer, is cock-a-hoop with his discovery. “It was a series of chance events really. Firstly, that I paused to snap the photo of a random crab, secondly that I decided to send it to the island’s tourism Facebook page and finally that Max Orchard, one of a handful of people in the world who would recognise it, just happened to see it,” remarks Bray.

On noticing the Facebook image, Orchard immediately alerted two of the world’s pre-eminent carcinologists [scientists who study crustaceans], Professor Peter Ng of the Raffles Museum of Biological Research in Singapore and Dr Peter Davie of the Queensland Museum. “Both have now confirmed that the critter is in fact the elusive White-Stripe crab (Labuanium vitatum)” exclaims a jubilant Orchard.

“Christmas Island provides critical habitat for the most diverse and abundant land crab fauna on earth. This exciting find reinforces the conservation significance of the island’s biodiversity – it is great news,” declares Mike Misso, Manager of Christmas Island National Park, a spectacular spread of jungle, cliffs, pinnacle fields and beaches which covers over two-thirds of the island.

But the rediscovery of the medium sized crab with a carapace up to 40 mm wide, hasn’t only sent park rangers and scientists in a flap, many of the tropical island’s 1500 residents, many of whom are reliant upon a growing eco-tourism market are abuzz with the news.

“How many places in the world can you go for a holiday, and make a discovery like this,” says Karen Singer, Manager of the Christmas Island Tourism Association, adding, “It’s the sort of stuff, dreams are made of.”

Bray turned to his own Facebook page to boast of his find. 

“It was apparently feared this beautiful and elusive little crab may have become extinct…and now the world’s most eminent carcinologists are extremely happy at the find and are looking to get this critter listed as critically endangered under the ICUN red list… How amazing is that!”

How much profit is there is wildlife extinction?

 536 rhino have been killed in poaching incidents in South Africa in the first half of 2013. This year-on-year escalation is unbelievable to most people and appears to be unstoppable. Sensible & decent folk would think that as wildlife numbers decline poaching would logically slow down as there is less profit from fewer animals. 

But are unscrupulous criminal speculators hoarding stockpiles with the anticipation that rhino extinction will make their stockpiles priceless? This is the type of economic advice that morally bankrupt stockbrokers & hedge fund managers would provide to criminals to maximise their profits. These are the same people that wrecked the global economy & the lives of millions of people so its not hard to imagine this scenario.

Here is part of the current debate occuring on Wildlife Conservation Society Linked-In page:

Joe Shelnutt • Banking On Extinction - (Mason, Bulte, & Horan, 2012) examined speculator behavior with regard to wildlife commodities such as tiger bones, bear bladders, ivory, and rhino horn. There is evidence that when there are competing supplies between private stores and wild populations, and when speculators collude, an extinction strategy may be optimal. Specifically, they conducted a simulation study and applied the model to the critically endangered black rhino and its conservation.

There was evidence that extensive stockpiles of rhino horn exist. Individuals holding on to these stockpiles while black rhino and other rhino species dwindle due to poaching has the potential to yield significant dividends. As wild rhinos become more rare, horn prices rise and poaching pressures on extant populations increase. The authors postulate that extinction may be and incentive-driven process and that it is exacerbated when agents hold significant horn stockpiles (Mason, et al. 2012). Agents actively engage in the strategic behavior of  “banking on extinction.” Banking on extinction was defined as: the behavior of private parties investing in private stores of renewable resources (including endangered species), hoping that the combination of ill-defined (or enforced) property rights and high prices on consumer markets will deplete in situ stocks in the immediate future (Mason, et al., 2012). In this process, rhino horn, a renewable resource, is converted into a non-renewable resource, able to be stockpiled. With extinction, competition from the wild is eradicated.

The researchers developed a model where there were two kinds of economic agents. 1) The Speculator: possesses a preexisting stockpile of the resource (horn). 2) The Poachers: collect horn under open access, gaining instant profits. An important caveat concerning open access in this paper is that speculators could induce poachers to take horn more rapidly by adding speculator demand to market demand. This hastens the demise of the species (black rhino).

The authors proposed that there are two solution routes to the profitability of banking on extinction: 1) The speculator operates as a traditional non-renewable resource monopolist; 2) The speculator actively participates as a buyer to increase stores while encouraging poaching to drive the species below Minimum Viable Population (MVP) size. The profitability of these two routes depends upon the initial level of private and wild stocks.

At the time of publication, rhino horn was worth approximately $60,000/kg. It was thought that such value justify and compensate for the loss in interest, for stockpiling. Crime syndicates killed more than 800 black rhino between 2009 and 2012 (Mason et al. 2012). The black rhino population level has dropped significantly from the 1970’s when levels were more than 65,000 breeding individuals to 2012 levels of 4,000 to 5,000 total individuals.

I am interested in the escalating incidence of wildlife poaching and it relationship to ecosystem decay, organized crime, nation security, and human/wildlife conflict around the world. I believe the article was very well planned and explored aspects of poaching that most individuals have not given thought to. Exploring how traders in illicit wildlife commodities might collude to maximize profits is a level of economic sophistication few know exists. The general assumption that wildlife poaching occurs at the local level to provide the impoverished with sustenance is being replaced with the reality that highly organized criminal syndicates are using every tool available to extract funds, even if, and in many cases with intent to destroy entire species. Joe

Reference:
Mason, C. F., Bulte, E. H., & Horan, R. D. (2012). Banking on extinction: endangered species and speculation. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 28(1), 180-192.

National Marine Fortnight is approaching (27 Jul - 11 Aug)

Joan Edwards, The Wildlife Trusts’ Head of Living Seas, said:  “Many people see the sea simply as a huge expanse of water, but under the surface lie habitats every bit as varied as those on land – kelp forests, seagrass meadows, mud plains, rocky reefs, deep-water corals and more. These richly varied habitats support thousands of plants and animals, from sea horses to basking sharks.”

The Big Watch Weekend is a landmark whale and dolphin data collection event on Sat 27 and Sun 28 Jul.  It is the biggest event of its kind to take place along the North Sea coast.  Coastal watches take place to collect vital information about whales and dolphins in this area.  Experts from wildlife and conservation charities, including North Sea Wildlife Trusts, Sea Watch Foundation, MarineLife and ORCA will lead public watches throughout the weekend. Volunteers can set up their own whale watch or join one of the organised watches taking place across the region.  

                                                                             Sea Otter

“We want this year’s National Marine Week to be very much a celebration of the wonderfully varied wildlife we have in our seas.  We want to inspire people to find more to enjoy, more to learn and more to value in the fantastic marine life around our shores,” said Joan Edwards.

See http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/weekends/marine for more details.

Seabird Conservation Scientist on Ascension Island wanted

The Ascension Island Government Conservation Department is currently seeking applications for the position of Seabird Conservation Scientist from motivated individuals with demonstrably strong fieldwork and data collection and analysis skills. 

 The deadline for applications is: Friday 26th July 2013 at 5pm. We anticipate that interviews will be carried out late July / early August 2013 at RSPB Headquarters in Sandy, Bedfordshire with a video link to Ascension Island.

Start date is ideally September 2013.

Informal enquiries to Dr Nicola Weber: Telephone: +247 6359 or email: nicola.weber@ascension.gov.ac  

Contact the Human Resources Adviser, Alan Nicholls for a postal application pack at alan.nicholls@ascension.gov.ac  

The Ascension Island Government Conservation Department is currently seeking applications for the position of Seabird Conservation Scientist from motivated individuals with demonstrably strong fieldwork and data collection and analysis skills. - See more at: http://www.conservation-jobs.co.uk/jobs/seabird-conservation-scientist/?goback=%2Egde_1087937_member_256470764#sthash.LS6Swowe.dpuf

The Ascension Island Government Conservation Department is currently seeking applications for the position of Seabird Conservation Scientist from motivated individuals with demonstrably strong fieldwork and data collection and analysis skills. - See more at: http://www.conservation-jobs.co.uk/jobs/seabird-conservation-scientist/?goback=%2Egde_1087937_member_256470764#sthash.LS6Swowe.dpuf

The Ascension Island Government Conservation Department is currently seeking applications for the position of Seabird Conservation Scientist from motivated individuals with demonstrably strong fieldwork and data collection and analysis skills. - See more at: http://www.conservation-jobs.co.uk/jobs/seabird-conservation-scientist/?goback=%2Egde_1087937_member_256470764#sthash.LS6Swowe.dpuf

The Ascension Island Government Conservation Department is currently seeking applications for the position of Seabird Conservation Scientist from motivated individuals with demonstrably strong fieldwork and data collection and analysis skills. - See more at: http://www.conservation-jobs.co.uk/jobs/seabird-conservation-scientist/?goback=%2Egde_1087937_member_256470764#sthash.LS6Swowe.dpuf

Wild lynx coming back to British countryside?

The Eurasian lynx is an original native of the British Isles; it’s a medium sized cat that has been forced out of much of Western Europe by habitat destruction and human persecution. The last of the British lynx disappeared around the year 1500 years ago.

Focused on hunting deer species and smaller prey such as rabbit and hare, the lynx is a legendarily elusive creature and rarely leaves the forest. This solitary and secretive nature means that they present no threat to humans and it is exceptionally rare for them to predate on agricultural animals. Their presence will return a vital natural function to our ecology helping control numbers of deer and a variety of agricultural pest species whilst protecting forests from deer damage caused by overpopulation.

Reintroductions into other European countries have been a remarkable success, with the best managed programs constructing whole new eco-friendly industries such as wildlife tourism and breathing new economic life into remote rural communities.

With no natural threats and bringing a great range of benefits to humans, the time is perfect to bring back the lynx to the British Isles.

Dr Paul O’Donoghue, a wildcat expert who is leading the project, said that ‘the lynx would bring more benefits than harm to the areas where they are reintroduced. We have been looking at the prospect of Lynx reintroduction for a while and now is the right time.’

See the new charity, the Lynx UK Trust for more details.

ARCHELON, the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece

From mid May until mid October this year enthusiastic and committed volunteers are required to work on Archelon’s sea turtle conservation projects in Greece. Zakynthos, Peloponnesus and Crete are the Mediterranean’s major nesting areas for the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta). Archelon is an environmental NGO that has been protected and monitored Greece’s loggerhead turtles for over 25 years.

Volunteers can work on the island of Zakynthos where the first National Marine Park for sea turtles in the Mediterranean was established in 1999. They will assist the management agency of the National Marine Park of Zakynthos to implement protection measures for the preservation of the sea turtles.

 

In Peloponnesus (Kyparissia Bay, Koroni and Lakonikos Bay), volunteers will protect nests against predation from foxes and other mammals, and assist in the running of the established Nature Information Centre of Agiannaki (Kyparissia Bay).

 

On Crete (Chania, Rethymno and Messara), participants work on implementing a Management Plan for the nesting areas.

At the Sea Turtle Rescue Centre in Athens, volunteers have the opportunity to participate in the daily treatment of sea turtles that usually bear injuries as a result of accidental capture in fishing gear and help in raising of public awareness as well as maintaining of the Centre’s facilities.

Ask me a question or contact Archelon directly: volunteers@archelon.gr, www.archelon.gr

Lions have lost 75% of their original habitat in Africa

A new study has confirmed that lions are rapidly and literally losing ground across Africa's once-thriving savannahs due to burgeoning human population growth and subsequent, massive land-use conversion.

Representing the most comprehensive assessment of the state and vitality of African savannah habitat to date, the report maintains that the lion has lost 75% of its original natural habitat in Africa - a reduction that has devastated lion populations across the continent. 

The report, entitled The size of savannah Africa: A lion's (Panthera leo) view, was published online in the journal ‘Biodiversity and Conservation.'

Tiger Tourism in India - 2

India’s Supreme Court lifted its interim ban on tiger tourism on the 15^th October – so is everything back to normal for tiger watching trips? Absolutely not!

Most Indian states took little notice of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, which rather vaguely said that tiger reserve ‘core zones’ should be ‘inviolate’. States made their own definition of what this might mean – some decided that any number of visitors could go provided they didn’t stay overnight; others decided the State could built tourist lodges in the core zone and others ignored it completely & left it as a free for all.

Community activist Ajay Dubey instigated the ban, because he was appalled at how the Wild Life (Protection) Act was being ignored. In lifting the ban states have been given six months to respond to the 69-page document of guidelines drawn up by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (part of the Ministry of Environment and Forests). A number of states, like Karnataka, recognise they don’t comply – so they have maintained the ban on tourists visiting their tiger reserves.

So if you’ve got a tiger watching trip booked - you might not get to see any tigers.

Tiger Tourism in India - I

I’ve been researching tiger tourism for a magazine article & what a mess India has allowed the issue to become.

There’s a real possibility that in the not too distant future tigers will only exist in zoos.

But even zoos are not safe places for tigers. This September in India’s north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh a gang of poachers managed to enter a high-security zoo in the capital and hack a tiger to death.

They choose a time when all three security guards decided to go to lunch together, leaving the animals unprotected. Poachers were free to enter the zoo, tranquillise the six-year-old tigress & then cut her to pieces whilst she was unconscious.

The Zoo chief, Zoram Dopum, said that the poachers fled when the ‘hapless’ security guards returned - but no one has been identified, captured or prosecuted for the slaughter.

The growing wealth in China & southeast Asia has seen demand for dead tiger products skyrocket. Tiger skins fetch $20,000, bones sell for $1,200 per kilogram and a whole animal would retail at $30,000.

Poaching is rampant and is the primary cause of the year on year decline in tiger numbers – there are even some tiger reserves where resident tigers have been poached to extinction.

Priceless or Worthless?

What is a species worth?

September 2012: Tarzan’s chameleon, the spoon-billed sandpiper and the pygmy three-toed sloth have all topped a new list of the species closest to extinction released by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

For the first time, more than 8,000 scientists from the IUCN Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC) have come together to identify 100 of the most threatened animals, plants and fungi on the planet. But conservationists fear they'll be allowed to die out because none of these species provide humans with obvious benefits.

While the utilitarian value of nature is important conservation goes beyond this. Do these species have a right to survive or do we have a right to drive them to extinction?

Difficult conservation
Professor Jonathan Baillie, ZSL's Director of Conservation said: “The donor community and conservation movement are leaning increasingly towards a ‘what can nature do for us’ approach, where species and wild habitats are valued and prioritised according to the services they provide for people. This has made it increasingly difficult for conservationists to protect the most threatened species on the planet.”

Priceless or Worthless
The report, called Priceless or Worthless?, will be presented at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in South Korea this month (Tues 11th Sept), and hopes to push the conservation of ‘worthless’ creatures up the agenda that is set by NGOs from around the globe.

Co-author of the report, ZSL’s Ellen Butcher says: “All the species listed are unique and irreplaceable. If they vanish, no amount of money can bring them back. However, if we take immediate action we can give them a fighting chance for survival. But this requires society to support the moral and ethical position that all species have an inherent right to exist.”

Decline often caused by humans
The decline of these species has mainly been caused by humans, but in almost all cases scientists believe their extinction can still be avoided if conservation efforts are specifically focused. Conservation actions can deliver results with many species such as Przewalski's Horse (see Reintroducing an extinct species to the wild - www.peter-lynch.co.uk/wildlife-conservation-volunteering.html) and Humpback Whale have being saved from extinction.

The 100 species, from 48 different countries are first in line to disappear completely if nothing is done to protect them.

Wilderness knows no boundaries

Today PAN Parks announced Europe’s first successful verification of a trans-boundary wilderness area between Oulanka (Finnish) and Paanajärvi (Russian) National Parks. This verification will strengthen the protection of wilderness across political boundaries.

Oulanka and Paanajärvi were certified PAN (Protected Area Networks) Parks, but artificially divided by the country border between Finland and Russia. After a decade of working hard to harmonise the two areas management plans, the third-party verification conducted by PAN Parks’ experts confirms that natural values of the two areas are taken care by the two management bodies in close cooperation.

Home to some of Europe’s rarest creatures - bear, wild reindeer, lynx, wolf and wolverine this collaborative approach will aid their survival.

Photo: Andy Gehrig

The trans-boundary status of the area is the largest protected area within the European Wilderness Preservation System set up through the PAN Parks’ network. The two parks cover over 132,000 hectares, from which 103,000 hectares are managed according to wilderness principles. ‘These principles mean there is no extractive use within the wilderness zone! No hunting, no logging, no grazing with domestic animals, but nature developing on its own!’ explains Vlado Vancura, conservation director of PAN Parks Foundation.

This approach is still unique in Europe and unfortunately the few existing wilderness areas cover less than 1% of Europe’s land territory compared to 5% covered by artificial surfaces (roads, industry, housing, etc).

Find out more about PAN Parks

Our Wetland Wildlife weekend – 8th and 9th September

The UK’s wetlands range from small ponds and trickling streams to gushing rivers and massive reservoirs, and all are vitally important natural resources.

As well as supporting a huge variety of wildlife, including charismatic species like otters and marsh harriers, they also provide a range of crucial ecosystem, economic and cultural services – such as food, fuel, flood prevention, water storage, recreation and transport.

Despite this, wetlands are some of our most damaged habitats, and are still being lost at an alarming rate. 

The Wildlife Trusts are in the forefront of efforts to protect and restore the UK’s precious wetland habitats, in the face of threats from climate change, drainage and development. 

Wildlife Trusts across the UK are holding a series of ‘Our Wetland Wildlife’ events on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 September.  The events form part of The Wildlife Trusts’ Centenary celebrations.

Be among the first to visit the new lagoons and hides at Rutland Water, spot water birds in Lincolnshire, identify moths in Cumbria, or take a wetland bat walk in Cheshire. Celebrate the wetland restoration work carried out in Radnorshire, go pond-dipping in Warwickshire, or check out the beavers back in Scotland after 400 years of extinction.

First 2012 turtle hatchlings reach the sea at Zakynthos

The turtle hatching season has begun once more in Greece, with Sekania beach being the first to produce hatchlings. On the night of July 24th 2011, Archelon (www.archelon.gr/index_eng.php) volunteers spotted five baby turtles beginning their precarious life journey.

After an incubation period of 49 days, the first five female hatchlings emerged and two more nests on the same beach followed suit the next day. The remaining nests will continue to hatch until the end of October.

Every year, hundreds of baby turtles begin the journey to the sea, but it is estimated that only one in a thousand will manage to survive and return as an adult back to her birthplace after 25 to 30 years. During hatching season it is very important that no artificial lights exist at the back of the beach, because baby turtles become disoriented and crawl away from the sea and dying. People should also resist going onto nesting beaches at night, as there is a good chance that baby turtles will be accidentally trampled and killed.

Indian tiger numbers down from 100,000 to 1,700 in a century

The number of India’s tigers has shrunk alarmingly in recent decades. A 2011 census counted only 1,700 tigers left in the wild, compared to 100,000 a century ago. Poaching and human-wildlife conflicts between tigers and people living in and on the periphery of tiger reserves are the biggest threat.

A landmark ruling, this month, by India’s Supreme Court has ordered a ban on tourism in "core zones" of more than 40 of the country’s central government-run tiger reserves.

The ruling seeks to protect the core zones of the tiger reserves, but tourists will still be able to visit buffer areas, up to a distance of 10km from the core areas. However, court fines of 10,000 rupees (£115) on states not complying with its earlier tiger protection directives seem unlikely to be a major deterrent.

Saving the Whale in Brighton

30 years ago today the International Whaling Commission met at the Brighton Hilton Metropole on 23 July 1982 and made the decision to ban whaling. This year, the world’s leading whale charities and whale watching businesses are returning to the same location to join forces on behalf of whales worldwide.

Help save our seas during The Wildlife Trusts’ National Marine Week

To mark the start of National Marine Week 2012 - from Saturday 28 July to Sunday 12 August, The Wildlife Trusts are recruiting ‘Friends of Marine Conservation Zones’. 

The UK’s seas host some of our most fascinating wildlife – and some of the most diverse animals and plants in Europe – but they are in serious decline from overfishing, pollution and other harmful human activity.

To help restore and protect this vitally important habitat, 127 Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) in English and offshore Welsh waters have been recommended to the Government for protection, following consultation with more than a million stakeholders. 

However, there are indications that only a small proportion of these will actually be designated.  To put pressure on the Government to designate the full suite of 127 recommended sites, The Wildlife Trusts are encouraging people to become ‘friends’ of their local MCZ.  Only by designating all the recommended MCZs can we provide protection to the full range of habitats in our waters, ensuring that species are able to move between protected habitats. 

To help inspire people about the amazing diversity of our seas, and to encourage them to befriend their local MCZ, The Wildlife Trusts are hosting more than 80 exciting events around the country for National Marine Week 2012.

With your local Wildlife Trust you can really make the most of the UK seaside this summer – enjoy an educational ‘Shark, Skate and Ray Day’ in Cornwall, ‘Lunch and Limpets’ in Sussex, trips to the shore in Yorkshire, sea dipping in Norfolk, or a rock pool ramble in Durham.

In addition to the events, The Wildlife Trusts are also providing online details of locations, species and habitats for all 127 recommended MCZs.  People can also help to save our seas by signing our ‘Petition Fish’, which is calling for the creation of an ecologically coherent network of Marine Protected Areas.

  

Click here for a full list of The Wildlife Trusts’ National Marine Week events:

http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/whats-on/nationalmarineweek 

To read more about befriending your local MCZ, see here: http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/MCZfriends-signup

Sign our Petition Fish: http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/petitionfish