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.