A national committee has been set up to tackle rhino poaching in South Africa, the SA National Parks (Sanparks) said on Monday.
Baby Rhino Murdered by poachers in the Sabi Game Park - Mozambique
“The intention of the committee is to improve communication and co-ordination among the anti-poaching initiatives by Sanparks, government, police, and security agencies, private game reserves and rhino owners as well as other conservation and wildlife organisations,” Sanparks spokesperson Sam Ferreira said.
Sam Ferreira the newly elected committee chair, said four initial priorities to fight rhino poaching were agreed upon by the committee.
First: To set up a National Number which people could phone to report rhino poaching activities.
Second: To co-ordinate the provision of intelligence from all groups to the National Wildlife Crime Reaction Unit.
Third: To co-ordinate a National Fundraising Campaign for specific anti-poaching initiatives.
Fourth: To run an information campaign about rhino poaching and the use of rhino horn.
The committee was set up on Monday (23/08/10) at the Lead SA Rhino Summit, where the resolution was signed by 37 representatives of organisations including the SAPS Hawks, the Department of Environmental Affairs, Crimeline and the Endangered Wildlife Trust.
We must work together to conserve species at risk, protect threatened habitats and address global threats. By working together, we can find long-term solutions that benefit both people and nature.
A species is one of the basic units of biological classification. A species can be loosely defined as a group of individual organisms that have very similar appearance, anatomy, physiology and genetics.
What WWF is trying to do is to make sure that those species that we have the least of are not lost forever – we’ve already lost too many as it is. (more…)
Dr. Keith Martin, MP, touring Avatar Grove
These trees are more valuable for tourism and to our ecosystem than as lumber
by Dr. Keith Martin, MP
Port Renfrew is the furthest outpost of my riding. It is a land of extraordinary beauty with mountains that hug a rugged coastline, rivers that run through deep valleys, and a land that harbours significant biodiversity. This area also contains some of the oldest and most majestic living things on our planet. In the area of the Gordon River Valley and further north in the upper Walbran Valley are some of the largest trees on the planet. A few weeks ago, I went into this remote area with a small team from the Ancient Forest Alliance to document these giant Western Red Cedars, Sitka Spruce and Douglas Fir that jut out of the surrounding valley floors like spires from cathedrals. (more…)
Gulls flock in the Pacific Ocean. Credit: Ami Vitale.
The Washington Post today has an interesting story (registration required) about how the Earth’s oceans are getting crowded with competition for use — and how more and more ocean experts are pushing ocean zoning as the answer.
But even though such zoning (which experts call “marine spatial planning”) has high-level support within the Obama administration, it’s anything but easy. (more…)
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News Flash !! - Suspected poacher’s gang murder Gilberto Vicente – Manager of the Special Maputo Wildlife Reserve.
Maputo — Unknown assailants murdered the manager of the Special Maputo Wildlife Reserve, Gilberto Vicente, on Sunday night. According to a report in Saturday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”, the murder occurred at around 19.00 in Chigubatana locality, in Boane district, as Vicente was driving from the Reserve to Maputo City, where he had meetings scheduled for the following morning. According to the police, the Toyota Hilux in which Vicente was traveling was ambushed by six men, each armed with an AK-47 assault rifle. Eight shots were fired, instantly killing Vicente, and seriously injuring his companion, Carlos Nunes, who is now undergoing medical treatment at Maputo Central Hospital. (more…)
One of the world's few remaining wild tigers.
There are as few as 3,200 tigers left in the wild. Scientists say the situation is so bad that, unless we act urgently, tigers will be extinct in the wild by the time of the next Chinese Year of the Tiger in 2022.
The good news is that it is not too late to prevent this. (more…)
Photo by MICHAEL NEUGEBAUER
It has been 50 years since Dr. Jane Goodall, world-famous primatologist and UN Messenger for Peace, first set foot on the shores of Lake Tanganyika to begin the ground-breaking study that introduced us to our closest animal relatives. Since then, the chimpanzee research she pioneered at Gombe has produced a wealth of scientific discovery, and her vision has expanded into a global mission to empower people to make a difference for all living things.
Visit www.janegoodall.ca to learn how the Institute is helping to deliver that global mission and how her work with chimpanzees is helping to redefine our place in the natural world.
http://www.janegoodall.ca/Gombe50.php
We’ve all heard how the illegal trade in elephant ivory, rhino horn and other high value products is threatening Africa’s wildlife. However, the impact of these products is dwarfed by the trade in bushmeat, defined as meat from Africa’s wild animals traded for human consumption. (more…)
The first draft of global standards intended to measure and identify environmentally and socially responsible salmon farming was recently released for a 60-day public comment period.
(more…)
