I recently listened to an interview on the radio by two conservation activists talking about the state of wildlife trafficking globally. It made depressing listening. High on the agenda was the issue of ivory and the butchery that’s involved in removing tusks from elephants. One of the interviewees said to the presenter, “imagine having your […]
October 27, 2013
A row over the latest celebrity-endorsed campaign by the conservation giant WWF has lead to more coverage across newspaper titles than it probably could have hoped for. Nothing like controversy to get tongues wagging. Note to self NGOs! Conservation is not a sexy subject to news editors. But throw in a good-looking woman, filmed in […]
June 6, 2011
They say good things come in small packages and one new species recently discovered is so small it weighs the same as just three cups of cereal. A feather-weight among primates, Berthe’s mouse lemur (Microcebus berthae), is 10cm long and weighs around 30g. This primate is so small it even trumps the pygmy marmoset (Cebuella […]
April 5, 2011
They’ve may have won the first round, but conservationists say they are stepping up the pressure on the Congolese government to say ‘no’ for good to two British oil firms drilling in Africa’s oldest park. Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a UNESCO world heritage site, permission had been granted […]
March 1, 2011
The bushmeat trade in Europe made the headlines in June after researchers revealed that more than 270 tonnes pass through Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris a year. The study published in the journal, Conservation Letters, was the first of its kind. Now there’s growing concern that chimpanzee meat is allegedly being sold in underground bushmeat markets in […]
January 20, 2011
If you had asked me two years ago where Gabon was, I probably would have struggled to pin point its exact whereabouts in Africa on a map. Now, it’s a different story and I know only too well where this West African nation lies and sadly today, it’s made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. […]
January 6, 2011
At the start of this year, the Indonesian Forestry Ministry announced plans to help keep its virgin forests intact by offering land concessions to companies to use previously logged areas. It’s part of a two-year moratorium with Norway, which will pay Indonesia (one billion dollars) for proven emissions reductions. Everything seems to come with a price tag these […]
October 30, 2013
6