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This
is the World Land Trust Web-Archive |
| Issue No. 14 Summer 2000 | ISSN: 1468 - 8506 |
On the Move in Patagonia
Editorial
- Why are we here? Where are we going?
- A world of possibilities
- Onwards in Patagonia
New Trustee for WLT
Helping Save Patagonia
Trip to Patagonia
Still Going Cheap
BELIZE
- "Shipwrecked on a Coral Island" From Alison Pagan (almost) at Half Moon Caye!
- Jaguars in Belize
- Programme for Belize in Ruins!
- WLT Supporters write:
- Visiting Belize
Volunteering for WLT
BIRDING FESTIVAL IN BELIZE
Brazil & Amazon News
Project News
Kite's Hill
- -the WLT's First Reserve in the UK
New Tax Benefits means that your donations can now be worth MORE
Thanks to all our suppoters who sent a donation towards the Patagonia Steppe Appeal. And in particular, thanks to Discover the World for helping publicise the project so widely. Mark Leaney (WLT's Honorary Treasurer) and his fellow directors at Discover the World agreed to send a leaflet to all their clients and raised a magnificant £10,000. Our immediate target is £50,000, which would enable a deposit to be made and negotiations start on a 25,000 acre ranch in the Patagonia Steppe.
These were to of the questions the Trustees decided to address, when Gil Child undertook a review of the Trust's project management. As we go to press his report is nearing conclusion, but several key facts have already emerged.
With an average of 80 acres a day saved by the projects that the Trust supported during its first 10 years of existence, the WLT clearly has an important role to play. While land purchase has always been high on the agenda it is also clear that supporting local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) has had enormous benefit.
In its early days, the WLT not only bought land in Belize, but also provided funds that paid staff salaries and crucially funded Roger Wilson as Technical Advisor which led to significant grant aid funds being raised. Programme for Belize is now a well established organisation with a budget off over $1-million a year, no longer dependent on the WLT's support. The WLT is now able to support other initiatives in Belize, in particular the Belize Audubon Society which is a membership body, drawing in Belizeans to become actively involved.
A world of possibilities
Many new initiatives have been suggested to the WLT - projects in India, Ecuador, Brazil, Kenya, Majorca to name but a few, and it is only lack of funds that prevents us widening our scope.
The WLT runs a very small office with the equivalent of only four full time staff. Volunteers in a wide range of capacities help expand our capabilities, but we really do need to expand a bit if we are to raise more funds.
Dominic White, the WLT Projects Manager, and I recently attended a meeting with other conservation groups about action in the Amazon Basin. It came as a shock to me to realise just how little is actually being done to protect the rainforests of the Amazon. Despite all the TV coverage, and a very high level of public awareness about the problems, very few organisations are actually DOING anything. It isn't too late - there are still millions of acres of forest surviving, but there is no question they are being cleared at an alarming rate in all the countries that form the Amazon Basin. And that is why the WLT is linking with other organisations to maximise our impact. With land costing as little as $10 an acre in many places, it is still possible to cover all the purchase cost, and set up proper long-term protection for the forest. In Brazil we have identified a supporter who has expressed an interest in establishing a tourism facility, with a proportion of profits going towards protection, if we help a local NGO raise the funds to buy 100,000 acres of forest.
Onwards in Patagonia
In Patagonia, there is now a real hope of acquiring 25,000 acres, and developing eco-tourism as a way of protecting the steppe habitat. But without the large number of World Land Trust supporters, none of this is possible. The fact that thousands of individuals support us encourages foundations, the EU and other grant giving bodies to support us.
The WLT has always believed that sustaintable development must go hand-in-hand with conservation, and that helping local conservations buy land is one of the best ways of ensuring that land's protection in perpetuity. Please do continue to support our vital work.
Thank you.John A Burton
Chief Executive
Jane Krish is based in Bristol - home of the BBC Natural History Unit - and the centre of the world as far as wildlife film making is concerned. Chief Executive of the Wildscreen Trust, Jane organises the Wildscreen Festival which takes place every two years, and is the word’s most prestigious festival for wildlife film-makers. Another initiative of the Wildscreen Trust is the newly created ARKive - the world’s first digital library of images and recordings of endangered species and the brainchild of WLT Trustee Chris Parsons.
A long-time WLT supporter, Jane brings with her an expertise in organisational and event management as well as a wealth of contacts in the TV and Film world.
The WLT Partner organisation in Patagonia is Fundaçion Patagonia Natural. Managing Director of FPN, José Maria Musmeci explains about their work.
Fundaçion Patagonia Natural (FPN) is a non-governmental organisation, founded in 1989, with the objective of protecting biodiversity, improving the living conditions of the local people within the framework of a responsible and harmonic development focused on the Patagonia region.The principal objective of FPN is to achieve the responsible use of natural resources.
Over the past ten years we have been involved in many projects including opening an emergency Rescue Centre in 1991 to treat over 17,000 penguins which had been affected by a major oil spill. FPN has surveyed 3,000 km of Patagonia coastline, looking at coastal pollution and has taken part in an international project on the Conservation of Marine Mammals of the South West Atlantic.Work has also been undertaken looking into the impact of tourism on the region and workshops for environmentally friendly hotel management have been held.
In 1999 we forged a promisory institutional relationship with World Land Trust after agreeing to carry out joint activities. We are very excited about the possibility of purchasing 12,000 hectares of Patagonian Steppe habitat, near the Valdes Peninsula to protect as a nature reserve and all at FPN pledge their unanimous support for this proposal.
Peninsula Valdes has been called the Zoo of the South Atlantic
- the difference being that the wildlife is truly wild.
This unusual geographic feature is one of South America’s best wildlife showcases and this is where the WLT is focusing its attention.
Trips Worldwide, in conjunction with WLT, are organising a Wildlife Tour to Patagonia for October/November 2001 (not this year as originally planned).
The 14-day trip includes two days on the Valdes Peninsula visiting different wildlife sanctuaries and scientific stations, and taking a boat out to watch magnificent forty-foot long Southern Right Whales coming into the waters of the Golfo Nuevo. You will also see over half-a-million Magellanic Penguins in one colony and there will be a visit to an island that is bursting with wildlife - fur seals, sea lions, skuas, kelp geese, snowy sheathbills, just to mention a few.
Trips will be holding a slide show on the tour, and raising funds for the WLT Patagonia Project, at Canary Wharf in London, on 28 October. Please contact them for more information.
Trips telephone no is: 0117 987 2626
See also Trips Worldwide
For a donation of £25 or more you will receive a personalised certificate, for yourself or on behalf of a loved one, recording that you have purchased and protected an acre of prime habitat, in the location of your own choice.
In Patagonia FPN will hold a register of all supporters and, when established, it will be possible to visit the area you have helped save from development.
From Alison Pagan, our correspondent in Belize . .
Shipwrecked on a Coral Island
"The Caribbean sea stretched calmly in front of us. Perfect conditions for a smooth trip to Half Moon Caye. I grinned smugly as I remembered Dominic (White), WLT Projects Manager, describing the extreme discomfort he experienced covering the same route in far more choppy conditions. I was joining Julie (from Belize Audubon Society) and Hampton (from Belize Coastal Zone Management), on a data collection expedition for the BAS research project on the reefs around the Caye.
With the two outboard motors roaring away behind, we zoomed across the perfect turquoise water, between palm-fringed islands surrounded by thick mangroves. The pelicans and frigate birds circled above, and Belize City disappeared over the horizon. Paradise. Suddenly the zoom went out of our boat as one engine cut out, followed by the other one making a peculiar sound. The result was that we had to land on Calabash Caye, while we decided what to do next.
Calabash Caye provides the base for the marine biology research outpost, run by the University College of Belize. But my hopes of finding a bustling community complete with resident mechanics and workshops were quickly dashed. It was more or less deserted. As it was not possible to repair the boat we ended up sleeping at Calabash Caye, sharing the island with several billion sandflies and some salt water crocodiles. Luckily the crocodiles kept a low profile but regrettably the sandflies did not. However, all bites were forgotten by morning as I watched the beautiful dawn over the water, my toes sinking into the powdery white sand, as a small ray slid past in the shallows.
I never did reach Half Moon Caye as the following day bad weather forced us back to the city. On the homeward journey, as the sea turned a choppy and an ugly shade of grey, I hung on to the side of the small boat, thinking about Dominic - at least he had set foot on Half Moon Caye!”
Alison Pagan worked as a volunteer in the WLT office for 18 months before going out to Belize to join Belize Audubon Society as a business management assistant. She is now back in the UK and just accepted a full time job in conservation education; the WLT will be recruiting another volunteer to go out to work with BAS this summer. WLT and BAS thank Alison for all her hard work, professionalism and good humour throughout.
WLT was delighted to be able to help facilitate a donation of £25,000 from Jaguar Cars UK, for Belize Audubon Society, earmarked for important Jaguar conservation. BAS administers six of the Country’s national parks, including Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary which is the only reserve in the world set aside strictly for Jaguar.
The five cat species that occur in Belize all share the Cockscomb Basin by occupying different niches. The Basin is an especially good habitat for the Jaguar - the largest of the cats. In other areas of its range Jaguar habitat is greatly reduced.
Although the Jaguar is the largest land predator in Central and South America it is quite elusive. Until the 1980s very little was known of the species except from zoo animals and hunted specimens. The major research on Jaguars in Central America was done in 1983 and 1984 by Alan Rabinowitz in the Cockscomb Basin and the results of this research became the impetus for the creation of the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary as a reserve for jaguars.
Contrary to the heading PFB continues to flourish, but one aspect of its work we have not mentioned much is archaeology. The reason is simple: the majority of our supporters are more interested in preserving the forests and its wildlife. But in so doing we are also helping preserve huge archaeological sites where the ancient Maya once lived. Some of the pyramids were up to nine stories high, and there are massive ceremonial complexes.
The La Milpa site, close to the PFB visitor accommodation, has ball courts, pyramids and many other buildings all hidden in the depths of the forest. In recent years the archaeologists excavating there have found three painted thrones in the buildings that formed palaces.
Visiting the archaeological site can easily be done in excursions from La Milpa, and staying in the PFB dormitories costs $77 per person/day, in the cabanas $93 per person/day. The price includes full board and two guided excursions each day.
Nicola Furey, Honorary Vice Consul of the General Consulate of Belize in Switzerland does excellent work spreading the word about Conservation in Belize. Recently she was photographed with a group of pupils from the Geneva English School who raise funds every year. Many thanks to Nicola Furey for her help and to all the schools who regularly support WLT projects.
Information on the web
For information on the archaeology of Belize (as well as other visitor information) look at website: http://www.belizereport.com This is a good starting point for other Belize websites as it has excellent links.
The Programme for Belize website is:
http://www.belizenet.com/pfbel.html
“Dear WLT,
Thank you for sending us the address of Trips Worldwide. With their help we had a marvellous three weeks in Belize this January/February. We had planned to avoid the British winter and Belize’s wet season, but we had not planned to arrive with the peak of flowering of the “monkey toothbrush” creeper, a literal honeypot for coatis and kinkajous, and a bewildering variety of humming and other birds. By the time we left Belize we had counted 147 bird species and 80 species of butterfly.
And to share the PFB Field Station with white-tailed deer, coatis, agoutis and ocellated turkeys was memorable indeed. So were the spider monkeys and ocelot we met walking back from the Maya archaeological site.
As the only visitors at La Milpa Field Station at that time, we found ourselves ‘part of the family’ with the staff which was a delightful experience and we want to record our very warm appreciation of the station and the staff.”
Dr D H Trump
Cambridge
And Mrs Trump adds:
“We visited the Philippines last winter, inspired by the Danjugan story, travelling back-packer style on buses and boats. From the conservation point of view much more has been lost there, alas, than in Belize, which makes Danjugan Island so important. We commend your broadening horizons, but I personally feel it would be a mistake to cast the net too far - better deep, ongoing involvement than wide.”
Visitors to Belize please note: Dr and Mrs Trump are keen to give a specific warning about jiggers. These are invisible aracnid mites which lurk in vegetation and if you do develop pink spots (which do not itch to begin with), take them seriously and get to a pharmacy for a proprietary cream. It goes without saying that you should wear long trousers and closed shoes in the forest.
Trips Worldwide are UK agents for the PFB Field Station, and can arrange a tailor-made itinerary to suit your requirements.
We continue to receive a steady flow of volunteer help in the office, for which we are very grateful. You may have spoken to Sally Macdonald or Julie Fairbrother on reception or had an information pack sent to you by Barbara Rogers. Tom Abbott ran in the London marathon for WLT this year, raising nearly £500, and professional photographer Roz Gordon went to Patagonia and returned with a set of photos to promote the new project there. Alison Pagan has been a wonderful volunteer, working first in the WLT office and then going out to assist Belize Audubon Society.
You can find the latest posts and requests for help on the web page devoted to the volunteer programme (http://www.worldlandtrust.org). ( Volunteers wanted )
Thank you all for contributing your time and energy.Cindy Engel, Volunteer Co-ordinator
Join us this October at the peak of the great migrations of the Americas. This is the time to see the particular species found only on a coast or area a thousand miles from your home. They all pass through Belize!
Visit four major protected areas in six distinct habitats during an 8-day itinerary. This is the home of the 5-foot tall Jaribu as well as the 2½ inch Coquette.
* Special presentations every evening by experts and enthusiasts Register early to avoid disappointment. Maximum 60 participants only
Visit us at: http://www.belizeaudubon.org
Email base@btl.net Telephone 501-2-35004 / Fax: 501-2-34985
Guapi Açu becomes an independent charity and WLT spreads its wings into other regions in South America.
WLT was delighted to have been able to help at the inception of the Guapi Acu Project (Reserva Ecologica de Guapi Açu) and your donations were vital in getting conservation work underway. Thank you. The Trust has often played a major role in raising ‘seed’ funds to get new conservation initiatives up and running, and as of February this year, the Guapi Açu Project became an independent charity, renamed Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest Trust. Now that BART has been established the WLT is looking at two new areas where help is urgently needed to save threatened forests in South America.
WLT in Coastal Rainforests
One new area lies in the coastal rainforests north of Guapi Açu, where WLT are proposing to support a project identified by BirdLife International as of the highest priority, following a detailed assessment, and is included in their list of Key Areas for Threatened Birds in the Americas.
£25 purchases and protects an acre in the Amazon Basin
The other project area is in the Amazon Basin where, because of the urgent need to conserve remaining tropical forests, the Trust has recently launched a land purchase and protection campaign. Land is still very cheap and already 10,000 acres have been bought. There is an exciting opportunity to save a huge area of unspoilt flooded forest and once again we have been working with Dr Manuel Alonso who pioneered the major conservation work on the Osa Peninsula, in which the Trust was actively involved. Funds raised by CharityMall.com (see opposite page) are being directed to this project.
Possibilities in Ecuador - species still to be discovered
High above the Amazon Basin, in the mountains of Ecuador, the tributaries of the Amazon start their journey. Amazingly, in the forests that shroud these mountains, new bird species are still being discovered.
Two ornithologists, Bob Ridgeley (USA) and Nigel Simpson (UK) have already purchased some of the forest that provides habitat for these birds and they have invited WLT to join them in acquiring more land to create viable reserves.
It is the old and sad story that once land is cleared of its forests it can be worth up to $400 an acre, but with the forest still standing it sells for as little as $10 an acre. But this has to be good news for conservation. So, the sooner we can act, the sooner we can conserve.
For £10,000 or £20,000 a really effective reserve can be created. Do you know of a company, or individual, that would like to take Positive Action?
“The hugely diverse wildlife of the area show little fear of humans”, writes Dr Alonso. “There is a great opportunity here”.
“Indicator species for hunting pressure, such as razor-billed currassow, the white-winged trumpeter bird, woolly monkeys, spider monkeys, capuchin monkeys, Amazonian manatee, and white-lipped peccary are abundant in this area and do not show any fear of humans whereas they have been practically wiped out from most of the Amazon lowland basin. The poorly-known primate genus Pithecia is represented by probably the rarest species in the whole Amazon, the buffy saki, in unexpectedly high densities. Both tamarin monkeys that inhabit the area, belong to subspecies that have yet to be described.”
In historical times tropical forests covered 9½-million square miles (24½-million sq km) but, over the last century, they have been reduced to under half, and now less than 3½-million square miles remain. Today tropical forests cover about 6 per cent of the earth’s surface - the area in South America being the largest remaining block.
Notes from an even smaller island
Extracts of E-mails from Project Director, Gerry Ledesma and Pam Coscolluela.
“ Great News, the eagles are nesting again on Danjugan. We hope to see a millennium chick.... found a turtle nesting under a cabana, but she managed to hatch out 17 young which have all survived .... the field training centre has been finished and we are looking forward to holding marine camps for local kids, it’s important to get them seeing Danjugan.... composting toilets donated by Coral Cay Conservation have been installed.... our first livelihood project with the local community on the mainland looks very promising. It is breeding mudcrabs on a 1,000 sq m patch within the mangrove area .... Terence has planted approx 15,000 mangrove propagules, and there are now several newly planted nurseries.... next in line for the livelihood program is seaweed farming... things progressing well with the marine sanctuary...”
The Eagle has Landed. On Danjugan Island a pair of White-bellied Sea Eagles have chosen a ‘watch-tower’ tree for their eyrie.
The new IMAX Theatre at Bristol opens on 24 May with a black-tie gala performance. All profits from the evening are being donated to the WLT. The theatre, some four stories high, is part of an exiting new development at Bristol, which has made it the world’s Mecca for wildlife film enthusiasts, and was the brainchild of Trustee, Chris Parsons.
E-commerce is very much a feature of the present times, and many of our supporters will already be aware that the Trust is taking full advantage of the possibilities being opened up on the World Wide Web.
An enthusiastic volunteer, Terence Sommerville, based in Ireland, has developed the WLT website. Here you can see newsletters, regular updates, and colour photos of wildlife associated with the Trust’s projects. It is ideal for children to download for project work. Opportunities for volunteering, at home and abroad, are also featured.
The Natural History Book Service (NHBS), one of the Trust’s earliest sponsors, is designing an on-line facility for its customers to donate to the Trust (www.nhbs.com).
And a brand new initiative is CharityMall.com from whom the Trust is also benefitting.
The Trust was one of the earliest beneficiaries of CharityMall’s on-line shopping facility, and received a cheque for $5,000 when the site opened. Do visit the rest of this site and register your support for the WLT.
The Trust is the chosen recipient of donations from the Crocodile Pond Wishing Well at London’s Rainforest Cafe. The most recent cheque was for £2,105.80. There are Rainforest Cafes in London and Manchester.
Wade Furniture continue to support the activities of the Trust in many ways, not least with regular donations. An important new venture is a business lunch they are hosting this summer. The Trust’s Patron, David Gower, will be stopping over for lunch in Leeds in the middle of his busy schedule commentating during the cricket season. Representatives from a range of business in the Leeds area are invited, particularly those who, like Wade Furniture, are keen to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable development and conservation. Following David Gower’s speech, and lunch, participants will discuss ways that their businesses can help the WLT and its overseas projects.
Last year British Airways hosted a similar lunch, and again this year the WLT was represented at the annual awards ceremony for the British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Awards. The WLT continues to work closely with Nationwide Building Society’s young savers, and the Trust’s work in Patagonia has been featured in a recent edition of the Smart Savers newsletter.
Thanks also to Chris Ellwood and Chris Jenkins of Enterprise Plants who do excellent work promoting the work of the Trust and also donate plants, garden pots and expertise to the Living Rainforest at Wyld Court.
A 48-acre area of meadows and woodland known as Kite’s Hill (opposite), has been donated to the World Land Trust by Jane Pointer to conserve for its wildlife. It is adjacent to the National Trust reserve of Pope’s Hill in Gloucestershire and part of it has been designated as a site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
Help our Amazon project and we will plant a tree for you on Kite’s Hill.
A leaflet ( online Save Big Trees for Peanuts! ) about the Kite’s Hill project is enclosed with this newsletter and for every £150 you donate to WLT’s Amazon project, we will plant a tree in the Kite’s Hill new woodland.
New Tax Benefits means that your Donations
can now be worth MORENew Gift Aid Scheme
Under the government’s new Gift Aid 2000 scheme which came into effect on 6 April, charities are able to claim back the basic rate of tax on all donations made by supporters who pay tax in the UK. Previously the minimum amount on which tax could be recovered for one-off donations was £250. Now there is no bottom limit. So, if you are a UK tax payer please let us know on the donation form enclosed so WLT can benefit at no extra cost to yourself.
Payroll Giving
As well as the new Gift Aid scheme the government has also introduced a new form of Payroll Giving, with benefits both to the donor and to the charity. Many employers operate a Give as you Earn scheme, where the sum you choose to give will be deducted from your pay before it is taxed. For example a donation of £10 will only cost you £7.80. Additionally, for the next three years, the Government are giving a 10% bonus too. This means that your donation of £7.80 will actually be worth £11 to your chosen charity. So if you were to donate £10 a month to the WLT we would benefit by an extra £38.40 a year.
Matched Giving
Many employers match their employees’ gifts to charity. Does yours? If your employer offers this scheme please let us know so that we can send newsletters to the appropriate people.
See Online forms for Gift Aid