World Land Trust News and Updates

Recent News & Updates

To make sure you are seeing the most recently added news and updates, check that you are viewing www.worldlandtrust.org/news/index.htm and not an archived page. Older news items, including press releases can be found in the News Archive

Wednesday, February 28, 2007:

Green Issues: Pheasants, poultry and Bird Flu 

Latest additions to the World Land Trust website

"With birds being imported and deliberately released into the countryside, to me the surprise is not that Avian flu is a threat, but that there are not far more diseases in our wild birds and poultry flocks."

Read the latest Green Issues post: Pheasants, poultry and Bird Flu

Thursday, February 22, 2007:

Conservation and Environmental News Roundup - 22nd February 

Latest News Headlines

Reprive for prickly friends!

Updating on a news item reported on 20th February (see below), the remaining Uist hedgehogs will escape death by lethal injection as Scottish Natural Heritage votes unanimously to trial a programme of translocation to the mainland. The decision comes after scientific research disproved the main justification for the cull. Ross Minett of the Uist Hedgehog Rescue Group said "At long last the totally unnecessary killing of these healthy hedgehogs has ended. Whilst the policy change is, of course, welcome, it is disgraceful that it has come too late for the hundreds of hedgehogs already killed by SNH."

Read more: Scottish islands' surviving hedgehogs win a reprieve (Guardian Unlimited)

Wednesday, February 21, 2007:

Press release: Carbon offsets do not 'harm environment' 

Latest World Land Trust News

The allegations that carbon offsets harm the environment, heard yesterday by the Parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee, and made by organisations including FERN (Forests and the European Resource Network) and the environmental think tank, Corner House, are ill thought out and jeopardise years of work to protect against the loss of critically endangered habitat and the effects of climate change.

Read the full press release: Carbon offsets do not 'harm environment'

Tuesday, February 20, 2007:

Green Issues: Saving energy, and economic imperialism 

Latest additions to the World Land Trust website

"There is only one way of making us all conserve energy, and that is to nationalise it, and price it to ensure that the most polluting and inefficient sources cost the most. The free market economy will simply encourage us all to use as much energy as it can. And if we don't use it in Britain or America, we'll simply import goods made with cheap, polluting energy from Asia."

Read the latest Green Issues post: Saving energy, and economic imperialism

Conservation and Environmental News Roundup - 20th February 

Latest News Headlines

Whooping cranes lost to Florida stroms

Young whooping cranes, part of a species recovery project were killed when violent storms hit Florida at the start of February. The 18 birds had been led from Wisconsin and were being kept at a wildlife refuge prior to becoming part of a second migratory flock of the endangered birds which numbered just 20 in 1941. It is thought they were either drowned by the surge tide or electrocuted by lightning strikes. Co-founder of the co-ordinating organisation, Operation Migration, Joe Duff said. "It's very traumatic to the whole team who put so much time and effort into these birds". The next generation are expected to hatch in April.

Read more: Storms kill endangeres whooping cranes led south by ultralights (Journal Star.com)

Best laid plans for tyre reefs gone astray

An artificial reef of tyres installed off the Florida coast in the 1970s is one of many across the world that have proved to do more harm than good. It was intended that the 2 million old tyres would provide a surface for diverse marine life, however hardly any has taken up residence and tyres that have broken loose are damaging a massive area of the ocean floor. Some scientists also fear the tyres may release toxins. Expensive clean up operations have been mounted at other sites and are planned in Florida.

Read more: Tyre reef off Florida proves a disaster (Environmental News Network)

Backing for Suffolk offshore windfarm

After consideration of the impacts, Government approval has been granted for one of Britain's largest windfarms. The 140 turbines will be sited over a 150 square kilometer area, near the Inner Gabbard and Galloper sandbanks, 12 miles off the Suffolk coast. The project, developed by Airtricity and Fluor will be able to power up to 415,000 homes, saving 1.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emisisons. Ian Pearson, Climate Change Minister, said: "Projects like this that expand our capacity to generate clean electricity will play a major role in helping to reduce the UK's carbon dioxide emissions by 60% by 2050."

Read more: 140-turbine windfarm plan backed (BBC)

Reprive for prickly friends?

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) will discuss on Tuesday whether to stop the culling of hedgehogs on the Hebridean island of Uist. The major justification given for culling the introduced mammals was the assertion that translocated hedgehogs would die slow and lingering deaths. However, recent scientific research has shown them to survive successfully. As a result, wildlife experts and associated bodies, including the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) have come out against the culling policy. Hedgehog supporters are hopeful that SNH will instead adopt a translocation programme, especially as they are declining across the rest of the UK.

Read more: Ending in sight for hedgehog cull (BBC)

Friday, February 09, 2007:

Read the February issue of the eBulletin online 

Latest additions to the World Land Trust website

The February issue of our monthly conservation newsletter is now available on the web. Read about:

• Ecuador Update: Howler Monkeys, Inga Trees and an Award
• Other Project News and Wildlife Photos
• Help Create a Valentine's Day Reserve in Brazil

Read the February issue of the eBulletin

Subscribe to get the eBulletin by email here

Recycled printer cartridges raises £4000 for conservation 

Latest World Land Trust News

Since 2002, World Land Trust has been working with GreenAgenda, a printer cartridge recycling company. GreenAgenda passes on the value of the cartridges it receives to charities, and in December the total raised on behalf of WLT passed £4000. This is enough to purchase and protect 160 acres of threatened habitat and we'd like to thank both GreenAgenda and all our cartridge recyclers.

If you would like to help by recycling your printer, toner and fax cartridges, then go to www.worldlandtrust.org/supporting/cartridges.htm for more information. Please don't send cartridges to the WLT office - GreenAgenda arranges cartridge collection and forwards regular cheques to WLT.

Zoos working with the WLT 

Latest World Land Trust News

Recently the proceedings of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) 61st Annual Conference were published. The Conference was held in Leipzig in August 2006, and the participants included Emily Brickell from the World Land Trust who has been developing the Trust's Wild Spaces Programme, specifically to involve zoos with in situ conservation. The proceedings include the presentation given by Emily and John Burton, the WLT's CEO, and also reports on the committee and technical sessions where the role of the WLT in helping zoos implement conservation in the field was a topic of much discussion. Since the Conference, the WLT has continued to engage with several zoos, as well as the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquaria (BIAZA), and we are planning long term cooperation to form partnerships, that help zoos and their visitors relate to their wild counterparts.

If you know of a zoo that might like to get involved with in situ wildlife conservation through the Wild Spaces Programme, please contact the Trust.

Read more about the Wild Spaces Programme

Thursday, February 08, 2007:

Green Issues: Where have all the birds gone? And where do pheasants come from? 

Latest additions to the World Land Trust website

"3 million birds, with goodness knows how many diseases and parasites, will be deliberately released into the British countryside to mingle with our wildlife. And of course the pheasants will go on to peck away at any number of small snakes, lizards, newts, frogs and any other small animal they can gobble up."

Read the latest Green Issues post: Where have all the birds gone? And where do pheasants come from?

Press release: World Land Trust urges "don't use wild birds as scape goats" 

Latest World Land Trust News

Halesworth-based international wildlife charity, the World Land Trust, has criticised the handling of the outbreak of avian flu in nearby Holton. John Burton, the Chief Executive of the World Land Trust, who is also an experienced naturalist and ornithogist said "It is alarming that almost before any of the facts were known, wild birds were being identified as the probable culprits."

Read the full press release: World Land Trust urges "don't use wild birds as scape goats"

Wednesday, February 07, 2007:

Wildlife conservation internship (focussing on web design/web development ) 

Latest World Land Trust News

An internship (6 months) - which could lead to an exciting career in wildlife conservation - is available with international charity World Land Trust.

If you are looking for jobs and training in any of the following: wildlife, the natural environment, web design, web development, conservation project management, conservation project administration or environmental education this could be a golden opportunity.

The deadline for applications has been extended to Friday 16th February.

• Projects Development Assistant (Web design/web development) Job description
• Read more about the Internship Programme

Tuesday, February 06, 2007:

Green Issues: Bird 'flu and turkey factories 

Latest additions to the World Land Trust website

"The World Land Trust has its HQ in Halesworth, which is walking distance from the airfield at Upper Holton, where the Bernard Matthews turkey factory is situated. It does annoy me how the TV and press keep describing it as a Turkey FARM. That is an insult to farmers."

Read the latest Green Issues post: Bird 'flu and turkey factories

Monday, February 05, 2007:

Green Issues: Climate change -- it's official 

Latest additions to the World Land Trust website

"So everyone is agreed, climate change is occurring. And it's man made. It's about time these facts were recognised but the problem is that politicians are still not facing up to the real causes."

Read the latest Green Issues post: Climate change -- it's official