Baraza

TheTeach, Seattle, on 29 Aug 2008

Congratulations on the Mara grant. Rhino and Dolphin blogs sound great. How about other cetaceans as well. I’d also like to encourage a blog on behalf of Asian elephants. Their need is dire and word of it doesn’t seem to be filtering out to the public. We’re all working hard on behalf of the African elephants and we need to keep up the pressure on their behalf, but we shouldn’t forget the Asian elephants. Surely someone working on this in India, or Southeast Asia would welcome the opportunity to join the Wildlifedirect blogging community. They would certainly benefit from the improvement in public awareness and the funds it could generate. A blog on Arctic wildlife would be great as well. The ice melt up there changes on a weekly basis, instantly impacting polar bear, walrus, seal, birds, and cetaceans. I would check such a blog daily, and they would inform the public of the daily impact of sea and glacial melt on the adaptability of the animals in this ecosystem.
This whole concept, of wildlife direct is absolutely revolutionary. I can’t tell you how much this website has inspired my activism. The sense of connection it has created really allows people to act and participate on a daily basis. You’ve made conservation real and tangible for ordinary people; not just a documentary we watch on television, wish we could help, but soon forget. Thanks to this site, I’ve been able to convert a love of nature and animals into active participation in conservation projects all over the world. Following these people, places, and species has become an important part of my daily life. Thank YOU for the privilege! Good luck at the IUCN meeting.
Best Wishes

Paula, on 29 Aug 2008

Oh my god, great ideas Teach. If you have any contacts send them through!

Jim from Mass USA, on 29 Aug 2008

Personally, I think the #1 issue, both for wildlife conservation and climate change, is deforestation! Trees, after all, are the lungs of the earth. An example of a project would be exploitation of the methane gas trapped at the bottom of Lake Kivu to replace the charcoal being extracted from Virunga, DR Congo. A brewery in Rwanda already uses Kivu methane to brew beer! (www.avec.co.za/casestudies/cs_08.htm)

Paula, on 01 Sep 2008

Hi Virginia, donations are sent to bloggers when they request them - donations do not move individually due to the bank transfer costs. We’ve just received and processed four major grant applications for the Gorilla protection amounting to over $120,000 in total. This is for funds that were raised over the last 5 or 6 months. These funds have been accumulating due to the lack of access and therefore activity in the gorilla sector in recent months, however with Emmanuel there working for ICCN now they are preparing for major activities and have ordered ranger uniforms, conducted training, purchased a vehicle and imported two donated pick-up trucks, and purchased other equipment and paid out the ranger salary supplements. We have also transferred funds to support the briquettes project for purchasing the presses and paying salaries. All of this will soon be reported on the relevant Congo blogs hopefully with photos to show the donors how their funds are being used. By the way good luck with your studies, I hear you are back in UK completing your MSc.

Victor Ngeny, on 02 Sep 2008

Paula,
I thinkthe work you are doing here is very important. I haven’t been visiting the site for long but I am discovering a whole lot as I go by.
Cheers