WLT News Autumn 2013

WLTnews
ISSUE No. 44
AUTUMN 2013
Inside this issue...
• Big Match Fortnight:
saving Borneo’s Orang-utans
• Caucasian Leopard:
captured on camera-trap
• Syrian Brown Bear:
important sighting
• Update on land purchases
• Donation form insert and new
Christmas card designs
Saving Real Acres
in Real Places
www.worldlandtrust.org
Launching the
Borneo Rainforest Appeal:
aiming to raise
One Million pounds
Dr Isabelle Lackman, director of WLT’s Bornean
partner organisation, Hutan. She is photographed with
Pygmy Elephants in one of the forest strongholds in
the Lower Kinabatangan floodplain, in Sabah.
World Land Trust
Blyth House,
Bridge Street
Halesworth, Suffolk
IP19 8AB, UK
Tel: 01986 874422
Fax: 01986 874425
Email:
[email protected]
On 13 August, WLT officially launched its biggest
ever appeal: to raise One Million pounds to
secure a wildlife corridor in Sabah, Malaysian
Borneo. If successful it will permanently connect
fragmented forest habitat for Orang-utans,
Pygmy Elephants and other threatened species.
Dr Isabelle Lackman, director of Hutan, WLT’s
partner organisation in Borneo, was visiting the UK
and had an opportunity to give a presentation to a
Big Match Fortnight: 2-16 October
All donations will be matched pound for pound
“
World Land Trust’s Big Match Fortnight
gives everyone a chance to save precious
habitat for Orang-utans, Pygmy Elephants
and other critically threatened wildlife in
Malaysian Borneo.
“
Please add your support. Thank you.
Chris Packham, Patron
Help us connect forests for Orang-utans and
Pygmy Elephants to ensure their long term survival
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Follow the link from
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Don’t forget
Big Match
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2 - 16 October
Special Appeal
group of WLT supporters. One of the guests,
Dominic Belfield, said afterwards: “Dr Lackman is an
impressive wildlife advocate and her presentation
was an unmissable chance to get a grasp of what
Hutan is up against in Sabah, while affording a
real sense of hope for what can be achieved by
intelligent, determined, well motivated people.”
As a result of logging and agricultural
development including Oil Palm cultivation, 90 per
cent of Sabah’s native Orang-utan populations has
been wiped out in the past 100 years. Sabah is one
of the last remaining Orang-utan strongholds, and
there are currently thought to be about 1,000
Orang-utans in Lower Kinabatangan. This may seem
a good number, but as Isabelle explained: “The
Orang-utan populations are highly fragmented,
and groups range from between five individuals
to more than 200. Some groups are simply too
isolated to be viable.”
This is how author and WLT
Ambassador Nicola Davies
describes it:
“
Isolated little groups of Orangs survive
in parcels of forest that have had their
biggest trees cherry picked by the loggers,
and are dispersed in a fragmented strip
along the river. They are threatened
constantly by new plantations and
development that reduce the size and
increase the isolation of each green island.
Although the total number of Orangs in
these little parcels is quite large, they are
as doomed as a group of human survivors
on a desert island. Separated from each
other, and from the big forest reserves
(which have pools of Orang population to
the east and west), they will die out in a
few generations, and another part of
Borneo’s wild heritage will be gone forever.
However if the green islands can be joined
up, by buying threatened plots of land, by
replanting forest, preserving and
safeguarding forest that survives, the
green islands can be made into a
continuous green corridor, linking isolated
populations of Orangs and utterly
transforming their long-term viability. By
the purchase of just a few hundred acres of
forest the fate of thousands of Orang-utans
– as well as elephants, and Proboscis
Monkeys, Leaf Monkeys and hornbills –
is changed from doomed to thriving.
“
2
3
Helping WLT save species from extinction
Good news from the Caucasus Wildlife Refuge
• Caucasian Leopard captured on camera-trap
• Syrian Brown Bear recorded
• Bezoar Goats on the increase
Spot the Leopard
27 August, 2013: WLT received word that
a good image of a Caucasian Leopard had
been filmed by a remote camera in the
Caucasus Wildlife Refuge (CWR). The news
came from WLT’s project partner in
Armenia, Foundation for the Preservation
of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC).
FPWC manages the reserve and had set
the camera, which was supplied by WLT.
The camera is positioned in the CWR
on the south-western slopes of the
Geghama mountains. Previously just the
tail of a leopard had been captured on
film. See videos of the Caucasian
Leopard on WLT’s YouTube site.
www.youtube.com/worldlandtrust
Between three and five leopards have
been recorded in Armenia in recent years,
mainly on a migratory route near the
country’s southern border with Iran.
Leopards are notoriously elusive but in the
vicinity of CWR it is eight years since one
had been seen. If it hadn’t been for traces
of hair and a scat proven earlier in the
year to belong to a Caucasian Leopard,
there might still be doubt as to their
existence.
With the release of this recent video
footage, conservationist have come
another step nearer to seeing a leopard
up close.
Manuk Manukyan, FPWC's Coordinator
Camera-trap footage in the
Caucasus Wildlife Refuge captures
a rare Syrian Brown Bear (Ursus
arctos syriacus), a subspecies of
Brown Bear. There may be just one
or two bears in the refuge.
of Conservation Projects, is one of the few
people to have seen a Caucasian Leopard
in the wild, being lucky enough to catch
sight of one nearly a decade ago.
He told WLT:
“
The leopard is no
longer a ghost! We know
he (or she) is there and
that the habitat is suitable.
It is very quiet and there
is plenty of prey. We will
adjust the cameras and
sooner or later we will
get pictures of the
entire animal.
“
Finally caught on camera-trap: a
Caucasian Leopard in the Caucasus
Wildlife Refuge. Previously a tail
had been spotted on camera so we
are getting closer to having an
image of the whole animal.
Support from WLT
is vital
“The involvement of international partners
such as WLT is of vital importance to
conservation efforts in Armenia”, says
Ruben Khachatryan, founder of
FPWC. “Caucasian Leopard
migration routes cover not only
a corridor through Armenia but
also reach out to Iran and
Azerbaijan. We are working
hard to strengthen regional
cross-border cooperation in
other countries through which
leopards migrate.”
Special Appeal
Bezoar Goats, or Caucasus Wild
Goat (Capra aegagrus aegarus), are
endangered due to hunting for
their magnificent horns. With
protection in the Caucasus Wildlife
Refuge numbers are increasing.
Syrian Brown Bear
video topples Sir David
from top spot
There are as few as 150 bears surviving
in Armenia and we were thrilled to
receive camera-trap footage from FWPC
of the Syrian Brown Bear shown above, in
the CWR.
The bear is so endearing we aren’t
surprised that this short video toppled Sir
David from the highest number of
viewings (a record he had held for many
months) and we don’t think he minded
in the least! You can watch it here on
our YouTube site:
www.youtube.com/worldlandtrust
We are huge fans of camera-traps as they
cause very little disturbance to wildlife
and this footage highlights their
importance for monitoring wildlife on
reserves and informing conservation
strategies.
Help WLT save
the Caucasian
Leopard
To donate, visit
www.worldlandtrust.org
or use the donation form
insert.
www.worldlandtrust.org
Buying land, acre by acre:
recent land purchases
Extension to Buenaventura Reserve in Ecuador
protects habitat for one of the world’s rarest parrots
Thanks to a generous donation from a WLT supporter in Germany, Fundación
Jocotoco has been able to extend the Buenaventura Reserve by an additional
578 acres (234 hectares).
The recent purchase brings the total size of the reserve to 5,873 acres (2,377 hectares)
and protects one of the largest remaining tracts of foothill cloud forest on the west
slope of the Andes in south western Ecuador.
The reserve provides critical habitat for a number of threatened species including
El Oro Parakeet (Pyrrhura orcesi), one of the world’s rarest parrots (right).
Buy an Acre project
Buy an Acre land purchases over recent
months include:
The most recent purchase with Grupo
Ecológico Sierra Gorda (GESG) has
extended the Hoya Verde Reserve by
596 acres (241 hectares). In this cloud
and temperate forest habitat Roberto
Pedraza has recently discovered a new
genus of slug.
Success for Margarita Island’s Yellowshouldered Parrot. A happy ending to the
breeding season with record number of
chicks.
You can see a short video of camera-trap
images of Ocelot, Puma and Jaguar on
the WLT-funded Three Giants Reserve in
Paraguay on WLT’s YouTube site:
www.youtube.com/worldlandtrust
Last word
R
PE
C
WLT News is printed on Carbon Balanced
BO N
Paper. By using Carbon
AR
Balanced Paper
through the World
Land Trust publications
BO N
in 2012 we have saved
AR
2691 kgs of Carbon and preserved 226.04
sqm of critically threatened tropical forest.
Carbon Balanced Paper is one of the most
sustainable forms of communication that
will reduce your carbon
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Printed on Revive 100 Recycled
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Horne Group & The PaperCo.
Buy an Acre projects
Save One Acre for £100 in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico.
See donation form enclosed or donate online:
www.worldlandtrust.org
Designed by www.wearedrab.net
Coming in the Winter
issue of WLT News:
Although Ocelots occur
through Mexico, Central
and South America their
numbers have declined
dramatically due to
relentless hunting for
their fur in the past.
They are found on many
WLT reserve areas.
More on these and other Buy an Acre
land purchases in the Winter issue of
WLT News
B
Photo credits:
Cover: Pete Oxford/naturepl.com; Page 2: Hutan;
Page 3 (all) FPWC; Back page: (top) Fundación
Jocotoco; (slug, Mexico) Roberto Pedraza Ruiz.
Cover image
Colombia (Partner, Fundación ProAves)
1,896 acres (405 hectares) of threatened
Choco rainforest, extending the Las
Tangaras Reserve.
B A L A NC
Querétaro State, August 19, 2013.
At a meeting of the Commission on
Sustainable Development in the LVII
Legislature of the State, a Medal of
Honor for Ecological Merit was awarded
to Roberto Pedraza Ruiz in recognition
of his continuous work to preserve the
environment for the benefit of the
people of Querétaro.
A new family of slug found in Hoya
del Hielo reserve in Sierra Gorda.
Three species within this family have
been identified: Echinix ochracea,
Echinix granulata and Echinix
rugosa. The family is endemic to
north-eastern Mexico.
C
And congratulations
from WLT
Ecuador (Partner, Nature & Culture
International)
763 acres (309 hectares) at Cazaderos
and 133 acres (54 hectares) at La Ceibe.
Both Tumbesian Tropical Dry Forest.
PA
From Mexico Roberto says: “Again, thank
you to WLT, for your work and efforts on
behalf the Sierra Gorda and its creatures.
Another portion of the Hoya Verde is now
protected, along with its Pumas, Margays,
salamanders, orchids that inhabit its
forests. So nice to think no more chainsaws
and foresters or loggers will be there.”
Other Buy an Acre
news
ED
New land purchase
extends Hoya Verde
Reserve in Mexico