Andy Langley is a wildlife enthusiast and supporter of World Land Trust (WLT), who will be doing a sponsored birdwatch this October to raise money for WLT’s ‘Saving Ecuador’s Chocó Forests’ appeal.
In October, for the last two years, I have done an all day sponsored birdwatch around Gloucestershire to raise money for World Land Trust. I will be repeating this again this year and Ecclesiastical Insurance will once again be providing up to £5,000 of matched funding, which when combined with WLT’s Big Match Fortnight matched funding means that all money raised between the 1st and 14th October through my JustGiving page up to £5,000 will be quadrupled.
So for every £1 donated, Ecclesiastical will double it to £2 and WLT will double it again to £4!
Saving Ecuador’s Chocó Forests appeal
This year’s WLT appeal aims to raise £500,000 to save 1,668 acres of land in Ecuador’s Chocó rainforest. Originally the rainforest spanned over three million hectares, reaching from the Pacific Ocean right up to the mountain tops of the Tropical Andes. Sadly the forest is being decimated, to the extent that only 2% of this unique habitat remains today. The Ecuadorian Chocó is one of the most threatened tropical forests on the planet, with many of its species found nowhere else. In addition to countless rare species, it is home to two of the most iconic rainforest creatures; the Jaguar and the Harpy Eagle.
Along with most people, I find the scale of rainforest destruction around the world truly shocking and the future for so many species seems bleak. With the effects of global warming becoming ever clearer, it feels like there must soon be a time when the protection of our remaining rainforests will become a higher priority for governments. At the moment, however, the rainforests are under as much threat as ever. In Ecuador the threat comes from oil and gas exploration, logging, plantation forestry and urban development.
It’s great to know that WLT ensures that their appeals are targeted on areas that are in greatest need of saving, making use of the knowledge of local partners, in this case Fundación Jocotoco. This also means that protection of the land that is purchased is sustainable, coming under the care of local conservation organisations who know the area best.
The Chocó rainforest is certainly a special place that deserves to be protected, as it is one of the most bio-diverse habitats on earth. WLT were recently alerted of a once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase and protect an area of forest, that will extend Fundación Jocotoco’s existing Canandé Reserve. This is such important habitat for so many rare species, including the critically endangered Brown-headed Spider Monkey, of which there are fewer than 500 individuals surviving in the wild. The existing reserve currently holds about 50% of the population and once extended will secure safe habitat for about 90% of the total population. Further details of their appeal can be found on their website.
WLT’s work has helped to protect land around the world and supporting them feels to me like the best way I can make an immediate practical difference. I always think back to the words of Sir David Attenborough, one of their patrons, who said:
“The money that is given to the World Land Trust, in my estimation, has more effect on the wild world than almost anything I can think of.”
More of Sir David’s endorsements of World Land Trusts work, including several short videos can be found on WLT’s website.
This Year’s Challenge
If you have read this far and are convinced that this cause is worth supporting, I now return to the details of my all day birdwatch. I have to admit that a day out birdwatching is more fun than a hardship, although the soaking I have received in both the previous years has made it more of a challenge. It also seems like an appropriate activity to raise money to protect wildlife elsewhere.
This year I will be aiming to beat my species count from the last two years, 72 in 2018 and 74 in 2019, and I’m already regretting not calling it a day when I got to 73 species last year. Across both years I have seen 89 species so there is hope that I will see more this year, as long as they all co-operate fully. I will be aiming to complete the birdwatch this year on either the 9th or 10th October, and as previously I will be trying to choose the least worst day for weather!
As I write this blog there have been some amazing birds at WWT Slimbridge, one of my closest nature reserves. I’m not sure that their Lesser Yellowlegs and 15 Curlew Sandpipers will hang around until October, but I have high hopes that I will see a Spotted Redshank as one stayed around for both the last two years. Next year I think I will try to persuade WLT to have their Big Match Fortnight a bit closer to peak bird migration time!
If you able to spare any money for this great cause, please click on this link to see my JustGiving page. Please also share the details of my JustGiving page on social media and see if we can turn £5,000 of donations into £20,000!
There were over 3 million hectares, now only 2% left. And some people deny there are too many of us on the planet!