Andy Langley is a wildlife fanatic and supporter of World Land Belief (WLT), who can be doing a sponsored birdwatch this October to boost cash for WLT’s ‘Defending the Ecuadorian Amazon’ enchantment.
Every October, for the final seven years, my employer Ecclesiastical Insurance coverage, a part of the Benefact Group, has pledged matched funding as much as £5,000 for a WLT sponsored birdwatch. By combining this with WLT’s Large Match Fortnight, if donations are made between 2 and 16 October via my JustGiving web page, these donations can be multiplied by 4.
So for each £1 donated, Ecclesiastical will double it to £2 and WLT will double it once more to £4!
Defending the Ecuadorian Amazon
This 12 months’s Autumn Attraction, kicked off by Large Match Fortnight, could be very thrilling and a bit totally different to regular. Sometimes, their annual enchantment has raised funds to make a focused buy of threatened land, which is of specific conservation significance. This 12 months the enchantment appears to be like to boost simply over £1.3m to safe the way forward for a a lot bigger space of land within the Orellana Province in Ecuador, by enabling a neighborhood conservation companion, Nature and Tradition in Ecuador (NCE), to determine authorized safety over the land via the declaration of a Provincial Protected Space. The estimated space of land being saved is large, 747,000 hectares, and contains land in between two current protected areas – Yasuni Nationwide Park and the Cuyabeno reserve. This can enhance the connectivity of those two biodiversity hotspots, in addition to vastly increasing the world of protected land on this space.
The challenge could be very formidable and is simply doable because of the experience of the native conservation companion, which has expertise of doing comparable work in one other space of Ecuador. As with all of the conservation work that WLT undertakes, engagement with native communities is vital to the long-term success of the challenge. Quite than imposing this on native communities, NCE will assist the native indigenous individuals and native governments to grasp their very own plans for the world they reside in. They’ve the best curiosity in defending their space of the Amazon and are the specialists in understanding how the world may be managed sustainably, with authorized safety permitting them to interact with a sustainable future on their very own phrases. A part of the method will contain figuring out the areas that require the strictest stage of safety of conservation, free from disturbance.
These are the actions that WLT have stated the cash raised will fund:
- Assist NCE with the logistical work required to create the Provincial Protected Space, together with planning and land designation.
- Fund the session course of between Orellana’s Indigenous Nationalities and representatives from Orellana’s provincial authorities.
- Allow NCE to organise neighborhood workshops, host provincial conferences, coaching, and conduct biodiversity surveys.
- Present employment for 4 full-time NCE workers, as soon as the Provincial Protected Space is designated, to construct neighborhood capability and preliminary administration plans for the world.
Wildlife that can profit
There’s a large range of wildlife on this space of the Amazon, which comprises 14 totally different ecosystems with their very own number of wildlife. This contains Amazonian Bamboo Forest, Evergreen Forest, Flooded Grassland and Amazon Alluvial Floodplains.
The wildlife that can be protected on this space contains many species categorised as endangered or susceptible. Endangered mammals that can be protected embody the Amazon River Dolphin, Large Otter and White-bellied Spider Monkey. The world can also be residence to susceptible species just like the Amazonian Manatee and Lowland Tapir.
Being a birdwatcher, I’m at all times eager to listen to in regards to the fowl species that can profit. This 12 months these embody a number of species, categorised as susceptible, together with the Navy Macaw and Harpy Eagle. One species that significantly caught my eye is the susceptible Agami Heron, which have to be one of the lovely heron species on the planet, with wonderful chestnut and inexperienced plumage and spectacular silvery feathers down its neck. It additionally has essentially the most beautiful lengthy invoice!
One other of the stand-out species is the Orange-breasted Falcon, which is categorised as close to threatened, however is discovered on this space of Ecuador. It’s fairly a closely constructed falcon, comparable in measurement to a Peregrine. It’s look although could be very totally different, with darkish barred chest feathers and putting rufous colouring round its neck and decrease chest.
This 12 months’s Birdwatching Problem
This 12 months’s birdwatch is scheduled for Friday 11 October or just a few days both aspect if the climate appears to be like too unhealthy. My problem is at all times to see as many species as doable round Gloucestershire, with out clocking up too many automobile miles. Final 12 months I managed to see 89 species throughout the day, 3 species decrease than my report the 12 months earlier than. I can be posting some images and particulars of sightings on the day on X (@Langers_77) and can present an replace of all my sightings on my JustGiving web page.
I’m actually grateful for all of the sponsorship I’ve acquired in earlier years, that helps me maximise the matched funding I obtain from my employer. I’m additionally very grateful for the assist given by Ecclesiastical Insurance coverage, who’ve offered £26k of matched funding during the last six years, which when mixed with matched funding from Large Match Fortnight has helped increase over £100k. With out wishing to provide my employers a plug, they do an incredible job supporting fundraising like this, as a part of the broader function of the Benefact Group to provide all out there earnings to charity and good causes.
If you’ll be able to spare any cash for this nice trigger, please see my JustGiving web page. £5 can be quadrupled to £20 and assist in my intention of turning £5,000 of donations into £20,000! If you’ll be able to share particulars on social media that will even be an amazing assist.
Juvenile Widespread Woolly Monkey. Photograph: Sebastián Benalcazar, Nature and Tradition Worldwide
[registration_form]
