One million plant and animal species risk extinction, largely due to human activities. These are issues the world cannot lose sight of even as we tackle the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing climate crisis. The theme for World Environment Day, 5 June 2020, is biodiversity — a call to action to combat the accelerating species loss and degradation of the natural … [Read more...]
EWT responds to China’s illegal wildlife trade ban
The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) welcomes the announcement by the Chinese Communist Party to enforce the ban on illegal wildlife trade and increase regulation of wildlife markets. Evidence points to wildlife markets as a source of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which has resulted in human and economic costs. The EWT emphasises their position that these markets pose … [Read more...]
Bats save corn farmers $1 billion per year
Bats deserve a better reputation. They may be creepy or troublesome when they occupy our attics, but overall they're more pesticide than pest. Not only do they suppress disease-carrying flies and mosquitoes, but they also devour insects that plague our food supply — and without the side effects of synthetic pesticides. The flying mammals thus carry a lot of economic clout … [Read more...]
Urgent work needed to save our Cranes
The first ever Chrissiesmeer Crane Festival was hosted by the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) last month and attracted over 150 visitors to the tiny town of Chrissiesmeer, Mpumalanga, exposing them to the magnificence, but also the alarming plight, of our cranes and their wetland habitats. All three of South Africa’s crane species are seen in the area, but the region is of … [Read more...]
Saving the bats from the blade
In South Africa, two wind farms have been constructed and are currently operational, namely the Klipheuwel and Darling wind farms on the West Coast in the Western Cape. Proposals to construct many more have been submitted mainly along the West Coast, East Coast and the Central Karoo. Wind farms are considered integral to the development of the green economy, an economy … [Read more...]
