I regularly traverse the four corners of the globe ostensibly on the search for urban birds which often leads me to the least likely of urban spots. When I got an invitation from the Falkland Islands Tourism Board to visit the islands I just could not resist. Every now and again you have to leave the ‘urban’ behind!
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I’ve been wearing Páramo gear for several years now and it has seen me through lots of different situations. Working as a wildlife camera operator, you’re exposed to all the elements, so the flexibility and choice in the Páramo range has been really helpful. I’m often working at either end of the day, starting out before sunrise and finishing after sunset. Even in warmer countries these times of day can be pretty brutal, so I’m a big fan of layering! The Páramo gear easily allows this.
Continue reading“The seashore is the most splendid playground in the world. There is so much to do and so much to see that we never grow tired of being there. No matter how long a time we may spend at the seaside, there are always new treasures to seek, fresh discoveries to make – always something more to interest or amuse us.”
The Sea Shore by F. Martin Duncan
Those words were written over a hundred years ago in a book for children but they are still true today, and just as true for adults as for kids – in my case anyway! You will find me exploring the marine environment at every possible opportunity, snorkelling, diving, turning over boulders on the seashore and peering into rockpools. My home patch is the north east coast of England from Yorkshire to Northumberland. This is a beautiful and extremely varied coastline; highlights include the iconic and ever-changing Spurn Point, Flamborough’s chalk headland and sea caves, the rugged limestone cliffs and reefs of the Durham Heritage Coast, and Northumberland with its sand dunes, castles and islands.
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Here’s a bit about myself and how my passion for insects developed. My interest was sparked more than 60 years ago at primary school. Our house in Uckfield backed on to a flowery meadow occasionally cut by hand for hay. I was aged about 10 when I noticed the variety of insects present, including many different butterflies and, with the aid of an Observer’s book, I soon learnt to recognise them. During my first year at secondary school, I met a boy in my class with similar interests. His father worked in the office at a Decca Navigation station, located in the centre of a forest about 5 miles away, and we had permission to wander freely in the heath and woodland surrounding the radio mast. The area turned out to be an amazingly rich habitat for all kinds of insects, although at the time we were not aware that the forest hosted the only known British colony of the Lewes Wave moth. Unfortunately, it became extinct after the site was destroyed around 1960, so this was a lost opportunity to see something really special.
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Páramo’s long-term carbon-balancing and conservation partner, World Land Trust (WLT), has announced that the Ministry of Environment of Peru has recognised a private conservation area (ACP) that will protect a large Páramo vegetation zone of the South American Andes. The community of San Juan de Sallique has pledged to protect approximately 8,650 acres (3,500 hectares) of Montane Forest and Páramo.
This reflects three years of work by the communities and WLT’s partner Naturaleza y Cultura Peru (NCP), securing the protection of this important habitat in perpetuity – an important step for wildlife such as Spectacled Bears and endangered Mountain Tapirs, but also a triumph for the communities dedicated to preserving their water sources through conservation and sustainable agricultural practices. Continue reading
I have been living and working in the Lake District for over 17 years. I teach wilderness bushcraft and expedition skills, instructing on everything from wild foods and tracking to axemanship and woodcraft, spending well over one hundred nights a year living outdoors under canvas in the UK, and travelling overseas to lead expeditions in the colder months, from dry desert to coastal tropical, and from steaming jungles to frozen sub-Arctic environments.
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I’ve been visiting Madagascar for over 20 years: in fact I’ve returned each year since 1991. Back then it captivated me like no place had done before, or since, and my enthusiasm has yet to diminish. Since my first visit in 1998, one place on the island has been my favourite – Marojejy National Park in the far north east. It is one of Madagascar’s wildest places.
I initially visited the park with just one aim – to get photos of the incredibly rare silky sifaka (Propithecus candidus). After considerable effort, I managed to get something, but of course this was in the days of film and by today’s standards the pictures were very poor. In more recent years, I’ve returned to Marojejy several times to try and improve on those images and to document more of the park’s diverse wildlife.
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Nominations have opened for the 2017 UK Awards for Biological Recording and Information Sharing!
Developed in 2015 by the National Biodiversity Network, the National Forum for Biological Recording and the Biological Records Centre, these annual Awards celebrate the individuals, the newcomers and the groups of people or organisations that are making outstanding contributions to biological recording and improving our understanding of the natural world in the UK. Continue reading
