SEVENTH WEEK NEWSLETTER |
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Hi all! It has been a good week for those who are missing visiting wildlife. Local nature reserves are re-opening, WWT centers are letting people through their doors and Chester Zoo has now been allowed to open for the public. We hope that you are finding ways to get outside to re-engage with the wild spaces and nature centres in your local area. If you can’t, we hope that the articles, books and activities in this newsletter will keep you inspired about conservation during lockdown. ~ The OUNCS Committee Article Spotlight: A New Assessment Of Vertebrate Extinction ![]() A recent study aiming to assess the status of 29,400 species of terrestrial vertebrates has concluded that at least 515 (approximately 1.7%) of the species considered are classified as being on the brink of extinction. Here, animals are said to be ‘on the brink of extinction’ if there are fewer than 1,000 individuals remaining in the wild, but in more than half of the species placed within this category, fewer than 250 individuals remain.While the study does not include other groups of organisms including invertebrates and marine vertebrates, it highlights how the rapid loss of the species considered here will be tightly linked to declines in these other groups due to extinction cascades where the loss of keystone species in particular leads to accelerated extinction rates in other species which interact directly with them or simply exist within that ecosystem. As a result, the study predicts that extinction rates, although still rapid now, are likely to increase significantly in the future as biodiversity collapses.As a problem that has both been caused by humans and which will also affect humans (most obviously by reducing the benefits provided by ecosystem services), it is essential that we take action to combat the loss of populations and the loss of species as a whole which results from this. The study concludes that a global binding agreement to tackle this crisis is required and, given the potential links between the current Covid-19 pandemic and wildlife trade, this agreement will need to consider the direct impacts of humans on wildlife, as well as indirect effects of humans on wildlife via climate change for example.You can find the article here. Article Spotlights are brought to you by Ayla Webb Wetland Centres Are Open! ![]() WWT have announced that from today, their wetland centres in England are reopening to the public! You will have to book online and there will be daily limits on the number of visitors, but this is still exciting news for anyone keen to immerse themselves in wildlife. Read more here. Brought to you by Philip Fernandes Book Recommendation: Losing Eden by Lucy Jones ![]() Having been published only this February, Losing Eden is a highly topical book about recent research into the benefits of being in nature both for a person’s physical and mental wellbeing. It asks the tough but necessary question about how climate change and large-scale land conversion will impact public health. As we find ourselves spending more time indoors during the global pandemic, we may be beginning to feel the negative effects of being distanced from nature already. Not only does this book explain the underlying health problems of nature deficit, but it also collates many ideas about how we can bring nature back into our lives. Lucy Jones discusses ecotherapy, technological gardens and biophilic cities to name a few approaches. This is an excellent book if your looking for a different way to argue for the need for conservation and to understand how our fractured relationship with nature can be healed. I have written a response to Losing Eden here and a piece discussing the topics covered in the book here. Book recommendations are brought to you by Hannah King Habitat Conservation: What is Paludiculture? ![]() Habitat conservation news and views are brought to you by Jamie Walker |
Women In Conservation: The Black Mambas ![]() Brought to you by Suli Scatchard Get Involved: Go Wild in June with the Wildlife Trusts ![]() If you’re craving your daily dose of nature while in lockdown then the Wildlife Trusts have something for you this month. Although we’re already nearly a third of the way through June there is still time to get involved in the 30 Days Wild challenge and there are activities for everyone whether by yourself or with your younger siblings, parents, or friends. The 30 Days Wild challenge is an annual nature challenge run by the Wildlife Trusts which involves doing one ‘random act of wildness’ every day for a whole month whether it be as simple as exercising in nature and spending some time enjoying the sounds and sights of your environment to foraging and birdwatching. Over 130,000 people across the UK have signed up so far and you could soon be one of them. Just follow this link to sign up for your free downloadable pack which includes loads of different resources and materials for you to engage with nature from the comfort of your own home. Some of these include: a wildlife and nature photography guide, a wildlife gardening guide with the host of BBC Gardener’s world- Monty Don, a nature-writing guide, and a window poster for you to print off at home. Ways to get involved in conservation are brought to you by Tara Bains A New Society! ![]() Oxford Wildlife and Photography Filmmaking society is a LMH-based society for students interested in wildlife photography and filmmaking, regardless of their prior experience. Set up by a group of Oxford biology students, it aims to provide a friendly space to share and receive advice on your work, network with like-minded Oxford students and enter themed photography competitions!Currently they are accepting entries to their photography competition on the theme “red” and though the deadline is 10th June there will be more opportunities to get involved in the future. Post covid-19, they will be organising photography socials/trips in Oxford, encouraging the use of photography as a tool to transition from seeing nature to truly looking at it. If this sparks your interest, join their facebook group Oxford Wildlife Photography and Film-making Society. Brought to you by Elizabeth Tatham |