beach ponies

You love horses. You even have one at home. In Thailand you're away from home and low and behold the beach ponies are out...wow for some tiny amount of local currency you can go for a lovely ride along the scenic beach!

Stop. Vacation beach ponies are not like your horse at home.

I'm sitting on Hua Hin beach in Thailand. Beach ponies complete with full tackle are up and down this beach for HOURS. I haven't seen a saddle come off nor a drink of water.

What I see is kids riding horses with no experience. I see adults far too heavy on tiny ponies.

These are beasts of burden in the true sense of the word. As a tourist you need to say NO. These people make thousands of baht a day. They are not poor locals. They are exploiting animals for the sake of tourism.

Hua Hin Is a beautiful city. Appreciate it on foot. Grab a deck chair and enjoy the scenery. Take a sunny walk along the beach. Give your money to a local charity or NGO. Visit the local schools to meet the community.

Give the ponies a rest. Help support the end of animals in tourism.

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The Fiction – Myths about Wildlife in Tourism

Wildlife Myth 1 – The owners are very poor people that would not be able to make a living without the animals...

This is nonsense. They are actually people who are usually well off and have the right connections to continue this illegal business. Their profits on Phuket and Samui amount to over 200 dollars a night, a small fortune in Thailand.

Wildlife Myth 2 – The animals love the attention from people and have a special bond with the owner…

Not true, most animals have been forcefully taken away from their families in the wild and are very scared and dependant due to basic fear and stress. Gibbons are known to be given sleeping pills to keep them quiet during the day and a beating every now and then by the owner keeps the animal in line with his “expectations”.

Wildlife Myth 3 – The animal was bred in captivity and/or is legally obtained…

No. Although it is not impossible to breed wildlife in captivity there are no legal breeding facilities in Thailand that hand over, sell or lend out wildlife to third parties. Besides all this, a poached animal from the wild would always be cheaper than buying one from any legal breeding facility if one were available.

Wildlife Myth 4 – The animals are treated with care and best intentions…

Out of sight of the tourists this is a different story. The animals are kept on short chains or confined to tiny, barren cages and receive little or no veterinary care. They are malnourished and imprisoned as slaves for their short span of useful life, then killed or abandoned to make way for the next money making animal. In the case of tourist tigers, many are illegally traded to be killed and used for ‘medicine’.

A must watch: The Elephant Tree!

Watch the elephants knock the fruit out of the tree and all the animals eat
it off the ground. This is a real video from a French documentary about Africa. You may not understand French, but the video is funny.

There are trees that grow in Africa which, once a year, produce very juicy fruit that contain a high percentage of alcohol.

The tree is known as the "Elephant Tree" because elephants have a fondness for the fruit. Because there is a shortage of water in that area, as soon as the fruits are ripe, animals come there to help relieve themselves of the heat. You will easily know who has over-indulged!

The tree is the Marula tree. You can buy a great liqueur named "Amarula" which is made with the fruit and causream.
Volunteer Australia with Oceans2Earth make your holidays, the most memorable part of your life.

Aceh breaches forest clearing moratorium

JAKARTA, Dec 8 (Reuters) - The governor of Indonesia's Aceh province has breached a ban on clearing forests that is at the heart of a $1 billion climate deal with Norway, earning a rebuke by a senior government official on Thursday.

The two-year moratorium on issuing permits to log and convert forests, effective from May this year, is meant to protect primary forests and peatlands in the Asian country in a bid to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

About 80 percent of Indonesia's greenhouse gas emissions stem from deforestation and land use change, with the rapidly expanding palm oil, timber, agriculture and mining sectors driving forest loss.

Aceh's governor Irwandi Yusuf signed a permit to let PT Kallista Alam to develop 1,605 hectares (4,000 acres) of swamp, which includes protected peatlands, in Nagan Raya district for palm oil plantations, a document obtained by Reuters showed. The company is based in Medan, North Sumatra, but does not have a website or information on ownership.

The head of UKP4, a body monitoring the implementation of the moratorium, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto criticised the decision in a statement emailed to Reuters. Mangkusubroto is a respected technocrat and is head of the government's oversight body.

"I spent four years in Aceh during the tsunami reconstruction. Opening up Kuala Tripa -- an area with high conservation value and home to many animals endemic to Indonesia -- is a grave mistake," said Mangkusubroto, who was the architect of Aceh's reconstruction after a major earthquake and tsunami devastated the province in 2004.

The Aceh breach illustrates the problem Southeast Asia's top economy faces in balancing economic development and powerful business interests with conserving nature, as well as a policy gap between the central government and local administrations.

Yusuf, who is expected to run again in a governor election next year, signed the permit on Aug. 25, three months after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed the decree for the moratorium.

"While we recognise the need for the palm oil industry to also grow, signing an agreement with a palm oil company to allow the conversion of protected peat land into palm oil plantations, very clearly breaks the moratorium," Mangkusubroto added.
The Aceh government had followed correct procedures for issuing the permit, said spokesman Usamah El Madny.

Mangkusubroto urged the provincial government to reassess the decision and find alternative land for palm oil development.
A local green group, the Aceh chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI), said a court hearing had started this week seeking to have the permit revoked.

WALHI Aceh's head Teuku Muhammad Zulfikar said opening up the swamp was threatening endangered orangutan.

Norway's Ambassador to Indonesia, Eivind Homme, told Reuters he was surprised by news of the breach and called on the national government to investigate.
Nigeria, Indonesia and North Korea have the world's highest rates of deforestation, a global ranking released last month showed.

(Source)

O2E phlog Heading to Lake Nakuru

Nairobi - life full circle

The word slum evokes a series of visions for most people; poverty, crime, dirty children with forlorn faces.

The Kibira slum in Nairobi isn't exactly a place you would choose as a stop on your tourist map however I found myself there today and I certainly didn't find a community at odds.

My friend Sisqo decided I should see this place, straight off the place; no sleep in 24 hours and luggage still in the car. I'm pretty easy going I think, so why not? Let's go!

Mohamed met us at the entrance to the Kibira community. A really lovely man and passionate about the slum community he grew up in. I learnt a little of the history of the place and was most interested in the projects Mohamed's team for Youth Reform have undertaken with some NGO support and an enormous deal of community support and hard work.

The place has looked worse, he tells me. The 2 month clean up has cleared a lot of the waste and environmental no no's. I can see the work that has been done and the Youth Reform should be proud of what they achieved so far.

The work to improve running water supply and hygiene is incredible and the organic farming project is really impressive.

I saw about half (maybe) of Kibira and met and spoke with some wonderful friendly people. The kids were fun and eager to interact and I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed all the "hi 5s" and "hello how are you I'm fine"s. I even learnt a couple of swahli words along the way!

The highlight for me of course was the animals. Under such extreme conditions animal neglect or abuse is often prevalent however in this case I found that not to be my observations. I fell in love with a dog called Spots whose owner loving looked after 5 or so dogs that get fresh meat for dinner!

The fat goats and waddling ducks wander freely and along with the chickens complete with dozens of chicklets, contribute to the sustainability of the Youth Reform projects. Let's say...in one end goes the scraps, helping to clean up the slum footpaths and then it's out the other end to fertilise the organic produce. 

When I get some computer access I will update this post with some photos, particularly Spots :)

What you can do...

Various NGOs provide support to Kibira and you would certainly find something online.

Alternatively you could contribute directly to a specific project such as the new community wash basin project to provide running water for community members to wash their hands after use of the bathroom. You see, communal latrines or a squat at the river are the current toilet systems apart from Youth Reform's eco-friendly toilets and washrooms. This project needs around 6,000 Kenyan shillings ($71AUD or $54EURO) to get off the ground.

Contact Oceans2Earth for details about direct contact with Youth Reform.

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Wildlife Friends Foundation of Thailand

After a whirlwind week at WFFT it is incredible to see happy, healthy wildlife in great facilities. Since the floods of Oct 2010 the repairs and improvements made are a testament to the work of Edwin, Tommy, Laurene, Lucy and the staff and volunteers at the Centre.

Sadly the wildlife population grows with the team flat out with rescues all over Thailand. They even have a "list" for pending rescues that cannot be actioned without funds; bears, gibbons, elephants...the list goes on.

We lost Joan the elephant after only a few days of "freedom" from the god awful elephant camps still operating and flourishing as tourists STILL spend their holidays riding elephants, patting tigers and having their photos taken with helpless primates. Joan loved her days of freedom, forging herself on bananas and other yummy treats she was never given in her 60 years at the camp...60 years eating pineapple tops (no pineapple, just the green tops)...can you imagine???

O2E supports and congratulates WFFT on the work they do.

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O2E phlog O2E Phlog - 4th phonecast

O2E phlog O2E Phlog - 3rd phonecast

Come see our new website!

Hello all!

We're now live at http://oceans2earth.org/ so pay us a visit and tell your friends about us!

Happy holidays!

Yes even your toothpaste probably has PALM OIL in it!

Palm oil is in the majority of products we use every day. Unfortunately, the production and processing of palm oil is associated with many ecologically and socially unjust practices.

Don’t be fooled by claims of Asian sustainable palm oil. There is no such thing as truly sustainable, even though the round table officials will say there is. There are only a couple of palm oil processing plants and the “sustainable” plantation plants go to the same plant as the stuff that comes for the plantations that rip through the environment with such disastrous effect. The only way to truly make a difference is NO PALM OIL – full stop.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Look out for Herbal Fresh herbal toothpaste, sold in Safeways.

Support the Australian Orangutan Project and raise awareness into the devastation that consuming palm oil creates.

Check out this great site which explains a bit about how palm oil is used and listed. Another one is Borneo Orangutan Survival site – really good with loads of info. You can download a palm oil free product PDF from their site.

Check the labels on your toothpaste (and other products). Don’t be fooled. Palm oil is listed as many, many different names in the ingredient list, including generically listed as VEGETABLE OIL, cocoa butter equivalent (CBE), cocoa butter substitute (CBS), palm olein and palm stearine…..elaeis guineensis, sodium lauryl sulphate, cetyl alcohol, stearic acid, isopropyl and other palmitates, steareth-2, steareth-20 and fatty alcohol sulphates.

Yep all these are actually PALM OIL. Frightening, eh?

Take a walk down Cougar town

Cougar Puma (concolor)

The cougar, which is also commonly referred to as a puma, mountain lion or panther, is the second largest cat in North America. Unlike other big cats, however, the cougar cannot roar. Instead, the large feline purrs like a house cat.
Cougars have been long been killed by both sport hunters and farmers protecting their livestock. Other threats to cougar populations include habitat loss and fragmentation and automobile accidents. As a result, the cougar population has significantly decreased.

Although they once ranged throughout North and South America, they are no longer found in the eastern portion of the United States and Canada, the exception being a small population in Florida. The subspecies known as the Florida panther is considered to be critically endangered, and agencies are working to maintain the current population. There are still, however, several thousand cougars in the wild, and as a result, they listed as being of 'least concern' on the IUCN Red List.

What You Can Do To Help

It is difficult to stop habitat loss or reverse its effects, but there are some ways you can help. You can help persuade your congressperson to designate the cougar as a protected animal. This legally prevents the taking or injuring of cougars, unless they pose a threat. This law has been in effect in the state of California since the approval of Proposition 117 in 1990.

You can also appeal to your congress people advocating the preservation of open land in order to maintain a livable habitat for cougars. In addition, you can donate directly to the Mountain Lion Foundation.

Join your hands with O2E to involve in animal conservation.

O2E phlog O2E Phlog - 2nd phonecast

How much do you know about the People of the Forest?

Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus)

The orangutan, with its distinctive red-orange hair, is the only ape that inhabits Asia. Weighing up to 90 kg (200 lb.), the Bornean orangutan is about 1-1.5 m tall (3.5-4.5 ft.) with an arm span as long as 2.5 m (8 ft.).

Boasting a Malay name meaning "People of the Forest," orangutans share 97% of the same DNA as humans. Not surprisingly, they possess great intelligence as well as other human-like qualities.

In prehistoric times, orangutans inhabited forests as far north as China. Now, due to deforestation and poaching, Bornean orangutans have been restricted to the island of Borneo with their population reduced to 50,000-60,000. They are currently classified on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as an endangered species.

Many of the issues surrounding orangutan depopulation stems from the impoverished state of Indonesia. Facing poverty and starvation, many Indonesians have turned to eating orangutan meat, illegal logging, capturing babies for pet trade, and using slash and burn techniques to turn portions of the rainforest into palm oil plantations. Slashing and burning has resulted not only in a reduction of fruit trees and habitat for orangutans, it has also exacerbated natural forest fires, causing widespread destruction.

What You Can Do to Help

Aside from donating to the many orangutan charities around the world, there are many other things you can do to help save the orangutan on day-to-day basis. For starters, avoid purchasing tropical or exotic plywood and hardwood, palm oil-based products, and rayon viscose clothing. In addition, reduce your consumption of paper, and seek out recycled "treeless" paper sources.

Explore  More With Oceans2Earth

King Kong Cometh

Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei)

The mountain gorilla, a large, strong ape inhabiting Africa's volcanic slopes, has few natural predators. Yet due to detrimental human activity, such as poaching, civil war, and habitat destruction, the mountain gorilla has become the most endangered type of gorilla, with only around 700 mountain gorillas living in the world.

Currently, the mountain gorilla's habitat is limited to protected national parks in two regions of Africa. One group of gorillas lives in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. The other group is spread over three national parks in the Virungas mountain region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda.
Mountain gorillas are considered endangered by IUCN's Red List.

Not only are mountain gorillas threatened by loss of habitat due to human encroachment, they have also become victims of human violence. As civil war rages in Africa, efforts to conserve mountain gorilla populations have been curtailed. Mountain gorillas have also been killed or captured by poachers. Their body parts are sold to collectors, and baby gorillas are sold illegally as pets, research subjects, or private zoo animals.

What You Can Do to Help

To help, you can make donations to the International Gorilla Conservation Program. You can also support the Gorilla Fund International, set up by conservationist Dian Fossey.

Read about the endangered Bonobo

Bonobo (Pan paniscus)

The equatorial forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) house a truly special kind of ape and one of man's closest relatives: the bonobo.
Sharing 98.5% of the same DNA as humans, it is not surprising that bonobos possess very human-like qualities. They embody a profound intelligence and a deep emotional capacity.

Currently, the IUCN has categorized bonobos as endangered. Civil war in the Congo has hugely impacted bonobo society, fragmenting their population to isolated pockets and limiting their genetic diversity. Furthermore, poverty has forced many people into hunting bonobos to sell their meat on the black market. Finally, bonobos are threatened by loss of habitat due to illegal logging and agricultural development.

What You Can Do to Help

To help bonobos, you can volunteer with or donate to the Bonobo Conservation Initiative, which promotes the conservation of tropical forest habitat and the creation of natural corridors to connect isolated communities.

The rescue of a new born elephant named Sasab

We received this email today from the David Sheldrick Trust. Read on to find out more :

The David Sheldrick Trust received a call early in the morning of November 8th about a tiny elephant calf that had been rescued within the West Gate Community Conservancy having been robbed of his family by the flood waters of the Ewaso Niro river. Early that same morning a community guard named 'Hospitali'. happened upon this tiny calf grappling in the fast flowing flood waters, obviously having been washed, tumbled and bumped down river by the raging torrent.

This region has experienced heavy rains for a number of weeks, and while beautifully green, and food now plentiful, baby elephants during this time are extremely vulnerable when crossing the swollen Ewaso Niro river.'Hospitali' pulled the calf to the safety of dry land, and once the tiny baby had regained his strength, walked the calf the kilometer to Sasaab Lodge where 'Hospitali' works. Ali and Tony Allport, the managers of Sasaab Lodge, contacted the Kenya Wildlife Service Senior Warden for the district reporting the plight of the tiny calf. Locating the calf's herd in this vast area, with no idea of how far downstream he had even been swept was clearly not an option, and so it was decided that he required the support of The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.

The rescue plane landed at the Kipsing airfield and the team was met by Tony and taken to the lodge where the tiny little male calf waited their arrival. Still pink behind the ears, and clearly very hungry he immediately took the milk offered to him without too much resistance. After that his bumps and bruises from being swept down river were treated with the magical green clay, before he was prepared for his one hour flight back to Nairobi.

On arrival back at the Nursery he was clearly exhausted by his ordeal, fed again and then in the comfort of his stable, with a Keeper close at hand finally slept. Later he was introduced to the others, and immediately settled knowing that he had his elephant family once again. Little babies this age, while incredibly fragile and difficult to raise on formula, do not suffer the same emotional trauma elephants of five months and older feel. Too young to fully comprehend events he soon settled into Nursery life, and while he loves the company of the other orphans he is absolutely hooked on his Keepers.

The Trust keepers have named this tiny little calf Sasab, and a couple of weeks on from his rescue he has just sprouted his first tooth, which normally happens at four weeks old. We therefore suspect Sasab was just two weeks when orphaned.

To view a film of Sasab's rescue please click on this link:
http://sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/asp/orphan_profile.asp?N=262

To foster Sasab please click this link:
https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/asp/foster.asp?nn=1&G=&LP=11252011445-pic7a.jpg&addn=262&N=262&FN=SASAB

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