Georgina has been writing about science and conservation for over ten years - online, print and for NGOs and a UN agency. Ever since hearing the mating call of a tortoise -something between the rumbling of a whale and a vuvuzela-on the small island of Ile Aigrettes in Mauritius, Georgina has been hooked on reptiles and endangered creatures. Originally from Australia, Georgina recommends that travellers look under the waters for the real beauty of Sydney--it is there that you will see the glorious wobbegong carpet shark.
They all feature in a new fundraising campaign launched by Size of Wales and Cool it Schools to raise money for tropical forests around the world. Fauna & Flora International (FFI) is delighted that our Tongwe forest and community conservation project in west Tanzania has been included, and will receive one fifth of the proceeds from the Jungle Fever fundraiser.
Jungle Fever is a social network consumer awareness and fundraising campaign being spread through Facebook and Twitter. Size of Wales, as one of the partners in the campaign has also pledged to match the funds raised for the Tongwe Forest through Jungle Fever so for every pound raised the project will get £2.
“There are lots of things you can do – including holding Jungle Fevers’ fun forest quiz to raise money and just looking more carefully at what you buy and pledging on Facebook not to buy products that encourage rainforest destruction,” said Size of Wales’s Hannah Scrase.
Schools will be helping us to reach our target of helping FFI conserve an area of tropical forest the size of Wales – which is 2 million hectares (or 2 million rugby pitches).
The Tongwe people inhabit a largely undeveloped, remote but highly biodiverse area of West Tanzania. Their homeland ranges from thickly-forested Mahale Mountains with important chimpanzees and elephant populations, to the crystalline waters of Lake Tanganyika. They make their living by subsistence farming, fishing and trading, often across the lake with neighbouring Congo.
These intact humid forests and varied habitats of Tongweland are being threatened with loss by degradation, grazing and burning and the direct and indirect impacts of infrastructure, prospecting/exploration activities and future operations by mining companies.
FFI supports The Tongwe Trust to establish, protect and manage reserves on village land in order to safeguard the forest. We are also helping the villages with community development projects, including renewable energy and equipment for village-based health care, small-scale irrigation equipment and support for local schools.
Size of Wales aims to bring everyone in Wales together to protect tropical forests, starting in Africa. Size of Wales is initially working in Africa because Wales has existing links with the continent, from primary schools twinning up to the Assembly’s ‘Wales for Africa Fund’. Size of Wales works with projects to protect existing tropical forests, as well as helping local communities to increase forest cover where they believe it will be beneficial to the people, wildlife and soils of the area. Size of Wales have teamed up with Cool it Schools to support the Tongwe Trust project.
For more information please see:
www.sizeofwales.org.uk
http://www.coolitschools.com/catch-jungle-fever-and-save-rainforests
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