Wilderness Foundation UK is delighted to announce it is taking part in the very first small charity car draw and asks supporters to buy tickets online or offline.

The small charity car draw gives WF-UK the chance to sell tickets to raise our local profile and funds. Tickets are just £2 each, and you can win a Fiat 500 car. (£1.90 of every ticket sold will go to Wilderness Foundation UK)

To buy tickets for this raffle go to:

http://www.everyclick.com/wilderness-foundation-uk/CT15943

or contact: leighferris@wildernessfoundation.org.uk 01245 443073

Closing date for buying tickets is 21st August 2009 with the draw taking place on 1st October 2009.

The eco-friendly, efficient Fiat 500, was kindly donated by Zurich. It’s the car that has got Jeremy Clarkson raving “…my God, you come away from an experience behind the wheel absolutely loving it. It’s cheeky and non-threatening without being pathetic. It’s practical without being boring”.

Since 1976 the Wilderness Foundation UK has been working to protect the world’s last remaining wilderness areas, through programmes that directly bring people into contact with the power of wilderness. This instils in them a desire, and an understanding of the urgency needed, to protect these beautiful landscapes. At the same time, we are working to change people’s lives.

Wilderness trails are journeys of discovery where participants are taken closer to nature than most will ever get. They will explore the African bush, encounter wild game at close quarters, experience camaraderie around a camp fire, hear lions roar in the night and sleep out under the stars.

Our trails focus on education through a quality of experience of the wild, with a view to expanding environmental consciousness amongst people, particularly leaders and potential leaders.

WF-UK does a mix of work which includes on the one hand the empowerment of dynamic young people through leadership and advocacy development, and on the other the longer term, more challenging role of working with young offenders and youth at risk between the age of 15 and 17 over a year long programme called TurnAround.

The Foundation receives no Government funding towards its work. Our continued growth and success is dependent upon people like you supporting us in our aims. Please help us to make a difference, at a time when environmental consciousness and sustainability have never been more relevant. Please help wilderness to touch the lives of more people than ever before.

‘Be touched by the wild - and know what it is to be truly human’. Jo Roberts, CEO

If you would like more information about any of our programmes or projects please contact us on 01245 443073 or info@wildernessfoundation.org.uk

The day is rapidly approaching when 6 of our supporters will be running in the British 10k London run on our behalf.  They will be running alongside thousands of others and have been training hard for this event.

If you would like to support them Finola and Rich have set up a Just Giving donation site www.justgiving.com/finola-rich and would welcome all contributions towards their fantastic efforts.

Besides this if you would like to cheer them on then the race starts from Hyde Park Corner at 9.35am and finishes on Whitehall from 10.00am onwards.  For full details of the route please have a look at the official website: www.thebritish10klondon.co.uk The runners will all be wearing luminous green t-shirts with black Wilderness Foundation logos on their backs so hopefully they will be easier for you to spot.

Good luck to Finola, Rich, Heather, Ben, Jenny and Bernadette

Andrew Muir was one of the five laureates to win a prestigious Rolex award last year (2008) for his work on the Umzi Whetu project in South Africa.

We are pleased to inform you a special documentary on the Laureates of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise 2008 will be shown on National Geographic Channels International giving you an opportunity to see the work of Andrew and the other laureates.

The dates for the documentaries are:

June 26 @ 6pm

June 27^th @ 1am

June 27^th @8am

There will be repeat dates later in the year, as well as a press release that will be issued jointly by National Geographic and the Rolex Awards this month.

National Geographic Channels will also create a web page dedicated to the Rolex Awards for Enterprise to promote the broadcasts.

In addition to the single 47-minute documentary, which will be shown several times, a series of 60-second promotional “vignettes” will be shown at the same time. There are five vignettes, one on each of the Laureates, which will be shown on National Geographic in English around the world.

The documentary itself will be translated by National Geographic into 25 languages, including French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin and Russian.

This special programme was produced specifically for National Geographic by the Rolex Awards and The Proudfoot Company. The actual running time is 47 minutes without commercial breaks.

Support for the Community Allotments project has been steadily growing in recent months, but we always have room for more volunteers - including school groups and youth groups. For adults we have open volunteering sessions on a Wednesday each week from 10:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., plus on the first Saturday of the month from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Why not get out into the fresh air and help us this National Volunteers Week?

If you feel your talents are more indoor than outdoor, volunteer support at the Wilderness Foundation UK offices in Broomfield is always welcome. We are currently looking to recruit an Honorary Treasurer to support our Book Keeper one day a week. If you have past financial experience and would be prepared to help us up to pre-audit, we’d love to hear from you. For further information on this new voluntary position contact richard@wildernessfoundation.org.uk or give us a call at the office on 01245 443073.  This is a great opportunity for someone with a head for figures to gain experienece of working in the Third Sector, keep a hand in and up-to-date with your skills if you are not currently working or enjoy being part of a busy but professional team dedicated to preserving the last of the world’s wild places.

Whatever you do this coming Volunteers Week, we’d just like to say a big “Thank you” to everyone who volunteers anywhere.    You really help to make a difference.

The Gaia Foundation would like to invite you to a special event in collaboration with Navdanya, India.

Community Resilience: A new form of Community Governance to deal with Climate Change

An evening with Prof. Jacqueline McGlade and Dr Vandana Shiva

On Monday 15 June 2009

6.30pm drinks & light buffet at Hampstead Town Hall

(213 Haverstock Hill, NW3 4QP - nearest tube Belsize Park)

7.30pm Talk & discussion

The Gaia Foundation are very pleased to invite you to a special event with Prof. Jacqueline McGlade and Dr. Vandana Shiva who will share their work and vision for Europe and the Himalayas, respectively, in building community resilience and capacity to influence governance in these turbulent times.

The multiple crisis we are facing now from climate change, to species extinction, to financial meltdown, to community fragmentation, are interconnected and need to be responded to in an integrated way. Community resilience will require global citizens to be able to “ground truth” political and scientific policy and practice and to hold governments and corporations to account.

Jacqueline has been working with a team to develop an interactive Global Citizens Environmental Observatory, to be trialled first with indigenous peoples and in Europe. This will enable citizens to feed their environmental observations into policies and to monitor the implementation in their locality.

Vandana has been working in the Himalayas, which is one of the areas most affected by climate change because of the melting glaciers, which provide water for a vast area around them. She has been working with local communities to enhance their capacity to mitigate and adapt to the changes, and also to develop strategies to observe, identify and respond to disasters triggered by climate change.

They will both reflect on the vital, underestimated role of communities and biodiversity in mitigating and adapting to climate change – and the implications for governance at the local, national, regional, and global level.

Booking Essential.  Tickets £10.

You can reserve your place online at: www.gaiafoundation.org/learning/online.php

Or send a cheque for £10, made payable to The Gaia Foundation.

For further details please contact Sarah at: sarahn@gaianet.org or 020 7428 0055.

Dr Vandana Shiva - world-renowned environmental activist, author and Director of Navdanya, India.  She has received many awards including the Right Livelihood Award in 1993.  Her many books include “Staying Alive”, “Eco Feminism” and “Protect or Plunder”.

Prof. Jacqueline McGlade - Executive Director of the European Environment Agency.  She is author of numerous research papers, and has presented many radio and television programmes including her own BBC series “The Ocean Planet” and more recently “Our Arctic Challenge”.

‘Living Landscapes’

A talk by Steve Plumb

Monday 8^th June at 8.p.m at St. Andrew’s Room

One of the pleasures of living in Little Baddow is the enjoyment of the scenery, the views, the woods and the walks. However, even here, there is always the threat of development and urbanisation. Steve Plumb has been invited to talk to us about our natural environment and how it can be protected and, where necessary, improved.

Sunday 24^th May 11.30am to 7pm

Melbourne Field, Valentines Park, Ilford IG1 4SD

Redbridge Green Fair is a community festival organised by local volunteers for you to enjoy.  It takes place once every two years in Valentines Park, Ilford, and this year will our tenth event. It’s called “green” because it is all about the planet - the environment and the people.

Come and find out all about environmental issues and practical ways to change your lifestyle and reduce your carbon footprint. Learn about ethical shopping, recycling, growing your own veg and attracting wildlife into your own backgarden. Discover the local green spaces and nature reserves, the variety of plants, birds and animals and the diversity of the habitats that are all around us in Redbridge and the surrounding areas.  Join up with one of the many action or campaign groups that will be exhibiting at the festival. Become vegetarian for the day.

Find out all about our community and the issues local people care about. Enjoy the friendly atmosphere and share in the diversity of cultures, faiths, politics and other viewpoints to be found in East London. Relax and be entertained through the universal language of music and dance on our hydrogen-powered stages, or watch a film in our solar-powered cinema. Get creative with the many art activities, organised by over 15 community artists, for children and adults.

Best of all, the admission is ABSOLUTELY FREE!  All we ask is that you come with an open mind and leave with at least one or two fresh ideas.   See the website for more details

www.rgf.org.uk

The next event in the Conservation Challenges for the 21^st Century lecture series – “Climate change and wildlife conservation: crisis or opportunity?” will be held at ZSL on Wednesday 20 May 2009.

Roughly 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions are caused by the loss of tropical forests in developing countries. Largely owing to deforestation, Brazil and Indonesia are third and fourth in the rankings of global emitters of greenhouse gases, behind the US and China. Recognition that these activities are contributing to climate change has led to proposals to include deforestation more comprehensively in the post-2012 UN climate agreement. There is also evidence to suggest that forests could be catastrophically impacted by climate change, resulting in dangerous positive feedback loops.

What is the relationship between climate change, biodiversity conservation and human livelihoods in tropical forest ecosystems, and what can be done to ensure that linkages are taken into consideration in global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? What mechanisms should be incorporated in the post-2012 agreement?

This evening of presentations and debate involving both governmental and non-governmental participants will highlight how conservation and environment NGOs are contributing to tackling climate change and how activities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in forest ecosystems can carry additional benefits for biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation.

The meeting will be chaired by Elliot Morley MP, and coordinated by ZSL, WWF, GLOBE International, Fauna & Flora International and Wildlife Conservation Society, in collaboration with a large network of NGOs.

Everyone is welcome to this event and entrance to the talks is free and will be on a first-come, first-served basis. The talks will be from 6.30 to 8.00pm and the meeting rooms will be open from 5.30pm on the evening – please arrive early to ensure you get a good seat and please note that latecomers may not be admitted until a suitable break in the schedule.

Further information can be found at www.zsl.org/science/scientific-meetings/.

A map of the location of the meeting rooms can be found at www.zsl.org/science/scientific-meetings/meeting-room-maps,109,AR.html.

Thank you for your interest in ZSL’s scientific events; please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any queries or would like further information.

With thanks for your support,

Joy

p.s. a quick reminder about June’s symposium – BIODIVERSITY MONITORING AND CONSERVATION: BRIDGING THE GAPS BETWEEN GLOBAL COMMITMENT AND LOCAL ACTION – all day on Thursday 18 and Friday 19 June. Tickets still available and should be booked and paid for in advance; please see www.zsl.org/zsl-london-zoo/whats-on/biodiversity-monitoring-and-conservation-symposium,312,EV.html for full details. Also, we will release details of the 2009 Stamford Raffles Lecture shortly and I will contact you with full information (including booking form and prices) early next week.

Nick says:

I have a long standing personal and professional connection with the Foundation. They are a small charity faced with an enormous task. Despite the monthly struggles they encounter largely due to limited funds and resources, the dedicated team of staff and volunteers of the organisation face these challenges with undaunted pragmatism.

He has set a fundraising target for himself of £3,000 - valuable funds for the charity which will help us to continue our ongoing work for Wilderness, Wildlife and People.

If you would like to support Nick on his Three Peaks Challenge, you can make a donation online through his JustGiving page:

http://www.justgiving.com/3peaks-by-kayak

Nick will be keeping a blog that details his preparation for the journey, the route he plans to follow, and if possible an account of the challenge as it unfolds. You can read the blog here.  All the team here will be closely following Nick’s journey and we wish him the very best of luck in his exciting venture!

Working alongside adult volunteers and members of New Hall School Year 12 students who act as leaders, the students give up their free time once a week to help run ten Action Groups.

The elderly, young children and adults with specific learning difficulties are among the many people who benefit from the work of the NHVS both here and at venues throughout Chelmsford.

NHVS have now added the Wilderness Foundation UK Community Allotments Project to their portfolio of good causes, and we welcomed the first group of volunteers onto the site yesterday (Monday) during lunch break.  Eleven willing helpers pitched in with forks and spades, clearing weeds and preparing plots ready to be planted with main crop potatoes by our impACT environmental action youth group.

We’re delighted that NHVS are supporting the Community Allotments.   As a reward for their hard work, the students will be given a selection of organic produce that they have contributed to growing through the scheme, which can either be used with NHVS’s beneficiaries or taken home to recharge their batteries ready for the next session!

Schools, youth groups, adults and community groups and associations are all welcome at the Community Allotments project.   We hold an open session on the first Saturday of each month from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. (when we usually focus on a conservation project) or Wednesday every week of the year from 10:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.

At this time of year, we urgently need regular helpers to water the crops in the morning or evening.  If you can support us with this, or would like to get involved with growing your own at our allotments, email richard@wildernessfoundation.org.uk