South Africa’s Table Mountain goes dark for Earth Hour 2013

Here is another really cool Earth Hour story we just found out about – two endangered Green sea turtles were released from the sandy beaches of Hainan island, China, to commemorate Earth Hour!

The sea turtles were rescued from poachers byconservation organization Sea Turtles 911 and released at 8:30 p.m. along Yalong Bay, in cooperation with The Ritz Carlton Sanya. The turtles were adopted and named “Diqiu” and “Xiaoshi”, which collectively means “Earth Hour” in Chinese.

Sea Turtles 911 conservation efforts are primarily focused on ending the illegal sea turtle trade.

Toliara – Earth Hour in Madagascar was celebrated with one thousand wood-saving stoves given victims of the recent cyclone Haruna in the southern town of Toliara.

The initiative by WWF and the Association for the Development of Solar Energy (ADES) allows each family that receives a stove to cut their charcoal consumption in half while also protecting forest, reducing emissions and save themselves money.

“The daily use of these 1000 stoves will protect 175ha of forest and save 6,650 tons of wood per year. 4000 tons of Co2 emissions can be avoided and each beneficiary family will be able to spare some 1750m2 of forest every year,” said José Randrianirina Patrick, Director of ADES’ Centre in Toliara.

“In these difficult times when families rebuild their lives after cyclone “Haruna”, we hope that the contribution of these wood-saving stoves by WWF and ADES will assist them in rebuilding their lives,” says Richard Hughes, Regional Representative at WWF in Madagascar.

Deforestation is the main environmental threat and the demand for fuel wood and charcoal is leading to a rampant degradation of Madagascar’s unique natural forests. 80% of the population cook with charcoal or fire wood and 92% of the energy used in Madagascar every day is for cooking purpose.

8000 ha of forests for charcoal each year

Toliara is no exception: its annual charcoal consumption was estimated in 2012 to be 30 000 tonnes, which means 8000ha of forests, are being decimated every year.

“If efficient, wood-saving stoves are used by all 35,000 households in Toliara, we believe that coal consumption will decrease by 50% and the area of forest lost to the exploitation of charcoal too. During Earth Hour we hope to inspire people to adopt these stoves,” said Rina Andrianarivony, Fuel Wood Programme Officer at WWF.

10,000 trees to green schools in Antananarivo

In another Earth Hour event, WWF is collaborating with the school district of Antananarivo, to plant 10,000 trees around the capital.

“Through this action, we promote the idea that Earth Hour must go beyond the hour,” said Rachel Senn Harifetra, Head of WWF Madagascar’s Education Programme.. “Reforestation and maintenance of seedlings are among the actions that Malagasy youth should adopt at an early age.”

Since Earth Hour 2012, WWF has been assisting in training the school supervisors in planting techniques and the maintenance of plants.

Images © WWF-Madagascar

The latest images from #YourPlanet - submissions by @ingridmariemh (Norway) @rkarlts (Indonesia), @samerghabra (Lebanon), @purpleosh (USA), @lillbabbs (Norway), @oxaudo (USA), @carozcorner (Norway), @skamankee (Alaska, USA), @ninasfoto11 (Elephant Eye), @khristway (Indonesia)

Reblog if you want to see the world double the number of Tigers in the wild.

An African elephant stands in front of a double rainbow in Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya. Today is World Elephant Day, so let’s share the hope that we can stop the illegal wildlife trade. (Image © naturepl.com/Andy Rouse/WWF-Canon)

The latest #YourPlanet images to be featured on our Instagram account: Images by @arasypadil (Indonesia), @adhisara (Indonsia), @hectorosuna (Mexico), @savcalifornia (USA), @reclaimednj (USA), @emilhamouz (Czech Republic), @gordon_tom (USA) and @ahmedicine_ (USA).

The best of #yourplanet featured @earthhourofficial this week - images by @bubblehaze (Africa) @inkblue (Mexico), @ewingnugraha (Indonesia), @susi97 (Norway), @adhisara (Indonesia), @rockicide (Sweden), @vcd1080 (South Africa), @dennis_ccb (Malaysia), @rranito (China), @bodhe (Indonesia)

WWF has released a report rating countries’ efforts at stopping the trade in endangered tigers, rhinos and elephants. The infographic shows that whilst progress is being made in some countries, there is a long way to go to curb both the killing of these precious animals and the trafficking of their body parts. More information can be found HERE

Best of this week’s #yourplanet images from @syifaadhima (Bali, Indonesia) @marrrc0 (Popocatépetl, Mexico) @clarinhap (Lake Como, Italy) @christinaoslo (Oslo, Norway) @dennis_ccb (Penang, Malaysia) @kindbladh (Zebra) @rranito (Mutianyu, China) @traverie (Malang, Indonesia) @vpuspawardani (Borobudur, Indonesia)  @athinabobina (Colorado River, USA)

We ♥ this photo… but what do you think they are saying?? 

“Quit your talking and let’s get started on fixing this planet!”…. At Rio+20

© Bence Mate

funnywildlife:

funnywildlife:

I love Stephen Fry even more now!!

A satellite image of a phytoplankton bloom stretching across the Barents Sea off the coast of mainland Europe’s most northern point, Cape Nordkinn. Free-floating phytoplankton highlight the whirls of ocean currents in spectacular shades of blue and green. These microscopic marine organisms that drift on or near the surface of oceans and seas have been called ‘the grass of the sea’ beca…use they are the foundation of the oceanic food chain. Phytoplankton are able to convert inorganic compounds such as water, nitrogen and carbon into complex organic materials. With their ability to ‘digest’ these compounds, they are credited with removing as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as their plant ‘cousins’ on land - therefore having a profound influence on climate. They are also sensitive to environmental changes, so it is important to monitor and model phytoplankton into calculations of future climate change. This image was released as part of WWF’s 2012 Living Planet Report © ESA