A Dramatic Rise in Rhino Poaching in South Africa…

…with reports for 2008 ranging from 71 to100 illegal killings.  Having just concluded a series of meetings with senior political, scientific and conservation experts during the last two weeks, I can sadly but confidently confirm that the number of rhinos poached...
No Respite for the Olive Ridley Turtles

No Respite for the Olive Ridley Turtles

The Orissa coast is once again dotted with carcasses of the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles. It’s a horrific sight. The spectre of death commenced about a week back and there have thousands of which have been washed ashore after being killed by mechanized...
What’s in a name? ….African English

What’s in a name? ….African English

(written by Vance on New Year’s Eve, 31 December 2008, Okavango Delta, Botswana) “Out of Africa always something new” (ex Africa semper aliquid novi) wrote the Roman scholar Pliny the Elder, 2000 years ago. After 30 years of working here, I can...
PAN Parks News – European Wildlands

PAN Parks News – European Wildlands

PAN Parks is growing, moving and making a difference for wilderness in Europe!  The Foundation has just entered its second decade of conservation work and has many successes to report.  Recently, they interviewed Levan Tabunuidze, the chief park administrator at...
A Devastating Day for the White Rhino

A Devastating Day for the White Rhino

A white rhino was shot dead by poachers at 8:15pm last Saturday in the Shamwari Game Reserve on the Eastern Cape of South Africa.   This is the first time a rhino has been killed illegally within the province in more than 150 years.  I find this incident so deeply...
A Glimpse into History – Ian Player’s Perspective

A Glimpse into History – Ian Player’s Perspective

“In 1983 at the World Wilderness Congress held at Findhorn in Scotland , Vance Martin and I visited the ancestral home of  Col. Rouaylen Gordon Cumming  and met the grandson. We were shown the famous horn of 56 and a half inches long. It was shot in...
UPDATE on the World Heritage Committee’s Decisions!

UPDATE on the World Heritage Committee’s Decisions!

The World Heritage Committee inscribed 27 new sites to the World Heritage List –> 19 new cultural sites and 8 new natural sites. Extensions to sites already on the List were also added during the session. New cultural sites inscribed during the 32nd session:...