🌊 The Leafcutter: No. 13

Welcome to The Leafcutter a weekly email of everything interesting in conservation, cut out from the internet and taken back to the nest to grow into a nutritious news fungus.

🌍 News

We are back from holiday mode - let the news fungus resume:

Sir David Attenborough launches wildlife fund for adverts. The plan is to charge a 0.5% voluntary levy on adverts featuring animals, the proceeds of which will go towards funding wildlife conservation. I love this idea, but let's see how many big names sign up. Link

Leaked UN draft report warns of urgent need to cut global warming. The report focuses on the need to cut fossil fuel dependency, protect vital land and marine habitats, and reduce meat and dairy consumption. Link

Donald Trump opened up US waters to big oil and other exploitation. The new executive order repeals Obama's visionary 2010 policy of protecting US waters for conservation and sustainability. Link

The UK ban on the sale of products containing microbeads came into effect this week (manufacture has been illegal since January). Nothing in the forthcoming EU plastic ban to cover microbeads, as far as I know. Link

Baobab trees are suddenly and inexplicably dying off in the south of Africa. The likely culprit is climate change but botanists must do a lot more research to figure out what's actually going on. Nice baobab facts in this article, it really is an amazing tree. Link

McDonalds UK have announced they are switching to paper straws from September. That's 650m plastic straws per year out of circulation. We must keep pressure on companies to push on from this trend rather than tick the box and think the problem has been solved. Link

Japanese fans pick up their own litter after a World Cup game - an extension of basic behaviours that are taught in school and deeply ingrained from childhood. What's more, they seemed to have inspired Senegal fans to follow suit. We need to teach about waste from an early age. Link

Delhi's air pollution is now so bad it is literally off the charts, and it isn't even peak pollution season. Pollution and climate change disproportionately affects poorer countries. Link

A new report has revealed that the UK cycle industry is 3 times bigger than the steel industry and employs twice as many people. Furthermore, for every £1 spent on cycling, the wider economy benefits by £4. Why is the government not taking this industry seriously? Link

👀 Media

Bat Ballet. VideoThe fastest bite in the animal kingdom. Video

The secret rainforest hidden at the heart of an African volcano. Photo article

The dead leaf butterfly. Video

"This western hognose snake accepted several big gulps of water from my bottle!" Video

The Fabulous Eyed Hawkmoth. Link

Where were all the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2018 photos taken? Interactive map

Once home to 22,000 elephants, Garamba National Park in DRC suffered from poaching & elephant population dropped to 1,200. Thanks to the great work of @AfricanParks, poaching is down by 50% & local people are benefiting from conservation. Video

Saving Britain's swifts in pictures. Photo article

One of the coolest species I worked with. The Eurasian Wryneck, aka, the “snake bird”... the neck twisting (snake mimicking) trick is a good way to scare the predators away. Video

Don't mess with this crab! Video

Killer whale slaps a stingray. Video

Crabs make friends with diver. Video

🦑 Learn Something

In Togo, there is a proverb: “Wisdom is like a baobab tree: no one individual can embrace it.” Article

Student discovers world's first known manta ray nursery. Video

Thailand is one of the world’s largest seafood exporters. But it’s an industry that exploits many of the country’s 425,000 people trapped in slavery. Video

Map of the intact forests on Earth. Pic

📋Get Involved

Answer and share Zac's Conservation Conflict survey. Challenging scenarios. Survey

Walkers Crisps: ditch plastic packaging. Petition

Urge members of the Antarctic Ocean Commission to secure an Antarctic Ocean Sanctuary (requires US address). Petition

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