One of the dishes I cook that reminds me of home is a good thai Green Curry. However, at home my mum usually cooks it with steak strips. I decided to adapt this recipe in order for it to be veggo friendly and replaced the steak strips with broccolini, onion and spinach. I finished the dish off with a squeeze of lime to freshen up the taste of the veggies and the curry. It was so delicious that I think I may have to suggest the recipe change to my mum.

Act of Kindness:

Today my act of kindness went out to the people at Peppermint Magazine (and myself) as I purchased their most recent copy to read while having a relaxing morning.
Peppermint is a green fashion and lifestyle magazine, celebrating eco and ethical style with a fun, fresh, intelligent and positive spin. I also love that Peppermint is green to the core, printed on an FSC-certified printing press on carbon neutral 100% post-consumer recycled paper.
This months copy had a really interesting article on Jessica Mckelson, a Zoo Keeper from Melbourne Zoo whose passion for primates was ignited by no other than Jane Goodall! She is also the founder Director of RAW wildlife encounters who does amazing stuff for both conservation and communities across the globe.
The issue also features articles on sustainable seafood, how to achieve the best bubble bath and some awesome enviro friendly clothes and accessories.

For more info on Peppermint and to find out where to get it click here.

Act of Kindness update: 
We really need to get the likes up on the JGIA Facebook page, so please click here and like the page then share it with your friends.

Learn one thing about apes:

I had the incredible opportunity to meet Erin Schrode while she was in Australia and I could not get over how inspiring her life was. I thought I should share her story, as she embodies all of the values and lessons that the Jane Goodall Institute is trying to share with the world.
Her resume boasts things such as:

• Cofounded the not for profit organization Teens Turning Green which promotes global sustainability, youth leadership, environmental education, and conscious lifestyle choices
• Founded The Schoolbag, a youth education project to provide materials for students in need, as well as initiate active citizenry and environmental stewardship
• Writes for the Huffington Post
• Is the US ambassador to One Young World
• She has been to around 60 countries
• Speaks at international conferences
• The spokeswoman for top organic and recycled brands
• And is a model.

Pretty impressive, right? I couldn’t understand how she had accomplished all of those things being only a few months older than me. Then I met her, and let me tell you her resume is just as incredible as her personality. By having a positive outlook and a remarkable passion for the environment she has been able to pull of things that I would never even dream about.

Me and my new Idol…

I think her story shows that if you find your special place in the world and you ignite your passion whether that be through fashion, photography, cooking, even car racing, there’s always in place for you to succeed – especially in the nature loving world of conservation.

Click here for more Info on Erin Schrode 
Click here for more info on Erins organisation – Teens Turning Green. 

Chimpanzee expert Dr. Jane Goodall returns to Calgary April 22 as part of her 2013 spring lecture tour. A soft-spoken woman with iron determination, Goodall will bring us up to date on her chimp work in Africa and conservation efforts elsewhere in the world. Goodall was last in the city in  October 2010 when she was a guest editor of a special edition of the Sunday Herald. The 79-year-old is famous for her pioneering research in Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania, Africa, where she lived amongst and studied chimpanzee families for decades. In recent years, she has branched out into conservation efforts, noting that when habitat is destroyed and people have no work, the chimps are most at risk.

Goodall’s visit will be followed five days later by Dr. Birute Galdikas, another of  the so-called Leakey’s Angels, three extraordinary primatologists mentored by renowned anthropologist Dr.  Louis Leakey. The third is Dian Fossey who make it her life’s mission to study and protect mountain gorillas in Rwanda. She was murdered in Africa in 1985.

Galdikas, a Canadian considered to be the world’s greatest authority on orangutans, is in Calgary for two days of talks, Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th. While Goodall and Fossey worked in Africa,  Galdikas’ specialty led her to the jungles of Indonesian Borneo at the young age of 25. The Toronto-raised expert who is a professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver will headline a VIP dinner Saturday.  On Sunday, her presentation entitled Curious Orange? at the Jack Singer Concert Hall will feature award-winning IMAX footage from the 2011 film Born to be Wild. Just as Goodall evolved from field research into conservation, so has Galdikas. After 40 years of study in the jungle, Galdikas, 66, is engaged in preservation of the rainforest from the palm oil industry and in rehabilitating  orphaned orangutans.

For more information on both of these events:

Dr. Jane Goodall, April 22. Part of the Unique Live Lecture Series. At Jack Singer Concert Hall, Epcor Centre. 7: 30 p.m. $40.50 – $85.50. 403-294-9494, uniquelives.com or epcorcentre.org.

Curious Orange? with Dr. Birute Mary Galdikas,  Sunday April 28. At Jack Singer Concert Hall, Epcor Centre. 1 p.m. $25-$55, epcorcentre.org

Today is the dreaded day before the planned house grocery shopping and I had to venture to the back of the fridge in order to find something to eat. I rustled up half eaten eggplants and zucchinis, a bag of spinach, a nearly empty container of sundried tomatoes, feta, half a jar of pesto pasta sauce and some free-range whole egg mayo. After pondering my options for a very long time I decided to make a focaccia out of my old forgotten produce. Again, my stubbornness to not waste food (and not have to spend money before I had too) payed off and I had a delicious and filling lunch.

Act of Kindness:         

My act of kindness today was to clean out my closet and give my clothes to the local charity run op shop. I have a very unsustainable habit when it comes to clothes, often only wearing them once before they hit the shelf never to be seen again. If you’re like me and have a LOT of good quality clothes that you never wear anymore, take them down to your local charity run op shop – your helping the planet by recycling your unwanted goods, your helping the charity as they are able to gain funds from selling your clothes, and your helping those in the community who are less fortunate than you by enabling them to purchase much needed clothing at a low cost.
And did I mention you get extra room in your closet for more clothes?

Act of kindness update:
I found this image floating around Facebook and it has made me love Ellen that little bit more (if that is even possible).

If you absolutely HAVE to get that new iPhone, please recycle your old one. I’m sure your kind action will make Ellen dance with joy.
Click here to find out how you can recycle your old mobile phone.

Learn one new thing about A.P.E.s

“It is time to rethink our mindless acceptance of animal experimentation in our labs, as well as other acts of abuse to non-human animals, and to extend our ethical concern to the animal world. It is wrong of us to use animals any way that we see fit. As long as they are used in laboratory experimentation, we must fight for humane treatment and legislation to make using animals illegal if alternative methods have been found or if the experiment is unnecessary. A large percentage of testing is useless, and should be stopped today.”

-Jane Goodall

Biomedical research involving the use of living animals began in an era when the man in the street, while believing that animals felt pain (and other emotions), was not, for the most part, much concerned by their suffering. And scientists, at least during the hours they spent in the lab, maintained that animals were mere machines, incapable of feeling pain or any other emotion.
Chimpanzees and other primates – along with dogs, cats, guinea pigs, rats, and mice and a variety of farm animals – are still being used in biomedical research as animal models for human diseases. Chimpanzees have also been used for assessing the damage done to the brain and skull during simulated head impact crashes and social deprivation studies. Chimpanzees are so like us that they can catch or be infected by nearly all known human infectious diseases.
In 1978, the National Institutes of Health called the chimp an “irreplaceable model” for certain diseases. Chimpanzees infected with the human strain of HIV keep the retrovirus alive in the blood stream. But during almost 20 years of research, with the exception of two male chimpanzees at Yerkes Primate Research Center, no chimp has come down with full-blown symptoms of AIDS. Defenders of chimpanzee research maintain that using chimpanzees has yielded many valuable and important insights into human diseases and their cures.
However, the chimpanzee’s similarities to humans do not end with their physiology and immune systems. Chimp babies need the same things as their human counterparts: they need to be held, loved, talked to, and played with, to interact with other chimpanzees for play and romping, to have toys and enrichment so that they do not become bored and listless. Conditions for most lab chimpanzee have improved over the past several years but does this make it ok to use those chimpanzees in that way in order to better our lives as humans?
This video shows chimps celebrating and hugging after being released from a research laboratory after 30 years. I think the way they react to their sudden understanding that they are free shows how wrong testing on these animals really is.

This video says about itself:

Hercules the Orangutan – Orangutan Diary – BBC

Sep 20, 2012

Wildlife conservationist Lone Drøscher Nielsen interacts with Hercules, a rescued Orangutan who has been allowed to roam one of the river islands near Lone’s Orangutan sanctuary in Borneo.

From Wildlife Extra:

New population of 200 of world’s rarest orangutans discovered on Sarawak

Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) congratulates Government of Sarawak for protecting globally significant orangutan population

April 2013. A new population of rare orangutans has been found in an area of about 14,000 hectares (140 sq km) in Ulu Sungai Menyang, close to Batang Ai National Park in Sarawak. Local Iban communities had been aware of the existence of orangutans in this area, but until recently no major research had been conducted in Ulu Sungai Menyang.

Just 3 – 4,500 known to exist

The sub-species of orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus, is listed as the most severely threatened orangutan worldwide with a total of between 3,000-4,500 animals, of which 2,000 live in Sarawak in Batang Ai National Park and Lanjak-Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary.

The Wildlife Conservation Society congratulates the Government of Sarawak for protecting a globally significant population of up to 200 of the world’s rarest Bornean orangutans recently found by a team of conservationists in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.

Melvin Gumal, Director of Wildlife Conservation Society, Malaysia Program, said: “It is indeed wonderful to hear the Government’s initiative towards protecting these orangutan and their habitat especially when preliminary scientific data indicates the existence of a globally significant population.”

Central Borneo

Field surveys were conducted in February by staff from the Sarawak Forest Department, assisted by Sarawak Forestry Corporation, Wildlife Conservation Society and Borneo Adventure. The surveys covered 248 kilometres (154 miles) of transects in the hilly, undulating terrain in central Borneo. Ground surveys were supplemented by data from aerial surveys so that 80 percent of the study area was covered.

995 nests found

A total of 995 nests were found in the area. Fresh nests were found in all transects as well as in the remote areas covered by the aerial surveys indicating recent use of the area by these rare orangutans.

Highest level of protection

Upon confirmation that the area had a globally significant population of the rare sub-species, the Government of Sarawak officially indicated the need to protect this area in perpetuity. It is already a High Conservation Value Forest, considered to have an area of high biological, cultural, economic and livelihood significance.

The Sarawak Government intends to hold a dialogue with local communities and the other key stakeholders to discuss options and to involve them in any conservation effort in the area. The four organizations involved in the survey will conduct a follow-up study in the area to formulate strategic actions involving all stakeholders including the local communities.

WCS orangutan conservation work in the Batang Ai – Lanjak Entimau landscape is supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Great Apes Conservation Fund.

The population of the rarest sub-species of orangutans was found by a research team from Sarawak Forest Department, assisted by Sarawak Forestry Corporation, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Borneo Adventure.

Related articles

• Secret population of orangutans discovered in Borneo (thehindu.com)
• Secret Population of Rare Orangutan Discovered in Borneo: New Protection for Primates (scienceworldreport.com)
• Rare Orangutan Sub-Species Found in Borneo (natureworldnews.com)
• Secret Population of Orangutans Found (livescience.com)
• Rare Bornean Orangutan Population Discovered In Malaysia, Government of Sarawak To Provide Protection (latinospost.com)
• Starving Orangutans, Dead Bats and Other Links from the Brink (April 13, 2013) (blogs.scientificamerican.com)

After the day I had yesterday, the long day I had at work today and the looming threat of Uni assessment hanging over my head I need some motivation to get me through the last week of my Live the Change Challenge. This is why I decided to look to Jane Goodalls Reason For Hope. Throughout uni we often get told about the mistakes and the losses rather than the solutions, which can get quite depressing after three years, so its refreshing to find a book that acknowledges the problems we have today but provides hope for the future. If you’ve watched any of Janes talks you would know she is such an uplifting and inspiring person, so I decided to share Janes four reasons of hope with you to help you get over your Mondayitis.

“It is easy to be overwhelmed by feelings of hopelessness as we look around the world. We are losing species at a terrible rate, the balance of nature is disturbed, and we are destroying our beautiful planet. We have fear about water supplies, where future energy will come from – and most recently the developed world has been mired in an economic crisis. But in spite of all this I do have hope. And my hope is based on four factors.”
-Jane Goodall

The Human Brain

Firstly, we have at last begun to understand and face up to the problems that threaten us and the survival of life on Earth as we know it. Surely we can use our problem-solving abilities, our brains, to find ways to live in harmony with nature. Many companies have begun “greening” their operations, and millions of people worldwide are beginning to realize that each of us has a responsibility to the environment and our descendants. Everywhere Jane goes, she sees people making wiser choices, and more responsible ones.

The Indomitable Human Spirit

The second reason for hope lies in the indomitable nature of the human spirit. There are so many people who have dreamed seemingly unattainable dreams and, because they never gave up, achieved their goals against all the odds, or blazed a path along which others could follow. The recent presidential election in the U.S. is one example. As Jane travels around the world she meets so many incredible and amazing human beings. They inspire her. They inspire those around them.

The Resilience of Nature

The third reason for hope is the incredible resilience of nature. Jane has visited Nagasaki, site of the second atomic bomb that ended World War II. Scientists had predicted that nothing could grow there for at least 30 years. But, amazingly, greenery grew very quickly. One sapling actually managed to survive the bombing, and today it is a large tree, with great cracks and fissures, all black inside; but that tree still produces leaves. Jane carries one of those leaves with her as a powerful symbol of hope. She has seen such renewals time and again, including animal species brought back from the brink of extinction.

The Determination of Young People

Her final reason for hope lies in the tremendous energy, enthusiasm and commitment of young people around the world. As they find out about the environmental and social problems that are now part of their heritage, they want to right the wrongs. Of course they do — they have a vested interest in this, for it will be their world tomorrow. They will be moving into leadership positions, into the workforce, becoming parents themselves. Young people, when informed and empowered, when they realize that what they do truly makes a difference, can indeed change the world. We should never underestimate the power of determined young people.

Act of Kindness:

I decided to take inspiration from Jane’s four Reasons for Hope and a sent a few of my friends and family notes with some much needed quotes of inspiration and encouragement. It’s always nice to know someone’s thinking of you, and it’s even better when you know they want you to succeed. If you know anyone that’s bogged down by university work, getting over their work place or are just overwhelmed in general give them a little encouragement – your support could make a big difference to the rest of their day.

To learn more about Janes Reasons for Hope check the book out by clicking here. 

Ethical Eating:

I thought tonight I would reward myself with a sweet treat for all the hard work I have been putting in the last couple of weeks – I purchased some organic, vegan, handmade, naturally sweetened chocolate. This is the first time I have ventured from the Cadbury Crunchie block and I am so glad I did. This chocolate is amazing; its only a small block but its so rich and delicious you only need a little nibble to keep those chocolate cravings at bay. Plus with it being vegan and naturally sweetened you feels like its kind of good for you while you eat it (even if its not healthy) – which destroys any post chocolate guilt. My boyfriend and I devoured it and both agreed that the only chocolate that will be coming back into our house is organic.

Were still trying to get the Jane Goodall Institute Facebook page to 1,000 likes so please help me out – click here and like. 

waktu nunggu antrian kita di bank selalu saja ada hal-hal aneh yang sering kita jumpai, kebanyakan sih kejadian-kejadian umum, tapi kalo lagi “apes” bisa juga ketemu hal-hal seru.
Nah untuk menghindari hal-hal yang tidak diinginkan terjadi pada diri kita sendiri ada 10 hal yang “jangan” dilakukan, yaitu:
1. Jangan makan makanan yang pedas berlebihan saat kita berniat ke bank.
Seperti yang kita ketahui pendingin udara disebuah bank itu selalu saja sangat dingin dibanding dengan gedung-gedung lainnya, entah apa tujuannya. Tetapi yang pasti saat perut telah terisi dengan makanan yang pedas dikombinasikan dengan hembusan angin sepoi-sepoi dari pendingin udara, maka efek yang ditimbulkan adalah hasrat menuju toilet. Dan toilet di sebuah bank itu bagaikan oase di padang pasir, ada tapi susah ditemukan.
2. Jangan mengobrol terlalu akrab dengan pengantri di sebelah anda
Hal ini sangat mengganggu, terutama jika pengantri di sebelah anda itu adalah saya yang lagi sebel karena dapat antrian 365 sedangkan sekarang masih nomor 345 dan CS nya sibuk mondar-mandir ngurusin mie ayam pesanannya yang tidak ada pangsitnya!
3. Jangan berwajah bingung saat ditanya satpam
Saat masuk ke dalam bank selalu kita disambut dengan ramah oleh pak satpam, jangan pernah menunjukkan tampang bingung kalo tidak ingin di”giring” keluar secara halus oleh satpamnya. satpam: “selamat siang pak, bisa kami bantu?” | nasabah: “….ee, anu pak, saya mau itu….ee..anu,kertas anu…” | satpam:”mungkin di gedung sebelah pak, selamat siang *senyum manis”
4. Kalau ingin mengajukan kredit, jangan sok akrab dengan CS nya
“hai, kamu anne kan, eh bukan kayaknya rita deh, kita dulu satu kampus, ingat gak? | CS: nomor antrian 27?, punya KTP yang terbaru pak? Yang ini sudah habis masa berlakunya”
5. Jangan tertidur terlalu pulas, terutama saat nomor antrian anda sudah dekat
pernah ketemu orang mengantuk saat khotbah jumat dan terjengkang ke belakang saat qomat dikumandangkan? Hal tersebut dapat juga terjadi di bank ketika satpamnya udah ikut bantu meneriakkan nomor antrian
6. Jangan menerima telpon dengan suara yang “lantang”
“halo, iya ini masih di bank | … | iya , biasa,ah urusan bisnis | … | ah tidak kok, cuma mau MINJAM DUIT, eh maksudnya….” dan tiba-tiba sekitar kita hening.
7. Jangan salah masuk bank
Ingin membantah?
8. Jangan salah memilih jenis antrian
Nah saat mengambil nomor antrian sering dibagi berdasarkan pelayanan yang tersedia apakah ke customer service, teller atau loan service. Jangan salah pilih nomor antrian, agak konyol jika nomor kita dipanggil setelah hampir satu jam dan harus mengantri kembali setelah mengambil nomor yang benar.
9. Jangan menghilangkan nomor antrian
Apes? Sudah pasti, apalagi jika sadar pada saat nomor anda sudah hampir dipanggil
10. Jangan lupa ambil nomor antrian
Nah yang ini paling penting, terbayang anda harus diusir satpam karena banknya sudah mau tutup dan anda belum dipanggil-pangil juga?

Ethical Eating:

Honesty is the best policy. In saying that I almost had a major slip up last night, having been out for a few drinks with my friends and being in very close proximity to a McDonalds. Luckily, I had my boyfriend with me and he talked me out of purchasing my then highly desired cheeseburger. He knew how horrible I would feel eating meat this close to the end of my challenge. And he was right, I’m so glad I didn’t eat it – I don’t even crave meat at the moment and I feel horrible that the thought of eating meat even crossed my mind.
Although I will not be eating meat for the rest of my challenge, last night made me think that I should discuss how to source sustainably and ethically produced meat. I understand that not everyone can be/wants to be a vegetarian, however, their choice of meat could make a major difference in the way livestock is treated.

Here are some tips and tricks on how to pick ethically produced meat:

• Only purchase organic, biodynamic or free range meat.
• Ask your delicatessen or butcher for free range options or start buying your meat from accredited farmers’ markets.
• Always ask questions when ordering meat at a restaurant and don’t just assume that because you are paying top dollar, the meat has been farmed ethically.
• Never purchase cage eggs and look for appropriate logos or support smaller free range producers. Even better, buy your own chooks and have unlimited access to happy eggs.
• Look for grass fed options over grain fed because this places less stress on the environment.
• Have your own livestock. My parents chickens produce the BEST eggs I have ever eaten, so good that I drive 2 hours to grab them. I know this is because they live happy, healthy lives (For a guide on keeping Chickens, click here)

Here are some more resources to help you get on your way to becoming a mindful meat eater:
Jane Goodalls Harvest for Hope – a Guide to Ethical Eating 

The sustainable tables guide to becoming a mindful meat eater

Directory of ethical meat suppliers

The Australian Marine Conservation Societies Sustainable Seafood Guide

Local Harvests guide on local meat 

The Shop Ethical App lets you know what companies farm happy animals and those who farm sad ones.

I think this video really demonstrates why we SHOULDN’T support Factory Farming. I cry every time I watch it, so its ok if you shed a tear too.

With all of this in mind, I decided to make my boyfriend and myself a vegetarian breakfast with Free Range Eggs. I wanted to thank him for keeping me on the right path and try and make a difference in what meat companies think is acceptable treatment of animals.

Starting out in London with his regular club nights at St. Giles Church Basement, Seb Wildblood didn’t take long to establish himself and always with a proactive approach to putting himself out there. Along with Apes, Seb carved out a unique brand of thumping house and techno that still retained a bit of soul.

His label’s first release, a record from Happa, proved once again that he is a firm believer in hitting the ground running and was a moment he considered to be a career highlight. In that sense he has done well to draw just a little inspiration from George FitzGerald’s ManMakeMusic and Scuba’s Hotflush, two labels he aspires to be replicate in terms of quality and their identifiable aesthetics. Naturally, he’s also quick to laud Kerri Chandler’s MadTech label (through which he released ‘Töreki’, “I’ve got a mass of respect for MadTech and what they’ve done in a relatively short space of time”.

When asked about the shape of electronic music in years to come, he remains upbeat and optimistic in a world of cynicism, predicting “the amount of people making Dance Music will grow, along with the popularity and accessibility. Original and honest ideas will always shine through (Hopefully)”. Despite his optimism and enthusiasm for dance music, he does remain realistic and has a keen eye for the ails of the genre. He encourages the new faces and rising stars to “try to make an original sound, it’s great to take influence, but there’s an influx of the same stuff being made. If you want to get noticed, make something out of the ordinary with some of your own personality in it.”

As for future plans, he gives little away other than to hint at a collaborative EP with Apes for his Church imprint, some remixes for MadTech and the continuation of his regular parties. Oh, and if you really needed another reason to check out Seb Wildblood, the three artists he chose to remix his music in an ideal world were Burial, Four Tet and Bonobo. His taste, it is impeccable.

Tracklist:
01. Mr Beatnick – Blue Dream
02. Rumah – Murmur (Severn Beach Remix)
03. Roman Flugel – How to Spread Lies
04. Steffi – Arms
05. Darling Farah – Body
06. Youandewan – 0500
07. Barker & Baumecker – No Body
08. Dauwd – And
09. Viers – 0002
10. Legowelt – Sark Island Acid
11. Lorca – Have I Told You
12. Faithless – Insomnia (Ricardo Villabos Remix)
13. Daphni – Ye Ye

Download: Seb Wildblood – KOTJ Radio Episode 38

But what if it’s not because of the climbers?

There are apes and monkeys up on Ben Nevis
poking around in every crevice
yodelling down from mountain peaks
with awful ooks and eerie eeks.

Often a walker who stops and sits
is seized by orangutans checking for nits.
Released, he’ll leave that Scottish alp
traumatised, with a glowing scalp.

And the chimpanzees have learnt to ski!
They do it with such hairy glee
they sometimes go a tad off-piste
and die a somewhat flatter beast.

The baboons are addicted to Kendall Mint Cake.
So great is their insatiable ache
for carbohydrate in sugary treats
they’ll frisk your trousers looking for sweets.

And when you’re climbing, the monkeys are rude.
They’ll pinch your bum and nick your food
and some of the stinkier smaller species
swing on ropes, flinging faeces.

Don’t pass below the monkeys and apes
who love to play their turdy japes
and if you find you’ve done just that
let’s hope you’ve brought a wide-brimmed hat .

But what if it’s not because of the climbers?

There are apes and monkeys up on Ben Nevis
poking around in every crevice
yodelling down from mountain peaks
with awful ooks and eerie eeks.

Often a walker who stops and sits
is seized by orangutans checking for nits.
Released, he’ll leave that Scottish alp
traumatised, with a glowing scalp.

And the chimpanzees have learnt to ski!
They do it with such hairy glee
they sometimes go a tad off-piste
and die a somewhat flatter beast.

The baboons are addicted to Kendall Mint Cake.
So great is their insatiable ache
for carbohydrate in sugary treats
they’ll frisk your trousers looking for sweets.

And when you’re climbing, the monkeys are rude.
They’ll pinch your bum and nick your food
and some of stinkier smaller species
swing on ropes, flinging faeces.

Don’t pass below the monkeys and apes
who love to play their turdy japes
and if you find you’ve done just that
let’s hope you’ve brought a wide-brimmed hat .

Today I attended Edgars Missions 10^th Birthday in Carlton. It was an amazing event boasting a great turnout, celebrity guests and cruelty free food!
The event was not only held to celebrate Edgars Missions 10^th Anniversary, it also launched the Edgar’s Mission Kindness Challenge. The demands on Edgar’s Mission are ever-growing, with nearly 2,500 animals given a second chance at life in 2012. However, they have a problem as their current home is running out of space and its facilities will not be able to meet future rescue, educational and awareness needs. The kindness challenge invites friends of Edgars mission to help secure the future of the initiative by helping raise enough funds to secure a large property.

Ethical Eating:

While at Edgar’s Missions 10^th Anniversary, I stopped by Bruschetta Bar to grab something to eat. Bruschetta bar is run by a good friend of the Jane Goodall Institute Australia, Megan. She started the palm-oil free enterprise when her sister and herself found it hard to find quick and easy vegetarian food. Not only are their products orangutan friendly, they are vegetarian (with vegan options) and they contain locally sourced organic produce. On top of all that goodness, she donates $1dollar from every sale to her favorite organizations – Beyond Blue, The Jane Goodall Institute, The Thin Green Line Foundation, Edgar’s Mission and Conservation Ecology Centre- Cape Otway.
Oh, and did I mention she is 12. She is a real inspiration and will definitely meet her goal of changing the world by changing the way people eat. Awesome work Megan!

Click here to find out more about Bruschetta Bar.

Learn one new thing about A.P.Es:

It all started with a Pig.
Once Pam purchased her first pig cleverly named Edgar Allan Pig, she created a sanctuary for him and all other farm animals like him to desperately needed a loving and safe home. Edgar was a symbol of inspiration and equality, making Pam wonder why some animals were treated as lesser than others. To this day, Edgars mission has saved thousands of farm animals giving them love and security while emphasizing that all animals should be treated equally.
I think this video sums up the values and life story of Pam and of Edgars mission.

Click here to learn more about Edgars Mission. 

Jon Campbell, Christian Post Contributor in the USA, writes about this video:

Goose Attacks Gorilla: Video Stuns Viewers as Gorilla Runs From Canadian Goose

April 12, 2013|7:19 pm

A goose has attacked a gorilla at the Sedgewick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas this week, in an extraordinary encounter that left eye witnesses amazed. The amazing attack was caught on camera and the video has since gone viral on the Internet.

Barney is the gorilla at Sedgewick County Zoo, and was the victim of the rare attack this week. He is a 20-year-old western lowland gorilla, and weighs about 450 pounds and stands at a height of about 6 feet.

The gorilla is a native of Africa and has been known to stand up fiercely to his gorilla brothers in his troop to exert his dominance and leadership over the group.

However, nothing he has encountered before could have prepared him for the attack he experienced this week, and he could not have expected the comparatively tiny goose to have gone after him.

But the unnamed Canadian goose, who was not even one of the zoo’s animals, did [not] allow let size restrict it and fearlessly attacked the gorilla.

It is believed that the goose probably had flown all the way from Canada to the zoo and after his long journey was in no mood to put up with any opposition, even from a nearly-500 pound gorilla.

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In the encounter Barney the gorilla was completely minding his own business when the goose went for him. it is believed that the goose had built a nest somewhere on Barney’s zoo turf, and when Barney innocently walked by, too close to the nest the goose attacked to protect what it believed was its territory.

“Keepers reckon the plucky birds have built their nest on Barney’s turf and don’t want some great ape messing with it,” MSN Now has reported.

Barney the gorilla can be seen backing away quickly from the goose attack and clearly did not want any beef with the Canadian.

It has been reported by some outlets that zookeepers do not plan to disturb the goose nest and so Barney and pals will have to beware of that area unless they want another run in with the fearless goose.

Related articles

• Zoo’s Goose-Gorilla Video Drawing National Attention (kake.com)
• Watch: Goose Takes On Full Grown Gorilla (news.softpedia.com)
• Goose Attacks Gorilla, Gorilla Runs Away (webpronews.com)
• Gorillas and tourism in Rwanda (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
• Final weekend to see three of Sedgwick County Zoo’s gorillas (kansas.com)
• Sisters taunt photobombing gorilla with bananas (metro.co.uk)
• Osprey Squawking Mad After Goose Takes Over Nest (khq.com)
• Goslings make a break for it in Walnut Creek (mercurynews.com)
• Humans Raise Baby Gorilla (newser.com)

Today I purchased my lunch at uni to treat myself  – I had an amazing focaccia with pumpkin, roasted pepper, zucchini, eggplant and feta and an organic cola. I am an absolute soft drink fiend – relying on coke and pepsi to give me the much needed sugar/caffeine rush to get me through my day. To find a soft drink that is GE free, sustainable and all round ethical to consume has been a major win for me. Being an ethical consumer is all about making choices that are small in themselves, but support good businesses. Every person’s choice is small, but if we all do it, we’ll make some big changes.

My favourite brands of organic soft drinks are:
Phoenix Organics
Daylesford Organic

Act of kindness:

I have so many mobile phones laying around my house its ridiculous. I don’t understand why my family and I hoard them, its not like I’m going to wake up tomorrow decide to throw out my iPhone and use the brick I once cherished years ago.  My act of kindness today is to round up all of my family’s old mobile phones and donate them to the I’m calling on you campaign.

Why should we donate old mobile phones to this campaign?

Coltan is a metallic ore that is mined both in and out of Africa and can be found within many electronic devices such as mobile phones. The mining of coltan within the Congo River Basin is contributing to forest loss and unrest in the region, and is accelerating the loss of mountain gorillas at an alarmingly fast rate. Whilst efforts are being made to tackle this issue, the majority of the worlds known coltan reserves are found within Africa, and mining within gorilla habitat continues.

The money raised from donated mobile phones helps supports the Jane Goodall Institutes conservation programs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the refurbishment of old mobile phones helps reduce the demand for coltan mining in Great Ape habitat.

It’s easy to remove ourselves from this issue as we are so far removed from it. But everyone has a mobile phone, and majority of people replace their phone every 2 years – this creates a direct link between us, as consumers, and the social and environmental injustice that occurs everyday around Coltan mines in Africa. Instead of letting your once loved phone sit in the draw gathering dust donate it to the They’re calling on you campaign – This small and easily accomplished good deed will make a huge difference to Apes, People and the Environment.
Click here to download a pre-paid postage label so you can send us JGIA your own mobile phones for free.

Learn one new thing about A.P.E.S:

One of the biggest threats to chimpanzees and other Great Apes is the illegal mining of coltan. Mining results in the clearing of essential habitat and drives the bush meat trade, further exacerbating the decline of Great Ape populations.

Here are a few interesting facts about the coltan industry…

Click here to learn more about coltan and recycling your old mobile phones.

What you need to know:

1- The claim itself is a logical fallacy (Jumping to conclusion) (Fallacy of Reification) as well as being inaccurate, read below.

2- Genetic information in all living creatures is encoded as a sequence of only 4 nucleotides (guanine, adenine, thymine, and cytosine) recorded using the letters G, A, T, and C. It is surely natural for the human body to bear some molecular similarities to other living beings, because they all are made up of the same molecules, they all use the same water and atmosphere, and they all consume foods consisting of the same molecules. Certainly, their metabolisms and therefore genetic make-ups would resemble one another. This, however, is not evidence that they evolved from a common ancestor. It is possible to explain this matter with an example; all construction in the world is done with similar materials (brick, iron, cement, etc.). They are constructed separately by using common materials. The same holds for living beings as well.

3- We know that DNA in cells contains much of the information necessary for the development of an organism. In other words, if two organisms look similar, we would expect there to be some similarity also in their DNA. The DNA of a cow and a whale, two mammals, should be more alike than the DNA of a cow and a bacterium. If it were not so, then the whole idea of DNA being the information carrier in living things would have to be questioned. Likewise, humans and apes have a lot of morphological similarities, so we would expect there would be similarities in their DNA. Of all the animals, chimps are most like humans,1 so we would expect that their DNA would be most like human DNA.

4- Similarity (‘homology’) is not evidence for common ancestry (evolution) as against a common creator. Why ?
Whether similarity is morphological (appearance), or biochemical, is of no consequence to the lack of logic in this argument.

5- Humans and chimps share about 96 percent of their sequence.¹ so the difference is about 120,000,000 base pairs , The similarity isn’t something unexpected. We already knew there was a vast amount of similarity between humans and primates both in terms of physical characteristics and structure. It is a mistake to assume that observing similarities necessarily brings you to the conclusion of common descent. Taxonomy based on physical characteristics was already a very well established science when the idea of common descent came on the scene.Would it mean that humans could have ‘evolved’ from a common ancestor with chimps? Not at all! The amount of information in the 3 billion base pairs in the DNA in every human cell has been estimated to be equivalent to that in 1,000 books of encyclopaedia size.²

6- About 35 million DNA base pairs differ between the shared portions of the two genomes, each of which, like most mammalian genomes, contains about 3 billion base pairs. In addition, there are another 5 million sites that differ along with a much smaller number of different chromosomal arrangements.¹

7- As many as 3 million of the differences lie in crucial protein-coding genes or other functional areas of the genome.¹

8- Moreover, the basic proteins are common vital molecules present in various other living things. The structure of the same kinds of proteins present not only in chimpanzee, but also in completely different living creatures, is very similar to that in humans.
For example:

• Cats have 90% of homologous genes with humans, 82% with dogs, 80% with cows, 79% with chimpanzees, 69% with rats and 67% with mice. ³
• Cows (Bos taurus) are 80% genetically similar to humans⁴
• 99% of mouse genes turn out to have analogues in humans ⁵-75% of mouse genes have equivalents in humans⁶ , 90% of the mouse genome could be lined up with a region on the human genome ⁷
• The fruit fly (Drosophila) shares about 60% of its DNA with humans ⁸
• About 60% of chicken genes correspond to a similar human gene.⁹

9 – Telomeres in Chimpanzees and other apes have about 23 kilobases (a kilobase is 1,000 base pairs of DNA) of repeats. Humans are unique among primates with much shorter telomeres only 10 kilobases long.¹⁰

10 – The Y chromosome in particular is of a different size and has many markers that do not line up between the human and chimpanzee. Page’s team found that the chimp Y chromosome has only two-thirds as many distinct genes or gene families as the human Y chromosome and only 47% as many protein-coding elements as humans. The remainder of the chimp and human genomes are thought to differ in gene number by less than 1%. More than 30% of the chimp Y chromosome lacks an alignable counterpart on the human Y chromosome, and vice versa, whereas this is true for less than 2% of the remainder of the genome.

11- If humans were entirely different from all other living things, or indeed if every living thing was entirely different, would this reveal the Creator to us? No! We would logically think that there must be many creators rather than one. The unity of the creation is testimony to the One True God who made it all.

- Biochemist Prof. Michael Denton made the following comments;
Each class at molecular level is unique, isolated and unlinked by intermediates. Thus, molecules, like fossils, have failed to provide the elusive intermediates so long sought by evolutionary biology… At a molecular level, no organism is “ancestral” or “primitive” or “advanced” compared with its relatives… There is little doubt that if this molecular evidence had been available a century ago… the idea of organic evolution might never have been accepted (Michael Denton, Evolution: A Theory in Crisis. London: Burnett Books, 1985, p. 290-291)

http://creation.com/…-dna-similarity
—
Ref.

1. New Genome Comparison Finds Chimps, Humans Very Similar at the DNA Level,2005, national human genome research institute http://www.genome.gov/15515096
2. Michael Denton, 1985. Evolution: Theory in Crisis
3. Initial sequence and comparative analysis of the cat genome, 2007, http://genome.cshlp….17/11/1675.full
4. The Genome Sequence of Taurine Cattle, 2009, http://www.sciencema…4/5926/522.full
5. the mouse genome, Nature 420, 509 (5 December 2002) http://www.nature.co…ll/420509a.html
6. Lineage-Specific Biology Revealed by a Finished Genome Assembly of the Mouse, 2009 http://www.plosbiolo…al.pbio.1000112
7. The Mouse Genome And The Measure of Man December 2002 http://www.genome.go…pageID=10005831
8. Background on Comparative Genomic Analysis December 2002,http://www.genome.gov/10005835
9. Researchers Compare Chicken, Human Genomes: Analysis Of First Avian Genome Uncovers Differences Between Birds And Mammals Dec. 10, 2004 http://www.scienceda…41208230523.htm
10. (Kakuo, S., Asaoka, K. and Ide, T. 1999. ‘Human is a unique species among primates in terms of telomere length.’ Biochem Biophys Res Commun 263:308-314)
11. The fickle Y chromosome http://www.nature.co…ll/463149a.html – http://creation.com/chimp-y-chromosome – http://johnhawks.net…osome-2010.html

I read an alarming fact this morning – in one year from now the average person would have thrown away 200kg of packaging waste. Food packaging takes a lot of energy, water and other natural resources to produce. Over the last thirty years, we’ve doubled the amount of natural resources we use in Australia (per capita), including aluminium, tin, steel, sand (for glass) and trees (for paper and cardboard). Plastic, for example, is made from oil – a rare and valuable commodity. When we throw away that packaging – most of it after only one use – these natural resources are lost.

This made me realize that ethical eating not only included what food I eat but what my food comes in as well. I instantly ran down the shops and grabbed some Tupperware, a reusable water bottle and some reusable shopping bags to try and reduce the amount of waste that is associated with my food.

Act of Kindness:

Today I decided to share the love with my neighborhood by picking up rubbish on my morning walk. It took no extra effort at all; I just walked along my usual route and picked up any litter I could see. The little amount of effort I put in made a big difference to the aesthetics of my street and when some of my neighbors saw what I was doing they came out, introduced themselves and helped a little too. Kindness is infectious – your good deed for the day could influence others to undertake one too!

Learn one new thing about A.P.Es:

I think this video not only demonstrates how un-sustainable bottled water is, but how unsustainable the entire disposable food packaging industry is. Please, whenever you have the option use a reusable water bottle, tupperware or have your food completely NUDE! Everyone has the ability to reduce the amount of food packaging waste, its impacts on the wider community and on the environment.

This video woke me up to the horrible waste associated with food packaging and purchasing items such as bottled water. It is a truly amazing (in a bad way) story and a must watch!

Thats all for today, check back tomorrow to learn about the true price of mobile phones!

not a feign 10
of perspective 8 paid
to the shot clock 6 winding
down —

It

3 could be me 1
really, should have been, but,
the tousled crayon flowers
ape their Pulitzer plaudits
like epaulettes

, but,
have a drink
another embryonic epithet.

There is one thing in this world that I CAN NOT live without, I love unconditionally and is possibly more important to me than my boyfriend and that’s good Mexican food!
So I thought I would share a recipe for a vegetarian take on a Mexican classic…

Black Bean Tacos

• Olive Oil
• 1 small onion chopped
• 1 can of Black Beans
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon of chilli
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• taco shells
• and as much cheese, diced tomato, corriander, red onion, avocado and lettuce as your heart desires.

Method:
Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat; cook onion in hot oil until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir black beans, garlic powder, chili powder, and cumin with the onion. Reduce heat to low and cook the mixture at a simmer until it thickens, 5 to 10 minutes.
Serve with taco shells, lettuce, cheese, sour cream and salsa of coriander, diced tomato and red onion.

The finished product.

Act of Kindness:

My Act of Kindness today goes out the environment – I decided to change ALL of the cleaning products in my house to eco-friendly ones in order to reduce my homes impact on the environment. By buying environmentally friendly laundry powders and cleaning products that are natural-based detergents, are grey water safe and help protect the environment by reducing chemical contamination of our streams and waterways I am one step closer to turning my house into a greenies paradise.
I decided to stock up on earth choice products. I am a Uni student, it goes without saying that I do not have a lot of money, and as earth choice was the cheapest option of all enviro-friendly cleaning products at the supermarket I decided to give it a go.

I was eager to get the house cleaned before I had to go to Uni, so I decided to give some of the products a trial run. I was a bit skeptical that the bathroom cleaner could really kill all of the germs hiding in my bathroom (only the use of bleach can satisfy the germaphobe in me) but once I used it it proved itself as a very effective cleaner and made my bathroom smell fantastic. This made me clean more in order to spread the fresh natural smell of the products throughout my house.

To realize that the majority of earth choice products are significantly cheaper than other chemical based brands abolished the myth that being ‘green’ is too expensive. There are plenty of enviro friendly cleaning products out there, you can even venture back to the old-days and make your own cleaning products out of natural agents – Its so easy to have a clean house AND be friendly to the environment.

Learn one new thing about A.P.E.s:

Did you know more than 450 tonnes of phosphates are washed down Australian drains each week?
Phosphates are naturally occurring nutrients in waterways and phosphates in household cleaning products are completely non-toxic.

Unfortunately, when there is excessive discharge of phosphate into creeks, rivers and the ocean via our drains and stormwater systems issues with water quality and wildlife health start occurring.

Some of the main problems associated with high phosphate levels are;

• The potential for algal blooms
• Oxygen starvation of water, inhibiting the survival of some wildlife
• Decreased water clarity, creating a physical barrier to wildlife finding food and escaping predators
• Smothering of some habitats caused by disrupted light infiltration.
  

For more info on why you should go phosphate free, check out Zoos Victoria’s Wash for Wildlife campaign.

Today was my good friend Nicoles 21^st Birthday (Happy Birthday Nicole!). So, I decided to surprise her with a fair trade Coffee in a biodegradable, recycled paper cup and a recycled paper birthday card before our first lecture at Uni this morning.

Saying Happy Birthday over some fair trade coffee

Sharing a fair trade coffee with a friend not only allowed me to meet my requirements for my Live the Change Challenge but it also let me share the story of Fair trade coffee with Nicole and allowed me to support a business that uses Fairtrade coffee. But most importantly, it’s always good to show a friend that they’re loved and a birthday is always a great excuse to make them feel extra special!
I purchased Nicoles Birthday card, along with other amazing recycled products, at the Finders Keepers market in Carlton. I found an amazing little stall run by the ladies at Write to Me that sold recycled paper stationary made in Melbourne. Its always good to support local business, especially when they have an environmentally friendly ethos.
To see more of Write to Me’s products visit http://www.writetome.com.au/index.html|

Act of Kindness update:
Louis is settling into our home well and is showing more and more of his loveable personality every day!

He goes crazy over the homemade treats I made him. He even knows how to open the jar.

Learn one new thing about A.P.E.s:

In Sumatra, over 20 per cent of forest clearing is due to coffee production – posing a great threat to the Orangutan populations.
An unimaginable amount of land has been cleared in Africa for the purpose of coffee production as well and has already had a huge impact on the Chimp, Gorilla and Bonobo populations.
Coffee plantations have been closing in on Great Ape habitat, often cutting across significant wildlife corridors and some are even found within National Parks.

Luckily, JGI recognized the increasing impacts coffee plantations had on the wildlife and people surrounding Gombe and worked hard to find solutions to the social and environmental problems surrounding coffee production.

Before I go any further, we need to understand what fair trade is:

The term “Fairtrade” refers to an independently audited, product certification and labelling system set up with the aim of helping those who grow and produce coffee. It does this by:

• Paying farmers and workers a fair price for their work
• Helping them gain skills and knowledge to develop their businesses in the global economy
• Providing a certification and labelling system so Fairtrade standards are met and that the benefits of Fairtrade get back to the farmer who produced the product

Fairtrade also means farmers and communities can:

• Use improved environmental methods
• Establish democratic associations or cooperatives to start local community development projects from the proceeds of Fairtrade
• Have access to low-cost credit and technical assistance
• Receive a social premium that supports community projects
  

In 2006, JGI began partnering with the local coffee cooperative in Gombe. JGI proposed that coffee beans could thrive under the shade of a forest canopy and as chimps don’t like the taste of the beans, the crops grow in harmony with the chimpanzees and provide a sustainable farming alternative. JGI facilitated direct marketing by linking the cooperative to overseas buyers and managed to generate premium prices—the highest in Tanzania ever—for the top-quality coffee from the area. In 2007 and 2008, about 15 percent of Kigoma coffee was marketed with JGI assistance. The prices ranged between $3.50 and $4.20 per Kg, increasing income for Kigoma coffee farmers by about $200,000 per year. The demand for top-quality coffee from Kigoma that can be linked to JGI’s conservation and development story continues to be high and exceed the current supply.

When you go to buy a cup of coffee, check to see if its fair trade accredited and if the supplier undertakes sustainable farming practices. You may not realize it, but by choosing to purchase sustainable coffee you will impact the lives of Great Apes and the people that share their land thousands of miles away.

For more guides on Fair Trade Coffee visit:

https://www.oxfam.org.au/explore/trade/fairtrade-coffee-campaign/

http://www.fairtrade.com.au/farmers/fairtrade-coffee

I hope this post has made you think twice about where you buy your coffee! Check back tomorrow for another update on my Live the Change Challenge.

This video is called Family of Mountain Gorillas – Cousins – BBC.

From The New Times (Kigali, Rwanda):

Rwanda: How Much Do You Know About the Gorilla, the Rose and Its Roots?

By Sam Kebongo, 5 April 2013

There is a South American poem to the effect that the flowers get all the glory and honour and the roots hardly get noticed yet it is the roots that enable the flowers, the stem and the leaves; the plant to stay so luxuriant and alive.

When we think of roses, most of us think of the beauty, the aroma and stuff like that. Very few of us think of all the trouble it takes to get the rose so rosy. This is the mirror image of the relationship between tourism and conservation in Rwanda. You and I are more likely more focused on the tourism figures and frills and I bet you very few of us think about the nature conservation side.

Sample the following:

The Roses: Facts and figures we could gather indicated that the projected revenue from tourism earnings for the year 2012 was US$ 277 million (that is over 180 Billion Rwandan Francs). In 2011 tourism earnings were US$ 251 million in 2011. Much of that money came courtesy of the mountain gorillas which remain one of the major attractions of tourists to Rwanda.

According Rica Rwigamba, head of Tourism and Conservation unit at Rwanda Development Board (RDB); gorilla receipts account for 90% of total national park receipts with the endangered primates attracting some 20,000 visitors in 2011.

Between 2005 and 2011, 160 gorillas were been born. There are an estimated 480 gorillas living around the Virunga Massif (Volcanoes National Park, Mgahinga in Uganda and Virunga in DR Congo). In fact, due to a booming demand to view these primates, RDB had to raise its fees.

A very rosy picture we have there. I’m sure that the current figures are even rosier; it is unfortunate that RDB does not have them at their finger tips.

The roots: One of the foremost gorilla habitat conservation organisations, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund (DFGFI) has been at it since 1967 when its founder, Dian Fossey, moved to the Massif. The current gorilla population of 480 plus doubling of the 1978 figures when there were 250 gorillas in a trend that represented a decline. As a matter of fact, the western gorilla, the Bonobo and the Orang Utang have had their populations decline to a point of extinction.

The Fund’s annual budget is $2 million (1.3 billion francs), all from private donors. About $2 million is invested and we get close to $300 million returns. Of course there are other investments but we cannot deny that this is still good business.

The mere fact that our gorilla populations are growing against a global decline and extinction should make us kiss the boots of conservationists. But before we do that, it is on record that gorilla receipts account for 90% of total national park receipts and Tourism accounts for over 25% of our revenues. What does this mean? In deed the gorilla is Rwanda’s unique selling point in tourism. It must be treated royally at all costs.

The gorilla is our cash cow. Only a fool would leave a cash cow without pasture. As we admire the rose, we should work harder to get it water and weed the flower lest it wilt and we end up killing our goose that lays golden eggs.

There are many efforts to do this and they should be encouraged. The problem is that they are not coordinated and the wider public is not well informed about them. How much do you know about the gorilla, for example? Did you know that to capture a baby gorilla, the poacher would have to kill its parents? They are very protective of their young.

It is with a view of bringing nature conservation partnerships such as these to the fore that DFGFI organised a workshop that brought together the academia, as well as members of the private and public sectors. The lively discussions brought out the fact that a platform is needed to keep nature conservation a key driver of the economy.

There is need for more networking among players in the different sectors. The interdependency and power that comes thereof is enormous. We tend to ‘overspecialise’ to the extent that communication even within same organisation becomes a problem. This has been counterproductive.

Information sharing is still a challenge. People in positions that require that they know facts and figures don’t have the fact at their finger tips. Such sharing is crucial to foster progress and avoid duplication of effort.

Nature conservation is serious business; it is the root of our tourism and related business. We should all sign up.

Related articles

• Local Wildlife (theconflictmineralcrisis.wordpress.com)
• Gorillas – The World’s Gentle Giants (kasenyigamesafaris.wordpress.com)
• Twin Mountain Gorillas Give Hope to Endangered Species (April 7, 2013) (talkenglish101.com)
• Tourism for conversation (industriousnann48.wordpress.com)
• Gorilla Trekking – The Main Attraction Of Uganda Rainforest (ademsafary.wordpress.com)
• Weber discusses gorilla conservation in Rwanda (tuftsdaily.com)
• Cuddliest twins in the jungle: Young gorillas get a hug from mum after a busy day exploring the forest (dailymail.co.uk)
• Mountain Gorillas (thewildofeastafrica.wordpress.com)

This morning Matt and I decided to plant a Herb garden in our backyard. Im so sick of buying a small bunch of rather expensive herbs that only last one meal so we went to the market and purchased 6 herb plants for 10 dollars. Planting the garden was great; it got us outside and active and I am feeling a strange motherly love for my baby plants after willing them to succeed all day.

The finished product.

Planting your own herb garden not only provides you with yummy, practically free herbs all year round but its fresher and packed with more nutrients than the supermarket purchased herbs, it keeps us in touch with the seasons, we know more of its story and it costs less energy, emissions and food miles. Even if you don’t have an area to plant a little produce garden in, there are great, innovative ideas for food gardening in apartments and units out there you just have to find one that suits you!

Act of Kindness:

While working on the garden, Matt and I decided to make a bird house to not only beautify the outdoors but to provide a much needed shelter for birds (and small possums) in the area.
Living in the heart of Melbourne, the majority of ‘green space’ is made up of residential gardens so its important to help out wildlife by giving them as much food and shelter as possible as they have no where else to go. So today our act of kindness was to give one homeless bird/possum a home in our garden.

Learn one new thing about Apes.

I began re-reading my favorite book this morning, and I refreshed myself on one of my FAVORITE stories of Australian conservation in order to share it with you.

This is the story of the Mala or the Rufus Hare Wallaby.

It was believed that the remaining two populations of Rufus Hare Wallaby were healthy until 1987 when the first disaster struck – every one of the individuals of the second wild colony had been killed due to a single fox attacking their community. Then 1991 a wildfire destroyed the entire area that contained the first population. The Mala became extinct in the wild.
Luckily Ken Johnson had set up a Mala captive breeding program some years before, so he and his team consulted with the local indigenous group – the Yapa People – on the best way to reintroduce individuals into the wild.
Ken and his team built a fifty by fifty yard enclosure out in the desert; 12 Mala were moved into the enclosure and after their success they moved a further 13 individuals to the enclosure. unfortunately, all of the individuals died after feral cat attacks and drought.
So with the help of the Yapa people, Ken erected electric fencing around 250 acres of habitat so the Mala could adapt to the environment while being protected by predators. More Mala were reintroduced to this area, but unfortunately the reintroduction was not a success with all 79 of the Mala being killed. This meant that the reintroduction scheme had to be abandoned.
Ken and his team did not give up, they began to search for sites that were predator free or predator controlled in the Malas habitat range. The team found two sites – one in the middle of the WA wheat belt and the other on an island off the coast of WA. Both introductions were successful!
Once Ken was able to prove that re-introduction was possible they set their sites on reintroducing the Mala into the Ularu – Kata Tjuta National Park. Jim Clayton , a local park ranger, worked hard with the indigenous people of Ularu, the Anangu People, to map out an area of land where the Mala could be released. fortunately, the Mala is a very important aspect of indigenous spirituality, being a major part of creation stories, so they were more than happy to set aside 170 hectares for the project. Jane Goodall released some of the Mala into the area herself, which shows how special this project was, and because of all of the hard work all people involved in the program put in the Mala are still seen in this area today.

Jane releasing a Rufus Hare Wallaby

This story was featured in Jane Goodalls Hope for Animals and Their World. Check it out by clicking here.

Palm Oil Update:
For those of you interested in my Palm Oil themed weekend – these orangutans were just saved from forest that was about to be bulldozed in Borneo to make way for Palm Oil plantations. The people who are working to save them really have their work cut out for them – but are doing such amazing work.
For more info on this event, click here. 

That’s all for today, check back tomorrow for another update on my Live the Change Challenge.