New Ventures

Original Artwork ©Bryan Hogan – ‘Haeckel’

A lot has happened over the past month so please forgive the absence of posts. I managed to land a position as an Education Guide with the National Parks and Wildlife Service at Glenveagh National Park in Co. Donegal, Ireland. I’m now just over a month in and absolutely loving the job so far! I’m involved with educating primary and secondary school children from 4-18 on conservation and ecology and bringing them out on field trips in the park. It took over 90 applications to get me here, so if you’re trying to crack the hard shell of conservation employment, be persistent!

In other news, I was kindly asked to write a blog piece for a new Irish website that concentrates on all things environment, wildlife and research based – BioWeb.ie . I decided to write up an article on my experience working as an Orangutan Intern with the Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project in Borneo; while discussing both the internship and the issues Borneo faces with expansion of palm oil plantations. It brought back tonnes of incredible memories and also reminded me of the monumental amount of work NGOs are carrying out to save tropical forest biodiversity. Read it here!

So…there’s loads in the pipeline. I’m back with ammunition for more posts and some interesting collaborations. The orangutan print accompanying this post (which I found so relevant!) is a piece by a talented Irish artist, Bryan Hogan. A Fine Art graduate producing detailed etches, whose Etsy shop can be found at BryanHoganEtchings. This piece entitled ‘Haeckel’ is inspired by the work of the German biologist, naturalist and professor turned artist of the same name. Yet another brilliant example of how art has its place in the land of conservation and wildlife!

Art in Nature

Here are a couple of the more artistic images I took in Falmouth, Cornwall last year during my MSc…still only a photographer in progress.

Rhinos in Crisis…again

WARNING: Graphic images in some links

As if they weren’t in enough of a plight already, there’s even more bad news for Rhinos this week! After crunching numbers, the IUCN has found yet another increase in the numbers of Rhino murdered for their horns (over the last 6 years trade in Rhino horn has exploded exponentially). At least 1,338 poached in 2015! This follows huge efforts in heightening law enforcement and increased investment in anti-poaching strategies and now leads the conservation world to question whether current methods are actually working at all.

So, what exactly are we dealing with here? Chinese medicine has used Rhino horn as a remedy for multiple ailments (anything from fever to toxin elimination) for thousands of years and illegal trade in Rhino horn is one of the most lucrative practises in the world! On the black market, horn can earn up to $65,000/kg (that’s more than double the price of gold and can even rise above the price of cocaine) and currently Vietnam  show the highest demand for the product according to TRAFFIC.

The story so far…

CITES (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) ensures that trade in animal and plant species is regulated so as not to threaten their existence. Currently all species of Asian Rhinos (Sumatran, Javan and Indian) and Black Rhinos are protected under Appendix I which means trade may only be permitted under exceptional circumstances as these species are under threat of extinction.These species along with the Northern White Rhino are classed as critically endangered on the IUCN Redlist. Southern White Rhinos are covered under Appendix I and II, the II appendix being solely for South Africa and Swaziland where trade in live animals to appropriate destinations and hunting trophies are permitted. However, we are now at a stage where even Rhinos in the most secure, protected parks are being killed, with poachers breaching boundaries and most acting under cover of darkness to claim their prize (Many poaching events occur on cloudless nights where the moon is bright). This is not only an illegal crime but brutal torture for the chosen ones – poachers have used everything from AK-47s and compound bows to darting and snares. In 2012 National Geographic carried out a chilling interview with van Deventer, a poacher who has claimed to have killed upwards of 22 Rhinos:

“The brothers traveled the breadth of South Africa, taking rhinos from national parks and private reserves. Due to successful breeding programs, rhinos were plentiful, and security was lax or easy to evade. After a kill, they would pass the horns to others to sell. “But I only made small money,” he says, noting that he, Andre, and a couple others would split about $11,000 for a pair of horns weighing 13 pounds.” – National Geographic

Just a little ‘Hi’

Hi! Just thought I’d start this off with little introduction…I’m new to the blogging world so please forgive any awkwardness. I’m Marina, a zoologist and conservation biologist from Ireland. My interest and love of wildlife started from a very young age (I think I was about 4 when I originally decided I wanted to be a vet when I grew up, which quickly changed to ‘animal behaviourist’) and has since blossomed, hopefully to become my lifelong career.

After four years studying Zoology at University College Cork, a two year thinking/internship gap and a further year spent doing an MSc in Conservation & Biodiversity at Uni. of Exeter, I have been involved in numerous wildlife volunteer programmes and research projects in Africa, Asia and Europe. I’ve worked with some amazing researchers and have seen their passion for conservation shine through even on the toughest, longest days in the field.

Alongside this I thoroughly enjoy photography (I am in no way a professional but I enjoy the learning curve), hiking and a little bit of surfing and rock-climbing – in short, I like to dabble in anything to do with being in the outdoors. After lots of thinking and even more procrastinating, I’ve finally decided to get this blog up and running. The more I’ve learnt about conservation, the more I find myself getting annoyed that it never seems to get as much attention in the public domain as it deserves (I’m sure there are others who know this feeling all too well). With climate change happening, species numbers declining and plastic seeming to literally be everywhere, I’ve started this with an aim to open more eyes to the problems facing wildlife and biodiversity. It won’t all be doom and gloom though, I want to include the successes, track the baby steps and hopefully inspire others to wake up and be aware of what’s happening around us i.e. I will litter my blog with photos to remind us what nature has given to us and what our responsibility is in terms of protecting it from ourselves.

As I am new to this, I welcome all suggestions content-wise as well as constructive criticism on what I can improve. Let the adventure begin…