Mark,

Petition Link – https://actions.sumofus.org/a/yum-brands-no-to-deforestation/?akid=53135.7697051.fZEEeN&rd=1&source=fwd&t=13

 

Magnificent rainforests in Asia and South America are being slashed and set ablaze to produce palm oil, soy, beef and paper — driving out the precious orangutans, pygmy elephants, and other endangered animals who call those trees home. 

But fast food giants Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell have failed to take meaningful action against this environmental catastrophe.

Sign the petition to tell Pizza Hut and KFC to stop deforestation in their supply chains!

The restaurants are all owned by megacorporation Yum! Brands — and with zero transparency and limited accountability, there’s no way of knowing how many forests were destroyed to make your Pizza Hut meal.

We’re crashing Yum! Brands’ Annual General Meeting of shareholders with a resolution to get the fast food giant to be more transparent on the deforestation it might be causing. By signing this petition, you’ll help pile even more pressure on the corporation — and prove that this is an issue that the public and their customers across the world feel strongly about.

Your signature on a huge SumOfUs petition could tip the balance, and encourage enough shareholders to vote for our proposal, and change Yum’s behaviour for good!

You and I could force the industry laggards to get with the times, so Pizza Hut and KFC can’t keep looking the other way as forests are destroyed for cheap palm oil and soy.

Tell Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell to step up their anti-deforestation game.

In its official sustainability policy, Yum! Brands bragged that by 2017, 100 percent of its palm oil would be sustainably sourced. Did that happen? Nope. Has it happened by now? Nobody knows.

Unlike most other leading brands, Pizza Hut and KFC’s mother company hasn’t made the names of its palm oil suppliers available to the public. The same goes for the timber used in its paper packaging, which Yum! claims will be sustainably sourced by 2020. And what about beef and soybeans, two other huge sources of deforestation and contributors to climate change? The fast food giant isn’t even bothering to set goals for those right now.

We need to push the corporations to do better, before it’s too late for the rainforests and everyone who depends on them.

Tell Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell to get deforestation out of their restaurants!

SumOfUs members like you have already helped save countless hectares of rainforests from destruction in the past year. Thousands of you pushed chocolate maker Lindt to catch up to the rest of the industry and publish an anti-deforestation action plan for its cocoa. And you got the RSPO, the world’s largest palm oil sustainability authority, to sanction palm oil villain Indofood over its multiple environmental and labour abuses.

Together, we can show Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell that deforestation is just as bad for business as it is for endangered species, local communities, and the climate. But we’re going to have to make a lot of noise for the multi-billion-dollar corporation to start listening seriously.

If thousands of you show Yum! Brands you’re paying attention now, next month’s shareholder proposal will have a massive impact.

Tell Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell to commit to anti-deforestation throughout their palm oil, beef, soy, and paper supply chains!

Petition Link – https://actions.sumofus.org/a/yum-brands-no-to-deforestation/?akid=53135.7697051.fZEEeN&rd=1&source=fwd&t=13

Thanks for all that you do,
Rebecca, Fatah and the team at SumOfUs

 

More information:

What’s driving deforestation?, Union of Concerned Scientists
How does fast food impact the environment?, Environmental Technology, 7 February 2019
How the world got hooked on palm oil, The Guardian, 19 February 2019

 

WAV Comment:  Elephants are herd animals.  There have been many campaigns in the past to get Flavia sent o another location where she would mix with her type.  As always, the zoo claims to know best – sounds like a cruel shit facility to us !

 

SIGN: Justice for ‘Saddest Elephant in the World,’ Who Died in Solitary Confinement (43 Years Alone).

Posted by Katie Valentine

 

 

Petition Link – https://ladyfreethinker.org/sign-justice-for-saddest-elephant-in-the-world-who-died-in-solitary-confinement/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email

 

PETITION TARGET: Cordoba Zoo

An elephant who spent 43 years in solitary confinement has passed away at the Cordoba Zoo in Spain. Flavia was taken from her herd at just three years old and forced to endure torturous isolation for the remainder of her life.

Being alone took a devastating toll on Flavia’s health. She became known as the “saddest elephant in the world.” She was plagued by depression in the years and months leading up to her death and her physical condition deteriorated.

During her final days, Flavia collapsed inside her enclosure and was unable to get up. After decades of suffering, she was put down.

Elephants are highly intelligent and social animals who live in family units in the wild. They do not belong in captivity and deserve to live — and die — in their natural environment, surrounded by other elephants.

It is imperative that the Cordoba Zoo does not replace Flavia with another elephant. Sign this petition urging the zoo to remain elephant-free, so no other elephants will have to suffer the same fate as Flavia at the Cordoba Zoo.

 

 

Mark,

A documentary film highlighting Turtle Island Restoration Network’s shark research in Costa Rica was released this morning, and it’s well worth the watch.

The film, “What Sharks Reveal About the State of the Ocean,” follows Turtle Island to one of the world’s most premiere dive sites where we have researched sea turtle and shark migration for more than 10 years. 

The film debuted today at the World Ocean Summit in Abu Dhabi, where political leaders, policymakers, heads of global business, scientists, NGOs and multilaterals from across the globe gathered to connect the world to new ideas and perspectives. 

Experience a firsthand look at our shark research in Costa Rica by watching the film today.

 

A film crew from The Economist joined Turtle Island on our December 2018 Cocos Island Dive Expedition, where they spent 10 days witnessing expedition participants accomplish a number of important objectives surrounding shark research in the area, including the tagging of a 14-foot female tiger shark.

The film also shows chilling footage of the shark fin trade, as well as efforts to stop illegal fishing in the protected waters surrounding Cocos Island.

Every year, TIRN takes scuba divers to Cocos Island, one of the world’s most stunning marine protected areas, to view and photograph the most diverse marine life in the world, as well as the exclusive opportunity to assist TIRN with various levels of shark migration research. 

Our research is setting the basis for enlarging protections for highly migratory marine species by creating the world’s first marine protected area between two sovereign nations. If you are interested in supporting our research, please consider coming on an expedition, or making a donation.

I hope you enjoy the film.

Sincerely,

Todd Steiner
Founder & Executive Director
Turtle Island Restoration Network

Today, 3/3/19 is World Wildlife Day.

 

On 20 December 2013, at its 68th session, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed 3 March, the day of signature of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), as UN World Wildlife Day to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild animals and plants.

 

Learn more about it all via the following links:

https://www.wildlifeday.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wildlife_Day

 

https://www.unitedforwildlife.org/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4P3knonm4AIVR7TtCh1awQgzEAAYASAAEgLvdfD_BwE#!/2016/03/world-wildlife-day-2016

 

https://eia-international.org/young-voices-worth-hearing-on-un-world-wildlife-day/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4P3knonm4AIVR7TtCh1awQgzEAAYAiAAEgIda_D_BwE

https://www.snowleopard.org/world-wildlife-day-big-cats-threat/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4P3knonm4AIVR7TtCh1awQgzEAAYAyAAEgJHGvD_BwE

 

http://www.un.org/en/events/wildlifeday/

 

https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/world-wildlife-day/

 

http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/news-centre/news/2018/focusing-on-marine-species-for-the-first-time–the-next-world-wi.html

 

A site well worth checking out – Trees, Animal Rights, Veganism and more:

https://sapphiredrive.wordpress.com/

 

 

https://youtu.be/Fnp6sw5kI4Y

From – Somerset Badger Group

http://www.somersetbadgers.org.uk/ 

An opportunity arose at the school to create an artificial sett for badgers currently living under an old scout hut on the site, which is going to be replaced in the near future.

The school felt it was important to look after their badgers so we stepped in to help them create a new artificial sett so that the children could continue to enjoy sharing their school with the badgers and learn all about them too.

 

 

79 Slow Lorises Seized From Poachers, 10 In Critical Condition

 Posted by Dobi Finley | February 18, 2019

 

All Images: International Animal Rescue

 

Authorities recently confiscated 79 slow lorises from poachers in West Java Indonesia, and took the animals to the International Animal Rescue primate center for rehabilitation. Ten of the slow lorises were in dire medical condition when rescued, and are currently recovering in intensive care.

These specific animals are known as Javan slow lorises, and they are critically endangered. All of the confiscated animals were poached from the wild to be sold into the illegal pet trade, and are very lucky that police intervened just in time. Tragically, four of the animals were already deceased when they were found.

All of the surviving slow lorises suffered severe stress and dehydration, due to having been confined for a very long time in highly unnatural conditions. The animals who did not require specialized veterinary care were taken to the rescue center for observation. This is to allow them to rest and recover, and to make sure that they are good candidates for re-release. Once the animals build up their strength, they will be released back into the wild, since the goal is always to get healthy animals back into their natural habitat.

International Animal Rescue is still working around the clock caring for the 10 lorises in critical condition. The animals are recovering at the rehabilitation center, where they had to to undergo further medical examinations and treatment. Medical tests confirmed that the lorises were suffering from a number of health problems, including trauma, intestinal worms, infected teeth and gums, diarrhea and wounds to the body.

Those in critical condition will be kept under close observation by the center’s medical team, who will monitor the primates’ physical condition and administer drugs and vitamins to aid their recovery.

One of the lorises, whom caretakers have named Muka, has a horrible facial wound after being shot by a BB gun. The pellet is lodged deep in his face, and another pellet has been discovered in his armpit. The veterinarians are doing all they can to ease little Muka’s suffering, and hopefully he will be able to recover.

Unfortunately, illegal wildlife trafficking is rampant throughout Asia, and is fueled by the exotic pet trade. Organizations such as IAR work with government authorities to rescue as many animals as they can. While little Muka and his friends are still in urgent medical care, several of the other confiscated lorises are already fully recovered from their ordeal.

IAR recently made a special trip to a protected conservation forest to release some of the rescued animals. Hopefully all of the slow lorises can eventually be released when everyone has a clean bill of health. It is so heartwarming to see that some of these adorable lorises are already back home in the forest where they belong!