Wild Futures - Newsletter Summer 2019

Simple Steps
to Helping the
Environment
Climate change and the devastating
effect it is having on our planet
is a huge topic in the media at
the moment.
Sad as it is we wholeheartedly
support this coverage. Each and
every one of us can do our bit to
make small and large changes to
our lifestyles to help reduce our
impact on the environment and
climate change.
We often get asked how people can
help, so we’ve put together three
very simple and common steps
that you can take to make positive
changes to help protect our planet.
1. Travel responsibly – Wherever
possible try and walk or cycle
to wherever you need to go. If
you are going on a longer
journey, try using public
transport where possible.
2. Reduce the amount of meat and
dairy in your diet – Reducing
the amount of meat and dairy
in your diet can hugely reduce
your impact on the environment.
Farmed animals contribute
14.5% of human-generated
greenhouse gas emissions,
which is a staggering amount.
3. Be mindful of waste – reduce,
reuse, recycle! The amount
of waste that we are creating
is astonishing; every product
we buy has an environmental
footprint and could end up in
landfill. Being aware of what
you are purchasing, as well as
reusing and recycling wherever
possible will have a positive
impact. You could also consider
not buying items that are in
single use plastic.
Cycle to work
It’s Time to Bee Happy
There’s been a lot in the media about
how important bees are, and about
their unfortunate decline – but do you
know why they are so important or
what you can do to help?
Bees collect pollen and nectar from
flowers to feed their entire colony,
in doing so they move pollen from
one flower to another which allows
fertilization of these plants – enabling
plants to grow fruits etc. Bees are
essential pollinators; there are more
honey bees than any other species of
bee or pollinating insect, so they do the
majority of the pollinating that occurs.
Bees not only pollinate wild flowers
and plants but do a significant amount
of pollinating of commercial crops as
varied as avocados, blueberries, cotton,
celery, and almonds. Without bees it
would cost farmers a lot more money
to pollinate their crops, the cost of
which would then be passed down to
consumers and would very much affect
the economy. We would also lose the
variety and abundance of wild flowers
that make our countryside so beautiful.
Why are they in danger? There are a
number of factors affecting the decline
of bee numbers worldwide. There has
been massive habitat loss with more
built-up areas constantly being created.
New pesticides are now being found
to be dangerous to bee species and
climate change is also having a negative
impact on bees – changing when they
emerge after winter and also affecting
the timing of the flowering of plants
that the bees rely on for food.
So what can we do to help? It’s not
too late to save bees, and if everyone
does a little to help it will make a
big difference.
Create a bee paradise in your garden
with bee-friendly plants, such as mint,
Echinacea, lavender, wild lilac, witch
hazel, and poppies. Leave a part of
your lawn to go wild; bees love daisies,
dandelions and clover. If you don’t
have a garden you can have a plant pot
or two on a balcony or any available
outside space with bee-friendly plants.
Don’t use pesticides – they can harm
bees or other insects. Some of these
insects leave sweet secretions that bees
may eat, and all will play their part in
the ecosystem. Hence using pesticides
can cause unnecessary harm to your
local bee population.
Mint - a bee friendly plant
Create a drinking area for them – they
just need a little bit of water, which you
can create with a shallow container –
put stones, pebbles and twigs in it for
places to rest and drink from. And if
you ever see a drowsy looking bee they
might need a pick me up – some sugar
water can perk them up and send them
on their way again – just put some in
a small accessible pot near where you
find them.
If everyone does just a little bit to help,
together we can make a big difference
to the small insect that does a gigantic
job – let’s help them bee happy again!!!
Wildflowers
European Voluntary
Service
The European Voluntary Service (EVS)
scheme, which we’ve been a part of for a
few years, allows young people to travel
to other countries and volunteer for nonprofit
organisations, whilst learning and
developing new skills in an area they’re
interested in. We offer EVS volunteer roles
with us in primate care, administration,
education, and maintenance.
Here’s what a couple of our current
EVS interns have to say about their
time here:
Pablo
Primate Care Team
Pablo
Where are you from? Barcelona, Spain.
What made you want to do EVS with
Wild Futures? I wanted to improve
my English, but also in a place where
I could do some environmental work at
the same time. I had some experience
with primate care, so I knew what to
expect about working in a sanctuary.
What is your average working day like?
I care for the Barbary macaques and/
or the woolly monkeys, and a typical
day can consist of cleaning enclosures,
moving the animals through runways,
feeding and making enrichment.
Around those core jobs, I give talks,
pick leaves for the monkeys, and do
daily behavioural observations as well
general maintenance work.
What do you enjoy most about doing
EVS? The thing that I like the most is
having the opportunity to be abroad for
a long time, knowing a lot of different
people and learning a new culture
while practising English.
What do you hope to do in the future?
I’d like to do a master’s in biodiversity
management and continue with
my career.
Rike
Education Team
Rike
Where are you from? I am from
Schafflund, which is in Northern
Germany not far from the Danish border.
What made you want to do EVS with
Wild Futures? I always wanted to spend
time abroad, speak another language
and get out of my comfort zone. Wild
Futures was one of the most fascinating
projects I read about when looking for
an EVS position.
The combination of speaking English
fluently, living in the beautiful region
of Cornwall and working with animals
to give them a better life – what more
could you want?
What is your average working day
like? My morning starts with cleaning
enclosures. In the afternoon I have lots
of different jobs! I give talks about the
monkeys and the primate pet trade. I
take care of the education rooms.
I do daily observations on the
monkeys, learning their characters and
behaviours. I work on presentations
and informative materials. I also give a
variety of educational workshops to the
other volunteers. But there’s a lot more
to do – so I never get bored!
What do you enjoy most about doing
EVS? Living at the Sanctuary is a unique
experience. You live with many people
from other countries and find a lot out
about yourself.
It teaches you how to make very quick
friends, speak with strangers, challenge
yourself and get better at what you are
doing every day.
What do you hope to do in the future?
I will perhaps study Law in Germany.
This scheme is funded by the
Erasmus+ programme of the European
Commission. To find out more about
the voluntary schemes that we offer
visit www.wildfutures.org/europeanvoluntary-service
8 www.wildfutures.org | info@wildfutures.org | www.monkeysanctuary.org
Conserving natural habitats through education and sustainable living
9