NEWS SO FAR AND URGENT APPEALS

Thanks:

As always thanks so much for all you help over the past few weeks. In this newsletter we highlight two serious environmental issues that the GVI-CT is hoping to aid with your help and give you the opportunty to volunteer in the Seychelles.

Reunions:

For more information on reunions, please click here.

URGENT APPEALS

Save the Rainforests of Yachana in Ecuador:

We have just been notified that a lumber company in Ecuador has placed a bid on five tracts of primary and secondary rainforest in the area that FUNEDESIN and GVI are working so that they can cut down the trees and sell the wood for profit! FUNEDESIN has made a counter-offer to purchase the land for conservation and education purposes and we are awaiting the final decision on the sale.

We've got to act fast and need your help!

We hope to raise the GVI-CT's donation by the end of July.

The GVI-CT aim to help FUNEDESIN to raise the $100,000 it needs to purchase this primary and secondary rainforest in the Ecuadorian Amazon, an area threatened by the recent construction of a road that cuts directly through the Yachana Reserve. GVI and other researchers working in the Reserve over the past six months have documented the endangered ocelot, the endangered neotropical otter, a new variety of the Amazonian earth snake and what may turn out to be a new species of frog! Most importantly, this land is part of the Yachana Technical High School 's campus for training in conservation and sustainable development so that local youth can learn to be better stewards of their own resources.

With the aid of a huge donation from Rainforest Concern, FUNEDESIN's supporters have already helped to raise well in excess of $75,000 to purchase three tracts (125 acres each) of valuable rainforest land, and the GVI-CT hope to help with raising the remaining $25,000 needed to purchase the last two tracts! Any money raised above the target will go to further conservation of the Yachana reserve through the work of FUNEDESIN and the GVI-CT.

Want to know how you can help?

Make a charitable donation of as little as 20 pounds (or whatever amount you choose) and help us to reach our goal!

Click here to make your contribution to Yachana and follow these steps: 1) Click Donate Now. 2) Select the amount you would like to contribute or click on ‘Other'. 3) Log in or register with Just Giving. 4) Follow payment instructions.

Save the heritage and beauty of Curieuse Island in The Seychelles:

Curieuse Island is the fifth largest in the Seychelles group and holds a unique position amongst 115 others. It is the last one to still effectively belong to the people! Because of this it must be protected for their future.

Curieuse was discovered in 1744 and claimed for the French in1768. It was named after the Schooner of the French West Indian Company that came to claim it. In the early days the only occupants were giant tortoise and saltwater crocodiles. As more settlers arrived, the islands resources began to degrade. In 1829 worried that some species could disappear forever a British Official (George Harrison) proposed to make Curieuse a protected island and to establish a leper colony there to help deter any would be poachers. The island began to recover but after 80 years, the lepers were moved and the island given over to commercial use. The degeneration began again until in 1937 the lepers returned and the island reverted to its former self. The colony was not finely closed until as recently as 1965 when modern drugs where able to eradicate the disease. The island remained protected however and in 1979 a marine park was established around it effectively preserving the entire ecosystem.

Today Curieuse is home to 150 Giant Tortoise and 2500 Coco de Mer Palm trees. Its beaches are used by the critically endanger hawksbill turtle to dig nests and lay its eggs and its seas give sanctuary to any number of marine species.

This paradise is under potential threat from a wave of development currently being initiated in the Seychelles, it is important to save this heritage site for Seychellois people for ever.

How can we you help? At the moment 4/6 GVI volunteers spend a week on the island assisting the Seychelles Centre for Marine Research and Technology - Marine Parks Authority with their work of looking after the island. Scientific research is carried out, paths are cleared, mooring buoys maintained, signs made and general maintenance carried out. Tourists are only allowed on the island in the day time and guided tours of the old lepers' houses and the doctor's house are given by Marine park rangers. What is desperately needed is more scientific research to gather hard data.

GVI has been asked by its partners in the Seychelles to carry out scientific surveys on the reefs around Curieuse. For this commitment to come to fruition, more accommodation is needed. To this end GVI has been asked to renovate one of the old leper houses and also to assist in preserving the other ones as monuments to the hundreds of people who lived and died here and as testaments to the few dedicated people who help them die with some semblance of dignity. The GVI-CT hope with your help to raise the money necessary to make this happen.

Click here to make your contribution to Curieuse and follow these steps: 1) Click Donate Now. 2) Select the amount you would like to contribute or click on ‘Other'. 3) Log in or register with Just Giving. 4) Follow payment instructions.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Seychelles building project:

We are urgently seeking practical people to assist GVI's partners in the Seychelles , SCMRT-MPA, to covert some ruins into an operational research base. The buildings are based upon Curieuse Island , the Seychelles ' only terrestrial and marine National Park. It's an exceptional place, which holds one of only 2 wild populations of the famous Coco de Mer palms and one of only 2 wild populations of the Aldabra Giant Tortoise. The volunteers' accommodation is set on a gorgeous white sand beach and backed by a steeply sided forest. There is a ranger station on the island and the volunteers will work under the direct supervision of the local organisation SCMRT-MPA and the rangers stationed there.

GVI hopes to place at least one person from this current expedition who will help SCMRT-MPA coordinate activities on Curieuse. The GVI-CT are looking for 4 or 5 people with good practical ability, ideally but not necessarily some building / house renovation experience to arrive in Seychelles on the 20th June or soon afterwards. The post will run until around the 28th of July with the possibility of extension.

One return ferry ticket from Mahe to Praslin would be supplied and all basic food and accommodation at the project site. Local transport, side trips and food off site will be funded individually by the volunteer. Volunteers will need to bring sheets, mosquito nets, work gloves and old work clothes. The weekends will be free to dive, explore, take a trip to Mahe, La Digue or other islands.

Volunteers will need to be very self motivated, working directly for SCMRT and local builders.

These positions are open to ex-GVI volunteers, who should apply directly through seychelles@gvi.co.uk, giving the name and date of their original expedition or project.

A once in a lifetime opportunity, hurry while there are still places.

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