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Bilton Conservation Group was founded by local residents on 19th May 1982 to protect and maintain the rural environment of this, the oldest part of Harrogate.

Conservation News

China's illegal ivory traders exploiting online market

Over half of thousands of online advertisements for illegal wildlife products are for ivory, with other products including rhino horn, tiger bone and turtle shells, a wildlife trade monitoring network said China’s booming e-commerce websites have carried thousands of advertisements for illegal wildlife products including ivory, rhino horn and tiger bone, a wildlife trade monitoring network said on Tuesday.More than half of such products offered online in recent months are ivory, the British group Traffic found in a survey of 15 Chinese retail websites over a two year period. Continue reading...

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How lax legislation is killing the wildlife in Europe

There are no elephants or rhino to kill in Europe, but birds are being hunted with impunity because of loopholes and inconsistencies in conservation lawsReports of elephants and rhino being massacred for their tusks or horns due to demand in Asia often make the headlines. But illegal activities are not confined to trade in luxury items destined for markets in Asia – serious infractions of conservation law are happening in Europe too. Continue reading...

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Giant panda numbers up 17%, China reports

State media says 1,864 giant pandas alive in the wild at the end of 2013, compared to 268 fewer in 2003China’s population of wild giant pandas jumped nearly 17% over a decade with conservation measures credited as being behind the increase, according to state media citing an official survey.The investigation by the State Forestry Administration (SFA) found that by the end of 2013 China had 1,864 giant pandas alive in the wild, marking an increase of 268 individuals, or 16.8%, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday. Related: Yes, we have more pandas Continue reading...

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Pictures at an exhibition: justice and sustainable development - in pictures

With the sustainability agenda set to replace the millennium development goals when they expire later this year, the International Development Law Organisation is promoting an exhibition in Geneva to highlight the importance of the rule of law in development. In Focus: Justice and the Post-2015 Agenda, a collaboration with the photo agency Majority World, covers themes ranging from women’s rights in Afghanistan to access to electricity in rural areas of India Continue reading...

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Brazil's king of deforestation dethroned in drive to beat land clearers

Arrest of Ezekiel Castanha shines new spotlight on financial crime and may help bring breakthrough in effort to protect Amazon rainforestFor most of the past six years, Ezequiel Antônio Castanha had seemed a pillar of the community in the small Amazonian city of Novo Progresso. As the owner of a supermarket, hotel and car dealership, he provided more jobs than anyone else. Outside his municipality, few had heard of him. Neighbours described him as a “pessoa normal” (regular guy).Today, however, the thick-set, middle-aged man sits in jail with a notoriety across Brazil as a Tony Soprano-like character whose businesses were used to launder money from one of the biggest land clearance syndicates ever uncovered. Continue reading...

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