U.S. Department of the Interior’s Post

🌍 Embrace the call of the wild with the Greater Kruger Conservation Project! 🦓 Become a vital part of a dedicated team working on essential tasks in the heart of the African bush. 🌿 Whether it's assisting with research projects, identifying elephants and rhinos, or contributing to environmental education initiatives, your impact is significant. 🐘 Your days will be as diverse as the African landscape—clearing alien vegetation, monitoring camera traps, and maintaining the reserve. As a volunteer, you'll experience the magic of the Big 5 area in the Greater Kruger National Park, encountering majestic wildlife in their natural habitat. 🏕️ Nestled in a rustic bush camp, your home offers a genuine connection to nature. Cold running water, solar power, and an unfenced environment allow wildlife to roam freely. Your physical fitness, commitment, and flexibility will be crucial as you join a small team of staff and fellow volunteers. 🦏 Beyond the adventure, your participation supports the 'Black Mambas'—an anti-rhino poaching unit empowering women from disadvantaged communities. Your journey is not just an exploration of the African wilderness; it's a meaningful contribution to conservation and community support. 🌟 No prior African bush experience needed, just a genuine passion for nature, wildlife, and conservation. If you're 18 or older, ready for basic living conditions, and eager to make a difference, this is your call to action! 🦁 #KrugerConservation #VolunteerAdventure #wildlifewarriors Photo by Thibaut Tiberghien on Unsplash

From The New York Times: In December, Colombia declared a new national park in a corner of the over 200,000 square foot llanos region that borders the Manacacías River. The Manacacías joins the larger Meta River; then the Orinoco River, which forms part of the border with Venezuela; and there feeds into a tributary of the Amazon. At 263 square miles, the new park, Parque Nacional Natural Serranía de Manacacías, is not Colombia’s biggest. But from a conservation perspective it is strategic, protecting a crucial link between this vast tropical savanna and the Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest. The park has been in the works since 2010, when the Colombian government recognized the llanos — long viewed by the public as grassy wastelands — to be a conservation priority. A rare and fortuitous alignment of science, philanthropy and a new carbon tax allowed Manacacías to take shape, slowly and carefully, over more than a decade. During that time, a whole community had to be persuaded that it was worthwhile. Read more here: https://bit.ly/3HA3556 Photo by Federico Rios

For more than 50 years, Earth Day has signified a time for people to come together to invest in the health of the environment both locally and globally.🌎 As one of the largest groups of land managers and community service providers, park and recreation professionals and their agencies are essential to these environmental efforts. Several agencies shared their Earth Day and Month initiatives with us in the April issue of Parks & Recreation magazine. Read the full article to... 🌎Learn how Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation in North Carolina is promoting nature and agriculture as one of their main missions year-round. 🌎Explore what parks and recreation in Wichita, Kansas is doing to remind folks how important it is to take care of our environment. 🌎Discover the 2024 Annual Bike to Earth Day event held by the City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation in Indiana. 🌎Hear from Douglasville, Georgia Parks and Recreation on replenishing the tree canopy in a recently renovated park, which suffered a loss of trees during construction. 🌎Get a taste of the fun events and volunteer efforts put on by the Forest Preserves in Cook County, Illinois that allow people to give back to the natural world. 🌎Find out how the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department in Cary, North Carolina is getting community members involved in climate actions and stewardship strategies through dozens of programs. Read the full article: https://bit.ly/4cI0dRV #PowerOfParks #NRPAEarthMonth #EarthDay #EarthMonth #Conservation #WhereYouBelong #ClimateHero #Parks #Recreation #Environment #Sustainability #Nature

🔔 TODAY: Nation's natural 'gold reserves' recognised in 10 Downing Street announcements on #nationalparks: England’s National Parks represent our finest landscapes, famed for their spectacular beauty, varied wildlife and rich cultural heritage. National Parks are critical to providing access to green spaces for the nation, helping to tackle the challenges of #climatechange, declining biodiversity and better health and wellbeing. The announcements from Government today rightly recognise National Parks and other #ProtectedLandscapes in their efforts to recover nature, increase public access and tackle climate change. National Parks England look forward to working with Natural England over the coming years as they work on designating a new National Park.   We welcome the commitment to additional funding to help National Parks next year and look forward to seeing more details. In principle it will make a small contribution to reversing the real time budget cuts experienced by National Parks amounting to approximately 40% reduction in funding since 2010. National Parks are our natural ‘Gold Reserves’: homes to some of the most special plants and wildlife, and some of the only habitats of their kind on the world stage. National Parks also play a key role in health and wellbeing: for every £1 of government funding to National Park Authorities provides £5.70 in public health benefits.   Neil Heseltine, Chair of National Parks England said:   "The announcements today, along with the release of the Government’s response to Julian Glover’s Landscapes’ Review build on strengthened duties on other public bodies, confirmed in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act. But to fully realise our ambition to conserve 30% of land for nature significant additional tools and funding will be needed. We look forward to continuing to work with them on these goals and of course in time in welcoming a new National Park Authority to the family of National Parks." 📷 South Downs National Park - Robert Maynard

With more national parks than any other state in Australia, Queensland is a great place for a road trip to take in all our national park glory, so we're not surprised that 21% of Australians intend to visit Queensland between 1 June and 31 August for a winter holiday, What's the best road trip you've taken in Australia, and how many national parks or conservation parks did it lead you through? Statistics from https://buff.ly/3Xxfcct

Here's a chance to make a big difference, with a small investment. Consider taking a few moments to support this project that has the potential to make a big impact. #rarebirds #wildlife #biodiversity

Nils Peterson is another new board member for WakeUP. Nils has been in Wake County for almost 20 years and is currently a Wildlife Professor at NC State. His personal and professional work has been focused on ensuring North Carolina is a better place to live - using his expertise to focus on conservation of wildlife resources in our state while teaching the next generation of conservation students to carry this forward. If you were only allowed one sentence, what would you say about the importance of future planning? What else can we plan for? It's everything. What are Wake County's biggest opportunities/advantages when it comes to growth? Growth itself is an advantage because it allows change. I also think the current status of high tree cover and low density allows our county lots of flexibility when it comes to planning future transportation, conservation, and housing infrastructure. All those interstitial spaces can lead to great things. What is the connection between affordable housing, transportation, and land use as they relate to planning? A bright future requires affordability, and housing and transportation are the two primary and mandatory costs people face. Land use is tricky, because poor decisions can drive down housing costs by reducing desirability of a region. The trick is land use planning that creates desirable places to live paired with policy protecting affordable housing. What makes you hopeful about Wake County in the future? The people are ambitious, future oriented, highly skilled, and optimistic. The people. If you had a magic wand, what is one thing you would change about our community? I would create connectivity between greenways...green ones. #wakeupwakecounty #boardspotlight #wakecounty #thrivingcommunities #beapartofthesolution #sustainablegrowth #urbandevelopment #growwithus #climatechange #landuse #affordablehousing #equity #environment

We should always celebrate the biodiversity all around us! At Open Space STL , our different programs help enhance the natural areas and waterways in the #STL region. These include: Operation Wild Lands The Operation Wild Lands (OWLs) program works with volunteers of all ages to restore and maintain public lands throughout the St. Louis region. Volunteers assist with the proactive management of public open spaces to improve wildlife habitats and nature-related outdoor recreation. Community Stewardship Alliance This collaborative partnership, led by Open Space STL, is an exciting conservation program intended to provide focused, trained, volunteer leadership to restore and maintain the natural areas within our St. Louis County Parks. The goals of the program are to: Restore, protect and actively manage vulnerable natural areas to maintain and enhance the St. Louis region’s biodiversity and ecosystem services provided by our public lands Foster regional partnerships between public land managers, community members, and local organizations to align restoration efforts across priority natural areas Adapt successful local and national stewardship models to develop a coordinated program for the St. Louis region to achieve standardization of restoration techniques, management plans, reporting, monitoring, and communication Empower community members to become leaders invested in their local parks. Embrace #biodiversity #openspaces

The Largest National Parks in the United States of America: Natural Treasures of the USA National parks in the United States stand as testament to the country’s commitment to preserving its natural heritage and providing spaces for recreation and conservation. From the towering peaks of the Rockies to the vast expanses of desert, the United States has an impressive collection of national parks that meet different interests and offer breathtaking landscapes. In this article we’ll explores the largest national parks in the United States, each offering its own special mix of natural wonders and outdoor adventures. https://lnkd.in/dEcw8ccg

🌿🌆 Did you know that the past still shapes our urban landscapes? 🤔 Discover how historical redlining affects urban wildlife in California's biggest cities! 🐦🦝 🏙️ From LA to SF, a new UC Berkeley study reveals shocking differences in biodiversity between neighborhoods. 🌱🦉 Why do some areas flourish while others lag behind? 🧐 🔍 Uncover the invisible barriers that continue to impact our furry and feathered friends. 🐾🌼 Is nature suffering from our historical decisions? 🚫🌳 🌟 Imagine what we could achieve with more green spaces in every neighborhood! 🏞️💚 What steps can we take to bring balance back to urban nature? 🔄🌍 https://lnkd.in/gKeuWx5k 👉 Follow Karmactive for more eye-opening insights and join the conversation on how we can all make a difference! 📲💬 #UrbanWildlife #RedliningImpact #BiodiversityCrisis #EcoAwareness #SustainableCities