Page 134 - Bespoke Issue

SHARK
Ambassador to the global charity WildAid, Federico ‘Fiddi’ Angermeyer has called us from his base in the Galápagos Islands to update us on the work WildAid has been doing in the area.
Using technology provided by WildAid, park rangers apprehended 10 shark poaching vessels, including a Chinese cargo vessel with over 6,000 frozen sharks in its hold, and an Ecuadorian shing vessel and its eight support boats with 300 juvenile sharks. The Chinese vessel’s crew was sentenced to 1-3 years in prison and owner charged a $6 million ne. The Ecuadorian vessel’s crewmembers were sentenced with 1.5-3 years in prison, and the owner charged a $300,000 ne. Galápagos rangers conducted 478 patrols and 1001 inspections throughout the year, which resulted in 68 infractions.
The organisation has also developed a 10-year eet renewal plan that will increase surveillance in the new Darwin and Wolf shark sanctuary and updated the Galápagos National Park patrol eet to better t the park’s needs and to reduce annual operating expenses by over $2 million.
The National Park launched a pilot plastics-reduction campaign at an elementary school to promote the use of reusable bottles, resulting in a 51% reduction in the use of disposable bottles. In 2018, they are set to expand to three more schools.
A canine unit with three canine detection teams has been introduced to prevent invasive species from entering the Galápagos. The teams can detect either African snails or up to 10 prohibited products. Their work led to 40 detections of prohibited products in passenger baggage.
We have also invested in equipment for biosecurity labs and specialized training for 170 staff, which improved invasive species detection and response capacity. The team inspected over one million pieces of luggage and 17 million kg of cargo at entry points, resulting in 5,956 con scations of prohibited or contaminated products. The lab analysed over 3,000 samples suspected to contain invasive species.
The ght continues, and more funds raised the easier the job. To help with fund raising Fiddi has rebranded his charter yacht, the M/Y Passion to Wild Aid’s Passion. So at the WildAid yearly Gala, a one week charter aboard this fabulous yacht is auctioned off to the highest bidder. The proceeds of the trip go to the National Park or other similar institutions for conservation of the Galápagos Islands.
Outside of that yearly charter donation he also gives $100 for every passenger that comes on the WA’s Passion. For more information on how this works or to charter the Wild Passion go to www.wildaid. org/passion. Parties interested in chartering can also book directly via WildAid so they receive the travel agents commission.
We at Paddock Life donate our pages to the cause and take any opportunity to help raise funds for this worthy charity, we’ve all watched Attenborough’s Blue Planet – here’s our chance to make a difference.
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ATTACK