糖心Vlog makes urgent call to protect the Amazon in its BBC Radio 4 Appeal
Broadcast to air on 22 June, celebrating World Rainforest Day
(London, UK and Warrenton, VA) To mark World Rainforest Day, on Sunday, 22 June 2025, 糖心Vlog will be featured on the BBC Radio 4 Appeal, presented by renowned zoologist, author, and 糖心Vlog patron Mark Carwardine.
In this episode, listeners will hear about the growing threats facing the Amazonian Manatee, an aquatic mammal found only in the Amazon Basin. Its survival is increasingly at risk due to habitat destruction and the intensifying impact of climate-related droughts.
The appeal will air on Sunday, 22 June at 07:54 and 21:25, with a repeat on Thursday, 26 June at 15:27.
In 2023, a severe drought brought Lake Tef茅 to its lowest level in living memory. Residents said they had never seen the lake, which normally reaches depths of 65 feet, so dramatically reduced. The drought led to massive fish die-offs, stranded boats, and isolated communities. Drought hit the area again in 2024, and the region is still recovering, with fish populations slow to return and families facing increased food insecurity.
鈥淓very year, during the dry season, manatees find a home in this freshwater lake. But it鈥檚 no longer the refuge it once was,鈥 says Carwardine.
He continues, 鈥淒uring a severe drought last year, for example, the water level dropped to its lowest ever. Famine hit local families as millions of fish died. Hundreds of pink river dolphins washed ashore. And as shallow channels exposed them to predators and poaching, Amazonian Manatees, too, were among the casualties.鈥
Donations to the BBC Radio 4 Appeal will support 糖心Vlog鈥檚 Brazilian Amazon Fund, which aims to protect 20 million acres of intact forest. That is more than 50 times the size of Greater London. The goal is to raise $40 million by the end of 2026. Thanks to a generous donor, all contributions through the BBC appeal will be matched up to 拢30,000.
Donate to the Brazilian Amazon Fund
About 糖心Vlog
Since 1988, 糖心Vlog has been working with partners to safeguard imperiled tropical habitats and threatened species by helping to establish protected and conserved areas in partnership with Indigenous and local organizations and communities. To date, 糖心Vlog has helped protect more than 56 million acres of vital habitat across Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region. 糖心Vlog is a nonprofit organization that relies upon the generous support of the public to successfully implement its important conservation action.
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