DECADE OF DISCOVERY - BBC2, Tuesday 14th December...

Ibex Earth is delighted to announce that some of the footage that we shot during The Lost World Project is set to be used during the BBC's 'DECADE OF DISCOVERY' documentary, which airs on BBC TWO on Tuesday 14th December 2010 (8pm) and will then feature on BBC IPlayer until Tuesday 21st December 2010.

It will be the first time that anyone has seen the footage that we have taken and will be broadcast to a global television audience. Obviously we are going to recommend that you watch the show to see our clip, but 'DECADE OF DISCOVERY' looks like it could be one of the best nature documentaries on the BBC for quite some time, and is hosted by presenter Chris Packham...

Below is some additional information that we have received from the BBC about the programme, which starts at 8pm on Tuesday 14th December - well worth a watch! The documentary also features an interview with Stewart McPherson, who led The Lost World Expedition to South America's 'lost world'...

The 21st century is already being hailed as the new Golden Age of Discovery. In the last decade scientists and explorers have discovered a staggering quarter of a million new species, so in a celebratory one-off special, presenter Chris Packham chooses his personal top ten favourites, of the most extraordinary discoveries of the last ten years. These are the creatures no one dreamt even existed, the ones that have got the scientists in a spin and re written the text books! We get up close to the new discoveries and hear the extraordinary stories of how they were found – told by the charismatic world-class scientists and explorers who discovered them, the Indiana Jones’s of the natural world.

Some quotes from the scientists...

‘The fact that this lay undiscovered for all these years is almost beyond belief...’

‘It’s the insect equivalent of finding a blue whale or a redwood tree....’

‘The fact that something of this size lay undiscovered till the 21st century is staggering...’

‘Its like discovering a new species of elephant, its mind blowing...’

DECADE OF DISCOVERY proves the Earth can still surprise us.

Working alongside teams of scientists the BBC’s Natural History Unit filmed the most fantastic new species from around the world - from the jungles of Malaysia to the remotest forests of Madagascar. And there are many more weird, or just plain wonderful species also featured in the programme that don’t quite make it into Chris’s top ten.

In Chris’s top ten:

- The rarest mammal on planet earth - the pygmy three-toed sloth filmed swimming for the first time in the waters of the Caribbean. Only 200 left in the world

- a brand new species of lemur discovered during the making of the programme - a phaner lemur which is nocturnal and with forked markings Discovered by Russ Mittermeier, President of Conservation International and a top lemur scientist ( with two lemurs already named after him)

- anyone remember the Clangers? A sengi looks just like one. Sengi is the Swahili name for an elephant shrew. Weirdly not related to shrews at all, but distantly related to an elephant with a prehensile nose

- a huge Tanzanian monkey - the rarest in Africa – with a Mohican hairstyle, which until now was though to be a “spirit animal”. It turned out to be real, and not only that a new genus, more closely related to a baboon

- witness evolution in action with the discovery of a cave gecko – filmed side by side with a forest gecko. The cave gecko has evolved to stay safely away from pit vipers that live outside the cave in the Malaysian forest. What’s known as speciation in the making – the moment when one animal becomes two

- the walking shark – a nickname for the bamboo shark.. A distant cousin of the great white, it appears to walk along the shallow seabed as it searches for prey

- a carnivorous pitcher plant big enough for a fist to fit right inside and , in the remote and new species-rich Tepui mountains in Venezuela on Mount Ruraira, yet more new pitcher plants - in the Lost World that inspired the feature film UP

- the world’s longest insect – Chan’s Megastick – first found in Borneo, and almost as long as a human arm

- the big red jellyfish – revealed by the deep sea explorers of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

- a giant slipper orchid, three times the size of any orchid seen before with flowers up to 20 centimetres across, which caused a scandal when it was first discovered

Guide to writing an Environmetal Policy

The Ibex Earth Guide to writing an Environmental Policy...

At Ibex Earth we feel that every business should have its own Environmental Policy - for us this is so a business can improve its environmental performance and adopt a more environmentally sustainable business practice. For example, you can ensure that your procurement process takes into account ethical, environmental and sustainable considerations - thus placing pressure on suppliers to ensure that all of their goods are from respectable sources.

An Environmental Policy allows a business to demonstrate its 'green ethos' to the wider world or to show staff that you do actually take your environmental responsibilities seriously - an ever increasing necessity in today's market place, as 'green' issues continue to grow in importance upon the political, business and consumer agendas. Promoting your new 'green' policy can attract publicity and new clientele.

However, if you've opted not to have an Environmental Policy for whatever reason, you really should reconsider because by acting on becoming more sustainable / environmentally responsible you will actually save money e.g. by opting to reduce your carbon emissions you will in the process lower your fuel bill - the same can be said for water reduction and improving the amount of recycling your business can do.

So then, not only does an Environmental Policy help the global and local environment, it also has a great deal of potential to help you reduce your overall costs - surely it is worth considering adopting an Environmental Policy in today's financial market? Below is Ibex Earth's very own Environmental Policy, please feel free to adopt our own policy as yours - you will be surprised how easy it is...

Ibex Earth's Environmental Policy


We recognise the way in which we operate has an impact upon the environment and are committed to ensuring that we run a sustainable and environmentally responsible business practice. We also acknowledge that our environmental performance is important to our staff, clients and other stakeholders and we will look to minimise our impacts and continually improve our environmental performance.

In seeking to improve our environmental performance, we are addressing the following areas, in particular:

Energy Consumption

We will look to reduce our energy consumption and implement energy efficiency measures in our building when economically feasible.

Water Consumption

We will look to reduce our water consumption and implement water saving measures in our buildings when economically feasible.

Waste Management

We have introduced a reduce, reuse and recycle waste management system, in which we will look to minimise the amount of waste that our business produces and improve our recycling rates. We encourage that all correspondence is conducted via email in order to minimise the amount of paper that we use.

Transport

We will look to maximise the use of public transport and avoid private car use whenever possible. If there are alternatives to air travel, e.g. travelling by rail, then we will ensure that we choose the alternative travel method. We encourage all staff to travel to work via public transport

Procurement

We will take into account the environmental credentials of all suppliers when awarding contracts and purchase environmentally responsible products when possible. We will give preference to suppliers who

Communication

We will share our environmental policy and objectives by communicating both internally and externally.

Review

We will review our environmental policy on an annual basis and revise accordingly to ensure that we continue to improve our environmental performance.

The Lost World Project - the Participant Experience

The Lost World Project - the Particpants Experience - an Extract...

If you've been following the Ibex Earth Blog you will be aware that in August 2010 we sent a critically acclaimed film crew to Mount Roraima, Venezuela to shoot a broadcast quality documentary about the plateau that inspired Arthur Conan Doyle to write his famous novel 'The Lost World'.

But did you know that ten people from across the UK won a place on the expedition after spending six months fundraising to help Ibex Earth secure the funding to make the film. Walking non-stop across Hadrian's Wall, cycling the length of the UK and having a duel on Tower Bridge were just some of the brilliant fundraising ideas that got the ten lucky participants onto the plane to Caracas, Venezuela.

The following is an extract taken from a document prepared by the participants with absolutely no input from Ibex Earth - the completed document will soon be up on the Ibex Earth website and will contain exclusive pictures from the participants time on Roraima's summit. 

And so it began...

We left for our 16-­‐day Venezuelan adventure and the wild blue yonder on the 20th August 2010. After 5 flights, two day-­‐long bus journeys (with a sleepover at Canaima National Park headquarters – otherwise known as a collection of huts) and a delightfully bumpy 4x4 trip to the remote Amerindian village of Paratepui we were ready to start the real adventure, our 10-­‐day trek to explore and film Mount Roraima and all her wonders!


Sadly, Roraima was shy and didn’t come out of the clouds until we reached our second camp, Rio Tok
at the end of the first day!


Luckily we had a spectacular vista of Kukenan ­‐ Roraima’s neighbouring plateau ‐ to remind us why
the blisters were going to be worth it!


Our first day saw us passing through hot, dry savannah with sporadic but much needed breaks under the towering canopies of rainforest that sprout up around small rivers which cut across the undulating uninhabited lowlands that characterised the terrain of our first encounter with trekking on the trip.

To be continued....

The fantastic participants of The Lost World Project

Ibex Earth launches the 'Beyond Carbon' Group

The Ibex Earth 'Beyond Carbon' Group

Ibex Earth is delighted to announce the launch of the 'Beyond Carbon' Group, which aims to become the leading environmental network for businesses that wish to demonstrate a genuine commitment to 'green' issues.

The BCG's primary objective is to engage with international/City-based businesses from all sectors and move away from the current trend of focussing upon carbon reduction initiatives.

Instead he BCG is set to encourage a shift in corporate thinking and encourage businesses to work on protecting the global environment and its ecosystems. For example, BCG Members can utilise the unique skill sets of their employees to provide free support, advice and assistance to an array of environmental charities.

To achieve this the BCG focuses upon four key areas - the environment, biodiversity, conservation and sustainability - and collaboration with Ibex Earth's 'Environmental & Conservation' Partners to provide BCG Members with the opportunity to work on innovative and unique environmental projects, share best practice through the dynamic BCG Network and fulfil corporate social responsibility objectives in relation to the environment.

Aims & Objectives of the 'Beyond Carbon' Group

* To create a dynamic environmental network of leading professional businesses and environmental organisations from a variety of sectors.

* To develop and establish projects to help protect and sustainably manage the natural ecosystems of the world, in particular, in the world's biodiversity 'hotspots' with emphasis on threatened habitats and endangered species.

* To utilise the unique skill sets of professional businesses in order to provide free support, advice and assistance to Ibex Earth's 'Environmental & Conservation' Partners in order to improve the broader environmental picture.

* To raise awareness, in the UK and globally, of the need for conservation, greater environmental protection and reducing pollution by improving understanding and generating support through education, information and fundraising.

* To establish a regular series of seminars and events to disseminate knowledge and share best practice through a proactive peer to peer network.

If you are interested in finding out more about Ibex Earth's 'Beyond Carbon' Group then please contact Chris Livemore by emailing chris.livemore@ibexearth.com

A few more pictures from The Lost World

Some great photos taken by Lost World participant Shikha Bhakoo - for more images taken during our time on Mount Roraima why not visit the Ibex Earth Facebook site -