In Nepal’s Bardia National Park, bodyguards are protecting greater one-horned rhinos from poachers.

The rhino bodyguards - riding atop elephants - are making a difference: Since deployment of the program 18 months ago, there have not been any rhinos killed by poachers in Bardia National Park.

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Thanks to rampant poaching and habitat destruction, rhinos have the unfortunate distinction of being one of the most endangered animals on earth.

Over the last 30 years, the world’s overall rhinoceros population has declined by over 90% - and if not for dedicated conservation efforts over the last 100 years, it is likely that all rhinoceros species would already be extinct.

To help raise awareness for these proud pachyderms, here are 11 incredible facts about rhinos - plus a compilation of beautiful photos (except for one very graphic photo) and a couple of videos, too. Enjoy!

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The Chinese delegation attending the Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop has reportedly claimed China’s tiger farms supply ‘medicine’ to 60 countries.

A shocking article from Nepal’s Republica says that the Chinese delegation attending the Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop claims China “cannot put an end to its tiger farming as medicine produced from tiger parts is supplied to 60 countries”.

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Expansion of critical habitat for tigers and the establishment of a Wildlife Crime Control Committee are among the announcements from the Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop. But will these efforts be enough to protect tigers from China’s ‘bizarre obsession’ with tiger body parts?

Encouraging news so far from the inaugural session of the Kathmandu Global Tiger Workshop: Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal announced a 900 sq km increase of Bardia National Park, expanding critical habitat for Nepal’s tigers.

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A shocking discovery by forest guards in the Valmikinagar Tiger Reserve exposes a family business built on killing tigers.

Learning from grandma is usually a good thing. But not this time: An eight-year-old boy and his grandmother were arrested after laying a steel trap to kill a tiger.

The pair was caught adjacent to the Indo-Nepal border, in the Manguraha jungle area.

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Park authorities have arrested a dozen people in connection to the recent Chitwan National Park rhino killings.

The good news: Multiple arrests have been made in connection to the recent rhino poaching incidents inside Nepal’s Chitwan National Park.

The bad news: It turns out that three - not two - rhino were killed by poachers over the last two weeks. Two of the rhino were females.

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Poachers have slaughtered two rhino in Chitwan National Park - bringing the total since January to at least nine.

Chitwan National Park authorities were dismayed to discover the carcasses of two greater one-horned rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) in the span of just ten days. On September 2, a male rhino was found in the Temple Tiger area, and on September 12, a female rhino was found in Krishnasar Community Forest of Nawalparasi.

Both rhino had their horns hacked out.

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“For every beautiful garment People Tree makes, there’s an equally beautiful change happening somewhere in the world” ~ Peopletree.co.uk

People tree is an exemplary model of “think global, act local” in sustainable fashion. With a strong business base in Europe and Asia, they work internationally with small handicraft makers in nearly twenty countries. Each textile collective is different. For example, in the nightwear collection highlighted above, they feature Nepalese hand-knit slipper socks together with these well constructed organic nighties made in India.

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In order to raise awareness for vulture conservation and educate the public about the threats facing these majestic birds, September 5, 2009 has been designated as International Vulture Awareness Day.

Over 100 organizations from around the world will be participating in International Vulture Awareness Day 2009 (IVAD09), a worldwide event that aims to publicize vulture conservation to a global audience and to bring attention to the work being done by vulture experts.

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The “Women on Conservation” event was kicked off by Surdevi Community Forest User Group President lighting the ceremonial candle.

This lively theatrical competition was held at the Surdevi Community Forest User Group Office on August 23, 2009 and presented by Partnership for Rhino Conservation and Friendship Chitwan. A total of seven groups from the Chitwan Buffer Zone and surrounding villages participated in the program with songs, poems, and stories about wildlife conservation.

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In order to provide safe food for critically endangered vultures, Pakistan has opened a “vulture restaurant.”

After 95% of the vulture populations in India, Nepal and Pakistan were lost due to poisoning by the drug Diclofenac, the idea of “vulture restaurants” have been catching on.

Vulture restaurants serve up the carcasses of cattle that have been monitored by a veterinarian prior to death, to confirm the animals have not been treated with Diclofenac.

Following on the success of Nepal’s vulture restaurants, Dhartee Development Society, in collaboration with the UNDP Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme has opened a vulture restaurant in Pakistan.

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Finally, a bit of good news about wild tigers.

In Nepal, the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (in coordination with the WWF and the National Trust for Nature Conservation) has released an estimated population of critically endangered tigers and snow leopards. And, the tiger population has increased in Chitwan National Park.

According to The Himalayan Times:

It said that there were a total of 121 adult tigers spread over the four protected areas, with the highest number in the Chitwan National Park with 91 tigers. Bardiya National Park, Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve and Parsa Wildlife Reserve were estimated to have 18, eight and four tigers respectively. Similarly, the estimated population of snow leopards is 300-400 in the Himalayan region.

The tiger census was conducted from December 2008 - March 2009, using data collected from camera traps and tiger footprints.

The Chitwan National Park tiger census in 2000 determined the population to be around 60 adult tigers.

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Just 30 years ago, the Karnali River was home to approximately 100 Ganges River Dolphins. But according to conservationists, there are only six of them left.

Time is running out for Nepal’s population of Gange River Dolphins (Platanista gangetica gangetica), a rare freshwater species. Currently classified as endangered by the IUCN, several threats have forced this freshwater dolphin to the verge of regional extinction in the Karnali River:

• Water development projects: The construction of dams and barrages has fragmented dolphin populations, and degraded downstream habitats and food supplies. Dolphins also become stranded in canals, with no way to return. For example, when dolphins come down to Girijapuri, they cannot return once they cross the dam, just 15 kilometers from Nepal’s border.
• Hunting: Tribal people in the upper Brahmaputra kill the dolphins for their meat, and fishermen in the middle reaches of the Ganges use the dolphin’s oil as a fish attractant.
• Pollution: The rivers are at capacity for pollution and can no longer dilute the agricultural poisons that are dumped in them, and this is compounded by upstream water development projects.
• Overfishing: In the border areas, both Nepalis and Indian fishermen have reduced the number of small fish to the point where many dolphins have starved to death.

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Those of us who don’t live in developing countries might not always remember that the majority of the world still uses biomass-fired cookstoves that produce smoke and other toxins. It’s a serious problem–indoor air pollution kills 1.6 million people yearly. Enter the SCORE (Stove for Cooking, Refrigeration, and Electricity), a $33 cookstove developed by researchers at the University of Nottingham that doubles as an electrical generator.

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The yarn is spun from the remnants of the production of silk saris in Nepal. Darn Good Yarn only works with co-ops in Nepal that offer fair trade pricing for the spinning of the yarn.

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Apa Sherpa, 49, has climbed Mount Everest a record 18 times but now he’s preparing for a 19th, this time to clean up the mess left by the thousands of climbers who have scaled the mountain since 1953.

Apa, a high-altitude guide, plans to take the Eco Everest Expedition up the mountain to clean up garbage left by previous expeditions. Climbers have noted the build-up of waste on the mountain for several years.

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A Swedish inventor has unveiled a solar-powered water purifier that could provide billions of the world’s poorest people with access to clean and disease-free drinking water [video].

The device, called the Solvatten, (Swedish for ’sun water’), looks much the same as a standard jerrycan and can be filled with up to ten liters of water, opened out, and left in the sun. A simple indicator shows either a red or green face to let users know when the water is safe to drink (typically after 3-4 hours), thus avoiding the risk of contracting water-borne diseases.

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The setting is the foothills of the Himalayas. Giant Nettle, a/k/a Allo in Nepal, is a plant that grows wild, – up to three meters (or 9.84 feet) in forests. Like hemp, the plants don’t require fertilizers or pesticides. Also like hemp, the plants prevent soil erosion. In fact hemp grows well in this region too.

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The Blessed Nest Nesting Pillow is made in the USA, like many of the items available from Bambino Land.  It is 100% organic!  The washable slipcover is made from 100% organic cotton, and the inside of the pillow is filled with 100% organic buckwheat hulls. What I like best about the Blessed Nest Nesting Pillow is that you can mold it to any shape you need to support your nursing baby and your body, your younger child holding your baby, propping your infant up, etc.  Unlike a Boppy, which is rigid and I could never figure out how to use properly, the Blessed Nest Nesting Pillow provides just enough flexible support. I really wish I would have had this pillow when nursing my son after his open heart surgery, instead of the four hospital pillows the nurses tried to arrange for me. 

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The N-WEG, an NGO organization, welcomes abused women to their shelter, where they harness their native knitting and spinning skills to “rebuild their lives, while continuing to care for their children. Proceeds provide a safe shelter, health care, education and the dignity of financial independence.”

Woven from the yarn of old saris and sarongs, Mango Moon yarns comes in an infinite concoction of colorways.

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