What your donations can help Plantlife to achieve

Today I finally took the plunge to setup my donation page on Justgiving and kick off 6 weeks of various efforts to try to raise funds for the wonderful people at Plantlife. Nick helped to "morph" my promotional picture to go inline with the theme of my fund raising efforts and the rest was up to me to setup the page proper.

I realised Plantlife conservation charity is very different from a charity that many are used to (i.e. Charities that deals and help with humans in a very physical way), and therefore thought it might be worthwhile to give all prospective donors an idea of what each quid donated towards the organisation can help.

£10 would enable us to survey plants
The Common Plants Survey is the only national annual plant survey in the UK and provides information on the health of our countryside. Your donation could enable a volunteer to undertake the Common Plants Survey, by providing them with support and materials.

£20 could buy equipment for volunteers

Your donation could support the work of our Flora Guardians, our volunteer team who undertake plant protection all year round and enable us to provide them with the equipment they need. £20 would buy a mattock for breaking up hard ground.

£35 could help save peat bogs
94% of raised peat bogs have been lost from the UK and rare plants and animals that depend on them are being squeezed out. Your donation could support our campaigning for an end to peat-digging in the UK.

£50 could help create a nature reserve
Plantlife owns and protects over 4,900 acres in the UK through our nature reserves. It costs approximately £3,000 per acre to buy land. Your donation could help us to continue our programme of expanding the area we look after and therefore the plants and habitats we can protect.

£100 could fund a conservation work-day
In the 23 Plantlife nature reserves around the country, we rely on the help of volunteers to undertake a lot of the work to protect vulnerable wild plants. Your donation could provide tools and cover the expenses of a whole day of volunteering for a small group of people.

£500 could help restore plant habitats
Your donation could allow a site where a rare species is on the brink of extinction to be rescued, using a range of methods to recreate endangered habitat.

This may all sound very UK to any who do not live in this country, but you will be glad to find out that Plantlife has an extensive global footprint around the world and has close working relationships with many International networks to ensure this cause is very much not lost out of UK.

I sincerely hope you can help me towards this cause and I will dig deep by training over 3 months and aiming for a best personal timing on 13 April 2008 - 3 years after my last marathon journey. Remember, every little counts towards the cause!

Thank you.

All images © Plantlife

Having trouble...to sweat

Had my longest run for my training today, about 17km altogether on a scenic route across 4 central London parks - starting with Battersea Park, followed by Hyde Park, across Green Park and ending with St James Park. Considering it was slightly sunny, it really bugs me that I still did not have a single drop of sweat after 1.21 hrs of running! I am really annoyed...

Surprise trip to NYC, Central Park - Been there and done it

Made a surprise trip to New York City last weekend, surprising my girlfriend at her door for our 10 year anniversary together. I created a mosaic pictorial using shots taken over the past 10 years onto Moo cards. Centerpiece obviously was my "masterpiece drawing" and contained nicely in a mahogany frame. At least she likes it and did not trash it into the recycling bin outside the apartment :0)

Even though it was the middle of New York winter, I had to complete my plan to run round Central park. The morning of the run was bone chilling freezing temperature and I was so wrong to think that my new Adidas long sleeve Climacool top was to protect me from the elements. 10km into my run, I was still freezing like crazy, not a drip of sweat, and hands felt like they have been chilled in a freezer for the past 40min. It had started to feel quite awkward that I ended up altering my return route and head towards "Pick-A-Bagel" along 77-78th St by Lex. Nothing beats an "everything bagel" after a good morning run, especially after I just managed to do a loop round (almost) Central Park, something that I have almost wanted to do since I first visited NYC 3 years back.

Get ready for London Marathon

Very good news today for me, as I am finally allocated a golden bond place with Plantlife. I have to admit I was not familiar with this charity before, but after reading and finding out more, I think the organisation is really different from the normal charities that many will relate to. It may mean that donations will not be as forthcoming as it is not a 'normal' charity that deals with poeple, but I am even more determined to raise above the amount that I need. At the end of the day, I think the cause is as big as an organisation that is trying to eradicate the world of Malaria.

It has been 3 years since my last marathon in Singapore, and there will be plenty of tough training ahead, but somehow I am so determined to run this marathon assuming that my knees do not give up on me on the big day. 1 month and 27 days left to the big day, stayed tuned to this page for my training updates and I hope you can support me by donating generously in the coming weeks.

Japanese fleet still killing whales

The Japanese whaling fleet are still hunting the whales in the Southern Oceans. The picture shows an adult minke whale and her calf which is almost so sad to look. Guardian has a video of the entire hunting process which the Japanese apparently shot harpoons that explode on hitting the whales. How can the Japanese Govt continue to do this when their people are condemning this action literally?

Seafood Sea Life

News of the Greenpeace ship chasing after the Japanese whaling fleet has been very much in the news over the past month. It seemed like there was much success from the effort as it has been reported that thousands of whales have been saved by members of Greenpeace risking their lives by going on rubber inflatables  between Nisshin Maru and the whales. This is indeed a highly commendable effort and I dream of a day when I can do my part to protect these magnificent creatures of the great ocean.

This week, celebrity chefs also joined in the campaign to promote sustainable fishing in the world. Much of the world's fish stock has collapsed since the 1950s and even more so in the recent decade. Cod and blue fin tuna is becoming a luxury these days when many still remember how plentiful there was before in the North Sea. I have to admit that I do not take much notice into the fish that I buy at Sainsbury (although I do not buy them often, but M&S will be a good alternative), I will definitely be taking a more conscious attempt in the future to ensure that they come from sustainable fisheries. 

As a diver, nothing is worse than seeing the unimaginable of a seafloor devastated by fishing trawlers. Not sure what you can do? See the following list of FAQs.