Dollars for Trees - The Atlantic Forest Needs YOUR Help...

I just wanted to take a moment today to talk about a really great program that the Nature Conservancy is doing. It’s called ‘Plant a Billion Trees’

The Atlantic Forest is one of the worlds most endangered tropical forests. Only 12% of it’s original area remains and only 7% of that is well conserved. Due to coastal developments, urban expansion, agriculture, exotic plantations, ranching and illegal logging this once beautiful landscape has experienced rapid degradation.

As we all know trees = oxygen, and large forested areas are indispensable for storing large amounts of carbon dioxide from our atmosphere and releasing oxygen in it’s stead. The fewer trees we have, the smaller our forests become the more our atmosphere and our climate degrade. The Atlantic Forest - one of the worlds largest tropical forests - plays a vital part in global climate stabilization and in fighting climate change. (global warming) The Atlantic Forest also provides over 130 million people in Brazil with clean water and hydro energy, and through climate regulation it benefits populations worldwide. The Atlantic Forest is also extraordinary in it’s biodiversity, it’s home to 23 species of primates, 1,000 species of birds, and over 20,000 spieceos of plants, and 60% of Brazil’s endangered spieces. Some of these plants and animals are exclusive to the Atlantic Forest, meaning they do not exist anywhere else on Earth.

It is a truly amazing place in desperate need of our help. What the Nature Conservancy is doing is working to restore the Atlantic Forest and bring it back from the brink of destruction. There plant is to restore 1 million acres of land by planting 1 billion trees and they want to achieve this by 2015. This restoration effort has the potential to remove 4 million tons of carbon dioxide from the Earth’s atmosphere every year!

Of course for such a massive undertaking they need help.  So please, please help grow a tree today! The great part is all it takes is $1. $1 plants 1 tree. If you can afford to donate more that’s awesome too, every dollar plants a tree, and every dollar is valuable. Every tree counts, and every dollar/tree brings us that much closer to the goal.

Please also pass this information along to all your friends, family members, co-workers, contacts - anyone and everyone! Conservation should be an issue close to all of our hearts because the fate of our planet and the fate of us as a species are one and the same. We cannot live on a planet that is uninhabitable and inhospitable. Trees help us, they clean our air, and regulate our climate we need to start restoring them in order to bring balance to our planet and our atmosphere. We need to start becoming a part of the solution. So please, be part of the solution today and donate your dollar - or more - to the Nature Conservancy’s ‘Plant a Billion Trees’ campaign, and don’t forget to spread the word!


“One Dollar, One Tree, One Planet.”

Plant a Billion Trees Project Page
http://www.plantabillion.org/

The Nature Conservancy
http://www.nature.org/

Black Rhino Conservation In South Africa....

I"m still shaken by the news of the Western Black Rhino’s extinction, and though there’s nothing we can do for them now - they’re gone forever - there is some positive news.

Last week The World Wildlife Fund’s Black Rhino Range Expansion Project sedated 20 South African Black Rhinos and airlifted them to a new (hopefully safer home) in South Africa’s Limpopo Province. The WWF’s Black Rhino Range Expansion Project has worked to relocate 120 Black Rhinos in the hopes that a new home will keep the critically endangered species safe from poachers.

According to the WWF. More Black Rhino’s have been killed in South Africa in the past 10 months then in the entire year of 2010. Statistics from South Africa’s National Parks reveal that 341 Rhinos have been lost to poaching so far this year, compared to last years record total of 333.

While sedating, blindfolding and airlifting a 3000 pound rhino by the ankles may not appear to be the gentlest way of transporting these creatures, the WWF assures that this method of removing rhinos from critical situations is an improvement over previous methods. The transport only takes 10 minutes, and according to the WWF the rhino’s suffer no ill-effects due to the process.

In 1970 there were 65,000 Black Rhinos in the world a number greatly decreased from 1900. Today less then 5,000 have survived thanks to human greed and ignorance. It’s shameful the way that we treat the world around us, but this news gives me hope. I truly hope that these conservation efforts are able to repopulate the worlds rhino population. I truly hope that we’re able to save the rest of this species from extinction. As humans we are capable of so much, and in situations like this we should be doing everything we can. Though I strongly believe that our greatest tool is education. The more we educate people, the more we spread awareness, and the more we dispel the myths the continue to perpetuate poaching, the greater the chance we’ll have at saving the rhino species.

Most importantly remember that we all have the power to educate. You don’t need to be a scientist or a zoologist to inform people of what’s going on. Tell your friends, your family, your co-workers, your neighbors. Post a status to Facebook, or Twitter, write about it on your blog, share the information with a stranger, but whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Act now, in anyway you can.

*** Pictures taken from Animal Planet who has them credited to Green Renaissance/WWF ***

For more information - http://www.wwf.org.za/what_we_do/species/black_rhino/
http://www.rhinorescueproject.com/about-the-project/
http://www.greenrenaissance.co.za/blog

Western Black Rhino Officially Declared Extinct....

Today I sit here stunned into tears by the announcement that the Western Black Rhino has officially been declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. With the addition that the subspecies of White Rhino in Central Africa and the Northern White Rhino have been listed as possibly extinct in the wild. As if that weren’t enough it’s also thought that the Java Rhino is now probably extinct in Vietnam after the last animal succumbed to poachers in 2010. Although not all hope is lost for the wild Java Rhino as a small yet dwindling population still resides on the Island of Java, Indonesia.

"Human beings are stewards of the earth, and we are responsible for protecting the species that share our environment," says Simon Stuart, Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. "In the case of both the Western Black Rhino and the Northern White Rhino the situation could have had very different results if the suggested conservation measures had been implemented. These measures must be strengthened now, specifically managing habitats in order to improve breeding performance, preventing other rhino’s from facing extinction."

"We have the knowledge that conservation works if executed in a timely manner, yet, without strong political will in combination with targeted efforts and resources the wonders of nature and the services it provides can be lost forever," says Jane Smart, Director, IUCN Global Species Program.

A lack of political support and will power for conservation efforts in many rhino habitats, international organized crime groups targeting rhinos, and increasingly illegal demand for rhino horns and commercial poaching are the main threats faced by rhinos.

Historically this rare subspecies of Black Rhino lived across the savanna belt of Western Africa but in recent years Cameroon became it’s last remaining habitat. Heavily hunted at the beginning of the 20^th century the Western Black Rhino population began to steadily decline until the 1930's when the population increased slightly as preservation action was taken. However as protection efforts declined over the years so did the number of Western Black Rhinos and by 1980 the population was estimated to be in the mere hundreds. Poaching continued and by the year 2000 only an estimated 10 had survived. Illegal poaching, limited anti-poaching laws and the failure of courts to hand down sentences to punish poachers all contributed to the Western Black Rhino’s demise. There are no Western Black Rhinos known to be in captivity.

The Black Rhino is hunted almost exclusively for it’s horns which are used in traditional Chinese medicine, and are said by herbalists to be able to revive comatose patients, cure fevers and aid male sexual stamina and fertility. Claims that have never been proven or confirmed by medical science. Another major market for the sale or rhino horns is the Middle East, where the horns are used to make ornately carved handles for ceremonial daggers called jambiyas. Demands for these daggers exploded in the 1970's causing the Black Rhino population to decline 96% between 1970-1992.

This is a sad day indeed for all animal lovers, naturalists, conservationists, and compassionate human beings. Though I’ve read article upon article presenting me with the same information I still find this news hard to digest. How can so many subspecies of an animal as magnificent and majestic as the Rhino be extinct or so near extinction? I know the statistics of course, I’m well aware that the rate of extinction is currently estimated at 27,000 species per year. Most of which is due to deforestation, destruction of rainforests, and other habitat loss. I know that the rate of species extinction is rapidly rising and that it’s estimated that within the next 100 years 30% of all the worlds animals and plants could be extinct. I know this, and because I know this I feel as though I shouldn’t be so shocked. Maybe it’s naivety, but I never truly thought I would see an animal as massive and iconic as the Black Rhino go extinct in my lifetime.

The words extinct and extinction are very powerful, and everyone knows their meaning to be ‘No longer in existence,’ but I think far to often we attribute these words to long ago beings like the dinosaurs, or the dodo, rather then those creatures we have grown up knowing and hearing about. It’s almost as if the majority of us don’t consider the word extinction to be relevant to the present, when in fact it’s more relevant now then ever before. We are losing species upon species, many of whom are virtually unknown and unstudied, at an astounding rate and many of us it seems can hardly be bothered to bat an eyelash in concern. The diversity of our eco-system and wildlife is the single most important thing to humanities continued survival as a species, yet we treat everything around us with ignorant disdain and disregard.

I want so badly to believe in the innate goodness of humankind. I want to believe in the ability of good to triumph over evil, but on days like this I find my hope falters. With every person I see toss a water bottle onto the ground, drive a gas guzzler, kill a bee, or simply turn a blind and uncaring eye away from a monumental news story like this I feel the hope inside me grow smaller. I don’t want to believe that the average person is unkind or callous but on days like this I can’t help but wonder why? Why was nothing done? Why were no voices heard? Why did we sit back and do nothing? Human greed, ignorance, and a lack of education are the only things I can think of, but if those are truly the reasons I don’t feel as though that leaves us with a very positive outlook about our future. Human greed is a raging fire we seem incapable of snuffing out, and human ignorance is just as strong. Today I feel as though all the kindness and compassion in the world are not enough to fan this fire, but my husband begs me not to give up, or to loose hope. If we give up then they win. He is right of course. Even in these darkest moments we can not despair.

Though my heart is breaking with the sadness of this latest crushing blow to our planet, I feel more strongly then ever about the rightness of the path I’ve chosen for myself. I am more determined then ever before to spread as much information to as many people as possible. I believe without a doubt that education is the key. The more people you and I can educate about what is truly going on in the world and of how our actions or inactions can effect and promote negative reactions across the globe, the more hope there’ll be. With every individual voice that rises up, our collective voice will only grow stronger until it becomes so strong that it can not be ignored.

Gandhi said "Be The Change You Want To See In The World." So I ask you now, to please be that change. Be that change and live that change everyday. Inform yourself and others, and live your values without refrain or apology. Consider every moment an opportunity to promote change, and don’t despair or loose hope. Standup for yourselves, for those around you, for all the creatures that share this world with us. We were meant to be the stewards of this world, the protectors, not the destroyers of it. So stand up and let your voices be heard.

For more information -  http://www.iucnredlist.org/news/another-leap-towards-the-barometer-of-life
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45236688/#.Trv_pGH5mSo

*** All images acquired from Google Images.***