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Friday, March 29, 2024

Earth Day wants us to Protect our Species

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In nature, nothing exists alone, Rachel Carson, a celebrated American marine biologist, author, and conservationist once said in 1962.

Earth Day wants us to Protect our Species

This is true as our existence, along with the millions of other more plant and animal species, with countless still yet to be discovered, depends on our reliance on nature and all of its blessings. 

Unfortunately, human beings have irrevocably upset the balance of nature and, as a result, the world is “facing the greatest rate of extinction since we lost the dinosaurs more than 60 million years ago.” 

But not all is lost, there is still hope. 

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On days like these, we are reminded of the fight to Protect our Species–the theme for this year’s Earth Day 2019. And it is most important for all of us not to forget to do our fair share in the battle for wildlife conservation.

But it’s still a long way to go.

Scientists estimate that the world is losing plants and animals species at 1,000 to 10,000 times the normal rate. 

In the Philippines, a total of 802 species are currently on the race against the clock. The number, broken down, reflects 108 critically endangered animals, 165 endangered, and a total of 529 species vulnerable to extinction. 

The number is based on the report of the Biodiversity Conservation Society of the Philippines. 

Critically endangered species, they explained, are those considered to be facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. Endangered species, on the other hand, face a very high risk of extinction, while vulnerable species are considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. 

All living things have an intrinsic value, and each plays a unique role in the complex web of life, according to the Earth Day Network. They urge all peoples to work together to protect endangered and threatened species. 

These include Bees, Coral Reefs, Elephants, Giraffes, Insects, Whales, Trees, Plants, Birds, Fish, Sharks, Crustaceans, Sea Turtles, and Great Apes. 

The good news is that the rate of extinctions can still be slowed, and many of our declining, threatened and endangered species can still recover if we work together now to build a united global movement of consumers, voters, educators, faith leaders, and scientists to demand immediate action, says the Earth Day Network.

The goals for now are: 

1. Educate and raise awareness about the accelerating rate of extinction of millions of species and the causes and consequences of this phenomenon.

2. Achieve major policy victories that protect broad groups of species as well as individual species and their habitats.

3. Build and activate a global movement that embraces nature and its values.

4. Encourage individual actions such as adopting plant-based diet and stopping pesticide and herbicide use.

It is important to join the call to protect our species and is important that private and public offices echo this call to urge people around the world, especially in the Philippines, to make a conscious effort to live a more environment-friendly lifestyle.

This can be done by eliminating the need for plastic bags and other single-use plastic products that end up in landfills or pollute our rivers and oceans, says members of the Philippine Senate as Philippine legislature has also rallied in addressing this issue on waning species count and other issues such as global warming, pollution, and overpopulation, among others. 

The Earth Day Network also warned that normally, between one and five species will go extinct annually, that’s why stronger biodiversity protection efforts must be put in place to prevent loss of species, especially since thousands of species are becoming extinct every year.

Around the world, populations of species of plants and animals are shrinking and going extinct at a faster pace than ever before. As human populations expand into existing habitats, they displace the plants and animals living there.

Additionally, our contributions to global warming and our proclivity for ever increased hunting and fishing have also caused a tremendous burden on the other organisms with which we share the planet. Academics and others debate if we are already facing a new process of mass extinction, such as those the world has experienced over the millennia. But even if that is not the case, we know that thousands of species are endangered, and most flora and fauna, from land and sea, have seen their numbers severely reduced.

Some argue that species have disappeared before and that the current decline is just part of a natural cycle. But this conclusion is inaccurate. All other processes of global mass extinction in the history of the planet happened because of a catastrophic natural event. However, none of them were the result of human intervention, as is the case in the current period of mass extinction.

We are seeing irreversible biodiversity loss as a result of species extinction, the devastation of genetically unique populations, and the loss of their genetic variation. The evidence all points to the unfolding of a global tragedy with permanent consequences.

In their #protectourspecies primer and action tool kit, the Earth Day Network shared how we can help. 

“It is clear that we cannot protect anyone species in an ecosystem without protecting the ecosystem itself. That is the key message behind the Protect our Species campaign. We cannot just protect the species we like or that we can visit during a trip to a national park,” the network said.

Earth Day wants us to Protect our Species

“We cannot just protect the species that provide us with services. We must protect all species because, in the end, that is the one and only way to prevent more extinctions,” it added.  

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