Sawubona adventurers! I bring you a new post to talk about an issue that has been worrying me for quite some time. During a chat with a friend, talking about animals and conservation, she told me that she found it quite difficult to convey to her acquaintances the importance of environmental awareness and animal protection since the usual response was something like this... "Why should I worry about whether or not an elephant dies, or a forest burns down in Borneo, when there are hundreds of other problems in the world that are closer to me?
Well, this question cannot go unanswered and I want to connect you to the environmental problem we are suffering because our future depends entirely on the survival of the ecosystems and all the animals that live in them. From the bee to the elephant, EACH and EVERY ONE fulfil their function... and whether it seems or not our destiny is tied to theirs.
It is understandable that when living in urban places we disconnect from our more natural side and feel alienated from nature, but practically everything we have and buy comes from that place which we exploit mercilessly and we also resist accepting that it is disappearing.
The main problems of not taking care of the environment are already being verified: Climate change, pandemics, natural disasters... the list is long and scary. So without further ado, I will answer that question in the first paragraph...
A healthy ecosystem cleans our water, purifies our air, keeps our soil healthy, regulates the climate, recycles nutrients, provides us with food, and gives us raw materials and resources for medicines.
Biodiversity is the key indicator of the health of an ecosystem. A wide variety of species will cope better with threats than a limited number of them in large populations. Even if certain species are affected by pollution, climate change, or human activities, the ecosystem as a whole can adapt and survive. But the extinction of a species can have unforeseen impacts, sometimes resulting in the destruction of entire ecosystems.
If we take an example of an African ecosystem where the lion was the apex predator and eliminate it, we would eventually find an overpopulation of herbivores, resulting in very high soil erosion from excessive consumption of grasses. The soil, without the protection of the plants, will become arid and low in nutrients, which would cause it to be washed away with all the animal waste into rivers with the next rains, making them dirty, causing the quality of the water to drop, preventing life from developing in them or directly affecting cities in the form of mudslides or landslides as there is no vegetation to support these large masses of land. The lack of plants would mean that there would be no pollination by insects, that is to say, that trees and other vegetation would not grow, and therefore the quality of the air would diminish... and so a chain of problems would continue to appear that would always affect us directly, whether it be because we do not have a rich soil to be able to cultivate or that our livestock can graze on, there would be an accumulation of contaminants in water and air...
This is a small summary of the damage that would be done by the lack of only one species, now if I tell you that every hour 3 species become extinct, every day 150... We are facing a worldwide catastrophe. Because the example of the lion is happening in all the ecosystems of the world, from Asia, America, Europe... all the continents are suffering the loss of biodiversity in their ecosystems.
To fight against this problem we can do some things:
- We can install bird and bat shelters in our gardens or balconies
- Monitor and evaluate the impact of pets on biodiversity. Some domestic animals, especially cats, are predators of wild animals and can devastate the local population of native species. It has been estimated that cats kill tens of millions of birds each year.
- Decorate gardens and balconies with native plants as they are well adapted to local conditions and are low maintenance. Attract "good" insects by planting pollen and nectar plants
- Use natural products and methods for pest control
- Learn all you can about nature and share your knowledge with others. Visit ecological interpretation centres, natural history museums. Volunteer with an organization that focuses on conservation or habitat restoration.
- Encourage and support local government initiatives to protect habitats.
- Use environmentally friendly products. Dispose of hazardous materials safely. Chemicals that enter the sewer system can contaminate freshwater and ocean ecosystems.
- Recycle, reuse and reduce. Recycling reduces pollution by reducing energy, electricity and water consumption and the need for landfills.
- Drive less, walk, and when travelling share car.
Adventurers, I hope that with this post you can from now on spread the message more clearly and that together we can do our bit to save our planet.
Impilo enh!
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