Protecting Wild Plants and Animals
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When protecting wild plants and animals, there is plenty for everyone to do.
That’s what the majority of kids said, when sharing their views about this Environmental Report Card topic. They cited wildlife protection as a "high priority" item and expressed interest in an array of wildlife-friendly actions — from building birdbaths and birdhouses to cleaning up beaches and parks.
The spirited response to this topic was encouraging. Several kids on Scholastic’s Save the Planet message board expressed their concerns about deforestation — the rapid removal of trees — in urban, rural, and wild habitats. Each year about 32 million acres of the world’s forests are lost due to deforestation, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. In recent years, the rate of deforestation has slowed down , thanks to successful efforts of the FAO and others to replant forested lands throughout the world.
Using Poetry to State Opinions
A few kids used poetry to state their views about wildlife protection online. One poster wrote: “we only get one world, we can't throw it away, so recycle and reuse each and every day. our mountains are beautiful and our rivers are too, we need everyone’s help, we need you!”
Indeed, as American naturalist William Beebe observed, "Once a species is lost, it will take a new sun, a new moon and a new dawn of creation before it can be replaced."
