Save the Species!

Jennifer Fan
Staff Writer

The World Wildlife Fund for Nature approximates that over ten thousand species go extinct every year, primarily because of habitat loss. Deforestation, expansion of agricultural land and poaching are some of the many human impacts that take away precious habitats for thousands of species. Although these actions threaten species around the world, making your home wildlife friendly and recycling can make profound impacts. So what can we do protect species around us?

Making your home wildlife friendly may seem like a difficult task, but simply securing your garbage by using tight-fitting lids can prevent animals from consuming any chemicals or waste that may kill them. Limiting your water use not only helps the drought, it helps animals and plants that live in or near water have a better chance of survival in California. Additionally, adding decals on glass windows can notify birds to not fly through there. Window collisions cause millions of bird deaths every year, according to the Endangered Species Coalition. For your yard, use organic compost instead of herbicides because chemicals can build up in soils, allowing predators such as hawks to eat poisoned animals.

Whenever there is an option, purchase products that are certified by the Rainforest Alliance because they are produced sustainably to conserve biodiversity. Abstain from purchasing illegal products made from threatened or endangered species when overseas. These “souvenir” items may include ivory, coral or animal furs from tigers, polar bears and sea otters.

Visit nearby protected lands, such as the Seal Beach and San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge, to see how amazing animals and plants are in their native habitats and what a pivotal role each plays in their ecosystems. Species are products of millions of years of evolution and it is a tragedy to lose them prematurely. Humans have significantly increased the rate of extinction in the past centuries and it is up to us to reverse this.