- We are creating a future for our kids and grandkids
where we are leaving them a world of less wild places
less wild species, and fewer birds, fewer butterflies
fewer of all the things that we have had the benefit
of living with during our lifetimes
but are rapidly diminishing.
But we don't have to stand for that.
We don't have to accept that.
We have an opportunity now to do something
to reverse those trends.
Biodiversity really just means all the wild species
with which we share this planet
and that ranges from the butterfly in your backyard
to the grizzly bear in Yellowstone national park.
Unfortunately, we are at in time of crisis
in terms of our biodiversity
not just in the United States, but globally.
The statistics are at times overwhelming
and can be despair inducing
in that we see from international reports that there are
a million species threatened with extinction at this time.
Apart from losing species entirely
we're just losing large numbers of individuals of species.
So even those species that aren't facing extinction
are having massive drops in their populations.
For instance, a report in the last few years showed us
that we've lost a third of our bird numbers
in north America over the last 50 years.
Some of it is just about killing
too many members of species.
For instance, wolves are just making a comeback now
in the Western great lakes states
but Wisconsin held a Wolf hunt in February of 2021
that just about doubled the authorized hunting quota
and dealt a major blow to that Wisconsin Wolf population.
In fact, there's scientific studies that indicate
that that one hunt alone may have killed a third
of the wolves in Wisconsin.
So some of it is, we've got to be more responsible
in how we actually interact with these species
in terms of removing them.
In Florida this year
unfortunately already in 2021
we have lost 10% of the Florida Manatee population to death
mostly by starvation
because water pollution has killed
the sea grass beds in the coastal environments
on the Atlantic coast of Florida
that many manatees use to feed
themselves during the colder winter months.
And so the manatees seek out those areas
to find warmer water
but there's nothing to eat there now
because we've killed their food
their seagrass beds with pollutions.
And some of it is our practices
and how we deal with the land.
The amount of pesticides and herbicides we're using
are wreaking a toll on wild creatures.
For instance, the Monarch butterfly population
on the Pacific coast of the United States
which formerly was in the millions
as recently as the late 1980's
was down to 2000 individuals this past winter
at their overwintering sites in Southern California.
It's a more than a 90% reduction.
And then you add on top of that, climate change.
All the systems are stressed because the earth is heating.
Ocean acidification, air temperatures
general aridity is increasing
and all these things take their own toll on wildlife.
They can be resilient if we give them a chance.
We see that over and over.
When we take protective measures
they respond and they bounce back.
It's incumbent on us to do that
as much as we can at this time
because without that, we're going to lose so much.
And I don't think our grandkids
are going to be very forgiving when they look back.
(rousing music)
There's lots of ways to tackle this issue.
And we need them all.
And that ranges from community organizing
to advocating to your elected officials.
But our particular niche is using the law.
And one of the great things about
the United States of America is
we have some of the mightiest environmental laws
on the face of the earth.
And the challenge is to make them mean something
in the real world.
And the way that that has been done
has been proven again and again
is by members of the public standing up
to demand their enforcement.
I think it, there are so many things.
Let's start with
contact your elected officials
and tell them that you want them
to take actions that are pro wildlife.
Support wildlife laws like the Endangered Species Act.
Provide money for conservation programs and the like.
That's, anybody can do that.
You can contact your elected representative
and ask them to take action.