Category: Conservation of Forest

The Swift Parrot (Lathamus discolor) native to Tasmania Australia, is the quickest parrot on the planet, however, now being critically endangered is on a fast decline to extinction. According to a ‘Conservation Volunteers Australia’ webpage, there are just approximately 2000 Swift Parrots left in the wild. The Swift Parrot travels across over Bass Strait to the Australian Mainland to collect food and nutrients in open eucalypt and box-ironbark backwoods every, prior year coming back to Tasmania to breed in the spring. Swift Parrots are usually found in dry sclerophyll forests and woodlands, suburban parks, gardens and flowering fruit trees. In Tasmania, they are often among Tasmanian Blue Gum. They rest communally, often in the same tree each night. They are almost always in trees, and only coming to ground to drink. Usually feeing on the surface of flowering eucalyptus, and eating nectar, Swift Parrots eat upside down and are otherwise energetic and graceful when feeding. The swift parrot is 25cm in height with extended wings and long attenuate tail feathers. With a red face and blueish crown, the parrot is mainly green. However, the female is slightly duller, and the chicks have a light orange beak and brown iris.

The migratory swift parrot was judged to be the closest relatives to the Budgerigar given their similar green-and-yellow colour distribution in their feathers, their shared habit of feeding on the ground, and their overlapping distributions in the arid interior of Australia. Over the years swift parents have inherited many adaptions such as:

Structural Adaptions

· Beak shape; due to the swift parrot’s diet consisting of nectar and seeds within mainly the blue gum tree, its curved beak allows the parrot to have more control when eating, such as drinking nectar. Its beak also allows an easier break of tough outer shells on seeds.

· Body Colour; The mixture of colour on the parrot, enables it to easier blend into its surrounding environment.

Behavioural Adaptions

· Mating and breeding in Tasmania; Each year the swift parrots will fly from as far north as southern Queensland to breed in the same breeding grounds.

· Nesting; Swift parrots will mostly always rest in blue gum tree hollows for protection. They also lay their eggs and try to rest in the same tree every breeding season.

Currently, the swift parrot population is decreasing with now three times more males than females, this is due to the swift parrot’s key threat being sugar gliders. Sugar gliders, a small nocturnal gliding possum, mainly prefer female parrots therefore decreasing the female to male ratio extensively. Due to the female parrots becoming rare for male parrots, the female parrots are now spent more time fending off unwanted advancing males instead of feeding and foraging food for the baby chicks, while also leaving them alone and vulnerable. In an article written by ‘The Conservation’, due to female swift parrots constantly leaving their nests, only 17% of nests in mainland Tasmania survive. Another investigation also showed that over 80% of sugar glider attacks towards swift parrot nests, result in the death of the adult female parrot and her eggs. It has been recently recorded that sugar gliders have been reported at all regions where swift parrots breed within mainland Tasmania.

However, predation of the sugar gliders is just an effect of a bigger problem. In mainland Tasmania it has been shown that the reason there has been a growth of sugar glider population near swift parrots is because of the little forest cover that is left. Where forest cover had been abundantly lessened by farming, deforestation, and housing development, swift parrot nest has been shown to endure 100% predation rates. As a result of the continuing deforestation, the ‘ICUN red list’, predicts that the population of swift parrots due to sugar gliders predation, is predicted to decline by 94.7% in over three generations. The best-case situation-other probable causes of impermanence have not been included, such as habitat loss and collisions with man-made constructions. Sugar Gliders predation is likely to be so serious that even effective offshore island predator-free breeding will not be sufficient to avoid a decrease in the general population. Unless there is a drastic change into managing human impacts on the forests where swift parrots breed and a better understanding on how landscape scale forest loss impacts sugar gliders, and what conditions swift parrots need to survive, the swift parrot will become ‘extinct by 2037’.

We live in the 21st century and yes, we have moved past a lot of barriers like caste, creed, colonialism and many others but still, we have a long way to go before we fully act like we live in the 21st century. What we often forget is that the Earth belongs not only to the humans but also to the animals who are subjected to cruelty and are not at all treated with the fairness they deserve. In this essay, I will discuss how the Bengal tigers came extremely close to the verge of extinction due to the human profanity.

The Bengal tiger (Pantheratigristigris)is native to Indian subcontinent. Characterised by yellow to orange and black to brown strips, these big cats can weigh upto 325 kg which ranks them among the biggest wild cats alive today. Threatened by poaching, loss and fragmentation of habitat, these creatures are endangered with just over 2,500 individuals in 2011. To put this into perspective as early as 1900, there were over 100,000 tigers used to roam all over Asia, by the turn of century, 95 percent of their population has disappeared from the wild.

Hence, the situation is bleak and saddening, the way tiger numbers are declining the species may not survive in the wild in the coming next century. The question here arises what is leading them to extinction. Is that us? The prime reason for such a steep decline comes out to be loss of habitat. The study (Bioscience, 2006) shows that in the past decade, the estimated area known to be occupied by the tigers has declined by 41 percent( p.508). Such a wide range contraction in such a relatively short time signals a significant collapse that must be arrested, and efforts towards range recovery-leading ultimately to sustainable tiger population must be initiated. The tigers are restricted to wildlife sanctuaries and national parks such as Ranthambore National Park,Jim Corbett National Park and Manas National Park. The only natural habitat for Bengal tigers that exists today is dry subtropical rainforest of Sunderbans on the delta of river Brahmaputra. Despite of weighty regional and international support, shrinking population of these iconic creatures come as a shock to the world. According to Christie from 1998 to 2003 NGO’s (Non Governmental Organisations), spent over US $31 million for the protection of these carnivores.

The habitation loss is mainly due to Human interference. Agriculture is the supreme reason for wiping out natural environment. Harvesting natural resources for industrial production and urbanization are among the key reasons. The wood logging, trawling and urban sprawl leads to disturbance in food chain which ultimately affects the topmost animal which in this case are tigers. This similar effect was observed in the case of Monarch Butterflies where loss of habitat leads them to the edge of extinction.

One more reason for the recent meteoric decline is that Asian countries growing affluence has allowed more consumers to buy products made of tiger parts. In 1993, China banned local trade in tiger product, which prompt most law abiding practitioners of traditional Chinese medicines worldwide to give up the use of tiger products. Nevertheless, tiger-bone wines and other health tonics containing tiger body parts remain in-demand among certain segments to the public at large. Besides strict laws and trade bans, these medicines are still coveted by ample users in China, South Korea, Vietnam, Japan and in many other parts of South Asia. Even United States pose a great threat to wild tigers where tiger skin is at a great demand in black market. In Tibet, members of the emerging classes have begun to adorn traditional robes with the skins of tigers, leopards and otters- thus increasing to demand for these products. Meanwhile, national law enforcement efforts are insufficient, and cross-border smuggling continues nearly unabated in the absence of international enforcement operations.Several nations have laws to protect tigers from poachers but unfortunately the lack of resources for enforcement and the shortfall of functioning antipoaching information network results in inadequate patrolling, and have hampered protection efforts.Poachers and their customers are rarely convicted to their crimes and when they are, their sentences are unlikely to deter future poaching and smuggling. They either serve little or no jail, and pay very low fines.

Apart from habitat loss, fragmentation is another cause for the continuous decline. The case study reveals that majority of the remaining habitat are too small, isolated or degraded to support viable populations of tigers and their prey. Due to rapid development in the last decade, once rich rainforests are now palm tree fields. In east India, coal mining industry have eradicated the forest land.

Despite the overall trend, there are several successful moves also. The TAL, which spans the base of the Himlayan foothills in northwestern India and southern Nepal, here the conservationists in both the public and private sector are working together to restore, reconnect, and manage wildlife corridors to link 12 important wildlife reserves and national parks that harbour tigers across 49,000 km2.The goal of this project is to manage tigers as a metapopulation in which dispersal between core refuges can help maintain genetic, demographic, and ecological integrity. The financial aid from governments and non-governmental sources has benefited park management, anti-poaching efforts, monitoring research and habitat restoration. The long-term impacts of these efforts for tigers , while encouraging, have yet to be assessed, and in particular, the monitoring of tiger population needs to be systematically undertaken.

Another positive outcome is in the RFE, where conservation efforts have led to a recovery of tigers. A study led by Miquelle et al. in 1999 found that after World War II, there has been drastically increase in tiger population from 40 to more than 400 tigers. And this growth continues over the last decade despite equitably extensive poaching of tigers. These projects demonstrate that the human communities can coexist with some intact core tiger habitats, a situation once prevailed in the wildland interface of rural asia.

The trade in tiger parts often transcends national boundaries, as do the drivers of habitat loss. International links require international action and cooperation. In 1999 at Yaounde Summit, the head of state of six African countries pledged to dedicate at least 10 percent of each nation’s forest to a regional network of national and transborder reserves. Thus, to address these types of overarching threats, all countries need to stand together for the conservation of these animals.

While the Royal Bengal Tiger, as a wild species will most likely not go extinct within the next half-century, but its current trajectory is catastrophic. If this trend continues, the current range will shrink even further, and wild populations will disappear from many more places, or dwindle to the point of “ecological extinction”, in which their numbers are too few to play their role as top predator in the ecosystem. Leaving room for wide-ranging mammals such as tigers is vital and must become part of an effort to incorporate wildlife conservation into national and regional development agendas.

Much has changed since conservationists first made plans to save wild tigers. Then the dialogue was among a few dedicated scientists, conservationists, and national park officials on a country-by-country basis. Over the decades, we have realized that this problem is transnational and that science, economics, culture, public policy, and international dialogue all bear on preserving the tiger and its habitat. Conserving tigers, tiger habitat, and the natural capital they encompass must be part of the calculus that will continue to fuel Asia’s growing prosperity.

Is the threat of wildlife worth our concern? Of course, it would be sad to have no cute animals like elephants on earth. But there are so many problems that we have to worry about deciding to pay millions of baht to conserve wildlife. But what makes conservation important? According to research there were 107 times of conflict between people and elephants which caused 45 people and 25 elephants to die. In the past, elephants were considered important labor in the woodworking business. Before the engine came to replace the owner of the elephant he did not know how to use the elephant to pull the wood properly or without suitable towing equipment may cause elephants to get sick and lead to death. We cannot deny that elephants are animals that have a high cost of raising them.But we can make money from them by pulling wood for the owner. But when the logging concessions run out it seems that elephants are immediately useless for humans.From having previously worked as a war elephant as a royal vehicle of the King which is an important force for hauling wood, building houses in the city, becoming a beggar for some people and still have to face danger. There is a risk of malnutrition to the death.Causing the population of elephants tend to decrease

Moreover, The nature of the elephant is an animal that has to be pregnant for more than 20 months and often feed a baby elephant for over 3 years at least. The breeding of elephants has to wait for the appropriate ovulation period which is only approximately 3 times a year . Elephants that work do not have the opportunity to breed at the right time.Causing less number of newly born baby elephants.

Elephants have been the national animal of Thailand since ancient times to the present. Therefore we should be very familiar with elephants. But there is still something special about elephants that we may not know yet. According to a National Geographic survey, elephants can consume up to 150 kilograms of food a day using 12-18 hours per day.Considered to be a large amount for herbivores. Elephant’s food consists mainly of grass, fruit, vegetables and shrubs. Elephants can build sun protection shields by their own body. Elephants are often seen playing in mud and dusting on hot days.The layer of dust that covers the skin helps protect elephants from sun damage. African and Asian elephants live in conditions with extreme temperatures and UV rays. Ways to protect their skin will help them cool down when temperatures start to rise and help protect them from parasites. But it is sad for the elephants in the elephant camp that this behavior is often prevented.Elephants can remember their own reflections. Self-recognition in reflections is very rare among animals.However, recent studies have found that elephants can recognize themselves in the mirror.Even small children who grew up didn’t have this skill until they were almost two years old.The elephant is skilled in both the left and right tusks.

Elephants use tusks as tools to help collect food Like bark.Elephants can use tusks on both sides.But there will be sides that they like more. Same as human beings that can use both hands But will have a side that is better.Elephants have the ability to show compassion.

They have the ability to capture emotions and create deep and lasting relationships with members of their foes or close ones.But could not see each other for years.

Nowadays elephants play a very important role in maintaining biodiversity and also many aspects such as tourist attractions etc. So that elephants must be protected and nurtured. Wild elephants have been an endangered species since 1986 onwards. The main reason is due to the destruction of natural living space. Disturbing habitats and being killed by the demand for natural resources to meet the needs of the growing human population until the population of wild elephants decreases in all distribution sources. Currently, in Thailand there are only about 3,000 wild elephants living naturally in protected areas, both in the form of wildlife sanctuaries, 69 national parks and within certain national forest areas. From conservation areas in the form of wildlife sanctuaries and the national park with a total of 160 in Thailand, each area has a number of wild elephants. From less than 10 to 200-300, including an area of ​​56,270 square kilometers of wild elephants.

However, the habitat of almost all the remaining elephant elephants has decreased in size, apart from being separated and separated. Due to the expansion of the community to utilize the area for agriculture, the construction of basic public utilities such as the construction of transportation routes gas transport route that passes through the forest dam construction large reservoir Interventions from human activities in various forms, hunting, burning of forests, releasing pets into protected forest areas that are home to wild elephants. Causing the habitat of wild elephants to be reduced deteriorates or the area that remains as a habitat for wild elephants is not suitable. In addition, the overall population of wild elephants is still hunted for tusks, baby elephants, or used to make amulets as believed. Current habitat conditions still remain when considering the size of the area’s high slope soil fertility water shortage. That is common, especially in the dry season is one factor that causes the elephants to come out of the forest. Most of the agriculture is planted on flat land, which is a complete area that used to be a habitat for wild elephants before.Including the development of water resources around forest areas that have elephants.

Therefore is an important reason for attracting more elephants out of the natural area. The problem of wild elephants coming out and destroying agricultural products of the people is becoming increasingly severe. Especially when entering the cold season Until late summer. In almost all areas where wild elephants live while in some areas, this problem occurs consistently throughout the year. In addition, the attitude of the people in the country towards wild elephants is more important than other wildlife. Therefore causing conflicts between people and wild elephants is more complicated. Over half of Thailand’s over 3,000 captive elephants are used for tourism or are put to work, and living conditions are not always suitable for them. The high cost of maintaining an elephant has many owners neglecting to take care of the animal’s basic needs, and overcrowding can be a problem as well.Today, many tourists flock to the Kingdom in hopes of seeing and riding these animals unknown to them, they are fueling a cruel practice. In order to be ridden, elephants, including those that logged the jungles, must first go through a process known as Phajaan , in which they are tortured until broken into submission.

That said, there are a number of ethical sanctuaries. Visitors of places like Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai can rest assured that animals are not exploited and are well-taken care of and visitors are allowed to interact with them in a positive way. Other ethical elephant sanctuaries include Boon Lott’s Elephant Sanctuary and Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand.The elephant has had a considerable impact on Thai culture. The Thai elephant is the official national animal of Thailand. The elephant found in Thailand is the Indian elephant, a subspecies of the Asian elephant. In the early-1900s there were an estimated 100,000 domesticated or captive elephants in Thailand. In mid-2007 there were an estimated 3,456 domesticated elephants left in Thailand and roughly a thousand wild elephants. By 2017 the number of captive elephants had risen to an estimated 3,783.

Each year, There are very low statistics on the arrests of suspects violating the Wildlife Preservation and Protection Act. But in fact it’s been obviously seen that the rate of animal hunting is so high.The food stores have a list of wild meat to taste and are able to consume those meat as easily as pork and beef from the slaughterhouse. Because it has a good price and people want to eat without feeling that they have helped to destroy the natural resources of Thailand. Just like how people do business by selling elephant’s ivory.

Although there are various foundations in Thailand to help and conserve elephants such as Chiang Mai Elephant and Environmental Conservation Foundation Project, Surin foundation, Public Private Partnership Offering for Wildlife and Ecosystem Resilience and Conservation of wild elephants at the boundary of 5 provinces. But there are many easy ways to protect and nurture elephants that can start from us. Start from Don’t buy products from ivory

Although there is a campaign not to buy ivory products in many countries, the survey found that many tourists still like to buy ivory as souvenirs or some people buy ivory because of superstition want everyone to understand that ivory on the market today comes from an elephant that has been killed and brutally abused in order to sell tusks.If we buy products from ivory can be compared to the fact that we also paid to kill elephants too.

Another way is preserving forests. Conserving elephants with habitats let them continue to reproduce naturally. We must help to keep the elephant’s house, like the forest, in the most fertile condition possible.True that many people will definitely not have to go to deforestation by themselves. But today, you may be able to use environmentally damaging products without your knowledge. Therefore, we always advise you to look for the FSC symbol on the packaging box before purchasing the product. The symbol FSC (Forest Stewardship) means The packaging has been certified forest management responsibly. Not deforestation but it is a production from forest-compensated forest that is especially used in the economy. In short, it is a product that does not destroy the forest and does not affect the environment itself.

Throw your trash in a trash can. It may sound like this is completely away from elephant conservation. But in truth, not littering is another way of preserving nature as a result of the conservation of the above as well. Many people may have seen the bravery and carelessness of many fellow human beings who have caused trouble for the animals in the world have been counted in some respects, such as animals swallowing plastic waste or stuck in the garbage grove and can’t come out there. In the case of elephants once having a doctor out to show concern. After the investigation, it was found that the feces of the wild elephants were contaminated with plastic waste. It can be seen that the small littering has caused enormous disadvantages. Therefore, another way you can help elephants is to throw the garbage into the bin.

Find out the well-being of elephants in the rearing. In the past, elephants in zoos and circuses were known to have very bad living conditions. But now many zoos have accepted the truth about how bad they raise the animals and turned to creating a suitable exhibit for elephants.As for the circus, some places stopped using animals. You can help these elephants by denouncing and banning zoos or circus that torture elephants and imprison them in terrible conditions. “Foster elephant” don’t be shocked by the topic. I didn’t tell you to go and buy an elephant to look after for elephant conservation. I just want to let you know that, Nowadays there are many agencies that devote physical and heart to the conservation of elephants and wildlife.If you want to be part of helping staff sacrifice and all the elephants live in the ecosystem You can also sponsor these elephants by help donate money to various elephant conservation organizations, which the organization will then send a cute picture of the elephant to you. Famous organizations such as the World Wildlife Foundation, World Animal Foundation, Born Free, Defenders of Wildlife and the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust are all available to sponsor elephants.

In conclusion Elephants are animals that have been with Thai people for a long time and they play a very important role in maintaining biodiversity they consider as an ecological importance. They bring benefits to many various wildlife such as pathfinder animals, building paths and building a water source by using tusks to dig into the soil for other animals to have a water source. Also helps to spread seeds to different parts of the forest, even being a tourist attraction. All of These are facts that remind us how amazing elephants are.These beautiful animals deserve protection from all of us. Because it is very important to our life to make sure that we can maintain elephant well-being for balanced biodiversity.

Geographical Range and Habitat

Red pandas live mostly in Asia in the Eastern Himalayas like: China, Bhutan, Burma and Nepal. Red pandas live in the forest, where there’s water, fallen logs, and bamboo. The reason why they need the bamboo is because they mostly make their house out of bamboo, and tree branches. In india red pandas like to live in tropical forests.

Conservation Status

Red pandas are endangered, less than 10,000 are left.You might be asking why? Well…there are many, many, many reasons. But I ́ll give you the four main reasons. Deforestation, accidental trapping, pet trading, and being killed illegally (aka poaching). Some things that we can do to try to save red pandas from extinction are: try planting more bamboo. Enforce the law of poaching these animals. We can also require tourists to have permits. Not letting people come see/tour red pandas during breeding season. Last but no least improve fire protection.

Mammal Characteristics

The reason why the Red Panda is a mammal is because they give live birth, and are also warm blooded. Another reason is that they have fur that is warm and soft. And the moms produce milk to feed their children. That is why the Red pandas are mammals. Red pandas are Ailuridae. Which technically is a family in the mammal order carnivora.

Physical Description

Red pandas have warm, soft, thick fur that will keep them warm during cool seasons. Their fur is mostly reddish-brownish-blackish fur with a bit of white. They have a long bushy tail in a stripe pattern, their tails look like a raccoon’s tail. Those tails help them curl up and stay warm if it is cold. Red pandas feet are very similar to most mammals feet. For example Red pandas claws are like cats claws. How? Well… they are both really sharp and can be pulled back. They also have white fur in their souls so their feet won’t get cold, and also so they won’t slip, and keep their balance from slippery and damp branches. Usually male Red Pandas weight up to 8.2-14 lbs and female Red pandas 6.6-13 lbs. Red panda head and body are 20-26 inches, and there tails 12-20 inches. Red pandas can live up to 23 years. But most of the time if left in the wild it would be 8-10 years. If kept in captivity it would usually be 14 years.

Specialized Structures

You might be wondering, what do Red pandas use to defend themselves? Well… the answer is…claws. They don’t use claws to climb trees, or shredded bamboo. They use it for self defense. Red pandas will stand up with their back two legs and start hissing and growling. Like I’ve said before their claws are like cat claws. Red pandas also dip their paws into water to drink, like racoons. They also have this wrist bone that works as a fake thumb for the bamboo like real pandas.

Responses to Change

Like i’ve said previously Red Pandas have soft warm thick fur that helps them survive in cold temperatures, they mostly live in 50-70 degrees Fahrenheit, although they are really comfortable in the mid 30’s. Red Pandas would mostly eat bamboo: bamboo leaf tips, bamboo shoots. But that doesn’t mean that they only eat that, they can also eat grass, roots, fallen fruits, aircorns, insects, sometimes even birds. But you will mostly see them with bamboo in there hand. Also Red Pandas don’t hibernate or migrate.

Animal Diet

Red Pandas are carnivores but they kind of hide it and it makes them seem herbivores. So… I would say they are omnivores. which means that they eat plants, and can eat meat. Red Pandas are scavengers. Red Pandas are in the second trophic level. Red Pandas are also secondary producers. Red pandas only have 2 predators snow leopards and martens.

Animal Living

Red Pandas live in packs and on trees. They can communicate by whistling and twittering at each other like i’ve said before. Red Pandas are pretty lonely…except during breeding seasons. If they are kept in captivity the pairs will last at least a year together.

Animal Behavior

Some learned behavior that red pandas have to learn is to defend/care for the young. Since the young can’t really do anything. To learn how to find food. And they have to learn how to find their own habitat, since they live in trees. Some innate behavior of Red Pandas is, being nocturnal. At night time they awoke to find food, and mark their territory with urine. They also clean themselves like cats ( they are a little big bigger than cats) and communicate with whistles, and twittering sounds.Like I’ve said before when Red Pandas are in trouble, or are about to fight, they stand up on their back two feet and start hissing and growling.

Animal Reproduction

Usually red pandas mate, outside of mating season. The female invites the male to mount her on the ground. After that the males leaves their scents by urinating on a tree or were they mated. The gestation period for a red panda is 132-134 days. Red pandas usually have 2-4 babies. There babies are born covered with fur, weighting 3-4 ounces or 90-110 grams. The mother will stay with the cub for about a year after that they are fully grown and are allowed to leave.

Fun Facts

Most people don’t know this but red pandas actually have 2 relatives that are extinct. So red pandas live in the Eastern Himalayas, right. A few years ago they found fossils near the United kingdom, the animal was called, ̈ Giant Panda ̈ (There not related to the modern giant panda). Then they found more fossils, in Spain, Eastern Europe, and even the United States. About 5 million years ago Tennessee was the home for the GIANT Red Pandas. But sadly they were extinct after racoons arrived. Also Red pandas have an internet browser named after them. Which one? You might ask, well it’s the ̈Firefox ̈. Firefox means red panda. Mozilla (the developer) wanted to name the internet browser firebird, but later found out that someone else was using it, so they decided to go with Firefox. Later Mozilla adopted 2 baby Red pandas (That was in 2010).

Environmental sustainability refers to the responsibility to conserve natural resources and protect global ecosystems to support health and well-being, now and in the future. While religion is defined as an organized collection of belief systems and worldviews that relate humanity to spirituality and sometimes to moral values. The aim of this report is to discuss the role of religion (Christianity etc.) in environmental sustainability.

Background of religion

The period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5220 years ago. The prehistory of religion involves the study of religious beliefs that existed prior to the advent of written records. Many religions may have organized behaviors, clergy, a definition of what constitutes adherence, holy places, and scriptures.

Relationship between religion and environmental sustainability

According to Gardner (2006), religion orientates human behavior closer to the environment, particularly in the form of moral teachings. Several scholars portray religion as the social sphere which could offer an ethical framework to deal with the environmental crisis. Religion is anticipated to inspire people to promote environmentally friendly behavior and policies. Religious organizations offer the function, for instance, through transmitting pro-ecological values in church services and Sunday schools (Clugston, 2012). In churches, sustainability competes with other topics for limited financial, time, and personnel resources. Congregation favors projects associated with social justice and sometimes peace over the ones associated with the preservation of the creation. Religion conveys ethical values that encourage eco-friendly attitudes and can not be imparted through different subsystems (Ralston, 2006). It additionally includes non-organizational forms of value transmission. Using current science and technology, grasping human beings take advantage of nature for their economic affluence and military supremacy. It is widely known to all that green trees provide life-supporting oxygen to all living forms on earth. So, saving or planting extra trees implies saving the creatures of God. On the other hand, destroying virgin trees without logical grounds is taken into consideration as an act causing extinction. Without trees no life is possible. Nations whose populations are less religious have a tendency to use extra resources and produce greater emissions, yet they are also better prepared to address resulting environmental challenges because they are wealthier. On the other hand, nations whose populations are more religious generally tend to use fewer resources, but at the same time, they have got much less capability to meet environmental challenges, and are subject to more unfavorable outcomes, in part because of their excessive levels of poverty and continuing population growth.

Role of Christianity in environmental sustainability

Christians believe that God commands the earth, and people are in charge of looking after it. Through spiritual non-governmental organizations, the world’s religions have contributed to environmental conservation and sustainable development. The intrinsic value of natural creatures is preserved through Christianity, which is devoted to an ethic of responsible environmental care. It is critical to make sure sustainable development in developing countries, which often include bio-diversity hotspot areas. Due to the fact that almost all of those countries are mostly Christians, a different way of conversation may help in motivating citizens to take part in efforts. In order for this to work church members must agree that environmental safety is a religion commitment. This commandment is defined in the bibles genesis story of Christians. The religion of Christianity has played a massive role in environmental sustainability the response to environmental challenges and other socio-economic consisting of poverty, crime, and unemployment. Christianity has been involved in lots of projects such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on the environment due to its deep concern for social development in general. The goal of Christianity to make those projects was to inspire people to cross the world to examine the bible from the perspective of justice on earth. Many Christians, however, are environmental activists and promote awareness and movements at the church, community, and countrywide levels. Green Christianity is a wide field that encompasses Christian theological reflection on nature, Christians’ liturgical and spiritual practices focused on environmental issues, as well as Christians ‘based activism in environmental movements, within the activism area, green Christianity refers to a diverse group of Christians who emphasize biblical or theological basis for shielding and celebrating the environment.

The role of Buddhism in environmental sustainability

Buddhism has had an extended and close relationship with nature and, in particular, forests. The Lord Buddha was born below the Sala tree, enlightened below the Bodhi tree, gave his first sermon in the forest named Isippatanamarukatayawan, and died below the Sala tree (Religious Development Committee, 1992). Human actions are challenged by greed or aversion, which is a consumption of products and services, and reckless exploitation of natural resources which will later have an effective impact on the environment both directly and indirectly. The Dalai Lama said: We are the generation with the awareness of great danger. We are those with the obligation and the ability to take steps of concrete action before it is too late. This means Buddhists ought to make themselves aware of the harm they do to the environment so that they can then act to change it. It is believed that in Buddhism a well-educated mind that is advanced to its maximum ability of intuitive insistence and wisdom can assist resolve its environmental issues through its adherence to the five precepts and pursuance of the eightfold path (procedia-social behavioral sciences 46 (2012)). Buddhists believe that the actions they carry out will be beneficial not just to themselves but to the whole world, including the environment. They believe that our actions have an effect on the planet in a harmful manner because we’re selfish and we crave things. These actions will only bring about greater suffering in the future. The effects of karma will continue to work in a person’s rebirth, so by being compassionate, we will enhance our very own future and that of the environment. According to payutto 1995, Buddhism can remedy the problem of the environment through behaviour where there are both external and internal constraints of human behaviour. External behaviour is regulations and rules that limit harmful actions to the environment while outside behaviour is intentions that arise from religious faith and education in ethical conduct. Buddhists believe that one needs to love and respect nature given the point that one will have a natural desire to shield the environment. Moreover, the teachings of Lord Buddha emphasize that understanding can also assist to resolve environmental troubles whereby one must understand the causes and consequences of environmental troubles. Some types of Chinese and Japanese Buddhists teach the idea of the interrelatedness of everything. This means that human beings depend upon nature and nature relies upon on human beings. Harming one part of this whole is similar to harming all of it. Therefore, if humans learn how to live simply and in harmony with the world, the whole of the environment will benefit. The human attributes which the Lord Buddha advocated, such as loving-kindness, compassion, and altruism, appear to match perfectly with those values needed to overcome environmentally destructive behaviors stated above. In this regard, Buddhist ideals and practices regarding the environment can, and do, play an active role in environmental safety (Kabilsingh, 1987). Buddhists must abstain from taking life, and this includes any form of life. This is connected to the idea of rebirth which can include the possibility of being reborn as an animal. Rather than taking life, Buddhists are inspired to show matter and compassion to all creatures and believe that all life forms are special, not only humans. This first Precept pertains to the idea of ahimsa. This is primarily based totally on the concept of ‘do no harm’.

The role of Judaism in environmental sustainability

Judaism is the world’s oldest monotheistic religion, dating back almost 4,000 years ago. Followers of Judaism believe in one God who revealed himself through ancient prophets. The records of Judaism are important to understanding the Jewish religion, which has a wealthy heritage of law, tradition, and culture. Jews believe that God created the world and gave humans a special responsibility within creation to cultivate it, protect it and use it wisely. This is referred to as stewardship. God offers man control of the environment. Some humans interpret this to mean humans have been given overall power over everything on Earth to do as they want, however, most Jews believe that human beings must act responsibly, making sure the environment isn’t treated badly. Man has to work within creation and look after it. The Tenakh makes it clear that, as the whole Earth belongs to God, human beings ought to respect it and hand it back to God unspoiled. Jewish culture teaches us to take care of our planet to be able to preserve that which God has created. Psalm 24 notes also state that the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, a dramatic assertion of God’s ownership of the land. It follows, then, that any act that damages our earth is an offense towards the property of God. The Jewish idea of BAL tashchit, ‘do not destroy,’ forbids unnecessary destruction. Judaism additionally emphasizes our need to maintain our natural resources and generate new ones for future generations.

In Judaism, the natural world plays a crucial role in Jewish law, literature, liturgist, and other practices. Within the diverse arena of Jewish thought, ideals differ extensively about the human Relation to the environment, though the rabbinic tradition has placed Judaism often on an anthropocentric trajectory. However, some contemporary Jewish thinkers and rabbis in the USA And Israel emphasized that a crucial belief in Judaism is that the Man, Adam whose root comes from Haadama, which means in the Hebrew language, should maintain the Earth in the same state as he received it from God, its everlasting and real owner, especially for the land of Israel, thus the People nowadays should keep away from polluting it and keep it clean for the future generations. According to this opinion, Judaism is clearly in line with the principles of environmental safety and Sustainable development. In Jewish law, ecological concerns are contemplated in biblical protection for fruit trees, regulations in the Mishnah against harming the public domain, Talmudic debate over noise and smoke damages, and modern-day response to agricultural pollution. In Conservative Judaism, there has been some attempt to undertake Eco kashrut ideas developed in the 1970s by Rabbi Zalman Schechter Shalom. In addition, Jewish activists have recruited principles of Halakhah for environmental purposes, which includes the injunction against needless destruction.

The role of Hinduism on the environment

Hinduism has been known as the oldest religion in the world, it originated in India. It carries out followers of 2 billion, and 17 percent of people around the world are known as Hindu. The religion of Hinduism is based more on the dharma traditions, dharma guide the followers of Hinduism. Dharma’s in Hinduism also includes the right to living, laws, and conduct. Hinduism is also a religion that believes more in karma the belief that everything you do bad or good has its consequences; the law of karma in Hinduism encourages them to take care of their environment because they believe that if they take care of it will also take care of them. Hinduism religion also based on ahimsa which refers to the law of non-violence. Hindus believe that all things in the world or all living things in the world must be respected including humans, animals, and vegetables.

Hinduism plays an important role in the environment as it believes that the earth is our motherland and beliefs that we must take care of and protect our environment. Hindus adore and honor the rivers as they practice the river traditionally which involves drinking and bathing using the river water, they use this water for cleansing the body of spiritual ills. They also believe that nature gives them the essentials of life and sustained them, they believe that if they destroyed nature will also destroy them. Many Hinduism attempts by all means to their carbon footprints in order to protect the environment, carbon footprints it’s the same as pollution, greenhouse gasses, and waste, the Hindus reduce this by teaching 5 elements which are space, air, water, fire, and earth. Hinduism believes that these 5 elements create the relationship between humans and the natural world for example the elements of air, if we keep polluting the atmosphere will breathe bad oxygen. Many Hinduism volunteers to take care of the god’s creations as part of the dharma law

Hinduism also takes part in protecting the animals, they adore the cows most because they believe that cows are limited. The Hinduism religion even create the organizations of the international society of cow protection, the organization works to educate many people about why we should protect cows and the Hindus view the cow as a mother because it provides milk to them.

Conclusion

Therefore as discussed above the environmental role is part of the environment which Concentrate conserving of resources and maintenance this is done for future generations as they Have been inherited from our ancestors so that knowledge should be passed down from one generation to the next so that they can have an opportunity to whether to destroy or to keep it Safe. It is crucial for us as human beings to take care of the environment, to conserve and sustain it for future generations, and for a healthy living environment, let’s love our environment and stay healthy, protecting the environment begins with you.

Orange-bellied parrot is a kind of slim ground-feeding parrot with grass-green top and yellowish below. Its prominent is the orange patch on belly, but adult female has slightly smaller orange patch. The taxon name of orange-bellied parrot is Neophema chrysogaster.

This species breeds only in south-western Tasmania, Australia between November and March. The nest is in a natural pit or artificial nest box, in tall eucalyptus forests and rainforests, near the swamp and seagrass plains. The birds appear to be semi-nomadic during the winter, moving between food sources and locations, presumably in response to changes in the food supply. The migration route runs along the west coast of Tasmania, and at least some birds stop at king island as they head north in the fall. The species seems to avoid areas of human development and high interference rates.

The wild population of this species is so small that there is only one known breeding site where it appears to have experienced a very rapid decline. The cause of the decline is unclear, although the species has suffered from loss of winter habitat, fragmentation and degradation, and changes in fire conditions in breeding habitats. The possible reason for the decline in recent years is the impact of the outbreak of parrot beak feather disease in 2014 and the ten-year drought on the productivity of salt marsh plants in their winter habitats, which reduced the breeding conditions of females. It is also possible that the lack of habitat burning in the preferred breeding habitat reduces the availability and quality of the preferred food plant. As a result, the species is listed as critically endangered by several international organization since 2000.

Humans had repeatedly applied conservation actions to Orange-bellied parrots. This is one of all conservation actions. In 1980, CITES Appendix I. A recovery team was established a wide range of research projects are ongoing, and awareness-raising and education programs are conducted. At that time, People were aware of the highest risk of threat for these birds is degradation and loss of habitat. Thus, much feeding habitat in Tasmania (including King Island), Victoria and South Australia has been reserved or is managed. Additionally, A captive-breeding programme has been established and 350 birds have been raised in 10 institutions as a result of cooperative captive-breeding efforts. Birds released in captivity have apparently successfully migrated between breeding and wintering grounds, But birds released from breeding grounds rarely return for the next breeding season.

This indicated most released birds cannot migrate or survive to the following year. As the population, six males per one female cause a severely male biased, a higher proportion of females would be released in spring to correct the ration imbalance of sex. However, the survival rate of reproductive success of captive-bred birds were still much lower the wild birds. Furthermore, captive-bred birds’ plumage was in a poorer condition, which might prove to be energetically costly, especially during migration. Proof of data, there were only 6 of 53 captive-bred birds survived to return after migration. The behavior of released birds has been monitored and differs in many respects for those of wild parrots. More investigations is still in progress.

Extinction happens when a plant or animal species ‘ last individual dies out. This can occur naturally, likely due to climate change or other factors, or due to human activity such as overhunting or habitat destruction. Marine animals are aquatic mammals that rely for their life on the ocean and other marine ecosystems.

Researchers are now using a comprehensive study of marine animals that have died out over the past 23 million years to determine which animals and ocean habitats are actually at the greatest risk of extinction today. Assistant Professor Seth Finnegan of integrative biology at the University of California, said “our goal was to diagnose which species are vulnerable in the modern world, using the past as a guide.”

sSome of the increasing extinction dolphins such as the Irrawaddy Dolphin (left) listed ‘endangered’ by the IUCN (International Union for Conversation of Nature) Red List, Australian Snubfin Dolphin (middle) listed ‘vulnerable’ by the IUCN Red List and the Australian Humpback Dolphin (right) globally becoming ‘vulnerable’ according to the IUCN Red List.

The term “endangered” is used to describe species listed as Vulnerable, Endangered and Critically Endangered. According to the IUCN (International Union for Conversation of Nature) Red List classified dolphin species who are endangered. Scientists are afraid that the marine mammal is now extinct due to fishing and commercial development, making it the first cetacean to disappear as a result of human activity.

Human Activity

Worldwide dolphins and several species face a number of detrimental impacts that are threating on their existence. The risks to dolphins are partly and largely the result of human activity and its related impacts. Some human activities, whether intentionally or accidentally, can have detrimental environmental impacts, leading to a reduction in the dolphin population and increasing the risk of extinction.

Human activity is the major threat to dolphins, including plastic pollution, coastal industrial development, shark nets, and commercial fishing such as gillnets and purse-seine nets. These nets are invisible to dolphins, which can become entangled, trapped and drowned. But, in an attempt to catch food, several dolphins pursue fishing trawlers and end up in the trawl nets. Dolphins can be also entangled and killed in Australia (Queensland and New South Wales) in shark prevention programs. Dolphins are classified under the 1999 Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, which forbids dolphin species from being killed, captured, damaged and dealt with in Australian waters. In addition to this act, it is important to release immediately alive dolphins that are accidentally captured due to fishing activity and to document and record these interactions. However, in fishery logbooks, dead dolphins have to be registered.

8 million metric tons of plastic trash enters the sea from land every year. The equivalent of 5 plastic bags filled with trash for every foot of coastline in the world.

The ocean-wide plastic trash streams through circulation, spread almost everywhere but concentrated in huge swathes in the middle of global currents breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces eaten by animals throughout the aquatic ecosystem and falling to the bottom of the sea. Nevertheless, aquatic pollution exists in various forms; industrial agricultural and urban waste that can flow into the sea causing algae outbreaks that deprive marine organisms of the oxygen they need to survive. Such places are dead zones with this persistent pollution that already occur in more than 400 locations around the world. However nutrient pollution can be managed like improving the organic matter.

Climate change

Most marine animals that include dolphins experience the detrimental effects of climate change. The rising water temperatures influence the ocean currents which alter migratory routes, feeding grounds, and distribution of prey. Scientists and conservationist are concerned that dolphins will not be able to adapt to these conditions fast enough to sustain their population.

Melting ice sheets and thermal expansion influence the rising sea level, which is also detrimental to some species of dolphins. The species of dolphins living in brackish waters (areas where rivers meet oceans) lose their habitat. Reasons for this are increases in sea temperatures, freshening of seawater, acidification, rising sea levels, depletion of frozen polar ecosystems and a reduction in food sources, which are just some of the many dangers that climate change presents to dolphins. The planet’s accelerated warming also leads to dolphin habitat loss and increased competition for a dwindling number of prey species. There is a need for radical action, because dolphin populations may not be able to adapt and survive fast enough.

An example of this is in early 2011, a heatwave swept across Shark Bay, in Western Australia which caused the water temperatures to rise more than four degrees above the annual average. This caused a substantial loss of seagrass, which drives the Shark Bay ecosystem. Researches from University of Zurich collaborating with researchers from the University of Bristol investigated this and found it has affected the survival and reproduction of dolphins. Analysis of this data revealed that the dolphin’s survival rate has fallen by 12 per cent following the heat wave.

Our ocean areas are at high risk of extinction (red) and are covered with areas that are mostly impacted by human activity (black outline) with areas experiencing a high rate of climate change (crosshatch).

Researchers from institutions in Australia, the United States of America and the United Kingdom found evidence that suggests increased dolphin familiarity with humans has led to an increase in injury and death to the marine animals.

Scientists from the United States Nations Environment Program World Conversation Monitoring Center and the Computational Science Laboratory of Microsoft Research, Dalhousie University, University of Massachusetts, Mount Allison University, University of Oslo, College of William and Mary, University of Washington, and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute are all co-authors that conducted a report on Paleontological Baselines for Evaluating Extinction Risk in the Modern Oceans.

Their focus is on researching chemicals, plastic waste and bacterial pollution from sewage waste that pose harm to the beloved dolphin species.

The negative outlook in this dolphin extinction is that dolphins play an important role in maintaining a balance with their environment. They eat other animals, often fish and squid, and are a food source for some sharks and other creatures. Without dolphins the species they feed on would increase in number, and their predators would not have much to eat. This can disturb the natural food chain balance and could have a negative impact on other wildlife. Dolphins are close to the top of the food chain and play an important role in the marine environment’s overall balance. These such amazing species can tell us a lot about the ocean’s health, such as the presence of pollution or the decline of fish and are very popular with tourists.

The positive side of this, is people are concerned therefore are also working actively to protect these animal species. A variety of research projects are currently being funded by the Australian Government to learn more about dolphin populations and patterns, mainly migratory routes, and significant habitat areas for the species.

For the Amazon dolphins, drone footage is being used to protect and build on the missing data on dolphin populations and is crucial in ensuring their protection and long-term survival.

Dolphin Research Australia Inc. is a charitable organisation whose mission is to increase the understanding and knowledge of the ecology of dolphins and their survival and to improve their conservation and protection of their habitats. “Oceans and forests, the two lungs of the world, both under threat – and, both highly endangered.” – Dr Jane Goodall Conservationist.

Overall, many marine animal species are becoming extinct and it is important that we change the way we are disposing of our waste and how humans interact with the marine animals. If they become extinct it can negatively affect marine life in areas.

Dolphins are a very special species that need to be observed and protected. Humans are having the main impact on why the numbers of the dolphin species are decreasing.

We can choose to not add to the problem and become a part of the solution by not supporting or promoting tourist attractions involving encounters and irresponsible animal interactions, becoming more responsible and active when reducing waste, participate and taking part in government and private communication campaigns, encourage others to do the same and informing the world of this species’ significance.

In my opinion, the future is not looking great for marine animals in particular our dolphins. If we don’t act sooner than later.

We can make an impact to change this now and for our future generations and need to start considering ways to help stop this extinction.

In order to protect these species, we must work together to become more environmentally friendly, with ways such as educating the world on this.

We need every single player in the chain to change the way that they do things. We need to think about and prevent Rod-and-Reel Interactions, keeping your distances from these wild species, don’t feed the wild dolphins and report a violation to the marine rescue teams.

Think about; where is your garbage going? Where is residual water going? What is your pollution footprint on the planet?

We have got to monitor our carbon footprint as this can measure our impact on the world around us.

Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) are arboreal threatened marsupial species which are controlled to eastern Australian forests and woodlands that comprise Eucalyptus species. In spite of the koala’s having been considered a species of slightest concern since 1996 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Australian government included the koala to the country’s threatened species list in 2012.The conservation status of koala in each state of Australia fluctuates across the animal’s range, reflecting regional variances in perceived threats to koalas and their habitat is explained by different legislation.

For instance, a study about symbiotic risks was held with more than 2,030 wild koalas in wildlife hospitals in South East Queensland (SEQ) over period of 13 years. Henning found that 84.1% of the species were factures by vehicle collisions and being second largest cause with 9.1% by dog/dingo attacks. Moreover, wild dogs were known to be the most potential threat to isolated population of koalas in peri-urban areas and Gonzalez-Astudillo found that due to urbanization and deforestation, koalas are tend to be involved in most road vehicle and dog attack trauma in South East Queensland. The other main cause of koala is chlamydia disease which is widely spread in some koala populations and may cause blindness, infertility and sometimes death but till now there is no appropriate studies related to this disease.

Recently, a model for determining whether death rate differed by age, sex and a year factor was done by using the Andersen–Gill formulation of the Cox proportional hazards model and it is found that the mortality risk for male is around 1.6 times higher than that of females.

Furthermore, in 2019 Australia has went through a very difficult time as there was a huge bushfire for ten weeks period from October 1st to December 10th where it lost more than 1000 koalas. Therefore, there is an intricate debate in Australia about how to preserve the koala population. Despite being a wide range of research option in Australia, there remains a gap in social aspects while making decision in koala conservation.

In expansion, there’s no fitting inquire roughly organizing for subsidizing energize koala chlamydiosis ask approximately. So that, these considers might utilize up-to-date illustrative procedures competent of recognizing chlamydial or see at generally the koala illness known as chlamydia. There got to be methodically and quantitatively checked on a comprehensive database of composing related to koala chlamydiosis, classified and evaluated the prominent accentuations of the inquire nearly, and assessing the objective of making a distinction course of activity species and strains to clarify the portion of chlamydial sickness in koala population diminish.

The island of Madagascar is located on the east coast of Africa, which is home to a variety of lemurs. Most of us are probably not aware of how we damage their habitat and environment. The primary focus of this research is on the prolemur simus also known as the great bamboo lemur. This lemur has been classified as endangered by the IUCN and on the list as an explanation as to why they are critically endangered, you will see humans. These lemurs are being researched so we can come up with different types of solutions to help their population grow back. Throughout this paper I will explain why they are endangered, how many of them are still alive, what conservation efforts we can enact, and what it is that researchers are doing to help us be more knowledgeable about the case.

The prolemur simus is the largest bamboo primate and usually move around over quadrupedal groups. They have different distinct colors that distinguish them like olive green, red, and a cream brown. The female prolemur simus weighs about 5.1 pounds and males weigh about 5.4 pounds. Their primary food they eat is bamboo, they chew up the outside parts of it and nutrient themselves with the inside. There are many threats that affect the living style of the prolemur simus and many of these threats are caused by humans. There are three major threats are deforestation, climate change, and viruses that are easily spread to these primates.

The deforestation of their habitat is mainly because of high demand on agricultural land. Most of the land is used for annual and perennial non- timber crops which are needed to supplement people globally. In addition, most of these crops are planted for food, fodder, fiber and fuel.Once the fields are done they are used for wheat farms, rice paddies, banana or pineapple plantations, sugar cane plantations and coca plantations. When deforestation happens the habitat of these lemurs are lost and eventually have to migrate to other parts of Madagascar. Most of these lemurs have moved towards the East and central part of Madagascar to repopulate and find new ways to find their food. It is much harder for them to move around since they are unfamiliar with the space and new predators are around. Only about one to four percent of these lemurs populate their original habitat.

A site survey that was conducted by researched revealed that prolemur simus have been wondering around. We visited 4 of these sites between June 14 and 21, 2009 (Table I), finding feeding remains at each one, most of which were very fresh. Feeding signs were particularly numerous along the Sahavolo River, along which continuous stands of giant bamboo were found, and which runs through the Lazasoa Lovasoa, Ravinala I, and Belanonana sites. During a brief follow-up visit to Ravinala I on February 6 and 7, 2010, we recorded 15 fresh feeding signs within an area of ca. 35 ha, but there was no direct sighting (Ravaloharimanitra 2011, 785).

Climate change has also had a great impact on the ecosystem of the Greater Bamboo lemur. With climate change increasing the foods for these lemurs is hindered, such as bamboo and fruits. The reason why these foods are hindered are because of massive droughts that are beginning to happen more frequently. Meaning that some of these plants can not reproduce at the time they are needed or some are only found in some places. In a long-term study of three species of bamboo lemur at Ranomafana, Tan (1999, 2000) found that the diet of greater bamboo lemurs is almost exclusively bamboo, and in fact 95% of the diet is just one species of bamboo…Between July and November, P. simus opens the tough, woody stalks, or culms of the large bamboo by using premolars to strip the outside in order to consume the inner pith, but in December–March, it feeds on the new shoots and leaves of this same species (Wright 2008, 13). The lemurs have to travel a certain distance to get to their food. They typically feed in a small area, travel about one to two kilometers to feed on what they find and keep moving.

Since these lemurs have to migrate to other places in search of food, they are exposed to humans. Humans can fight back viruses but not animals that are in the wild. Studies were done by a group of researchers in Ranomafana National Park, only a few prolemur simus were tested because of low population. About two of the lemurs were tested to see if they were infected in some way, samples of there feces were taken to a laboratory. We screened a total of 84 lemur and 107 human fecal samples for five viral groups known to have diarrheal potential in humans (adenovirus, enterovirus, norovirus GI and GII, androtavirus). Of the seven lemur taxa we tested, all were positive for one or more diarrhea associated virus and humans were positive for all viral groups (Table III) (Zohdy 2015, 147).

Some methods that have been used to understand these primates more are site surveying, field data collection, sample collection and genome sequencing, and statistical analysis. All of these methods have been used to see how they move around and what their diet consists of. The prolemur simus most consumed food is bamboo, which is usually all they eat. In order to see where these lemurs were headed, there were cameras installed in different transects to see where they were headed. We considered 18 transects as primary forest (although some were heavily degraded) and eight as secondary. We classified nine areas as low anthropogenic disturbance, eight medium, and nine high. Out of the few nine of them were in low disturbance, eight were medium and nine were high.

The places that were highly disturbed were closer to human populations so these lemurs can benefit from them (Olson 2013, 491). In order for researchers to know how fast these lemurs were maturing genome sequencing was done. These lemurs were captured by a CO2 projectile rifle, tissue biopsies were collected from the ear pinna and its maturity was exposed. About most prolemur simus have reached their maturity at the age of three and a half years. Meaning that they are able to reproduce at a younger time and not wait until they are older. Some benefits are that the prolemur simus can reproduce faster.

In order for us to help out these lemurs the human population can start taking action on climate change and deforestation which are the greatest impacts towards them. There has to also be a decrease in the hunting and trapping of terrestrial animals, gathering of terrestrial plants, and logging and wood harvesting. Once people start taking action on these threats, once can start protecting areas where these primates can go and reproduce. Another way humans can help is by keeping them in captivity, there they face no threats and have it easier to reproduce. Once the population has grown they can be released into the wild to go with some of the other lemurs.

Creating sanctuaries for these primates will also help them develop and reproduction faster and will also keep them away from any predators. In captivity primates tend to live up to eighteen years of age. Taking action for climate change has many benefits for species and globally. Humans can find better ways to produce energy, like solar panels instead of burning fossil fuel. Greenhouse gases should be reduced way more since it makes the globe warmer and affects plants and resources we need for our survival. Climate change leads to there being a possibility of longer dry season and shorter wet season; or simply there being harsh weather conditions like floods or heat waves.

In conclusion, there are many ways in which we could prevent the extinction of the Greater Bamboo lemur. Being more informed about the prolemur simus humans can start activist groups to stop deforestation and other habitat destruction. In addition, researchers can do more research on them since research has not been done in a long time. That way we can see if the populations have grown or have been the same. In addition, by protecting their habitat and starting activist groups people could combat deforestation and Madagascar can be the place it what once was for these primates.

Biodiversity relates to the degree of abundance and richness of life present in a specific region. This could refer to a distribution of species having distinct characteristics, difference in genetic makeup, or in terms of the presence of varying ecosystems in a certain area (Brown & Cohen, 2019). According to World Health Organization (2020), “People depend on biodiversity in their daily lives, in ways that are not always apparent or appreciated.” It is said that humans highly depend on services offered by natural resources or ecosystem products such as the food, water, and accessible energy sources. Human activities however cause ecological disruption which led to drastic changes in biodiversity.

At a wide extent, the major direct driver of changes in ecological services are the modification of habitat and degradation, climatic change, overutilization of resources, pollution, and introduction of invasive species (Burns, et al., 2016; Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). Environmental changes, habitat fragmentation, or chemical pollution can extensively modify several aspects of biodiversity (Bellard, Bertelsmeier, Leadley, Thuiller, & Courchamp, 2012; Burns, et al., 2016). Introduction of invasive species, led to evident changes in species diversity and composition of most ecosystems (Young, Parker, Gilbert, Guerra, & Nunn, 2016), as well as conversion of natural landscape like deforestation or mining, intensive forest harvesting, modification of spatial configuration, and climatic changes that might interrupt evolutionary means and introduce new practices that disrupts the accessibility of resources, species abundance and interplay between species.

Studies have shown that the basal species’ loss of biodiversity affects the basic ecosystem activities such as the nutrient dynamics and food production. Ecological theory expects a great impact in the whole systemic interaction when the primary organisms are the ones to experience biodiversity loss in an ecosystem (Knops, et al., 1999). Current unprecedented declines in diversity scale back the flexibility of ecological communities to supply several elementary scheme services (Keesing, et al., 2010). The decrease or total extinction of some organism will cause population increase for others, interrupting species interaction and interaction between organisms along with its environment which can drastically affect the ecosystem services (Candolin & Wong, 2014).

The major factor causing the loss of biological diversity are modification of habitat, such as land-use change, water extractions of rivers, use of trawling method which devastate sea floors and can significantly affect the variety of benthic habitats, developing coastal areas that can lead to coral reef loss. Introduction of exotic species, over-harvesting of resources due to a high demand like overfishing which leads to a marine fisheries crisis. Recent climatic shifts particularly warmer regional temperatures have had notable effects on biodiversity and ecosystems, altering dispersal of species, population range, mating period, or mitigation seasons, as well as the escalation of pest occurrence and outbreak of diseases (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005; National Wildlife Federation, n.d.).

As biodiversity decreases with anthropogenic activities, it is highly crucial to understand how these changes relates to increasing risks of contagious diseases (Faust, et al., 2017). According to Mackenbach (2007), “ Destruction of the habitats of other species, introduction by humans of non-native species, pollution of air, water and soil, and overharvesting by hunting and fishing have led to a massive extinction of plant and animal species.” The loss in biological diversity, may directly or indirectly pose threats to health and welfare by disrupting ecological benefits such as pollination, insufficient ecosystem services unable to meet the needs of consumers and control of communicable diseases.

Thus, changes in biodiversity, have various effects on disease risks highlighting on biodiversity loss. What are the effects… cheka on effects? Then, which is why Mitigation Strategies for Biodiversity conservation are being implemented around the world to battle out the increasing disease risks due to the changes in biodiversity.

In conclusion, a better understanding on alterations in ecosystem conditions and human-animal interactions can be used as indications towards ecological areas which needs utmost attention. Awareness on evolving social dynamics of emerging infectious diseases as well as immediate actions to lessen the existing effects of changes in biodiversity will be most effective when focused on causes that are of high influence.

References

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2. Brown, M. T., & Cohen, M. (2019). Encyclopedia of Ecology (Second Edition ed.). (B. Fath, Ed.) Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/conservation-of-biodiversity
3. Burns, F., Eaton, M. A., Barlow, K. E., Beckmann, B. C., Brereton, T., Brooks, D. R., & Brown, P. (2016). Agricultural Management and Climatic Change are the major Drivers of Biodiversity Change in the UK. PLOS ONE. doi:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0151595
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