conserve our biodiversityBiodiversity is the variety of all life forms. It includes humans, plants, animals, fungi and micro-organisms, and the genes that they contain. But biodiversity is more than the life in the bush or the oceans and rivers. It has many important functions: it gives us food and medicine, produces oxygen, breaks down our garbage, and cleans up our sewage... to name a few! There are many things we can do to conserve biodiversity for the future .
Create habitat for native animals
Plant local native species in your garden and add logs and rocks to create habitat for native animals.
Leave dead wood in the bush
Get your firewood from a timber yard, and remember to ask for plantation timber. Birds and animals live in dead trees and logs. Collecting firewood from the bush robs them of their homes.
Use pesticides and herbicides sparingly
If you must use pesticides in the garden, opt for those made from natural ingredients, such as pyrethrum. Birds, frogs and reptiles can become sick or die if they feed on insects sprayed with pesticides.
Join a community group in your local area
Volunteer your time to do on-ground, office or coordination work to help revegetate your local area. Get involved in tree planting, seed collection and weed control. Contact Landcare, Greening Australia, Conservation Volunteers Australia or the Threatened Species Network to find out more.
Learn about your environment
Visit national parks, botanical gardens or a zoo in your area and learn more about your environment. Take your friends with you.
Drive carefully
Watch out for native animals when driving at dusk and dawn, particularly in bush areas. .
Care for the bush
Make sure that all campfires and cigarettes are properly extinguished before leaving the bush, and remember to take your rubbish with you.
Be informed before you fish: Find out which species you can take home for dinner and which you should throw back in. Take only what you need and leave the undersized ones for another day. Call your local fishing authority to find out more.
Be informed before you fish: Find out which species you can take home for dinner and which you should throw back in. Take only what you need and leave the undersized ones for another day. Call your local fishing authority to find out more.
Care for wildlife
Sick, injured or orphaned native wildlife can be helped by contacting the blue cross. www.bluecross.org.in.
Try to use plantation timber
Buy plantation timber instead of native forest or woodland timber, if you are building or renovating. This will help conserve the forests and woodlands.
Dispose of garden waste carefully
Weeds, prunings and grass clippings dumped in the bush can introduce or spread weeds.
Take note when travelling overseas
Be careful about what you buy overseas and bring into the country as you may be buying into illegal trade in wildlife.
Rather than writing checks and stuffing envelopes each month, switch to tree-free billing and pay everything from your credit card to your cell phone bills online. Forests not only remove CO2 from the air but are richly complex ecosystems, providing habitat for mammals, birds, plants, insects and mushrooms and other fungi to thrive. www.thegreenguide.com.
Rather than writing checks and stuffing envelopes each month, switch to tree-free billing and pay everything from your credit card to your cell phone bills online. Forests not only remove CO2 from the air but are richly complex ecosystems, providing habitat for mammals, birds, plants, insects and mushrooms and other fungi to thrive. www.thegreenguide.com.
Turn your backyard into a wildlife habitat. Better yet, plant a native tree in a community park, by your local river way or seaside. Native trees provide food and shelter for indigenous insects and animal life and create niches for species pushed out by monoculture commercial forests.
Help the butterflies. Butterflies are bio-indicators that scientists look to for signs of landscape quality and habitat loss. Purchase them and rear in your garden.
Links
www.thegreenguide.com/doc/119/earthday http://www.environment.gov.au/education/aussi/publications/sustainability-tips.html
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