DAMAGING AND DESTRUCTION OF ANIMAL’S HABITATS By Maya Bailey

WHAT IS THE DESTRUCTION OF HABITAT? WHAT IS THE DESTRUCTION OF HABITAT?  Habitat destruction is the process that a habitats is damaged or destroyed to the state that it is so ruined it becomes incapable of supporting its biodiversity. This can lead to the extinction of organisms that rely on the sources there.

WHAT IS THE ISSUE?  All over the world we have beautiful but endangered animals, on the edge of becoming extinct, with a range of different causes. Most animals can only live off certain things ranging from their environment to their food. If an animal is not getting it’s necessities, the same as humans, (we need food shelter and water) they will die. The problem is that animal habitats are being destroyed leaving no resources for the animals. For example, the koala, alike many other animals, they can only eat certain things. In a koala’s case this is the Eucalyptus Tree. Many Eucalyptus trees are being chopped down or destroyed for human activities leaving no food for the koalas. With no food, one cannot survive, if all the trees were gone, then no koala would survive, leading to the extinction of that specie. Unfortunately, the koala is not the only animal with this problem, other animals include the Amur leopard, black rhino, mountain gorilla and many more. We as humans contribute majorly to the problem of destruction to animal habitats and we NEED TO STOP before we are left with nothing.

WHAT IS CAUSING THE DAMAGE? WHAT IS CAUSING THE DAMAGE?  Human activities most of which are used for clearing of land include agriculture, mining, logging, hydroelectric dams and urbanization take a big toll on this destruction. Other human activities contributing to the destruction of habitats although indirect are pollution, fragmentation, climate change and the introduction of invasive species. Although some natural events can damage habitats, human takes the biggest toll and to think we could actually stop it if we wanted to is a sad thing to think about. Poor animals.

HUMAN POPULATIONS…  As human population gets higher more land is needed causing humans to search for land. Humans will often destroy animal’s habitats to build houses or buildings. It just keeps getting worse and worse…

WHAT IS BEING DONE TO FIX IT?  Even local people are starting to do their part. Several citizens are volunteering to monitor their surrounding environment by reporting water quality and any damage or destruction to the environment surrounding them. By giving this information policy makers are able to find out the causes and find even more solutions to prevent more damage being done. Policy makers are able to make laws in limited land to stop certain activities being done in a certain area, for example deforestation. This slows down the destruction of our environment until we can think of better solutions.  Many organisations step in and take their part by stepping in to care for our earth and creatures. Some of these organisations include ‘World Wildlife Fund’, ‘National Wildlife Federation’, ‘Wilderness Society’ and ‘Environmental Defence’. The Wilderness society even managed to protect at least 107 million acres of nature around the globe.

HOW CAN YOU HELP TO FIX THE PROBLEM?  You can get involved. Participate in conservation projects at school or in clubs. You can support environmental groups that campaign for local areas and areas around the world.  Your family can become responsible shoppers. If your family buys tropical wood products, make sure that they come from a supplier that doesn’t harm the rain forests. Those products are often labelled FSC (Forest Stewardship Council).  There are programs and websites that allow you to adopt an animal that is endangered by habitat destruction.

 Our Animals are so beautiful, why would we want to jeopardise their lives?