Encouraging- Report showing threats to birds spurs call for conservation

[Staff]

Report showing threats to birds spurs call for conservation
By Allison Winter
Published: March 20, 2009

Report showing threats to birds spurs call for conservation - NYTimes.com
excerpts from above:

Nearly a third of 800 U.S. bird species are imperiled or in significant decline because of habitat loss, climate change, invasive species and other threats, according to a comprehensive new federal report.

"This report should be a call to action, but it is action within our reach," Salazar said at a news conference. "If we move forward with a new ethic of conservation, we will be able to restore bird populations."

The data show increases for wetland birds such as pelicans, herons, egrets, osprey and ducks -- which have benefited from conservation partnerships and efforts to restore more than 30 million wetland acres.

"These results emphasize that investment in wetlands conservation has paid huge dividends," said Rosenberg. "Now we need to invest similarly in other neglected habitats where birds are undergoing the steepest declines."

What is even more encouraging is that this appeared in the New York Times.

[midwesternerr]

Yep, I think we need to get serious about connecting habitats, protecting blocks of habitat before they get fragmented in the first place, and get more outdoor education into the classroom. If we begin to educate the public at ages 6, 7, and 8 it's going to be a lot easier to get them to understand that a lawn dosed in chemicals every other week is not healthy for humans, rivers, oceans, or wildlife

[NEWisc]

The silver lining here is that this is doable. It's not some insurmountable problem. Tallamy (Bringing Nature Home), among many others, is trying to show us how - we just need to listen. Each of us can contribute to the solution. We just need to rethink our landscaping choices.