This sample is my Senior Project. It is a research paper on wildlife conservation. This sample demonstrates my writing, editing, researching and fact checking skills. It also demonstrates my versatility in writing for multiple topics. To complete this task, I had choose my own topic, set my own schedule, and perform research. I spent hours looking at organization websites, studying various literature and watching videos. Also, I had to choose and add graphics that helped illustrate the paper.
Wildlife Conservation and Protection
“Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it”—Henry David Thoreau
Why must we protect wildlife and its environment? How does it benefit us, our world and our health? We must improve nature’s ability to survive the challenges of the 21st century.
On July 1, 2015, the world was shocked by the unethical and illegal killing of Cecil, a popular lion living in the Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. This killing is one of thousands, almost millions, of endangered species all over the world. From lions, rhinos and elephants in Africa, to wolves, bears and birds to North America, to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia—wildlife is still being threatened on a daily basis for money and also because of ignorance. These issues not just about the popular and more “beloved” animals, but about all animals since all animals contribute to the Earth’s ecosystem. This issue is not just a “hippie” issue that can go unnoticed. There are many reasons why we need to take care of our planet and there are many ways of getting involved to help.
According to Samuel Hays, it is first important to understand why wildlife needs to be protected and what these organizations are doing to help. Getting balance in the ecosystem is just one reason. According to James Morten Turner, by littering, not recycling, and not caring, we are destroying our own home. In any case, if we keep this up, there will be no trees, no animals, no plants or possibly human. Littering hurts plants the most and, according to Figure 1, plants are the most endangered of all living species. Just by walking past a trash bag on the street, you are making the chances bigger to and ending future. That’s not saying that everyone must go around pick up whatever trash and litter you can, just find a time to go find some trash on the street and pick it up (even though it’s so dirty and gross and you don’t know where it’s been), or recycle to make this place a little cleaner. However, there is more to the danger of not recycling. He specifically writes, “Being careless destroys everything from forests to our bathrooms,” (Hays, 2005, p. 78). Some littering, such as cigarette butts, can destroy entire forests in a short amount of time. We need to think on a larger scale. It will get to a point where simply picking up trash, while a good start, will not be enough.
There are possible eco-friendly alternatives. For example, in Hamburg, Germany, there is a house entire made up algae to heat and cool it (http://phys.org/news/2013-04-algae-powered-hamburg.htm). We need to think about how we develop land from here forward. Bean (1977) notes that we need to choose where to build and how to build carefully, writing that “…there are certain places where, by law, we should not be and certain places we should not build,” (Bean, 1977, p. 112). He lists forests, rainforests, meadows and various coastal areas as examples. This issue is still on going and newer concepts, for instance the algae house, are still being tested.
In his articles, Morton (2005) explains that conservation began in the 20st century. The idea of conservation started much earlier, especially after the extinction of species such as the Dodo bird, the North African lion, the Caribbean monk seal and many more. 1900 to 1929 is considered the Era of Protection; the United States passed its first conservation law—Lacey Act was passed. The Lacey Act prohibited inter-state commerce; protecting animals by forbidding their movement across state lines. With Republican Theodore Roosevelt becoming president in 1902, Roosevelt began making strides for wildlife conservation, the first U.S. president to do. He tripled the size of protected forests and created the U.S. Forest Service. In addition to this, he created the first national wildlife refuge and passed many laws that protected many migratory animals from hunters. Since then, many laws and movements have been established to have conservation. One of the biggest achievements was the Endangered Species Act, which was passed under President Richard Nixon.
However, the accomplishments in wildlife protections could not have happened without the writing of certain environmentalists. These are the people who pushed for the reasoning behind protecting the environment. John Muir, a Scottish-born writer, was an advocate for wilderness protection, pushing for preservations of numerous National Parks and how over excessive tourism could damage the environment. Muir wrote, “This is Nature’s own reservation, and every lover of wildness will rejoice with me that by kindly frost it is so well defended.” Another important environmentalist was Edward Abbey who also advocated for National Parks and wrote the non-fiction novel, Desert Solitaire. Along with Muir and Abbey, Rachel Carson was also an important environmentalist but for a different cause. Carson was concerned with indiscriminate use of pesticides in the chemical industry as well as its effects on ocean life. Her book, Silent Spring, was unique for its time due to its controversial subject matter and Carson’s passion for the cause. In it, Carson writes, not just about her concern for the ocean, but for the health of humans as well, “Why should we tolerate a diet of weak poisons, a home in insipid surroundings, a circle of acquaintances who are not quite our enemies, the noise of motors with just enough relief to prevent insanity? Who would want to live in a world which is just not quite fatal?”
Muir, Abbey and Carson each wrote and advocated for different kinds of conservation. It is essential to understand that there are many different kinds of conservations. These can include plant conservation, animal conservation, ocean conservation and National Parks. Protecting plant life is fairly difficult. It takes the work of various experts to determine which plants are which, which are invasive and exactly how to protect them. According to Norris, in California, protecting native plants has become a priority. The most endangered are California’s desert plants that have been destroyed. These plants are important to native desert wildlife that needs them for survival, including some humans. California recently passed the California Desert Native Plant Act, which will be used to protect certain species of California desert native plants from unlawful harvesting on both public and privately owned lands (Norris, 1990, p. 67-120).
The most common type of conservation is animal (endangered species) conservation. This conservation is important it protects habitat. When habitats are threatened, so are the animals that live there. For example, wolverines and bears roam across vast distances, so when their habitat is broken up by roads or other commercial development, their ability to survive is jeopardized. Animals are harmed by unnatural human activities (deforestation, the most common) and can go extinct because of the unnatural effects we have on their habitats. By protecting animals, we can save their species. A recent and successful example is our own national bird, the Bald Eagle (as seen in Figure 2), that we actually almost let go extinct. Its numbers went up from only 417 in 1963 to 7,066 in 2004. Another kind of conservation that is growing is ocean conservation. The ocean is the most biodiverse place on the planet. Because of oil spills, illegal hunting, climate change, boats, etc. most of the world’s endangered species are in the ocean. Because the oceans are the largest ecosystems on Earth, they are the Earth’s largest life support systems. To survive and prosper, we need healthy oceans. Oceans produce over half of the oxygen we people breathe.
A lot these can lead to the one of the greatest conservation efforts of all—the creation of National Parks. National Parks have become the most essential effort in protecting wildlife. While laws can be broken and can go unnoticed, National Parks are protected by rangers and surveillance. National Parks protect the best of our heritage. They are also educational. Muir was the leading cause in National Park creation and founded many groups to help protect them, including the Sierra Club. National Parks teach humans to live alongside nature and allow us to experience nature without harming it. They are also good for us health-wise. These natural, protected areas have a positive effect on our health, both physical and mental. National Parks are important places where people can take time out, enjoy nature, get active and relax all the while experiencing nature’s integral beauty.Oceans provide nearly a sixth of the animal protein people eat. The most protected ocean area is the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. It is one of the most diverse sections of the ocean and over 4,000 kinds of ocean species live there or greatly benefit from it. Destroying it means badly damaging the Australian water ecosystem. According to Figure 3, 6 of the 7 threatened sea turtles live Australian waters. Also, according to the Wildlife Fund, it benefits the people of Australia. Bolton writes, “Protecting the reef has benefits beyond conservation – it is also an investment in the continued security of coastal communities and provides significant benefits to the Australian economy. Reef industries, such as tourism and fishing, which contribute approximately $5.4 billion annually to the Australian economy and support about 69,000 jobs, are reliant on a healthy environment,” (Bolton, 1992, p. 54).
However, many still wonder why we should protect wildlife. Why is it ethical for us to do so? Protection is necessary for our own health. The benefits are obvious. If we destroy the plants, animals and oceans, then we simply have nothing left. No food to eat, no water to drink and no air to breath. The benefits outweigh the negatives when merely breathing becomes an issue. The benefits also include having a beautiful looking planet, keeping evolution going by not interfering with the ecosystem and many more. A problem for a lot of people is why do we feel responsible for it and why should we spend our money? Not everyone is meant to feel responsible or feel bad. Conservation is not about guilt. No one should feel guilty. We simply share this planet with many other species besides ourselves. We do not own this planet but share it. We must learn to live with these creatures. It not only benefits the wildlife, but benefits us as well. From a logical point of view, if we save the planet, we save ourselves. By funding conservation efforts through various organizations, we can not only save the planet and ourselves, but also help indigenous communities, generate jobs and educate our children.
Active involvement is a great way to help the environment. There are many reasons to become involved in conservation, including improving our health, having less pollution, prevention of global warming, balancing out the ecosystem and keeping it in balance, and producing cheaper eco-friendly products. One of the best ways to get involved is promoting awareness and waste management. Promoting awareness can be fairly simple. You can talk to people, wear T-shirts, write a blog, share videos and news you see, etc. Promoting waste management is also easy. Samuel writes, “…let others see you pick up garbage, encourage recycling in your home, at school or in the workplace, or talking about it with people,” (Samuel, 2005, p.223). You can also help children get involved there are numerous camps that offer educational programs that are both fun and informative. Most of these camps are outdoors so the children get to experience nature personally. Education is the best protection because it reinforces understanding and respect.
There are many organizations that you can volunteer to help out with. Some successful organizations: Wildlife Fund, Energy Star, Green Peace, Sierra Club, ActionQuest and NatureServe. Wildlife Fund, Energy Star and Green Peace are very well-known organizations that most average people tend to simply donate too or write letters for rather than do a lot of hands-on work. This is because these organizations hire people (usually experts or those with a lot of experience) to do the work. These organizations survive and do their work on donations from people. However, Sierra Club, ActionQuest and NatureServe allows people—anyone—to do hands-on work. The Sierra Club, founded by Muir, lets its members go on trips to learn about the environments they are protecting to help the understand how to actively protect it better. They do a lot of work that can last weeks or even months. ActionQuest is a lot more “camp-like.” It is popular with teenagers and the members tend to learn more than doing actual work. NatureServe is more unique since it actually works with the scientific community and actually works with businesses to convince them and help them become more eco-friendly. Overall, all these organizations are non-profit and can be joined by anyone who wants to help wildlife. They are very open, passionate and friendly. Everyone involved has the common goal and wanting to make the world a better place. These organizations include active participation. Participation includes following guides set up by these programs (recycling, buying eco-friendly, eat healthier, etc.), sharing information with others, writing to congress people, participate in clean-up crews, and attending educational conventions.
In conclusion, protecting wildlife through conservation is an important issue that we cannot ignore. The reasons vary from global warming and the loss of habitat, to people becoming more disconnected from nature than past generations are congregating on a dangerous path for our planet. Biodiversity is especially important to us. Without protection wildlife and biodiversity at a time of disappearing habitats and increased poaching, animals, such as the rhinos, tigers, gorillas and thousands of other animals, are on the verge of extinction, meaning that the animals that we grew up with and enjoyed will not be enjoyed by our children or grandchildren. However, it is about all animals, just not just the beloved one that we commonly think about (lion, tigers, bears, wolves, etc.). It is about all animals since all of them have an important role in our ecosystem. The work of many organizations, such as the Wildlife Fund, the NWF and others like them across the globe can provide answers and will help ensure the planet’s wildlife will continue for future generations to learn from and enjoy.
Bibliography
Books & Articles:
Bean, Michael. (1977). The Evolution of National Wildlife Law. Publishers: Praeger
Bolton, Geoffrey. (1992). Spoils and Spoilers: Australians Make Their Environment. Allen & Unwin
Press.
Finch, Robert., & Elder, John. (2002). The Norton Book of Nature Writing. New York-London:
W.W. Norton
Hays, Samuel P. (2005). Beauty, Health, and Permanence: Environmental Politics in the United States.
Cambridge University Publishers.
Norris, Robert, M. (1990). Geology of California. New York: Wiley
Turner, James Morton. (2009). “The Specter of Environmentalism: Wilderness, Environmental Politics,
and the Evolution of the New Right.” Journal of American History (Vol. 96 (1)).
Organization websites:
ActionQuest: http://www.actionquest.com/
GreenPiece: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/
Energy Star: https://www.energystar.gov/
NatureServe: http://www.natureserve.org/
Sierra Club: http://www.sierraclub.org/
World Wildlife Fund: https://www.worldwildlife.org/
Taylor Melton: ePortfolio 