THE BLUE PLANET
What does the word “endangered” mean? We have species all over the globe which is endangered, everything from small fishes to gorillas. The word simply means that some species are on the edge of never existing anymore. It is speculated that the world has over 13 million species. We have 41 415 fur species, and 16 306 of them are endangered. But I must confess, I`m not quite sure if these numbers are correctly. It was really hard to find the exact numbers. Today there are over thousands of species that already are eradicated. The Caspian tiger is one of them. The last tiger died early on the 1970s. There are a lot of animals that now are eradicated because of us. Many of the animals were literally hunted on until there was no one left to kill.
ENDANGERED SPECIES IN NORWAY
According to the website WWF there are 4600 fur species in Norway. 2400 of them are endangered. The biggest predators, which are bears, wolves, wolverines and lynx, are still being characterised as endangered because of their small breeding population. These animals will probably never be removed from the red-list because it is a requirement that there must be at least 2,000 reproductive individuals, for example 2,000 female bears, something we never will get in Norway. The wolves in Norway were actually on the edge of being eliminated for over a 100 years. In 1973 the wolves became permanently protected, but there wasn’t many wolves left, just some of them wandering around in the woods. Until the 1800th century there were more than enough of wolves, but the creation of the government bounties made the wolf population shrink. Government bounty means that the state pays money to those who are willing to kill wolves. It was developed many new methods to catch wolves, including wolf traps. There were people, better known as "walking-teachers" who went from place to place to teach other hunting methods.
The wolves were not safe anymore. Lately, the wolf population has been growing bigger in Norway. The debate for and against protection of the wolf is a very hot topic now.
NOAH is an organization that fights for animal rights. They have strong opinions about what we should do with the wolves in Norway, and how we should treat them. The 27th February 2017, NOAH attended a consultation meeting of the Climate and Environment Ministry, in connection to their proposal to amend “Naturmangfoldloven” so it would be even easier to shoot wolves in Norway. NOAH believes that the proposal to amend “Naturmangfoldloven” with the purpose of being able to shoot more wolves violates the principle in law. After 2, 5 days the Climate and Environment Ministry adopted the evaluation of the consultation responses. Meaning that they want to extend this year's permissions for when legal hunters can kill wolves, within the wolf zone. By extending the hunting season for wolves and allow hunting during the breeding period, involves taking one of the few advantages the wolves have by reside within wolf zone, which was that the zone were supposed to give the wolves extra protection. This violates important principles in the Berne Convention. The Berne Convention protects European species of wild plants and animals and their natural habitats.
NOAH believes the government's handling of the wolf issue, which both involve stretching Diversity Act, the Wildlife Act and the Animal Welfare Act, is very startling, not to mention totally unacceptable. NOAH works very hard to protect the wolves we have in Norway, meanwhile, some people want the wolves gone. There have been many incidents, where wolves have been eating hunting dogs. This makes many people furious. Every human being in Norway has opinions about wolfs. Some are positive and some negative.
THE RAINFOREST
Over half the world's species are found in the rainforest. Rainforest destruction is one of the main reasons that the extinction of species occurs up to 1000 times faster than natural. Nobody knows for sure how many species that are living in the rainforest, because researchers discover new and unknown animals and plants every year.
The animals that live on our planet are very important to maintain the environment. The panda for example is important to the nature they live in, because they spread seeds, and help plants growing. Pandas also provide income to local communities through ecotourism. This specie has been on and of the red-list for decades. They only exist in China, and there are around 1.600 of them left. On the newly updated red-list over endangered species, the panda has now gotten a new status. They went from endangered to vulnerable. This means that a 30 yearlong battle has given some results!
WWF ORGANIZATION
WWF was established in 1961 to protect endangered species and areas. They have also worked to stop the illegal trade since the 1980s. WWF provides technical equipment allowing us to have better control over poachers. Poachers are those who hunt or kill animals illegally, people without hunting rights. They also establish protected areas where animal populations can live safely, and where natural resources are managed sustainably. WWF has an international campaign going against trade in endangered wild animal species. Illegal hunting and trade of plants- and wildlife-species are an international billion industry that threatens the diversity of nature. The campaign's goal is to stop the exports to Vietnam, Thailand and China.
The demands in these countries contribute most to the decrease of animal and plant species in Africa and Asia. Poaching frames especially African species such as elephants and rhinos. The markets are mostly located in Asia, including China. In China and Asia, the rhino-horns are popular, since they are used as an ingredient in potency agents. The demand for ivory is also very popular in this region.
ACCORDING TO WWF, THESE ARE THE FIVE MAIN REASONS WHY SPECIES ARE THREATNENED
Destruction and fragmentation of habitats are the main reason why species slowly are on the edge of never existing anymore.
Climate change is a growing threat to biodiversity. For every degree the Earth's average temperature increases, up to 10% of the species may be in danger of disappearing.
Invasive species are spread by human activity and can displace species that naturally live in the area.
Over harvesting is a threat to the species' long-term survival. Overfishing may for example lead to collapse in the stocks.
Pollution such as acid rain, nutrients and pollutants affect species negatively.
THE BUMBLEBEES ARE IMPORTANT FOR OUR EXISTENCE
Bumblebees and bees pollinate trees and plants, which gives us fruits and berries for example apples, cherry, blueberry, kiwi etc. Bumblebees stand for the pollination of 70% of our food. Without bumblebees the entire world population would die out within four years. According to the website Lahumlasuse.no, bumblebees are very important for our flora and fauna, and they are definitely necessary for our existence. Bumblebees are able to work under relatively cold conditions because of their body- temperature, which is valuable in northern climates. Their body-temperature can be above 35 degrees. This makes it easy for them to be active from morning to night, from spring to fall. In Norway, these features are necessary because of our cold climate. A few other pollinators can show all these specialized features.
CONCLUSION
As a conclusion to my presentation, I’m gonna mention some of my own opinions about endangered species.
I have really strong opinions about this subject, and I am pretty sensitive when it comes to animals. Of course, my meaning is that we should do everything we can to make sure that animals have good lives. Everything from livestock’s to predators. I have been having quite huge arguments with friends about what Norway should do with wolves. Most people want the wolves gone. If we were going to get rid of more and more wolves, they would be eradicated, which would be contrary by several laws. I’m still going strong by not killing wolves. I think it is wrong to hunt, and I think it is wrong to kill. Fair enough, there have been episodes where wolves have been eaten dogs, and of course I get very sad and angry because of it! But, I still think that it is completely wrong to kill them for it. Animals have instincts, including livestock’s. There are so many animal species in the world which are eradicated, and are on the edge of being eradicated. We humans are ruining habitats for animals. We are cutting down their forest, and we pollute their air. Some hunts and kills animals to have them as trophies, some are doing it because of the high adrenalin they get, and some are doing it to make money of their fur. I normally ask questions to the people who like hunting and killing animals, what if YOU were the one being hunted? What if YOU would have been the one running for your life, hoping that you don’t get shot? I want people to think about how wrong it actually is. All in all, I get both disappointed and pissed over how badly we humans treat the animals. If the world didn’t contain animals, it wouldn’t have worked. We need birds, we need pandas. We need to protect them, not kill them.