Featuring some of the countries most endangered creatures.
"Some of them are likely to go extinct without people ever knowing they existed, and the goal of this book is to give them a voice. Part of a multi-year project documenting Earth's vanishing biodiversity, Rare shows what we stand to lose if we don't act now."
Joel is committed to conservation, especially in the Great Plains where he has lived his whole life. In his time with National Geographic, he has focused on endangered species and land use issues. He is co-founder of the Grassland Foundation, and a founding member of the International League of Conservation Photographers.
You can find out more about Joel Sartore and his works at his website: joelsartore.com
The good news is that there is still time, and this book highlights what each of us can do to save these unique creatures — and ultimately, ourselves. Photos of these species and many others — some never before published — highlight what we still have time to save.
Every one of us counts. Want to know what you can do to help? Here are a few simple, concrete action steps that you can take to help save endangered species.
1. Be an informed citizen. Learn what the environmental issues are in your town, state, nation and even globally.
2. Reduce, reuse, and recycle whatever goods you buy. Try to leave the smallest ecological footprint that you can each day.
3. Drive a more fuel-efficient vehicle. Better yet, take public transportation or ride a bike once in awhile. If everyone did their part, there would be no need for us to drill in the last wild places left on Earth, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
4. Don’t use chemicals on your lawn. They end up polluting the soil and water. And think twice before turning your sprinklers on. It’s a waste of water, something that is becoming scarcer every year. You’ll save time, money, and prevent pollution because you won’t have to mow nearly as often. Around the U.S., many citizens have planted native vegetation instead of bluegrass, resulting in a minimal need for water and care.
5. Support groups that are trying to do the right thing such as The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International and the World Wildlife Fund. Locally, the Conservation Alliance of the Great Plains does good work, supporting education and advocacy here in the Heartland. Joel Sartore is a founding member of this group.
6. Vote. We citizens tend to get the government we deserve. We elect politicians to represent our interests. Only when the majority of voters respect and care about nature will we begin to see the political changes needed to start saving the earth.
These are some of my favorite images from RARE. You can find more images, videos and information at the book's webpage and at Joel Sartore's website. For me the loss of species is the most tragic consequence of the actions of man. RARE emotionally captures the losses of these magnificent creatures--ones we know and ones we may have never heard of--while providing hope that we can save them though changing the way we act.
You can help to save gray wolves now, by
signing this petition, to stop their removal from the ESA (Endangered Species Act).
Recent reports suggest that President Obama's Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar, is prepared to agree to, and is actively promoting, legislative language that would eliminate Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for all gray wolves in the Northern Rockies, including those in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and portions of Washington, Oregon and Utah.
Not only would wolves lose protections, they would also be put beyond the reach of the ESA forever unless the Secretary, at his sole discretion, chooses to restore them to the list of threatened or endangered species. Even worse, under the language, there would be no ability for the American public to petition for these protections in the future... regardless of how egregious state wolf management plans become.
The proposal is arbitrary and strikes a blow at the very foundation of the Endangered Species Act. Hundreds of wolves -- maybe more than a thousand -- could be killed. And you and I could lose America's most effective tool for protecting imperiled wildlife.
We don't have much time to stop Secretary Salazar's plan. Please urge your senators to reject Interior Secretary Salazar's backroom deal to remove protections for wolves and harm the ESA.
That video is so cute! It is absolutely ridiculous that the wolves are being considered to be taken off the Endangered Species List. Again! I wish people would actually listen to scientists for once.
ReplyDelete