HAIWAN YANG TELAH PUPUS..

Dodo: - Pupus sejak lewat abad ke-17
Tidak salah untuk mengatakan Dodo ialah haiwan yang telah pupus paling popular di dunia. Banyak peribahasa sering dikaitkan dengan dodo seperti ‘as dead as a dodo’ yang membawa maksud kematian yang ragu-ragu dan pelik. Seperti peribahasa ini, kematian dodo adalah pelik kerana Dodo dikatakan pupus secara tiba-tiba. Suatu ketika, Dodo boleh kelihatan berkeliaran sepertimana ayam-ayam dan itik-itik di kampung. Dodo adalah burung yang tidak boleh terbang. Ia sering bersarang di atas tanah sepertimana ayam dan itik. Habitat asal Dodo adalah di Kepulauan Mauritus.

Haiwan-haiwan yang semakin pupus di Malaysia

TARANTULA

TUNTUNG

PENYU

URANG UTAN

DUGUNG

SELADANG

BADAK SUMBU

 
HARIMAU

Pygmy Tarsier - Haiwan pupus ditemui semula

sumber asal  :

Sekumpulan saintis telah menjumpai seekor pygmy tarsier di atas puncak sebuah gunung di kepulauan Sulawesi, Indonesia. Haiwan yang termasuk di kalangan primat paling kecil dan paling aneh di dunia tersebut, dikatakan sudah lapan dekad tidak ditemui oleh manusia. Masa selama dua bulan diambil oleh sekumpulan saintis bagi menangkap tiga ekor pygmy tarsier ini dengan menggunakan jaring. Tangkapan itu dibuat di Gunung Rore Katimbo di Taman Negara Lore Lindu di tengah Sulawesi pada ketinggian 6900 kaki di atas paras laut.

Kata mereka, kelihatan haiwan yang keempat tetapi tidak berjaya ditangkap. Haiwan ini telah dianggap pupus oleh sebahagian saintis. Seorang saintis, Prof. Sharon Gursky-Doyen, seorang professor antropologi dari Texas A&M University mengambil bahagian di dalam ekspedisi itu. Beliau juga turut digigit pada jarinya oleh haiwan tersebut semasa cuba memasang kolar alat pengesan radio pada haiwan kecil dan comel itu.

"Pembantu saya sedang memegang haiwan itu, manakala saya cuba memasang kolar radio pada lehernya. Tetapi memang sukar untuk memasang alat itu kerana haiwan ini boleh memusingkan kepalanya lebih kurang 180 darjah. Sedang saya cuba menutup klip kolar itu, ia memusingkan kepalanya dan menggigit jari saya. Saya terkejut dan kelihatan jari saya berdarah."

Kolar alat pengesan radio itu dipasang agar pergerakan haiwan itu dapat dikesan. Pygmy tarsier ini adalah haiwan primat yang aneh kerana ia adalah sejenis mamalia yang mempunyai ciri-ciri lemur, monyet, gorila dan manusia. Beberapa spesies tarsier hidup di beberapa kawasan di kepulauan asia. Pygmy tarsier saiznya kecil, dengan berat lebih kurang 50 gram. Mereka mempunyai mata dan telinga yang besar. Mereka ialah pemakan serangga pada waktu malam (nocturnal carnivore) dan antara keanehannya ialah ia mempunyai cakar dan bukannya kuku seperti primat yang lain.

Haiwan ini sudah tidak dilihat oleh saintis sejak 1921. Pada 2000, sekumpulan saintis Indonesia yang sedang cuba memerangkap tikus di tanah tinggi Sulawesi, secara tidak sengaja terbunuh seekor pygmy tarsier. Sejak waktu itu, semua orang percaya bahawa tiada lagi pygmy tarsier wujud di dunia ini kerana pencarian yang dibuat selama beberapa dekad menemui kegagalan dan tiada siapa lagi yang menemui dan dengar tentangnya.

faktor kepupusan

kenapa kepupusan berlaku

sumber asal : http://mforum2.cari.com.my

Kemusnahan hutan sama ada secara semula jadi ataupun untuk tujuan komersial menjadi antara punca utama kepupusan haiwan.

KITA sering diberi pilihan sama ada kita mahu mengekalkan flora (tumbuh-tumbuhan) dan fauna (hidupan binatang) ataupun tidak langsung menikmati penambahan kemudahan infrastruktur.

Bagi kebanyakan kita mengalah kepada tuntutan pemodenan dan kemajuan. Kita korbankan flora dan fauna di sekeliling kita bagi memberi laluan kepada pembangunan.

Implikasinya seperti yang kita lihat sekarang, banyak spesies-spesies flora dan fauna yang semakin diancam kepupusan.

Selain itu, ancaman terhadap spesies-spesies flora dan fauna ini juga sebenarnya turut menjejaskan kitaran ekologi secara keseluruhan kerana kedua-dua unsur itu dan juga manusia sendiri adalah sebahagian daripada elemen yang perlu ada untuk mewujudkan keseimbangan semula jadi.

Jika kita kaji secara mendalam, punca masalah kemusnahan flora dan fauna ini adalah manusia sendiri.

Di bawah dikemukakan faktor-faktor yang menyumbang kepada masalah ini dengan tumpuan kepada masalah pemusnahan fauna.

Kemusnahan dan perubahan habitat

Seperti yang dinyatakan tadi, aktiviti-aktiviti manusia adalah punca utama kepupusan haiwan. Contoh aktiviti pemusnahan manusia yang paling jelas ialah pembalakan dan penerokaan kawasan baru untuk pembangunan.

Aktiviti-aktiviti ini akan memusnahkan sesuatu habitat dan spesies haiwan dalam sesuatu jangka masa tertentu.

Penerokaan kawasan-kawasan hutan boleh memusnah atau mengecilkan habitat haiwan tertentu seperti harimau dan gajah yang memerlukan kawasan yang luas untuk aktiviti-aktiviti hidup.

Kawasan hutan yang kecil akan mengurangkan kemampuan haiwan-haiwan ini mencari makanan dan juga mencari pasangan untuk tujuan pembiakan.

Kematian dan pengurangan bilangan adalah kesan utama yang akan berlaku disebabkan masalah ini.

Pembakaran hutan

Pembakaran hutan secara terbuka seperti yang berlaku di Kalimantan dan Sumatera menyebabkan spesies-spesies yang terancam yang ada di kawasan tersebut akan musnah.

Lebih menyedihkan, kebakaran hutan yang besar dan tidak dapat dikawal akan memusnahkan sesuatu spesies haiwan selama-lamanya.

Pemburu haram

Pemburuan secara haram yang berleluasa di hutan-hutan negara ini juga adalah faktor kemusnahan habitat dan spesies haiwan.

Pemburuan haram berlaku akibat permintaan tinggi daripada negara-negara luar seperti Amerika Syarikat, Britian dan Eropah terhadap haiwan-haiwan eksotik yang hanya terdapat di negara ini.

Sukarnya menyeludup haiwan ini daripada dihidu oleh pihak berkuasa menyebabkan haiwan-haiwan ini sering disembunyikan dalam keadaan yang amat menyedihkan.

Menurut kajian yang pernah dilakukan, daripada 10 haiwan yang diseludup, biasanya hanya seekor sahaja yang sampai ke tangan pembeli dalam keadaan selamat.

Hal ini menyebabkan nilai haiwan tersebut sangat tinggi dan ini menggalakkan lagi pemburuan haram.

Menyedihkan juga kerana haiwan-haiwan daripada golongan primat seperti monyet dijual kepada institusi-institusi tertentu untuk tujuan penyelidikan.

Dianggarkan hampir 200,000 primat digunakan setiap tahun untuk tujuan penyelidikan sehingga menyebabkan beberapa jenis primat hampir pupus kini.

Keperluan barangan berasaskan haiwan

Gaya hidup manusia turut menjurus kepada kemusnahan haiwan. Semua sedia maklum, walaupun pelbagai undang-undang dan peraturan diperkenalkan, masalah memburu binatang untuk mendapatkan kulit, gading dan bahagian-bahagian badan binatang yang dikatakan memberi kekuatan pada manusia terus berleluasa.

Harimau, memerang, paus, badak, dan gajah adalah antara binatang yang diburu untuk tujuan tersebut

Pemburu haram ini bukan sahaja mengeksploitasikan bintang ini malahan mengaut keuntungan yang banyak melalui kegiatan ini.

Permintaan yang tinggi melalui pasaran antarabangsa dan tempatan terhadap binatang ini menjadi punca utama kegiatan ini berleluasa.

Harimau Malaya merupakan satu spesies yang kian terancam kerana pemburuan terhadapnya. Permintaan yang tinggi terutama dalam bidang perubatan Cina menyebabkan Harimau Malaya kini hanya tinggal sejumlah yang sedikit sahaja.

Pencemaran

Pencemaran yang teruk menyebabkan kepupusan haiwan dan tumbuhan, terutamanya hidupan laut.

Hidupan seperti ikan lumba-lumba dan paus pembunuh (killer wale) semakin pupus disebabkan pencemaran air terutama disebabkan oleh tumpahan minyak di laut dan kegiatan manusia yang suka mengotorkan laut.

Beruang Panda yang merupakan antara habitat yang istimewa yang hanya terdapat di negara China kian terancam kepupusannya disebabkan pencemaran alam. Kepupusan pokok buluh juga menjadi penyebab kepupusan hidupan ini kerana pokok buluh merupakan makanan utama habitat ini.

Perubahan suhu dunia

Faktor ini mungkin satu-satunya punca yang tidak boleh dikaitkan dengan aktiviti manusia.

Fenomena El-Nino umpamanya menyebabkan peningkatan suhu dunia yang mendadak ini menyebabkan ada sesetengah spesies haiwan dan tumbuhan yang terancam terutama haiwan dan tumbuhan dan tidak sesuai dengan cuaca panas.

Faktor ini akan menyebabkan kepupusan hidupan ini.

Burung-hampir pupus

Burung nasar berbulu putih makin pupus    Oleh Shamsiah Sanin

Burung yang gemar makan bangkai pupus disebabkan ‘diclofenac’ sejenis ubat anti bengkak yang digunakan untuk haiwan ternakan

BURUNG nasar Asia yang hidup di habitat liarnya mungkin pupus dalam tempoh 10 tahun lagi kecuali langkah diambil bagi menghentikan penggunaan ubat berasaskan kimia terhadap haiwan ternakan.
Satu kajian yang dijalankan pakar menunjukkan, populasi satu daripada spesies burung nasar berbulu putih dikenali 'white back' sudah merosot sebanyak 99.9 peratus sejak 1992.

Saintis yang menjalankan kajian berkata, India misalnya, sudah pun mengharamkan pengeluaran ‘diclofenac,’ sejenis ubat anti bengkak untuk lembu, tetapi bahan terlarang itu masih dijual dikalangan petani kerana harganya yang murah. Penemuan ini disiarkan jurnal ‘Bombay Natural History Society.’

Mereka juga mendapati, satu lagi spesies burung nasar bermuncung panjang merosot sebanyak 97 peratus dalam tempoh yang sama.

"Kami mendapati populasi kedua-dua spesies burung ini berkurangan kira-kira 16 peratus setiap tahun dan ini amat membimbangkan, terutama membabitkan spesies 'white back' yang berkurangan antara 45 peratus hingga 50 peratus setiap tahun," kata Dr Andrew Cunningham, yang turut mengambil bahagian dalam kajian itu.
                          

Burung nasar raja betina dari Amerika Selatan.

Kumpulan saintis India dan British itu berkata, kemerosotan populasi haiwan itu secara mendadak adalah disebabkan ‘diclofenac’ yang terkandung dalam bangkai haiwan.

Dr Cunningham berkata, walaupun kerajaan India mengharamkan pengeluaran ubat itu pada 2006, ia tidak memberi banyak kesan positif.

"Kerajaan hanya melarang pengeluarannya untuk merawat haiwan,tetapi pengeluaran untuk tujuan perubatan manusia tidak terjejas dengan pengharaman ini. Kita akan mengambil masa yang panjang sebelum dapat memulihkan semula populasi burung ini," katanya.

Beliau berkata, kaedah merawat haiwan menggunakan ‘diclofenac’juga tidak diharamkan dan ini menyebabkan ramai petani memilih‘diclofenac’ daripada jenis yang digunakan untuk perubatan manusia dan tidak menggunakan jenis ‘diclofenac’ khusus untuk haiwan kerana harganya lebih murah.

Pihaknyajuga mendapati ubat itu masih diimport daripada syarikat pengeluar diluar negara, sekali gus bermakna bekalan boleh diperoleh dengan mudah di pasaran.

Beberapa tahun lalu penyelidik berjaya mengenal pasti ubat alternatif dikenali ‘meloxicam’ yang tidak mempunyai kesan toksik terhadap burung nasar. Bagaimanapun, ia tidak mendapat sambutan kerana harganya dua kali ganda lebih mahal berbanding ‘diclofenac’.

Kini, harga bahan itu sudah menjadi lebih murah apabila semakin banyak syarikat mengeluarkan ubat pilihan yang selamat untuk burung nasar.

"Perbezaan harga bukanlah suatu masalah sekarang berbanding dua tahun atau tiga tahun lalu tetapi kesedaran umum terhadap perkara ini amat perlahan dan kami bimbang ia terlalu lewat untuk kita memastikan spesies burung nasar dapat terus hidup," katanya.

Kumpulan pemulihan alam sekitar baru-baru ini menubuhkan beberapa pusat pembiakan dalam kurungan bagi spesies burung nasar yang diancam kepupusan bagi membantu memulihkan populasinya.

Usaha ini diketuai Persatuan Sejarah Semula Jadi Bombay (BNHS) dengan kerjasama Inisiatif Darwin Britain dan disokong beberapa pertubuhan luar negara.

Salah sebuah pusat pembiakan itu berjaya menetaskan dua biji telur burung nasar spesies 'white back' dan bagi kumpulan pemulihan alam semula jadi itu, kejayaan yang dicapai amat menggembirakan mereka.

"Kedua-dua anak burung itu nampaknya sihat dan kami berasa amat gembira dengan kejayaan ini, tetapi kita memerlukan masa sekurang-kurangnya 15 hingga 20 tahun lagi sebelum dapat melepaskan burung nasar itu ke habitat asalnya," katanya.

Dr Cunningham berkata, usaha menangkap burung nasar 'whiteback' di habitat liarnya amat sukar kerana jumlah haiwan itu yang terlalu sedikit, berikutan itu pihaknya memberi tumpuan kepada usaha mencari sarang burung itu dan mendapatkan anaknya untuk dipelihara dalam kurungan.

"Bagaimanapun, burung nasar hanya matang selepas mencapai usia lima tahun manakala pembiakan biasanya hanya berjaya selepas dua atau tiga musim mengawan," katanya.

Dr Cunningham turut melahirkan kebimbangan kerana  ‘diclofenac’ kini memasuki pasaran Afrika sebagai ubat haiwan.

"Afrika mempunyai spesies burung nasarnya sendiri yang hampir menyerupai spesies dari India dan Asia, jadi kami tahu risiko yang bakal dihadapi," katanya.

The Plan Management in Deramakot Forest Reserve

The Plan Management in Deramakot Forest Reserve

          Deramakot Forest Reserve is a Class II Forest. Class II forest is a commercial forest, which is the forest allocated for logging tom supply timber and other products. This forest reserve is common with much of the lowland dipterocarp forest and this place has been logged several times for contributing to Sabah’s economy. The market value of this forest reserve is in the high range compared with the other rainforests. Thus, this forest reserve is an ideal site for developing a model for improved forest management.

Deramakot Forest Reserve is protected under Sabah Forestry Department. This forest reserve is the first natural tropical rainforest in South East Asia that is managed according to Sustainable Forest Management principles. This forest reserve has been developed based on a management system that aimed at sustainable production of timber for logged over the forest. This management system is requires substantial investments in forest planning, infrastructure, low impact harvesting equipment, and training the forest workers. This system also needs to include the managing of this forest reserve in a way that based on the natural processes for production of low volume, high quality, and high priced timber products in the market.

Based on the objectives to develop Deramakot as the forest reserve, reducing the impact of logging is one of the applications of ecologically and scientifically acceptable forest management. For reducing the logging impacts, silviculture technique is used in Deramakot Forest Reserve. Silviculture technique is a technique of removing competitive plant such as the climbing plant in the forest and this effort is taken to enhance the growth and quality development of younger regeneration of forest trees. For example, the infestation of climbing bamboo is often severe problem for tree regeneration due to the competition with the forest trees for light and nutrients. This technique allows selecting among the generation and this technique is carried out six months after harvesting operation.

Other than silviculture technique, there are also several characteristics include in the harvesting activities. The harvesting activities consist of pre-harvesting operation, harvesting operation, and post-harvest operation. The pre-harvesting operations is the activities of tree marking and preparation of Comprehensive Harvesting Plan before logging, while the harvesting operation is the directional felling, winching, and hauling of logs. Finally, the post-harvest operation includes the constructing water bumps or cross for reducing water runoff and soil erosion.

Rehabilitation is also one of the activities that have been done in Deramakot Forest Reserve. Rehabilitation or enrichment planting is a costly operation. After the harvesting operation had been done, plant will be planted annually in Deramakot Forest Reserve. The planting stock is obtained from the seeds that are mostly collected in Deramakot Forest Reserve. The principal species used in rehabilitation are the common faster growing Dipterocarp trees, such as Shorea spp., Parashorea tomentella, and Dryobalanops lanceolata. There is about 200 hectare is to be planted annually and tending of planted trees is carried out frequently for a duration of five years.

Other than that, Sabah Forest Department is selling “eco-friendly” harvested logs from Deramakot Forest Reserve as the efforts to improve the economy in Sabah. The logs were sold based on some types, such as the species of the tree. The trees were logged based on their diameter, age, and circumference of the tree. The timber was sold in different range of price, which is based on their quality. The sorted of logs based on their species and quality are allowing potential buyers to bid only for timber they were interested at a very much higher price. For example, Shorea sp. was sold for a record price of RM 1350 per m3 during May 2007.

Besides, wildlife conservation is also one of the activities in Deramakot Forest Reserve. The example of wildlife animals that can be found in the Deramakot Forest Reserve is pygmy elephant, tembadau, proboscis monkey, and also clouded leopard. Some people that are responsible to Deramakot Forest Reserve need to develop a guide to monitor and document wildlife resources and their habitat. There are five monitoring components that are being carried out in Deramakot Forest Reserve, which are the riverside, salt lick, orangutan aerial nest count, elephants, and also opportunistic sightings.

Environment - how can you help protect it?

Environment - how can you help protect it?

Our planet is in trouble! Almost every day we seem to hear of yet another problem affecting the environment - and what a list of problems! - pollution, acid rain, climate change, the destruction of rainforests and other wild habitats, the decline and extinction of thousands of species of animals and plants....and so on.

Nowadays, most of us know that these threats exist and that humans have caused them. Many of us are very worried about the future of our planet and unless we can find a way of solving the problems we have made then the environment will suffer even more.

It all sounds so depressing - but we certainly mustn't despair! Every one of us, whatever age we are can do something to help slow down and reverse some of the damage. We cannot leave the problem-solving entirely to the experts - we all have a responsibility for our environment. We must learn to live in a sustainable way i.e. learn to use our natural resources which include air, freshwater, forests, wildlife, farmland and seas without damaging them. As populations expand and lifestyles change, we must keep the world in a good condition so that future generations will have the same natural resources that we have.

Here are just a few examples of the threats to our environment and some ideas to help you to do something about them.


Waste

We humans create such a lot of rubbish! Between 1992 and 2008 household waste increased by 16% and we now produce just under half a tonne per person each year. Most of this is taken away by dustmen and buried in enormous landfill sites or burned in incinerators - both of these actions can be dangerous for the environment. Is all our rubbish really rubbish? If you think about it, much of what we throw away could be used again. It makes sense to reuse and recycle our rubbish instead of just trying to solve the problem of where to put it! Encouragingly rates of recycling have increased so that we recycle 35 % of our household rubbish, although we could recycle up to 80%. Much of our waste is made up of glass, metal, plastic and paper. Our natural resources such as trees, oil, coal and aluminium are used up in enormous amounts to make these products and the resources will one day be completely used up. We must cut down on energy use.

Ideas to Help

* Sort out your rubbish. Organic matter e.g. potato peelings, left over food, tea leaves etc. can be transferred straight to a compost heap in the garden and used as a good, natural fertiliser for the plants. Aluminium cans, glass bottles and newspapers etc. are often collected from our doorsteps these days, but other items such as plastic bottles, juice cartons and cardboard may not be, in which case they can be taken to nearby recycling banks. Find out where they are by asking your local council or library.
* Use recycled paper to help save trees. Everyone in Britain uses about 6 trees worth of paper every year.
Chlorine bleach is usually used to make newspapers and this pollutes rivers. It's better to use unbleached, recycled paper whenever you can.
* Take your old clothes to charity shops. Some are sold, others are returned to textile mills for recycling.
* Try to avoid buying plastic. It's hard to recycle. One way to cut down on plastic is to refuse to use carrier bags offered by supermarkets and use strong, long lasting shopping bags instead, or re-use plastic bags over and over again, until they wear out and then recycle them.
* Don't buy over-packed goods. Many things we buy have unnecessary amounts of plastic and paper around them.


Rainforests

Rainforests are valuable habitats. About half of all the species of animals and plants in the world live in rainforests with a possible 50,000 species a year becoming extinct. Thousands of rainforest plants contain substances that can be used in medicines and the tribal people of the forests have great knowledge of them. Rainforests are also important because they provide us with oxygen and help to regulate the world's climate and atmosphere.

Yet despite their value, an area of rainforest the size of Britain is destroyed every year. One and a half acres are cleared every second, an area about the size of a football pitch. They are cut down to make way for 'civilised man' to provide timber, grow crops and graze cattle. Sometimes they're burnt down to make space to grow soya, an animal feed and to grow palm oil, a bio-fuel used as an alternative to petrol and diesel, as well as being used as an ingredient in many foods.

Ideas to Help

* Never buy products made up of tropical hardwoods e.g. mahogany and teak. It is better to buy only pine, oak, ash or beech because they can be replaced.
* Garden and flower shops sometimes sell rainforest orchids that have been imported, although endangered ones have been protected since 1973. If you buy an orchid, check that it has been grown in Britain.
* Some parrots and macaws are unfortunately still imported. If you want a parrot as a pet, make sure it has been hatched in Britain.
* Eating a beefburger may be helping to destroy the rainforest! Most burgers in Britain are made from European cattle. However, the cattle are often fed on soya beans and a lot of that comes from Brazil where large areas of forest have been destroyed to make soya fields. Before buying a burger, ask where the cattle came from and what they were fed on. Try a veggie burger for a change!


Pollution

The air, water and soil of habitats all over the world have been, and are still being polluted in many different ways. This pollution affects the health of living things. Air is damaged by car and lorry fumes, and power stations create acid rain which destroys entire forests and lakes. When fossil fuels i.e. oil, gas and coal are burned to provide energy for lighting, cooking etc. they form polluting gases.

Oils spills pollute sea water and kill marine life; chemical waste from factories and sewage works, and artificial fertilisers from farmland, pollute river water, killing wildlife and spreading disease.

The careless or deliberate dumping of litter in the environment is not only unsightly but dangerous for wildlife too.

Ideas to Help

* Don’t drop litter.
* Use less energy by switching off lights when rooms are not in use, not wasting hot water, not overheating rooms and not boiling more water than necessary when making a cup of tea!
* Use a bicycle or walk instead of using a car for short trips.
* If you spot pollution, such as oil on the beach, report it to the local council. If you suspect a stream is polluted, report it to the local Environmental Health Officer.
* If you use chlorine-based bleach or detergents containing phosphates you are contributing to water pollution.
Try to buy 'environmentally-friendly' products which don't contain these.
* Organic foods are produced without the use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides, preventing these pollutants from contaminating habitats and entering the food chain.


The Ozone Layer

Fifteen to thirty miles above the Earth lies the stratosphere, a broad band of gases and one of these gases is ozone. It's only a small part of the stratosphere but very important because it prevents too many of the sun's ultra violet rays from reaching us. Too many ultra violet rays can give us skin cancer and destroy plankton, the important microscopic life in the sea. In the 1980s it was discovered that 'holes' were appearing in the ozone layer above the Antarctic and Arctic.

CFCs, chlorofluorocarbons, are gases used in the manufacture of aerosols and fridges, are believed have been responsible for destroying the ozone layer. In 1987 the Montreal Protocol was introduced and later signed up to by 120 countries who agreed to half their CFC emissions by the year 2000.

We now know that apart from destroying the ozone layer, CFCs contribute significantly to the greenhouse effect. Even though they have been banned, their long atmospheric lifetime of 20 to 100 years will continue to contribute to the greenhouse effect until they finally are broken down by the sun.

Ideas to Help

* If you know of anyone getting rid of an old fridge, tell them that the CFCs can be drained out and recycled - contact the local council and they will dispose of the fridge safely. New fridges do not contain CFCs.


The Greenhouse Effect

Certain gases in the atmosphere, mainly carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and fluorocarbons, act like the glass in a greenhouse, allowing sunlight through to heat the Earth's surface but trapping some of the heat as it radiates back into space. Without this the Earth would be frozen and lifeless. However, owing to Man's activities,'greenhouse gases' are building up in the atmosphere, causing a greater amount of heat to be reflected back to Earth. The result is an increase in average world temperatures and is already causing more droughts, flooding and extreme weather conditions such hurricanes.

Ideas to Help

* Don't waste electricity or heat. Electricity and heating are produced by burning coal, oil and gas and this action gives off carbon dioxide.
* Car fumes produce carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide - so try to cut down on car journeys if possible. Use a bike or walk - it's good exercise for you too!
* Recycle as much of your waste as you can. Methane, the most effective 'greenhouse gas', is released into the air as the rubbish in landfill sites rots.
*Cut down on how much meat you eat. Meat consumption has risen and farm animals, especially cattle produce methane. Not only that but they are frequently fed soya which is often grown on land where rainforests have been destroyed. We need the rainforests to absorb carbon dioxide and remove it from the air.


Endangered Habitats and their Wildlife

Wild habitats all over the world are fast disappearing. Forests are being cut down, rivers and seas polluted, heathlands built on, hedgerows pulled up, ponds filled in - the destruction seems endless. As the habitats decrease, so do their communities of animals and plants. Habitat destruction is one of the main reasons why many species face extinction. Habitats are commonly split up and animals can't get from one part to another, unless wildlife 'corridors' are provided. Other reasons for their demise include the hunting of animals and collection of plants. Now they are facing a new threat, that of climate change.

A report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) shows nearly one third of amphibians, more than one in eight birds and nearly a quarter of mammals are threatened with extinction. 869 species are already described as being extinct or extinct in the wild, i.e. disappeared from the earth forever.

Ideas to Help

* In many countries souvenirs made from rare wildlife are available - never buy shells, coral or things made from elephant ivory, rhino horn or cat skin etc.
* Try to reduce your 'carbon footprint'.
* Remember that British habitats and wildlife are under threat too. The destruction of wood land, pollution of rivers and ponds, the use of pesticides and herbicides have all contributed to the reduction in the amount of wildlife in Britain. Many animals and plants are endangered e.g. red squirrels, otters, barn owls, golden eagles, natterjack toads, many species of butterflies and dragonflies, orchids - to name just a few. If you have a garden at home, you could transform it into a mini nature reserve for wildlife. The same could be done in your school grounds.

Here are just a few ideas to create a wildlife garden:-

1. Make a pond. Even A small pond will attract frogs and toads etc. Birds and foxes may use it for drinking.

2. Make a wildflower meadow. Wildflower plants and seeds may be bought from garden suppliers and, if planted correctly, a colourful meadow will result, attracting birds, butterflies and other insects.

3. Provide logs and stones and allow a few autumn leaves to remain lying around. These provide shelter for minibeasts and perhaps small mammals such as shrews and mice. An over-neat garden will not be attractive to wildlife.

4. Feed the birds during winter and put up nest boxes for robins and blue tits etc. to use in spring.

5. If your garden is big enough, you could plant a small wood. Always grow native trees such as oak, ash or birch - these attract more insects than foreign trees.

6. Hedgehogs are useful to have in the garden as they eat slugs. Encourage them to stay by providing them with tinned cat or dog meat, water and a safe place to hibernate in winter, such as a pile of logs, stuffed with hay and leaves.

7. Avoid using chemical sprays in the garden - some of these can be poisonous to wildlife. It's best to let the birds eat the cabbage-munching caterpillars, the hedgehogs and toads deal with the lettuce-loving slugs and the ladybirds dine on the rose-ravaging greenfly!