20 Tips to Help Save Our Threatened Species

What is Threatened Species?

Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants, fungi, etc.) which are vulnerable to extinction in the near future. Or any species which is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range. Below are 20 tips to save them to become endangered species:

• Join a community group and offer to do voluntary work.
• Give your local Threatened Species Network office a call and find out what activities are happening in your area. They may need help with field and office work.
• Participate in local clean-up, tree planting and weed control activities.
• Find out what threatened species live in your area what they look like, what they eat, where they live.
• Plant some native trees in your garden to provide food and shelter for birds.
• Replace your water thirsty lawn with some native grasses.
• Build nest boxes in areas that only have young trees.
• At Easter, eat chocolate bilbies, not bunnies.
• Learn how to care for abandoned or injured wildlife by contacting the RSPCA (they can give you contacts for your local wildlife rescue service).
• Build a frog pond in your back yard.
• Desex your cat, put a bell on its collar and keep it indoors at night.
• Cut up the plastic collars on your milk and soft drink bottles before throwing them out.
• Report any sightings of unusual animals or plants or feral pests and weeds to your local Parks and Wildlife Service.
• Throw back fish that are too small when you are fishing. Be careful not to lose your nets, lines, hooks and sinkers in the water. These entangle or choke many animals such as whales, fish, birds, platypus and water rats.
• Take some binoculars with you when you go bushwalking and keep notes of the different plants and animals you see.
• Take pictures, not souvenirs.
• Support industries that support the environment.
• Extinguish your camp fires and cigarette butts when you are in the bush.
• Drive slowly at dawn and dusk, and where trees grow near the road. Many native animals get killed on the roadsides at these times.
• Take your own bag shopping. Plastics can choke whales, seals and seabirds if they get into the ocean.

Why we should save them not to become endangered species?

Plants and animals hold medicinal, agricultural, ecological, commercial and aesthetic/recreational value. Threatened and Endangered species must be protected and saved so that future generations can experience their presence and value.

Medicinal Value
Plants and animals are responsible for a variety of useful medications. In fact, about forty percent of all prescriptions written today are composed from the natural compounds of different species. These species not only save lives, but they contribute to a prospering pharmaceutical industry worth over $40 billion annually. Unfortunately, only 5% of known plant species have been screened for their medicinal values, although we continue to lose up to 100 species daily.

Agricultural Value
There are an estimated 80,000 edible plants in the world. Humans depend upon only 20 species of these plants, such as wheat and corn, to provide 90% of the world's food. Wild relatives of these common crops contain essential disease-resistant material. They also provide humans with the means to develop new crops that can grow in inadequate lands such as in poor soils or drought-stricken areas to help solve the world hunger problem.

Ecological Value
Plant and animal species are the foundation of healthy ecosystems. Humans depend on ecosystems such as coastal estuaries, prairie grasslands, and ancient forests to purify their air, clean their water, and supply them with food. When species become endangered, it is an indicator that the health of these vital ecosystems is beginning to unravel.

Commercial Value
Various wild species are commercially raised, directly contributing to local and regional economies. Commercial and recreational salmon fishing in the Pacific Northwest provides 60,000 jobs and $1 billion annually in personal income, and is the center of Pacific Northwest Native American culture. This industry and way of life, however, is in trouble as salmon decline due to habitat degradation from dams, clearcutting, and overgrazing along streams.

Freshwater mussels which are harvested, cut into beads, and used to stimulate pearl construction in oysters form the basis of a thriving industry which supports approximately 10,000 U.S. jobs and contributes over $700 million to the U.S. economy annually. Unfortunately, 43% of the freshwater mussel species in North America are currently endangered or extinct.

Aesthetic/Recreational Value
Plant and animal species and their ecosystems form the basis of America’s multi-billion dollar, job-intensive tourism industry. They also supply recreational, spiritual, and quality-of-life values as well.

Each year over 108 million people in the United States participate in wildlife-related recreation including observing, feeding, and photographing wildlife. Americans spend over $59 billion annually on travel, lodging, equipment, and food to engage in non-consumptive wildlife recreation. Our national heritage of biological diversity is an invaluable and irreplaceable resource. Our quality of life and that of future generations depends on our preservation of plant and animal species.