Conservation and Wildlife (Almost $100 already donated)

[Night.Claw]

Why should I care about some obscure species? They die off and make place for others. Its called natural selection

Then please consider your own logic. Delete your account and make place for someone with manners.

It never hurts to check your local conservation departments and see if they need aid. It's always nice to help your local community. However if there is a certain animal you love that is endangered you can always spread awareness and help them.

There are so many causes I don't know where to begin honestly. Do some exploring and find an ecosystem, animal, or charity you like and go from there.

There is a few, non-profit bird hospitals around where i live, sustaining itself on small donations and voluntary work. People donated money, and got reservation rights for one of the hospitals, and now after years, it's visible that they are succeding. Since i was little, i can see a lot more birds, what was barely if ever visible around here. Mostly birds around water, since i live beside a river. If people give a little care, things can easily be achieved.

Around my home, there was an awareness rising about Fork tail Swallows. They dropped in numbers greatly, when i was little. So i personally have several Swallow nests around my house. Even if it "ruins" the look of the house itself it doesn't bother me much. Swallows leave stains, and dirt around, but meh... i can clean it up. I have my outside cable lines adjusted in a way, that Swallows can rest under my roof during hot summer days. Beside that i leave mud pools around, so they can repair/build nests. I can see a lot coming back every year, and they are growing in numbers. And since Swallows are natural predators of flies and mosquitos, and since i live beside a river, where mosquito infestation is common, even i gain from keeping them around.

Every little matters in the whole. Even if you can only effect few, it matters. Species can be saved if people give a damn about problems.

Here is a picture of them during the beginning of Fall.

 

[Simo]

This is something I think about a good deal, and ways to help...for my part, I try and leave as little footprint as I can on the land, in terms of housing, and also, in terms of transportation, and the use of fuels...I think that using fewer resources is a huge part of this, and something that's in everyone's power to make a difference with. Once I'm more settled in, I'm going to look into wind/solar, to supply/supplement power/heat...and happily, it seems very popular here to do so. And also, some huge wind-farms are going in the southern part of the state; very, very nice to see; flat, rolling fields of corn and windmills.

More immediately, I hope to set aside and preserve 150 acres of mostly forested, hilly land in Leelanau County, along with my sister, that's been in the family, and see that it's not subdivided and sold; there's fewer and fewer blocks of land this size in the county, and I feel it's important to set aside as much as possible.

One threat I see is the constant 'development' of land: how it gets cut up, subdivided and sold off, to build big, ugly McMansions, and such: maybe I'll also try in some way to work for better city and county planning, and ways to prevent sprawl.

And so what I aim to do has mostly to do with curbing the human footprint, and encouraging people to tread a bit more lightly, and even get by with less, so that other species can have some space, too.

 

[Doomer]

When colonists arrived to the New Zealand islands they brought with them predators that invaded the Kakapos natural habitat, killing off the birds rapidly. Kakapo were hunted down to less than a hundred on the islands, do to human interference and invasive species.

Their plight is our fault, not the birds. WE are the ones responsible. Human beings are the only creatures on Earth with this level of capability of helping species other than ourselves. We should be using our intellect to save and protect life. If you don't care about any of that, I see no reason for you to be here.

Finally someone will try to reason. Fair enough I wont try to spoil your little gathering just because I dont believe in charity.

 

[Doomer]

Preservation of species when necessary is good, but humans are superior in value and in worth.

lovely. But how do you know which human to sacrifice when the time calls?

 

[Fallowfox]

Since some people have made comments questioning the utility of conservation, I'll ask people whether they like Bananas, Coffee, Grapes?

All of those tasty plants are under threat from diseases. Farmers cross-breed them with closely related wild species to improve their genetic diversity and therefore resistance to disease.

A lot of wild Coffee plants though are endangered because of the world's changing climate and land-use change.

So that's why we should all be interested in the natural world. If you're not in it for the animals, take an interest for the cappuccinos.

advances.sciencemag.org: High extinction risk for wild coffee species and implications for coffee sector sustainability

 

[Doomer]

Since some people have made comments questioning the utility of conservation, I'll ask people whether they like Bananas, Coffee, Grapes?

All of those tasty plants are under threat from diseases. Farmers cross-breed them with closely related wild species to improve their genetic diversity and therefore resistance to disease.

A lot of wild Coffee plants though are endangered because of the world's changing climate and land-use change.

So that's why we should all be interested in the natural world. If you're not in it for the animals, take an interest for the cappuccinos.

advances.sciencemag.org: High extinction risk for wild coffee species and implications for coffee sector sustainability

People will always find a way

 

[Simo]

People could also live on Soylent Green, it just wouldn't be a lot of fun; a lot of joy would go out of the world.

 

[Telnac]

Excellent thread! It took the Earth millions of years to recover from each mass extinction. The loss of biodiversity puts an enormous strain on the natural processes that we still depend on to survive. Preserving the wilderness and helping species come back from the brink of extinction ensures that the future generations have all the world's beauty to enjoy.

 

[Felix Bernard]

That attitude is what got us into this mess in the first place, and a big part of why I'm an anti-theist.

What attitude? The attitude that brought us modernized society and medicine?
Sorry dude, it isn’t strictly “theist” to govern your own species above inferior ones. If we and our parents are just as morally valuable as the the animal kingdom, why is eating our babies illegal?

 

[Doomer]

What attitude? The attitude that brought us modernized society and medicine?
Sorry dude, it isn’t strictly “theist” to govern your own species above inferior ones. If our parents are just as valuable as the the animal kingdom, why is eating their babies illegal?

Because eating babies is immoral. Don't try to argue by using logic, use emotions instead, fallacies. Politicians are the master of this.

 

[Tallow_Phoenix]

How fascinating to see furries argue against conservation efforts. Like, can you guys give some intelligent reason other than "screw 'em"?

 

[Felix Bernard]

Because eating babies is immoral. Don't try to argue by using logic, use emotions instead, fallacies. Politicians are the master of this.

If it’s not immoral for other animals to eat their babies, why is it immoral for us to do so?

This is a major intellectual incoherence on your part. I say we should see our own needs as superior to animals, but now you say somehow our actions have more moral weight *shrugs*

 

[Doomer]

How fascinating to see furries argue against conservation efforts. Like, can you guys give some intelligent reason other than "screw 'em"?

Did they ever save your life? Did they save lives of other humans? What makes them entitled to such our generosity? We should focus our efforts on reducing poverty, school funding so out children, our future, could get better education.

 

[Night.Claw]

How fascinating to see furries argue against conservation efforts. Like, can you guys give some intelligent reason other than "screw 'em"?

Sadly ever thread falls into disagreements and fights, when a specific person show their disagreement, and the others try to protect the idea.
Even a noble one like this.





For the thread.

In my town, the building below, was made completely on charity, and helped wildlife grow of birds by hundreads in numbers. The nearby waters and forests are complete part of the reservation, and people can only enter with guides, not to bother the wildlife.

This was able to happen, because people (less then 3000 person) decided to give, and not just take as always.

Think before talk/act, and you can change the world.

 

[Infrarednexus]

To everyone contributing to the topic, thank you. It means a lot.

For the people fighting, I'd tell you stop but every post is more money for my Kakapo friends. You're arguments are going towards buying their yummy food pellets. I've already donated enough to feed one for an entire month thanks to you.

 

[MetroFox2]

If it’s not immoral for other animals to eat their babies, why is it immoral for us to do so?

This is a major intellectual incoherence on your part. I say we should see our own needs as superior to animals, but now you say somehow our actions have more moral weight *shrugs*

I hate to be rude, but nobody asked for you to derail the thread into moral and intellectual thought. Some of us just want to give to good causes and be done with it.

God forbid every time I put a pound in the RSPB box somebody came up to me and started asking "Uh, what use do the birds of the Norfolk Broads have for your half-crowns?"

 

[ConorHyena]

"Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him. ..."

 

[Felix Bernard]

Apologies for de-railing

 

[Tallow_Phoenix]

Did they ever save your life? Did they save lives of other humans? What makes them entitled to such our generosity? We should focus our efforts on reducing poverty, school funding so out children, our future, could get better education.

Well, alright, at least that's a reasonable argument. It's not going to stop anyone from donating to conservation efforts, but while you're here, have any good links to charities and such that you feel are worthy causes?

 

[Joni]

I made this thread so we can share and inform each other of endangered species and ecosystems we know of and spread awareness to educate one another on environmental protection.

Why should I care about some obscure species? They die off and make place for others. Its called natural selection

I heared insted of educated discussion to enhance our understanding in ecology. Stupid people are writing bullshit. Not surprising.

Did they ever save your life? Did they save lives of other humans? What makes them entitled to such our generosity? We should focus our efforts on reducing poverty, school funding so out children, our future, could get better education.

Yeah... education. About extinct species. Could be good for you rn, while they're still living.
Also yes. They did something for us. We have a lot of technology thx to observation of nature.

 

[Doomer]

Well, alright, at least that's a reasonable argument. It's not going to stop anyone from donating to conservation efforts, but while you're here, have any good links to charities and such that you feel are worthy causes?

I just think conservation should not be our priority.

 

[Skittles]

Whoa! Some of this logic! Which rock did some of you crawl out from! Haha!

Seriously. Save the bloody planet.
Simply because we are next on the endangered species list due to our hubris and stupidity.

 

[Infrarednexus]

Did they ever save your life? Did they save lives of other humans? What makes them entitled to such our generosity? We should focus our efforts on reducing poverty, school funding so out children, our future, could get better education.

This is a strange mentality to come from someone who loves anthropomorphic animals ._.

 

[Thrashy]

I just remembered, that we have an ornithological institute in Switzerland too:
www.vogelwarte.ch: Home
I should support them again as soon as my finances become more stable, as they do lot of great stuff!

Our cat once brought home a bird.
The Vogelwarte healed the injured little guy - for free! They could release him after a few weeks

 

[KD142000]

What attitude? The attitude that brought us modernized society and medicine?
Sorry dude, it isn’t strictly “theist” to govern your own species above inferior ones. If we and our parents are just as morally valuable as the the animal kingdom, why is eating our babies illegal?

Modernised society can still exist without killing off thousands of species, you know?

Did they ever save your life? Did they save lives of other humans? What makes them entitled to such our generosity? We should focus our efforts on reducing poverty, school funding so out children, our future, could get better education.

Big shock, you can also work on those things, too. We're not saying we should ignore some problems and focus entirely on others. That's how this whole mess of mass extinction started...focusing only on solving our own problems and ignoring how it would impact the animal kingdom.

Did the schoolkids you want to educate save your life? Did the people in poverty save your life? No, they did not. By your own logic, you should be ignoring them, too.
But actually wanting to make a difference regardless of how it benefits you or has benefitted you is the whole point of being a good, wholesome person.
You wanna go work on those? Kindly go do that.

If it’s not immoral for other animals to eat their babies, why is it immoral for us to do so?

This is a major intellectual incoherence on your part. I say we should see our own needs as superior to animals, but now you say somehow our actions have more moral weight *shrugs*

Eating babies is illegal and immoral for a reason. Don't bother questioning that, even intellectually. Only the lowest form of humanity in my book even THINKS about questioning that.

I won't bother telling you why. You should know that, quite frankly.