You have probably seen this image before, and if not this exact one then something else that looks a lot like it.
An injured animal, distressed, afraid, nowhere to go.
This 1-year old bear was found laying near a pond, hurt after escaping a large fire in Colorado. Its paws were burned, and it was clearly in a lot of pain.
Local wildlife officers rushed it out of the disaster zone to receive treatment in a nearby wildlife rescue facility. The bear was bandaged and treated for his wounds.
This bear was extremely lucky! But I can’t imagine, or maybe I just don't want to, what happened to the other ones who weren’t as fortunate.
And as our planet gets hotter, drier and more unpredictable. These images will inevitably become more frequent.
Is protecting animals and habitats important for you?
If so, you should really stick around and read on until the end.
Because I’m going to share with you some new information and hopefully get you to open your eyes and wake up from your deep sleep.
It wasn't that long ago that I too felt frustrated by it all.
Tired of watching the same images on the news.
Tired of hearing about yet another animal suffering, or another forest being cut down.
Tired of that sickening feeling of helplessness. Like there was nothing I could do to help.
I wanted to scream at anyone and everyone...
Wake-up! Can't you see what we are doing?
I wanted a way to make a difference. I wanted change.
And I wanted to know that I did my small part to make our world a better place.
I knew that if I could solve this for myself, I could inspire and make it easier for other people to do the same.
We constantly hear stories about an endangered species facing impending horrific doom.
We tend to think of wild animals and plants as the only ones being at risk, but somehow we fail to understand a simple yet terrifying truth.
There is one species on the planet that is never being mentioned on the endangered list. We think of it as the mightiest species on Earth, but truth be told, it is just as vulnerable as any other. Just as prone to extinction.
Can you guess which species am I talking about?
It’s us – human beings.
What? You may ask. Humans endangered? But… We’re everywhere. Almost 8 billion of us are (still) walking around, living our lives, right?
Well, yes, that is correct. But I think the main part is that little bit about just "living our lives". We are so consumed in our day to day life that we tend to forget the bigger picture and the awful truth.
Human beings are responsible for the current ongoing climate crisis.
In the past 50 years we have produced more carbon dioxide and other harmful greenhouse gases, than in the previous 10,000 years.
We've exploited almost 70% of our planet's natural landscape, cutting down forests to grow crops. Hunting animals for profit. Making a living off of destroying the planet.
But this "party" has got to end.
As Sir David Attenborough mentions in a recent film.
"Nature has a finite number, a limited amount of trees in the forest, a limited amount of fish in the sea, a limited amount of abuse our environment can take".
"And if there is a finite amount of anything, then by definition it is not sustainable. And can not be relied upon".
A "blueprint" of the 6th mass extinction in our planet's history. A chain reaction, starting right now with the loss of our forests.
And the "best" part?
This is happening in our life time! Our children and grandchildren will live through these catastrophes.
Unless we wake up to the reality...
We are killing our own habitat.
And we're doing it one species at a time.
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A lot to take in?
Gets you thinking, what can I do? Just one person... Maybe we really are doomed.
But... There is some good news.
There is something AMAZING about this otherwise horrific situation.
There is still hope.
We still have time to halt and even reverse the damage we've done.
We need to restore or "rewild" global biodiversity. When eco-systems are diverse, they are better able to perform essential services like carbon sequestration.
Because if you are not part of the solution, sadly you are just leaving your mess to be undone by someone else who is actually willing to act.
They will claim they want change, but never change themselves.