Conservation Efforts: Protecting Our Planet

Earth is our home, and it's up to us to take care of it if we want it to remain that way for a very long time. If eventually we get to the point where the earth has become uninhabitable, where will we run to? Mars? Even though Elon Musk succeeds with his quest to colonize Mars, living over there will be totally different from what we have here on Earth but I guess the kids that would be born there won't even know the difference. I have watched a movie where everyone had to abandon Earth and move to another planet and I have to say it wasn't a pleasant experience.

Over the years, human activities have taken a great toll on the delicate balance of the earth which has led to problems like environmental degradation, global warming, climate change, habitat loss, and so on. How delicate is this balance? Let's narrow it down to a simple explanation. In an ecosystem, there's a certain number of plants and animals that can live comfortably there as the deficit or surplus in one species can lead to the extinction of another species. If you have too many lions in a particular area, sooner or later they are going to run out of what to eat because they are killing prey faster than the prey can reproduce.

So, how can we take care of our planet and not upset this balance? That's where conservation comes in. Conservation is simply the wise use and management of natural resources and this is important for preserving biodiversity. Climate change is becoming more serious every day and why is this so? One reason is because of deforestation. My country Nigeria is currently experiencing its hottest period and it was even worse back in February. We are supposed to be in the rainy season right now but we are barely seeing any rains, which wasn't so as of this time last year.

One solution to this climate change is reforestation. I studied Aquaculture at the university which is under Agriculture, so I did a couple of forestry courses in my earlier years. Reforestation basically means the planting of new trees to restore a forest. There is a law in forestry (I don't know if I should call it a law or a suggestion) that says for every tree that is felled, a new one should be planted but how many people follow such laws? Some people who are into timber business indiscriminately fell trees without planting new ones and in the long run, an entire forest is lost in the process.

Apart from contributing to global warming and climate change, deforestation also leads to loss of habitat because the animals that used to call such forests their home will now have to go somewhere else and some of them end up in residential areas. Forest conversation isn't a hard thing to do, I mean, you're getting resources from the forest, so why not adopt sustainable practices that will ensure that you keep getting those resources for a very long time? Even when the government implement laws that protect the forest, there are still certain people who try to bypass such laws.

Now let's leave the forest and focus on another important ecosystem; the ocean. As I said earlier, I studied Aquaculture at the university and I did a couple of oceanography courses. Oceanography is simply the study of the ocean and this includes its conservation. The ocean offers a lot of benefits that many people don't even know about. For instance, do you know that the ocean produces over 50% of the oxygen on Earth? Yeah, it does. This oxygen comes from the activities of phytoplanktons (think of them as water plants) through the process of photosynthesis.

Now, what happens when these phytoplanktons start dying due to the activities of man? photosynthesis reduces, and this leads to the reduction of oxygen as well. Some water bodies have completely died due to this problem, where the loss of phytoplanktons starts a chain reaction that leads to the death of every living thing. Phytoplanktons are the producers in the aquatic food chain, and when there's no producer, other creatures won't survive as well. One major human activity that affects the ocean is oil spillage which has led to the complete loss of some water bodies in Nigeria.

Another subtle one which many people don't realize is pollution. That plastic Pepsi can you dispose of on the street after drinking, where do you think it ends up? Yes, in the ocean. Let's not even talk about the ones companies and industries do where they empty their waste directly into the ocean. All these things have a big impact on the ecosystem of the ocean and it might seem small at first but they do accumulate over the years and lead to bigger problems. Then there's overfishing as well; fishermen breaking laws and leading to the loss of some fish species.

What can individuals and institutions do?
For individuals, you can help to conserve the earth by doing something as simple as proper waste disposal. Instead of indiscriminately throwing away your waste, you can incinerate them or give them to a waste disposal company. This problem is prevalent in my country Nigeria where you see people emptying their trash into the gutters when it's raining. Another thing you can do is to reduce your carbon footprint by switching to a cleaner source of energy. Solar energy is becoming very popular these days and is a cleaner alternative to generators. The same with electric cars which are much cleaner than petrol-powered ones.

As for institutions and governments, they can create protected areas which should be free from human activities. Things like national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and Marine protected areas fall into this category. The government should implement laws that protect endangered species and conserve biodiversity. Some laws governing the marine environment should be updated as some of them are simply ridiculous. An example is the fine for breaking certain fishing laws in Nigeria, it is not even up to 1000 naira ($1), so why won't people break it? Lastly, companies and industries should treat their wastes before disposing into the ocean, treated wastes pose no harm to the aquatic environment.

This is my entry for April Inleo Prompt, day 22. Come be a part of this awesome daily prompt by clicking on this link.

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