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Dylan O’Rawe. "There can be no greater legacy than giving young people the tools they need to save our planet.” Sir David Attenborough. ONE PLANET. The animal population has dropped 60% in 50 years Biodiversity is the term for the total variety of life on earth
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"There can be no greater legacy than giving young people the tools they need to save our planet.”Sir David Attenborough
ONE PLANET • The animal population has dropped 60% in 50 years • Biodiversity is the term for the total variety of life on earth • The planet is one living system and it’s different habitats or biomes are connected and rely on each other to survive
WOLVES • Caribou are hunted by wolves. Wolves live in packs and are brilliant hunters. In North America, the wolves hunt by driving the caribou into the forests where they are hidden by the trees. Wolves will travel up to 500 miles to join a pack. • Once one of the most widespread animals in the world, but persecution by humans has reduced them by one third.
LESSER FLAMINGO In Africa, there is a huge saltpan were there used to be a lake. Occasionally the salt pan is deluged in rain and the lake fills up. Flocks of lesser flamingos go there to breed because the water is full of algae that they can feed on, and the water is too salty for predators. The sun dries up the water, and some of the late hatching baby flamingos get stuck in the salt and die.
FROZEN WORLDS • Ice is the soil of the poles, supporting the food chain and acting to cool the planet down as it reflects sunlight into space. • Sea ice is especially important to large predators such as narwhals, polar bears and walruses. • Climate change caused by fossil fuels is causing the ice to melt threatening all the animals who live there.
HUMPBACK WHALE • Most of the humpback whales in the southern hemisphere go to the Antarctic to feed on the trillions of krill that go there to feed on the algae that grow under the ice. • They work together in teams to trap the krill in a circle of bubbles that they blow from their blow hole and then they go underneath and open their mouths to eat as much as they can.
ORCA • Half the worlds orca live in the polar region and hunt King penguins. They are very smart and hunt in stealth mode, making no sound so their victim cannot hear them. • While he may be able to escape a single orca, a penguin cannot escape a pod of orca.
JUNGLES • Jungle makes up only 7% of the world’s land area, but it plays a vital role in the planet’s health, and more than half of the world’s land species live there. • Jungles absorb huge amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. • We are destroying jungles – In the past 50 years Borneo has lost 50% of it’s jungle, and the Philippines has lost 90%.
BORNEAN ORANGUTAN • The Bornean orangutan is the largest tree-dwelling mammal in the world. • Alongside its cousin the Sumatran orangutan, they are the only species of great ape to be found in Asia. • They are critically endangered due to habitat destruction and hunting. The species has experienced huge population declines over the past few decades. It’s estimated that there are only 55,000 Bornean orangutans remaining in the wild.
LOWLAND GORILLA • Hunting for Lowland Gorillas to eat as bushmeat has resulted in a 50% decline of these animals in the Congo, making them critically endangered. • They search for one of 100 bais, which are lakes in the middle of the jungle, so they can eat aquatic plants as they are full of salt. • These bais are at risk, but are essential for diversity.
COASTAL SEAS • Warmer shallower waters near land are full of life which spreads to populate the deep seas and provides food for land-based species. • Coral reef makes up 1% of the sea floor but supports 25% of all aquatic animals. • Coastal seas count for 7% of our ocean but 95% of the world's marine production - our fishing grounds. Despite their importance to humanity, few are protected.
WHITE TIPPED AND GREY REEF SHARKS • Grey Reef Sharks allow little fish to clean their teeth. • These sharks hunt at night as their senses are heightened as the sea calms down. • White Tipped Sharks join the hunt and slither through the coral reef, flushing out the fish.
CORAL • Corals have an inner plant which gives them their colour. Because of Climate Change the inner plant dies and the coral loses it’s colour and turns ice white – this is called bleaching. • In 2016/ 2017 over 1000 km of the Great Barrier Reef was bleached, turning it into a ghost town. • Half of all shallow coral reefs on Earth have died.
FROM DESERTS TO GRASSLANDS • Big animals like wildebeest live in huge herds, and need space to move large distances to follow rainfall, otherwise the grass is overgrazed and the whole system collapses. • We are using up space in grasslands to farm food, leaving less space and blocking the migration routes for the wildlife that keep the grasslands ecosystem working.
CHEETAH • The cheetah is the world's fastest land mammal - it can go from 0 - 60 miles an hour in 3 seconds. • In 1900, there were over 100,000 cheetahs but today, less than 12,000 remain in the wild in Africa. In Iran, there are around 200 cheetahs living in small populations. • 77% of their habitat falls outside protected areas, making them vulnerable to human interference. Habitat loss, humans hunting their prey, illegal trafficking of cheetah parts and the exotic pet trade threaten cheetahs.
ALCON BLUE BUTTERFLY • These endangered butterflies are found in Europe and Northern Asia. • Alcon Blue caterpillars fool colonies of ants into feeding them and treating them like queens by replicating their scent. • Some ant colonies that this happens to will slightly change their larva chemicals as a defence, leading to an evolutionary arms race between the two species.
HIGH SEAS • The High Seas cover half our planet and are shared by all of us, but only 1% of the high seas are protected. • There is little regulation on fishing, leading to humans wiping out a third of all fish species. Other ocean animals, such as dolphins, whales and sharks, rely on fish to survive. We need to support international fishing treaties that would limit how many fish can be gathered from our oceans in unregulated areas.
SPINNER DOLPHIN • The spinner dolphin lives in nearly all tropical and subtropical waters. • They travel in huge pods of over 10,000 dolphins. • Spinner dolphins are known for their acrobatics and aerial behaviour. • Half of all spinner dolphins were killed after commercial fishing for tuna began in the 1950s. They are now managed nationally by the coastal countries and internationally by the IATTC.
BLUE WHALE • Once there were over 300,000 blue whales. For over a century, they were hunted almost to extinction by whalers until protected by the international community. • Their numbers are increasing and it is estimated that there are now 10 - 25,000 blue whales worldwide today. • There is a blue whale sanctuary in California, and here the whales give birth to their calves. These calves grow 3 tons a month. A blue whale gives birth every 3 years.
FRESH WATER • Freshwater systems allow freshwater species to complete their life cycles and ensure nutrients are carried across the landscape. • We are stopping freshwater from flowing by building dams and taking too much water. • Freshwater populations are falling faster than in any other habitat. Many river, lakes and wetland based animals are in danger of being lost.
JAGUAR • The jaguar is a wild cat species native to the Americas. • Like all cats, it is a carnivore, feeding only on meat. It is an opportunistic hunter and its diet encompasses at least 87 species such as capybara or caimans. • It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List; and its numbers are declining. Threats include loss and fragmentation of habitat.
CALLIPTERUS CICHLID • The Callipterus is a species of cichlid which lives in Lake Tanganyika where it moves about in search of crustaceans and other invertebrates. • The males are significantly larger than females, because the males of the species collect empty snail shells for the females to breed in. Therefore, males have to be large and strong enough to transport shells, while females have to be small enough to fit in the shells.
FORESTS • Forests with a mix of trees of different species and ages are the most able to bounce back. Animals distribute nutrients and seeds, and ensure that there are not too many grazing animals. • Trees play an important role in supporting wildlife, but also in making our planet more resilient by capturing carbon from the atmosphere. • Less than 25% of Earth’s forests are now part of large unbroken expanses where large animals have enough space to hunt or forage for the food they need to survive.
SIBERIAN TIGER • The Siberian tiger is so rare, it's almost mythical - there are less than 600 of them left in the world. They live in the Boreal forest, which is the world's largest land biome. • The Siberian Tiger’s territory is over 2000km, to enable it to find enough prey. • Poaching has brought it to the brink of extinction but numbers are slowly increasing.
BALD EAGLE • The bald eagle is a bird of prey found in the wetland forests of North America. In the late 20th century it was on the brink of extinction – in the 1950s there were only 412 nesting pairs in the US. • This almost extinction was due to the thinning of egg shells because of the use of the pesticide DDT. • Populations have since recovered and it’s no longer threatened.
WHAT CAN WE DO? GRASSLAND We can stop our planet’s space being given over to huge plantations that grow just one crop. With farming methods improving all the time we can grow all we need using less space. FORESTS People have used forests for thousands of years but they lose their resilience if too much is taken from them. We need to manage forests sustainably so that their natural resilience can help them survive.
JUNGLES We need to make sure that we do not take too much from jungles. We can make sure that logging is done responsibly. Managing cattle and agriculture better and encouraging the production of non-wood products (such as wild rubber or nuts) will help to protect the biodiversity of jungles. WETLANDS To keep water flowing, all users need to work together. Protecting rivers from pollution, not taking too much water, and planning and managing dams carefully will all protect these vital habitats.
POLAR REGIONS We need to act now to stop the climate change which is threatening the polar regions. Every one of us can reduce our carbon footprint by taking simple steps such as using less electricity, walking or cycling to school, or eating less meat. COASTAL SEAS We must take care of all parts of the coastal seas communities if they are to continue providing us with food. We need to fish responsibly, not taking too much, and begin protecting coastal environments we can enjoy them long into the future.
