3rd March World Wildlife Day

World Wildlife Day (WWD) will be celebrated in 2022 under the theme “Recovering key species for ecosystem restoration”. The celebrations will seek to draw attention to the conservation status of some of the most critically endangered species of wild fauna and flora, and to drive discussions towards imagining and implementing solutions to conserve them. 

All conversations will be inspired by and seek to inform efforts towards the achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goals 1 (No Poverty), 2 (Zero hunger) 12 (Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns), 13 (Climate Action) 14 (Life Below Water) and 15 (Life on Land).

According to data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, over 8,400 species of wild fauna and flora are critically endangered, while close to 30,000 more are understood to be endangered or vulnerable. Based on these estimates, it is suggested that over a million species are threatened with extinction.

Continued loss of species, habitats and ecosystems also threatens all life on Earth, including us. People everywhere rely on wildlife and biodiversity-based resources to meet all our needs, from food, to fuel, medicines, housing, and clothing.

Millions of people also rely on nature as the source of their livelihoods and economic opportunities.

In 2022, World Wildlife Day will therefore drive the debate towards the imperative need to reverse the fate of the most critically endangered species, to support the restoration of their habitats and ecosystems and to promote their sustainable use by humanity.

The world relies on its biodiversity for clean air and water, food, energy, and materials of all types. But our biodiversity is in danger through unsustainable human activities. It is up to us to decide and act now for the future. In addition to the books I have put on my Pinterest UN SDG 15 Life on Land i have decided to put together a display in the library of books about threatened species and extinction.

Some of the books in the display are:

• Almost Gone by Steve Jenkins

• Saving Species by Jess French

• Disappearing Acts  by Isabella Bunnell

• We Will Miss Them by Alexandra Wright

• Red Alert by Catherine Barr

• Don't Let Them Disappear by Chelsea Clinton

• Danny Dodo's Detective Diary by Rob Hodgson

• Who Am I? by Tim Flach

• Vanishing by Mike Lucas

• Extinct  by Lucas Riera

• Animals in Danger in Australia by Richard Spilsbury

• Atlas of Animals in Danger by Sylvaine Perrols

• Endangered Close Up Lorna Hendry

• The Only Ones Left by Sandra Kendall

• V is for Vanishing Patricia Mullins

• Garry Fleming's Animals: On the World's Rare and Endangered Species  by Garry Flemming

• Animals in Danger by Pierre deHugo

• Animals in Danger by Anne Faundez

• Animals Like Us by Andrea Mills

• Let's Save the Animals by Frances Barry

• A - Z of Endangered Animals by Jennifer Cousins

• Fauna by Tania Mc Cartney

• Small and Tall Tales of Extinct Animals by Damien Laverdunt

• Hello Hello by Brendan Wenzel

                                                      

 

SDG 15 Life on Land

Goal 15 Protect, and restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reduce land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

Nature is critical to our survival: nature provides us with our oxygen, regulates our weather patterns, pollinates our crops, produces our food, feed and fibre. But it is under increasing stress. Human activity has altered almost 75 per cent of the earth’s surface, squeezing wildlife and nature into an ever-smaller corner of the planet.

The goal as stated above has so many aspects and is far too much to take in all at once for me, let alone a child under eight, so here I need to be very selective and break it into subheadings, such as deforestation, loss of habitat, extinction and  farming, all of which young children do know about and understand the meaning of.

Here is a list of books to select from.

The Tree by Neal Layton would be a good place to start because it looks at what will happen when a tree is cut down and it provides for debate about whether it was a good act or bad.

Here is the blurb:

A delightful picture book with a wonderful twist which encourages young children to think about the way animals and humans live side by side.  

The tree. Home to a family of birds in their nest, squirrels in their drey and rabbits in their burrow. But what happens to the animals when a man and woman decide to cut it down and use it for their dream house? Can the tree be home to both the animals and the humans? A simple yet fun and distinctive picture book, with a strong environmental message about the importance of respecting animal habitats.

Follow this up with a more factual book either more specifically about deforestation such as Marc Martin's Forest or reforestation such as Sally Nicholls and Carolina Rabei's book Who Makes a Forest?

Here's the blurb:

When a forest is cut down, the consequences are more than anyone could have anticipated. The forest is destroyed due to human greed, but grows again  through human care, giving hope and empowerment.

Teaching notes:

https://lamontbooks.com.au/media/19152/June-2012-A-Forest.pdf

Here's the blurb:

Who makes a forest? A wizard, a giant, an emperor? Come on a walk with Grandpa to discover how a forest is made, and see how a thousand tiny things can come together to change the face of the earth… Poetically written by award-winning Sally Nicholls and beautifully illustrated by Carolina Rabei, this gorgeous book features a non-fiction section about the different types of forests around the world, their importance to our ecosystem and the impact of deforestation on our planet. 

Of course this has only covered one aspect of this goal. You may choose to look at animal extinction or habitat loss. Many of the books on the Pinterest list also look at farming and the degradation of soil that comes with that and the hardship caused by climate.

From the booklet:

Ask • How can we make sure that we look after our land? 

 

• We read...

• This story made me think that we should...

 

4th November World Numbat Day

What is a numbat? It is a small marsupial that is now only native to Western Australia. It was once found across most of Southern Australia, but now it is in threat of extinction. So on World Numbat Day we celebrate Western Australia's unique mammal emblem and are encouraged to conserve the species. Like many of Australia's smaller marsupials it is threatened by foxes, feral cats and loss of habitat. Project Numbat works tirelessly to promote community awareness. Tomorrow in the library I will put these books out on display to remind the students about this interesting marsupial and its place in our unique fauna.