Promoting Conservation of Fauna and Flora
Alexandra Vallarino
Ricardo Acosta
ENGL 101
16 November 2010
Promoting Conservation of Fauna and Flora
Let’s take a look at our country. Panama is the tiny piece of land that joins North and South America. Our position in the globe gives us a climate and a type of land that holds a rich biodiversity of tropical species of both fauna and flora. Nowadays, ‘Panama is turning into a little Miami’, some people would say. There are many projects to build up the city; and in the recent years, the government has allowed—and will continue to let in—foreign investment to take over in the market as a way of pushing up our economy. While many people are pleased to aesthetically watch the city grow, others are very concerned about how this impacts the fauna and flora of the near geographical space.
Whenever a kid goes on a school trip with the science class, or a tourist goes on a tour to meet Panama’s wildlife, that person would probably be told about the wonderful animal and plant species that are endangered. Sadly, our national bird, the harpy eagle, is one of these animal species along with the golden frog, the ornate spider monkeys, and sea turtles, are some to mentioned from the list. Looking at it into a wider picture, as one website points out, “the World Conservation Union lists 34,000 plants as threatened with extinction. Although hard to calculate, about 400 plant species appear to have gone extinct from human activities” (“Wiser Earth”). Another one says that “there are more than 1,000 animal species endangered worldwide” (“Endangered Species”). Although it sounds pretty bad, there is not much that we actually do as individuals to change this reality.
Global warming has been the mostly discussed phenomena in the past couple of years and has been addressed as one of the worst long-term issues that humanity will be facing. It is not a secret that the human being is totally guilty of global warming happening (and yes, that includes the melting of glaciers and
Ricardo Acosta
ENGL 101
16 November 2010
Promoting Conservation of Fauna and Flora
Let’s take a look at our country. Panama is the tiny piece of land that joins North and South America. Our position in the globe gives us a climate and a type of land that holds a rich biodiversity of tropical species of both fauna and flora. Nowadays, ‘Panama is turning into a little Miami’, some people would say. There are many projects to build up the city; and in the recent years, the government has allowed—and will continue to let in—foreign investment to take over in the market as a way of pushing up our economy. While many people are pleased to aesthetically watch the city grow, others are very concerned about how this impacts the fauna and flora of the near geographical space.
Whenever a kid goes on a school trip with the science class, or a tourist goes on a tour to meet Panama’s wildlife, that person would probably be told about the wonderful animal and plant species that are endangered. Sadly, our national bird, the harpy eagle, is one of these animal species along with the golden frog, the ornate spider monkeys, and sea turtles, are some to mentioned from the list. Looking at it into a wider picture, as one website points out, “the World Conservation Union lists 34,000 plants as threatened with extinction. Although hard to calculate, about 400 plant species appear to have gone extinct from human activities” (“Wiser Earth”). Another one says that “there are more than 1,000 animal species endangered worldwide” (“Endangered Species”). Although it sounds pretty bad, there is not much that we actually do as individuals to change this reality.
Global warming has been the mostly discussed phenomena in the past couple of years and has been addressed as one of the worst long-term issues that humanity will be facing. It is not a secret that the human being is totally guilty of global warming happening (and yes, that includes the melting of glaciers and
Cited: Wiser Earth. 15 Nov 2010. <http://www.wiserearth.org/aof/18> Endangered Species. 15 Nov 2010. <http://www.endangeredspecie.com/Interesting_Facts.htm> “Organizations”. The Environlink Network. 15 Nov 2010. <http://www.envirolink.org/categories.html?catid=5> Entwistle, Abigail. “Conservation Challenge: A changing climate”. Fauna & Flora International. 15 Nov 2010. <http://www.fauna-flora.org/initiatives/conservation-challenge-a-changing-climate/> Herbertson, Paul. “Conservation Challenge: The overlooked services of nature”. Fauna & Flora International. 15 Nov 2010. <http://www.fauna-flora.org/initiatives/conservation-challenge-the-overlooked-services-of-nature/>