Listen Up

In my last entry, I blogged that today is Endangered Species Day and said our ability to help stop extinction depends on changing how we interact with the environment.

With that in mind, I wanted to share this Alan Rabinowitz interview, which was done by TreeHugger. Rabinowitz is a zoologist who specializes in the study of wild cats, especially the big cats. He also heads Panthera, a wild cat conservation organization.

The interview is wonderful. Rabinowitz is clearly very smart, and his ideas have helped revolutionize conservation and how we think about the human-nature relationship. As you'll find out, he is also a great communicator, explaining environmental issues in clear and interesting ways. That makes the interview very instructive for both members of the general public and individuals who seek to communicate environmental messages.

If you're interested, Rabinowitz also has a book called Jaguar, which I read a few years ago and would highly recommend. It's an example of great storytelling about an environmental subject.

Species Get Their Day

May 18 is Endangered Species Day, an attempt to draw attention to plants and animals faced with a very real possibility of extinction.

Extinction is an issue that brings our relationship with the environment right before our eyes. Protecting species means our view of the interaction we have with the natural world needs to go beyond attempts at saving animals and plants to the point that we look at the planetary impacts of our daily activities.

Endangered Species Day is an important reminder about both the rights of species to survive and how we see ourselves within a larger world. For more information about the day, including where to attend an event, click here. For some additional ideas about what to do to mark the occasion, visit this page from the National Wildlife Federation.

The picture for this post is of an Iberian lynx, a striking but highly endangered cat that is now found in the wild only in Spain.

Doing Your Homework for Summer

As parents know, school will soon be out for the summer, leaving children with a lot more free time. However, the challenge of keeping kids busy during June, July, and August is a great opportunity for connecting them with the environment.

It's good to get a head start with your nature-related summer plans. That way, you won't be blindsided when the last day of school rolls around. Also, you'll probably end up enjoying the nature time a lot more if you're prepared.

The following resources might help you begin to lay out your bringing-kid-to-nature strategies. First, check out these tips from Go Explore Nature. The thoughtful ideas come from a mom who has been through this before. Second, look into this reading list from the National Wildlife Federation. Along with providing a reading activity, the books focus on nature, encouraging kids to get outside and connect with the environment.

The Spring Classic

Major League Baseball's World Series is nicknamed the Fall Classic. Well, the Spring Classic might just be the World Series of Birding.

Since 1984, bird-watching teams having been showing up in New Jersey each spring to identify as many bird species as they can in 24 hours and raise funds for bird organizations.

This year, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has two teams, each competing in a different category. The Redheads will be made up of some of the lab's students while the Anti-Petrels will compete in the carbon-neutral category, in which participants can move location only by bicycling or walking.

For more information about the World Series of Birding, click here. To get an update on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's teams, go to this entry from Round Robin, the lab's blog.

This one's for all the marbled godwits (shorebird). Let's play ball.

Gardening on the Wild Side

May is Garden for Wildlife Month, and according to Beautiful Wildlife Garden, "It starts with native plants."

The Web site describes the interconnectedness and the far-reaching impacts of our gardening choices. For some additional tips on how to garden for wildlife, check out this page from the National Wildlife Federation.

Easy Out

If you're a parent, you may have heard about the push to provide children with more outdoor playtime. In short, the argument goes that having opportunities to play outside are an important part of children's health and development.

Still, one of the reasons children are spending less time outdoors is that our society is not exactly focused on what's outside. As a result, figuring out how to give your children good outdoor experiences can be difficult.

TreeHugger recently published some ideas intended to help parents get started introducing their children to nature. I really like the concept of the "hummingbird parent." Also, the suggestion for planting native species connects well with my previous post about Native Plant Appreciation Week, and a recent writing from Go Explore Nature adds more detail to how parents can share the experience of native plants with their children.

For those parents just starting out with outdoor experiences, I think the best thing to keep in mind is the first idea presented by TreeHugger. You don't have to jump right into major nature expeditions. Find something simple instead. This lets you get experience managing an outing, and it also increases the odds that you'll enjoy the time outside. Even "little" experiences with nature can be savored, and if you're not overwhelmed by the situation, you'll probably enjoy it a lot more.

Washington Natives

April 29-May 5 has been set aside as Native Plant Appreciation Week in Washington state.

This is exciting because it draws attention to and celebrates the great diversity of plants in the state. People throughout Washington can attend events dedicated to native plants and learn about ways they can turn their gardens and landscapes into sanctuaries for these important species, some of which are declining because of habitat loss and other factors.

A major benefit of making native plants the focus of a garden is that they usually require fewer resources. Because they are native to the area, they know how to get by with what the environment provides them.

For more details on Native Plant Appreciation Week, check out the page the Washington Native Plant Society has made for it.

Green Alert

In recent years, the threats facing frog species have been receiving more and more attention, and people have begun to take action. The action continues this year.

April 28 is the date for Save the Frogs Day 2012, the fourth annual event meant to draw attention and respond to declining frog populations.

For more information about Save the Frogs Day, click here. The National Wildlife Federation provides some additional tips for helping frogs here.

If you can, on Saturday, go out and find some frogs, say hello, and watch and listen to them. It's always a cool experience.

Earth Day Eve

Tomorrow is Earth Day. I hope you get a chance to celebrate it in some way or the other.

My plan for the day is going to be pretty basic. After a very busy last few months, I want to get out and have a lot of nature time. Also, I have decided to make tomorrow the day I start timing my showers. I don't usually take very long showers, but I've never actually timed them. After I get a baseline, I'll work on cutting down the wasted time.

That sounds like a pretty good Earth Day: some reconnecting with nature and a step toward greater sustainability.

Take That

I've always had a hard time figuring out why some people spew anti-environmental comments, but this piece of news might just take the cake (birthday cake to be specific).

To summarize the story, for her eighth birthday, a Canadian girl decided that she would ask for donations to an environmental charity instead of presents. In trying to invite friends, she was told by three different parents that the donation idea was stupid.

How corrupt would a person's soul have to be in order for that individual to say such a thing to an eight-year-old?

It turned out that those anti-environmental/consumerism-superfan parents helped ignite an outpouring of donations to the girl's chosen cause, a campaign by Earth Rangers and the Nature Conservancy of Canada to protect pine martens (pictured above). Her goal was $500; she has now raised $2,000.

As one of the donors, I'd just like to say to those naysayer parents, "Stick it in your ear." And to the girl I say, "Hold your head high. You're awesome."

If you'd like to add to the girl's birthday "present," click here.