Wisdom, sadly in extremely short supply these days when it comes to protecting those things we have taken for granted all of our lives. We have abandoned any pretence of preserving nature.  Are we blind, or simply too disinterested to care? We will care however when those wondrous creatures and the plant life so necessary  to our well being are no longer to be found anywhere. There is no wanton violence in nature, only a need for survival. At the rate we are going we are well on the way to extirpating nature and the loss to our world as we do so will be incalculable. We give lip service to a feigned concern but still it continues.

Forest fires started by careless human beings, poachers killing mercilessly, people invading every corner of their world destroying their habitat, ice caps melting from the pollution and man made gases warming the planet, not even taking into consideration the carnage of war and the havoc it creates, leading to the destruction of nature itself.

Why don't people realize how critically important it is to preserve nature? Don't we care about this world? If nature is extirpated then people will care, when it is too late. If we even continue to exist and witness the barren landscape we have created.

The beauty of nature revives us, and makes this planet habitable The very air we breathe depends on the survival of the natural balance on this planet which we are in the process of destroying. How much good will all these modern advances upon which we place such priority be to us then ? Or to those who are meant to inherit the world we leave them ?

What does the loss of other species cost humans? Many natural processes that benefit people, such as the pollination of crops, the purification of water in wetlands and the sequestration of carbon in soil and forests all affect the survival of our world.. 

Biodiversity underpins ecosystem services. Bees can't pollinate, nor can trees store carbon, if they have all died. Just how diverse an ecosystem has to be in order to supply the goods and services needed by man is a matter of debate ... a debate made harder by the fact that many species may have uses that man has not yet discovered. 

Common birds are in decline across the world. Almost one in four species of mammals is in danger of extinction. More than 30 per cent of the world's amphibians, 23 per cent of mammals and 12 per cent of birds are now threatened with extinction. More than 75 per cent of fish stocks are fully or overly exploited.

In the rain forest, the continuous forest canopy prevents sunlight from reaching the ground. Deforestation removes part of this forest canopy, allowing light into the undergrowth, thus damaging the plants there which are not used to the bright light. Animals that depend on such plants for survival will die too. As the rain forest species disappear, cures for life threatening diseases can also be lost. Currently, about 121 prescription drugs sold world wide are from plant sources.

Setting aside for a moment all the benefits we derive from nature think of the amazing  aspects of nature's wonder. Think of the Monarch butterfly, fragile, beautiful, and yet capable of amazing feats we cannot even fully fathom. Across Canada and the northern USA monarchs soar and glide in the warm sunshine from March through October, but monarchs cannot survive cold winter temperatures. So what does a monarch do to keep warm? It migrates south in flocks numbering in the tens of thousands, if not millions, and hibernates! This means that it rests, with a very slow heart rate, just like bears in their hibernation caves. Monarchs east of the Rockies migrate 2500 miles to the Oyamel fir trees of Mexico. Monarchs west of the Rockies migrate to southern California to the eucalyptus trees of Pacific Grove and surrounding areas. But even the tiny monarch is threatened by man. Deforestation by man now seriously threatens its survival.

The monarch's flight to Mexico has been compared to the migration habits of birds flying south for the winter. It is the only insect that can fly 2,500 miles to a warmer climate. Their unique wing structure and yearly life cycle makes it possible for the fall generation monarchs to travel thousands of miles (on those amazing fragile little wings) to the warm nesting grounds of Mexico and southern California. Who can even question the miracle of nature ?

What we fail to truly recognize is we are all interdependent. We each have our place in this world and we need one another. Flora, fauna, or human, the bottom line is we quite simply cannot exist without one another. We need to accept and acknowledge this truth, and now, before its too late.