Ecologists and biologist who study the world’s flora and fauna have been reporting a species decline amongst amphibians for over a decade or more. This decline has been attributed to a combination of habitat loss and diseases (a fungus pandemic, a virus). A 2007 paper (Becker, et al) made a case for “habitat splitting” wherein certain Brazilian, Amazon frog species that are born in water, but then occupy land ecosystems as adults, are “cut off” from making this transition, due to human road building and development.

And yet, despite this trend, there remain biological (or biodiversity) “hot spots” around the globe in which a great many amphibian species are found to be thriving in the same ecosystem. In some cases, such hot spots offer potentially hundreds of new species for discovery and analysis. One such hot spot is the island of Madagascar. It is an “Eden” for amphibians.

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Now, imagine those same buildings with solar panels on the roof. Does that take away from the experience?

• » See also: Low cost solar panels and energy efficiency retrofits through group purchasing.
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The New York Times‘ Green Inc. blog dove into that question this morning, and attempted to dissect a hot debate among preservationists. From Al Gore’s Nashville mansion to a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed cottage in Wisconsin, the preservation community is wrestling with “where the line is between acceptable and unacceptable green improvements.

Read the rest at the Sundance Channel’s SUNfiltered blog.

Image credit: Bill Fitz-Patrick and whitehousemuseum.org

These organizations use tactics varying from direct action to job training, but they all are working to protect the planet in a substantial way.

Through twitter, anyone can stay up to date with their latest efforts to restore and protect habitats, influence environmental policy, and curb climate change. Take the opportunity to tap into the thoughts of those pushing for change and perhaps find some ideas of how you can help.

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For parents committed to green living and environmental concsiousness, the greatest gift we can bestow upon our children — and to the world in which we live — is the spirit, passion and commitment to keeping our planet flourishing. 

We all want to ensure that our children are safe, happy and protected, and what better way to do that than by helping them preserve the earth, freeing the air from harmful contaminents and pollution, decreasing our dependence on — and wastefulness of – fuel and finding eco-friendly alternative energy sources.

Between in-home teaching and associations and resources committed to educating children about environmental protection and conservation, it’s easy get your kids out of diapers and off the grid!

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A huge swath of Canada’s northern Boreal forest will be permanently protected from tree harvesting and mining as part of a plan to combat climate change, the Province of Ontario’s premier Dalton McGuinty announced Monday.

Canada’s Boreal forest forms a band of mostly coniferous trees almost 620 miles wide across the entire country, and has remained mostly undisturbed since the retreat of glaciers 10,000 years ago.

Growing foreign demand for Canada’s natural resources, like timber, wood pulp, hard rock, and fossil fuels, as well as ecological pressures from forest fires and insect infestations, are threatening the health and well-being of Canada’s Boreal forests.

Through this new arrangement, the future of Ontario’s northern Boreal lands and waters will be determined through an innovative land use planning initiative with Canadian First Nations. Under the plan, almost half of Ontario’s Boreal forest, or about 87,000 square miles, an area nearly equal to the entire United Kingdom, would be restricted to eco-tourism and traditional aboriginal uses, such as hunting or fishing.

The portion of the Boreal Forest that is protected, (encompassing nearly 45% of the province of Ontario), is home to billions of migrating birds, threatened species such as Woodland Caribou, Polar Bear and Lake Sturgeon. The massive ecosystem is also one of the globe’s most significant carbon sinks with the Ontario tract absorbing some 12.5 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year, said McGuinty.

Conservation groups hailed the decision, both in terms of the land protection itself, and the land use planning model that was put in place to protect that land. In a statement, Janet Sumner, Executive Director of CPAWS Wildlands League said, “This is a visionary and unprecedented policy. Today’s announcement fulfills the Premier’s promise to protect the Boreal Forest by doing Land Use Planning before large scale industrial development.”

Other Posts on Forest Policy:

• “700 CA Wildfires: Why Don’t We Have Enough Firefighting Resources?” :: Red, Green, & Blue
• “The Nature Conservancy: 320,000 Acres Protected in Landmark Deal” :: Planetsave
• “Baltimore Plans for Urban Forest” :: Sustainablog

Terra Daily
Photo: © Andre Nantel | Dreamstime.com

Editor’s note: Our friends at Eco-Libris are in the business of preserving forests by “offsetting” books. Today, they bring you a profile of another organization involved in forest conservation, and one of that organization’s success stories. This post was originally published on Friday, March 28, 2008.

We bring you from time to time stories and updates from our great planting partners, and today we have a mini-documentary about Honduran farmer Don Cheyo, who grows organic crops and lives sustainably thanks to help from our planting partner, Sustainable Harvest International (SHI).

SHI works in developing countries in Central America - Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, Panama. Central America has lost more than half of its rainforests in the last 50 years, contributing to mass extinctions and global warming. Rainforest destruction also wreaks havoc on local populations who depend on the rainforest for their survival.

SHI helps many farmers like Don Cheyo in nearly 100 struggling communities across Central America to reverse rainforest destruction with sustainable land-use practices that allow them to take control of their environmental and economic destinies. SHI is involved in many activities - from trees planting and restoration and preservation of degraded land to educational programs and community loan funds.

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