Great Green Idea: Green Living: Cooperating With Nature and Protecting It

Cooperating With Nature and Protecting It

Protecting the earth's natural resources is a continual effort that involves individuals, communities, educators, organizations and scientists working together for effective solutions. It is promising to see the amazing results of these efforts around the globe. For instance, thousands of acres of land is being restored, preserved and protected every year due to the diligent commitment of people working together to keep the planet green. Waterways are being cleaned and restored to their former beauty. These efforts have resulted in present and future benefits for the environment, wildlife and humanity as a whole.

Wildlife Predators

In 1998 an ecosystem protection organization collaborated with other groups to convince the public of the need to protect wildlife predators such as mountain lions, wolves and grizzly bears. Their goal was to help the public to understand that wildlife habitats must be restored in order to protect these animals. In addition, fear of the wildlife predators has lead to misunderstanding the animals and has increased the potential for their extinction. The point had to be made that humans and the animal species can coexist with creativity and mutual cooperation of all involved.

To that end, the group filmed a documentary which emphasized how people's view of predators is changing for the better. The film addressed the myths about the creatures; which date back to the frontier days. It further pointed out that the largest threat to their existence is road construction due to urban sprawl. The film further showed images of positive activity to address this issue, such as the removal of some of these roads and groups working together to protect the habitats and then returning the predators to their natural environment. These positive changes continue today all over the world.

Individual Effort

There are unlimited stories of individuals who have lent their resources, time and money to help keep the earth green. One woman in southern California contributed $50 million to save a wildlife habitat that was in danger of being destroyed by development. It took the woman three years to raise the funds. These funds were used to collaborate with developers and work with state and local official's ways to protect the habitat. This eventually led to the creation of a natural ecological corridor that preserves the wildlife habitat.

As further evidence of individuals protecting nature is a couple that owns a ranch in Montana. Among other efforts, the couple committed to the decision to protect their flock from predators with the use of non lethal methods only. This creative approach to cooperating with nature includes keeping a llama on the ranch; which scares away the coyotes. There are literally hundreds of thousands of examples of others who understand that predators play an essential role in the ecosystem and that they too are residents of planet earth.

Because nature's resources are at greater risk than ever, the many issues that surround conservation and protection of the environment must be taken seriously and addressed on a global scale. Evidence shows that groups, organizations and individuals from all walks of life are committed to making changes that have long term benefits. From all indications this sense of responsibility is working and brings hope that sufficient natural resources will be available for future generations.