Conservation Studies

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My Ecological Identity

Prompt: “The purpose of this exercise is for you to think about your own sense of ecological identity.  Use the information from your Ecological Identity Tree as assistance. Write down places from your own experiences that fit into the following categories: A special place from your childhood memories, A place that you perceive as damaged, A place that you think of as wild. Choose one of the places above that you feel most contributes to your knowledge and sense of the environment and how it has shaped your ecological identity and expand in a two paged, double-spaced reflection.  This is more about personal experience rather than your ecological or environmental knowledge. Explore your relationship to the earth in terms of personality, values, actions and sense of self”

         Since I was born in Iowa, and lived there until the age of four, I always had a thing for cold weather. Moving to California and being raised there I always despised the warm temperature especially during the summer. So, my favorite place to go as a kid which my family took me to a lot was Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe is in the Sierra Nevada along California and Nevada and it snows tremendously during the winter. The difference of the area between winter and summer is very contrasting. Every time I went to visit Lake Tahoe, it was always during the snowy season until I was the age of ten, did I witness visiting it during the summer.

           During the winter, you’re so preoccupied with the vast snow around you, you hardly forget about going to see the lake itself. It’s like a magically winter wonderland with tons of forest trees surrounding you that you can hardly notice that it’s been suffering. The first time I visited Lake Tahoe during the warmer season, I first went to the lake. The water of course was extremely icy cold and super clear. Without any of the snow topping over the soil, I could see how degrading the soil of the area is. Along with the trees, their branches also looked a lot skinnier and naked. What I also noticed and what I was being told by my family members were that the water levels were getting lower and lower.

           Being young and naïve, I thought they were joking about the water levels since I was still very young and tiny that everything looked large and infinite. It wasn’t until I was older did I realize how depleting the water was getting. It wasn’t just Lake Tahoe that was getting lowered, but a nearby lake called Folsom Lake that was slowly disappearing as well. In fact, about two to three years ago, Folsom Lake completely dried up. From going past your shoulders to barely up your knees, I realized how precious nature is. This also helped me realize that this wasn’t just going on in the area I grew up in, but it was ultimately happening all around the world.

           Though Lake Tahoe is a very tourist-y place to go during the winter as there’s tons of ski resorts and casinos, I still consider it as wild because it’s a large basin where not many venture into. There aren’t many boats out on the water as you would expect it, it’s more of a beautiful sight to sit and watch instead of getting into physical contact with. But the area surrounding the lake is damaged due to the constant litter but also the amount of human made forest fires. Since California is a pretty dry state, you can view anything as brittle and flammable. Though some forest fires are good for the forest, human made ones are clearly not.

           Anyone growing up with television can identify who the ranger bear is from advertisements for saving the forest, but for kids at me during the time, it wasn’t something I was gaining insight to help solve the problem. So, I’m grateful for courses like this that are offered at institutions because I know I can still make a difference and help further proposed solutions for saving nature. Growing up, it was always animals that peaked my interest because I understood the things I can do to help “save” the animals. They don’t teach you that nature has a sense of feeling and that they’re just as important as every other living being.  As a kid, I believe nature and its natural resources were always infinite. Being older and more experienced to the world, I now understand just how important nature is to the vitality of everything. Literally everything comes back to nature because it is ultimately the source of everything. So being able to read more in depth about nature through this course has helped me open my eyes even more and gave me more insight on what I can do to help.

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Conservation Photos.pptx is a PowerPoint presentation uploaded by maryta

Conservation Photos by Brian Skerry

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Service Learning #2

Prompt: “Pick one or two of the activities you have been performing at your Service Learning location and explain if it (they) has (have) changed your perception of any aspect of Conservation that we might have discussed in class through our readings or that you might have studied on your own.  Is your idea of Conservation the same as when you first enrolled in the course, and if not, explain why?”

        Before I started this class, I had more knowledge of what preservation was compared to conservation. I did take another class my freshmen year on science and art where it focused heavily on ecological problems but never any terms; more solutions based. Now that this semester has come to an end, along with this class I have learned a lot on what conservation actually is and how it can be compared and also heavily contrasted with preservation. With the help of volunteering with 4-H Arlington, I learned a lot more about the spiritual side of nature. Focusing on the activities I participated in recently, I can say it helped me understand why the conservation movement was so heavy and why it inspired so many leaders to come forward.

           Every week when I meet at Hoffman-Boston Elementary with staff members and the children I work with, we usually all meet at our “Science Tree”. Our science tree was a randomly picked tree by the children located in the schoolyard. It is actually large and the tallest tree which I can see why they all decided on picking that tree. As part of the teaching guide, after meeting at the tree we all either stand or sit in a circle surrounding the tree for our “silent sixty seconds”. Within the silent sixty seconds, we observe the tree and the environment around us, silently. I believe this gave not only the children a more internal connection with nature through silent observation, but for me as well.

           It’s much more relaxing and easier to feel the full effect of something in done in a silent and calm manner. Granted it was hard to get little kids to stay silent for sixty seconds when they’re outside and surrounded by their friends, but as each lesson went by, they got better at it. It was easier for us to go around and share what we felt and noticed during our sixty seconds that I even found myself engaging more actively than being the silent observer of the children. Through this volunteer service I’ve done, it made me appreciate how much organizations and policies are putting in work to make sure we can conserve nature as much as possible for future use and generation.

           The fact that the kids were actively engaged with just the one large tree in their schoolyard, just imagine when they’re old enough or get the opportunity to see the other natural wonders around the world. If they’re so heavily interested and in awe by one simple commonly found tree around Virginia, I could only expect how much more they can indulge into the beauty of nature when they venture outside their living areas. This is why I am much more appreciative in what the communities are doing to strive for nature’s survival in certain areas where wildlife and environmental areas are in danger because they saving it for the future and essentially for future generations to be able to see and witness to it thriving.

           Essentially, everything we do is for the promise of a future. A future for not just humankind but everything that thrives around them and in order for us to thrive, we have to balance and come in terms with the things around us. I used to think that we had bigger problems than taking the time to recycle and reduce our foot prints, but it makes sense to me now that everything is interdependent and connected one way or another. With the help of this class along with the volunteer service I’ve been doing, I can definitely say I see conservation and conservationists in a whole new budding light.

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Service Learning #1

Prompt: “Describe the progress you have made on your Service Learning project so far this semester. Summarize what you have done and reflect on how your Service Learning activities relate to what you are learning in the other parts of the class (readings, discussions, etc.”

         For the required community service I am to do, I signed up and became a 4-H Volunteer for the county of Arlington. I am one of the facilitators for the 4-H Outdoor Explorers program for the Hoffman Boston Elementary School. So far what I have taken from the activities I do with children, was nature’s adaptation to the weather. One of the activities we recently began doing is to observe the physical changes of plants in order for them to survive year round and teaching the kids the different type of winter birds that are commonly seen around Virginia.

           I’m being taught to connect these young children to take an interest in going outdoors and teach them to interact with nature kindly. Through all the readings we’re gone through this semester I realized the reason why many grown adults nowadays are ignorant or refuse to accept environmental awareness is because as children, they weren’t taught specifically in school to treat the ground they walk on with kindness. I think the correlation between young teens and young adults who are becoming more involved in activism is because now, we have these leaders who are spreading the ideas specifically to the young people of America because they will be the future leaders on how Earth will be treated with the oncoming generation.

           The first step is to get kids to enjoy going outdoors and interacting with nature and the next step is to get them engaged to knowing the characteristics and habits of nature and her creatures. What I’ve learned about conservation and preservation so far in this class definitely helps me carry this knowledge to the kids I work with. Pandering to them with pathos and how parts of the Earth are essentially deteriorating sparks this idea in these children’s minds that they have to do something to help nature. We have these kids who are learning about the Presidents of the United States, so I’m taking what I have learning about Theodore Roosevelt and his concept and actions with conservations and applying it to them so they have someone creditable to look up to.

           I also have kids asking me about extinct animals and wondering why they have been wiped off the Earth and why no one saved them from diminishing. I have to explain very delicate how in the past we used to turn a blind eye to animals, as we believed we should be focusing on the more “important” issues going on than random creatures. As a kid myself, I used to wonder why people used to protest and talk about how sad it was to lose majestic animals to vile actions that resulted in their extinction and why no one was doing anything to prevent it. But, after reading last week’s articles talking more in depth for these laws and acts that were passed by Congress that had lists of endangered species and certain locations of the world to be those species’ salvation habitats, I’m able to take that in depth knowledge to give the children a shimmering silver lining to their concerning questions. So, I’m excited to continue working at this elementary and interacting with the kids and being about to tie our activities to our readings easily as this semester progresses.

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Solution Article

Prompt: “Choose an article that summarizes a solution to a conservation problem, and discuss the conservation problem and the solution in depth”

        Poaching has become a world wide known epidemic that has affected most of wildlife around the world. It dates back to centuries ago for the value of the fur, skin, horns and tusks. It’s reached the peak of causing near extinctions for many species in the last recent years. With the amount of news coverage and activism going around this was able to shed some possible solutions. Out of the several possible solutions that have been thought over and put in play, some have more effect of subsidizing the amount of poaching than others.

           Focusing primarily on rhino poaching predominantly happening in most third world countries, an article posted by Michael t’ Sas-Rolfes discusses the three possible solution in rhino poaching in, “Rhino Poaching: What is the Solution?”.  It’s evident that banned trading did not stop the poaching for many countries so other ideas had to form. The top three ideas that has potential to help save numbers of rhinos and other animals are demand reduction, legal trade, and synthetic horn. Each proposed solution seem effective in some or more ways than others but really it depends on what specific locations its aimed at for saving.

           Demand reduction can be seen as a success in Asian countries where its purpose is to use celebrities as campaign models and activists to endorse their popularity status as a means to convince people that poaching is wrong. Examples such as Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan, Chinese basketball champion Yao Ming, and various young pop stars of different Asian countries were used successfully to stop the raving of shark-fin soup where many of their fans and eventually the public stopped consuming. This solution revolves around the slogan, “when the buying stops, the killing can too” (Sas-Rolfes). It’s true that there are many activists out in the world who are well-known and well-liked celebrities who are fighting to be the faces of awareness for the public. The only downside of this solution is that it wouldn’t work in countries where knowledge of celebrities is scared or non-existent such as Africa for example.

           The means of legal trade would make rhino horns so accessible and common that there would be no reason for sneaky and brutal killings. Poachers would be able to actually learn the correct ways of cutting the horns out of rhinos where it would not kill or harm the rhino. In other words poachers would be able to learn how to “sedate them and remove the portion of horn above the growth point…the animals experience no significant pain or obvious social disruption and the horn regrows, allowing for further harvests and accelerated horn production…” (Sas-Rolfes). Making it legal to poach and trade would essential make the whole ordeal done more effectively and correctly where it does less harm to rhinos and could eventually increase their populations as death would be less common once legal poachers learn to do it correctly. Of course there are objections to whether or not this is the most practical or ethical approach to saving the rhinos. Many just want the whole horn stealing to be eradicated instead, but of course greed and traditional views will always triumph the right thing to do.

           Lastly, the last proposed solution is synthetic horns. In Asia, the use of rhino horns trace back to being of special use in medicine. It’s embedded in old views that rhino horns have special healing powers and of course can be used for beautiful special jewelry. So to satisfy the consumer’s interest in rhino horns, synthetic horns have been produced through biotechnology with 3-D printing to manufacture a “horn substitute that is potentially indistinguishable from the genuine item, to the extent that it even contains infused rhino DNA” (Sas-Rolfes). It could be considered as the most ethical approach to substitute the real rhino horns in the market as it would be created to be almost authentic. The downside to this however is that synthetic horns could be used a hoax for traders to confuse law enforcements as their fake products to be sold while smuggling legit rhino horns. Synthetic horns could also up the demand of rhino horns in the market which of course leads to more poaching of rhinos.

           So, between all three highly popular proposed solution, Sas-Rolfes explains that individually, the solutions can not be successful through the entire world. Rather using all three solutions in different areas of the world would seem most fit. The demand reduction would play in areas that have a “western value system, which is not universally shared and accepted” (Sas-Rolfes).  With legal trading, it would “satisfy both conservation and economic objectives for countries such as South Africa and Namibia, provided that such a regime addresses concerns relating to potential market responses and laundering of illegally sourced horn” (Sas-Rolfes). Synthetic horns could prove well for more as a “cost-effective solution” but may not be enough to address the economic incentives of poachers. With all three proposed solutions, there are major drawbacks to have it being used universally alone. Furthermore, the ultimate solution to poaching would be to implement all three proposed solution around the world. It’s clear that individually, they do not satisfy all means of the market, people and rhinos but using all three solutions together would be the most effective. Any solution that could cut down the decrease of rhino poaching and deaths would be considered the most effective.

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Conservation Photography

Prompt: “Investigate a conservation photographer and prepare a 2 page written essay with the following information included: A brief Biography of your photographer -Why their photography is considered conservation photography and not just nature pictures? -Why is this photographer an activist? -If applicable, explain how their conservation photography has had a positive outcome on a particular conservation or environmental problem”

        Distinguished photographer Brian Skerry is known as the most admired underwater photographer. Born in 1962, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in media and communications from Worcester State College in 1984. He has been a photographer for National Geographic Magazine since 1998 and was named National Geographic Photography Fellow in 2014. Skerry specializes primarily in marine wildlife and underwater environments where he captures and covers many lives of marine life. His images capture the compelling stories of the ocean, which captivate his audience emotionally.

           What sets Skerry’s photography off differently than others is his sense of aesthetics. Through his images, he captures not only the scenery of the ocean but also the emotions of marine life. His images scream, “the oceans are over-fished, over-polluted, over-estimated, and over-burdened…everything we know about it is telling us that it has reached a breaking point” (Skerry). Specializing in ocean conservation, his talent brings attention to the public about what they’re actions are doing to the ocean. It’s all about seeing and being shown what we’re going to eventually lose in marine life and what’s ultimately causing it.

           Skerry’s been exploring the world’s ocean for the past three decades and continues to pursue ocean wildlife stories in order to increase awareness for the public. He’s trying to emphasize through his photographer about the alarming danger that marine life, primarily sharks, are in. “The oceans are in trouble. There are some serious problems out there that I believe are not clear to many people. My hope is to continually find new ways of creating images and stories that both celebrate the sea yet also highlight environmental problems…” (Skerry). He’s a successful photographer that has the ability to connect the viewers with their sense of responsibility to protect and conserve what we have left of the ocean. He gives off the sense of wanting to restore what we have tragically lost through human actions.

           Aside from photography and spending most of his time underwater in the ocean, he also does lectures on photography and conservation issues at universities, TED talks, and even television programs such as NBC’s TODAY Show, CBS Sunday Morning, and ABC’s Good Morning America. He’s recognized for his work in many countries where he’s able to expose oceanic problems. Particularly in his captured photo of a Thresher shark, taken in Mexico’s Gulf of California, it shows the shark stuck in a gill net which spread awareness of the 100 million sharks that are killed nearly worldwide through these fishing nets. He captures certain marine life species, which later relates to the ongoing diminishing living conditions or population decrease they’re about to undergo. Ultimately, he leaves in his each of his photographs the motivation to be a part of ocean conservation with the concept of, “photography can be a powerful instrument for change” (Skerry).

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Found Object

Prompt: “Describe an object of wildness that you found outside using color, look and feel of the object as well as texture and pattern.  The found object should allow you to form an idea of nature that you are interested in understanding in more depth and should help you develop your eye for the natural world around you.Explain what the object is and its connection to your personal understanding and experiences of nature. How does this object connect with your personal Ecological Identity, and if not, why? What are the most important characteristics or features of this natural object?”

       On my visit to the Piedmont, I was walking around the woods with one of the environmentalists there where we noticed something very shiny on the ground. She picked it up and exclaimed that it was a type of quartz rock. Fascinated, I took it home with me to do some research on what a quartz rock was. When I arrived home, I took the rock to the sink and washed off the dirt and mud that was surrounding it. After washing off most of what I could, what I now held was a beautiful sparkling white quartz rock. I stared at the newly reformed rock and suddenly I felt this intense appreciation for nature.

           I know it’s just a quartz rock, not one can be deemed as a crystal, but being able to find one out in the woods made it just as special. If you can imagine, holding a quartz rock is much different than an ordinary rock. It’s more unique with a ton of indentions and edges. It feels silky smooth even with the incantations and the way it shines in the light is absolutely mesmerizing. Usually when I’m on a nature walk, I appreciate the natural world as a whole rather as individuals. Of course I appreciate everything that makes up what I see before me but I don’t believe I truly appreciated nature until I realized all it contained within her.

           As a young adult in college, I am still trying to find my own way in life and where I stand in my views of society and the world. I came into college being naïve and oblivious to how important taking care of the environment is. I used to shrug off environmental activists thinking that they had their priorities in life twisted, until I realized I was the one with my mentality flawed. Now my part of my journey in life is figuring out what my ecological identity is. I can personally say I always thought myself as more of a conservationist than a preservationist.

           However, after reading the previous readings handed in class, I’m starting to begin I’m equally both. Regarding the quartz rock I found, it makes me reflect and feel the need to preserve the special beauty of nature such as this. I don’t believe we should be bothering nature and taking the natural resources we need forcibly. However, I understand the environment and society we live in calls for the need of natural resources in order for a thriving human future. But the way we’re obtaining our natural needs will clearly be the ultimate reason to nature’s demise.

           Related to how John Muir acted in his writings, I agree with his position for preserving the natural world where human hands should not be touching and destroying this beauty. I completely understand and agree with the importance of national reserve parks and such, but as former Theodore Roosevelt suggested, as important as the survival of the natural world, so is our human survival. And just like Henry Thoreau, they both believed in the importance of balance between nature and humans. As much as we need to preserve most nature’s wonders, what we need from her should be taken delicately and with utmost care. To preserve and to conserve contain different actions to do, but in the end, it helps both humanity and nature.

           To go back to the white quartz rock, it’s an inanimate object but serves as a symbol for me. It’s also a reminder for me not to take my surroundings for granted, even if it’s simply choosing to walk the long path to my destination versus walking on top of soiled grass and plants. I believe if we want Mother Nature to care and give to us all we need to survive, whether it’s our wants and needs, we need to care and give back to her. Whether that be recycling, conserving water, and making use of scraps and materials, we would not exist without one another. Nature cannot speak for itself, but it can show physically the damage we are doing to her. So as I found this quartz, I stand as its voice for the entire wood I stood on to make sure what my actions are towards the world and environment is for the ultimate good towards a promising future.

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Reflection #10 Sources

Conde, D. A., N. Flesness, F. Colchero, O. R. Jones, and A. Scheuerlein. "An 

            Emerging Role of Zoos to Conserve Biodiversity." Science Magazine. 

             AAAS, 18 Mar. 2011. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.

Kolbert, Elizabeth. "Zoos & Wildlife Conservation." Building the Ark. N.p., Oct. 

              2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.

Leu, Chelsea. "Why Frozen Sperm Can’t Save Earth’s Imperiled Species—Yet."

              Science. Conde Nast Digital, 25 Aug. 2015. Web. 22 Nov. 2016.

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Reflection #9 Sources

Kokmen, Leyla. "Environmental Justice For All." Utne. N.p., 08 Feb. 2008. Web.

          09 Nov. 2016.

"Real People-Real Stories." Exchange Project. The University of North Carolina 

           at Chapel Hill, 2006. Web. 9 Nov. 2016.

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Reflection #8 Sources

"Bills of Right in Action." Constitutional Rights Foundation, 2013. Web. 1 Nov. 

           2016.

Brower, David. "Should We Also Flood the Sistine Chapel so Tourists Can Get 

           near the Ceiling?” (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 1 Nov. 2016.

Horning, Audrey J. "The Displaced." National Parks Service. U.S. Department of

           the Interior, 10 Jan. 2001. Web. 01 Nov. 2016.

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Reflection #7 Sources

Devall, Bill, and George Sessions. Deep Ecology. Salt Lake City, UT: G.M. 

          Smith, 1985. N. pag. Print.

Nash, Roderick. "The New Environmentalism." American Environmentalism: 

          Readings in Conservation History. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1990. N. pag. 

          Print.

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Reflection #6 Sources

"Frequently Asked Questions." Frequently Asked Questions. N.p., 20 Jan. 2012.

         Web. 12 Oct. 2016.

"Protecting National Wildlife Refuges." Defenders of Wildlife. N.p., 19 Sept. 

         2016. Web.12 Oct. 2016.

Webmaster, NCTC. "USFWS/NCTC - History." USFWS/NCTC - History and 

         Heritage. N.p., 7 Mar. 2014. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.

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Reflection #4 Sources

Brower, David. "Should We Also Flood the Sistine Chapel so Tourists Can Get 

            near the Ceiling?" (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.

Carson, Rachel. "The Obligation to Endure." Silent Spring. Boston: Riverside, 

           1962. N. pag. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.

Steinberg, Ted. "America In Black and Green." Down to Earth: Nature's Role in

           American History. New York: Oxford UP, 2002. 206-25. Print.

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Reflection #2 Sources

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. "Nature Chapter 1." Nature. N.p.: James Munroe, 1836.

        N. pag. Print.

Thoreau, Henry David. "Thoreau's Walking." The Thoreau Reader. Richard 

         Lenat, 2009. Web. 15 Sept. 2016.

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Reflection #1 Sources

Johnston, Basil. "The Anishinabe Creation Story." (n.d.): n. pag. Lynn Gehl, 

        2005. Web. 5 Sept. 2016.

Smith, John. "Captain John Smith: A Section of HIs Writings." 2001. N.p.:   

        Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina, 1988. 210-13. Print.

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Reading Reflection #10

Prompt: “Using evidence from as many of the week's readings as you can (or from previous classes), explain what is the role of a modern zoo or conservation center that cares for endangered or threatened species?”

        Endangered species are common nowadays. Thankfully humankind has stepped up to the plate and taken their lives into our hands. Behind the views of animals in zoos, there’s a more meaningful reason behind them. Zoos play an important part in conservation as they help contain endangered animals in a safe environment. However, the battle between keeping animals that attract tourists might overrule the animals that need to be in a well-kept captivity instead.

           An article written by D. A. Conde called, “An Emerging Role of Zoos to Conserve Biodiversity”, talks about the importance that zoos can do for the survival of wild endangered species. “Captive breeding may be the only short- term practical conservation option for species confined to dwindling habitats”, though it’s only short-term it can have long lasting results to breeding in captivity and releasing them back into the wild (Conde). It seems like a long shot for taking animals in that children and adults don’t find thrilling or even aware that these species are endangered but it’s better to introduce them to it now than never being able to introduce them at all.

           In the same article, there are bar graphs comparing the vulnerability of how threatened each different type of species are being closed to extinction and endangered. Comparing all four charts between mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians, mammals and reptiles seem to be the most at risk of becoming half close to critically endangered and even extinct. So, zoos are trying to become conservation centers where they can breed and keep endangered species in their care until they’re all ready to be reintroduced into the wild. But it’s something that not many zoos can continue their focus in.

           Elizabeth Kolbert’s article from National Geographic Magazine called, “Building the Ark”, she explains that zoos need to get over the concept of distracting crowds for animals that they can easily see in the wild and on television versus the species that can actually “wow” them with their sudden new introduction. “Robert Lacy, a conservation biologist at the Chicago Zoological Society, says that zoos are going to have to make ‘some really difficult prioritization decisions. Do you save a small number of big furry things, because that’s what will draw the public? Or do you focus on a whole lot more little creatures that it’s harder to get the public interested in, but you might be able to save a whole lot more of for the same amount of money?’”, Lacy says a lot for the way we should be changing the purpose of zoos (Kolbert).

           You would think that artificially breeding endangered species would fix it like we’ve done for many other species and even for cows, but the actual fact is that not all species reproduce the same way. And because of this, we have to figure out how these endangered species, like reptiles and amphibians reproduce and if their sperm can be frozen and used for the future when they figure it out. However, there’s complicated problems in artificial breeding for certain species like cheetahs, as explained in “Why Frozen Sperm Can’t Save Earth’s Imperiled Species-Yet” by Chelsea Leu. It’s true that male cheetahs are very picky in who to mate with in the wild and they are not keen in mating while being held captive. Most of their sperm is motile and female cheetah don’t also respond to hormones which makes it hard for insemination. But if they can figure it out, “Scientists can keep populations from becoming too inbred by pairing up genetically favorable couples. And a single sample can have a longer shelf life—and better staying power—than a single stud” (Leu).

           Though zoos are trying to go against conventional means of what they should be upholding for the public, it’s a hard battle to win but the results will be worthwhile. This might be one of the solutions that can solve majority of critically endangered species. If we can fund and change the concept of zoos, we can also educate the public on new species that they haven’t heard about. Children can also gain insight on focusing on less populated animals that vastly roams the wild already.

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Reading Reflection #9

Prompt: “Write about 2 strategies to promote environmental justice; citing 2 of the articles we read for today”

        Environmental justice is always one of the best ways to get different communities to join through one common interest or goal. Once we realize that something affects the majority that is when people are willing to come together for the better of their future. In the past couple decades; many communities around the United States have gone through injustice social and economical change. As a result, the only way to have their own individual voices to be heard, they had to come together to be one giant booming voice to the public. There are many ways to achieve the cooperation of large communities and some solutions serve a bigger impact than others do.

           One common way of reaching environmental justice is through classic protesting. What protesting promotes is the public awareness not only to who they’re trying to protest against, but to individuals around them. Obviously not many people want to be the first to start a rebellion act in fear of consequences, so once they see one or two or a couple people doing it first, then they will feel confident and comfortable enough to join in and it becomes a domino effect. In a case described in “Real People-Real Stories: Seeking Environmental Justice”, about the injustice landfill created in Afton, North Carolina, as a site to dump thousands of gallons of PCB into the soil caused a mass uproar. Not only did they pick a county that served an area that was predominately African Americans, but they created this landfill with such haste and easiness.

           In order for the public to be aware on what was happening to this small county of North Carolina, many took it upon themselves to protest for their health and nature’s health. There’s a picture included in this paper captioned “protestors lie on the road to block dump trucks from delivering PCB-contaminated soil in 1982”. From such a heavy and serious environmental injustice being done, it brought so many people in this particular community together to risk their lives and exercise their rights to make sure they could stop this from happening. Though the landfill and contamination happened in the end, the constant rebuttal of getting the government to clean and clear it through decades of years shows the stepping stone protesting did to get to the ended results.

           Another really good solution explained by Leyla Kokem in “Environmental Justice For All”, talks about the dangerous environmental health issues that revolve mainly in California. In an effort to get people in the community aware of what is actually going around them, a man named Manuel Pastor ran “tour buses” that showed the downside of Los Angeles. This included exposing the “toxics” that the city has created due to freeways, traffic, and refineries converge. It was a huge effort to “literally see, smell, and feel the effects” to those who were less aware of what residents were doing to their environment (Kokem). This primarily is a really good way to promote environmental injustice because you’re not only giving them verbal information, but targeting their six senses which makes it much more effective and powerful for them to feel the need and want to change for the better.

           Environmental justice is very important to ensure a promising future for many generations. It’s a difficult way to promote in certain areas of communities especially for those who choose not to be environmentally aware. In order to appeal to the majority, we have to consider what’s the best way to strike everyone’s interest to reach a greater and faster change. Yes, some attempts have been successful to prevent dangerous issues to the environment, but does that mean it’ll stop it from trying to reoccur again to a different community, especially one that is less aware and others? Many promotions are a hit and miss to big parts of communities, but to come together as one to create a loud voice is the only way to see change.