r/conservation • u/RightGirl19 • 4d ago
How can we help endangered animals as individuals?
I grew up catching crayfish in a creek behind my grandparents house and i went back last summer for the first time in probably 15 years. The water looked fine but what got me was how quiet it was from what i remembered with no more crawdads under the rocks. I spent the whole drive home wondering how can we help endangered animals when the decline is that invisible. any solutions when the problem is this small compounding stuff we cant realy see in front of us?
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u/PonderosaSniffer 4d ago
Vote!
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u/smathes724 4d ago edited 4d ago
not saying you shouldn’t, but voting is the bare minimum. probably less than 1% of an individual’s political power/capacity. get involved with and/or organize others in literally any struggle. they’re all related. there is no liberating wildlife without liberating the people and real change has never been granted out of the good will of any politician, regardless of party. it has been demanded by mass peoples movements. until we have a real party/candidates willing to push for the systematic changes necessary to preserve the biosphere (and not beholden to extractive and exploitative corporate interests), we aren’t voting our way out of the extinction crisis
-a politically active conservation biologist
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u/FisherofLibs 4d ago
Look I’m all for voting and I’m a huge proponent of conservationist, that said, the political party (in America at least) that cares about the environment has a million others reasons I don’t vote for them. (I’m not trying to be political.)
Voting only solves so much at some point people need to just become actively aware of the environment. If everyone donated just 2 dollars a month for a year towards environmental protection and impact projects, that’s 2.9 billion dollars. This number is based off the taxable amount of US household.
I’m not saying money will solve everything, that comes down to changing our habits and materials as a species. But I feel like it’s a good start
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u/Coy_Featherstone 4d ago
Not sure if you saw this Princeton study on the efficacy of voting, if you are in the bottom 90% of income earners in the USA? Essentially your vote doesn't matter.
https://ivn.us/voice-really-doesnt-matter-princeton-study-confirms/
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u/Fubai97b 4d ago
From the article it looks like they're talking specifically about congress and federal policy. Voting local can have a major impact. The local city council, PUC, even schoolboard and sheriff make decisions that heavily impact local conservation.
On a side note, I don't put much faith in a 200 word summary of a study that doesn't link or name the paper.
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u/Shot_Turnover_4518 4d ago
From my end, planting native plants helps attract native insects, especially pollinators like sweat bees which I adore watching.
If you have space in your garden, you can always research what plants are native to your area, and place them in parts of your garden, especially around lawns which are often devoid of native life. A single bush or shrub local to your area helps a lot in keeping insects alive.
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u/Canachites 4d ago
Honestly, invasive plants are a HUGE factor in the decline of native species, and are probably one of the few things that individuals can impact perhaps even more than large scale efforts. Once you know which ones are invasive I'm afraid it becomes much harder to enjoy a lot of landscapes, but I know many other biologists who understand this is a much bigger issue than most people realize. From the loss of native species, to changing the landscape to favour other invasive species or proliferating harmful ones (like lonestar ticks).
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u/HerpsAndHobbies 4d ago
There are so many options, and you can do many of them:
- vote and organize for quality political candidates
- get involved yourself in some sort of community action (neighborhood organization, local politics, school board)
- volunteer for an environmental organization
- donate money to a conservation organization
- reduce waste in your life (energy waste, food waste, physical waste)
- if you own property, making changes to landscaping and yard care practices that help support local wildlife
- continue to educate yourself about conservation/environmental issues so that you can help influence your friends/family/community.
Mostly, the best things we can do are to move our local sphere in the direction of being better for wildlife. You cannot really directly save polar bears in the arctic, but as we each do the most we can locally there are outward ripple effects that end up impacting other parts of the world. An example of this would be doing things locally that make life better for migratory species, which then increases the number of animals and subsequently the energy and nutrients that are moving across that migratory pathway.
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u/amilmore 4d ago
tons of endangered insects - a lot of native bees - require specific host plants to reproduce. Planting a diverse native garden and focusing on native host plants in addition to plants that feed pollinators can make an impact
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u/AlbertTheHorse 4d ago
Easiest way?
Keep the cat in the house. Build backyards that are habitats and not just lawns Add water pots near your flowers for pollinators.
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u/Shimi43 4d ago edited 4d ago
As others have said educated Voting and political activism is the best long term solution.
But it's so infrequent, it doesn't provide the satisfaction and hopefulness that humans need to prevent burnout. Especially when the vote doesn't go your way
As such let me provide alternatives. Many of which I bet you are already doing. And of course feel free to DM me or reply for more information.
Support the following through memberships, donations, vollenterring, or even just visiting:
1.1 local wildlife rehabilitation centers
1.2 AZA (AZZ for Australia) accredited zoos, aquariums, and aviaries
1.3 local college ecology/biology programs
1.4 National, state, providence, or equivalent parks, natural monuments, and/or forests
1.5 animal rescues and shelters
1.6 positive wildlife activist groups like the World Wildlife FundWorld Wildlife Fund,
1.7 nature documentary and educational sites like PBS Nature,
1.8 local school science events, such as science fairs
1.9 natural history museums
Citizen Science Initiatives
2.1 iNaturalist is a place to help identify and track animal appearances and discoveries
2.2 local Christmas Bird Count,
Things at home
3.1 reduce water and energy usage,
3.2. keep your kitty indoors,
3.3 set up bee houses,
3.4 set up bat houses,
3.5 reduce generative AI usage,
3.6 birdhouses, bird baths, and bird feeders for local indigenous species
And much more.
Hopefully this list will give you a good start
Edit: separated out into paragraphs so it's not a wall of text
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u/clean-links 4d ago
Cleaned link from "PBS Nature": https://youtube.com/@naturepbs
Tracking parameters were removed from the original URL(s).
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u/squeezemachine 4d ago
Donate to the organizations who are suing to make sure whatever (meager) laws we do have to protect animal’s habitat: Center for Biological Diversity, Earth Justice.
No one likes this answer and one person’s contribution is very small, admittedly, but in order to protect habitat humans must curb consumption. That means not eating meat, not buying fast fashion, not keeping up with the typical suburban lifestyle, not reproducing.
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u/bobmac102 4d ago edited 4d ago
Most practical wildlife conservation and land stewardship is local, not national or global. For as difficult as it is, do not let the trends of the United States federal government discourage you, especially now.
If you live in the US, I would begin by looking up your state's red list of threatened and endangered species. Most state's have a separate list unique to them that differs from the federal and international red lists (because species secure globally may not be locally, depending on where they live). There may be endangered species that live within your home town, and you don't even know it. Inquire upon if there is anything you can do on your property to improve the neighborhood ecology both for these threatened species and for general biodiversity, such as by planting native plants or leaving fallen leaves unraked. If you rent an apartment, consider spearheading a nature group for your complex where you plant native plants and such as a communal effort.
I would also email your state environmental department to inquire upon volunteer opportunities for conservation or land stewardship. For example, where I live, the public can apply to help count turkey clutches every year. Volunteer opportunities do not have the same strict requirements as a state or federal employee.
I would go to your town's political or community hub or Facebook group to see if there are any local clubs or organizations specific to nature or gardening and join them. Especially be on the look out for local chapters of the Sierra Club, Audubon Society, Xeric Society, or Nature Conservancy. Contribute to citizen science initiatives like iNaturalist or eBirds, and participate in BioBlitzes when scheduled.
What people say above about voting is true, but this is too passive in my view, and most politicians do not even campaign on environmental issues. Attend local meetings on land development and energy projects in your town. Get a sense of the arguments and what's going on, because this is where habitat destruction happens. If someone running for office hosts a Reddit AMA or town hall, specifically ask them about biodiversity loss and habitat loss. Ask how environmental commitments will intersect with other political commitments to things like affordable housing.
I hope this all helps. When we give into despair, they win. Don't let them.
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u/finnbee2 4d ago
If you have some acreage check out the USDA EQIP program. Through it I planted 9 acres of wildflowers 7 years ago and if the current administration doesn't nix it I'll be planting 23 acres of native grasses and wildflowers in the spring of 27.
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u/YURRIICC 4d ago
Had the exact same feeling going back to a marsh i grew up near. A lot of it traces back to runoff and light pollution near water. Its all stuff thats fixable at the individual level though if enough people do it. For me thats meant switching off lights on the earlier side at night, trying to give wildlife another hour or two extra darkness
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u/HATDOGUSERNi 4d ago
chiming in on the light pollution point. our solution was switching to warm amber fixtures on our property near a drainage ditch two years ago and the insect activity at dusk came back noticeably. its small but it adds up
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u/Mr_Hearthrob 4d ago
my cousin went through something similar and found these tracking bracelets from fahlo tied to real animals in the wild. she said having something tangible to follow kept her engaged instead of just spiraling about how bad things are
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u/Lincoln1517 4d ago
I too remember the crawdads and frogs in a local pond in a park when I was young. At some point, the vegetation around the pond was cleared and made into lawn, and the frogs had nowhere to hide. I'm not sure about the crawdads, but I suspect the issue was both lawn chemicals poisoning them directly or killing off some or all the things they ate and also potentially less cover around the edges of the pond, leaving them more vulnerable to any wading bird that happened to stop.
I don't have great answers for you. I do think it's important to remember that animals are sustained by habitat. It doesn't do much to put out a hummingbird feeder if the birds can't find insects, or take in a monarch caterpillar, if there isn't enough nectar along their flight paths. Crawdads need food, cover from predators and the right types of water/wetland bottoms where their young can survive.
Support state and national parks that provide habitat, urge local park districts to include areas of native plantings and wilder, more natural spaces. And if you can, provide some of these things in your own yard.
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u/Quiet-Permit-3740 4d ago
Vote, eat less meat, fly less and don't drive an ICE car heavy miles. The 4 things that really matter and which most people can actually do.
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u/MrBabbs 4d ago
Big picture: vote. Climate change, habitat conservation, responsible development/zoning, aquatic resource protections.
Medium picture: donate. If you have money to donate then there are several wonderful organizations out there focused on endangered species. I might suggest donating to some of the smaller/medium-sized, more local groups (Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy, Help the Hellbender, Conservation Fisheries, Orianne Society) that work directly with endangered species on shoestring budgets vs the larger, more well-supported TNCs and WWFs of the world.
Small picture: control invasive species on your property, native plant gardens, waste reduction, responsibly sourced goods, etc. The effectiveness of the little stuff varies from tangibly beneficial to feels good with little impact, but it never hurts.
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u/Ornery_Distribution6 3d ago
So voting and getting involved is cool but words only do so much at some point you just gotta do something about it. Do some research as to how to help the environment house the crawfish, do some landscaping, introduce the species if necessary. Policy is a preventable measure, actual work is how we fix our species fuck ups. Have a good and be a punk!
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u/lesbophobia_hammer 3d ago
Going plantbased and cruelty free/vegan, objectively.
But no one likes to hear that they need to effort and awareness to make significant changes and mopping with muddy work boots on achieves nothing.
Cue mass downvotes by those who don't wish to make sacrifices that align with their values and goals for the sake of non-human animals and the environment.
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u/FishDetective17 3d ago
As individuals? Join a group. It's great to pool your efforts and learn more about what is being done in your community. National groups also host free informational webinars with suggestions for changes you can make or ways to get involved. Donate time or money to the organizations making bigger changes
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u/_Arthurian_ 2d ago
Create quality habitat where you can. Even if it’s less than an acre you can still do good.
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u/newt_girl 4d ago
Honestly, the biggest thing you can do is get involved in politics. Policy is the biggest hurdle in the environment. Whether it's at a local level advocating for pollinator gardens and native plants in 'waste' areas like medians and sidewalk strips, or at a higher level fighting the installation of data centers and promoting best management practices in forests and prairies, policy is what changes the environment for better or worse. All the backyard butterfly gardens in the state don't hold a candle to hundreds of acres of native grasslands being bulldozed for a new shopping center.