The Loss Of Our Less Cuddly Friends

Summary

The article discusses the impact of the 2019–20 Australian bushfires on less cuddly animals, particularly native bees, and the need for a sustainable balance between human development and nature's conservation.

Abstract

The 2019–20 Australian bushfires, which caused extensive damage and loss of life, also significantly affected the country's native bee populations. Research indicates that the number of threatened bee species increased nearly fivefold post-fires. While human efforts have aided bee population recovery, the primary credit goes to the bees' natural resilience and rapid population growth. However, this recovery is not sustainable in the long term, as it relies on constant monitoring and intervention. The article emphasizes that many species, often overlooked due to their size or lack of study, are crucial for ecological balance. It calls for increased awareness and action to protect these species, highlighting the importance of sustainable coexistence between humans and nature.

Opinions

The article suggests that human actions, both indirectly through climate change and directly through development, are negatively impacting thousands of species annually.
It implies that the current approach to conservation, exemplified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, is inadequate, as it has overlooked certain species.
The author believes that each species, regardless of size or popularity, plays a vital role in maintaining ecological balance.
The article advocates for a compromise that addresses the needs of humans, animals, and nature, ensuring that no single group's development drastically affects others.
It emphasizes the urgency of finding a sustainable way to protect endangered species, rather than relying on temporary fixes after disasters.

The Loss Of Our Less Cuddly Friends

While there are a lot of adorable and cuddly animals who are going extinct due to natural disasters, the same thing is happening to some less cuddly animals who are just as important. A year ago, more than 42 million acres were burned down in an unprecedented outbreak of extreme fires, which produced lightning, melted New Zealand’s glaciers, and caused hundreds of deaths. However, it was not just humans lives that it took.

What Else Was Impacted?

After researchers started studying the animal species, namely bees. In these studies, nine species were assessed as Vulnerable and two more Endangered due to the 2019–20 bushfires that also destroyed approximately 3000 homes and killed or displaced an estimated 3 billion animals. However, measures taken by environmentalists and people in Australia might be able to help these species before they completely disappear.

“The number of threatened Australian native bee species is expected to increase by nearly five times after the devastating Black Summer bushfires in 2019–20, new research led by Flinders University has found” (ScienceDaily).

While this shows promise as the actions of humans have helped the bee population, the improved results are mainly due to nature and the ability for populations to increase rapidly and adapt to survive. However this is only a temporary solution, as it is not sustainable and almost impossible to constantly monitor each species and work extra hard to increase their population each time that our actions lead to their near extinction. Thousands of species are rapidly decreasing and being negatively affected by our actions as humans each year, whether indirectly (due to climate change) or directly as we try to develop our civilization without taking into account the other beings on our planet.

Despite the estimated increase in the population of the Australian bees, this population is still no too close to being sustained. Organizations made to protect endangered species, such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, did not only ignore and understudy the species, but they did not register them in their data.

The situation that the Australian native bees are in can be used as an example to demonstrate how there are hundreds of species that are considered insignificant because they are small or have not been studied. It is important to bring more awareness and importance to this species, as they are just as important when it comes to the sustainability of the planet. Each creature has a role to play in conserving nature and making sure that there is a balance between humans, nature, and everyone’s needs on necessary to move forward.

In order to ensure the planet’s sustainability, it is crucial to maintain a balance between human needs and those of animals and nature. The key is to find the compromise between all of the parties involved, as well as allowing space for everything on Earth to grow and develop as long as it does not drastically affect the other groups.