A Bowhead Whale in the Bering Sea

In the waters between Russia and Alaska lies a sea so rich in wildlife and so varied in habitat that it is considered one of the world’s most productive marine environments.
Covering almost a million square miles (2.5 million square kilometers), the Bering Sea supports vast populations of fish, birds, whales, and other marine mammals.
And conservationists are fighting to keep it that way.

The endangered bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus) gets its name from its oddly curved, huge jaws, which resemble an archer's bow.
The bowhead's enormous mouth and head are believed to be able to break through thick ice.
In the summer the bowheads move through the Bering Strait deeper into Arctic waters as the ice melts. They swim with their mouths open, straining seawater for plankton, crustaceans, and other small marine creatures.

Here are two links to hear a bowhead whale:

http://www.chez.com/cetacean/baleine.wav

http://www.dosits.org/gallery/mp3/bow1.mp3
Bowhead whale moans recorded in the Arctic Ocean, off Point Barrow, Alaska. ©North Slope Borough, Barrow, Alaska

Red-necked Amazon Parrot/Jaco

" We all breathe the same air, we all drink the same water, we all live in the same earth. we have to take care of it all together "

Raoni, Indian chief

Original forest extend

Current forest cover

Remaining frontier forest

Frontier forests are the world's remaining large intact natural forest ecosystems - undisturbed and large enough to maintain all of their biodiversity.
Map Source: D. Bryant, et al.,

http://www.fsc-info.org/english/dbcoce.asp
[Select the country you live in and click on the Start button]
Buy furniture for your home responsibly so that endangered species get to keep theirs

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an independent, not for profit, non-governmental organization that provides standard setting, trademark assurance and accreditation services for companies and organizations interested in responsible forestry. Always try your best to make sure that any timber you buy, either tropical or non-tropical, carries the FSC label (shown above)- it's the only sure way of knowing what you buy is "good wood".

A Balloon flying over Iguazu Falls ( Brazil )

" The Nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased and not impaired in value "

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)

President of the United States, created 51 wildlife refuges

• Rainforests are the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, as well as being the home to an estimated 50 million indigenous forest people.

However, millions of hectares of these forests are being destroyed every year.

As a result, rainforest people are being displaced, their rights abused and their cultures lost forever.

It is believed that thousands of species of wildlife could become extinct as a result of the destruction. Amongst the species that are disappearing are those that could potentially be of great benefit to humanity, such as in the discovery of new medicines.

The destruction of rainforests is also one of major contributors to global climate change, as many rainforests are burned, releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Rainforest clearance can also disrupt local weather patterns, as well as increasing soil erosion, floods and droughts.

Mount Trafalgar - Prince Regent ( Australia )

"We are creatures who are distressed with consequences which we continue adoring causes "

Jacques Bénigne Bossuet (1627-1704)

French prelate, preacher and writer.

• The agriculture of XXe century has sterilized 25% of fertile soil of our planet.

Inside a Yurt ( Mongolia )

• Eco-gesture

Reduce your electricity consumption:

1. avoid halogen lamps in favour of low consumption ones. Invest in compact fluorescent light bulbs. They use 1/4 of the energy of an incandescent bulb, last at least 10 times longer and release much less CO2 into the atmosphere.
2. Turn off equipment like TV and stereos when you are not using them. That little red standby light means they are still using power, and that means a contribution to global warming.

Dlinza Forest Pinwheel ( trachycystis clifdeni )

Photo: Dai G. Herbert

It is a Critically Endangered snail known only from Dlinza forest, South Africa. The forest is protected under KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife, however, it is a very small area (only 250 hectares) within an urban location and there is concern that the species may be negatively impacted by extreme stochastic weather conditions and climate change.

Pyramids of Meroé ( Sudan )

" If the bee came to disappear, only a few years would remain to live for the man "

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Physicist

• About 30% of breeds livestock are endangered species. And since 1900, about 75% of the genetic diversity of grown plants have been lost.

Flight of balloon over icebergs ( Greenland )

• Did you know?

Due to water cycle in the nature, it is always the same quantity of water that flows since the creation of the Earth, more than 4 billions years ago. So the water that was drunk by dinosaurs is maybe the one you are drinking today. But it takes a long time so that the water is avalaible again; so let's see to it that it is not wasted!

Licancabur ( Chili )

• Eco-gesture

Let's economize drinking water, a valuable foodstuff and very rare in some countries. A tourist in Africa, for example, use from 7 to 10 times more of water to wash himself than a local inhabitant to water his field and feed his whole family!

Nunavut - Strait of Lancaster - Ice field (Arctic)

"Man isn't the only animal that thinks, but he is the only one to think that he is not an animal"

Paul Broca (1824-1880)

French surgeon and anthropologist

• Protected areas cover 12% of the earth's, but 3/4 of them is protected only on paper