wetlandseducation
Registered: October 2011
City/Town/Province: Chesterland
Posts: 1
View this Member's Photo Gallery
|
Clean air. Clean water. These are things that too many of us take for granted. What most of us don’t appreciate is that without wetlands, we wouldn’t have either of those things. Wetlands are called the sponges of the natural world, and for good reason. Much of the pollution that we put out, they absorb. They filter out pollutants and slowly release cleaner water and oxygen back into the ecosystem. So, when I learned that Ohio had lost 90% of its wetlands in the past 100 years, I was appalled. How could we let such a precious resource slip away? How did we fail to notice this? Sadly, most people just stood idly by or, in the name of progress, actively encouraged policies and practices that let Ohio’s most precious resource fall by the wayside.
Having learned about this unfortunate history, I chose to act by starting the Wetlands Education Team (WET) in sixth grade. I convinced a couple of good friends to help and we got to work. We started out small, attempting to spread the message of conservation to small groups of children. I am sure that many of them were just there for the complimentary juice boxes and temporary tattoos of bugs, but most of them learned to recite a few basic facts about how to preserve wetlands before they left us. For example, they learned that vernal pools look like puddles and dry up part of the year. They learned to tell their parents to protect them, or at least to leave them alone. They learned that insects and animals lived in them. Slowly but surely, however, we grew into a viable educational resource and felt we were making a positive impact.
We began more serious efforts when we joined with the Ohio Division of Natural Resources to work to bring back a very important species, the osprey. Osprey are majestic birds of prey that feed on fish and nest in wetlands. When the WET initiative started, osprey were classified as endangered in Ohio. After much help from the our county park district, we applied for and received several grants to build osprey nesting platforms. We worked with our park district to locate and erect them in wetlands in two counties. Since their installation, the platforms have been utilized by several nesting osprey pairs and the osprey’s designation has been upgraded from endangered to threatened in Ohio.
Another major effort that our group has undertaken is to raise broader public awareness. Doing what you can to help something is good and important, but gaining widespread exposure of your cause, can help you fulfill the full potential of your efforts. There are many ways to get publicity for a worthy cause. One thing that we have done to increase exposure for wetlands is to work to make the spotted salamander Ohio’s official state amphibian. All school children learn about state symbols in school. Our goal is to have them learn about the spotted salamander and its wetland habitat as an integral part of their education. We got my State Senator to sponsor a bill and have gone to the Statehouse to testify. We got students from many other schools as well as expert biologists to help out. I will keep going until the bill is passed and becomes a law.
An important part of all of these efforts is getting kids to talk to their parents and other adults. Kids can have more influence that they probably realize. If you believe in something strongly, tell your parents and their friends. At first, they might listen because they are being polite. But you can have more influence that you think, especially if you do your research. Learn some facts. Tell your parents and other adults more than once. Remind them that the planet you inherit depends on their care. You can make a difference, too!
|
