Should We Be Concerned?

Human survival may be the most powerful justification for saving endangered plants, animals, and the places they call home. People rely on nature's provisions for food, water, medicines, fuel, shelter, and many less recognized necessities such as the protection and renewal of natural resources. It is the forest and the wetland that form and maintain our soils as they cleanse and replenish our air and water. It is the components of life within these habitats that recycle nutrients and energy back into the ecosystem. This amazing pyramid of life sustains us. We recognize that plants and animals are disappearing far faster than we can learn how they influence the equilibrium of nature, but no one knows just what might cause the collapse of the whole life-support system! People must learn to manage the planet as a healthy habitat for the well-being of all its occupants.