Kids love animals and they want to make sure animals always have safe places to call home.
A great way to help endangered species and all animals is to protect their forest habitat. Forests are under-rated. They are crucial for life on earth and are home to 80% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity. These complex ecosystems are home to animals, plants, fungi, bacteria – and humans too!
But forests are being destroyed and degraded at distressing rates. More than 50 million square miles of forest are lost each year.
The ChariTree Foundation wants to support kids helping animals, trees and the world by funding and sourcing local tree seedlings for kids to plant with their schools and camps in an effort to restore trees damaged and lost by storms, forest fires, or logging. The ChariTree Foundation also supports children’s environmental education programs in Canada and around the world. One of they best things a child can do is learn about biodiversity and how to plant a tree and care for a tree. When they plant a native species, the are helping everyone — and kids want to help.
Learning about trees as animal habitats
Teachers, parents and camp counsellors #GetOutdoors with you kids and look at different trees and animals. Teach them that a habitat is a living space where an animal can get all the things they need to survive like shelter, food and water.
Read books about protecting biodiversity like:
- Be a Pond Detective, Solving the Mysteries of Lakes, Swamps and Pools
- Wolf Island
- The Wish Trees: How Planting Trees Can Help Make the World a Better Place
- What If There Were No Bees?
- The Tree of Life: The Incredible Biodiversity of Life on Earth
Ask kids about their favourite animals and habitats:
- How does your home help keep you safe?
- What is the last animal you saw (not including your pets) and what do they call home?
- Can you see signs of life in the leafy canopy, bark or roots of a tree?
- What animals live in or depend on local trees?
- Do you think it is important to care for and replace lost trees?
- Why would you want to plant a tree?
COMING UP: A chance to teach children and youth how people around the world are working to protect biodiversity. Right now, Canada is getting set to host the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biodiversity (COP 15) in December 2022. This long-awaited meeting will take place in Montreal. “At #COP15, reaching a life saving agreement on protecting global #biodiversity is critical,” said Andrea Koehle Jones, executive director and children’s environmental education advocate, The ChariTree Foundation. “Kids love animals and want to make sure they are protected and always have a safe place to call home.”
The development and adoption of the Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework (GBF) is urgently needed. This new blueprint for nature and people aims to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and help restore balance with nature by mid-century. She said prioritizing environmental education and growing biodiversity finance is key as well as incorporating the role of youth, women and Indigenous Peoples as partners fully and meaningfully participating in the implementation of this far-reaching framework.
