On Earth Day (Tuesday) Crane students held their first ever SPEAK FOR ANIMALS EARTH DAY FAIR in the Mulberry Tree Quad. A wide array of animals from around the world were represented by students from all grades. The animals represented ranged from the mandarin duck to the white rhino. But this was not just a fair about animals- Crane's young activists spoke out against animal cruelty, resource and habitat destruction, illegal poaching and hunting, and the importance of protecting the amazing and diminishing animal species of our Earth. They even taught us about measures we can take here to help stop the destruction of rainforests across the globe. The fair was a SMASHING success!
Did you know?! Bella and Kimberly taught us about how palm oil production is killing the orangutan population in rainforests around the world. Palm oil is a type of edible vegetable oil that is derived from the palm fruit, grown on the African oil palm tree. Oil palms are originally from Western Africa, but can flourish wherever heat and rainfall are abundant. Today, palm oil is grown throughout Africa, Asia, North America, and South America, with 85% of all palm oil globally produced and exported from Indonesia and Malaysia; but most of the time not using sustainable measures.
The industry is linked to major issues such as deforestation, habitat degradation, climate change, animal cruelty and indigenous rights abuses in the countries where it is produced, as the land and forests must be cleared for the development of the oil palm plantations. According to the World Wildlife Fund, an area the equivalent size of 300 football fields of rainforest is cleared each hour to make way for palm oil production. This large-scale deforestation is pushing many species to extinction, and findings show that if nothing changes species like the orangutan could become extinct in the wild within the next 5-10 years, and Sumatran tigers less than 3 years. (Source: http://www.saynotopalmoil.com)
