NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHALLENGES A MILLION KIDS TO BECOME “HABITAT HEROES”
WASHINGTON (April 14, 2003) - Preserving animal habitats is the focus of National Geographic’s annual conservation public awareness campaign this year. “Geography Action 2003! Habitats: Home Sweet Home”, urges kids to take the “Habitat Heroes” pledge to preserve the wild places that birds, animals and plants call home.
Today, as many as one-third of all plant and animal species in the United States are at risk of becoming extinct; but simple actions, such as recycling an aluminum can a day, can help save their habitats - and their lives.
Students, teachers and parents who visit the Web site will find a wide range of habitat-related information and activities, including in-depth discussion of what habitat loss means, how it can be prevented and what individuals can do. Students are encouraged to learn about habitats first-hand by exploring one of the 540 National Wildlife Refuges in the United States, a 95 million-acre network of protected lands. Also included on the site are hands-on habitat conservation activities, contests, games, links to educational Web sites and a forum board where kids can tell others about their conservation activities. A comprehensive calendar lists habitat-conservation activities nationwide, and links to other conservation sites provide more information and activities.
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio sounded the call to action in the April 2003 issue of National Geographic Kids magazine, inviting readers to join the Society’s million-kid movement to protect the Earth by pledging online to become a “Habitat Hero”. The Web site suggests ways kids can protect the environment by recycling magazines or cans, planting a butterfly garden, pulling up invasive species or carpooling to school.
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are partners in this year’s program. The FWS manages the National Wildlife Refuge System.
National Geographic Explorer!, the Society’s classroom magazine for kids in grades three through six, gives kids stunning postcards to send their friends about what they’ve done to help a habitat or tell them about a habitat that needs help.
Topics | News | Earth Day
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHALLENGES A MILLION KIDS TO BECOME “HABITAT HEROES”