All over the world, plants and animals are in trouble. This is mainly due to people taking over the wild places where they live.
Most plants and animals are suited to one particular place.
They cannot just go somewhere else. Also, there are few wild places left for them to go.
Draining marshes threatens animals like this damselfly.
Rivers, lakes and ponds are home to ducks, fish, frogs, otters and insects.
When people drain these wetlands to make way for fields and towns, they threaten all these animals. The Norfolk damselfly from England died out because people drained the wetlands where it lived.
People have cut down, the forest home of this Tamarin monkey.
Tropical rainforests are home to millions of different types of plants and animals. Scientists believe over half of all land species live there.
However, huge areas of forest have now been cut down for fuel or timber or to clear the land for farming, so forest animals such as the Golden Tamarin have less and less room to live in.
Mining disturbs Arctic animals such as reindeer.
The snowy wastes of the Arctic are home to animals such as polar bears and reindeer. Beavers and bears live in the dense forests to the south.
Few people live in these remote areas, but in some places, mining for gold or oil is harming the environment. The construction of pipelines to carry oil across the Arctic disturbs wild reindeer, called caribou.
Wildlife cannot thrive in tiny pockets of woodland like this.
In some places, whole forests have been cut down, leaving just a small patch. These tiny isolated habitats are too small for forest plants and animals to thrive.
People can help by planting trees to link small woodlands. Animals can then use these leafy corridors to move from one wood to the next.
Picture Credit : Google
