International Day of Biodiversity: 22 May 2010

The UN declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity, with Saturday 22 May marking the International Day of Biodiversity. Unfortunately, we’re not doing too well: as Bill Jackson, deputy director general of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), points out, “Twenty-one percent of all known mammals, 30% of all known amphibians, 12% of all known birds (and)... 27% of reef-building corals assessed... are threatened with extinction.” In other words, we risk losing — forever — one in five species of mammals, almost one in three species of amphibians, and one in eight species of birds.

What can you do? I’m leery of simple answers, but I think the key is to foster a deep and powerful love for life. Foster it in yourself and others. Show others, particularly children, just how wonderful it is. When they care enough, they’ll act.

This blog is at least in part my attempt to share what I feel about life; to show how precious and valuable it is. Because you’re here, reading it, you’ve found at least one person who cares. Please leave a comment, even if it’s just “I care too”, so I know someone else cares.

[22 May is also the the Gala Awards night marking the opening the 6th season of Reel Earth, the Aotearoa Environmental Film Festival, in Palmerston North. In keeping with the theme of this post, I’ll point you to the excellent film Call of Life, screening at 6 p.m. on Monday 24 May and again at 4 p.m. on Saturday 5 June. If you can’t get to it here, keep an eye on the website for screenings near you.]

[Click on the thumbnails to see the original posts]

All content © 2010 Pete McGregor

2009 sampler: people

Following the sampler pages of landscapes and  water, here’s another set of photos posted in 2009, this time with the theme ‘People. Remember they’re only some of the photos of people, they’re from 2009 only (although some were photographed earlier) and they represent a narrow range of subjects I photograph. If you move the cursor over a photo the caption will appear; clicking a photo will take you to its page, where you can view a full-size photo with additional information. I haven’t yet decided how to incorporate a button to return you to this sampler page, so in the meantime just use your browser’s ‘Back’ button (or press <Alt><left arrow>).

For the best view, toggle full-screen mode (recommended) by pressing F11.

You can explore the site by clicking a label (scroll down to view the full list), by checking out the archives or by using the search facility in the navbar at the very top of the page.  Of course, the  most efficient option might be to click the label ‘Sampler pages’.

All content © 2009 Pete McGregor

2009 sampler: Water

Following the sampler page of landscapes, here’s another set of photos (not necessarily my ‘favourites’) from 2009, this time with the theme ‘Water’. Remember they’re only some of the ‘water’-labelled photos, they’re from 2009 only and they represent a narrow range of subjects I photograph. If you move the cursor over a photo the caption will appear; clicking a photo will take you to its page, where you can view a full-size photo with additional information. I haven’t yet decided how to incorporate a button to return you to this sampler page, so in the meantime just use your browser’s ‘Back’ button (or press <Alt><left arrow>).

For the best view, toggle full-screen mode (recommended) by pressing F11.

You can explore the site by clicking a label (scroll down to view the full list), by checking out the archives or by using the search facility in the navbar at the very top of the page.  Of course, the  most efficient option might be to click the label ‘Sampler pages’.

All content © 2009 Pete McGregor

2009 sampler: landscapes

(Apologies if you noticed the disappearance of the original version of this post  soon after it first appeared — somehow I managed to overwrite it irretrievably and had to reconstruct it almost from scratch. Zhoen and Christy: I’ll try to reinstate your comments, but if I fail, thanks anyway!)

Here’s something different — a set of photos (not necessarily my ‘favourites’) posted in 2009, with the theme ‘Landscapes’. They don’t cover the full range of landscape photos, they’re from 2009 only and they represent a narrow range of subjects I photograph. If you move the cursor over a photo the caption will appear; clicking a photo will take you to its page, where you can view a full-size photo with additional information. I haven’t yet decided how to incorporate a button to return you to this sampler page, so in the meantime just use your browser’s ‘Back’ button (or press <Alt><left arrow>).

For the best view, toggle full-screen mode (recommended) by pressing F11.

You can explore the site by clicking a label (scroll down to view the full list), by checking out the archives or by using the search facility in the navbar at the very top of the page.  When I add a few more of these sampler pages, the  most efficient way to explore might be to click the label ‘Sampler pages’.

All content © 2009 Pete McGregor