【推荐1】Ways to save the Earth as a family

These days the news about the planet can be overwhelming for kids and their parents. Actually, personal actions can make a difference.

UNPLUG

Don't worry—we don't mean taking a break from your phone. We’re talking about the charger. Chargers that remain plugged into the wall can suck energy even when the device is turned off. Ask your kids to remind you to unplug chargers when they’re not in use, as well as switch off power plugs for TVs and lamps.

FRESH FRUIT

Buying seasonal, local food cuts down on the energy needed to grow and transport it. Before taking your children to the grocery store, ask them to look for fruits and vegetables in season.

SAFE SOUVENIRS

Avoid souvenirs or other things made from animal parts like scales, teeth, feathers, seashells, and so on. Instead, take your kids to local markets where you can meet the artists and search for something made of materials like used cans, or magazine paper.

KID SCIENTISTS

Instantly transform your kids into scientists by signing up for a citizen science project that identifies animals. Just taking a photo of an animal and uploading it to a site like iNaturalist can help biologists learn how the animal is adapting to a changing world.

It's true that sweeping collective action is needed to control climate change, but small adjustments by people help too. Plus, by taking action to protect the planet, you can help your children feel empowered in the face of these global problems. Start with these tips to get the whole family involved in protecting the Earth.

【推荐2】CONSERVATIONISTS are hoping to create England’s biggest native woodland by planting 100,000 trees in the Yorkshire Dales.

Snaizeholme, near the town of Hawes, was covered in woodland centuries ago but the 561-hectare valley is now almost barren (贫瘠的). Across the Yorkshire Dales, total tree cover amounts to just five per cent, the Woodland Trust has said, with ancient woodland making up just one per cent of that cover.

The trust wants to raise £8 million for a decades-long program that will see a restored forest providing habitats for threatened species such as woodland birds and black grouse. Planted trees will be mostly native broadleaved species such as alder, silver birch, down birch, willow, aspen, rowan, hawthorn and blackthorn, with montane species on the higher slopes.

Al Nash, who is heading the project for the Woodland Trust, said, “I love the Dales but the one thing it lacks in many areas is an abundance (丰富性) of trees. Here we will be giving nature and biodiversity a big boost and creating a rich variety of habitats. It is a rare opportunity to create a sizeable wildlife conservation area for the north of England. It’s clearly a wonderful opportunity to create something real that can be seen and touched in the Yorkshire Dales for the fight against climate change.”

The first stage of planting has already begun with funding from the White Rose Forest, DEFRA and corporate donors. More trees than needed will be planted as not all will survive in the windswept, rainy upland valley. They will be arranged at random and without plastic guards to help stimulate natural forest growth, the trust said.

【推荐3】52-year-old Chinese coral biologist Huang Hui has spent half her life recreating the spectacular scene in her memory: vast stretches of Colorful corals thriving on the seabed of the South China Sea.

Covering less than two-thousandth of the space in the ocean, coral reefs provider shelter for more than a quarter of the world's sea creatures. However, the coral cover area has been declining in the past few decades. Global warming is the reason for the decline adding impact to other human activities such as over-exploitation and coastal development.

Xisha Islands in the South China sea was once a paradise for fish and sea plants. It is now silent in the water there because the coral reefs are in critical situation. To help the coral community recover, Huang decided to plant corals under the sea. Huang and her team first bred coral seedlings in a nursery, and then transplanted them to the seabed. Different types of corals were chosen according to the various seabed conditions.

However, growing corals on the seafloor is not an easy job weather conditions are one of the most major variables that influence coral planting. Wave, height 2 meters or more can be dangerous, because the divers find moving around underwater difficult and the small diving boat can easily be blown away.

Seasickness is another great challenge.“The journey to a coral plantation area usually takes four days, but it took six days last time because of the strong wind. 1just lay in the bed and moved up and down with the boat, which made me feel sick,” she said.

Their efforts have paid off. Since 2000, Huang and her team have planted 120,000 to 150,000 corals, covering 20,000 square meters of seabed of the South China Sea.

“The underwater ecosystem needs time to recover. Planting corals is only the first step in restoring the underwater ecology. We need time to plant more,” said Huang. “Hopefully, the corals will gradually become a forest and the fish will come back.”