All Aboard ... The Amphibian Ark

I don't often do 'commercials' on this blog, but I guess you could call today's post a kind of commercial. You see, one third of all the royalties from my book The Lilypad List are pledged to an organization called Amphibian Ark. And Amphibian Ark has just opened its doors to membership by the general public. Which is why I wanted to say a bit more about it today in the hope that some of my readers will be inspired to come on board this special ark.

Did you know?

Nearly one third of the world’s 6,000 amphibian species are threatened and nearly one half are experiencing population declines. These figures represent more threatened amphibians (frogs, salamanders and caecilians) than birds, fishes or mammals, making them the most threatened class of vertebrates on the planet.

In the past few decades, as many as 159 amphibian species may have gone extinct, and all experts involved know that this is an underestimate.

Amphibians are more than cultural icons or simply the creatures we grew up with as kids. They are an important component of the global ecosystem, act as indicators of condition of the environment and contribute to human health. They survived on this planet for millions of years yet now, largely as a result of our own reckless activities, find themselves threatened with extinction.

Addressing this crisis represents the greatest species conservation challenge in the history of humanity. The global conservation community has formulated a response in the Amphibian Conservation Action Plan (ACAP), and an integral part of this response is the Amphibian Ark, in which select species that would otherwise go extinct will be safeguarded in breeding programs as a stopgap until they can be secured in the wild.

The successful Amphibian Ark 2008 Year of the Frog campaign brought news of the amphibian crisis to the masses and began to catalyze an organized, global response.

Scientists and conservationists around the world learned a great deal about the state of amphibians on a global level and are organizing to attack the threats facing these very important and diverse creatures. This is only the beginning and there is much to do!

Amphibian Ark is now a formal membership organization open to ANYONE interested in keeping amphibians on the planet. Boarding the Ark does not require that you work at a zoo, hold a PhD or bring in a six-figure income. Anyone can be a part! Join us in helping to save amphibians, a challenge that will ultimately be quite important to all!

Your support is critical to help the organization reach its goals and protect species on the brink

Please visit www.amphibianark.org/membership.htm and join today!
For more information please contact Kevin Johnson, Communications Director, Amphibian Ark at kevinj@amphibianark.org



And remember, if you buy a copy of The Lilypad List, that will be helping the frogs as well.

It would make a great gift for anyone you know who has been thinking about 'downshifting' to a simpler, less stressful lifestyle.

Oh and by the way, I thought you might be interested to learn that the book has now been translated into both Korean and Chinese. The Chinese edition (see below)is really beautiful, with some splendid colour plates.