Mpala (center) with her friends
enjoying some mud hole fun at
northern Kenya's Reteti Elephant
Sanctuary.
Samburu John Nkuus Leripe
watches the sun rise over the
Mathews Range in northern
Kenya's Namunyak Wildlife
Conservancy.
is resilient, but that we have to give it a
chance to succeed. Now the question
is, how do we turn these incredible
stories of success into a solution to the
larger problem—the long-term survival
of all endangered species, as well as
the preservation of the ecosystems that
sustain them?
Today, nearly one million species are in
danger of extinction due to exploitation,
the climate emergency and habitat
degradation. Our own health and destiny
is intricately connected to these ancient
species. Our fates are linked; without
rhinos and elephants and other wildlife
we suffer more than just a decline in the
health of an ecosystem of which we are a
part. We, and future generations, suffer a
loss of imagination, a loss of wonder, a loss
of beautiful possibilities.
What happens next is in all of our hands.
Our actions today will determine the future
for generations after us. Nature is resilient
if we allow it to be, and we owe it to future
generations to give it that chance.
—Ami Vitale
BAL HARBOUR 187
