Save Nature!

Conserving Europe’s natural heritage is not only a duty of state or European authorities but of every single individual. We are part of nature therefore we cannot separate ourselves from nature and its problems in our everyday life. This is what every one of us living and working in a city and lacking specialised knowledge of nature can do: 1. Contact with nature – walking in a park, watching birds secretly in a garden, organising Sunday trips outside the city - these are the simplest forms of contact with nature. Remember to maintain a bond with nature – it is very important for our mood and it is definitely a better form of relaxation than constant sitting in front of television ;-) 2. Food – choose organic food products and restaurants. Organic households do not use artificial fertilizers, which contaminate soil, water in rivers and lakes, and genetically modified cultivated plants, which can disturb the natural balance. 3. Furniture – buy wooden furniture and other elements of décor only from certified wood giving you a guarantee that it does not originate from clearings of any unique forest.

4. Clothes, adornments – be careful when buying clothing and adornments of animal origin such as handbags and shoes made of leather, furs, adornments made of feathers and horn bones – part of them come from animals threatened with extinction.

5. Garden – do you live in a house with a garden? If yes, make it more friendly for birds, bats and other animals by installing shelters and brooding boxes. If you own the large garden, you can stop doing nurturing operations in part of it to create your own small nature reserve;

6. Tourism – do not bring any protected animal species or seeds of foreign plant species from your journeys to other countries;

7. Nature tourism – when you visit national parks or other areas protecting nature, familiarise with their regulations and observe them strictly. Very often habitats of rare plants and animals are destroyed unintentionally. You are advised to use services of guides who are engaged in nature conservation. If you would like to participate in educational nature trips in Poland, please read the TRIPS section;

8. Sport – if you are an enthusiast of motor or extreme sports such as mountaineering, diving or cave exploration, you have to pay special attention to what you do so your hobby will not cause the extermination of particular species or even the whole area. Check whether a place where you practice your favourite sport is not a protected area. If yes, please familiarise with its regulations in detail and observe them strictly;

9. Education - broaden your knowledge about nature and its threats as well as protective actions. To do it, use internet websites, papers or books published by non-governmental organisations. Very often you can read only in those publications about current threats for areas, which are naturally valuable, and campaigns conducted for their protection;

10. Lobbing - support campaigns conducted by social organisations by signing petitions and sending supporting letters to institutions responsible for nature conservation. Many areas and species have already been successfully protected only owing to great social support.

11. Voluntary work – become a volunteer in an organisation which deals with nature conservation. Each organization lacks people to do do field and office work. Owing to your active participation you can better get to know nature and its threats under specialists’guidance, and therefore help it constructively.

12. Donations – support financially the actions of organisations which deal with nature conservation. It is not possible to gain funds from institutions and companies to realize many campaigns, therefore the fate of naturally valuable areas or species depend only on support from individuals. If you wish to support the Wild Poland Foundation’s actions, please read the donations section;