Climate Action
The Protect Our Species Poster for Earth Day 2019
February 12, 2019
We’re excited to release the official poster Earth Day 2019!
In one stunning image, the poster visually conveys the meaning and importance of our 2019 Protect Our Species campaign. It features Brad Wilson’s photograph of a giraffe, part of his AFFINITY animal series, which includes threatened and endangered species.
Giraffe populations have declined from 155,000 in 1985 to under 100,000 in 2018. No international treaties protect giraffes, and the U.S. is the number one importer of giraffe trophies and parts. Habitat loss, civil unrest, illegal poaching and hunting, and climate change collectively contribute to the decline in giraffe populations.
“For its iconic and singular beauty, and the many critical threats to its survival, we chose the giraffe to visually represent our 2019 campaign,” says Earth Day Network president Kathleen Rogers. “We are grateful to Brad Wilson for joining our cause by donating this powerful photograph.”
Brad Wilson adds, “I photograph animals in part because they inhabit a world that we, as humans, have largely abandoned — a place of instinct, intuition and present moment awareness. They remind us that we are not separate — we are part of a beautifully rich and interconnected diversity of life. I donated this image to the Earth Day Network to bring attention to the plight of giraffes (and endangered animals everywhere) and to emphasize that our destinies are powerfully linked. The survival of one species helps to insure the survival of us all.”
The unprecedented global destruction and rapid reduction of plant and wildlife populations are directly driven by human activity: climate change, deforestation, habitat loss, trafficking and poaching, unsustainable agriculture, pollution and pesticides. The impacts are far reaching.
“If we don’t act now, the next extinct species may be our own,” adds Rogers.
Posters are available here for donations of $50 or more to Earth Day Network. Quantities are limited. All proceeds will support EDN’s campaign to Protect Our Species.
