BIODIVERSITY…….Biodiversity is the variation of lifeon Earth. Humans are just one of30–50 million species, but we havea huge impact on the world aroundus. When we change environments,introduce predators and hunt animalsuntil there are hardly any left, wethreaten the balance of our delicateecosystems. Human actions areresponsible for the endangermentand extinction of many specieswho not only have the right to theirown existence, but whose loss mayaffect us and the world in ways wecan’t even predict. Australia’s recordof extinction is very high: half theworld’s mammal extinctions in thelast 200 years have occurred righthere. Maintaining diversity is ourresponsibility and is vitally importantfor sustaining life on our planet.

(Ch 9.1 Lord Howe Island “Stick Insect”)belowDoes ‘extinct’ always mean that a plantor animal is gone forever? In 1994 a keenbushwalker, who was also a plant expert,abseiled into a deep gorge in New SouthWales and came face to face with a treethat had been thought to be extinct for90 million years: the Wollemi pine. Whileonly 100 of these trees are known toexist in the wild, it is now possible to buyseeds and seedlings and the tree even hasits own website!The Lord Howe Island giant stickinsect used to be so common thatfisherman used them as bait on LordHowe Island. Referred to as ‘landlobsters’ by locals, they can grow up to

In 2001 a team of scientists studyingBall’s Pyramid, near Lord Howe Island,were amazed to fi nd a tiny populationof these insects, numbering no morethan 30, living under a single shrub. Abreeding pair was sent to MelbourneZoo and to a private breeder in Sydneyand there are now about 50 of thesetrue survivors living in captivity withthousands of eggs waiting to hatch. Theplan is to reintroduce the species to aprotected area of Lord Howe Island.

12 centimetres in length. On one fatefulday in 1918 a ship was wrecked on rocksnear the island and a group of black ratsmade it to the island from the shipwreck.They quickly made a meal of everysingle stick insect on the island, and theLord Howe Island giant stick insect wasdeclared extinct.

Lord Howe Island is 30 km from Balls Pyramid (picture) how did they reach it ?

How did they become “thought” extinct ?

Who were the major threat to their survival ?

What happened to INCREASE THEUR NUMBERS back so they could be REINTRODUCED to Lord Howe Island?

In Pairs devise a plan how you would RE INTRODUCE the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect to Lord Howe Island.(Consider all aspects)

What measures would you need to under take prior to their RE INTRODUCTION.?

DRAW THE STICK INSECT COLONY “BACK ON THE ISLAND” Use Colours