Habitatitude: an American initiative to protect the environment by not releasing fish and aquatic plants
Habitatitude is a national initiative involving the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as well as the pet and aquarium trade and the nursery and landscape industries. Habitatitude has been designed to unify all interested organizations and agencies aiming at protecting aquatic resources, and promoting an increased awareness of aquatic invasive alien species and responsible consumer behaviour to prevent their trade.
Aquarium hobbyists, backyard pond owners and others who are concerned about aquatic resource conservation are invited to follow these prevention recommendations:
- Educate yourself about your hobby’s potential environmental consequences.
- To get rid of an invasive alien species, do not release it in the wild and adopt responsible consumer behaviours:
- contact your retailer for proper management advice or for possible returns
- donate to a local aquarium society, school, or aquatic business
- seal aquatic plants in plastic bags and dispose in trash.
- Promote these behaviours within your peer groups as ways for aquarium hobbyists, backyard pond owners and water gardeners to show their environmental ethics and conservation behaviour.
- Become involved with policy solutions.
Additionally, the members of the public targeted by these recommendations are invited to learn more about invasive species issues, and the Habitatitude website provides information on impacts caused by these species, facts about the more common escapees or unintentionally released species, ideas to get involved with prevention efforts, etc.
Sources
Habitatitude website: http://www.habitattitude.net