Dear Editor,

May you please allow space for this short note in your column.

Over the holiday season i was privileged enough to have the opportunity to travel to the Western Solomon's. I would like to especially commend the work and effort that has been and is still being put into the conserved areas of Biche-Gatokae Is. and Tetepare Is.

Against the current tide of deforestation and degradation these two of a limited few, give us the younger generation hope that maybe our kids will hear the distinct croak of our endemic tree frogs, will see the unique nose of a tube-nosed bat, will smell the fragrance of a cloud forest orchid and feel the joy and dread as a leather-back hatchling crawls out to sea for the first time.

I believe this is the environmental age, and with current and real issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, increasing demand for natural resources etc. we the people need to take action now and look at development from a sustainable and environmentally friendly perspective. I would thus like to stress the importance of conservation and make a call that we all become conservationists, as defined by my conservation biology lecture as "someone who advocates or practices the sensible and careful use of natural resources".

We need to move on from the mindset of cash today to a attitude of clean air, water and soil for now and tomorrow, for are not these the fundamental needs of survival (selen stap bata if evri stoa shut ba iumi hao). In the Bible God calls us to be stewards of his wonderful creation, a creation made for our enjoyment. So lets cut less trees and plant some more.