By now, I’m sure most active on social media have seen the #10yearchallenge going around. This challenge consists of people posting photos of themselves with a ten year difference between their present and younger selves. Some of these challenges bring out laughter, and the reminiscing of memories from family and friends when seeing the dramatic difference between the two photos of the one who did the challenge.

However, the organization Leadership for Conservation in Africa (LCA) participated in a 10-year challenge of their own, and it was no laughing matter.

On Jan. 16, LCA shared a combination of photos on their Facebook social media page that showed animals as well as their conservation statues. One of these animals included the much loved giraffe, which is now being considered a vulnerable species. On top of including a few sets of photos that stated the status of each animal, there was an additional photo that made me think about the gravity of this topic and how important it is that people know what is happening to other species on this shared planet of ours.

The photo states that in the next quarter of the century, more than 28,000 species are expected to become extinct due to deforestation.

In 2013, National Geographic stated that over 20,000 species were near extinction. Considering how much we don’t take care of our planet, I wouldn’t be surprised if the number has grown over the past six years.

Our society has seemed to welcome that species are slowly dying out and has become passive to the ever-growing list of endangered species.

Some of you must be thinking: “‘Well, what do you want me to do about it, we live in Iowa.” And you’re right, we do. But that doesn’t mean we should be ignorant to what happens to our planet, for we are all still part of it.

There are still multiple basic things you can do to help not only our animals, but our planet itself. Earth Day Network has provided a wonderful list of tips that could help along the movement that is trying to restore the well-being of our planet.

Sure, you won’t automatically save our planet and every endangered species right off the bat by simply planting a tree and reducing your use of plastic, but it is definitely a start.