SPNI asks Obama to focus on environment

The Society for the Protection of Nature has asked that US President Barack Obama place nature preservation and environmental protection on the top of his priorities going into his second term.

In a letter sent to the president by the organization at the end of last week. SPNI CEO Moshe “Kosha” Pakman congratulated Obama upon his reelection, stressing that he was confident the president would continue to lead the country toward “prosperity, growth and peace.”

Providing some background on the work of SPNI and its work in proactively protecting nature, Pakman said that the world’s ecosystem “does not know political boundaries, national, language or religious barriers.

“While we are but a small part of this ecosystem, we greatly enjoy its services and have a dramatic influence upon its health,” Pakman wrote.

As SPNI begins celebrations for its 60th anniversary, the organization invited Obama – “if and when [he] chooses to visit Israel” – to stop for a visit to the Jerusalem Bird Observatory located on the capital city’s Knesset grounds. The site, Pakman wrote, is a rest stop for migrating birds from all over, and dignitaries and government officials, including former US president Jimmy Carter in 2005, have visited there.

“Mr. President, as a global leader in public policy, a policy with a broad view on many different aspects of our lives, I sincerely hope that you will place nature preservation and environmental health in a high level of priority, that you will consider nature preservation and environmental protection in your policies, that affect your lives and ours, for the benefit of your country and the world at large,” Pakman said.