Gov. Bev Purdue issued a proclamation late last week officially declaring April 28, 2012 “Save the Frogs Day” in the state of North Carolina. The Governor’s move was prompted by the request of 13-year-old Rachel Hopkins, an eighth-grade student at Ravenscroft School in Raleigh. Hopkins had been spreading the word in the past year about the rapid disappearance of amphibians in North Carolina and the world.

According to savethefrogscom:

Worldwide, nearly one-third of the world's nearly 6,897 amphibian species are threatened with extinction and 200 species have completely disappeared since the late 1970s. North Carolina is considered one of the world’s amphibian biodiversity hotspots. In particular, the state boasts at least 60 different salamander species, including the threatened Southern Gray-cheeked Salamander and Red-Legged Salamander. Amphibians are faced with an onslaught of environmental problems, including climate change, pollution, infectious diseases, habitat loss, invasive species, and over-harvesting for the pet and food trades. Suburban expansion in North Carolina in the last several decades has destroyed many wetlands and ephemeral ponds that amphibians utilize as breeding habitat.

The Governor’s choice of April 28, 2012 coincides with worldwide events planned for the day, which is indeed the 4th Annual Save The Frogs Day. “We are expecting about 200 educational events to take place in over 30 countries,” says Dr. Kerry Kriger, the Founder of SAVE THE FROGS! (www.savethefrogs.com), the California-based nonprofit that coordinates Save The Frogs Day each year. Dr. Kriger hopes that Save The Frogs Day will dramatically increase frog awareness on a global scale. “Governor Purdue’s proclamation will go a long way towards educating not only North Carolina’s citizens about the importance of protecting remaining amphibian populations, it will also inspire people worldwide to take action”. Indeed, the North Carolina proclamation has already spurred the Mayor of Port Orford, Oregon into making a similar declaration, and California’s Secretary of Natural Resources John Laird forwarded Governor Purdue’s proclamation to California Governor Jerry Brown, stating “North Carolina is leading the way.”

Here's Gov. Perdue's proclamation:

WHEREAS, approximately 88% of the world’s 6,000+ amphibian species are frogs, and according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, nearly 1,000 frog species are threatened with extinction; nearly all frog species around the world are declining and at least 200 species have completely disappeared since 1979, making amphibians the most threatened group of animals on Earth; and

WHEREAS, amphibian conservation efforts will not be successful without an educated and well-informed public; and

WHEREAS, North Carolina has over 90 species of amphibians and is known for its diverse population of salamanders, boasting possibly more than any other state in the Union, with frogs comprising approximately 30% of the amphibian species in North Carolina; and

WHEREAS, the largest and smallest frogs in North America, the Bullfrog and the Little Grass Frog, can be found in North Carolina; and

WHEREAS, frogs are critical components to our ecosystems, and because frogs provide ecosystem services to nature and to humans, including cleaning waterways by eating algae during their tadpole stage; serving as a vital source of food to numerous other animal species; consuming large quantities of ticks, mosquitoes and other pest species that serve as disease vectors by transmitting fatal illnesses to humans and pets; saving us billions of dollars every year by eating harmful bugs that damage crops; and by serving us as bio-indicators, letting us know when there is something wrong in the environment; and

WHEREAS, approximately 10% of Nobel prizes in physiology and medicine have resulted from investigations that used amphibians, and when an amphibian species disappears, so does any promise it holds for improving human medicine; and

WHEREAS, amphibians face a multitude of threats including pollution, pesticides, habitat destruction, climate change, invasive species, infectious diseases, and over-harvesting for the pet, food and bait trades; and

WHEREAS, frogs make up the vast majority of amphibian species in the world and are the most recognizable by humans; and

WHEREAS, the preservation of amphibians is critical to our ecosystem and enables people of all ages to see and enjoy amphibians in their natural habitat; and

WHEREAS, the State of North Carolina is proud to join other states and interested agencies and organizations in recognizing amphibians as part of a healthy environment and in working together to share ideas to help save our amphibian friends;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BEVERLY EAVES PERDUE, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim April 28, 2012, as ‘SAVE THE FROGS DAY’ in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.

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