'Flower? Is that really what you'd like to call her?' I asked. 'Yes, it's because she's so beautiful, just like a flower,' my daughter replied. The naming connection was exceptional.
Russia has one quarter of the worlds trees so it's a bit like a lung for planet earth (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/11/151110-timber-russian-far-east-illegal-logging-siberia/). It's also home to one of the largest, most beautiful and majestic of cats, the Siberian aka amur tiger which is, unfortunately, endangered due to logging and poaching.
My daughter understood that if one tree is cut down, another one should be planted to make it fair and also to ensure that tigers have somewhere to live. 'Tigers like to have wild boar - who also live in the forest - for lunch, but if there is no forest for the wild boar to play in, there is no lunch for our stripy friends. It's called 'sustainable' logging,' I explained, but that's quite a big thing for someone so small to understand. Rose responded by drawing and colouring in heart shaped trees for 'Flower' because she loves her and wants her to be ok. I sketched the other bits for International Tiger Day on Sunday 29th July 2018.
If you're interested in finding out anymore on the subject, you might like to visit https://conservewildcats.org
