1. Bees – what are they good for? I feel like this information has already reached everyone and their pets, but just in case you didn’t know, bees are probably the single most important animal in the world. To many of us they’re just annoying bugs that will give you a painful sting if you mess with them. But in reality their role in the global ecosystem is truly immeasurable. Bees are the #1 plant pollinators in the world. Without the bees most of the plants, flowers, and trees will not get pollinated, eventually die, and with them dies all the oxygen which we need more than anything. Recent data shows that in some parts of the world the bee population has decrease by 80% due to climate change, pesticides, and general human stupidity.

2. Bats Similar to the birds, bats are great at decimating nasty bugs and they simply love eating fruits (well, some of them do). Due to deforestation, millions of bats can no longer eat their share of malaria-ridden mosquitoes, so we have to deal with them instead. And we suck at dealing with JUST mosquitoes. We either kill nothing, or destroy everything. The point is “bats are bros”!

3. Worms From fish to worms – oh the irony! Okay, maybe worms aren’t as vital as the previous animals, but if we do right by them, they’ll help us out tremendously. It’s all very easy to understand: just dump your leftovers or any organic matter, into the so-called worm farm in your back yard, and let the wigglies turn all that crap into nutritious compost! Imagine if worm farms were used at the landfills… We’d be colonizing a nearby galaxy by now, instead of just planning to go to Mars.

4. Fish While we’re discussing the marine life, what about the fish? It’s not about nourishment, nah, it’s about … fish poop. Yup, you heard me. Turns out fish excrement help normalize the pH level of the oceans. Who would have thought? And by the way, overfishing is still a huge problem, and should not be taken lightly. Eat a burger or a salad!

5. Plankton Can you believe that the absence of the smallest microscopic creatures in our oceans could end our existence? Sure, it’s a chain event and wouldn’t happen overnight, but you should understand that plankton is the #1 food source for billions of aquatic animals. But just because we’d lose access to Fillet-o-fish in McDonald’s, doesn’t mean we’d starve to death. No, plankton, phytoplankton to be precise, isn’t just there to be eaten, it literally produces oxygen so we can breathe!

6. Birds When it comes to moving seeds miles away from the mother-tree, nobody does it better than birds. But pooping out seeds isn’t the only thing for which we should thank our feathered friends. Insect control, nutrient recycling, and even in some cases plant pollination are vital for the survival of our species.

7. Ants They may be tiny but ants are incredibly useful. It all starts with removing dead leaves and bugs from the ground and leads to aerating the soil, allowing more plants to grow there. Plants like crops, for example. They’re basically tiny recycling plants!