Founder's Message: Make a Difference!
Extinction is a natural part of life on Earth, but compelling evidence shows us that human activities have accelerated global extinction rates 100 to 1,000 times over rates typical of preceding millennia and that we are currently facing a “Mass Extinction Crisis”--the greatest mass extinction of life on earth since the extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago. According to the world's most esteemed biologist, E.O. Wilson, estimates are that half of all species on earth will be extinct by the end of this century. This is-without a doubt-the most important political and moral problem of our time and needs to be addressed through concerted action.
One of the most important actions that we can take is to support organizations and individuals who are working with indigenous people, governments and private landowners around the world to set aside safe havens for species protection. This sounds like common sense, but still not enough energy is being directed towards this solution.
I would say that there are three reasons for this: First, it is often under-appreciated that the problem itself is actually manageable and that we (international conservationists and scientists) have the information that we need to strategically target the most important places on earth for species protection. These areas are mostly in the tropics, and are a combination of areas defined by Conservation International as Biodiversity Hotspots (e.g. the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Madagascar, etc) and Major Tropical Wilderness Areas (e.g. the Island of New Guinea, the Amazon and the Congo Basin). Combined, these two categories house some 80 percent of species on earth, but comprise roughly only 4% of the surface area of the planet. In addition, scientists from almost every large international conservation organization have recently joined forces through the Alliance for Zero Extinction ( www.zeroextinction.org ) and identified roughly 350 distinct areas around the world in most urgent need of conservation investments to prevent imminent species extinctions.
Secondly, there is often uncertainty about which approach to adapt. Certainly, the problems can be complex, but where there is adequate funding and when organizations are working in conjunction with local people to ensure that they are benefiting from conservation activities– protected areas work! If we look at satellite images of the earth, we find that, especially in densely populated areas, all land up to the border of a protected area is converted to other uses. It is my strong belief that in a hundred years, when we look at satellite images of the entire earth from outer space, what we will see is that a vacuum cleaner of development has swept across the planet and all the tropical forests that remain will be those that have been legally protected by governments, indigenous people, and private entities.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, is that there are already people all over the world who are incredibly successful at setting aside areas and ensuring that those areas are providing long-term benefits to governments and local people. Organizations range from multi-million dollar non-profit corporations, such as World Wildlife Fund, the Nature Conservancy and Wildlife Conservation Society—who just successfully negotiated the creation of 13 new national parks in Gabon, where none previously existed!—to a small organization with whom I work closely. Friends of Calakmul (www.calakmul.org), which has been run entirely by volunteers, has successfully set aside through conservation contracts 200,000 acres of land outside the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in the southern Yucatán, Mexico–an area known to be the most important habitat for Jaguars north of the Amazon. Were it not for the efforts of a few committed individuals, the indigenous landowners, or Ejidos in Spanish, would have no other choice but to sell their land to logging companies.
We at GAIA invite you to be part of the solution to saving life on earth. One easy thing you can do is to use your money or your time to energize projects around the world and to give the power to the few that are making such an enormous difference in the world.
Reprinted from GAIA News, Winter 2005 |
