A Vision for the Future: Founder of Earth Trust, Vanya Orr
The Nilgiri Hills consists of a heart-shaped region rising almost vertically from the lowlands of the Southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka in Southern India. In order to protect its unique population of plants and animals, it was one of the earliest places in the world to be registered as a World Biosphere Reserve Home. The Nilgiris are also home to indigenous populations of India, including tribes such as the Toda, the Badaga... Read More
Freeing the Elwha: Witnessing the Largest Dam Removal Project in History
This past weekend, large excavators began deconstructing two dams along the Elwha river in Olympic National Park. The project is the largest dam removal project to date and one of the largest ecosystem restoration projects in U.S. history. The Elwha river (photo by S. Neil Larsen 2011 Economic development in the Pacific Northwest has often relied on the abundant natural resources of the area, with timber and salmon being two of the most iconic. In... Read More
Earth Day 2011 – Duwamish River Restoration, Seattle
The Earth deserves more than just one day out of the year for us to demonstrate a commitment to sustainability and the planet. Nevertheless, it does help raise awareness, and it’s a great excuse to get out and do something good for mother nature. Last Saturday we helped out at a habitat restoration project on the Duwamish River, a Superfund site right here in Seattle. A century of pollution by local industry along with straightening the river... Read More
Book review: Poaching Land and People in the Name of Conservation
Mark Dowie. 2009. Conservation Refugees: The Hundred-Year Conflict between Global Conservation and Native Peoples. MIT Press. Outside the 80,000-acre Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park in Uganda is a meager 326 acres set aside for more than 3,000 Batwa people. The Batwa were evicted in the early 1990s from their landscape under pressure from conservation organizations concerned about the killing of gorillas. Mark Dowie’s story of the Batwa... Read More
International Biodiversity Conference Deemed a Success
A juvenile Blue-sided Tree Frog - IUCN Red List (Photo: Flickr user leeinhisroom) A recent survey in the United Kingdom posed the question, “What is Biodiversity?” The majority of respondents believed it was a washing powder. As the United Nation’s International Year for Biodiversity begins to come to a close, the sad truth is that many do not know what biodiversity is, let alone that this year was to be devoted to it. Generally the purpose... Read More
A Jungle Trek in Gunung Leuser National Park, Indonesia
A very, very large tree (Photo: S. Neil Larsen) What I thought a rainforest was “supposed” to be like has been shaped by years of watching nature documentaries and various Hollywood films on the subject (Indiana Jones, Medicine Man, Ferngully, etc.). I expected hoards of insects buzzing about and creepy-crawlies ready to pounce on you at a moments notice. I also expected dense underbrush necessitating a machete to move through. It turns... Read More
“Since we’re here swimming in the drink”
The Triathlon at Pacific Grove This past weekend I completed an Olympic distance triathlon. My first. Highly recommend it. What happened immediately following was also memorable: I was interviewed within minutes of crossing the finish line! Seafood Watch You see, a number of my colleagues from the Monterey Bay Aquarium also raced. There was a good group of us out there, and together, we were “Team Seafood Watch.” I am relatively new to... Read More
Biodiversity conservation can reduce poverty, study finds
Shameless self-promotion: The knowledge review I had been working on for The Nature Conservancy has been published. Does Conserving Biodiversity Work to Reduce Poverty: A State of Knowledge Review can be downloaded from ConserveOnline. Read More
Americans have no idea of how to reduce energy consumption, study finds
Most Americans think that they can save energy (and help the planet) by making small changes to their behavior that don’t offer much savings in reality, according to a new study in PNAS. Nearly 20% of participants named activities such as turning off lights, which don’t actually result in very much energy savings. People neglected to mention much more important actions, such as buying energy efficient appliances or weatherizing their... Read More
Biodiversity Conservation Can Reduce Poverty
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of traveling to London to help give a presentation at the Zoological Society of London for the symposium: Linking Biodiversity Conservation and Poverty Reduction: What, Why, and How? Since December, I have been working with Craig Leisher at The Nature Conservancy on drafting a knowledge review that was commissioned specifically for the symposium. We presented our report, “Biodiveristy as a Mechanism for Poverty... Read More
Ecotourism with Value upon the Ocean’s Floor
Moray Eel (photo: Ian MacKenzie) We all want to visit beautiful places, but it is easy to overlook just how many other people do as well. Giving our money to businesses and organizations that account for the impacts of our visits when offering us their services is not only a good way to help mitigate our impact, it supports those who are working to ensure that the experience is one that endures into the future. Due to the fact that so many of us flock... Read More
Sublime Vistas in Yosemite Valley
Yosemite Valley One of my favorite classes from undergrad was “Picturesque Suburbia,” an art history course that traced philosophical and historical origins of modern-day suburbia. The aesthetic of The Sublime was a key influence in the early history of the suburban ideal. The British philosopher Edmund Burke, in his Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful argued that the strongest emotion which... Read More
US Supports Ban on Trade of Bluefin Tuna
As I reported a few weeks ago, the bluefin tuna may be listed as an endangered species at the next meeting of CITES in a few weeks. The US government is now officially supporting Monaco’s proposal to ban the trade of bluefin tuna in an effort to save the species from extinction, as announced by the assistant Secretary of the Interior Tom Strickland: “[In] light of the serious compliance problems that have plagued the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean... Read More
