2010 and the Environment: Earth Day's accomplishments in public awareness

Developing public awareness of environmental or conservation issues can sometimes be a bit more challenging to quantify or less momentous or newsworthy than other earth-saving activities. But it often is the foundation, the one-brick-at-a-time approach, and it may take a while before you can see the entire building that has been built over time.

And while industrialized nations can be some of the guiltiest parties in crimes against nature, many developing nations need educating as well, for many of the most important marine and terrestrial ecosystems remaining on the planet are within their borders.

Each year for the past 40 years, Earth Day has been celebrated as a worldwide event whereby participants can take stock of their natural resources, learn what they can do to protect them, and contemplate how good stewardship would benefit themselves and generations to come. What Earth Day succeeds in doing in that one singular event has a rippling effect that carries on through the year.

From the Earth Day Network website, here are the Earth Day accomplishments for 2010 - an indication of the importance of those "building block" steps that go on behind the bright lights of flashier news items but can be just as important:

• In just a few months, Earth Day Network logged more than 30 million environmental actions towards the goal of a Billion Acts of Green™, from large scale climate petition drives to voter registration, city-wide light-bulb change outs, and massive coral reef and beach cleanups. Our goal is to reach a Billion Acts of Green by Earth Day 2011 to demonstrate to world leaders the global commitment to environmental change leading up to the Rio + 20 Summit in 2012.
• Earth Day Network created the largest climate activist program globally, with nearly one million participants. This represents the continuation of Earth Day Network’s goal to create a new worldwide movement to resolve climate change.
• Through the Global Day of Conversation, over 400 elected officials in more than 40 countries representing tens of millions of citizens took part in active dialogues with their constituents about their efforts to create sustainable green economies and reduce their carbon footprints. Mayors are leading the fight to reduce carbon emissions and to build the green economy.
• Over one million students abroad participated in school greenings from community-wide clean ups to installing solar energy systems to creating school gardens to adopting environmental curriculum.
• Earth Day Network announced a partnership with the Avatar Home Tree Initiative to plant a million trees in 15 countries in 2010.
• In partnership with the Peace Corps, Earth Day Network worked with local volunteers to implement environmental and civic education programs, tree-plantings, village clean-ups and recycling seminars in rural areas including Ukraine, the Philippines, Georgia, Albania and Paraguay. These efforts helped build environmentalism in the most remote parts of the earth for underserved communities.
• In Kolkata, India, we watched as our plans for a small series of sponsored events evolved into a nationwide presence, 17 cities large. Earth Day Network partnered with global and local NGOs and local government officials to coordinate city and village clean-ups, environmental rallies and educational programs for underprivileged children. Earth Day Network has plans to establish an office in Kolkata.
• In China, 10 universities participated in month-long efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of their communities. Students made lifestyle changes such as recycling and using public transportation to make a positive impact. Quantitative carbon reduction results will be announced in mid-May.
• In Morocco, the government announced an unprecedented National Charter for the Environment and Sustainable Development, the first commitment of its kind in Africa and the Arab world, which will inform new environmental laws for the country. The Kingdom of Morocco also pledged to plant a million trees in 2010.
• In Afghanistan, Earth Day Network worked with more than 40 government and village leaders across the country in environmental sustainability practices including recycling programs and the need for clean water and alternative energy.
• On April 22, the President of Mozambique led a country-wide tree-planting initiative in schools across Maputo.
• Earth Day Network greened 40 schools globally for Earth Day, launching its international green school program. From solar panels to school gardens, Earth Day Network is significantly cutting global carbon emissions.
• Earth Day Network partnered with Carbon War Room to convene 200 of the world’s most important entrepreneurs in a forum that examined groundbreaking ways to solve climate change and create a new green economy based on renewable energy. Click here for an address by Earth Day 2010 Chair, Denis Hayes.

Science Info Links: interesting links from an unlikely source

Here's some interesting information - covering a range of biology, medical, ocean, conservation, energy, and climate issues - from a rather unlikely source. The MRI Technician Schools, an organization involved in the evaluation of medical training programs has compiled a very interesting set of links to video and text lectures and presentations on a wide range of subjects loosely placed under a biological science heading:

100 Incredible Open Lectures for Biology Geeks

The links come from various sources like The Forum Network (PPS/NPR), YouTube, MIT and elsewhere. All are informative and worth checking out. Scroll down the list of subject categories and you'll come across Ecology & Conservation, Sustainable Energy, and Climate Change, with titles like:

• Ocean Exploration & Conservation by Dr. Gregory Stone, Conservation International
• 50 Ways to Save the Ocean by David Helvarg, Blue Frontier
• The Culture of Green Transportation: Biodiesel Explained
  
• Connecting Coral & Climate Change by Kim Cobb, Georgia Institute of Technology

You really don't have to be a biology geek to appreciate this listing. If you're a reader of this blog, you're bound to find something of interest. And of course, pass it along to your friends.

Wolves & Sharks: key predators at risk from sport

From time to time in this blog, I have cited the role that ocean predators such as sharks play in maintaining a balanced ecosystem - whether we personally care for the animal or not. In fact when I would speak to groups about sharks, I would acknowledge the fears and distaste that some people in the audience might have but would then focus on the critical importance of the shark. You may not love them, but they are indispensable.

And from time to time, I have mentioned the ongoing situation regarding endangered wolves in the U.S. The designation of wolves as endangered in the Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain areas has been a flip-flopping issue with certain populations faced with extinction at the hands of hunters, backed by the support of concerned ranchers who have lost cattle to predation.

There are strong parallels between sharks and wolves both socially, with their interaction with mankind, and ecologically. First, ecologically, they serve the same functions as apex predators, maintaining a proper balance of fauna and even flora within their respective ecosystems. Without sharks, the numbers of their primary prey would increase, feeding on smaller prey that are often herbivores. And so there is a potential shift in a marine community and a potential increase in vegetation and algae that can threaten other life forms like coral - all part of the non-linear cascade effect.

Wolves serve a similar function, maintaining balance between prey ranging from small "varmints" to deer, elk, and moose. In the past when the wolves were not provided protection as endangered species, there was both an explosion in the small animal or rodent population and a decline in grazing land as more and more large animals like deer and elk would de-nude the grasslands.

Secondly, sharks have been exposed to senseless hunting through "shark tournaments" wherein large numbers of both juvenile and mature breeding sharks were hauled in, often times the catch being sharks of no tournament or commercial value. With organizations like the Shark-Free Marinas Initiative, there are efforts being made to at least alter the decisively fatal outcome generated by shark tournaments through the implementation of catch-and-release techniques. With the current state of regulations and protections for wolves being in somewhat disarray (see prior post), there are now similar tournaments, "wolf-killing derbies," that leave dwindling populations of wolves in the Greater Yellowstone and Northern Rocky areas, including Idaho and Montana, at great risk.

The Defenders of Wildlife, through their www.savewolves.org campaign, are working to protect these threatened land predators by educating people to their importance and by focusing public awareness towards the businesses and corporations that sponsor or support the wolf-killing derbies.

According to Defenders of Wildlife president, Rodger Schlickeisen, "Since wolves were reintroduced to Greater Yellowstone and central Idaho fifteen years ago, we’ve seen local ecosystems rebound as these top predators helped prevent overgrazing of foliage by elk and deer. According to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, there are 150,000 elk in Montana, compared to 90,000 in the mid 1980s when wolves started to make their way back to the state. Wyoming's elk population is up 35% since then to 95,000, while Idaho's is up 5% to 115,000."

Sharks and wolves - critically important predators that bring balance to nature's ecosystems but whose image, from Jaws to Little Miss Riding Hood, have placed them on a collision course with man - are at risk of extinction. And, because of the complexity of nature's web, man's attempts to artificially achieve balance (eliminate the predator, then control the increasing prey populations) have not been particularly productive. The challenge is to find methods not to control nature's balance but to work with it, allowing it to flourish in it's infinitely more successful ways.

To learn more about the campaign to save the wolves, click here.
To learn more about the campaign to eliminate wolf-killing derbies, click here.

Mother Nature Network: a change of pace in conservation news

Do you find yourself getting a little overwhelmed with the weighty subjects and seriousness on many of the conservation sites (this one too sometimes, although I try to keep it in check)? Well, here's an interesting change of pace. . .

My friend Charlotte Vick, communications director for Dr. Sylvia Earle's Deep Search Foundation, brought a web site to my attention: the Mother Nature Network. This site is a patchwork ranging from current conservation news issues to environmental, organic, and green fluff. Want an organic pumpkin pie recipe mixed in with your latest briefing on Washington DC energy policy? Then this just might be the place for you.

Of note is Mother Nature network's Earth Matters department which not only contains the primary big issues but also includes a section titled "Translating Uncle Sam." Here you will find many hot button issues and topics spelled out in layman language, devoid of the heavy jargon you sometimes find in detailed press releases; a good way to get a quick grasp on an issue or provide you with some simpler talking points when discussing the issue with others less well-versed as yourself.

Content contributors run the gamut from The Nature Conservancy to professional bloggers to student contributors; so there's something for everyone here. I am new to the site so I will be checking it out carefully; I noticed some of its sponsors are major energy, technology, and pharmaceutical corporations, so I will be watching for potential bias - let's hope not. Check it out.

Why Endangered Species Matter: WWF and Parade magazine address the basics

I am always interested in forms of communication to the general public - those teeming masses that need ecological and environmental enlightenment far more than the die-hard advocates that frequent conservation web sites and blogs like this one. So, this past Sunday I noticed a small insert in the Parade Magazine supplement that appears in many weekend newspapers - remember newspapers? Those archaic trumpeters of news and analysis that you used to ponder over, sipping your coffee while the Mrs. reminded you to take out the garbage? That was before news was replaced by abbreviated online sound bites or bloviating commentary?

Anyway . . . Parade ran a brief Q&A with Carter Roberts, president/CEO of World Wildlife Fund (WWF), about "Why Endangered Species Matter." It caught my eye because it addressed some very basic issues that the general public should consider, particularly when they hear a conservation advocate addressing a specific issue and might be thinking, "What's this got to do with me?" Here it is:

How do you justify spending millions to protect plants and animals when humans are struggling?
This is not an either/or choice. Our environment produces things that are fundamental to human life—and to saving human life. For example, many of the leading cancer drugs come from plants like the rosy periwinkle. If we only have species that coexist well with humans, we’ll be left with starlings, rats, pigeons, and a few dogs and cats.

Why does it matter if we lose a species?
There are incredible consequences when species disappear, consequences we can’t foresee. With the decline of predators such as wolves on the East Coast, the deer population exploded and we had an increase in Lyme disease.

Can we change the fates of endangered species?
We’ve reintroduced 120 species into the wild. When we succeed, as we did with the bald eagle, it gives the world hope. Right now, there are only a couple of thousand tigers left in the wild. But with the right protections, they can come back.

What are we doing right and wrong in terms of the environment?
The rush into biofuels has had unintended consequences, like the destruction of the tropical rain forest—20% of our CO emissions come from cutting down those trees. Our best path would be toward greater energy efficiency. The future of our planet rests on our ability to produce more with less.
— Lyric Wallwork Winik

And I confess, it's also available on Parade's online version. I just like putting my feet up on the coffee table and getting some ink smudges on my fingers.

Life on the Edge Symposium: premiere event in Southern California

I just returned from the inaugural first day of the Life on the Edge Symposium, a three-day environmental event in Laguna Beach, CA, put together by Endangered Planet.net. Covering a range of topics from fuel cells and solar to air quality and sustainability, the event features a wide range of distinguished speakers and environmental experts. Of course with my particular interests in marine conservation, I have been trying to buttonhole as many dignataries as possible to get their ideas and feedback on moving marine conservation issues forward.

I had the opportunity to talk with the symposium chair, Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury, former Under-Secretary-General to the U.N. Being a worldwide political figure, he had something very interesting to say, "Governments will do nothing if left alone; they must be motivated." Motivated by commerce (the military-industrial complex) and/or (believe it or not) motivated by the people. This spoke to my interest in communicating marine conservation issues to the broadest possible audience; translating scientific data into usable issues, implications, and solutions that can add to a potential groundswell of public opinion; and trying to reach those, unlike you, who have not yet expressed a commitment or even interest in marine conservation.

I also spoke with Peter Bowler, Ph.D., professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Irvine, about the cultural issues surrounding shark conservation. Shark conservation is less pragmatic than other marine conservation issues - for the most part, there are no issues of nutrition vs. overfishing (like, say, bluefin tuna, wherein you try to provide alternatives through aquaculture, different fishing techniques, or species rotation). The challenge here is cultural. The long-standing culture behind the demand for shark fins or other shark products, the culture behind trophy fishing, and in a larger sense, the long-standing culture of fear about sharks. Changing culture is always a more challenging task. Dr. Bowler's thoughts focused more on reaching the younger generation, the next generation that hopefully can be enlightened to a new culture, one that respects sharks and other marine animals, so many of whom are now poised on the edge of extinction.

I had a moment to bend the ear of Chris Jordan, world-renowned photographer and Eco-Ambassador for National Geographic. Chris has produced some amazing large-scale works, many of which are featured on his web site, that place our consumerism and environmental waste in glaring perspective. Though Chris' work highlights our ecological waste, he can be a very engaging individual to listen to, full of hope and encouragement. And sometimes you need that, to rev up your engine and keep moving forward.

This is Endangered Planet's first major event. It's a good start and hopefully many more will follow.