I love butterflies and I am sure many of you do too. There is something so incredibly heartwarming about their beauty, delicacy, and tenacity. The fact that some live a mere day is also quite astounding to me, while others take incredible journeys in order to escape from colder climes as winter comes.
So it is great to learn about people who are helping to ensure that endangered butterflies are being given another chance to thrive. The Nature Conservancy is doing a fantastic job of releasing butterflies into the wild to try and boost numbers back up again. For example, in this brief video you can see Hannah Anderson, a biologist working with The Nature Conservancy, releasing the Taylor's Checkerspot butterfly into the South Puget Sound:
What I love about seeing butterflies being released into the wild is knowing that we can play an important stewardship role by intervening with a positive action that can make a big difference. My hat always goes off to the many, many people dedicated to working hard on protecting and renewing the chances of endangered species everywhere.
If you'd like to share your stories about butterflies in your garden, please leave your comments below. If you have any photos, it'd be lovely if you wished to share them too!
Our Friday featured friend for this week is the dynamic and inspiring Whitney Lauritsen. Whitney is a filmmaker, environmentalist, and vegan. She shares her tips and ideas about healthy living on
her site Eco-Vegan Gal, using the mediums of video, photography, and writing (yes indeed, she's very talented!).
Whitney is a change-maker with positive-messaging at the forefront of her approach. She explains that she is passionate about making it clear that “change isn’t as hard as it seems. When I ask people why they’re not taking better care of their health or doing more to protect the planet, they usually give excuses like: I’m too busy, I can’t afford it, I like the way I’m living now, or I’m too lazy.” Whitney is sympathetic but she doesn’t buy into these excuses because she is adamant that change doesn’t take too much effort. She does admit that change requires that each of us is dedicated to making it happen but says that it is her “goal to inspire people to take a chance on change, even if it means taking baby steps at first”. We simply love her respectful and tenacious attitude!
Currently working on ways that she can spread her message to a wider audience, Whitney is contemplating redesigning her website, creating a TV show, making a documentary, or perhaps a combination of all these ways.
Whitney is a devoted vegan and believes that it is important to share the benefits of veganism in a way that people can relate to its benefits. She says: “I believe that pitching veganism as a healthy choice (rather than a moral one) is more appealing to mainstream, so that’s been my focus lately. I want people to see how fun and rewarding being eco-vegan is, and how many options are available.” And Whitney does this with compassion and connection, and she is definitely not one to judge other people, readily acknowledging that she doesn't "point fingers and say that my way of life is the absolute right way." Her caring approach works. She told us that every day she is contacted by, or introduced to, amazing companies that have created something that makes being green, keeping healthy and/or living cruelty-free more accessible to everyone.
The Eco-Vegan Gal blog site is the way Whitney uses to promote these companies and their forward-looking products and services. In addition, Whitney features information in her various posts to help both our own health and the health of the planet. She discusses environmental issues, health matters, vegan recipes, and she even shares what she eats to help keep us informed about the ease of making healthy choices. It's a beautifully presented site, and a fabulous resource, well worth bookmarking.
While Whitney doesn’t have any children yet, she says she plans on having at least one child and she thinks about how she’ll raise a family all the time. Concerned that children can be easily impressionable and ready to believe what adults tell them, Whitney says this means that "we have an incredible opportunity to educate them". In doing this, Whitney says that "the key is leading by example and making your choices seem effortless and fun: creating healthy meals that taste good, showing how to recycle/reuse/reduce, and being kind to animals are important experiences for children."
We're really happy to have been able to share Whitney's story so far with you. We think she will take eco-veganism to incredible heights yet, with her array of amazing talents, her dedication, and her clarity of purpose. If you'd like to find out more about Whitney, check out her site Eco-Vegan Gal, her page on Facebook, and be sure to follow her delightful tweets at @Ecovegangal. And a big thanks to Whitney for her time in sharing her story with us.
Our very special featured friend for this week is Narena Olliver, a passionate eco-advocate, dedicated animal lover, author, and creator of the website New Zealand Birds. Narena has a delightfully varied background. She has taught English, bred cattle, published magazines, and entered politics. For six years, Narena was a district councillor and Chair of Planning Hearings for the Opotiki District Council. In addition, she has been a member of the East Coast/Hawkes Bay Conservation Board and of the NZ National Council of Women’s environment standing committee.
A member of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand, Narena’s passion for caring about New Zealand’s native wildlife is absolute. She tells us that: “I am passionate about natural history, not just birds. I simply bleed for the continuing loss of biodiversity.” And we've discovered that Narena is actively doing as much as she can to help protect biodiversity.
While Narena says that she is neither an ornithologist nor a scientist, she uses her interest in natural history and her superb writing skills to their best advantage by helping us all learn more about our impact on biodiversity. For example, Narena currently writes a monthly column for her local newspaper, raising awareness about the local bird life. She details the threats to birds, and in the tradition of all great people who understand that it’s vital that the message carries a sense of solution, Narena also explains what each of us can do to avert or minimize these threats. Previously, Narena used to write a natural history/environment column for two Bay of Plenty newspapers, the Bay of Plenty Times and the Opotiki News and she writes the occasional article for the New Zealand Herald.
Another string to Narena’s talented bow is her amazing website New Zealand Birds. She started developing this website on New Zealand's birds in 1999 and it is a site well worth exploring (just a hint – given it has over a decade’s worth of dedication lavished on it, you can spend many lovely hours in there enjoying all it has to offer!). A major part of the website is the intensely detailed coverage of the birds found in New Zealand, including illustrations, scientific and historic information on the birds, and other useful information about each bird. There are audio files that allow you to hear the birdsong of various birds and we encourage you take a moment to listen to the beautiful songs of New Zealand birds – you can even listen to the call of the kiwi. And among so much more on the site, there is a section on Maori myth, legend and lore, helpful advice on bird rescue and bird feeding, and information on where to go birdwatching in New Zealand.
As well as Narena’s environmental and writing activities, she runs The Greytown Gallery in Greytown, New Zealand. The store is both physical and virtual, so if you’re not able to make a visit to the delightful Greytown, you can still take advantage of the carefully selected range of items Narena has in stock. Naturally, most of her goodies are bird-themed, but there are also other wildlife items. We love the amazing selection of children’s books which are sure to help you raise an enthusiastic young naturalist, and it’s very hard to overlook the simply
gorgeously printed bird cushions. Narena tells us that the beautiful antique bird prints the store sells are used throughout the New Zealand Birds website. She explains that the prints are “an important part not only of our natural history but also our history.” The sale of the prints funds and supports the New Zealand Birds website, as the site receives no other funding.
Narena told us that while she has no children of her own, she does hold a fear for coming generations. We do think, however, that she is doing her fair share and a super job of it too, at ensuring that our children are well informed and prepared. Her beautiful selection of children’s books is one example, as well as the legacy of her website which children could certainly make great use of when researching and learning about bird life in New Zealand.
It is clear that Narena has a lifelong passion to do all that she can to help protect the wondrous nature around us. She is unstoppable in her passion: “I am now 70 years of age but still do everything I can for the environment. I joke about joining the Sea Shepherd and their efforts to save whales but think I am a bit old now.” We’re not so sure about that Narena – your dynamism, passion, and enthusiasm are an inspiration to people of all ages and we wouldn’t be surprised if Captain Paul Watson turns up on your doorstep some day! We’re so proud of your continued gentle, calm, and ever-present efforts to raise awareness and to make a difference for the better in our world. You are a true inspiration.
If you’d like to find out more about Narena, you can follow her on Twitter at @Newzealandbirds and check out her website and The Greytown Gallery. Thanks deeply for sharing a moment of your time with us Narena.
It’s World Turtle Day on May 23rd, 2010, and it occurred to us what a great opportunity this is to introduce you to this week’s wonderful friend Michael Coyne, and his organization Seaturtle.org.
In starting and maintaining Seaturtle.org, Michael’s ongoing aim is to “organize the world’s sea turtle information and make it universally accessible and useful.” A strong advocate of collating knowledge about turtles, Michael says that “we can better understand and more effectively protect sea turtles by improving the way that we collect, manage, and share information about them.”
Michael's answer to achieving timely and dynamic sharing of sea turtle information was to form a community where sea turtle enthusiasts, advocates, government officials, researchers, and anyone else interested in sea turtles, or learning about them, could connect and open the lines of communication together. By helping researchers more effectively communicate their research results to resource managers, as well as making it easier for researchers to share information with the public and gain public feedback, Seaturtle.org ensures that sea turtle information is made widely available. The site's data management system allows researchers to process and analyze information quickly, and often the data can be communicated as it is being collected.
Of great importance is the ability for the public to access this information and one of the simplest examples of this sharing process in action is the site's Image Library. This allows registered users of Seaturtle.org to submit and share their sea turtle photos with the world. Michael says that these photos are popular, and that in addition to being freely available through the website, the photos frequently appear in both professional and informal presentations, news articles, books, and other websites.
We were fascinated to learn about the successes Seaturtle.org has experienced using its data management for on-the-ground action. The most successful effort to date is the Satellite Tracking website. This site allows all of us to follow thousands of sea turtles that have been fitted with satellite transmitters. You can watch the movements of all seven species of sea turtles and hundreds of sea turtle and conservation projects around the world through this tool, as well as subscribing to daily e-mail updates from your favorite projects, or even adopting your favorite turtles! If you're a teacher, there is also a way to sign up for access to tracking data that will let you follow sea turtles in the classroom. Michael proudly explains that the Seaturtle.org tools that help turtle trackers around the world to manage, map, and analyze very complicated and large datasets have become so helpful that "nearly every sea turtle tracking project in the world uses our system, and a growing number of non-sea turtle projects have started signing up." Indeed, there is now even a separate Wildlife Tracking website for the non-sea turtle projects.
Michael recently launched two similar systems, one that deals with sea turtle strandings, and the other with sea turtle nesting. Strandings are a way of monitoring dead sea turtles that wash up on the beach (or other places) so that resource managers can keep track of how many turtles are dying, and hopefully identify and take steps to reduce the causes. The Sea Turtle Nest Monitoring System is helping thousands of volunteers who monitor sea turtle nesting to record the information they collect in a standardized way and more quickly report nesting information to project managers. Project managers, in turn, are able to share the status of sea turtle nesting in their region with the public, as data are submitted. These are both relatively new systems and it is hoped that they will become more widely known and that more sea turtle projects around the world will participate. And if you're interested in trying this out, sea turtle nesting season is just getting started in the southeastern US and you can follow the progress of sea turtle nesting in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia as it happens.
Another great program Michael wanted us to know about is the International Sea Turtle Observation Registry, or ISTOR for short. This program aims to more directly engage the public and allows you to submit information on sea turtles that you have observed in the wild. This information is used to generate a map of reported sea turtle sightings, and it is also hoped that as more information is submitted, that there will be a better understanding of where sea turtles are, and when. Michael says: "I encourage anyone that sees a sea turtle to report it to ISTOR!"
And we couldn't help but ask Michael about how he involves children in Seaturtle.org. With much love and pride, he told us that his own children are "very much engaged with sea turtles because of what I do. I take them on sea turtle research trips whenever I can, and we are frequent visitors to the sea turtle hospital on Topsail Island in North Carolina, where we learn about the latest patients and talk to Jean Beasley, who runs the hospital." Michael also takes time out of his busy schedule to give presentations to local schools and other groups about sea turtles and the work he is doing. He tells us: "I hope that by sharing my knowledge and passion with children that they will gain an appreciation for sea turtles and the marine environment that they will then share with their friends and relatives and take this knowledge with them as they get older." We certainly believe the children will!
We're really grateful to Michael for taking the time to explain Seaturtle.org. We think it's awesome that the public plays a vital role in both giving and using the information that can help us to protect and learn more about sea turtles. Projects that involve everyone with an interest will always have more success because we all feel responsible. Great work Michael and we're keen to keep "tracking" your progress over time!
2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB). Since 1959, the United Nations has held international years as a way of drawing attention to major issues with global impact, hoping to encourage international action to make changes for the better. The theme of the IYB is: “Biodiversity is life, Biodiversity is our life", a motto that urges us to understand that without biodiversity, we’d have no food, clean water, medicines, shelter, and that we'd be spiritually and culturally bereft.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban ki-Moon, has asked “each citizen of our planet to join together in a global alliance to protect life on earth.” It’s a stirring call to action and it’s worth watching the video to get a feel for what’s at stake:
Good intentions, slow results
I remember studying the Convention on Biological Diversity at university – it was fresh off the press and my incredibly enthusiastic lecturer Hilary Charlesworth brought it to life avidly. Back then, we held dreams of becoming international environmental champions, destined to tackle wrongdoers, hoping to rely on strong laws to protect biodiversity. Even then though, we could foresee trouble in the biodiversity convention's elegant, inspiring language and philosophy that left it highly aspirational in nature. Since then, much of the good intent has failed to translate into laws and policies that adequately slow the decline of biodiversity. The toll continues, and as Julia Whitty explains, it's a scary picture: “The overall numbers are terrifying. Of the 40,168 species that the 10,000 scientists in the World Conservation Union have assessed, one in four mammals, one in eight birds, one in three amphibians, one in three conifers ... are at risk of extinction. ... [F]ully 40 per cent of the examined species of planet earth are in danger, including perhaps 51 per cent of reptiles, 52 per cent of insects, and 73 per cent of flowering plants.”
So, after hearing the Secretary-General ask us "citizens of the planet" to
“join together”, I am left thinking that I really do want to know that
“each citizen of our planet” feels enabled to do something about
our tragic biodiversity loss and that our efforts will be taken seriously, and will have an effective impact on helping arrest the decline in biodiversity.
Our own backyard
The good news is that there is plenty that we can do and we don't need to feel bewildered or overwhelmed by the mammoth extent of the problems. Our personal involvement can make a remarkable difference, even through
simply raising awareness and making biodiversity a conscious, everyday
issue. While it is important to know and understand how dire the situation for biodiversity is, it is equally important not to give up hope. It is heartening to learn that biodiversity awareness has increased dramatically in the past year, a sign that we "citizens of the planet" are feeling a greater sense of ownership of the conservation challenge.
I want to share with you some of the things I think we can do together to help our biodiversity. As individuals, families, and communities, we’re best placed to look in our own backyard, our own local community, and it is reassuring to know that small actions at this level can, and do, feed back into the global level – after all, biodiversity doesn’t know the artificial boundaries we humans call borders. With this in mind, here are some suggestions for getting involved in the IYB, and beyond:
Don’t hide your passion. It doesn’t serve anybody to cloak your concern for our world’s species. Share your passion with everyone and anyone who crosses your path, whether you’re a parent, a bureaucrat, a football star, or a high school principal. Unleash that passion for biodiversity!
Show children the wonders of biodiversity. It’s never too early or late to teach children what biodiversity is and why it matters. Children understand the power of nature innately - awaken their curiosity by example: Take them gardening, hiking, beach cleaning, snorkeling, camping, etc. Get them out into nature, learning to love it, appreciate it, thrive in it. The Children and Nature Network has fantastic ideas to help you find fun ways to connect children to nature.
Do small things that make a large difference. For example, keep your pets inside at night and keep your dogs within your yard. Wandering cats and dogs can be especially devastating to local wildlife at night. Don’t get me wrong – I love cats and dogs – but I don’t love some of their habits and we're the ones with the responsibility to contain our pets' impact while still ensuring they lead a fulfilling life. Avoid growing invasive species in your garden, or find effective ways to keep your plants within in your landscaped space. Plant native trees and grow your own food. Leave dead trees for nesting and shelter hollows.
Recycle, reuse, reduce, and refuse as much as possible. Less packaging waste and less garbage means more habitat and less pollution for all species, ours included.
Read up on biodiversity.There are many incredible books about biodiversity, from those written for children to academic tomes. Learning more about the breadth and wonders of biodiversity is not only inspiring but it gives you good facts and stories to share with others about biodiversity. Don't forget that even reading books about species and habitats is learning about biodiversity, so don't limit yourself to searching just for this term.
Write letters to the editor of every newspaper and magazine you read, both online and offline. Help to make biodiversity as mainstream a topic as economics and celebrities, by sharing your concerns with readers, and tell people how they can do things to help protect biodiversity by explaining what you're doing.
Get involved in a local conservation group.From tree planting to making shelters for endangered species in their natural habitats, there will likely be a group in your very own community that is working hard at making a difference by actively trying to conserve biodiversity. Get in there at least once a month and get your hands dirty.
And get involved online. Whether you just want to read about biodiversity, tweet about it, find educational materials, or actively participate in petitions to save endangered areas and species, there is a website for you. I’ve rounded up a smidgen of a sample to get you started:
Add a Google alert for "biodiversity" updates to be emailed to you
For children, some fantastic places to visit include Globio and The Green Wave; and naturally, you can't beat having them play MiniMonos, where the monkey diversity is an important lesson in caring for species too!
And we'd love to know what you're doing to help biodiversity - it's exciting to learn about what inspires you and what you're doing to make a difference on your own patch.
Our featured friend this week is the wonderful Primarily Primates, a non-profit sanctuary located in Bexar County, San Antonio, Texas. This incredible 75–acre sanctuary houses, protects, and rehabilitates over 450 various non-native animals, focusing primarily on apes and monkeys (caring for members of 32 species of primates), along with a number of other rescued animals, such as birds and big cats. The story of what Primarily Primates does is always unfolding but what the people behind this sanctuary have achieved already is simply remarkable. We'd love to share with you just some of the amazing, intensely caring, and focused work that this sanctuary is doing to make sure that many animals lead a fulfilled life.
Founded in 1978, Primarily Primates became a Friends of Animals refuge three years ago, and the animal-advocacy group Friends of Animals manages the sanctuary, with responsibility for key administrative functions and fundraising. The Executive Director is Stephen Tello, with the wonderful Priscilla Feral from Friends of Animals volunteering as president of the Primarily Primates Board. Since affiliating with Friends of Animals, the sanctuary has been renovating to provide expanded sites and upgraded living spaces for birds and primates, as well as providing on-site veterinary support. Priscilla told us that it is important to understand the role of sanctuaries, as she feels that this is not always well understood; she explains that “sanctuaries differ from exhibits and other repositories for animals who belong in nature but must live in confinement. Sanctuaries don’t breed, sell, trade, or end the lives of healthy resident animals, nor are these monkeys and others put on public display.”
Primarily Primates cares for many non-native animals, including ducks, cows, an African lion, servals, and numerous monkeys and apes that have been abandoned. In the case of the monkeys and apes, many of them are cast-offs from the entertainment industry, closed-down zoos, the exotic pet trade, and biomedical research institutions. Due to their past circumstances, all of them are dependent on human care; it is not possible to release captive primates back into home territories because primates raised in captivity lack survival skills and pose a threat to local populations through disease and could potentially harm to the integrity of existing wild populations from their unknown genetic backgrounds.
Some of the more well-known individuals in the sanctuary include chimpanzees who were once used in space training and testing protocols by the United States Air Force. Then there is Oliver, a chimpanzee who was once paraded on TV shows as the “humanzee” because he walked upright. A particularly heart-warming rescue is that of five chimpanzees, Okko, Willie, Harry, Luke, and Arthur, originally sold to 20th Century Fox for the film production Project X, a film about helping chimpanzees to escape from radiation tests in an air force laboratory. Post filming, in a heartbreaking twist of irony, 20th Century Fox planned to sell the chimpanzees to... a laboratory. Fortunately, every single one of the chimpanzees found a new home at Primarily Primates, after a studio adviser pointed out the potential public outcry. Some of the primates come from zoos and exhibits that fail and wind up, such as Bukama, a 20 year old black and white colobus monkey, who came to Primarily Primates from a zoo that ceased operating in September 2009.
One of the major challenges for primates in the United States has been the ownership of primates as pets; indeed, Stephen Tello estimates that 60% of the animals at Primarily Primates are discarded pets. Priscilla explains the problems that have arisen from humans trying to keep monkeys, apes, and lemurs as pets: “We should understand that while we may be fascinated with lemurs, monkeys, and playful, adorable infant apes, the interests of these animals cannot be met in pet homes. The proliferation of the exotic pet trade is a misery for primates and these animals are routinely deposited in sanctuaries after the pet-owner is bitten or otherwise fed up with the demands of caring for a primate.” A
good example is that of Rowdy, the marmoset monkey. Rowdy was purchased as a pet when just four weeks old from a dealer who spun a line to convince the lady buying him that small primates are “easy to raise, delightful”. The reality is that small primates are not easy to raise, and Rowdy’s owner found herself giving round-the-clock attention and care for the next two years. This created a relationship of deep dependence and Rowdy became protective of his owner, biting and harming other people when out of his cage. There was little choice left but to find Rowdy a new home and fortunately, Primarily Primates was able to accommodate Rowdy, who is pictured here in all his beauty.
Sadly for the captive primate, owners can take years to accept the inevitable. As primates mature, usually between the ages of four and eight, their owners discover the increased assertiveness that often surfaces as aggression toward other people and even the owner. The deep-seated, natural need for continued contact is rarely met by busy owners and there is a tendency to react by locking their “pet” away in a small cage, removing their teeth, or to consider abandoning the pet at zoos or humane societies which are ill-equipped to cope with the needs of primates. At their wit’s end, when frazzled owners finally find the sanctuary, Stephen says that some have even threatened to kill or set loose their pets if Primarily Primates cannot make room. Naturally, it would be far better if people understood that it isn’t acceptable to own primates as pets in the first place, but there is a pressing need right now for ensuring that abandoned primates are well cared for when the result of people's ill-informed pet choices comes to these extremes. Yet, despite the fact that Primarily Primates steps in as both a source of respite for the owner and a savior for the primate, the stark reality is that once rid of their pet, only a handful of former owners continue to sponsor their primates, or even bother to send toys, or to meet promised donations.
Turning to the positive, deeply dedicated work undertaken by Primarily Primates, it is clear that the caring people involved in the refuge are making the world a better place for abandoned animals. At the moment, the sanctuary is continuing to expand its facilities to enable the animals, as Priscilla says, to “enjoy themselves in a slice of nature”. As resources permit, the sanctuary is moving away from the type of caging typically used in the 1980s, to providing improved outdoor areas for the primates. The focus is on continuing to develop enclosures and habitats in a way that will enhance the socialization of each of the groups of animals, and give them as natural an environment as possible. For example, for the tree-climbing primates such as the spider monkeys, climbing trees are provided so that they can move across the tree tops. The enclosures are large, and filled with trees, shrubs, and bushes, in order to create a naturalistic and complex environment for such primates as lemurs and spider monkeys. The enclosures for the chimpanzees are grass-bottomed and have large climbing structures; and not to be overlooked, is the sanctuary's two-acre pond (used as a native rehabilitation area for injured and infirm ducks, swans, geese, and cranes) that the chimpanzees can look over during their contemplative moments. There are temperature-controlled enclosures to ensure that in Texas’s hot summer months, the marmosets and tamarins, who generally like to play outside, have air-conditioned rooms set around 80ºF (27ºC).
The sanctuary is also eco-minded, recognizing that its space is within a larger ecology. Powered by both wind and sun, the sanctuary has a 50-foot (15 meter) wind turbine to help offset the rising financial and environmental impact of electricity and fossil fuels. The turbine powers lights, security cameras, and cooling systems, and it even feeds power back into the grid during recharging. Priscilla points out that the turbine hums to warn and protect birds and bats not to come too close to it. There is also a solar panel powering the lighting for the living area of the former US Air Force chimpanzees and there is an overhead solar-powered street light keeping the large natural aviary for parrots well lit. Priscilla says that “the use of natural energy will bring our refuge in line with our concern for the ecology and the beings that inhabit it.”
And we can’t not let you know about feeding time at the sanctuary. Apart from following their usual healthy diets carefully selected for the inhabitants, if you’re following the sanctuary’s tweets, you’ll soon realize that delicious treats are shared with the animals, from bananas to watermelons, when generous donations are made. In fact, rather than being wordy about it, here is a video of the delightful watermelon party (check out the great human watermelon cracking technique!):
There are so many amazing stories from Primarily Primates that we couldn’t tell you everything these fantastically caring people are doing, nor about all of the marvelous inhabitants, but it may just be a case of introducing you to some of the individual primates as future Friday featured friends in their own right! We want to say a very big thank you to Priscilla for taking the time to share her thoughts and to Primarily Primates, including Stephen, for taking such great care of the abandoned primates and other animals in so much need. You’re a resource that is under-recognized and unceasingly dedicated to doing good and we’re so proud to have had the chance to share your story.
World Heritage Day is celebrated on April 18, 2010. This post is a brief tour of some of the amazing facts about World Heritage, with a few suggestions of ways that you can play a part in helping to protect it.
Currently there are 890 World Heritage Sites located in 148 countries around the world, so it is possible that you know of at least one site, and perhaps you've even visited one. World Heritage Sites are special for a number of reasons. For example, these Sites get selected because they are considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. In addition, they are said to belong to all peoples in the world (the common heritage of humankind), irrespective of the country in which they are found. This collective ownership is an incredible feature of World Heritage, as it recognizes the inter-connectedness of human beings, and supports the reality that wherever we are in the world, there are cross-culturally meaningful places that fulfill our need for spiritual, cultural, and emotional well-being. Moreover, World Heritage Sites are not just designations – they tend to be living, active places for people, animals, and plants, making their preservation crucial to protecting not only the past legacy of our heritage but also to protecting and promoting current cultural practices, and to conserving biodiversity, and animal and plant species.
As with so much of our world, climate change is a pressing threat for at least 830 World Heritage Sites. In 2006, the World Heritage Committee listened to concerns raised by individuals, organizations, and countries about the potential impacts of climate change. The Committee made some decisions to encourage countries to protect World Heritage Sites from the possible effects of climate change. In 2007, a strategy was developed to help countries better focus on this urgent issue and this continues to guide countries in finding ways to mitigate climate change damage to World Heritage Sites. Mountain sites and marine sites are especially in peril, and other sites will be threatened by climate shifts such as increased precipitation and droughts. Just as World Heritage Sites are icons for cultural and natural wealth, they also serve as significant beacons of how much we stand to lose when the effects of changing climate patterns kick in. Moreover, there are World Heritage Sites, such as the Cerrado Protected Areas (Chapada dos Veadeiros and Emas National Parks) in Brazil, that have served as refuges for species during prior periods of climate fluctuations, and will therefore be vital to sustaining biodiversity in the face of future climate change.
Many World Heritage Sites contain significant biodiversity, including wildlife territory and habitats supporting endangered species, both animal and plant. It is not surprising, therefore, that there has been an ongoing attempt to establish World Heritage Species, in recognition that conservation of species is an important part of safeguarding our world’s heritage. One major thrust has been to focus on the great ape species. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and UNESCO have joined forces to develop the Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP) because “drastic action is needed; [t]ime is not on our side” to ensure the long-term survival of great apes in the wild and to stop the rapid fragmentation of their habitat. Although not focused solely on World Heritage Sites, some of the great apes’ range is within World Heritage Sites, so the initiatives cross over and provide one another with potentially important mutual support.
Given MiniMonos' natural affinity for monkeys, we were curious to know the extent to which World Heritage Sites are important habitats for monkeys and apes, and we discovered many World Heritage Sites are home to many species of monkeys and apes. Here we share just a few to inspire your own research and deeper understanding of the intricate linkages between World Heritage and species survival:
Our short journey finding monkeys and apes in World Heritage Sites has revealed that some of our interactions with them are not beneficial: Stories of overfed monkeys and overly familiarized monkeys attacking people are sadly too commonplace. When we visit World Heritage Sites, being mindful of the needs of the species found at these sites, as well as taking into account the fragility of many sites by traveling responsibly, are important approaches we can all take to help ensure the long-term sustainability of both World Heritage Sites and their species, as a legacy for current and future generations.
There are a number of activities you can do from home to learn more about World Heritage Sites. These include downloading the 2009-2010 World Heritage Map, to learn where all the sites are; reading more about World Heritage at UNESCO's World Heritage Centre, including information on responsible tourism; and thinking about what World Heritage means for you. You could even research what areas still need World Heritage protection near you, and lobby your local representative to take action. And why not take the opportunity of playing MiniMonos as a way to talk about World Heritage with your children? Ask them if they think any of those wonderful monuments and places on MiniMonos might make a good World Heritage Site! Enjoy your World Heritage - it's special.
"As humans continue to encroach on the habitat and hunt our closest relatives, a sad reality becomes apparent in the not too distant future - many primate species will be extinct in the wild. Their only chance of survival will be the sanctuaries that struggle to provide for the ever increasing numbers of orphaned and abused primates."
As primates ourselves, we’re very much of the "monkey see, monkey do" category when it comes to parenting and the way our children respond to us. So what does this mean when it comes to discussing challenging topics like the rapidly increasing loss of our world’s wonderful species? Talking to your children about endangered species is an important educational activity; equally important is the manner in which this discussion occurs. Providing constructive hooks for your children to grasp onto, in order to sidestep despair and sadness, is crucial. Teaching them that there are at least some positive and caring actions that they can do, helps them to feel capable, rather than leaving them feeling there is nothing more to be done. If you believe passionately that there is hope, that there is a chance to make positive change, you’ll pass this constructive attitude on to your children too. And, like always, it’s probable that you’ll learn more from them than the other way around!
Out of the top 25 most endangered primates (apes, monkeys, lemurs, tarsiers, etc.), some of the primates haven’t been seen for years, others are clinging on to small remnants of once vast habitat, and not even popularity ensures survival, as the sad plight of the orangutans is proving. Even the more commonly known primates are at risk: Chimpanzees once numbered 1-2 million in the wild at the beginning of last century, with close to 1 million in 1960. Today, it is thought there are around 150,000 chimpanzees left in the wild! A recent IUCN report for 2008-2010 reveals that nearly half of all primate species are now in danger of becoming extinct. Threats to primate survival include habitat loss, exploitation and illegal trade for pets, bushmeat, laboratory testing, fur products, medicine, etc., and changing weather patterns brought about by climate change.
The facts are sobering, shocking. Should we shelter children from them or read them out like horror stories at bedtime? Neither approach proves sensible, nor helpful. Children can handle challenging facts provided they’re given the big picture, your gentle guidance, and the tools to do something constructive with what they’re learning. Educating children is always about guiding their already curious minds to explore new possibilities, and learning about endangered primates is no different. This is an important time we’re living in now, a time when we can turn around some of the losses human activities have set in train, and that is the empowering message we owe our children. As you discuss the challenges facing endangered primates, seek to reframe the problems so as to cultivate your children’s innate desire to do something practical and beneficial. For the remaining portion of this post, we present some real actions and possible solutions to share together as a family, class, or group of friends, on the topic of endangered primates:
Learn more about primates (apes, monkeys, lemurs, and others). Suggest to your family that you hold an “Endangered Primate (or Monkey) Discovery Night” at home. Unearthing the facts is the first essential step to knowing what is at stake. Borrow library books, search online (see our starter links below) for facts, activities, and videos, and maybe even borrow wildlife DVDs. You might want to narrow down the search to focus on a specific species, or to monkeys, or apes, or lemurs, etc., if you’re worried it might be too broad otherwise; after all, you can always have more discovery nights! Explore where the primates live, how they communicate, what they eat, the happenings in their habitats and regions, and the reasons as to why they're threatened.
Discuss the reasons why we’re part of the problem. This can, and should, be a very constructive and compassionate discussion with your children. Talk with them about what they think about keeping monkeys as pets, and what they know about the pressures on people living in poverty who use primate habitat for their own food needs, or to catch primates to exchange for cash. Present the facts in an enlightening way, and teach with compassion to help your children understand the varied complexities involved in protecting endangered primates.
Research monkey conservation organizations online. Search online for organizations that are doing their best to keep habitat intact and to keep monkeys thriving in the wild. Find organizations that are rescuing monkeys who will otherwise die if left in their diminishing habitat. Find organizations that are caring for monkeys who have been abandoned after people took them as pets. Find organizations that intervene and rescue monkeys from the restaurant trade. These organizations can do with your support in a number of ways, such as financially, through direct volunteering, and through spreading the word about their activities.
Listen to others. If you’re a teacher or educator, consider asking a primate specialist to come to class and talk to the children about monkeys and the conservation issues. Often, such people absolutely love the opportunity to come and educate the next generation about what they are doing and the things that children can do to help.
Take a trip to a local zoo or primate sanctuary. Most good modern zoos are committed to the conservation of endangered animals both ex situ (at the zoo) and in situ (in their natural habitat) and view themselves as a vital link to help ensure the survival of endangered species. Seeing primates up close, and watching them, is inspiring and can instill in you and your children a love and understanding that cannot be conveyed by books or videos. Jane Goodall said that: "Zoos should provide an experience where children can look into the
eyes of animals and get something they can’t get through television." While visiting, talk to your children about the enrichment the primates are receiving, as well as the design of their enclosures, and the role of the zoo or sanctuary in conserving the monkeys and apes that are endangered in their own habitats.
Volunteer abroad. This is a "big" action and one you might well not be in a position to do, given such considerations as costs, spare time, and raising young children, etc. Nevertheless, it is worth exploring this possibility if your children are old enough to travel and if you can spare even a week or two, as there are sanctuaries in Africa and Asia that would truly appreciate your volunteering input. Certainly, teens can often accompany you and volunteer too; discuss the possibilities with your family, get their feedback and ideas, and check out the volunteering opportunities that are available.
Spend time talking to your children about their MiniMonos monkey. It’s wonderful to interact with your child about their online experiences and it’s really special that MiniMonos provides such an engaging and fun way for your children to understand the importance of caring for monkeys. Ask them what makes their monkey special, what they’re doing to help their monkey have a healthy and happy home, and what makes the monkeys on MiniMonos happy. We expect the answers will all be good! And if you haven’t already done so, make your own monkey; there’s an incredible sense of everymonkey camaraderie when you’re visiting your children's treehouse and praising their recycling efforts!
Follow MiniMonos' own adopted orangutan baby. MiniMonos supports Orangutan Outreach, and we'll be keeping you informed regularly of our adoptee on our blog. This can be a fantastic means for you to continue discussing the issues surrounding the plight of orangutans.
Ask your children what they think they’d like to do to make the world a better place for primates. Children have an amazing capacity to cut through layers of complexity with simple, obvious solutions. They’ll have plenty of ideas that aren’t in this list. Just inspire them and they’ll do the rest.
Earth Hour 2010 has passed by–has its message passed us by too? In this post, I express my personal experience of seeking to find the meaningfulness behind celebrating an occasion that I believe matters.
In the days following Earth Hour, news stories jostled between it having been the best Earth Hour yet, to claims of less lights off than previous Earth Hours (see, for example, Fewer lights off for Earth Hour). I saw a number of online discussions suggesting that people “waste their time” observing this occasion, and I was blown away when I learned that some people intended to turn on all of their lights to celebrate Edison Hour, thereby thumbing their nose at any initiative trying to raise awareness of our real and present energy and climate challenges! My disappointment deepened when I visited a regular forum, only to read uncivil language shouting at the “preachy people” to go and turn off their computer forever and to stop “sitting in the dark” when more practical things could be done.
It is a truism to say that the environment would benefit more from doing something practical like planting trees in the local reserve instead of turning off our lights for an hour. But that killjoy attitude totally misses the point of what this occasion represents: Earth Hour is an opportunity to learn from a purposeful interruption to our “energy-on-tap” lives. And ironically, did those wanting to celebrate an "Edison Hour" realize that Edison once said: "I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run our before we tackle that." Indeed, their very "rebelliousness" of switching on all the lights acknowledged that energy is something we all have a choice about, either to switch on, or to switch off. I do hope those who vetoed Earth Hour in favor of "practical things"
are actually out there planting the trees, untying plastic bottle rings
from birds’ necks and participating in community restoration
projects...
The Three Gifts of Earth Hour
Although saddened at seeing this symbolic event maligned and resented, it hasn't swayed my conviction in its importance. I’d like to share with you my own experience of Earth Hour 2010, spent with a bright young person born this millennium. A much anticipated occasion in our household, we reminded one another in the lead-up to Earth Hour to set aside Saturday night’s hour: no TV, no radio, no computer, no lights! Things were busy as usual and as the hour approached, we hadn’t managed to “plan” anything specific, although there were plenty of suggestions. Dinner over, with 10 minutes left, I realized we didn't have any candle holders, so we had to fish make-do's out of the recycling bin. Two nice clean jars and a saucer later, we placed our candles on the table, lit them in readiness, took the phone off the hook, shut down computers, and checked that all the lights were off. My son advised that we were not allowed to use “anything that is powered smartly”.
At 8:30pm, we switched off the last light and excitedly rushed to the window to see if others were doing the same across our lovely hillside view. At first it seemed that other houses weren’t participating; a house across the way had its large TV images flickering constantly, another house had many lights on, and the hillside seemed its usual brightness. My son quickly nicknamed the lit-up houses “the Wild West” because, he told me, “they face West and aren’t turning off their lights!”. Then, as we waited patiently, we started to see lights turning off. Bit by bit, there was a distinctive change and my son became more excited as he saw people taking part. All of a sudden he cried: “Look! The lights are out in that house and they’ve turned off their big TV! They’re doing Earth Hour too!” Eager to see that others were also participating in Earth Hour, the anticipation of waiting while it took up to five minutes past the starting time paid off–many others were participating too! My son’s excitement was infectious, and I realized then that the sense of “solidarity” with my many neighbors sharing and acknowledging the point of the event was the first gift of participating in Earth Hour.
We sat at the table in front of the glowing candles. At this point, I realized that there was a full hour ahead of sitting there and wondered if this was going to work. Would he get bored with "just talk"? Would we feel tempted to go and do something with a light on? Should we go for a walk like we did for last Earth Hour? I decided to ask him what he wanted to do. He laughed and said we could do shadow tricks on the wall with the flashlight, adding that “This feels just like when we go camping, only at home! I love this!” Suddenly he proclaimed: “I want to read!” He took his flashlight and went and found his current favorite library book, The Comic Strip History of the World. When it was my turn, my flashlight alighted on the disarray of books on my desk. Not having planned this, I hadn’t a clue what I felt like reading but the one that leaped out was Al Gore’s Our Choice. “Why not?”, I thought, “It’s apt!” We settled in to read around the candles. The glow was magical–and warm too–the peace entire, broken into only by the gentle, melancholic sound of the morepork owls (ruru) in the trees outside.
As the first half of the hour ticked on, my son shared many thoughts with me. He told me about Alexander the Great, the Roman Empire, Genghis Kahn, Henry the VIII, Montezuma, Atahualpa… My own reading gave me a refresher in greenhouse gases and energy use, facts I shared with him. Periodically we checked the houses and mostly we saw streetlights and the occasional car headlights, but for the most part, the houses remained dark, with the odd non-participating house contrasting starkly with its many lights.
By the second part of the hour, it was clear that we were enjoying our activities by candlelight without the hubbub of computers, TV, phones, and the inevitable relocation of family that instant lighting enables without a second thought. Obliged to remain huddled around our little grouping of candles for the only source of light, Earth Hour gave me a second gift in reminding me how important it is to recreate this closeness, tranquility, and sharing of interests on a regular basis at home, by “switching off” the distractions.
Creativity sparked in this quiet hour. In between my son’s reading about the Dark Ages of Europe and my crash course in how turbines work, a thought evolved between us that it’d be a good idea to make a climate change boardgame together, one that could help families understand the challenges and solutions through standing in other people’s shoes. We drew diagrams and created characters, all by the light of the candle. A third gift of Earth Hour: The two of us now have an ongoing passion to share for many months ahead.
Mindful and Meaningful
Seated together, telling one another things, sharing ideas, and just being close without the concern that sudden technological interruptions would burst the creativity bubble, is an incredible experience that I want our family to engage in more often. It isn’t just about making space for “quality time” with our children, something which many of us already do; it’s also about knowingly turning off the distractions that unconsciously lead our concentration astray. By disconnecting from technology now and then, I believe that we can show our children that this downtime is as much a means to connecting as being "switched on". While humans are clever enough to leave the light on way past sundown, we’re not always so alert to the downside of our brilliant inventions, our tendency occasionally to allow our inventions run us and determine our routines. For me, Earth Hour was an excellent opportunity to practice mindfulness toward the manner in which my energy usage plays out within my family life.
Framing the event as meaningful matters because Earth Hour is not about
measurable mass power reduction once a year (even though it's cool to
see that happen); rather, it is an important opportunity to reflect on
our personal energy usage, a time to calculate the costs (financial,
social, cultural, and environmental) of our energy-hungry lifestyles,
and an hour during which we can ponder the ways in which each of us can
make beneficial individual changes that contribute to the larger whole. The occasion was all the more meaningful to me when I saw that others also felt this way, including MiniMonos turning off its servers in acknowledgment too.
So, did I celebrate a meaningful Earth Hour? I’d say emphatically, yes, I did. I got to share it with my son–and even a handful of famous leaders! I was delighted by the spontaneous ideas that arose despite the lack of planning, and we created something together in a Eureka moment that will continue to spark our creative energy in times ahead. We’ve agreed on sharing regular “Earth Hours” as a family tradition, for family bonding, as much as for marking a concern for resource-saving. We ended Earth Hour (two hours after it began!) committed to sharing more non-distracted time together, looking for more ways to positive message about planetary and human health, and feeling positive that other people around us do “give a stuff”. For a child, symbolic occasions matter and that’s enough reason for me to say Earth Hour should matter to us adults too. Sometimes you just have to be in the dark to be enlightened.
Notes:
The Comic Strip History of the World is a delightful way to introduce children ages 8–12 to a compact and very humorous take on major world history events and leaders. Recommended! ISBN 978-0-7475-9431-4
Our Choice by Al Gore is recommended too, if you haven't already read it. It provides good clarifications of the technical concepts and it's a very good overview that can be easily shared with children around the kitchen table. ISBN 978-0-7475-9098-9
Kaila has been visiting with Deborah Todd our MiniMonos storywriter this week and made friends with her amazing cat who -- apart from being huge, furry and gorgeous -- has very weird and useful feet!
Not to be outdone by our MiniMonos monkeys, Chan has his own opposable thumbs -- and his back feet are also like no other cat we know!
(If you can't view the video clip below, click here)
The MiniMonos story
Welcome to MiniMonos. We're delighted to meet you.
MiniMonos is a virtual world for children: a place of fun, beauty, discovery, generosity, sustainability and friendship.
We created MiniMonos so that children could have a place of their own, a place that allows them to explore and grow without constant pressure to buy stuff. We also wanted them to have a place that embodied core values like sustainability and generosity, without turning those values into a boring lecture.
But we know we can't build it by ourselves. So join us! Tell us what you need, what you like, and what you don't like. Tell us what makes you laugh and what makes you cry. Let's take this journey together -- and make MiniMonos a great place for our kids.
