Perhaps the greatest achievements of the Bush administration thus far have been in its efforts to save the world’s oceans. Yes, Bush did try to repeatedly lessen the protection given to endangered species under the EPA, he did open Red woods to logging, he has unrelentingly supported non-green and unclean energy resources, and yes he even pushed very hard to increase the area in which offshore drilling is allowed, BUT he has done several things in the last 8 years that factually make him the person who has done the MOST for the Earth’s oceans, ever! I’m sure this was not a personal passion of his, but be it by virtue of his environmental advisors or however inadvertently so, we do have something to thank George Bush about.
In 2006, Bush’s admin created the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. In the face of severe objections by commercial interests, they banned fishing in about 362,600 square kilometers of the sea. This is an area larger than all the national parks of the States combined.
Ocean fishing has a much larger effect on the seas than was once imagined. Our consumption (and waste) of all food including that from the sea is so high that a conspicuous difference is created in the world’s waters. Needless to say, almost every ecosystem living in the upper 40 meters of water is affected in one way or another by our fishing industry alone. In the non-deep areas of the sea, practices such as bottom-trawling do not even spare life at the sea bed. In the most destructive form of this method, two trawler ships lay out a large net across the sea floor one end being held by each, and then literally sweep the floor clean. Everything that lies in the path of their nets (and that means everything – whether plant, animal or mineral) is captured in the net and pulled out. Of course over 80% of whats collected is junk to the fishermen, and is tossed back into the sea. On the one hand this seems like a good thing, that at least we return the dead plants and fish back to be decomposed, but undoutedly this must greatly imbalance the local ecosystem.
In its latest achievement, the Bush admin created another national monument around some of the American Islands in the Western Pacific Ocean. Covering the Marianas trench, the volcanic arc of the Pacific, and several islands and atolls, a total area of about 500,000 sq. km is now protected. Apparently some of the islands here hold U.S. naval bases and so “unhindered” access will be allowed to their vessels, but without fishing and mineral mining, the local life is bound to excel. Some recent studies have shown that due to increased temperatures and higher carbon density in the waters, the global growth rate of corals has decreased in the past few years. Previously a coral system could revive itself in as short as 10 years, but now at least 4 times that time is expected. So whatever damage has been done in this area as of recent will at least have a chance to recover, no matter how slowly.
The very fact that the area involved is half a million sq. kms. should be reason enough to rejoice. Richard Leakey has expressed concerns over the effectiveness of “national parks” (though he was referring to terrestrial ones). He suggests that isolating already decreased populations to a yet smaller area like in African national parks, creates more competition between its creatures, especially for those that have to re-adjust to slightly modified conditions. This leads to a higher rate of natural extinction than the norm. The concept can be stretched to water national parks also. But in this case, I think the very magnitude of the size concerned lifts most of the dangers that might come with traditional national parks. For reference, consider that the entire island of New Guinea is 786,000 sq. km in total area. Imagine about 3/4ths of that being something like a national park. Certainly this is a positive.
This is not something I’ve said ever before, or I think I’m going to say ever again, but for setting on a true ‘blue’ legacy, thank you Mr. Bush.
There is a BBC article covering the story here and a PEW press release covering the event here. Bush is set to make his public announcement of this on Tuesday evening.
21st Century Tribalism
Sunday, August 17th, 2008**Edited Mon 22, 2008
It seems that a favourite pastime of humans is constant contemplation of our socio-political systems. To modern youth, for example, an ideal society would provide an individual with all the comforts they desire, but also never inconvenience others. We could never allow dictatorships or authoritarian regimes like China or North Korea, but when we face the likes of Saddam and Hitler, we run out of plausible solutions. We would not only like to eradicate all poverty and provide permanent electricity and food to everyone, but also heavily reduce the human footprint on Earth. Several such contradictions exist in the common liberal thought.
This is not an obsession of modern youth only. All throughout known history, philosophers, priests, politicians, scientists, and artists have tried their own fixes. We have so far tried various forms of communism, monarchy, and democracy, none of which have led to the fulfilment of a majority of individuals. So it doesn’t seem like the modern world has found a path yet. But perhaps a look into our own past would offer a solution. A good place to start is African tribalism.
It has been said before that the African tribes are much more egalitarian in their governance than those from the rest of the world. Though there is no scientific basis for such a statement and it probably is not true, when you compare the Yanomamo (South America) or the Imbi (Papua New Guinea) to the Zulu or the Kung, you can’t help but draw similar conclusions. I am sure this incongruity is caused by nothing more than the structure of modern anthropology. It’s just that those African stories that are more popular happen to be more tame then those American stories that are popular.
One such story is that of the Mbuti, a tribe of pygmies from Congo. A constant companion to the anthropologist (Colin Turnbull), and I am sure one of the most interesting people on our planet, Kenge, is a large part of the story. His exuberance for life and wild manners make almost everything he does very interesting.
There are many memorable scenes from “The Forest People” but the one that totally stands out in my mind is the trip Turnbull and Kenge take outside Kenge’s home (The Ituri Forest). They visit a number of local plantations upon which other already acculturated tribes work under the Belgian Empire. They also run into a priest who in one instance refuses to help an injured man because he is not Christian. But the best part comes when they decide to visit the Virunga National Park.
For those who are not familiar, this park is an absolute dream for naturalists. The peaks of the Rwenzori mountains are covered with snow. At a lower altitude vast grasslands cover the plains. At the very bottom, Lake Edward, one of Africa’s great lakes is surrounded by marshlands and slime forests. And
the night time would offer you the brilliant glow of lava from two semi-active volcanoes.
Or at least these were the conditions back in 1962.
(Incidentally, more than 95% of the hippos in this park have been poached since then) Anyway, back to the story.
Kenge was absolutely opposed to the idea of the visit. He had been told earlier that this was a land of “no trees”. Turnbull had tried to explain to him that the area they were going to visit was a grassland, and the density of trees was nothing compared to that of the Ituri. Kenge, whose tribe call the forest their mother and everything since it not only feeds them but also clothes them, could not imagine how anything good could come out of such a land, that is if it even existed.
What follows is something totally harrowing. I am not going to ruin the story for anyone reading the book, but it changes Kenge in one way, and gives the reader an amazing perspective into the minds of our ancestors.
The reason I am writing all of this is because I just discovered that in 2006, Kenge died. And I’d imagine that for anyone who’s already read the book, Kenge was somewhat of an icon. His people resisted a conversion to a more modern life style and stuck to their heaven.
The Mbuti, if they were like the other tribes, would have lived at a plantation labouring all of their strength and time to raise crops for their colonialist masters. This would have brought them real dollars, a sense of pride (though false), and a more “civilized” way of life. But by being amongst the very few to resist, they evidently enjoyed much happier lives and certainly left a lasting impression on science.
There still are a few such tribes left in the world – still uncontacted, though clearly aware of us. They might not be as utopian as the Mbuti, but their lifestyle is an ancient one and surely a part of our heritage. These tribes are under constant threat of exposure to miners, loggers, poachers, missionaries, militaries and governments. Their progenitors were never exposed to the diseases to which ours were, so their immune systems could not handle many of the viruses that live dormant within us. Anyone of us could unwittingly spread an epidemic between them.
There is a case for optimism here too though. Many of the world leaders from countries that harbour such tribes are becoming more and more aware of them. New additions to the Brazilian government seem to be very conscious to the native tribes and are actively taking steps to protect them. The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, himself a native, also seems genuine in his care. But in Africa, trouble still looms. Wars and other conflicts have already changed the lifestyles of most such tribes, and they are causing further problems for the new converts too.
Kenge might be gone, but there is still hope for others. You can also help by donating. Governmental organizations such as FUNAI in Brazil are always a good place to start, but there are alternatives. Survival International is also a contender for your money.
Only about thirty years ago the term ‘first contact’ was so often heard, but now most people don’t even know such tribes exist. So let’s do something before we lose them completely and become a monoculture.
**Images taken from the blog of a very lucky man, who lived in the Congo and also met Kenge himself, Kim Gjerstad. http://kim.uing.net/1537/home.html?b_st=90&b_d=&b_cd=20070620&b_m=0&b_u=0&b_pi=3980&b_k=0&b_s=&b_o=DESC
Tags: anthropology, conservation, environmentalism, tribal, tribe
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