Topic 32: Conservation

Language preservation is the effort to prevent languages from becoming unknown. A language is at (1)______ of being lost when it no longer is taught to younger generations, while fluent speakers of the language (usually the elderly) die.

Language is an important part of any society, because it enables people to communicate and express themselves. When a language dies (2)_______, future generations lose a vital part of the culture that is necessary to completely understand it. This makes language a vulnerable aspect of cultural heritage, and it becomes especially important to (3) __________ it. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), from facts published in their “Atlas of Languages in Danger of Disappearing,” there are an estimated 6,000 languages spoken worldwide today, and half of the world’s population speaks the eight most common. More than 3,000 languages are reportedly spoken by fewer than 10,000 people each. Ethnologue, a reference work published by SIL International, has cataloged the world’s known (4)_______ languages, and it estimates that 417 languages are on the verge of extinction.

There are different factors that can (5)________ a language in danger of becoming extinct. One is when a language is no longer being taught to the children of the community, or at least to a large number of the children. In these cases, the remaining fluent speakers of the language are generally the older members of the community, and when they pass away, the language dies out with them.

(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_preservation)

Countries around the world have growing (1)_______ of trash because people are throwing out more trash than ever before. How did we become a throwaway society?

First of all, it is now easier to replace an item than to spend time and money to repair it. (2)_________ to modern manufacturing and technology, companies are able to produce items quickly and inexpensively. Products are plentiful and prices are low, so we would rather buy something new than repair it. Even if we did want to repair something, many items are almost impossible to repair. These products contain many tiny, complicated parts. Some even contain small computer chips. It’s easier to throw these items away and buy new ones than to fix them.

Another (3)__________ factor is our love of disposable products. As busy people, we are always looking for ways to save time and make our lives easier. Why should we use cloth kitchen towels? It’s easier to use paper towel once and toss it (4)_______. Companies manufacture thousands of different kinds of disposable items: paper plates, plastic cups, cameras, and razors for shaving, to name a few. The problem is that disposable products also contribute to our trash problem.

Our appetite for new products also contributes to the problem. We are addicted to (5)___________ things. As consumers, we want the latest clothes, the best TVs, and cellphones with west features. Companies tell us to buy, buy, and buy. Advertisements persuade us wer is better. The result is that we throw away useful possessions to make room for new ones.

(Source: http://www.planetthoughts.org)

At its narrowest point, Vietnam is only 30 miles (48 kilometers) wide. Two of Vietnam’s largest rivers, the Mekong in the south and the Red in the north, end at the South China Sea in huge swampy plains called (1)________ . These regions are home to most of the country’s people and provide (2)________ ground to grow rice and many other crops.
Vietnam’s mountainous terrain, forests, wetlands, and long coastline contain many different habitats that support a great (3)________ of wildlife. Some 270 types of mammals, 180 reptiles, 80 amphibians, and 800 bird species reside in Vietnam.

Many rare and unusual animals live in Vietnam, (4)________ giant catfish, Indochinese tigers, Saola antelopes, and Sumatran rhinos. The government has set up 30 parks and reserves to protect its animals, but their survival is (5) ________doubt because much of their habitat has been cleared for lumber or to grow crops.

There are a number of initiatives, some already introduced and some in the pipeline, that are specifically designed to ensure that the economic value of nature is recognised.

One example is reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, under which forest owners are paid not to cut down trees. A number of governments across the world have committed hundreds of millions of dollars to these projects. Another is habitat banking, the market for which currently stands at around $3bn in the US, where companies that degrade natural areas are forced to restore nature elsewhere. Trade in forest conservation obligations in Brazil and ground-water salinity credits in Australia have also proved successful. Alongside these schemes and those like them, there are various compensation arrangements that make those causing environmental damage pay for it, just like carbon credits that currently exist. Exemptions from these various taxes, charges and fees, as well as subsidies, are also used to encourage environmentally responsible behaviour.

There is also growing pressure for companies to begin incorporating the costs of the damage that they do to the Earth’s natural resources into their profit and loss accounts. Only by incorporating these costs into their accounts, many argue, will companies be forced to reduce their impact on the natural world. "Directors’ bonuses don’t have to be included in company accounts from a pure profit and loss point of view, but they are. Environmental externalities should be the same," says Pavan Sukhdev, a career banker and team leader of the United Nations’ The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity study.

“This is not a straightforward process and needs standard methodologies accepted by everyone, but it could be achieved within 10 years.” The next step would be to incorporate environmental assets into national accounts.

(Source: https://www.bbc.com/)

Nature photographer Joel Sartore is passionate about endangered species. He uses his camera to make people aware of environmental problems. They tell the stories of animals that may disappear unless we work fast to save them.

Sartore’s latest project is called Photo Ark. The goal of the project is to make a photographic record of the world’s biodiversity. As Sartore says, “For many of Earth’s creatures, time is running out.”

When asked how he became interested in saving endangered species, Joel said “When I was a child, I read about Martha, the very last passenger pigeon. Martha died in 1914. I was shocked. In the past, there were 5 billion passenger pigeons – probably more than any other bird. But here was the last one, and there was no way to save it. How did we let this happen? I couldn’t understand it. I still feel the same way. I want to prevent this from ever happening again.” Photography is the best way to show problems to the world. It gets people to care about the problem. It’s not enough to just show pretty animals in a beautiful landscape. Now, we must show the threats to these animals as well. The good news is that there are many ways to publish stories and photographs on environmental issues. Self-publishing on the Web is one way to do this. Even nonprofessional photographers can help to make us aware of these problems.

Naturalists in the developed countries were largely split between conservationists and preservationists. This battle is no better demonstrated in the US than during the Progressive Era of 1890-1920.

While the existing economic paradigm was one of laissez-faire economics that many felt was damaging the natural environment and integrity of natural resources, the conservationist movement led by Theodore Roosevelt was deeply concerned about the wastage and harm it was doing to the land, leading to a large number of game species in the US on the brink of extinction in less than a century. Then there were the preservationists who argued that the proposals of the emerging conservationists did not go far enough. This was certainly the view of John Muir who believed that there was still too much concern for the economic value of land rather than the need for preservation of pristine landscapes. Muir’s Sierra Club made a stand with the development of the Hetch Hetchy Dam in Yosemite, arguing that the land should be kept pristine and the valley protected.

As president, Roosevelt pushed strongly for conservation issues which may be the reason they eventually won the day. During his term in office, around 230m acres of land were put under Federal protection, established the US Forestry Service, and created five national parks, and several national forests. That’s not to say that preservationists did not have their victories. In the 1960s, the Wilderness Actset aside large tracts of land with minimal human impact and of particular cultural, scientific, or natural interest. In these areas, logging, mining and other industrial activities are prohibited and there are strong protections in place to maintain the integrity of natural water sources partly for the ecosystem and partly for industrial and commercial developments downstream of the water flow.

(Source: https://www.environmentalscience.org/)

The gathering of thousands of individuals representing the myriad religions of the world for the Parliament of World Religions in Melbourne this year is a testament to the power that religion has to bring people together, to unite them in a search for truth, and to inspire them to work towards the betterment of this world. And this year the Parliament is focusing on issues of the environment through some of its subthemes.

In our day we are struggling with a number of issues related to the environment such as climate change, the pollution of the air, oceans, seas, and waterways, and the challenges of feeding a growing global population. While many of these issues are relatively new so that our forebears did not address them explicitly, our religious traditions do offer us worldviews and principles that aid us in finding solutions to our contemporary problems.

One of the basic guiding principles that forms an Islamic vision of humanity’s relationship with the environment is our role as God’s deputies on earth. Islam considers human beings to be vice gerents or deputies of God on earth. Our mission as God’s deputies means that we are charged with the responsibility to care for and maintain the world. On the other hand, the fact that God has placed the world at our disposal means that we may benefit from what it has to offer us. In both cases, we must collaborate with our brothers and sisters in humanity.

One of the key characteristics of humankind’s role as deputies in the world is balance. We must find a balance between benefiting from the blessings that the world has to offer us, and preserving the order that God has established. We must find a balance between securing our own needs while not depriving others of theirs, whether those others reside in different parts of the world, such as less powerful nations, or in different times, such as our children and grandchildren.

If we take seriously our role as God’s deputies on earth, not just by benefiting from the environment, but by preserving it and ensuring that other communities and generations will have the same possibilities to drink clean water, breath fresh air, and live in a world that is in harmony with itself and with ourselves, we may hope to be among those who are beloved to God due to their care for His creation.

(Source: https://www.abc.net.au/)

National parks protect the best of our natural heritage: stunning landscapes, extraordinary wildlife and majestic forests. Together with other protected areas they form the basis of our economic and social wellbeing, attract millions of visitors annually, and help to protect Australia’s unique wildlife by acting as a refuge for threatened species. Future generations deserve the right to see these natural values intact and protected as we do today.

Our national parks form the cornerstone of biodiversity conservation in Australia, containing vital habitat that provides safe havens in which animals and plants can survive and thrive. Together with other protected areas, they provide a ‘backbone’ of core conservation areas that can be linked by conservation efforts across different tenures, supporting a diverse, healthy and resilient environment. A well-connected landscape is essential for saving NSW’s 1,000 threatened species, 70% of which occur in our national parks. In addition our protected areas provide life-sustaining services vital for the wellbeing of our environment and society, such as protection of urban water catchments and climate amelioration.

National Parks provide a major boost to Australia’s economy, with nature-based tourism bringing $23 billion into the country every year. Regional communities in particular benefit from the 35.5 million people who visit NSW’s national parks each year, through job creation and money spent on accommodation, fuel and food. The Great Barrier Reef alone attracts more than $6 billion a year in tourist-spending and supports over 63,000 jobs. Furthermore, from ancient aboriginal rock-art sites, to the buildings left over from early European settlements, our national parks also serve as a natural history book dating back thousands of years. Our national parks protect these vital and fragile places; areas where the traces of a history extending back more than 22,000 years can remain undisturbed.

Natural areas have a profound effect on our physical and emotional health and wellbeing. In our increasingly frenetic world, our national parks are important sanctuaries where people can take time out, enjoy nature, get fit, relax and revitalise, whilst nature’s inherent beauty serves as a source of artistic, creative and spiritual inspiration. Research on the benefits of contact with the natural environment show that it is likely to have a significant positive psychological effect, serving to reduce stress, anger, frustration and aggression, providing an opportunity for social bonding, and serving as a place for learning and mental stimulation. Children in particular display long-term benefits of playing outdoors.

(Source: https://npansw.org/)

Zoos used to be primarily a place for people to see wild animals they had never seen. Now, however, zoos serve a new purpose – to be captive-breeding programs for endangered animals. There are less than a hundred Sumatran rhinos worldwide, and three were born in Cincinnati Zoo. When old enough, one of the males was sent to Way Kamabas National Park in Sumatra and this helped to start the process of re-populating his species in the wild and saving it from the extinction.

Other zoos have started captive-breeding programs as well. Zoos have saved the Arabian onyx, the black-footed ferret, the red wolf, the Guam rail, and the California condor. But the cost of the programs for saving the threatened animals is not cheap. The condor program alone costs up to $2 million a year. While it is mostly large-city zoos involved in captive breeding, smaller zoos do their part. The Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington, Illinois, is working on breeding the endangered, and small. Mount Graham red squirrel.

Zoos have always been involved in animal conservation to some degree, but the question of which animals to save is a big one. Endangered animals may not be the most exciting to see in a zoo, and to di conservation work the zoos must survive financially. Space is a problem as well. A zoo might be able to save a small number of large animals or a large number of small ones. Currently, the most threatened group of animals is amphibians. Zoos realize that visitors may not want to see frogs, salamanders, or other small animals and may only pay to see rhinos, lions, and tigers. Some scientists believe zoos should be less tourist attractions and more conservation sanctuaries.

Thus, although zoos continue to do good work, they still confront tricky questions. There are a limited number of animals that can be cared for in zoos, and that means many species on the edge of extinction may not survive. The Sumatran orangutan and a thousand other threatened species have not made it into a captive-breeding program, but the species will continue to exist. How? In the Frozen Zoo. Cells from these animals are stored in the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research in liquid nitrogen. Only one animal in the Frozen Zoo is presently extinct, but many others are at dire risk. In the Frozen Zoo, however, the cells of animals will be preserved for study through their genetic material.

(Adapted from Reading Explorer 5, Nancy Douglas et al., 2912)