Page 24 - The Villager May 2021
P. 24
Estate News
THE pOWER OF ONE
BY JAMES CLARKE, MAIN PHOTOGRAPH BY MARY BROADLEY
It’s not a question of saving wildlife species from oblivion – the basic task is saving the ecosystems on which their survival has forever depended.
he future of nature conservation, change. Her book provides an historical living organism and, also, now began
globally, is at a critical stage, but survey of two centuries of conservation to understand that human-induced
TI believe there is now more hope efforts beginning with Carl Linnaeus in extinction meant the abrupt end of an
than there has been since worldwide the 1700s, who introduced a sense of irreplaceable, once-living creature or
extinctions began accelerating 200 order in discussing the natural world. plant. The dodo, discovered in Mauritius
years ago. Linnaeus formalised a system of in the 16th century, was wiped out by
COVID-19 has brought thinking people classifying and naming each organism – sailors in the 17th century.
to their senses. Across our stricken planet, animal and vegetable – by giving each Because of what was often totally
now that even humanity perceives a name for its genus and its species. thoughtless and ill-considered human
an assault upon its own species, we Humans became Homo sapiens (Homo
are suddenly aware of a dire need to = man, sapiens = wise).
rearrange our values regarding the future He used (mostly) Latin so the world’s
of wildlife. various language groups could all use
On cue, a book has just been published one language for scientifically labelling
in New York by a widely acclaimed organisms. The educated world could
47 year-old American science writer, now understand the uniqueness of each
Michelle Nijhuis. Her book is called organism. The dodo, that weird giant
Beloved Beasts. pigeon, was assigned the name Raphus
Nijhuis (she likes her name to be cucullatus and I mention it to illustrate a
pronounced to rhyme with ‘my house’) point.
is a magazine journalist covering the The public was becoming aware
fields of nature conservation and climate of the uniqueness of every kind of The dodo
22 • Issue 5 2021 • The Villager
