Page 38 - Silver Lakes May 2021

NATURE

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.

THE POWER OF ONE

By James Clarke, main photograph by Mary Broadley

th
he future of nature conservation, 1700s, who introduced a sense of order in Mauritius in the 16 century, was wiped
th
globally, is at a critical stage, but discussing the natural world. out by sailors in the 17 century.
TI believe there is now more hope
than there has been since worldwide Linnaeus formalised a system of classifying Because of what was often totally
extinctions began accelerating 200 years and naming each organism – animal and thoughtless and ill-considered human
ago. vegetable – by giving each a name for its activities, countless thousands of
genus and its species. Humans became species of plants and animals have been
COVID-19 has brought thinking people to Homo sapiens (Homo = man, sapiens = obliterated since Linnaeus’ time. Consider
their senses. Across our stricken planet, wise). birds alone: out of approximately 11 154
now that even humanity perceives an surviving species 159 have, like the dodo,
assault upon its own species, we are He used (mostly) Latin so the world’s become extinct and roughly a quarter are
suddenly aware of a dire need to rearrange various language groups could all use threatened – some critically. If nothing is
our values regarding the future of wildlife. one language for scientifically labelling done, then one third of all bird species
organisms. The educated world could and an even greater proportion of birds by
On cue, a book has just been published in now understand the uniqueness of each volume, will be gone by the time today’s
New York by a widely acclaimed 47 year- organism. The dodo, that weird giant toddlers reach retirement.
old American science writer, Michelle pigeon, was assigned the name Raphus
Nijhuis. Her book is called Beloved Beasts. cucullatus and I mention it to illustrate a Nijhuis recalls an amateur birder, Rosalie
point. Edge, who in 1929 attended a meeting
Nijhuis (she likes her name to be of the prestigious National Association of
pronounced to rhyme with ‘my house’) The public was becoming aware of the Audubon Societies in the United States to
is a magazine journalist covering the uniqueness of every kind of living organism ask why they supported paying bounties
fields of nature conservation and climate and, also, now began to understand that to people for killing Alaska’s bald eagles.
change. Her book provides an historical human-induced extinction meant the She was met with hostility because, she
survey of two centuries of conservation abrupt end of an irreplaceable, once-living discovered, the ‘conservationists’ were
efforts beginning with Carl Linnaeus in the creature or plant. The dodo, discovered in interested not in saving species in general

36 INTRA MUROS MAY 2021