Page 36 - Waterfall Issue 4 2021

Waterfall Nature

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.
T he future of nature conservation, fields of nature conservation and climate The public was becoming aware

change. Her book provides an historical
globally, is at a critical stage,
of the uniqueness of every kind
but I believe there is now
began to understand that human-
more hope than there has survey of two centuries of conservation of living organism and, also, now
efforts beginning with Carl Linnaeus in
been since worldwide extinctions the 1700s, who introduced a sense of induced extinction meant the
began accelerating 200 years ago. order in discussing the natural world. abrupt end of an irreplaceable,
once-living creature or plant. The
COVID-19 has brought thinking people Linnaeus formalised a system of dodo, discovered in Mauritius in
to their senses. Across our stricken classifying and naming each organism the 16th century, was wiped out
planet, now that even humanity – animal and vegetable – by giving by sailors in the 17th century.
perceives an assault upon its own each a name for its genus and its
species, we are suddenly aware of species. Humans became Homo sapiens
a dire need to rearrange our values (Homo = man, sapiens = wise).
regarding the future of wildlife.
He used (mostly) Latin so the world’s
On cue, a book has just been published in various language groups could all
New York by a widely acclaimed 47 year- use one language for scientifically
old American science writer, Michelle labelling organisms. The educated
Nijhuis. Her book is called Beloved Beasts. world could now understand the
uniqueness of each organism. The
Nijhuis (she likes her name to be dodo, that weird giant pigeon, was
pronounced to rhyme with ‘my house’) assigned the name Raphus cucullatus
is a magazine journalist covering the and I mention it to illustrate a point. The Dodo

34 Waterfall Issue 4 2021