Finding Hope, Even in the Hardest Stories
World Changing 22/12/2008 19:37
Some of the most insightful and moving writing about Africa comes from correspondents just as they’re leaving the continent. Africa correspondents are generally absurdly overworked. Your “beat” is a continent that’s larger than the US, China and Western Europe combined. Travel is difficult and time-consuming, and stories tend to emerge in locations that are hard to get to, uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous. It makes sense that correspondents don’t get a chance to give a larger view, a perspective on what they’ve seen and done, until they’re heading home or onto other assignments.
But it’s frustrating, as I often find myself discovering interesting voices just as they’re shifting their attention from Africa to other assignments. I haven’t read much by Stephanie Nolen during the years she’s covered the continent for the Globe and Mail, but her musings on her time based in Johannesburg make me wish I’d paid more attention.
Her recollections are a mix of the sad and hopeful. She offers a poignant take on the multicultural hope for South Africa, and the sometimes violently xenophobic present. She’s shocked and saddened by the violence in Kenya earlier this year, unshocked and saddened by economic and political stagnation in Swaziland. In what may be a surprise to people who don’t follow African news closely, she’s most hopeful about AIDS, noting that a disease that looked impossible to address in the face of severe poverty has become managable for hundreds of thousands of peope through low-cost anti-retroviral drugs and an approach to the disease that focuses on making it routine, survivable and a chronic condition, not a death sentence. Not everyone has access to these drugs, but the success that some communities have had is inspiring and helps turn what sounded impossible into a reality.
As I read her story about a friend whose ARV treatments and doctors appointments are now “so normal, so calm and well-managed, that it took my breath away,” I found myself thinking of other African health miracles that we fail to discuss. Understandably, we tend to spend a lot of time talking about persistent problems like malaria and TB - it’s worth spending a bit of time recognizing progress we’ve made on other fronts.
A friend at the Carter Center sent me a couple of encouraging links regarding guinea worm. This parasitic disease - dracunculiasis, more commonly called guinea worm disease - is something you tend to hear of only if you’ve lived in sub-Saharan Africa… though once you’ve heard of it, the descriptions tend to stay with you. If you drink contaminated water in a country where dracunculiasis is endemic, it’s possible to swallow a small flea - a copepods. Your stomach acid will digest the adult, but the larvae survive, and they burrow through your body and breed. The male dies after mating, while the female burrows further into the body, usually into an arm or a leg. After growing to full size - as big as a meter long - she attempts to leave the body, creating a blister in the skin, which causes a painful burning sensation. The natural impulse is to put this blister into water to cool it - when the guinea worm senses contact of the blister with water, she releases thousands of larvae, contaminating that water supply.
(I find the life cycle of this parasite so weird and surreal, I had to check several sources to ensure that I wasn’t transcribing the plot of the film Alien by accident. This really is how this critter lives. God, evolution or both have an evil sense of humor sometimes.)
Eliminating guinea worm means providing clean water to these communities - something that allows communities to avoid cholera, schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis and numerous other diseases - and ensuring that people with guinea worm don’t contaminate these new water supplies. Because there’s no vaccine - or even effective medicine - to attack guinea worm, this involves gently pulling the adult worms from the patient’s body, a painful process that can take over a month.
Here’s what’s amazing - in 1986, there were 3.5 million cases of the disease a year in 20 countries. Now there are roughly 5,000 a year, concentrated in the Sahel (Ghana, Mali, Sudan, Ethiopia, Niger and Nigeria.) The Carter Center, which has led the charge in eliminating the disease, believes that the disease may be completely eradicated in the next few years. That’s absolutely amazing, given that eradication efforts require working in communities that are extremely rural and hard to reach.
Sometimes, especially on a dark and snowy day, it’s a good idea to reflect on the battles we’re winning, and on the groups of people fighting them.
More on the Carter Center’s efforts on guinea worm and other diseases here. A slideshow about a young girl fighting guinea worm in northern Ghana. A Time photogallery of community efforts to combat guinea worm in Wantugu, Ghana.
This piece originally appeared on Ethan Zuckerman's blog, My Heart's In Accra
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(Posted by Ethan Zuckerman in Media at 10:37 AM)
Rolex Award Honors Sustainable Building Solution in Paraguay
World Changing 19/12/2008 23:41
Social innovator and entrepreneur Elsa Zaldívar has developed a new product for home construction in Paraguay. The material, produced as panels that can be used as a substitute for wood, is lightweight but sturdy, and relatively inexpensive to produce, making it a boon for impoverished communities, particularly those in storm-prone areas of the country. And the panels are made of renewable and recycled materials: dried vegetable matter and recycled plastic. The practical and game-changing creation recently earned Zaldívar the Rolex Award for Enterprising Individuals
The idea for the construction material was born out of another social enterprise: in 2001, Zaldívar earned an Ashoka Fellowship to help women of Paraguay's Caaguazú region achieve economic security. She helped them develop a business model around growing and selling loofah, a native plant that, when dried, becomes a rough, spongelike husk that is used in a variety of cosmetic products. As part of their business plan, the women grow and harvest the loofah using practices that are ecologically sound, a practice that adds value both because it produces higher-quality plants that command higher prices, and also because it protects the farmland for years to come.
But even as the loofah business succeeded, Zaldívar wasn't yet satisfied. There were large amounts of wasted vegetable matter left over once the best-quality loofah plants were chosen and processed. Zaldívar recognized the opportunity to use waste from one industry as a nutrient to feed another. She worked with industrial engineer Pedro Padrós, who tested and developed a machine that combines the loofah waste with three types of recycled plastic to make sturdy panels. The panels now cost about U.S. $3 each to produce (competitive with other comparable materials), and will likely become even more affordable in the future.
According to an article published by Rolex:
[Zaldívar] is also involved in discussions with several companies interested in using the panels commercially, but her main aim is to make the material available at low cost to those who need them most.
By supplementing the panels with other locally obtained materials such as bamboo and adobe, Zaldívar believes rural families should be able to build their own simple house in just three to four days. Even urban residents, who often have access to subsidized credit and other government assistance, will be able to use the panels in constructing decent housing.
Read the full article online here.
This innovation is important in Paraguay, where lumber is a diminishing natural resource, and many people need access to affordable materials for constructing safe homes to live in. It is an inspiring example of a solution that is both regionally and culturally appropriate, as it draws on resources that were being produced by the local community in a way that is sustainable, frugal and conservation-minded. And this smart technique can be adapted to suit other regions with waste vegetable matter and plastics, where this style of housing and construction will suit the climate and the needs of the population. The Rolex Award will fund ways to spread awareness about this solution, in the form of a promotion center near Asunción, the construction of three model houses, and the production of a video that will describe the project to people in other countries.
Thanks to Worldchanging ally Hesseltje van Goor for the tip!
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(Posted by Julia Levitt in Shelter at 2:41 PM)
State Agency Calls for Ideas to "Climate-Proof" the Bay Area
World Changing 19/12/2008 21:16
Climate change is happening, and we now need innovative solutions for how to deal with its increasingly disastrous effects. One example of a way to help spur creative answers to climate change comes to us from California. The Bay Conservation and Development Commission, a state agency, is preparing to launch a $125,000 competition calling for proposals from architects, planners and engineers to "climate-proof" the San Francisco Bay Area.
The San Francisco Chronicle's urban design writer John King wrote:
The aim isn't to stop climate change from happening, say officials, or to build impregnable levees. The goal is to get designers thinking creatively about how to prepare for a world where the sea level might climb several feet - inundating large portions of the developed region unless something is done.
"We are looking for ideas that can lead to future standards about how to deal with rising tides," said Brad McCrea, a development design analyst for the commission. "We want to move the discussion forward."
The commission Thursday approved a $25,000 contract with David Meckel to manage the competition. This means selecting the design jury as well as framing the rules - such as deciding whether design teams will be asked to look at specific sites or respond to broader issues.
"There's an opportunity to suggest ideas that can be applied to our bay but have universal access," said Meckel, whose design competition work is a sideline to his role as director of research for the California College of the Arts. "If one of the results is a solution for protecting low-lying freeways, for example, other cities are welcome to steal it."
The ideas contest will start in the spring and conclude at the end of 2009. Then the commission will choose the the top five "provocative and plausible" entries and award their designers with $10,000.
Regions around the world will be facing waterfront issues and will need to come up with innovative ideas to protect their shorelines as the sea levels rise. Perhaps this could this be the beginning of a new kind World's Fair? One that comes up with solutions to problems people all over the world will soon face?
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(Posted by Sarah Kuck in Climate Change at 12:16 PM)
Design Roundup: Designing Products for Sustainable Use
World Changing 19/12/2008 21:00
By Adele Peters
When someone mentions sustainable product design, the first thing that comes to mind may be products that are made with renewable materials, or materials that can be used in a closed technical loop. Of all the stages in the lifecycle of a product resource extraction, manufacturing, distribution, use and disposal the beginning and end of the process often receive disproportionate attention from designers. Picture, for example, the plethora of bamboo objects available at most green retail stores. Conventional materials have been swapped for better alternatives, but the ways in which consumers use these products remain largely unchanged.
As sustainable product design continues to develop, its interesting to consider how we could pay more attention to reducing the environmental impacts associated with use in particular.
Any product designed to increase energy efficiency should reduce impacts while the product is in use. But an energy-efficient refrigerator, for example, is given a rating based on how it performs while it sits in the kitchen, unopened. Serious losses in efficiency come from user behavior: for example, when using a refrigerator, a person might decrease efficiency by opening the appliance door twenty times while loading groceries, or putting hot food directly in the refrigerator before letting it cool. Few products available today fully consider how unsustainable use of a product can be influenced, or even controlled, through design.
A handful of products have shown creativity and innovation in re-imagining the way we use our things. The results, though varied, are making progress toward goods that are more energy efficient, smarter and more effective.
The most direct application is products whose purpose is to change user behavior. The Power Aware Cord and several new home energy monitors including EnergyHub, The Energy Detective and the much-hyped Wattson, are intended to influence behavior by providing real-time feedback that shows users how much energy they are using in their household appliances. By making the normally invisible entity of wasted energy very visible, these devices encourage their owners to adopt more efficient daily habits.
But I find these even more interesting: products that attempt to make it impossible for users to behave unsustainably. To understand this concept, think of all the analogous designs that exist for other purposes: my Prius, for example, forces me to use my key to lock the car door from outside, so I can't lock the key in.
To help users reduce waste, this laundry detergent from Unilever is dispensed in tablet form (PDF) rather than as a liquid that could be overdosed. The Eco Kettle (pictured above) makes it easier to boil just the amount of water necessary, avoiding waste of energy. There are surprisingly few other examples of this type of product, although it's easy to imagine that the concept could be implemented in multiple ways. The default settings on printers could print double-sided pages; washing machines could default to the most energy-efficient setting, and make it more difficult to choose other options.
Interest in the area of sustainable product use is growing, and design schools are encouraging increased research in the field. Perhaps as a result, many other innovative-use products have been designed as concepts, though not yet developed. Dan Lockton, a researcher at Brunel University in the UK, is creating an innovation tool to help designers choose the most applicable design techniques to influence user behavior. The 'Design with Intent' tool will detail the technical and psychological considerations that need to be taken into account for each type of behavior change. Next year, Lockton will begin user trials with prototype devices designed with the tool, to determine which design techniques work and why.
Source: Dan Lockton, Brunel University
Researchers at Loughborough University, also in the UK, have considered other aspects of designing for sustainable behavior. They have compiled an interesting list of developed and conceptual products of this type here.
The materials used to make our stuff are the source of a large part of each product's environmental and social impact, but there's still much more to the equation, and we're encouraged by designers and manufacturers who are innovating at all points along their products' life cycles. Look for more products of this kind in the future, and keep an eye out for companies exploring other game-changing strategies such as design for disassembly, product stewardship/producer take-back, and product-service systems.
Read more related posts in the Worldchanging archives:
Design for Increased Energy Awareness
Sabrina Raaf and Making Visible the Invisible
Adele Peters is currently earning a Master's in Sustainability at Blekinge Institute of Technology in Karlskrona, Sweden.
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(Posted by WorldChanging Team in Columns at 12:00 PM)
Need a More Efficient Flight from Dubai to San Francisco? Good News...
World Changing 19/12/2008 01:19
Editor's note: Below is a post that Adam Stern at TerraPass recently shared with us. In our opinion, the accomplishment of the world's "longest green flight" is a dubious one, and we are wary of spreading false hope that the type of special arrangement described will be the key to creating a low-carbon air travel industry. But we still felt that the flight, Stern's account of how the reductions were achieved, and the commentary that resulted, are worth knowing about.
Previously on Worldchanging, we've discussed various solutions for improving the sustainability of global air travel, from alternative jet fuels to new mechanical designs to an innovative way to reuse airplane fuselages. For the most distilled version of our position on air travel, read Alex Steffen's post, Why We Need An X Prize for Eco-Friendly Air Travel
Longest green flight in the world
By Adam Stern
Emirates Airline flight # 225 landed at San Francisco International yesterday afternoon having completed a remarkable nonstop trip from Dubai. The journey aboard a Boeing 777 200-LR (for long-range) covered 8,085 miles and was billed as the longest green flight in the world.
Emirates spent three months planning this flight to maximize fuel savings and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Before leaving Dubai, the airline practiced new fuel-saving measures, including:
- Washing the plane to reduce air friction;
- Removing unnecessary weight from inside the plane;
- Using auxiliary power from the airport terminal instead of power generated by the jet engines; and
- Employing a tug vehicle to take the plane from the gate to the runway.
Air traffic control approved a smooth take-off to cruising altitude, thus avoiding a more common ascent in which planes move up incrementally with bursts of engine acceleration.
Perhaps the most crucial element in the flight plan was securing permission from the governments of Russia, Iceland, and Canada to use a special route that crossed near the North Pole.
During the flight, the pilots received frequent live weather reports — along with prompt authority to fine-tune the routing to take advantage of favorable wind conditions. Finally, traffic controllers at SFO gave flight # 225 a priority landing approach through the often-busy Golden Gate air corridor.
The result: Emirates reduced flight time from 16 hours to 15 hours, 19 minutes and cut fuel use by 6 percent. Estimated savings in greenhouse gas emissions were 40,000 lbs. These savings are on top of reductions obtained by using the Boeing 777 200-LR, a jet 20% more efficient than a comparable Airbus 340-500. Emirates will now analyze the flight results and determine which environmental practices can be applied more broadly in its worldwide operation.
While air travel causes only two percent of global GHG emissions, it’s the fastest growing segment. Airlines would be wise to follow the results of Emirates’ green experiment.
This post originally appeared on the TerraPass blog.
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(Posted by WorldChanging Team in Transportation at 4:19 PM)
Global Warming Animated
World Changing 18/12/2008 23:07
Climate change is an enormously complex issue. Some scientists have dedicated their entire lives to researching it. They've discovered its causes (ahem, that'd be us) and have come up with some hypotheses about what will happen if we don't act soon (rising sea levels, violent storms, desertification, melting ice caps, etc).
But many people are still at varying levels of understanding when it comes to climate change: the science behind it, how it will affect our daily lives, the policies being proposed and what do to about it.
One group of people working to help us grasp the challenges we are up against are visual thinkers: artists, designers photographers and cartoonists. Lately, we've been coming across lots of great animations that can help us understand and discuss these complex issues through their entertainment and educational value, or through political and social commentary. Here are some of the best I found. They range from satirical to musical, public service to comedy:
This one is a great place to start. We reviewed Wake Up, Freak Out -- Then Get a Grip a few months ago:
Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip from Leo Murray on Vimeo.
This one shows that everyone can help save the planet and be a superhero:
Climate Change Superheroes from Loub101 on Vimeo.
This one takes a look at greenwashing and what it means to be green:
The Green Song from Mario Vellandi on Vimeo.
In this one, two polar bears argue about what causes climate change:
This one's brought to you by the good folks at Futurama. Although bitingly cynical, we thought it brought up some interesting points about politics:
This one was a winner in the 5th Annual Media That Matters Film Festival
In this one, Cap' n Dividend teaches us about how to solve the climate crisis without causing further damage to the economy:
This one's just really silly:
This one's visually stunning. Through images alone, it goes straight to the point: we have issues, let's start solving them.
Using art to help everyone understand these issues is not just helpful for explaining the problem, it can also help us creatively imagine the future. What better way to lay out your plans for an idea than with a visual representation of what it might look like?
Have you seen others animations that help explain climate change? Share in the comments below.
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(Posted by Sarah Kuck in Climate Change at 2:07 PM)
Resource: Climate Change Economics
World Changing 18/12/2008 19:21
A handy website for climate policy research.
Alright, this website -- Climate Change Economics -- is basically my dream come true. (Sad, isn't it?) It's a growing collection of resources on, er, the economics of climate change, and specifically on climate policy. Even better, the site is explicitly designed for state legislators, state agencies, and governor's staff.
Timely, no?
I haven't waded through even a small fraction of the material yet, but it looks to be a handy tool. Enjoy.
Oh, I do have one criticism. The website's tagline -- "lowering carbon intensities, not standards of living" -- has got to be eligible for a prize of some kind. Now we need another website called "Climate Change Framing and Messaging."
Credit to Ross MacFarlane, Climate Solutions.
This piece originally appeared on the Sightline Institute's blog, The Daily Score.Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!
(Posted by Eric De Place in Climate Change at 10:21 AM)
Media Re:public - the Future of News in a Digital Age
World Changing 18/12/2008 18:19
My friend Persephone Miel came to the Berkman Center more than a year ago to take on a challenging question: What’s the future of journalism in a digital age? This is the sort of question research centers love to take on - thorny, complicated, and very important. With support from the MacArthur Foundation, Persephone and Berkman colleagues have held conferences and conversations, written papers and blogposts and ultimately released a comprehensive report from the Media Re:public project.
The video above gives a quick sense for the questions asked and (sometimes) answered in the report. The report is a set of linked documents, including an overview of Persephone’s research, papers by knowledgeable people in the field, and a set of case studies of experiments in integrating citizen media with professional journalism. My paper, “International News: Bringing about the Golden Age” wonders why the international connections possible in a digital age haven’t led to better, more compelling international news coverage. Dan Gillmor argues that new media demands a new form of literacy, for readers as well as for journalists. And Ernie Wilson raises the stakes of the debate, arguing that democracy is at risk if we don’t overcome some of the limitations and siloing we’re seeing in the early stages of new media. There’s lots of amazing stuff in the report for those interested in a skeptical, scholarly and ultimately optimistic view of news in a digital age - hope you’ll check it out.
This piece originally appeared on Ethan Zuckerman's blog, My Heart's In Accra.
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(Posted by Ethan Zuckerman in Media at 9:19 AM)
Invidividual Action vs Collective Action
World Changing 18/12/2008 10:25
A continuing debate erupts within the environmental movement about the relative merits of individual versus collective action. Back in 2007, on the subject of individual action, The New York Times columnist Tom Friedman wrote,
You can change lights. You can change cars. But if you don't change leaders, your actions are nothing more than an expression of, as Dick Cheney would say, "personal virtue."
I heard criticisms like Friedman's constantly throughout a one-year project in environmental living that I took on under the moniker No Impact Man. What difference can one person make? Having had a lot of critics who forced me to look at the issue, I've come to some conclusions.
Firstly, there is one circumstance under which one person absolutely cannot make a difference: if that one person doesn't try. And if we don't try, who among us knows whether we have foregone the chance to influence the people around us? Which one of us knows for sure that, by applying our talents and efforts to what we believe in, whether we might become a Martin Luther King Jr. or a Bobby Kennedy or an Al Gore or a Betty Friedan or a Nelson Mandela?
Not that these great names are necessarily the most important aspects of movements. They are only symbols of the thousands and millions of people upon whose shoulders they stood. They are simply the straws we say broke the camel's back. But those straws did not do the trick. It is the thousands and thousands of straws that come before that weakened the proverbial camel's back enough to be broken. The one person or action that breaks the back is often the one that history recognizes. But the domino that begins the domino effect requires all of us to be in line in order for the chain reaction to take place.
Of course, Friedman is correct to suggest we need collective action on climate change. We need gigantic investment in green infrastructure. We need regulation to curb industry excesses. We need an entire new economic mindset. These things cannot be done by individuals. Those of us who are concerned about our environmental crisis must get involved in the political arena and find ways to keep pressure on our politicians in this regard.
But to suggest that collective and individual actions are mutually exclusive, or even different, is wrongheaded and dangerous. It ignores the way cultures change, the responsibilities of citizens, and our potential as agents of change. Collective action is nothing more than the aggregation of individual actions. And individual action does not preclude involvement in collective action. In fact, it absolutely demands it. The two work together.
Think about this: How much more convincing is an advocate for urban bike lanes who rides his bike every day? Who is more convincing, an advocate for climate change mitigation who takes the subway or one who drives alone in an SUV? Living our values across all areas of our individual lives -- from the private to the public -- demonstrates an integrity and conviction that can help persuade the skeptics.
This climate problem is so big that we need a change in the culture. We need to look at the way we live. We need to find a good life that does not depend so much on energy and material throughput. And Government is not in the business of telling us how to live. Government is in the business of facilitating the way of life the people have chosen. Therefore, if we want to ensure that the planet maintains its ability to support us, we have to choose differently. This is a battle not just for votes, but for hearts and for minds. Hearts and minds are changed by individuals, not by governments.
We know we have to change the system, but we must also remember that the system is only a collection of individuals. What the system does is just the aggregation of all of our individual actions: as citizens, as shareholders, as CEOs, as product designers, as customers, as friends, as family members and as voters. We have to stop waiting for the system to change, and remember that every decision we make in our homes and in our workplace amounts to "the system."
We need to pick up a new model of "engaged citizenship," in which we realize that the way we live affects everyone around us. We need to develop new ways to take up and assert our responsibility. We need to take "participatory democracy" to a new level, where we don't just vote for the leaders who will bring us the culture we want, but where we take responsibility for making the culture ourselves.
What we'll get in return is the feeling of a life fully lived, one in which we are not victims of the system but leaders of it. Where we choose instead of inherit. Where we stride purposefully instead of sleepwalk. Where we are true masters of our destiny.
Colin Beavan writes and administers NoImpactMan.com, a meeting point for discussion of environmental issues, lifestyle redesign, political engagement and citizen responses to our planetary emergency from a "deep green" perspective. Beavan's experiment in lifestyle redesign is the subject of his book (scheduled for publication in September 2009 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux) and a documentary by independent filmmakers Laura Gabbert and Eden Wurmfeld.
Photo: "Critical Mass, Wacker Drive." Credit flickr/Payton Chung, Creative Commons license.
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(Posted by Colin Beavan in Columns at 1:25 AM)
Essay From Chile: Censo de Aves / The Bird Census
World Changing 17/12/2008 21:00
Last week, I was fed up with the city. The crowds of people, the hours spent on the subway, and the time wasted in front of a slow computer. Don't get me wrong; Santiago de Chile is a beautiful place with more green spaces than I had previously imagined and a view of the Andes that is enough to revive any spirit feeling dulled by the urban bustle. But I knew it was time to get out of this basin of contrasts: relentless development and new apartments, framed by mountains and traversed by the River Mapocho that first gave life to settlement by the indigenous peoples.
Many other city dwellers are familiar with this claustrophobic feeling. The remedy is, more often than not, spending time outdoors, experiencing what we like to call "nature." My much-needed weekend escape came in the form of a bird census. I carpooled with twenty or so enthusiastic volunteers to the coast, where beach soccer and swimming in the brisk Pacific Ocean were pleasant side attractions to our main purpose. The evening we arrived, we gathered around a campfire and our guides introduced us to the history behind our project.
The story began in 2004 when CELCO, Chiles largest paper pulp manufacturer, set up a factory on the banks of the Rio Cruces nature sanctuary, near the town of Valdivia. The corporation took advantage of the economic opportunity afforded by their riverside location, and discharged waste into the river. The pollution heavily impacted the area, whose ecological significance was internationally recognized and protected by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. The previously clear water became so contaminated that the waterweeds, on which wildlife feed, could no longer grow.
The black-necked swan became the symbol of the destruction. Images of birds too weak to fly, or floating dead on the contaminated cesspool, provoked international outcry. The damage was severe, with what was probably South Americas largest black-necked swan population almost completely wiped out within a year. The people of Valdivia set up an action group for the swans supported by a swift NGO response. While it was obvious that the black-necked swan population was suffering an unprecedented decline and thousands of swans had been killed, the lack of baseline data meant that nobody could accurately quantify the impacts.
In 2005, the Unión de Ornitólogos de Chile (AvesChile) organized an initiative to bring ornithologists, university students and other interested parties together to ensure that this dark history would not be repeated. The group agreed that they needed to document and provide a continuous record of bird communities in wetlands nationwide, in order to recognize and prevent adverse human impacts. The idea of the bird census arose from these meetings. Volunteer trips, such as the one I took, now happen four times a year.
Our site included the estuary and adjacent wetland where the Ligua and Petorca rivers converge, an important habitat for numerous species of avifauna. Guidebooks and binoculars aided us in identifying the endemic Chorlo chileno through the mist. We also spotted the Gaviotin sudamericano (South American Tern), the Pilpilen (Magellanic Oystercatcher), common throughout the Americas and species whose distribution covers four continents like the Playero blanco (Sanderling). Fifty eight bird species have been documented nationwide by the census an eighth of all the bird species in Chile.
The student-led group from Santiago has a social purpose as well as an environmental one. In addition to bird experts, they encourage people who may have limited experience with biological pursuits to join them on the quarterly census expeditions. This gives Santiaguinos a chance to learn about the project, and also to learn to recognize bird species, a skill that enhances their future trips to the coast.
Tomás Altamirano, one of organizers responsible for our site and a Masters student at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, explains, We try to create an opportunity for people who are not normally in direct contact with nature, those who may often experience nature through television or lectures. It is important to have direct experiences with other species in the wild, to learn about the balance of humans and nature and understand that our actions can have an impact of the wider environment.
The group has also given talks about the ecological importance of the wetland for migratory birds to residents, fishermen and holiday home owners in the Salinas de Pullally area. Census participants and community members support this educative objective because they believe that in order to protect and conserve an ecosystem, they must deliver both research and environmental education. AvesChile hopes one day to give talks at local schools and get children involved in the project, to publish the findings from the censuses more widely, and to contribute to the Wetlands International database.
The tragedy of the black-necked swan has inspired action to prevent further such environmental calamities that disrupt important wetland ecosystems. Altamirano articulates his wider vision for the bird census, stating, We'd like to raise awareness of wetlands, birds and the importance of nature for human well-being. By trying to be conscious of and responsible for our actions in our daily urban lives, we can show respect for other living beings with who we share this world.
Tired, slightly sunburnt, yet reinvigorated, I am ready again to face the city of Santiago. Much as I treasured my time away, within the city lie boundless eco-opportunities, from helping directly with environmental projects to choosing where I purchase my food. While we can't all get away to the mountains or the beach whenever we want, living more ecologically within the city provides a way to reinforce our much-needed positive relations with the environment.
Photo credit: flickr/pablo caceres, Creative Commons license.
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(Posted by Josephine Howitt in Columns at 12:00 PM)
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