Tragic earthquake and avalanche in Nepal

antarctic 2005 276With the recent earthquake and avalanche in Nepal and the resultant tragic loss of life, we are reminded once again that we are but travellers on Planet Earth and not its masters. Earthquakes, volcanoes, mudslides, tornadoes, hurricanes, avalanches, impacts, drought, fire, flood, upheaval, subsidence, folding, faulting, crumbling – these phenomena are evidence of planetary changes as the Earth’s mantle breathes and sighs. These massive geological rips and tucks are gargantuan forces that have pushed up mountain ranges and transformed continents over aeons of time, from ancient Pangaea to even more ancient, Rodinia. In the face of this primal planetary evolution we are but small and transitory…

How conservation times have changed

Rhino mother and calf in the wild

< Rhino mother and calf in the wild[/caption]More than a decade ago I wrote in my book “Miracles of Hope: Surviving and Thriving in the 21st Century”: “…the threads of all life on Earth are interwoven into a precious tapestry of infinite complexity. To unravel threads here and there is to weaken the warp and weft of the delicate fabric so that over time the fragile tapestry is rendered colourless, threadbare and perhaps irreparably damaged. This shimmering tapestry with its bright and diverse threads of life is in our hands. Indeed we are a significant part of its splended collage. It it is to survive with any sort of intactness for generations still to come, then collective, cooperative action needs to become the theme for this new century. Complacency will no longer do. To effect the needed changes an extraordinary global effort is required…”

I well remember my sense of frustration when I was writing these words that the fate of the planet rests with us, and yet so few people seemed aware of it, were doing anything about it, or seemed to care what happened to that part of the planet that didn’t include them.

[caption id="attachment_633" align="alignright" width="300"]Rhino guardians - pic by Stew Nolan Pic by Stew Nolan

Since then much has changed with many people around the world taking up the baton of conservation in the realisation that if our children and their children are to avoid an “extinction of experience”, a loss of connecting to and interacting with the natural world, the responsibility for strengthening the fragile tapestry of life on the planet rests with us. Long may their efforts continue….