Author: todayinconservation

Tero Mustonen, Finnish Environmentalist, Born (1976)

Save the rainforest!  That’s what we hear over and over—and for good cause.  But at the other ends of the earth, there are also valuable ecosystems, doing valuable work to sustain our lives.  Tero Mustonen is a champion for Arctic ecosystems, urging us to protect them from misuse, and doing his utmost to make that happen.

Tero Mustonen was born (June 23, 1976) and raised in the small Finnish village of Selkie in far eastern Finland, only 35 miles from the Russian border.  “I grew up in a fishing family. We were close to nature, living without running water in a small village in the boreal forest each summer.”  He still lives in Selkie, where he continues to fish commercially and has become the head of the village.  He believes that indigenous knowledge is essential to keeping Arctic ecosystems—all ecosystems, really—functioning properly.  “In most places around the world, we do not know how things were prior to the 1900s, so indigenous memory can inform about changes and ecosystems….Without indigenous peoples and their wisdom, there would not be nearly enough preserved biodiversity.”

But Mustonen also understands that modern science and techniques are necessary tools to sustain nature.  “I decided I needed scientific training to understand properly what was going on in the landscapes I knew.  I often say that I first went to a real school, fishing on the ice, and then I learned the analytical tools to make the link to scientific knowledge.”  He learned well, earning his doctorate in 2009 from the University of Eastern Finland.

That scientific knowledge helped Mustonen put his experience into a broader context—a context built on peat.  About 30% of Finland is covered in peat, a compressed material of soil and decomposing vegetation.  The peat does not decompose completely due to insufficient oxygen, thereby absorbing and storing huge quantities of CO2.  Peat has been used locally throughout time as a fuel source.  But the local practices were sustainable, and the vast peatlands of Finland were hardly changed until the end of World War II.  Then, the country drained nearly half of its peatlands for mining.  Mustonen recently noted, “Intact peatlands were seen as unproductive wastelands….we have lost approaching half of our wet peatlands and their wildlife—more than 12 million acres.”

Mustonen has developed a comprehensive strategy for combating these losses and restoring the peatlands—rewilding, he calls it.  In 2000, he created the Snowchange Cooperative “…to integrate Indigenous knowledge with science and to advance the voices of traditional communities in the North, while helping them maintain fisheries and reindeer herding in the face of climate change and other threats.”  

And it works.  He and his colleagues at Snowchange talk with Indigenous people and village elders to learn the history of the local peatlands.  They use that knowledge to employ modern techniques to make initial restoration changes.  “I’m not a big fan of machinery, but we need excavators at first to block ditches, raise [water] tables and restore water flow.”  Then they let nature take over, accepting that the results will occur gradually and that the peatlands are unlikely to return to their former state.  “We do rewilding rather than strict ecosystem restoration…. But we can recover rich, biodiverse wetlands.”  The restored sites attract native wildlifeand once again begin to remove CO2 from the air.  “One moonscape we took over in 2015 has gone from three bird species to 210, including rare waders such as Terek sandpipers.”

They started small, working in Mustonen’s home village of Selkie in 2010.  When a mining company began working around the village, acid mine drainage began killing fish.  But the company agreed to let Snowchange restore three wetlands.  From there, the group began buying abandoned industrial sites and “rewilding” them.  Today, Snowchange has about 80 sites under rewilding, covering 130,000 acres.

Mustonen has expanded his efforts across the Arctic and also into the Pacific, particularly with the Maori of New Zealand (unfortunately, their work in Russia ended when Russia invaded the Ukraine).  That process seeks to restore not only ecosystems, but also Indigenous peoples.  “We never wanted to be just a conservation organization.  We are appalled that the Sami people in northern Finland … are the only Indigenous peoples in Europe who don’t have proper land rights.”

In the U.S., Mustonen’s approach is called community-based conservation.  Making local people, including Indigenous peoples, part of the decision-making and implementation processes grows friends rather than enemies and develops partners rather than resisters.  For his approach, Mustonen won one of the six 2023 Goldman Environments Prizes, often called the “Green Nobels.”  And I noble approach it is!   

References:

Goldman Environmental Prize.  2023.  Tero Mustonen.  Available at:  https://www.goldmanprize.org/recipient/tero-mustonen/#recipient-bio.  Accessed January 20, 2024.

Pearce, Fred.  2023.  Finland Drained Its Peatlands.  He’s Helping Bring Them Back.  Yale Environment 360.  Available at:  https://e360.yale.edu/features/tero-mustonen-interview.  Accessed January 20, 2024.

Schueman, Lindsey Jean.  2023.  Climate Hero:  Tero Mustonen.  One Earth, April 25, 2023.  Available at:  https://www.oneearth.org/conservation-hero-tero-mustonen/.  Accessed January 20, 2024.

Snowchange Cooperative.  2024.  Home.  Available at:  http://www.snowchange.org/.  Accessed January 20, 2024.

University of Eastern Finland.  2023.  Tero Mustonen wins the Goldman Environmental Prize, a.k.a. the “Green Nobel.”  24.4.2023.  Available at:  https://www.uef.fi/en/article/tero-mustonen-wins-the-goldman-environmental-prize-aka-the-green-nobel.  Accessed January 20, 2024.

I’m sure you think the date of 1965 is a typo.  Surely the site where two railroads met to create a transcontinental route, on May 10, 1869, didn’t wait nearly a century before being made into a park.  It is not a typo.

            The Golden Spike was the last stake driven into a railroad tie linking the United States from East to West with a fast, comfortable and safe transportation system (at least in mid-19^th Century terms).  Instead of taking months to cross the continent, now the trip took a week.  The Central Pacific Railroad built eastward from Sacramento, while the Union Pacific Railroad built westward from Council Bluffs, Iowa.  The two lines met at Promontory Summit, not far from present day Ogden, Utah.  Leland Stanford, President of the Central Pacific, drove the spike into the ground at 2:47 PM on May 10, 1869.  An inscription on the spike read, “May God continue the unity of our Country as this Railroad unites the two great Oceans of the world.”  The unity of the country referred to healing the wounds from the Civil War.

            The golden spike was replaced by an iron spike, the railroad began operating, and the place was forgotten—especially after a 1903 bypass made that section of track obsolete.  The tracks were dug up and recycled during World War II, and ranchers reused the ties. One woman, Bernice Gibbs Anderson, however, did not forget.  A poet, historian and newspaper journalist, Anderson argued for decades that the spot deserved more than a single lonely stone pillar.  Eventually, a private park was established, and, on July 30, 1965, the federal government took over, declaring it a national historical site (later renamed as a “park”).  The National Park Service has re-built a section of track, and two replicas steam engines meet there, reprising the famous photo of 1869.  More than 100,000 visitors trek to the location annually.

            The park is wonderful, but the event is the real big deal.  When the railroads met, the North American frontier closed.  Horace Greeley’s admonition to “go West, young man,” didn’t work any longer—because people from the West were coming East to greet you.  No longer did an unknown, unexplored, unexploited wilderness lie beyond the sunset.  Now the West was no longer inexhaustible, but it had limits.

            In a way, the driving of the Golden Spike could be called the beginning of conservation in the United States.  People began to take notice of the condition of natural resources.  The U.S. Fisheries Commission formed in 1871, to look into the decline of commercial fisheries.  Yosemite was made a state park in 1864, and the first national park was created at Yellowstone in 1872..  The ideas of evolution took hold (remember, Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859), a first step in the foundation of ecological science.  John Muir roamed around California, noting the over-exploitation of the landscape.  In Europe, similar rumblings were beginning in fisheries, forestry and land use.

            The driving of the Golden Spike, therefore, meant two different things.  First, this symbolized the end of the trail for a frontier that seemed endless in expanse and natural resources.  But second is the beginning of the trail leading to conservation.  And, as Bernice Gibbs Anderson expressed in her poem, Lure, the second is more interesting:  “The end of the trail, its mystery gone, is featured so often in story and song; But as long as the lure of the unknown will be, it’s the beginnings of trails that appeal to me.”

References:

Barry, Keith.  2012.  May 10, 1869:  Golden Spike Links Nation by Rail.  Wired, October 10, 2012.  Available at:  https://www.wired.com/2010/05/0510transcontinental-railroad-completed/. Accessed April 7, 2020.

Klein, Maury.  2012.  The significance of Golden Spike Day.  Oxford University Blog, May 10, 2012.  Available at:  https://blog.oup.com/2012/05/the-significance-of-golden-spike-day/. Accessed April 7, 2020.

National Park Service.  Bernice Gibbs Anderson, Mother of the Golden Spike.  Available at:  https://www.nps.gov/gosp/learn/historyculture/bernice-gibbs-anderson.htm. Accessed April 7, 2020.

National Park Service.  The Last Spike:  History at a Glance.  Available at:  https://www.nps.gov/gosp/learn/historyculture/the-last-spike-history-at-a-glance.htm.  Accessed April 7, 2020.

Curt Gowdy, renowned sports broadcaster and host of the outdoor show, The American Sportsman, was born on July 31, 1919 (died 2006).  In the age before specialization in sports reporting, Gowdy sat behind the microphone for professional baseball, football and basketball games and championships, along with many college contests.

            Gowdy, however, was first and foremost an outdoorsman.  He grew up in rural Wyoming, son of the man he called the best fly-fisherman in the state.  “We had free access to primetime fishing and hunting.  The outdoors was a way of life for me.”

            He developed the idea for and hosted the long-running television sports show, ABC’s Wide World of Sports, that showcased a variety of sports during its Saturday afternoon airing.  In 1964, Gowdy filmed a segment for the show of him and famous fisherman Joe Brooks angling for brook trout in the Argentine mountains.  The segment was a hit, and almost immediately ABC created a new show built around outdoor recreation—The American Sportsman, hosted by Curt Gowdy.

            The show ran for twenty years, airing more than 200 episodes during the winter months on Sunday afternoons.  It is the most successful outdoor recreation show of all time, earning a creel full of industry awards, including four Emmys.  The show focused on fishing and hunting experiences involving Curt Gowdy and celebrities from entertainment, politics and sports.  As Gowdy remembered, people often stopped him on the street to tell him that he “started me fishing or hunting when I was a boy.”  For millions of Americans, The American Sportsman was their window on the natural world.

            Gowdy, who was called “The Cowboy” by his colleagues, was a committed conservationist. He is a member of the Conservation Hall of Fame International.  He served on the boards of directors for Trout Unlimited and the International Game Fish Association.  Convinced that the popularity of fishing was too great to sustain fish populations, he advocated for catch-and-release fishing that kept captured fish alive.

            To honor his work and memory, the State of Wyoming established the Curt Gowdy State Park in 1972.  The 11,000-acre park lies above 6450 feet in elevation.  Gowdy loved it, saying “It has two beautiful lakes, hiking trails, camping boating, fishing and beauty.  It has everything I love.  What greater honor can a man receive?”

References:

FamPeople.com.  Curt Gowdy:  biography.  Available at:  http://www.fampeople.com/cat-curt-gowdy_4.  Accessed July 31, 2017.

Michigan Sportsman.  2006.  Farewell to an American Sportsman.  Available at:  https://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/threads/farewell-to-an-american-sportsman.128923/page-2#post-1087518.  Accessed July 31, 2017.

Moran, Ken.  2002.  At 80, Gowdy Still The American Sportsman.  New York Post, February 3, 2002.  Available at:  http://nypost.com/2002/02/03/at-80-gowdy-still-the-american-sportsman/.  Accessed July 31, 2017.

Beatrix Potter, author of the classic children’s story, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, was born July 28, 1866.  Although she is famous for her many children’s books, which she both wrote and illustrated, she also became a leading British conservationist of the Lake District landscape.

            Potter was born and raised in London, the daughter of wealthy and socially traditional parents.  She was educated at home, raised to become a wife, mother and keeper of the household.  But Potter had other plans.  When her family vacationed during summers, first in Scotland and later in the English Lake District, she fell in love with the country.  She and he brother reveled in the rolling hills and dramatic waters of the Lake District and delighted in keeping pets of all kinds, from domestic animals to frogs and insects. 

            She was a keen observer of the animals’ appearance and habits and the landscapes in which they lived.  She wrote stories about them and drew their images in watercolor.  Her creativity was matched by the accuracy of her work.  So realistic were her drawings that she eventually produced scientific illustrations of plants and, especially, of her favorite organisms—fungi.

            Potter was also an entrepreneur.  She began writing stories and when her original story—The Tale of Peter Rabbit—was turned down by several publishers, she had 250 copies printed herself.  An insightful editor realized the quality of her work—charming, but not overly cute—and published the book in 1902 (since then, more than 5 million copies have been sold, and loved and cherished by children everywhere).  She developed and sold a doll of Peter Rabbit—the first character doll ever produced.  She also licensed and sold pottery, clothing, calendars and other book-related merchandise.  Potter wrote and illustrated 33 books in her lifetime, making her both famous and wealthy.

            She used her wealth not for luxury—her country homes never had electricity or indoor plumbing—but to conserve the countryside she loved so much.  The Lake District had always attracted tourism, but after World War I, the attention grew exponentially.  Potter knew that large-scale development of the land would destroy the fragile hillside ecosystems, a quaint combination of natural and cultivated habitats.  So, she began buying farms.  First smaller properties, including her beloved Hill Top Farm (now a museum), then larger properties that would allow a unified landscape to survive and thrive.

            Her entrepreneurial spirit spilled over into her farming.  She learned how to farm, restored the productive capacity of her lands and became an expert breeder of sheep.  Her farms and fortune prospered, even as her ability to write and publish books waned.  She was particularly dedicated to preserving the traditional Herdwick sheep, the breed that was best adapted to the cold environment and varied forage of the Lake District.

            She became a close confidant of the founders of the National Trust, the English non-profit organization that owns and manages historic properties and natural areas.  She donated all her property—15 farms totaling 4000 acres—to the National Trust, an estate valued at about $20 million at her death in 1943 ($300 millon today).   Her proviso:  that the properties remain exactly as she left them, down to the furniture and wall covering she left.  Most importantly, that proviso assured that the Lake District landscape would remain the same charming landscape that generations have loved for its natural beauty and cultural significance. 

References:

Beatrix Potter Society.  About Peatrix Potter.  Available at:  https://beatrixpottersociety.org.uk/about-beatrix/.  Accessed July 28, 2017.

Lear, Linda.  2017.  Beatrix Potter:  A Life in Nature.  Available at:  http://www.bpotter.com/Default.aspx. Accessed July 28, 2017.

National Trust.  Beatrix Potter’s early life and books.  Available at:  https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/beatrix-potter-gallery-and-hawkshead/features/beatrix-potters-early-life-and-books. Accessed July 28, 2017.

Thomson, Keith Stewart.  2007.  Marginalia:  Beatrix Potter, Conservationist.  American Scientist 95(3):210-212.  Available at:  http://www.jstor.org.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/stable/pdf/27858956.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3Aa434bf2c67f89b4a712b13db0f7f46da. Accessed July 28, 2017.

Victoria and Albert Museum.  Biography of Beatrix Potter.  Available at:  http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/b/biography-beatrix-potter/. Accessed July 28, 2017.

On July 27, 2013, a mare of the endangered Przewalski’s horse bore the first foal produced by artificial insemination.  The young female was born at the Smithsonian Institution’s Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia.

            Przewalski’s horse (Equus ferus) is the only truly wild horse species left in the world.  It is native to the vast open steppes of Mongolia, China and Russia.  It is smaller than domestic horses, standing about 5 feet high at the withers, and weighing 400-600 pounds at maturity.  It is stockier than domestic horses, with short legs and neck.  Coloration is generally light brown, with dark brown lower legs and dark main and tail, which is sheds annually.  It has a double set of chromosomes which prevent effective hybridization with domestic horses.  Consequently, the species has remained distinct and was never domesticated.  Occasional specimens kept in captivity were considered great treasures in ancient times. 

            The species declined throughout the 19^th and early 20^th Centuries, owing to hunting, competition with domestic livestock and being forced into marginal arid habitats with insufficient water sources.  Collecting for zoos also damaged the populations, as the species became a prized zoo animal over the past century.  IUCN declared the species “extinct in the wild” up until 1996. 

            Collecting for zoos turned out to be the savior for the species.  About 1300 individuals exist in zoos around the world, with their genetics and other characteristics now carefully analyzed and monitored.  All horses in zoos share the same 14 ancestors, leading to concerns for loss of genetic diversity.  The Prague Zoo, in the Czech Republic, manages the official database on Przewalski’s horse genetics and has bred more than 200 foals since the 1950s. 

            With the success of captive breeding, populations were reintroduced into China and Mongolia started in the late 1980s.  Reintroductions have been successful, with now about 150 horses living freely in several small populations in its normal range.

            A huge new step in the recovery of the species occurred with the birth of the first foal fertilized by artificial insemination in 2013.  Artificial insemination is important because it allows pregnancies to be initiated without needing to transport adult animals across long distances.  It also allows strategic crosses between genetically dissimilar males and females, enhancing the overall genetic diversity of the captive and, eventually, wild populations. 

            Whereas artificial insemination is a standard practice for domestic horses, it required much research and practice before working for the wild Przewalski’s horse.  Females needed to be trained to allow repeated collection of urine so that both pre- and post-fertilization condition could be assessed.  Techniques also needed to be established to assure the successful collection and placement of male sperm.  The successful insemination and birth was finally achieved by horses and veterinarians at the Smithsonian’s conservation center in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. 

References:

IUCN Red List.  Equus ferus ssp. Przeswalskii.  Available at:  http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/full/7961/0.  Accessed July 28, 2017.

Prague Zoo.  Return of the Przewalski’s Horse to Mongolia.  Available at:  https://www.zoopraha.cz/en/animals/we-help-them-to-survive/projects/7678-return-of-the-przewalski-s-horse-to-mongolia, Accessed July 28, 2017.

San Diego Zoo Global.  2008.  Przewalski’s Horse, Equus ferus przewalski.  Available at:  http://library.sandiegozoo.org/factsheets/przewalski_horse/equus.htm. Accessed July 28, 2017.

Shenk, Emily.  2013.  First Przewalski’s Horse Born Via Artificial Insemination.  National Geographic, August 6, 2013.  Available at:  http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130805-przewalski-horse-born-artificial-insemination-animal-science/. Accessed July 28, 2017.

Williams, Paige.  2016.  The Remarkable Comeback of Przewalski’s Horse.  Smithsonian.com, December 2016.  Available at:  http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/remarkable-comeback-przewalski-horse-180961142/. Accessed July 28, 2017.

The outside world was introduced to the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu when discovered by American historian Hiram Bingham on July 24, 1911.  Although several unsubstantiated claims of earlier discovery have been advanced, it remains clear and undebatable that Bingham was the “scientific discoverer of Machu Picchu.”

            Bingham was born in 1875 in Hawaii and spent his youth learning mountaineering from his missionary father.  He pursued history as a university student, eventually becoming a professor of Latin American History at Yale, where he served from 1907 to 1924.  Although not a trained archeologist, his historical knowledge and his rugged childhood made him a perfect jungle explorer.  Hiram Bingham, it appears, was a real life Indian Jones.

            He mounted an expedition in 1911 to find the so-called “Lost City of the Incas.”  On July 24 of that year, he and his guides emerged onto a plateau high in the Andean mountains to find an amazing discovery.  He wrote of that day, “…suddenly we found ourselves in the midst of a jungle-covered maze of small and large walls….Surprise followed surprise until there came the realization that we were in the midst of as wonderful ruins as any ever found in Peru.”

            Not only did he find the finest archeological site in Peru, but undoubtedly one of the finest in the world.  The ancient facility, constructed in the 15^th Century, sits atop a mountain at 8,000 feet in elevation.  More than 200 structures comprise the site, divided among stone terraces running along the cliff side.  However, this is not the Lost City of the Incas, but rather a religious and ceremonial sanctuary built by the then Incan king for his personal use.

            UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site in 1983.  Their declaration notes “the massive yet refined architecture of Machu Picchu blends exceptional well with the stunning natural environment, with which it is intricately linked.”  Along with the architecture, the site preserves exceptional biodiversity in the enormous range of micro-climates and ecosystems, from high-elevation grasslands to cloud forests and low-elevation lowland forests.

            More than one million visitors visit the site annually.  The 70,000-acre site is regulated by the Peruvian National Institute of Natural Resources.  As tourism has risen in recent decades, in 2015the government has instituted limits (2500 visitors per day) to protect both the site and the quality of the experience.  . 

Machu Picchu stands as a testament to the idea that nature can sustain humans in virtually any setting, as long as we work with, rather than against, the natural constraints of the place.

References:

Eisner, Peter. 2009.  Who Discovered Machu Picchu?  Smithsonian Magazine, March 2009.  Available at:  http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/who-discovered-machu-picchu-52654657/.  Accessed July 24, 2017.

Encyclopedia Britannica.  Hiram Bingham.  Available at:  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hiram-Bingham-American-archaeologist-and-United-States-senator.  Accessed July 24, 2017.

Romero, Simon.  2008.  The fights of Machu Picchu:  Who got there first?  New York Times, November 8, 2008.  Available at:  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/08/world/americas/08iht-journal.1.18479442.html. Accessed July 24, 2017.

The Aswan High Dam on the Nile River began operation of July 21, 1970.  The dam is one of the largest in the world—and perhaps the most controversial dam in the world.  The Arabic name for the dam is Al-Sadd all-Ali.

            The Nile River is an essential resource to the peoples of the Nile River watershed, mostly in what is now Egypt.  Most Egyptians, 95%, live within 12 miles of the river and its diverse delta system.  Managing the massive flows of the river has always been an active part of the civilization of the region.

            Modern attempts to control the flow of the river began with the building of the Aswan Low Dam in 1902.  The dam, built by the British, was designed to control flooding and provide a more even flow of irrigation water for cotton farms in the delta.  Its height was raised twice to make it more effective, but it was still too small to produce the desired results

            Consequently, plans for a new dam, a few miles upstream, began in the 1950s.  During the Cold War, both the U.S. and England on one side and the Soviet Union on the other side competed to gain an alliance with Egypt by agreeing to pay for the dam.  However, both the U.S. and England backed out of the deal.  The Soviet Union stayed and became Egypt’s partner to help plan, build and finance the dam.

            Construction took from 1960-1968, but the official date of opening was July 21, 1970.  The dam is huge—111 meters high, 3830 meters long, and 980 meters wide at the base.  It is an embankment dam, constructed of rock, clay and dirt.  The amount used to build the dam is equal to the equivalent of 17 Great Pyramids of Giza.  The dam created Lake Nassar, one of the ten largest reservoirs in the world. 

            The Aswan High Dam has produced significant benefits for the people of Egypt.  By providing reliable irrigation water, it has doubled the annual food production of the country.  It supplies 50% of all the electricity of the nation.  River transportation has been improved, and the reduction in flooding has saved countless lives and resources.

            The controversy about the dam, however, relates to many negative impacts.  About 90,000 Egyptians were relocated, and with insufficient assistance, most became impoverished.  Annual flooding once spread highly fertile silt across the adjacent agricultural lands to the river; now, to replace those nutrients farmers must apply manufactured fertilizer.  The raising of the water table and heavy irrigation have combined to increase salt deposits in surface waters, reducing the overall quality of much cultivated land.  The permanent wetlands and shallow lake waters created by the dam have allowed the devastating disease, schistosomiasis, to spread to epidemic proportions.  Fisheries in the eastern Mediterranean Sea have declined due to increased salinity and reduced fertility of the water.

            The Aswan High Dam illustrates the dilemmas faced when humans modify the forces of nature. Today big dams like this one are generally looked down on by environmentalists, but the benefits—flood control, energy production, reliable water supply—are enormous.  Maybe Hamlet should have asked this:  To dam or not to dam—that is the question!”

References:

Encyclopedia Brittanica.  Aswan High Dam.  Available at:  https://www.britannica.com/topic/Aswan-High-Dam. Accessed July 21, 2017.

Furman, T. and L. Guertin.  Problems with the Aswan Dam.  Department of Geosciences, Penn State.  Available at:  https://courseware.e-education.psu.edu/courses/earth105new/content/lesson06/04.html.  Accessed July 21, 2017.

PBS.  Aswan High Dam.  Wonders of the World databank, Public Broadcasting System.  Available at:  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/wonder/structure/aswan_high.htmlm  Accessed July 21, 2017.

Gregor Mendel, the father of modern genetics, was born on July 20, 1822 (died 1884).  Mendel grew on a family farm in what is now The Czech Republic.  His home was then part of Austria, so he is generally described as an “Austrian monk.”  His farm background made him familiar with plants and the way they changed over time—the basis for his experiments in heredity that have made his name an easy to answer trivia question.

            Mendel was an excellent pupil in early schooling and, therefore, was encouraged to continue on in school.  As well as studying science, he pursued the ministry, becoming a Catholic monk in his mid-20s.  He settled into a life of study and research at the St. Thomas Monastery in Brno (now also in The Czech Republic).

            At Brno, he began experimenting with the way traits were passed down from one generation to the next.  He used pea plants as his subject, because peas were grown in the monastery’s garden and because they had several traits that were easy to observe, like color of the peas, and grew to maturity rapidly, allowing his experiments to proceed rapidly.

            He grew tens of thousands of pea plants between 1856 and 1863.  From what he observed in generation after generation of traits, he deduced that plants had both dominant and recessive traits (green peas were dominant, yellow peas recessive) and that those traits were randomly passed on to the next generation.  Today we know the mechanism—genes—that Mendel could only hypothesize.

            In 1865, the Natural Science Society of Brno published papers by Mendel that described his data and ideas.  While I’d like to write that Mendel and his results “went viral,” the opposite happened.  He was ignored.  The data and ideas were too complicated, and leading scientists doubted that what he observed was universal.

            Mendel had other things to worry about.  He was appointed Abbot of the monastery just a few years later, a job that absorbed all his time.  His eyesight began to fail, preventing further scientific work.  He died in 1894, at age 61.

            Despite his work being ignored, Mendel was correct.  At the start of the 20^th Century, three other botanists duplicated his work and published the results again, eventually giving Mendel credit for the original discovery. 

            The understanding of how variations in nature are passed from generation to generation is crucial to the understanding of biodiversity and, hence, to conservation.   For example, we now know that a large pool of genetic diversity is essential for a species to remain adaptable to changing environmental conditions, whether caused naturally or by humans.  Scientists working to reproduce endangered species in captivity must track genetic diversity so that the adaptability of new individuals and populations isn’t compromised.

            As conservationists work to maintain endangered species or to re-introduce populations into the wild, the concepts of Mendelian genetics are always part of the strategies.  And for this reason, Gregor Mendel is as important to our history as are Charles Darwin, E. O. Wilson and Rachel Carson.

References:

Biography.com.  Gregor Mendel—Botanists, Scientist (1822-1884).  Available at:  https://www.biography.com/people/gregor-mendel-39282.  Accessed July 20, 2017.

Miko, I.  2008.  Gregor Mendel and the principles of inheritance.  Nature Education 1(1):134.  Available at:  https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/gregor-mendel-and-the-principles-of-inheritance-593.  Accessed July 20, 2017.

National Institutes of Health, Office of History.  Gregor Mendel:  The Father of Modern Genetics.  Available at:  https://history.nih.gov/exhibits/nirenberg/hs1_mendel.htm.  Accessed July 20, 2017.

Tigers are in trouble.  The numbers of this charismatic species have declined by more than 95% in a century.  Whether or not the species can survive remains in doubt.  So, the participants at a tiger conservation summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2010 decided that the tiger needed its own day to raise awareness of the animal’s plight.  Since then, International Tiger Day has been held each July 29. 

            The tiger (Panthera tigris) is the world’s largest cat, with males weighing up to 700 pounds.  Tigers are classified in a single species, but with six genetically distinct subspecies across its large range (taxonomists seem to be squabbling about this).  They are primarily solitary, maintaining large home ranges to provide sufficient prey for an appetite that can consume 80 pounds in one meal.  Tigers live up to 20 years in the wild, becoming reproductively mature in 4-5 years. Females have 2-4 cubs every other year. 

            Before humans started changing things, tigers lived throughout a huge range—in far eastern Russia, throughout southeastern Asia and in Malaysia.  Today, wild tigers inhabit only 7% of that former range, almost all in protected preserves.  About 70% of all wild tigers live in India; the other 30% are scattered among 12 other nations.  A century ago, as many as 100,000 tigers roamed freely, but today the population is about 4,000.  Multiple factors have impacted tigers—trophy harvest, habitat conversion, human-animal conflict, harvest for traditional medicines, and illegal poaching.  Ground tiger bone sells for as much as $115 per pound.  The combination of all these forces has led IUCN to classify the tiger as an “endangered species,” and CITES to place it on its Appendix I (no international trade).

            Conservation efforts have expanded since the 2010 tiger summit.  A goal was set then to double the world population of wild tigers—to 6,000 individuals—by 2022, the next Chinese Year of the Tiger.  The chosen strategy is an integrated habitat conservation program working across nations, organizations and local communities.  The biggest success has come from India, where the government has created 50 tiger reserves and whose tiger population has grown to 3,000.  Because populations in those reserves are growing, which forces some individuals into non-protected lands, the government is also working to create habitat corridors between reserves.  With a total worldwide population of about 4,000 wild tigers in 2020, however, reaching the goal of 6,000 by 2022 seems unlikely.

            Conservationists are quick to point out that saving tigers accomplishes so much more than just keeping one species—albeit a beautiful and meaningful one—alive.  Tigers are umbrella species, meaning that protecting their habitat protects a wide range of plants and animals that share their same ecosystem.  Tigers are also top predators, playing an important role in structuring the trophic levels below them.

            But perhaps it is enough to want to save tigers because they are, well, just tigers.

References:

BBC News.  2019.  India tiger census shows rapid population growth.  Available at:  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-49148174.  Accessed April 3, 2020.

IUCN.  2019.  International Tiger Day:  Celebrating an integrated approach for tiger conservation.  Available at:  https://www.iucn.org/news/species/201907/international-tiger-day-celebrating-integrated-approach-tiger-conservation. Accessed April 3, 2020.

IUCN.  Red List – Tiger Panthera tigris.  Available at:  https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/15955/50659951#taxonomy. Accessed April 3, 2020.

US Fish and Wildlife Service.  Tigers.  Available at:  https://www.fws.gov/international/animals/tigers.html. Accessed April 3, 2020.

World Wildlife Fund.  Species—Tiger, Facts.  Available at:  https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/tiger.  Accessed April 3, 2020.

Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal was created on July 19, 1976.  The centerpiece of the park is Mt. Sagarmatha, known to most of the world as Mt. Everest.

            Sagarmatha National Park encompasses 443 square miles of the highest region in the world, the Great Himalayan Range.  The name Sagarmatha comes from the local language, meaning “sky-head.”  Indeed, the region has its head in the sky.  Mt. Everest itself is 29,021 feet above sea level.  Most of the park lies above the tree line, with only lichens and other ground-hugging vegetation covering large expanses, and permanent snow-cover at the highest levels.  Only 3% of the park area is forested.

            The park is also home to the Sherpa people, the Nepali Buddhists known for a culture built around the high peaks.  About 7700 Sherpas live within the park, and preserving their heritage and culture is considered an important element of park management.  The combination of the world’s highest ecosystem and its attendant human culture prompted UNESCO to designate the park a World Heritage Site in 1979.

            The biodiversity of the park is minimal, but it provides habitat for many species uniquely adapted to high altitudes.  The endangered snow leopard, musk deer and red panda all call Sagarmatha home.  Within the park are headwaters of several major rivers and the Gokyo wetlands, a Ramsar designated wetland of international value.

            Visitation to the park continues to rise.  More than 45,000 tourists visit the park annually.  Most visitors are from the U.S., U.K. and Australia.  The biggest reason to visit is, of course, as Sir Edmund Hillary said, “because it is there.”  Climbing Mt. Everest attracts over 600 mountaineers annually.  More than 10,000 climbers and Sherpas have reached the top successfully since Hillary and Tenzing Norgay did so in 1953. A typical climb requires 39 days, allowing the body to adjust gradually to the decreasing oxygen.  In 2018, a record 670 people, climbers and their Sherpas, reached the summit.  Tragically, nearly 300 people have lost their lives pursuing the top of the mountain.

            All these people on the mountain for so long has earned Mt. Everest an unwelcome moniker—the world’s highest garbage dump.  Climbers leave a lot behind—tents, climbing gear, general trash, excrement—and getting it back down is strenuous and dangerous.  One climber remarked, “Everest is no longer a wilderness experience.  It’s a McDonald’s experience.”An annual ascent just to collect garbage began in 2007.  Participants have removed more than 20 tons of trash, but the problem continues.

            Taking pictures and leaving only footprints just doesn’t work on the world’s highest peak.

References:

Alanarnette.com.  Everest by the Numbers:  2019 Edition.  Available at:  https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2017/12/17/everest-by-the-numbers-2018-edition/.  Accessed April 2, 2020.

Dundruk, Master Krugga.  2020.  Environmental Issues on Mt. Everest.  Tibet Travel, March 31, 2020.  Available at:  https://www.tibettravel.org/tibet-everest-base-camp-tour/everest-environmental-issues.html.  Accessed April 2, 2020.

Government of Nepal.  Sagarmatha National Park.  Available at:  http://www.sagarmathanationalpark.gov.np/. Accessed July 20, 2017.

Sehgal, Jasvinder.  2019.  Cleaning up Mount Everest – the world’s highest rubbish dump.  DW, 20.2.19.  Available at:  https://www.dw.com/en/cleaning-up-mount-everest-the-worlds-highest-rubbish-dump/a-47467115.  Accessed April 2, 2020.

UNESCO.  Sagarmatha National Park.  Available at:  http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/120.  Accessed July 20, 2017.