In A Passion for This Earth, edited by Michelle Benjamin and published by Greystone Books and the David Suzuki Foundation, twenty of the biggest movers and shakers in the fields of writing, science, and social activism come together to explore these questions. At the same time, each writer seeks to continue the multifaceted approach to making positive change begun more than fifty years ago by David Suzuki, Canada’s foremost environmentalist.

The book is very reader-friendly and engaging, and the obligatory instances of fêting Suzuki that pop up are not gratuitous, awkward, or irrelevant. Instead, all of the individual pieces coalesce as the writers express their personal perspective on nature and environmentalism. The book’s title may have you suspecting a mélange of ooey gooey green effusions–you know, the sort of stuff I generally tend to write. But what the book delivers is a truly enlightening anthology addressing four different topics relevant to Suzuki’s legacy: “Falling in Love with the Wild,” “Rise Up and Reclaim,” “Uncompromising Dedication,” and “Travels with David Suzuki.”

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The proposed monuments – loosely termed; as far as I can tell there will be no massive brass or bronze statues anywhere – are the Central Pacific Islands and areas around the Northern Mariana Islands.

One of the monuments, the Central Pacific Islands, would equate to a size four and a half times all the US National Parks, and measure in at close to the size of Alaska. The area would include eight islands and coral reef atolls in the Line Islands and American Samoa, and their surrounding waters.

The second area would cover parts of the Northern Mariana Islands, located in the Western Pacific, including the area that is known as the Mariana Trench, the deepest yet recorded part of our planet’s oceans.

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Rogue prefers his steak medium-well. But when it comes to sniffing out a rare plant, this dog performs work that’s very well done, indeed.

The 4-year-old Belgian sheepdog is part of a Nature Conservancy collaborative project to test the efficacy of using dogs to sniff out the threatened Kincaid’s lupine. The plant is host to the endangered Fender’s blue butterfly, found only in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

Watch a video of Rogue in action!

Using detector dogs for such inventory work is new territory: No one’s tried it before.

But since dogs use their remarkable sense of smell to uncover illegal drugs or locate missing persons, why not use them to help find and protect endangered plants and animals?

Rogue’s reward for finding the correct plant? That steak. (Or sometimes mackerel.)

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This scenario of modern Earth minus its most problematic children, us, is the subject of Alan Weisman’s The World Without Us. In one of the most compelling, meticulously researched cultural thought experiments of recent years, Weisman examines the numerous ways that humanity has stamped its footprint on the Earth’s face and then what would likely happen if we simply went away.

Weisman’s books has received a lot of fanfare and awards, such as being Time magazine’s #1 non-fiction book of 2007 and a New York Times bestseller, so I have been anxious to read it for a while. But any expectations I had, as you may have, of some misanthropic environmentalist’s tirade against humankind quickly get exploded by Weisman’s more nuanced, balanced, intelligent approach. The result is an inspiring, if also at times disheartening, presentation of how life has endured and will endure with or without humans in the mix.

In this respect, Weisman’s final sentence in the Prelude provides a provocative launching point into the book: “Is it possible that, instead of heaving a huge biological sigh of relief, the world without us would miss us?”1 Having this idea of nature missing us as or after it takes over again keeps the reader wandering what trick Weisman (or nature!) has up his sleeve as he describes all the serious alterations we have made to the natural ecosystem. It also challenges the widely held assumption that Earth would be better off without us–and so likely happy to see us gone!

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But I got thrown totally off track.  What I expected to be a calm, relaxing, reflective stroll beneath California oaks, turned into a passionate, ecstatic, breathless plunge into excesses the likes of which I hadn’t experienced in years.  It took my breath away, melted all self-control, and spun my world halfway round.

Oh, shame on you for thinking naughty thoughts.  It wasn’t the Adonis of the Litoral I encountered on the path (sorry gals… !)  It was an unassuming blackberry sprig.  Peeking out from the dried grasses along the edge of the path.  Winking at me in the sun.  I winked back, then looked around.  Is it legal to pick a blackberry here? I walked past it, choosing planetary well-being over my own base desires.  That’s probably the only blackberry sprig on this trail, and how awful would it be if I picked it rather than leave it for the birds or animals trying to earn an honest local living.

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The greatest human invention ever, the thing that makes our human lives worth living and will serve as our greatest legacy for the future is…the birdbath.

Okay, I admit, that may be a bit over the top…but still.

Why am I chirping with praise for the humble, simple birdbath? Because I find it hard to point out anything that offers us more certain and frequent chances for complete joy, hilarity, curiosity, surprise, and wonder.

How so? Because, obviously enough, birdbaths are the frequent haunts of those marvelous spritely beings called birds.

Once upon a time some long time ago, some wise human happened to notice that birds do lots of funny things in the various natural pools of water that form up just about anywhere–be it in a pothole, in the hollow of a log, in a backed-up drainage ditch, or in even the slightest depression. And this wise human then thought, “Hey, maybe if I make something to keep some water in and put it in some conspicuous place, the birds will come and do those things in it, too!” So this wise human went home, went scavenger hunting in the garage, and behold! The first birdbath was born.

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Oddly enough, some folks feel no real affection for the mountains–or even hills, sand dunes, dirt piles…or speed bumps for that matter! These flatlanders, who seem to congregate most deliberately in the middle portions of these United States and similar terrains, huff and puff and would love to blow all the mountains down. Mountains, for these folks who take the plane view of things, are just one more obstacle that has to be overcome in life…one more wall to climb over to get where they are going. Or for others with an urge to conquer, mountains are just one more notch to put on the belt of “extreme living,” one more element of Earth to bring under humanity’s domain.

Ironic, this missing amazement over mountains is, considering that mountains have held such a fascination for humans of all locales, colors, creeds, and cultural epochs. Think of Mount Kailas (also known as Meru, Sumeru, etc.) in the Himalayas of Tibet, which is held sacred in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Bön as the center of the world, the residence of Siva or the Buddha Demchok, a place of enlightenment, the source of all spiritual power…. Think of the mountain in Christianity where Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount. Think of Mount Sinai in Judaism and Moses’s chat with God at the top, where he received the Ten Commandments. Think of Mount Olympus in Greek mythology, where Zeus and his cohorts gather when not messing around with humans, or Mount Parnassus, where the Muses reside and give inspiration to the artistically inclined. Is it any wonder, then, that a typical route for the spiritual and artistic paths leads up to a mountain peak, to a mountain cave, to a mountain niche…?

And yet nowadays, no one seems to give much love to mountains. No one seems to dream about mountain peaks and mountain sides, about winds so strong they whip away your breath and your hair and anything not tied down with several strong ropes. No one longs to run up a mountain side to the top…and then to launch up into the wide blue sky.

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Oddly enough, some folks feel absolute terror at the prospect of being lost in the woods. Think of The Blair Witch Project or Deliverance. Without a sense of bearings, of direction, or of civilization, many folks think of the woods and see the forest for every single one of its trees…looming over them with absolute malevolence. Think of the Ents in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (pretty scary looking despite ultimately proving benevolent) or the trees in The Evil Dead (especially the “rape” scene!). Yes, with nothing but wood and foliage on every side, with almost no chinks in the wall or signposts for how to get beyond it, humans may well be justified in dreading The Big Bad Woods.

Ironic, this dread is, when it comes to my fellow environmentalists. After all, we are “treehuggers,” right? But, honestly, how many of you have actually gone out and hugged a tree lately, hmmm? Do you have bits of bark clinging to your khakis? Do you encircle your brows with fresh-plucked boughs like some ancient Roman Caesar, hmmm? Do you have tree books and posters and T-shirts and coffee mugs and figurines cluttering up your living quarters, hmmm? I bet you do not! Pshaw! What kind of a treehugger are you, anyway?

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One of my fondest memories from childhood is getting together with friends and going out to catch lightning bugs. From late spring until early autumn, you could find us careening through the darkness, ignoring all matters of property rights and curfews, armed with jars, bottles, or other containers. Sometimes the old folks would get caught up in our youthful enthusiasm and lumber around after us…after the bugs. And after hours of gleeful bug chasing, we returned home to watch the little stars twinkle, twinkle before our rapt eyes. What fun! Then, the next day, we would release them–now much less exciting because no longer twinkling, now just simply bugs.

Why do nearly all children share this fascination with lightning bugs, making it seem almost instinctual, a human trait passed on in our blood? I think Dan Aykroyd said it best in The Great Outdoors: “Their butts light up!”1

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Have you ever considered doing “summer camp” in your own backyard? I used to be the Nature Director at a summer camp and can promise you, the magic that can be discovered on a summer afternoon can last a lifetime!

Not only do I write for Eco Child’s Play, I write a series of novels called Gaia Girls Book Sereis. In Gaia Girls, the heroines are granted cool powers and sent on “Gaia Missions” to help the earth. They are able to do this because they are so connected and aware of the Earth (Gaia). I suspect that the majority of us reading and writing here at Green Options spent a portion of our childhood outside getting connected and I want to do my part to make sure the next generation loves Earth enough to care for it. So this summer, I’m combining my nature director experience, with the fantastical fiction. I’m inviting one and all to participate in “The Summer of Gaia!”

Each week, I set you on a Mission that will open up all the magic Gaia has to offer.

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No, for this Fourth of July, I tapped into the American spirit of freedom by going wild and getting out into the wild: I went out foraging for wild berries.

Luckily for me this was pretty easy, given the fact that I live in the country and have been walking by a seemingly endless stretch of wineberry bushes (and a few blackberry bushes) growing conveniently along the gravel drive. Oh, the tension of temptation has been building for so, so long now as I have watched the bushes form their little fuzzy pods, the pods pop open with the unripe berries peeping out, the berries growing redder and redder like little organic rubies building up their brilliance….

So on this day, at long last, I declared my independence from self-restraint and heroic patience by diving into the (thorny!) berry patches and going wild…and pickin’ pickin’ pickin’ away.

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Now — in one of the most significant conservation sales in history — The Nature Conservancy and The Trust for Public Land have preserved 320,000 acres of forestlands in western Montana that provide valuable habitat for species in the Crown of the Continent.

“There hasn’t been an animal extinction here since Lewis and Clark encountered it in the early 19th century,” explains Kat Imhoff, the Conservancy’s state director in Montana. “It’s the only such ecosystem in the Lower 48 states.”

The deal is part of the Conservancy’s large-scale efforts to protect forestlands around the world — the majority of which are working forests supplying sustainably harvested timber.

Over the past five years, the Conservancy has protected 3.5 million acres of forestlands — at a time when nearly one-half of Earth’s original forest cover is gone and global deforestation rates continue to rise.

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The poll — for which The Nature Conservancy provided input and advice — found that 53% of those surveyed have taken steps to green their lives.

But it also found a substantial lack of knowledge about how to go green — and skepticism about whether greening one’s life makes a difference to the environment:

• 34% of those surveyed said they hadn’t changed their lifestyle because they “did not know what to do.”
• 29% of respondents believe that greening their lifestyle won’t make any significant difference on the environment.

“This poll shows that green living is certainly at the forefront of our minds,” says Stephanie Meeks, the Conservancy’s acting president and CEO.

“Yet people are getting lost in the maze of information on how to lessen our environmental impact. The bottom line is that even the smallest lifestyle change can have significant impact in the long run.”

Recycling and Paying Bills Online, But Not Changing Light Bulbs

While recycling is widespread in the United States and 73% of those polled are paying their bills online to save paper, other often-recommended ways to green your life are going largely ignored:

• 5% are driving less by combining errands, walking more, etc.
• 4% have reduced their utility use.
• 3% have purchased hybrid cars.
• 3% have changed out incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent ones.

Yet if every American home switched out just one incandescent light bulb for a compact fluorescent one, the United States would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for an entire year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy.

“Making small changes to help save the planet can help your pocketbook as well,” adds Meeks. “In the case of compact fluorescent light bulbs, you’re paying more on the front end, but the cost savings in the long run will beat out the incandescent bulbs, hands down.”

Other poll results:

• 49% are trying to buy locally-produced food and/or goods.
• 47% are buying green household products.
• 39% are bringing their own reusable bags to stores instead of using paper or plastic.
• 16% are carpooling.

Optimism on Environmental Issues

The poll also found noticeable optimism on environmental issues among the American public. Seventy-two% of the poll’s 2,605 respondents believe their personal actions are significant to the health of the environment.

And although only 42% of U.S. adults were initially familiar with the phrase “environmental sustainability,” two-thirds believe that it is possible to live in an environmentally sustainable way.

The phrase “environmental sustainability” was more familiar to younger poll respondents than older ones. More than 45% of those age 18-43 understood the term’s meaning, while only 30% of those aged 63 and older knew the term.

The Nature Conservancy Helps You Go Green

To help cut through all the noise, The Nature Conservancy offers easy ways to make science-based green changes in your life:

• Check out our Everyday Environmentalist home page to find a list of innovative and easy changes you can make to help save the planet.
• Use the Conservancy’s carbon footprint calculator to determine your carbon footprint — and find simple ways to reduce it.
• Consider offsetting your carbon emissions by participating in The Conservancy’s voluntary carbon offset program.

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something… green? It’s really not as out of the ordinary as it sounds—last year, Brides.com estimated that approximately 33% of future brides and grooms in the U.S. are planning an eco-friendly wedding.

Today, The Nature Conservancy is issuing tips for planning a greener wedding or commitment ceremony, with ideas from invitations through the honeymoon to help reduce your celebration’s impact on the planet—and maybe even reduce the impact on your wallet as well.

“There’s no need to sacrifice your dream wedding for a green wedding,” said Sanjayan, lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy. “Just imagine the power of one simple change—be it as small as reducing wedding travel or serving organic food at the reception—multiplied by the thousands of couples who plan to marry this year. The littlest changes really add up, and can leave a positive impact on the Earth for generations to come.”

Invitations: Sending invitations electronically or on recycled paper stock will save money and trees. Bonus for going the electronic route: You’ll save on the fuel used to deliver the cards.

Gift registry: Register for gifts that you actually need and will definitely use, and if possible, are healthy for the planet. Many of your favorite stores probably carry organic and environmentally sound products already, and with a little research, you can ensure that your new ice cream maker has a minimal carbon footprint.

Reducing consumption can have more of an impact than simply buying recycled/recyclable products. If you don’t need anything, ask your guests to donate to your favorite charity.

Flowers: Organic flowers are one option, but tastefully arranged dried or silk flowers can make as big a statement as fresh floral arrangements.

If you’re set on fresh flowers, try decorating with potted plants native to your area. What’s fresher than still-living flora? You can even plant them when the ceremony is over—wedding décor and landscaping in one fell swoop!

Fashion: The Condé Nast Bridal Group estimates that most brides spend about $900 on just their gowns—and that’s not including the many accessories most brides need to polish their look. An environmentally and cost-friendly solution is to wear a vintage or hand-me-down dress. A female relative or friend’s gown has likely (hopefully!) only been worn once, and you do need something borrowed, right?

If you’d prefer a new dress, look for one that’s made of certified organic cotton, since polyester is petroleum-based, and most other cotton is grown with harsh pesticides. Grooms and ushers can get on the all-natural natural-fiber bandwagon as well by wearing a dress shirt made of hemp or organic cotton.

Do your bridesmaids a favor and forgo the puffy sleeves and universally unflattering fits, and select a gown that your girls would gladly wear again. If you’re stuck with a frock reminiscent of an ‘80s-era prom nightmare, forgo dumping that hideous gown in the garbage, and check out HGTV’s suggestions for turning sequins and taffeta into stylish home accents.

The Rings: The production of one tiny band of gold results in 20 tons of mine waste, according to Earthworks, an organization that works to protect the environment from the impact of mineral development. Show your commitment to your brand new spouse with a recycled or heirloom ring, or start a new trend by sporting silver bands, since the mining of silver is a bit gentler on the environment.

The Location: Holding your festivities in a central location will cut down on travel for your guests, which will make both them and Mother Nature even happier to be a part of your joyous day. Another thing to consider when choosing a wedding locale: “Believe it or not,” said Sanjayan, “big cities might be better than country locations because cities, for the most part, have less energy use in terms of per capita carbon.”

It’s possible to keep the travel to a minimum once your guests have arrived, too. When Evan Parker, The Nature Conservancy’s manager of digital membership, got married last October, he and his bride-to-be chose a church and reception site within walking distance. Post-ceremony, the bride traded in her formal shoes for sneakers, and the couple and their guests walked to the reception, held at a restaurant just blocks from the church.

Food: Feeding your guests unpronounceable pesticides is no way to show your appreciation for their attendance, so consider serving organic food and wine at the reception. Local produce is also a great, low-impact option, and your menu will be fresher for guests and easier on nature.

Favors: The Bridal Association of America estimates that the average couple spends over $400 on favors for their guests, which seems like a lot for a couple pounds of after-dinner mints. A greener option? Donate the amount set aside in your budget to a favorite charity.

The Nature Conservancy offers a number of favor options with a minimal carbon footprint. Help reforest Brazil’s Atlantic Forest by contributing to the Plant a Billion Trees campaign, or adopt a few acres of Costa Rican rainforest in honor of your guests.

If you absolutely must give your guests a sweet treat, try organic, local goodies like chocolate or wine. Really, does anyone need yet another tiny lace pouch of Jordan almonds?

The Honeymoon: The party might be over, but the honeymoon fun’s just begun—and it’s easy to maintain a green theme throughout your romantic getaway. One way to lessen your trip’s environmental impact is to forgo a far-flung destination. (And as the cost of fuel continues to rise, keeping it local will also save you a bundle in travel costs.) If you’d prefer to spend your first few days as husband and wife in a more exotic locale, remember that many travel companies offer eco-trips or environmentally friendly excursions. You could even go on a Nature Conservancy Conservation Journey!

No matter how you decide to spend your honeymoon, you can buy energy offset credits to offset the toll your travel has on the environment.

…And Baby Makes Three?: If there’s a baby on the way, or you’re planning to start a family soon, have eight trees planted on your child’s behalf, said Sanjayan. “Eight trees will offset the amount of carbon a person releases by simply breathing during an average lifetime.” While you’re at it, why not plant a few for yourself as well?

For more information on going green, learn how you can become an everyday environmentalist.

Now, for the first time, scientists have observed long-tailed macaques fishing with their bare hands.

Nature Conservancy scientist Erik Meijaard and other researchers are the first to scientifically document this rare conduct. In a recent article published in the International Journal of Primatology, Meijaard and his coauthors say that, while conducting field studies in Indonesia, they have repeatedly observed long-tailed macaques catching fish from fast-flowing rivers.

“This is interesting behavior and some of the first observations of primates catching fish,” says Meijaard, the Conservancy’s senior ecologist in Indonesia.

A Very Hungry Monkey?

In the first sighting back in 1998, researchers describe seeing five female macaques sitting alongside the Ketambe River in the Indonesian province of North Sumatra.

The macaques’ eyes scanned the water. After about three minutes, one of the macaques reached into the river. With her bare hands, she pulled out a fish and quickly ate it. Other macaques watched her — and one even tried unsuccessfully to catch a fish herself.

“Clearly it may raise the question of whether there is some sort of learning going on,” says Meijaard. “If perhaps a couple of generations back, one primate caught a fish and it was subsequently copied.”

Researchers documented a similar sighting in 2006 in a separate macaque population in the Lesan Conservation Area, a Nature Conservancy program site in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. There, on two separate occasions, a macaque was observed swiftly grasping a fish out of the shallows before retreating into the forest with the fish still in its mouth.

While the fishing macaque sighting in Lesan coincided with a time of low fruit availability, Meijaard is hesitant to blame the fishing behavior on resource scarcity or draw conclusions about its meaning.

“It might be nothing more than a hungry monkey who is smart enough to extract nutrients from its environment,” he says.

Protecting Indonesia’s Forests

Meijaard is also the Kalimantan coordinator for the USAID-funded Orangutan Conservation Services Program.

But he says that forests — not macaques or orangutans — are the Conservancy’s real focus.

The Conservancy is fighting an ongoing battle to protect the forests around the Lesan Conservation Area. These forests, which harbor a substantial orangutan population, are slated to be destroyed for agriculture and plantations.

The Conservancy is working around the clock to convince local communities and governments to instead consider their long-term economic needs and put the forests into permanent, sustainable management.

“Macaques and orangutans are neat symbols, but they’re not going to convince people here,” Meijaard says. “What we need is data that shows the microeconomic implications of forest conversion.”

“Depending on the decisions made now, the forest could be around forever, or it could be gone forever by next year.”

1. Reduce your plastic consumption. The most frequently collected items during beach cleanups are made of plastic—think reusable shopping bags, water bottles and utensils.
2. Make informed seafood choices. Keep a copy of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s seafood guide in your wallet or text Blue Ocean’s FishPhone to help you choose sustainable seafood at the grocery store or a restaurant.
3. Dispose of chemicals properly. Never pour chemicals, pharmaceuticals, oil or paint into the drain or toilets. Check with your county’s household hazardous waste program to properly dispose of or recycle chemicals and keep them out of rivers and oceans.
4. Choose green detergents and household cleaners—or make your own! Besides being better for your own health, these products are safer for the environment since what goes down the drain can end up in our oceans.
5. Get the dirt on your beachside retreat. Before you stay in a hotel on the coast, ask staff what happens to their sewage and swimming pool water, and if they source their restaurant fish from sustainable sources.
6. Find out the source of your food. Buying local, organic food reduces your carbon footprint, supports the local economy and reduces the amount of pesticides and fertilizers that end up not just in your stomach, but as run-off in rivers and oceans, too.
7. Fill your yard with native species. Reducing the amount of grass in your lawn by planting native shrubs and flower beds will provide a better habitat for birds and other wildlife and require far less water and fertilizer, which can seep into the oceans.
8. Keep your beach visit clean. When visiting the beach, stay off fragile sand dunes, take your trash with you and leave plants, birds and wildlife for everyone to enjoy. Find a Conservancy coastal preserve near you.
9. Choose alternatives to coral. Whether shopping for jewelry, household décor or accessories for your fish tank, do your part to leave fragile coral reef habitats untouched by buying products that aren’t made of real coral.
10. Celebrate our oceans. Whether you live inland or on the coast, we are all connected to the ocean; take the time to organize or participate in activities that restore and celebrate the ocean, and help support The Nature Conservancy’s ocean conservation work.
    • Donate online now to support The Nature Conservancy’s work to protect and restore marine habitats in your area and around the world.
    • Rescue a Reef to help protect some of the most threatened corals in the world.
    • Sign up for the Conservancy’s Great Places Network, a free online membership program, to learn more about what the Conservancy is doing in your state and around the globe.
    • Test your oceans knowledge with our online quiz.
    • Send an ocean e-card to friends and family.

But scientists estimate that 70% of all corals reefs could be lost by 2050 if current rates of destruction continue — from factors ranging from overfishing to climate change.

That’s why The Nature Conservancy is supporting three major policy efforts by island nations around the world to conserve marine diversity — the Micronesia Challenge, the Coral Triangle Initiative and the newly launched Caribbean Challenge, which is being aided by a $20 million Conservancy pledge.

Together, these regions contain 83% of Earth’s coral species, according to James Robertson of the Conservancy’s Center for Global Trends.

“The threats to coral reefs are huge and occur across the globe, so coral conservation has to be at a scale that matches those threats,” explains Lynne Hale, director of the Conservancy’s Global Marine Program.

“The Caribbean Challenge is a perfect example of how the Conservancy is working with governments and people who depend on coral reefs to catalyze bold and immediate conservation action,” says Hale.

Caribbean Nations Launch Challenge

The Caribbean Challenge will accelerate marine conservation in the region — with the aim of protecting 20% of the region’s marine and coastal habitat by 2020.

The Conservancy announced its support for the challenge when it was launched by Caribbean leaders at a U.N.-sponsored conference in Bonn addressing worldwide threats to biodiversity.

The Caribbean Challenge will enable the Conservancy to help participating nations do essential marine conservation work, such as:

• Create new marine protected areas (MPAs);
• Hire, equip and train park managers and other staff;
• Reduce destructive fishing practices;
• Incorporate protection strategies that mitigate the impacts of climate change; and
• Establish a sustainable funding source for future marine conservation.

“The Caribbean Challenge is a broad and collaborative effort,” says Rob Weary, the Conservancy’s senior conservation finance and policy advisor for the Caribbean. “By supporting island nations with funding, scientific expertise and training, we can help them achieve their goals.”

It’s an approach that’s already working in two of the world’s most significant coral areas — Micronesia and the Coral Triangle.

Protecting Marine Resources in Micronesia and the Coral Triangle

Launched in 2006, the Micronesia Challenge is a commitment by five governments to conserve 30% of their marine resources and 20% of their terrestrial resources by 2020.

In less than two years, the Micronesia Challenge has already spurred the creation of new protected areas and new legislation for the support and management of such areas. Heralded by the President of Palau and supported by the Conservancy, the Micronesia Challenge is the inspiration and model for the Caribbean Challenge.

The Conservancy is working similarly in Southeast Asia’s Coral Triangle region — where an astounding 76% of the world’s coral species are found.

“The Coral Triangle is the global epicenter of marine biodiversity,” says Rod Salm, the Conservancy’s director of marine conservation in Asia Pacific. “The world’s coral diversity hinges on the health and survival of this area.”

In the Coral Triangle, Salm and other marine scientists are pioneering the identification and protection of resilient coral communities — those that are most likely to survive bleaching and other traumatic events. They are hopeful that this effort will help save corals from the impacts of climate change.

“It’s critical that we begin incorporating principles of climate change resilience to protect corals and all of our marine resources,” says Salm. “The Conservancy is leading the way in helping marine resource managers to do this worldwide.”

Now, a new report co-authored by Nature Conservancy scientists says that biofuel crops could also become invasive species — and that the risk needs to be evaluated before these crops are planted.

The Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP) and Conservancy scientists have identified all the crops currently being used or considered for biofuel production and ranked them according to the risk they pose of becoming invasive species.

GISP calls on countries to:

• Carry out risk assessments before they plant biofuel crops,
• Use low-risk species of crops for biofuels, and
• Introduce new controls to manage invasive species.

Major Findings of the Report

• Damage from invasive species costs the world more than $1.4 trillion annually — 5% of the global economy. The United States alone spends $120 billion annually on the control and impacts of more than 800 invasive species infestations.
• The giant reed (Arundo donax) is a proposed biofuel crop from West Asia which is already invasive in parts of North and Central America. Naturally flammable, it increases the likelihood of wildfires — a threat to both humans and native species in places such as California.
• The African oil palm is another example of the havoc an invasive species can wreak. Recommended for biodiesel, it has already become invasive in parts of Brazil, turning areas of threatened forest from a rich mix of trees and plant life into a homogenous layer of palm leaves.
• The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 9) represents the best chance in a decade to take global action against invasive species. The Conservancy and GISP are calling on delegates to recognize the dangers invasive species cause and recommend risk assessments before biofuel crops are planted. The two groups also call on the scientific community to conduct more desperately-needed research into this topic.

The Bottom Line

“Prevention is better than the cure,” says Stas Bugiel, The Nature Conservancy’s senior global invasive species policy advisor, “We need to stop invasions before they occur. The biofuel industry is a relatively new concept so we have a unique opportunity to act early and get ahead of the game — we mustn’t throw that away.”

But no, it finally scuttled away again, returning once more a bit later with its friend/sibling for another reconnoitering mission. It is still hanging around, eating fallen birdseed and doing various other mischievous things.

While this unusually friendly squirrel was clearly wary as it investigated the baking human, I would not say that it showed a whole lot of fear…even if it did not jump up in my lap and surely would not have let me pick it up.

Later, in a bit of synchronicity, my father told me on the phone about how friends of his had saved a baby raccoon from a tree that was being cut down. It was no more than the size of a mouse when they originally rescued it, and they were raising it as a pet. So now it was sort of like your typical rambunctious kitten or puppy, playing with toys and perfectly content interacting with its owners/rescuers. In saving the baby raccoon’s life, then, these kind people had also domesticated it (along with practicing a bit of “adoptive stewardship”), turning it from wildlife to family pet–with all the familiar behaviors.

Incidents like these where wildlife do not flee from the first sign (sight, smell, or sound) of humans always make me wonder about the nature of animals’ fear of us. I wonder if it is something instinctual, a natural reaction to us and relationship with us, something perhaps developed for survival through the ages. Maybe the ancestors of modern wildlife had bad experiences with our ancestors, who were likely looking for anything to serve as food and clothing and what have you. Maybe those animals saw one too many of their companions captured and turned into workers and/or pets, and so they learned to distrust and avoid us in order to live free.

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Our first river celebration was my Blessing Way. A Blessing Way is an alternative to a baby shower, and it is based on a Navajo tradition. My midwives led our “Humboldt eclectic” ceremony, in which I was surrounded by strong women friends (the men joined us later for food and river frolicking). Each friend brought a candle and symbol of strength for the altar, which was then set up in my home for the birth. Everyone also brought a bead, which was added to a necklace that I wore during my labor. We sang songs, told a collective angel story, and wrapped ourselves together with yarn in a circle. When the yarn was broken, each friend was wearing a piece around her arm or ankle. The yarn was not to be removed until I had given birth, and each time a friend noticed their piece of yarn, they were sent positive energy and thoughts my way. Often, these pieces of yarn will fall off on their own when it is time for the mother to give birth. My hair was lovingly braided to symbolize my new role as mother, and I was treated to a rose water foot bath and massage.

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