Oil or habitat...a question of $$
In this political season, we hear a lot about jobs and a lot about energy production.
How about a country that plans to “leave untapped more than 900 million barrels of crude oil.” That is Ecuador’s plan for the Yasuni area—one of the most biodiverse locations in the world. To keep the initiative on track, $100 million was needed this year. Germany came through with $50M to ensure the goal was satisfied. (The US has contributed $100 million during the life of the project but the UK has done almost twice as much.) This effort is probably the most amazing and important conservation initiative in the world.
Go to http://mdtf.undp.org/ yasuni to learn more. Unfortunately, to keep the initiative going, nearly $300 million must be raised each of the next two years. Hopefully, we in the US can maintain political leadership that is sympathetic to this project. Let your Senators & Congressmen know.
Sustainable Use: The Yasuni initiative put me in mind of the sighting of a black-crowned antpitta in Costa Rica on our recent GVAS trip. Antpittas are very difficult to see besides requiring a very specialized habitat niche. I did some research using ebird.org and some other websites and learned that a visitor to Costa Rica, hoping to see this bird, would probably zero in on the location where we had success—a specific trail in one of Costa Rica’s National Parks. Both GVAS trips hiked this trail. Both had lunch at the same nearby restaurant. If, 50 years from now, my grand-daughter decides to look for a black- crowned antpitta in Costa Rica, she will probably come to the same location—and eat at the same restaurant.
Famous Last Words—Trips to the tropics always put me in mind of the great ornithologist Alexander F. Skutch. He lived to be just a few days short of 100. His last book, published when he was 96, ended with an epilogue entitled “Birds I Love,” and these final words: "In childhood I was strongly attracted to feathered creatures. This has continued into my life's tenth decade. As I review my seventy years of bird study, nearly all in the Neotropics, I am comforted by remembering that I have never intentionally harmed, for science or otherwise, an adult bird or its young, although I was responsible for the deaths of two or three raptors preying upon birds I was studying and/or trying to protect. In the evening of life, I am distressed by the thought that humankind, as a whole, lacks the generosity to freely share an exceptionally favored planet with even the more compatible of the free creatures that surround us. Earth did not become habitable for the benefit of a single species."
The Yasuni initiative and thinking of generations of black-crowned antpittas still being present 50 years from now gives me hope. On the other hand, Skutch’s concern about whether “humankind as a whole” has sufficient generosity also concerns me. Audubon’s role in educating “humankind as a whole” about our “exceptionally favored planet” is more important than ever. We need more helpers to keep GVAS strong. Please consider whether you can offer some time to assist with our many activities, whether administrative, educational or scientific. Ask one of the board members what you can do.
US Representative
US Rep Scott Tipton (R) District 3
(202) 225-4761 | (970) 241-2499
scott.tipton@mail.house.gov
US Senators
US Sen Mark Udall (D)
(202) 224-5941 | (970) 245-9553
http://markudall.senate.gov
US Sen Michael Bennet (D)
(202) 224-5852 | (970) 241-6631
http://bennet.senate.gov
