For those of us relatively new to island conservation, picking up on all the island lingo can be tricky. What is an atoll? (And how do you say it?) How do you know if a species is endemic or just indigenous? And why are mangroves so important?
At Seacology's headquarters, our greatest reward is receiving the field reports from our island projects. The knowledge that we are preserving new acres of land and water every day, while helping island communities attain a higher quality of life, inspires us daily. Even so, it's always nice to get outside approval for our work, which is why we are proud to announce that Seacology's very own Executive Director Duane Silverstein was recently awarded the Jefferson Award in recognition of his dedication to protecting islands.
Almost too small to be found on a map, Minicoy Island is part of the Lakshadweep archipelago, a cluster of islands off the western coast of India. But Minicoy's size is no indicator of its cultural wealth. With a rich history dating back hundreds of years, Minicoy has much to offer in its food, natural history, and local traditions.
A cabinet meeting underwater? It sounds like a joke, but on small island nations like the Maldives, rising sea levels mean life underwater may soon be a reality. Along with other island leaders, the Maldives' President Mohamed Nasheed has been an outspoken supporter of emissions cuts and other moves to combat climate change. In October, he held a cabinet meeting 16 feet underwater to raise awareness of the rising sea levels that threaten his country. This month, he joins hundreds of other politicians, businessmen, and environmental leaders from around the world in Copenhagen, Denmark, to discuss climate change and its potentially dire consequences.
I just returned from an interesting and exciting trip to French Polynesia. The main purpose of my voyage was to attend the official opening of Seacology's latest project on the beautiful island of Moorea. But on this trip I was wearing many hats. In addition to my role as executive director of Seacology I was also an island "expert" lecturer on a Zegrahm Expedition cruise throughout French Polynesia. Zegrahm is one of the world's leading exploratory cruise companies. What makes a cruise an exploratory cruise as opposed to the more typical drink, eat and gamble 3,000 passenger cruises? As the name implies we stopped at many remote destinations including islands that had not received tourists for many years. An exploratory cruise also features numerous snorkeling, diving, hiking, birding and cultural events. Furthermore an exploratory cruise such as the one I was on has many lectures throughout the day on the history, geography, culture, fish and birds of the many places we visited. Finally, exploratory cruises take place on smaller ships such as the Clipper Odyssey which I traveled on with a maximum capacity of 110 passengers (pictured above left).
A decade ago, when Filip Damen taught himself to read and write to defend his homeland forest in the Madang Province of Papua New Guinea, he never dreamed it was the beginning of a journey that would take him across the ocean to San Francisco, California. Last Thursday, October 8, Mr. Damen's undaunted environmentalism was honored with a reception and $10,000 award at the 17th annual Seacology Prize Ceremony at the Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco.
The Seacology Prize highlights the heroic efforts of people who seldom receive any publicity - indigenous leaders who risk their own lives and well-being to protect their island's ecosystems and culture. Since the inception of the Prize in 1992, Seacology has given the award to 18 native islanders in recognition of their innovative and courageous work.
Left, prize winner Filip Damen with Seacology Co-Founders Ken Murdock and Paul Cox.
Though Karla wrote about a great blog entry about climate change a few months back, the topic is on my mind and in the news. Yesterday, the Pacific Islands Forum convened in Cairns, Australia. This article details how leaders of seven small island nations met in advance of the forum to express their concerns over the immediate threats related to climate change, and to urge leaders of developed nations to take an aggressive stance in slashing greenhouse emissions.
I recently compiled a list of the threats that small islands face due to climate change. The threats range from the obvious - coastal inundation, intrusion of salt water into fresh water drinking supplies and crops, extreme weather events - to the less obvious, yet still potentially devastating effects - damaged crops and unpredictable harvest rates, decline in fish populations due to coral bleaching and mangrove loss, increase in vector-borne diseases such as dengue and malaria, economic insecurity and decreased tourism revenue, and cultural tensions as communities are forced to relocate. On a visit to Seacology projects in Yap, Micronesia in 2007, local leaders told me of their worries regarding the likely migration of communities from an outer atoll to the main island, where resources are already stretched. While in Vanuatu in June 2009, residents spoke of disappeared coastal landmarks and boundaries, inundated by sea water.
In my previous blog I wrote about how, because of the great work of Seacology, I was selected to be to be honored by Major League Baseball (MLB) at the All-Star Game in St. Louis. After throwing out the first pitch at an Oakland A's game it was time to pack my bags and head to St. Louis. Right from the beginning it was obvious that MLB was going to treat me and my fellow All-Stars Among Us (ASAU) honorees like royalty. A driver came by my house to pick up me and my son, Robb, and of course a driver was waiting at the airport in St. Louis to take us to the Riverside Hyatt Regency. The hotel has a terrific location just beneath the Gateway Arch. We were shown to our room which was, shall we say, a bit impractical in that it did not have any (and I mean zip) drawers. When I called down to the front desk to ask if they had forgotten to put in a dresser they said "No, sir, this is the new European style." I know that some Europeans are naturalists but this was news to me that they did not travel with any clothes. For the next several days we literally lived out of our suitcases and books and magazines we were reading were left on the floor. Considering the hotel rooms were just remodeled this is one interior designer who certainly is no all-star.
You are probably thinking, what does baseball or wrestling have to do with Seacology? The tale begins a little over one month ago when former development assistant Ellen Kamoe suggested nominating me for the All-Stars Among Us (ASAU) contest. This is a joint promotion by People Magazine and Major League Baseball (MLB). The purpose of ASAU is to find 30 individuals who are helping people and causes around the world, one to represent each Major League Baseball team. The nominations would be culled by the editors of People and representatives from MLB. Three finalists would be selected for each team and there would be a two week period of public voting. I told Ellen I was flattered by the thought but please don't spend more than a few minutes of your time nominating me as I doubt if I would have much of a chance of winning a national contest.
According to the Lonely Planet guide, "Among the 115 islands that make up the Seychelles are some of the most beautiful island getaways in the Indian Ocean, or indeed the world. Here you can find the lush tropical paradise you may have seen in seductive advertisements." The group of islands around Mahe (home of the international airport and the capital city of Victoria) are made of granite while the remaining islands are coralline atolls. The Seychelles lie 1,600 kilometers off of East Africa, its nearest neighbor. As a result of this isolation the Seychelles are rich in rare plants which flourish nowhere else on the planet. Perhaps the most famous of these is the coco de mer, the world's largest coconut weighing as much as 20 kg. In addition to their prodigious size the coco de mer is famous for its rather erotic shape (pictured right). I will let readers' imaginations run wild on this but if you want to see this coconut in person head for the beautiful Vallee de Mai on the island of Praslin. I recently led a Seacology group to visit the Seychelles and some of us are still blushing after seeing these rather evocative coconuts. The Seychelles visitors bureau knows a good thing when it sees one and the coco de mer not only appears on posters and brochures everywhere but the Seychelles official passport stamp is in the shape of this naughty coconut.
