Looking Global

WHAT IS MAN WITHOUT THE BEASTS?

The moving words written by television scriptwriter Ted Perry for Home, a 1972 television film about the rainforests in the northwest of the United States of America, have sadly gone unheeded – despite the controversy surrounding the now famous quotes.

“… how can you buy or sell the sky? The land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?”

“… for we do not understand when the buffalo are slaughtered, the wild horses tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires. Where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the Eagle? Gone. The end of living and the beginning of survival.”

These words – incorrectly attributed to Seattle, the North American Suquamish and Duwamish Chief, in a 1854 speech – are turning out to be disturbingly true.

Are we facing the end of living and the beginning of survival? The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says in its 2018 Living Planet Report that there has been a 60% decline in the populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians in just over 40 years.

There are currently more than 112,400 species on the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) which provides information on the global conservation status of animal, fungus and plant species. According to the latest report more than 30,000 species on the Red List are threatened with extinction. This includes 41% of amphibians, 34% of conifers, 33% of reef building corals, 25% of mammals and 14% of birds.

Even more disconcerting are estimates that 40% of the world’s insect populations (estimated at 30 million) have declined in recent years with an estimated third facing possible extinction.

The chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), Sir Robert Watson, warned in a report released last year, “The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide.” The report, the most comprehensive assessment of its kind, found that around one million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction, many within decades, more than ever before in human history.

Habitat destruction and fragmentation when natural areas are converted for agriculture to feed the growing world population is one of the biggest causes of the biodiversity crisis. Sadly, though, these large-scale agricultural projects are often unsustainable. Global warming and the resultant climate change is another major cause of the reduction of mammal, bird, fish, reptile and amphibian populations. Other causes include overexploitation as a result of unsustainable hunting, poaching and fishing, the illegal wildlife trade in mammals, birds and endangered plant species and the indiscriminate use of insecticides.

As the most arid country in sub-Saharan Africa, Namibia’s ecology is extremely fragile and its wildlife is therefore extremely sensitive to any disturbance. Threats to the country’s terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity include desertification and deforestation, as well as deliberate fires in the two Kavango regions and the Zambezi Region for clearing land for crop production. More recently the illegal and uncontrolled logging of hardwood trees in Kavango, fuelled by the demand for valuable hardwood timber in China, has drawn widespread criticism from environmentalists and the public. Other threats include the illegal trade in animals, birds, reptiles and plants, and invasive alien plants that are choking our river systems.

Are we facing the end of living and the beginning of survival?

The rich and diverse reptile fauna recorded or strongly suspected to occur in Namibia is estimated at some 260 species. With 129 lizard species, Namibia has one of the highest diversities of lizards in Africa. An estimated 17% of its plant species are endemic.

No less than 71 of the country’s 626 non-vagrant bird species (11.3%) are listed as threatened or nearthreatened Red Data species. In addition, 16 bird species are endemic or near-endemic to Namibia, with about 90% or more of their global population occurring in Namibia.

The country is also home to several mammal species that are endemic and near-endemic, such as Hartmann’s mountain zebra, the black-faced impala and the Brukkaros pygmy rock mouse. Rodents and small carnivore species account for 11 of the 14 endemic and near-endemic species.

While all this makes for pretty glooming reading, let us just ponder the quotes attributed to Chief Seattle again. “What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever, happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the sons of the earth.”

Namibian freelance journalist and travel writer: Willie Olivier