“The day they parachuted cats into Borneo!” Ecosystem Disaster

The end of the story… In the 1950's The World Health Organization (WHO) financed and supported the first ever team of over 14,000 parachuting cats into Borneo!

Instructions: Work in pairs and try to arrange the following events in chronological order – based on the true events in Borneo. Rats brought plague Lizards ate roaches (with DDT) Cats died Caterpillar numbers went up WHO (World Health Organization) sent DDT to Borneo Mosquitoes were wiped out Caterpillars ate grass roofs Cats were parachuted in Cats caught lizards containing DDT Roaches stored DDT in their bodies Grass roofs collapse Lizards disappeared Lizards slowed down Rats increased

The Story: In the 1950's, the Dayak people of Borneo tragically suffered an outbreak of malaria, spread by mosquitoes. The World Health Organization (WHO), without thinking through all the consequences, sprayed the area with DDT to kill the mosquitoes. The mosquitoes died, malaria lessened and the people of Borneo were happy.

But then grass roofs on the villagers houses started to collapse But then grass roofs on the villagers houses started to collapse. It appeared that a parasitic wasp had previously been keeping a thatch-eating caterpillar under control and the DDT killed the wasps, meaning the caterpillars were free to eat as much as they wanted!

As if their houses falling in on them wasn’t enough – insects that had been poisoned by DDT were eaten by gecko lizards, which were then eaten by cats. The cats started to die from the poison, rats began to flourish, and the people were threatened by outbreaks of 2 NEW serious diseases: plague & typhus. WHO initiated Operation Cat Drop and the cats started parachuting. The people of Borneo gained new feline friends, the rat population declined and the people of Borneo were happy once more. The End.

The moral of the story: As Rachel Wynberg & Christine Jardine, Biotechnology and Biodiversity - Key Policy Issues for South Africa, 2000 said: "This is a graphic illustration of the interconnectedness of life, and of the fact that the root of problems often stems from their purported solutions." Source: www.flycatfly.com/Parachuting_Cats.html

Correct order of events WHO (World Health Organization) sent DDT to Borneo Mosquitoes were wiped out Caterpillar numbers went up Caterpillars ate grass roofs Grass roofs collapse Roaches stored DDT in their bodies Lizards ate roaches (with DDT) Lizards slowed down Cats caught lizards containing DDT Lizards disappeared Cats died Rats increased Rats brought plague Cats were parachuted in

ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY: LEARNING FROM THE PAST

WHAT MAJOR CULTURAL CHANGES HAVE TAKEN PLACE? The Agricultural Revolution (began 10,000-12,000 years ago) The Industrial-Medical Revolution (began about 275 years ago) The Information and Globalization Revolution (began about 50 years ago)

THESE CHANGES HAVE GREATLY INCREASED OUR IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT IN 3 WAYS: More energy and new technologies. Expansion of the human population. Increased resource use, pollution, and environmental degradation.

HUNTER-GATHERERS Survived by collecting edible wild plants, hunting, fishing, and scavenging meat killed by predators. Lived in small groups, worked together. Moved seasonally to find food. Populations grew slowly due to high infant mortality and short life span. Advanced H-G had greater environmental impact- they used more advanced tools and fire to convert forest into grasslands . May have contributed to the extinction of some animals and altered the distribution of plants.

HUNTER-GATHERERS (cont.) Their environmental impact was limited and local because of their small population, low resource use per person, migration, and lack of technology.

AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION Move from hunting and gathering to settled agricultural communities- domesticated wild animals and plants. Slash-and-burn cultivation. Shifting cultivation. Sustainable cultivation. Small impact on the environment- small plots, population size and density was low.

For much of history, our viewpoint has been that the Earth’s resources are unlimited and that we can exploit them with no fear of them running out. The human population was small. For all practical purposes, that viewpoint served us well. But the Industrial Revolution has changed everything.

INDUSTRIAL-MEDICAL REVOLUTION Shift to a dependence on machines running on nonrenewable fossil fuels. Large-scale production of machine-made goods in factories. Factory towns grew into cities as rural people came into factories to work. Fossil-fuel powered farm machinery. Larger and more reliable food supply and longer life spans contributed to the increase in the population. Increase in air and water pollution and waste production.

INDUSTRIAL-MEDICAL REVOLUTION (cont.) Higher standard of living. Soil depletion and degradation. Groundwater depletion.

INFORMATION-GLOBALIZATION REVOLUTION Using new technologies for gaining rapid access to more information on a global scale. These technologies include the telephone, radio, television, computers, internet, automated databases, and remote-sensing satellites. Ability to respond to environmental problems more effectively and rapidly. Information overload can cause a sense of confusion and hopelessness.

ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF THE US: Tribal Frontier Conservation Environmental

TRIBAL ERA N. America was occupied by Native Americans for at least 10,000 years. Practiced hunting and gathering, burned and cleared fields, and planted crops. Had deep respect for the land and its animals. Had little environmental impact.

FRONTIER ERA 1607-1890 European settlers began settling N. America. Viewed most of the continent as having inexhaustible resources. European settlers conquered Native Americans and spread across the continent. The transfer of public lands to private interests accelerated the settling of the continent.

Example of the Frontier Era

CONSERVATION ERA 1832-1960 Some became alarmed at the scope of resource depletion and degradation in the US. Urged that part of the unspoiled wilderness on public lands be protected as a legacy to future generations. Henry David Thoreau and George Perkins Marsh were early conservationists that led the movement. Forest Reserve Act of 1891- helped to establish the responsibility of the federal govt. for protecting public lands from resource exploitation. 1892-John Muir established Sierra Club (preservationist movement that called for protecting

CONSERVATION ERA (cont.) Large areas of wilderness on public lands from human exploitation. 1901- Theodore Roosevelt, an ardent conservationist, became president. His term became known as the Golden Age of Conservation. T. Roosevelt established wildlife reserves and more than tripled the size of the national forest reserves. 1905- Congress created the US Forest Service to manage and protect the forest reserves. 1906- Congress passed the Antiquities Act, which allows the president to protect areas of scientific or historical interests on federal lands.

CONSERVATION ERA (cont.) 1916- Congress passed the National Park Service Act, which declared that parks are to be maintained in a manner that leaves them unimpared for future generations. Early 1930’s- President Franklin D. Roosevelt persuaded Congress to enact federal govt. programs to provide jobs and restore the country’s degraded environment.

Start of the Environmental Era In 1962 Rachel Carson's pioneering and meticulously researched exposé, Silent Spring, identified the devastating and irrevocable hazards of DDT, one of the most powerful pesticides the world had known. This disclosure helped set the stage for the environmental movement of the late 20th century. The book's publication caused a firestorm of controversy. The movement she began is called environmentalism because its concerns include both environmental resources & pollution.

ENVIRONMENTAL ERA 1960-2004 1964- Congress passed the Wilderness Act, authorizing the govt. to protect undeveloped tracts of public land . Land in this system is to be used only for nondestructive forms of recreation such as hiking and camping. During that period, several events increased public awareness of pollution.

Environmental Era On the afternoon of January 29, 1969, an environmental nightmare began in Santa Barbara, California.

Environmental Era Aftermath of the spill Fred L. Hartley, president of Union Oil Co.: "I don't like to call it a disaster," because there has been no loss of human life. "I am amazed at the publicity for the loss of a few birds.” Santa Barbara News Press Editor Thomas Storke: "Never in my long lifetime have I ever seen such an aroused populace at the grassroots level. This oil pollution has done something I have never seen before in Santa Barbara – it has united citizens of all political persuasions in a truly nonpartisan cause.” The spring after the spill earth day was born. April 22nd 1st Earth Day –20 million people attend.

ENVIRONMENTAL ERA (cont.) 1970- Richard Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and supported the Endangered Species Act of 1973. 1977-1981- Jimmy Carter persuaded Congress to create the Dept. of Energy to develop a long-range strategy to reduce the country’s heavy dependence on imported oil. 1981- Ronald Reagan became president. Reagan cut federal spending for research on energy conservation and renewable energy resources, lowered automobile gas mileage standards, and relaxed federal air and water quality pollution standards.

ENVIRONMENTAL ERA (cont.) 1989- George H. W. Bush received criticism from environmentalists for not providing leadership on key environmental issues and continuing support of exploitation of valuable resources. 1993- Bill Clinton appointed respected environ- mentalists to key positions, vetoed most of the anti- environmental bills, and protected more public land as national mouments in the lower 48 states than any other president. 2001- George W. Bush did not consult environmental groups, weakened protections on public lands, and developed an energy policy that placed great emphasis on use of fossil fuels and nuclear energy.

ENVIRONMENTAL ERA (cont.) Aldo Leopold- strong proponent of Land Ethics, a philosophy in which humans as part of nature have an ethical responsibility to preserve wild nature. One of the founders of conservation and environmental movements of the 20th century.

Environmental Perspectives

Anthropocentric Human-centred Nature is there to benefit mankind. Humans are not dependent on nature. Most people in MEDCs (more economically developed countries) hold this view.

Technocentric Worldview (aka bad guys from Avatar) Importance of market, and economic growth. Technology is the solution to environmental problems. Understand natural processes in order to understand them. Strong emphasis on scientific analysis and prediction prior to policy-making Includes the cornucopian (technology will always solve our problems) and the environmental management (stewardship) worldviews.

Ecocentric Worldview Life-centred Respects the rights of nature and acknowledges the dependence of humans on nature. Includes the soft technologists (favor small-scale, local action) and the deep ecologists (value nature more than humanity).

Communism and Capitalism Communists claimed it was the antidote to environmental degradation. After the Berlin Wall fell in Germany in 1989, western journalists got to see the results of communism. Communist East Germany was a heavily polluted country. The Buna chemical works was dumping 10 times more mercury into a river in a day than a comparable West German plant did in a year.

Native American Worldview There are many, but broad generalizations may be made. Contrary to popular belief, may or may not be environmentally-friendly, though their population was so low they had minimal long-lasting effects. Tend to hold property in common, have a subsistence economy, barter for goods, and low technology. Hold that animals and plants as well as object have a spirituality.

Buddhist Environmental Worldview Believe all sentient beings share the Earth and are co- dependent. Humans are not more important than other living things.

Modern Western Worldview Vary from we are “masters of the Earth” to we have a responsibility to be “Good Stewards of the Earth.” Modern environmental views spring from the Western tradition.