Hands That Shape Green Revolution

By Ellen Whyte

NATURALISTS, zoologists and other scientists began to worry about the impact of pollution, urban development and uncontrolled hunting in the 19th century. Today, their concerns are among the hottest global issues. Environmental concerns also are a huge part of the secondary school science syllabus.

If you’re interested to find out more about the people and issues that kick-started the "green revolution", or want some juicy bits to beef up your next science project, take a look at the lives of some of the people who helped make environmentalism everyone’s concern.

JOHN MUIR (1838-1914). John Muir was fascinated by nature, especially forests. He travelled widely, writing articles and books describing his adventures in the American wilderness. Among the most famous is A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf, which describes his journey from Indiana in the north of the United States to Florida in the south.

Worried about the effects of farming and other business activities on the environment, Muir persuaded the US government to create the Sequoia and Yosemite national parks in California in 1864. These were the first national parks in the world.

Muir has been dubbed the Father of the National Park Service for his work. Read some of his books at http://www.yosemite.ca.us/john_muir_writings/. Another good resource that describes his work is the Sierra Club site at http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/ .

RACHEL CARSON (1907- 1964). Many people believe that Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring started the modern environmentalist movement.

Carson was a marine biologist and a popular author who became worried about the long-term effects of powerful new poisons such as DDT. In Silent Spring, published in 1962, she explained how insecticides and pesticides could enter the food chain, affecting the whole environment.

When she suggested that farmers use poisons as little as possible, chemical companies and many politicians tried to silence her. But her book became a best-seller that motivated millions of ordinary people to discuss the problem.

New laws restricting use of poisons were passed, but Carson never saw the result of her work. She died of breast cancer at the age of 57.

Find out more about Carson by visiting http://www.rachelcarson.org and the Silent Spring Institute at http://www.silentspring.org.

GERALD DURRELL (1925-1995). Gerald Durrell knew he wanted to own a zoo when he was just six. He went on many animal-collecting expeditions and became famous by writing books about his trips; one of the most popular is My Family and Other Animals, which mixes stories of his childhood pets with the antics of his eccentric family.

By 1958, he saved enough money to start his zoo. Unlike other zoos that have been created to entertain people, the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in Jersey is a safe haven where endangered species can breed in hopes that future generations may one day return to live in the wild.

For his work, Durrell has been hailed as the Pioneer of Captive Breeding. Today, the Trust has over 1,500 animals belonging to 190 rare animal species.

Check the detailed overview at Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Durrell/ and then move on to Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust at http://www.durrell.org .

DAVID ATTENBOROUGH (1926- ). If you watch Discovery, Animal Planet or National Geographic, you’ll have seen the work of David Attenborough. Dubbed the Pioneer of Nature Documentaries, he writes and presents award- winning documentaries that show how human society affects the natural world.

Today, there are many animal documentaries, but back in the early 1950s, when Attenborough began his career, the idea was new. His first naturalist programme was The Pattern of Animals, which explained in simple, non- scientific language some of the tricks animals use to win territory and mates. He has since made hundreds of programmes, including the famous trilogy Life on Earth (1979), The Living Planet (1984) and The Trials of Life (1990).

You can watch Attenborough’s Life of Birds at http://www.pbs.org/lifeofbirds/ and read more about his work by reading Wikipedia’s overview at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Attenborough/.

GLAMOROUS GREENS. Many celebrities are now helping to promote conservation. Thailand’s supermodel Luk Gaed-Methinee Kingphayom is saving leopards, Hong Kong’s action star Jackie Chan is fighting for tigers, and our very own actress Michelle Yeoh is doing her best for elephants.

You can find out more about Asian conservation projects and indulge a passion for star gossip and glitz by visiting WildAid, the people who try to end the illegal wildlife trade, at http://www.wildaid.org.