Abstract This paper examines the complex issue of whaling. In this paper the author explores the history of whaling while also incorporating the public opinion and issues being faced today. The focus of the paper is on whaling in Japan.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
World Whaling History
Japan's Whaling History
Whaling ? The Issue
International Whaling Commission (IWC)
History
1982
Result of Moratorium
Public
Preservationist
Conservationist Japan
Culture
Perspective
Result of Moratorium
Conclusion
From paper:
?Reminiscing about the ocean always creates the sense of vast expanse, strength and beauty; hence, it is no wonder that the whale, the greatest living creature on earth, living in the ocean, is perceived as an important animal. Due to the majestic beauty of whales, they have become icons through folklore and stories in many cultures. As whales are not subjected to national borders, they migrate freely across and through the waters of national jurisdiction; hence, different people have different views about the whales.?
Abstract This paper analyzes the issue of logging in national forests. It outlines the topics raised by the conservationists that logging should be banned, and by the loggers that logging is essential to the forests and to the economy.
From the Paper "One of the most debated issues of recent years is the right of logging companies to harvest timber for profit in the national forests. Conservationists have years of data to support their position pertaining to the harmful effects of deforestation in these parks, many of which contain some of the oldest forest in existence today. Aside from environmental issues, there are other issues as well. If they are public forests, conservationists maintain that the priority should remain on the preservation of them for the enjoyment of all. Logging companies use this same argument that if they are public, then the resources should be available to everyone, including to themselves, for profit. Another issue in this debate is the use of public tax money by privately owned big business for their own profit. Conservationists easily win the support for the general public with their emphasis on the loss of natural habitat and scenic beauty, but recently it seems that the large amount of lobbying dollars presented to the President have won the battle, at least for now. This issue has two opposing sides, but many underlying issues. This paper will examine the main arguments presented by both sides."
Abstract Rachel Carson is celebrated as one of the most influential conservationist of the 20th century and one who will continue to to inspire generations to come. This paper examines the life story of Carson, beginning with her childhood, her university education, and her love for nature. It also focuses on Carson's most famous book, "The Silent Spring", which opened the world's eyes to the dangers of pesticide such as DDT and changed the course of this form of destruction to the environment.
From the Paper "In 1958 Carson received a letter from Olga Owens Huckins, owner of a private bird sanctuary in Duxbury, Massachusetts, who was horrified one day to find birds dead and dying throughout her property (Rachel pp). Explaining that only days earlier local agencies had conducted a massive, unannounced spraying of the pesticide DDT, Huckins begged Carson to find someone in government to look into the regulations regarding chemical spraying (Rachel pp). Carson had long suspected the danger posed by the use of DDT and in fact had once tried to interest Reader's Digest in an article based on research by Elmer Higgins and Clarence Cottram at the Fish and Wildlife Service, but Reader's Digest declined and the findings were never released to the public (Rachel pp)."
Abstract This paper briefly details the life and career of photographer and conservationist Ansel Adams. The paper describes some of his photograph-masterpieces and discusses his contributions to wilderness conservation efforts.
From the Paper "A wilderness area named for a photographer? He must really have done something special. Yes, there is an Ansel Adams Wilderness, located in the Inyo and Sierra National Forests in California, and Yes, Ansel Adams was far more than a photographer. He used his camera and his conservationist ideas to alert people to the inroads society was making on the wilderness, and made every effort not merely to show the beauty of nature, but used those pictures to make a valid point for Conservation. His was a long and full life, with the innovations of camera techniques that brought a new concept of visualization to still pictures of nature."
Abstract The paper gives a biography of Thoreau starting from his childhood. It gives insights to his thoughts and philosophies and comments on his essays ?Resistance to Civil Government,? ?From Walden,? and ?Life in the Woods.? It describes his influence on writers, philosophers, poets, conservationists, politicians, and statesmen.
From the Paper "Thoreau believed that government was at its best when it governed the least, and that no government was the ideal. However, he also campaigned for the government to foster culture and education, build roads, prevent crime, and protect wildlife. A pioneer ecologist and conservationist, Thoreau was one of the first Americans to understand that natural resources were not inexhaustible. He said, "A town is saved not more by the righteous men in it than by the woods and swamps that surround it" (Walking pg). He distrusted institutions, disliked churches and rejected or ignored many aspects of Christianity. He believed that "man flows at once to God when his channel of purity is open" (Thoreau pg)."
Abstract Proponents for environmental sustainability and promoters of the tourism industry have long been at odds with each other, both working feverishly to realize their respective objectives, while butting heads the entire way. There is no arguing the fact that man's presence has caused serious and even irreparable harm to the environment, but there is also no way to avoid the continued encroachment inherent to tourism. This paper explores whether the two can find a way to exist in a symbiotic fashion without causing more damage.
From the Paper "It has been a problem environmentalists have grappled with for decades: the continuing degradation of public lands by tourists. For example, national and state parks are showing signs of intense wear as people traipse along off-the-beaten-track and do not follow the unspoken law of the land: tread lightly and leave no trace. Also significant to the drastic devastation tourists continue to wreak upon national and state parks is the increased use of motorized recreational vehicles that do nothing more than rip up the land. Not only is the sound of these all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles and personal watercraft imposing upon those who seek the peace and quiet inherently associated with the outdoors, but they also create "lots of environmental problems" (Lloyd, 1998, p. 3), such as tremendous traffic problems, air & water pollution, as well as a considerable cost to society."
Abstract This paper discusses the life of Ansel Adams. It explains that he was a modern artist who brought about the idea of the importance of photography as the art that we now know, and additionally, he helped set the standard for the building of identity through majestic images of the American landscape.
From the Paper "Up to the point which Adams works began to show prominence within the art world much of photography was centered on recording images first as the science of photography, then as records of physical identity, and then for posterity as records of people. (Newhall 9) Adams was one of the first photographers to broaden the scope of images to larger scale representations of things people would not have been able to see in small scale, large natural landscapes at specific times and from specific angels of scope. In summation, he turned photography into art and eventually his works and the works of other even became thought of as high art. In a sense this evolution of photography as a scientific tool to an expression of art and emotion is the history of photography. In Newhall can be seen Ansel Adams at work and just how precise a tool photography became as an expression of mood, when he is setting up for a very emotionally charged and well timed shot. (192)"
Abstract The paper describes computer simulations of four poaching scenarios. The simulation examines the fate of the Bengal tiger under each of these scenarios. The author surveys the potential problems for the survival of the tiger throughout India, focusing on the Khana N.P. reserve. In the paper, the author investigates the fate of the tigers in the Khana N.P. under the tiger conservation plan scheme, in which poaching is prohibited, and contrasts the findings with the fate of the same population under minimal to no protection at all.
From the Paper "The Indian, or the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris), is one of the most magnificent predators that ever walked our earth. The Historical habitat of this subspecies that ranged throughout India (Damania et al, 2004) is now reduced to isolated patches that many of them contain no more than 30 individuals (Siedensticker et al, 1999), that occupy only 5% of the available habitat (Karanth, 2001). The overall population numbers is estimated at 3,600 individuals, which is only 5% of the population only 100 years ago (IUCN, 2000)."
Abstract This paper explains that the actual process of genetic conservation utilizes sophisticated technology and a method of "banking" animal sperm, eggs and embryos by means of keeping them on ice until they can be reintroduced to a species, a process that can be used not only for a species facing extinction but also for a species that has already become extinct. The paper relates that conservationists still struggle with the task of prioritizing and allocating effort; nonetheless, it appears that genetic conservation fulfills the standards of scientific credibility.
From the Paper "Proponents of genetic conservation to save endangered species argue that this method of wildlife breeding is not genetic engineering, because they are not putting in genes that were not there before. The arguments for this are that genetic conservation does not create a new species based on a combination of genes, but merely preserves an existing species. They also argue that encouraging genetic diversity helps a species survive, and that in-breeding, which can weaken a species, does not occur. Supporters of genetic conservation hold the view that technology and committed people is what will ultimately save animals."
Abstract This paper examines how Karl Jacoby's book "Crimes Against Nature", paints a picture of an undetermined and inadequate governmental stance on conservation and details the direct and indirect effects these blunders caused. It looks at how the book details the state and federal government conservationist policies spanning the late 1800s and early 1900s that eventually set the tone for the widespread changes that would occur in the mid 1900s.
From the Paper "Jacoby is also quite critical of the federal government to conserve natural resources and oversee wild areas. Federal conservationist policies in Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Canyon seriously curtailed the rights of the Indian population, countering treaties that specifically stated these rights. The 1872 proclamation setting aside Yellowstone National Park caused the relocation of many Indian tribes, in what was described as, "rearranging the countryside, in which native peoples and nature were slotted into distinct categories and separated from one another." (87). However, instead of eliminating any future contact with the Indians, reservations were placed within close proximity to the park, and the rationing system in place was often inadequate, leaving the Indians with no choice but hunt for food. "
Abstract This paper discusses Richard Louv's book, "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder," which is about the fact that many western children spend little or no time in nature. Louv correlates the lack of time in nature with the onset and surmounting cases of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The writer discusses some of the reasons that Louv mentions for disassociation from nature, such as the urbanization of the Girl Scouts, and phenomena like the Rainforest Cafe. The writer explains how Louv's book affected her personally, and how it has inspired and motivated her to find more ways to involve her daughter with nature.
From the Paper "Throughout the book, I was drawn to comparisons in my personal life, especially associated with television, electronic media and immersion, and fear. While I was raised in a Northern Californian town on three acres and plenty of wilderness to explore, I am living a quite different existence in Los Angeles. As a stepmother, I am essentially at war with the commodity and consumer culture that is surrounding my eight-year-old daughter. If that is not enough, there are not any places for her to explore nature as I once did. Rather, she is steeped in a consumer culture that has also ingrained, in parents, fear of leaving children in unsupervised free play, in fear of the worst our imaginations can express. Louv sites these within his text, stating, "fear is the emotion that separates a developing child from the full, essential benefits of nature. Fear of traffic, of crime, of stranger-danger - and of nature itself.""
