Category:Forests
Willie Smits has devoted his life to saving the forest habitat of orangutans, the "thinkers of the jungle." As towns, farms and wars encroach on native forests, Smits works to save what is left. TEDtalk video.
A unique ecosystem of plants, birds and monkeys thrives in the treetops of the rainforest. Nalini Nadkarni explores these canopy worlds -- and shares her findings with the world below, through dance, art and bold partnerships. TedTalk video
Science writer Richard Preston talks about some of the most enormous living beings on the planet, the giant Redwood trees of the US Pacific Northwest. Growing from a tiny seed, they support vast ecosystems -- and are still, largely, a mystery. TedTalk video. He is the author of The Wild Trees ( see below]
Strangely Like War by Derrick Jensen
California Redwoods activist website
Video
Jewels of the Jungle takes audiences on a worldwide journey of scientific exploration, trekking throughout the forests of Australia, Bolivia and Peru, and into laboratories throughout the United States, presenting viewers with a first glimpse of what may become humanity’s next generation of wonder drugs.
In recent years drug-resistant bacteria have rendered many of society’s ‘wonder-drugs’ impotent. And numerous diseases, including malaria and AIDS remain uncured. For Montana State University Professor Dr. Gary Strobel, the solution lays not in laboratories but in nature. Jewels of the Jungle follows Dr. Strobel as he travels throughout the world’s most remote and beautiful forests in search of new natural medicinal compounds, relying not only on Western science but also on the traditional knowledge of aboriginal peoples.
Effort to save Cambodian forest destroyed in part to make the drug ecstacy.
Books
Breakfast of Biodiversity : The Truth about Rain Forest Destruction / by John Vandermeer and Ivette Perfecto ; foreword by Vandana Shiva Oakland, Calif. : Institute for Food and Development Policy, c1995 S&E Stacks SD414.T76 V36 1995 c.3 Online Includes bananas.
The Wild Trees:A Story of Passion and Daring Written by Richard Preston excerpt includes information on Steve Sillett who pioneered exploring the high canopy of the Redwoods.
Searching for El Dorado: A journey into the South American Rainforest on then Trail of the World's Largest Gold Rush Marc Robert Herman, UCSC alum Oakes '91. , Doubleday, 2003
Heroes see also Eco-Heroes]
Corneille Ewango, as a botanist at the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the Congo basin, has faced down poachers and soldiers who threaten this delicate and vital ecosystem (Tedtalk video).
Jane Goodall legendary primatologist (TEDtalk video)
Julia Butterfly Hill ( see movie Resistance) On Dec. 10, 1997, a 23-year-old woman named Julia "Butterfly" Hill climbed into a 55-meter (180 foot) tall California Coast Redwood tree. Her aim was to prevent the destruction of the tree and of the forest where it had lived for a millennium. Butterfly Hill worked in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi, putting her own life on the line to save the life of a forest that was under immediate threat of destruction. The New College of California awarded her an honorary doctorate for her tree sit-activism. Read Grist interview to learn where Butterfly-Hill derives her inspiration. In CNN interview Butterfly Hill explains her involvement in transnational environmental movements after being deported by the Ecuadorian government for protesting an oil pipeline through the rainforest.
Wangari Mathai First environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize. 11/06 Interview (audio). 2007 audio interview. A new documentary on her will be shown on PBS in mid-April Taking Root, trailer
Chico Mendes was killed protecting the Brazilian Rain Forest. Sadly, activists there are still in danger.
Articles in category "Forests"
The following 7 pages are in this category, out of 7 total.
