00:00:08.970 --> 00:00:21.310
[MUSIC PLAYING]

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It is a place like no other
in the solar system.

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A magnificent place that
furnishes everything life

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needs to take hold
and flourish.

00:00:31.620 --> 00:00:35.480
Here each plant and animal
becomes a vital thread that

00:00:35.480 --> 00:00:39.550
joins others weaving together a
rich fabric of living things

00:00:39.550 --> 00:00:43.813
that forms the tapestry of
life we know as Earth.

00:00:52.670 --> 00:00:55.660
This living fabric gathers
strength from evolving over

00:00:55.660 --> 00:00:57.694
billions of years.

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Yet it is so fragile, it threads
can unravel in the

00:01:01.530 --> 00:01:03.070
evolutionary blink of an eye.

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Humans, too, are part of this
interlocking miracle.

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But much of how we have our
daily lives suggests that we

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are creatures living apart from
all others that, perhaps,

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we have lost touch with
our role in nature.

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What part do we play
in this wonderful,

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complex tapestry of life?

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What are our natural
connections to this

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place we call home?

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Everywhere on earth life exists
in a great variety of

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fascinating and exquisite
forms.

00:02:09.340 --> 00:02:13.680
This biological diversity, or
biodiversity for short,

00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:17.030
encompasses the world's millions
of living species and

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all the habitats in
which they live.

00:02:20.390 --> 00:02:24.510
And because the habitats that
plants and animals depend upon

00:02:24.510 --> 00:02:28.240
ultimately sustain humans as
well, the current loss of

00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:31.564
biodiversity is quickly becoming
one of the world's

00:02:31.564 --> 00:02:33.055
most pressing concerns.

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And every ecosystem on Earth is
important, but none holds

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more biodiversity than
tropical rainforests.

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Here plants and animals work
together to create the very

00:03:00.470 --> 00:03:02.860
ecosystem that regulates
our global atmosphere,

00:03:02.860 --> 00:03:06.560
temperature, wind pattern
and rainfall.

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Covering less than 6% of the
Earth's surface, tropical

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rainforests are home to over
half of the world's species.

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Although the variety of life is
greater here than anywhere

00:03:31.590 --> 00:03:34.980
on Earth, a thick wall of
green makes it very

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difficult to see.

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But even when you can't see,
your sense of hearing tells

00:03:51.850 --> 00:03:53.975
you life is lurking
everywhere.

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There are critters here with
strange names that perhaps you

00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:08.570
have yet to meet.

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Coati, peccary, agouti.

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There are strange critters here
that perhaps you'll never

00:04:14.750 --> 00:04:16.000
want to meet.

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The big, the bad, and the deadly
all life here waiting

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to greet you each in its
own diverse way.

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Well, they're creepy.

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We have some very big
beetles here.

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This is a rhinoceros beetle,
very like a small Volkswagen.

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Dr. Jack Longino is an
entomologist, a bug guy with a

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sense of humor.

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Anybody home?

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Unlike most adults who go to
great lengths to keep bugs at

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bay, Jack never quite outgrew
his childhood love for the

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creepy crawlers.

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I have grown up.

00:05:01.700 --> 00:05:03.322
I'm fully adult.

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It's all the rest of the world
that's the problem.

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Jack's infectious interest in
insects often brings him here

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to La Selva Biological Station
in Costa Rica's tropical

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rainforest.

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Owned and operated by the
Organization for Tropical

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Studies, La Selva is a research
site that connects a

00:05:22.070 --> 00:05:25.040
world of scientists to
the natural world.

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More than 250 researchers from
26 countries work at La Selva

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every year helping to make Costa
Rica and international

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leader in identifying and
protecting biodiversity.

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For Jack, who is here to help
run a project that identifies

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insects, it's paradise
on Earth.

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They are so unhuman, because
we're built like a popsicle.

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All the soft stuff is on the
outside, and the hard bit is

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on the inside on these
skeletons.

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So we're this gooey stuff
hung on a skeleton.

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And Insects are built like an
oil drum where the hard bit is

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on the outside and the soft
stuff is in the middle.

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And you look at them, and
they're these metallic

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monsters with pieces that
move around like robots.

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And so there's that sort of
creepy fascination about them

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that's sort of infinitely
entertaining.

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Although we're reluctant to sing
their praises, and quick

00:06:52.620 --> 00:06:56.850
to point out how much they bug
us, insects and especially

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ants play one of the most
important roles

00:07:00.390 --> 00:07:02.360
in the global ecosystem.

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In fact, Edward O. Wilson,
considered to be one of the

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world's greatest living
scientists, suggest that these

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tiny spineless creatures are the
backbone of life on Earth.

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It's a remarkable fact that
people, generally, around the

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world come to think of insects
and other little

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creepy-crawlies as not only
non-essential, but nuisances

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that we'd be better
off without.

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Nothing could be farther
from the truth.

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They are what I like to
call the little things

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that run the Earth.

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They sustain the ecosystems
with turning the soil,

00:07:45.940 --> 00:07:51.140
circulating matter, helping to
create the plant growth on

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which are these ecosystems
and ultimately we depend.

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And they deserve our
close attention.

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It's strange to think that the
lives of humans are so

00:08:03.190 --> 00:08:05.830
connected to a bug's life.

00:08:05.830 --> 00:08:08.080
[INAUDIBLE].

00:08:08.080 --> 00:08:10.930
How many other plants and
animals are vital to the

00:08:10.930 --> 00:08:12.600
Earth's ecosystems?

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We don't know.

00:08:13.810 --> 00:08:17.020
Nearly two million species
have been identified, but

00:08:17.020 --> 00:08:20.080
that's only a small fraction
of the actual number of

00:08:20.080 --> 00:08:22.180
existing life forms.

00:08:22.180 --> 00:08:25.020
Millions more have yet
to be discovered.

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Scientists admit that species
are going extinct by the

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thousands before we even know
what role they play.

00:08:33.320 --> 00:08:35.970
An interesting way to visualize
what we do know is

00:08:35.970 --> 00:08:38.799
to look at something called
a species scape.

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Here's how it works.

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Each organism pictured here
represents a different group

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of living things.

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The size of each organism
indicates the known number of

00:08:47.420 --> 00:08:50.310
species within that
particular group.

00:08:50.310 --> 00:08:53.830
For example, this eagle
symbolizes all of the 10,000

00:08:53.830 --> 00:08:56.190
different species of birds
that we know of.

00:08:56.190 --> 00:09:00.840
While this larger scallop
represents the 70,000 species

00:09:00.840 --> 00:09:01.950
of mollusks.

00:09:01.950 --> 00:09:05.200
But it is the comparison of
the smallest group to the

00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:08.340
largest group that makes for
an interesting insight into

00:09:08.340 --> 00:09:11.770
how we humans fit into
the natural world.

00:09:11.770 --> 00:09:16.230
This elephant represents all
4,500 species of mammals

00:09:16.230 --> 00:09:18.210
living on the planet, including

00:09:18.210 --> 00:09:20.370
us, the human species.

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In comparison, this very large
ant illustrates the 963,000

00:09:25.510 --> 00:09:28.130
known species of insects.

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Needless to say, we mammals are

00:09:30.390 --> 00:09:33.200
seriously outnumbered here.

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Ants do a lot more than
disturb picnickers.

00:09:38.610 --> 00:09:42.040
They're out there in
incredible numbers.

00:09:42.040 --> 00:09:45.790
I've estimated very roughly,
back of the envelope estimate,

00:09:45.790 --> 00:09:52.480
that there are about million
billion ants alive on Earth at

00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:54.260
any given moment.

00:09:54.260 --> 00:09:59.600
And ant only weighs about one
millionth as much as a person.

00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:03.660
That comes out to there being
about as much tissue and

00:10:03.660 --> 00:10:06.890
weight for all the ants in the
world as there are for all the

00:10:06.890 --> 00:10:08.140
human beings.

00:10:25.620 --> 00:10:29.200
Humans and ants might match each
other pound for pound,

00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:32.300
but the effect that the two
species have on the world

00:10:32.300 --> 00:10:33.990
weighs quite differently.

00:10:33.990 --> 00:10:38.030
The nature of ants and other
insets is to contribute to the

00:10:38.030 --> 00:10:40.350
maintenance of the Earth's
ecosystems.

00:10:40.350 --> 00:10:44.090
Unfortunately, history shows
that human nature often has

00:10:44.090 --> 00:10:47.210
the opposite effect.

00:10:47.210 --> 00:10:53.340
We associate quality of life
with the power to be wasteful.

00:10:53.340 --> 00:10:55.795
And it's like the more wasteful
we can be, the higher

00:10:55.795 --> 00:10:57.660
our quality of life.

00:10:57.660 --> 00:10:59.790
It's fun to drive around.

00:10:59.790 --> 00:11:01.440
It's fun to get into your
car and drive around.

00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:03.130
It's fun to drive fast.

00:11:03.130 --> 00:11:06.230
It's fun to drive big, powerful
cars that use lots of

00:11:06.230 --> 00:11:07.260
gas per mile.

00:11:07.260 --> 00:11:11.390
And if there were only 100
of us in the world,

00:11:11.390 --> 00:11:12.980
that would be fine.

00:11:12.980 --> 00:11:15.710
But we've gotten ourselves in
a position where there are 6

00:11:15.710 --> 00:11:18.060
billion people in the world.

00:11:18.060 --> 00:11:25.280
And if everybody is wasteful
to their maximum potential,

00:11:25.280 --> 00:11:26.530
it's going to be a short run.

00:11:29.550 --> 00:11:33.500
Although the United States
counts for less than 5% of the

00:11:33.500 --> 00:11:37.440
world's population, it consumes
over 25% of the

00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:39.200
world's resources.

00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:42.850
Some of those resources are
taken from tropical forests.

00:11:42.850 --> 00:11:45.680
Because these forests are so
important to the health of the

00:11:45.680 --> 00:11:49.520
entire planet, the rapid rate at
which they are disappearing

00:11:49.520 --> 00:11:51.690
is of great concern.

00:11:51.690 --> 00:11:55.120
We tell tropical countries
don't cut your forests.

00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:59.690
And they see enormous
controversy in the US over the

00:11:59.690 --> 00:12:02.010
destruction of old
growth forests.

00:12:02.010 --> 00:12:04.435
That sounds pretty silly.

00:12:08.800 --> 00:12:12.950
Yo, amigo, don't cut
those trees down.

00:12:12.950 --> 00:12:14.850
Meanwhile the chain saws
are going back

00:12:14.850 --> 00:12:16.870
in Washington state.

00:12:30.560 --> 00:12:33.430
Like many countries, Costa Rica
is struggling with how to

00:12:33.430 --> 00:12:35.600
manage its natural resources.

00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:38.140
What they're discovering is
that profits from a living

00:12:38.140 --> 00:12:41.890
forest far exceed the short
term profits received from

00:12:41.890 --> 00:12:43.500
cutting it down.

00:12:43.500 --> 00:12:46.220
A tropical forest is a renewable
resource that

00:12:46.220 --> 00:12:49.980
continues to attract tourists
year after year.

00:12:49.980 --> 00:12:54.270
The proceeds from tourism now
surpass coffee and bananas as

00:12:54.270 --> 00:12:58.530
this country's number one source
of outside income.

00:12:58.530 --> 00:13:01.100
But something else is happening,
something on which

00:13:01.100 --> 00:13:03.770
no price tag can be placed.

00:13:03.770 --> 00:13:07.090
People who are spending time in
nature are renewing their

00:13:07.090 --> 00:13:09.470
connections to the
natural world.

00:13:09.470 --> 00:13:12.940
Perhaps they'll even take home a
new respect for the value of

00:13:12.940 --> 00:13:15.920
all life and an awareness
of the impact we

00:13:15.920 --> 00:13:18.070
humans have on it.

00:13:18.070 --> 00:13:23.910
I'd love to be able to spend
wildly and waste things, but

00:13:23.910 --> 00:13:25.250
it's sort of not ethically
right.

00:14:05.310 --> 00:14:08.880
It's early morning on British
Columbia's Adams River where

00:14:08.880 --> 00:14:11.630
nature's symphony is
just warming up for

00:14:11.630 --> 00:14:13.230
another October day.

00:14:18.050 --> 00:14:21.620
This rivers melody plays through
canyons, its tempo

00:14:21.620 --> 00:14:24.660
quickening as cold clear
water rushes over

00:14:24.660 --> 00:14:27.990
rocks and gravel beds.

00:14:27.990 --> 00:14:31.030
Yes, this symphony is perfectly
composed to provide

00:14:31.030 --> 00:14:33.654
everything a salmon
needs to spawn.

00:14:47.090 --> 00:14:50.960
A fascinating place, the Adams
is an amazing area.

00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:55.750
Nine mile long river, the
densest population of sockeye

00:14:55.750 --> 00:15:00.970
salmon of any particular
run in the world.

00:15:00.970 --> 00:15:03.020
The perfect condition of gravel,
water temperature,

00:15:03.020 --> 00:15:06.960
flow, a lake on either end,
sockeye must be happy as clams

00:15:06.960 --> 00:15:08.210
in that particular area.

00:15:11.770 --> 00:15:15.170
Bob Furstenberg is a senior
ecologist for the King County

00:15:15.170 --> 00:15:17.460
Department of Natural
Resources.

00:15:17.460 --> 00:15:20.410
For over a decade, Bob has
been analyzing why many

00:15:20.410 --> 00:15:23.970
Western Washington rivers and
streams have ceased to support

00:15:23.970 --> 00:15:26.710
wild salmon runs.

00:15:26.710 --> 00:15:30.310
I think largely, it's because
we take up a lot

00:15:30.310 --> 00:15:32.650
of space as a species.

00:15:32.650 --> 00:15:36.010
Human beings really do occupy
large parts of the world.

00:15:36.010 --> 00:15:38.840
And because we take up that
room, we don't leave a lot of

00:15:38.840 --> 00:15:40.090
room for others.

00:15:40.090 --> 00:15:42.430
And it's a place now where
we've gotten to the point

00:15:42.430 --> 00:15:44.880
where our populations are large
enough, our resource use

00:15:44.880 --> 00:15:49.190
is massive enough, that we're
seeing really the decline of

00:15:49.190 --> 00:15:50.710
other species that can't
compete very

00:15:50.710 --> 00:15:51.960
effectively with us.

00:15:58.910 --> 00:16:01.970
When it's time to leave the
ocean, as an all salmon

00:16:01.970 --> 00:16:06.590
species, and internal compass
guides these sockeye home.

00:16:06.590 --> 00:16:09.820
When they began their journey,
the fish change from silver to

00:16:09.820 --> 00:16:12.080
bright crimson.

00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:16.600
To prepare for mating battles,
the males develop a humpback,

00:16:16.600 --> 00:16:18.890
hook jaws, and sharp teeth.

00:16:18.890 --> 00:16:22.910
Pairs form with males fighting
off all other callers while

00:16:22.910 --> 00:16:25.800
females compete for
nest sites.

00:16:25.800 --> 00:16:29.190
When she's ready, the female
digs a series of nests where

00:16:29.190 --> 00:16:33.940
she deposits about 4,000 eggs.

00:16:33.940 --> 00:16:37.380
Four years later, only two
surviving adult's from the

00:16:37.380 --> 00:16:42.040
original 4,000 will return to
begin the cycle once again.

00:16:46.530 --> 00:16:48.530
By the time they get here,
they're pretty beat up.

00:16:48.530 --> 00:16:52.180
We see fish that are
fungus-ridden, full of scars.

00:16:52.180 --> 00:16:56.010
They've passed seals,
sea lions, orcas who

00:16:56.010 --> 00:16:57.250
mainly feed on salmon.

00:16:57.250 --> 00:17:00.130
And the ones that have made it
back here are just a very

00:17:00.130 --> 00:17:02.430
small percent of the ones
that originally left

00:17:02.430 --> 00:17:03.630
this kind of system.

00:17:03.630 --> 00:17:05.085
It must be a hard trip.

00:17:08.560 --> 00:17:12.540
Salmon spend their entire lives
facing incredible odds.

00:17:12.540 --> 00:17:15.069
Many hurdles found in
nature can deliver a

00:17:15.069 --> 00:17:16.880
quick end for the fish.

00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:20.470
But human induced obstacles
can be just as deadly.

00:17:20.470 --> 00:17:23.810
Poor logging practices,
industrial waste, urban and

00:17:23.810 --> 00:17:27.560
suburban development, runoff
from farmland and yards,

00:17:27.560 --> 00:17:30.650
indiscriminate water use,
improperly treated sewage,

00:17:30.650 --> 00:17:34.590
over fishing, dams, and climate
change are proving to

00:17:34.590 --> 00:17:38.620
be too much for the
salmon survival.

00:17:38.620 --> 00:17:43.390
I think that if salmon go
extinct, the loss will be less

00:17:43.390 --> 00:17:48.060
one of biology and more
sort of a poverty of

00:17:48.060 --> 00:17:50.820
the spirit, I guess.

00:17:50.820 --> 00:17:53.620
You don't just lose the fish,
you lose, I think, in some

00:17:53.620 --> 00:17:56.330
cases that psychological
link with the land.

00:18:00.780 --> 00:18:04.420
And one thing that people know
about the Northwest is that

00:18:04.420 --> 00:18:06.980
there are salmon and big trees,
and that those things

00:18:06.980 --> 00:18:08.230
are linked together.

00:18:33.600 --> 00:18:36.670
As salmon swim thousands of
miles to complete their life

00:18:36.670 --> 00:18:39.310
cycle, people travel
great distances to

00:18:39.310 --> 00:18:41.410
celebrate their return.

00:18:41.410 --> 00:18:45.280
The severe decline of wild
salmon runs is prompting many

00:18:45.280 --> 00:18:47.920
people to look at how the
choices they make in their

00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:51.510
everyday lives dramatically
impact the lives of salmon.

00:18:54.590 --> 00:18:56.670
The 10 minute shower, the 20
minute shower, if that

00:18:56.670 --> 00:19:00.200
accumulates to 5 or 6 million
people in the Northwest doing

00:19:00.200 --> 00:19:02.190
it, that water's coming
from somewhere.

00:19:02.190 --> 00:19:03.650
And it's coming from
rivers that are

00:19:03.650 --> 00:19:06.320
occupied by other species.

00:19:06.320 --> 00:19:09.630
Pesticides are very often not
very targeted, that is, they

00:19:09.630 --> 00:19:12.730
kill a broad spectrum of
organisms, and many of those

00:19:12.730 --> 00:19:15.630
organisms are the very same
organisms that juvenile salmon

00:19:15.630 --> 00:19:17.600
would feed on if they
were available.

00:19:17.600 --> 00:19:20.430
So just the pesticide use can
be pretty much of a problem.

00:19:24.590 --> 00:19:27.870
One of the biggest problems we
face as a society is out of

00:19:27.870 --> 00:19:29.010
sight, out of mind.

00:19:29.010 --> 00:19:30.370
It goes away.

00:19:30.370 --> 00:19:32.050
I flush the toilet, I pour
oil down a storm

00:19:32.050 --> 00:19:33.480
drain, it goes away.

00:19:33.480 --> 00:19:34.780
But it doesn't really go away.

00:19:34.780 --> 00:19:37.700
It all ends up somewhere, and by
and large putting oil in a

00:19:37.700 --> 00:19:40.530
storm drain ends up in a stream,
or a river, or a lake.

00:19:40.530 --> 00:19:43.600
When it does that, one gallon
of oil can actually pollute

00:19:43.600 --> 00:19:45.740
about a million gallons
of water.

00:19:45.740 --> 00:19:48.880
Everything is connected
to everything else.

00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:52.780
It may not be apparent in any
single moment, or in any

00:19:52.780 --> 00:19:58.370
single place, but the way the
world works with us in it, or

00:19:58.370 --> 00:20:02.230
not with us in it, is that
everything is connected over

00:20:02.230 --> 00:20:05.080
time and over space.

00:20:05.080 --> 00:20:08.780
The connection between people
and salmon is clear.

00:20:08.780 --> 00:20:11.630
Both need clean water
to survive.

00:20:11.630 --> 00:20:14.570
Salmon are excellent indicators
of water quality,

00:20:14.570 --> 00:20:17.700
and what they're telling
us is not good news.

00:20:17.700 --> 00:20:21.650
Northwest rivers like the
Snoqualmie, Green, and Cedar

00:20:21.650 --> 00:20:23.995
once teamed with runs
of wild native

00:20:23.995 --> 00:20:26.050
chinook and coho salmon.

00:20:26.050 --> 00:20:29.080
Today the salmon population
in these same rivers is

00:20:29.080 --> 00:20:31.030
critically depressed.

00:20:31.030 --> 00:20:34.160
In fact, throughout the Pacific
Northwest salmon have

00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:40.100
disappeared over 40% of their
historical breeding range.

00:20:40.100 --> 00:20:42.640
The cumulative actions of the
society are really the result

00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:45.610
of all the individual actions
of its members, and when

00:20:45.610 --> 00:20:48.390
people take that responsibility
and make small

00:20:48.390 --> 00:20:50.710
changes, you can bet that
somebody else is doing the

00:20:50.710 --> 00:20:52.480
same thing.

00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:57.070
We got here by a series of
small, in some cases,

00:20:57.070 --> 00:20:58.590
thoughtless actions.

00:20:58.590 --> 00:21:01.280
We can get back by a series of
small thoughtful actions.

00:21:11.860 --> 00:21:15.260
As people come to witness the
end of the salmon's journey,

00:21:15.260 --> 00:21:18.120
many walk away with a new
commitment to preserve this

00:21:18.120 --> 00:21:21.560
Northwest icon's
role in nature.

00:21:21.560 --> 00:21:25.340
Even in death, these salmon
promised a new beginning.

00:21:25.340 --> 00:21:27.680
They provide many other
creatures with the food they

00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:30.010
need to survive the winter.

00:21:30.010 --> 00:21:33.090
And as their bodies decompose,
the carcasses furnish

00:21:33.090 --> 00:21:37.230
nutrients that will nourish
their own young next spring.

00:21:37.230 --> 00:21:41.630
But this journey of no return
also brings with it a warning.

00:21:41.630 --> 00:21:44.130
The decline of salmon
is a symptom of an

00:21:44.130 --> 00:21:46.580
ecosystem out of balance.

00:21:46.580 --> 00:21:50.220
A sign that the complex web
of life is breaking down

00:21:50.220 --> 00:21:54.260
affecting both fish
and humans.

00:21:54.260 --> 00:21:58.250
At present, no one knows if the
Adams and rivers like it

00:21:58.250 --> 00:22:03.240
will continue to play their
symphony for the salmon.

00:22:03.240 --> 00:22:06.100
Do we really want to live with
other species on this planet

00:22:06.100 --> 00:22:07.405
in this place in
the Northwest?

00:22:07.405 --> 00:22:13.150
Do we really believe that we are
capable of coexisting with

00:22:13.150 --> 00:22:18.470
all these other kinds of things,
especially salmon?

00:22:18.470 --> 00:22:21.540
This is not openly a scientific
question.

00:22:21.540 --> 00:22:23.650
It's a question of value.

00:22:23.650 --> 00:22:29.750
It's a question of are we really
the people that we

00:22:29.750 --> 00:22:31.420
think we are?

00:22:31.420 --> 00:22:34.420
And if we are, we will
save salmon.

00:22:34.420 --> 00:22:37.775
And if we've been fooling
ourselves, we won't.

00:22:58.220 --> 00:23:01.270
There's a small island off the
Washington Coast where the

00:23:01.270 --> 00:23:05.120
diversity of life in a single
tide pool rivals that of any

00:23:05.120 --> 00:23:06.789
rainforest or salmon stream.

00:23:11.530 --> 00:23:16.970
It's not quite land, not quite
sea, but a great melting pot

00:23:16.970 --> 00:23:19.680
of living things fighting
to survive between

00:23:19.680 --> 00:23:22.580
two different worlds.

00:23:22.580 --> 00:23:25.700
Owned by the Makah Nation,
Tatoosh Island is among the

00:23:25.700 --> 00:23:28.305
richest temperate tidal
systems in the world.

00:23:42.320 --> 00:23:44.510
It is a ritual that has evolved
into one of the

00:23:44.510 --> 00:23:48.050
longest ongoing studies of
a single area by the same

00:23:48.050 --> 00:23:50.010
scientists in the nation.

00:23:50.010 --> 00:23:54.300
For over 30 years, at least 12
times a year, University of

00:23:54.300 --> 00:23:58.410
Washington zoologist, Bob Paine,
passes a century of sea

00:23:58.410 --> 00:24:02.740
lions and endures the greeting
of gulls to come to Tatoosh, a

00:24:02.740 --> 00:24:05.203
place he loves more
than any other.

00:24:05.203 --> 00:24:06.390
Just look around it.

00:24:06.390 --> 00:24:10.110
I don't love the gulls, but I
love the scenery, the rock

00:24:10.110 --> 00:24:12.800
walls, the violence in
the winter storms.

00:24:12.800 --> 00:24:13.730
I even like the fog.

00:24:13.730 --> 00:24:17.270
And I don't mind the rain,
and I've never been

00:24:17.270 --> 00:24:19.230
affected by a cold.

00:24:19.230 --> 00:24:21.100
The places is a paradise
of biology.

00:24:30.180 --> 00:24:33.630
Tatoosh offers this scientist
and his research students a

00:24:33.630 --> 00:24:37.310
few rustic buildings to use as
shelter, remnants of when the

00:24:37.310 --> 00:24:40.110
Coast Guard occupied
the island.

00:24:40.110 --> 00:24:42.560
Although Paine and his students
are here to study how

00:24:42.560 --> 00:24:45.620
the wars of nature of work,
there's nothing militant about

00:24:45.620 --> 00:24:47.220
their experiments.

00:24:47.220 --> 00:24:50.200
Most are here to observe the
natural connections that occur

00:24:50.200 --> 00:24:53.200
in the intertidal zone,
a place where life is

00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:56.970
continually competing
for survival.

00:24:56.970 --> 00:25:01.830
Disturbance, might is right
out here to some extent.

00:25:01.830 --> 00:25:05.950
The more effective competitive
species are larger, and

00:25:05.950 --> 00:25:07.030
because they're larger,
than they're

00:25:07.030 --> 00:25:08.240
subject to wave damage.

00:25:08.240 --> 00:25:11.540
And so winter storms remove
them, and that basically

00:25:11.540 --> 00:25:14.260
produces a regional balance
of species.

00:25:14.260 --> 00:25:15.900
No one species types at all.

00:25:18.987 --> 00:25:22.500
A tinkerer by nature, Bob
Paine isn't above

00:25:22.500 --> 00:25:26.110
manufacturing a few disturbances
of his own.

00:25:26.110 --> 00:25:28.920
His experiment on the connection
between starfish

00:25:28.920 --> 00:25:32.390
and muscles resulted in one of
the most important principles

00:25:32.390 --> 00:25:34.530
of modern ecology,
the principal

00:25:34.530 --> 00:25:36.240
called, keystone species.

00:25:38.780 --> 00:25:41.670
It proves that certain species
are critically important to

00:25:41.670 --> 00:25:42.930
the balance of an ecosystem.

00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:48.860
Keystone species is the most
striking example of how the

00:25:48.860 --> 00:25:50.280
living world is interconnected.

00:25:53.900 --> 00:25:56.990
This is called the glacier and
an experiment I started in

00:25:56.990 --> 00:26:02.220
1970 and maintained until 1995,
so it's a 25-year-long

00:26:02.220 --> 00:26:03.750
experiment.

00:26:03.750 --> 00:26:06.150
And what it involved was simply
the removal of the

00:26:06.150 --> 00:26:09.490
starfishes you see along the
walls here and on the rock

00:26:09.490 --> 00:26:11.140
bench here.

00:26:11.140 --> 00:26:14.360
On this side, the starfish
were retained and that's

00:26:14.360 --> 00:26:15.690
called a control.

00:26:15.690 --> 00:26:18.610
In the background there,
I removed starfish.

00:26:18.610 --> 00:26:21.590
In the area where they were left
to eat the muscles, the

00:26:21.590 --> 00:26:24.080
starfish opened up space
for dozens of

00:26:24.080 --> 00:26:26.240
other species to flourish.

00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:29.620
Where Bob continually removed
the starfish, the muscles

00:26:29.620 --> 00:26:32.340
crowded out most other
life forms.

00:26:32.340 --> 00:26:35.440
The starfish is a keystone
species, because it has a

00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:38.870
critical effect on the
entire ecosystem.

00:26:38.870 --> 00:26:42.000
It sent a very strong signal
that, in fact, all species

00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:42.930
aren't equal.

00:26:42.930 --> 00:26:45.760
Some species have major
effects, others don't.

00:26:45.760 --> 00:26:47.530
But it means that one
can't be careless.

00:26:47.530 --> 00:26:50.430
If one makes a mistake and
eliminates, for whatever

00:26:50.430 --> 00:26:52.500
reason, a critical species
from a system,

00:26:52.500 --> 00:26:54.660
the system will change.

00:26:54.660 --> 00:26:57.600
One example of how a system
changed involves the

00:26:57.600 --> 00:27:01.870
connection between kelp,
urchins, and sea otters.

00:27:01.870 --> 00:27:04.200
Kelp beds are the ocean's
nurseries.

00:27:04.200 --> 00:27:06.550
Vital feeding grounds
for young fish and a

00:27:06.550 --> 00:27:08.810
host of other organisms.

00:27:08.810 --> 00:27:10.650
Urchins eat kelp.

00:27:10.650 --> 00:27:12.720
Otters eat urchins.

00:27:12.720 --> 00:27:15.750
When otters were hunted to near
extinction, the urchins

00:27:15.750 --> 00:27:18.950
were left unchecked to
decimate kelp forests

00:27:18.950 --> 00:27:23.390
affecting fish populations and
everything up the food chain.

00:27:23.390 --> 00:27:27.360
The loss of the otter, another
keystone species, dramatically

00:27:27.360 --> 00:27:30.960
changes the diversity of life
leaving a once complex

00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:34.120
ecosystem simplified
and weakened.

00:27:34.120 --> 00:27:36.340
You know, it would be a tragedy,
and it would be

00:27:36.340 --> 00:27:39.400
irresponsible to not recognize
the fact that one can't push

00:27:39.400 --> 00:27:40.580
systems too far.

00:27:40.580 --> 00:27:41.530
They do collapse.

00:27:41.530 --> 00:27:44.460
And we have some sort of moral
responsibility to, not only

00:27:44.460 --> 00:27:47.540
understand what the conditions
are, but not to push

00:27:47.540 --> 00:27:50.170
systems that far.

00:27:50.170 --> 00:27:53.480
The many services provided by
the Earth's ecosystems are

00:27:53.480 --> 00:27:55.830
vital to human survival.

00:27:55.830 --> 00:27:59.150
Some ecologists believe people
could understand this better

00:27:59.150 --> 00:28:02.080
if a price tag were assigned
to the functions that some

00:28:02.080 --> 00:28:04.360
species perform.

00:28:04.360 --> 00:28:08.450
What is the value of the otter
that helps young fish survive

00:28:08.450 --> 00:28:10.970
by being keeper of
the kelp forests?

00:28:10.970 --> 00:28:13.600
What is the value of a
starfish that keeps

00:28:13.600 --> 00:28:17.560
biodiversity intact in
the intertidal zone?

00:28:17.560 --> 00:28:21.140
I can offer you $0.25 for this
starfish, and if you're

00:28:21.140 --> 00:28:24.750
willing to sell it to me, this
would allow someone to say,

00:28:24.750 --> 00:28:26.890
well, I can give you
$0.50 for it.

00:28:26.890 --> 00:28:30.990
Once you can buy a species, it
no longer enjoys the moral

00:28:30.990 --> 00:28:34.020
protection that all species
should enjoy.

00:28:34.020 --> 00:28:35.420
Economics is not the answer.

00:28:35.420 --> 00:28:39.580
We have to develop and teach and
environmental ethic, which

00:28:39.580 --> 00:28:42.390
says that all these species have
a right to coexist with

00:28:42.390 --> 00:28:43.970
us on this planet.

00:28:43.970 --> 00:28:47.360
Putting it in economic terms
simply won't work.

00:28:47.360 --> 00:28:50.040
It's something that everyone
understands, the power of

00:28:50.040 --> 00:28:53.900
money, but conservation
in the broadest sense

00:28:53.900 --> 00:28:55.495
requires more than that.

00:29:09.355 --> 00:29:12.690
For Bob Paine, Tatoosh
holds the key that

00:29:12.690 --> 00:29:14.720
unlocks many truths.

00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:17.980
In a world where everything is
connected, where everything is

00:29:17.980 --> 00:29:23.160
balanced by who preys on whom,
here is some food for thought.

00:29:23.160 --> 00:29:26.740
We humans impact the
biodiversity of the world more

00:29:26.740 --> 00:29:28.660
than any other creature.

00:29:28.660 --> 00:29:31.570
We can alter ecosystems
much more efficiently

00:29:31.570 --> 00:29:33.460
than anything in nature.

00:29:33.460 --> 00:29:38.250
We are the greatest keystone
species of all.

00:29:38.250 --> 00:29:41.480
Biodiversity feeds us, nurtures
us, produces the air

00:29:41.480 --> 00:29:44.440
we breathe, cleanses
our water.

00:29:44.440 --> 00:29:47.220
We need it probably more
than it needs us.

00:29:51.430 --> 00:29:54.750
A temperate forest located in
Western Washington might not

00:29:54.750 --> 00:29:58.720
contain as many species of
plants as a tropical forest,

00:29:58.720 --> 00:30:01.990
but when it comes to quantity
of plant life per acre, this

00:30:01.990 --> 00:30:04.460
forest wins hands down.

00:30:04.460 --> 00:30:07.690
The lives of thousands of plants
and animals revolve

00:30:07.690 --> 00:30:11.900
around the life cycle of these
ancient trees providing vital

00:30:11.900 --> 00:30:15.180
resources for both the
wildlife and people.

00:30:15.180 --> 00:30:19.700
A forest like this is also the
perfect place for a shy young

00:30:19.700 --> 00:30:22.860
boy to sow the seeds
of his future.

00:30:22.860 --> 00:30:25.790
The forest was where I felt
comfortable, and the trees

00:30:25.790 --> 00:30:27.570
were my friends.

00:30:27.570 --> 00:30:28.840
They're still my friends.

00:30:28.840 --> 00:30:31.405
I still report to my friends
on a regular basis.

00:30:36.940 --> 00:30:40.720
His mother named him Jerry
Forest Franklin, because she

00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:41.970
had a premonition that he would

00:30:41.970 --> 00:30:44.070
grow up to be a forester.

00:30:44.070 --> 00:30:47.180
But Jerry says it was a walk in
the woods at age four with

00:30:47.180 --> 00:30:50.510
his dad that he first fell
in love with trees.

00:30:50.510 --> 00:30:54.300
By nine, he already knew
his mission in life.

00:30:54.300 --> 00:31:00.210
My own sense of my mission is
to do as well as I can in

00:31:00.210 --> 00:31:01.460
representing these forests.

00:31:03.890 --> 00:31:09.110
And it isn't my job to try to
save every piece of forest,

00:31:09.110 --> 00:31:12.100
but it's my job to try to cut
the best deal I can for

00:31:12.100 --> 00:31:16.190
forests and trees in a world
that's dominated by humans.

00:31:16.190 --> 00:31:17.820
That's my mission.

00:31:17.820 --> 00:31:20.480
Jerry Franklin is a man
who clearly sees the

00:31:20.480 --> 00:31:22.770
forest beyond the trees.

00:31:22.770 --> 00:31:26.480
After years of observing how
forests were harvested, Jerry

00:31:26.480 --> 00:31:29.030
came up with a better idea.

00:31:29.030 --> 00:31:32.740
Why not manage the forest to
retain its productivity, and

00:31:32.740 --> 00:31:34.400
its biodiversity?

00:31:34.400 --> 00:31:37.710
Why not modify harvesting
techniques, so that selected

00:31:37.710 --> 00:31:40.310
trees and snags are
left behind to

00:31:40.310 --> 00:31:42.850
provide homes for wildlife?

00:31:42.850 --> 00:31:46.850
Why not leave downed logs to
rot and replenish the soil?

00:31:46.850 --> 00:31:49.700
This approach would give the
natural ecosystem a better

00:31:49.700 --> 00:31:51.620
chance to make a comeback.

00:31:51.620 --> 00:31:55.200
One of the big lessons from
forest ecological research in

00:31:55.200 --> 00:31:58.440
the last 30 years is that
a dead tree is as

00:31:58.440 --> 00:32:00.330
important as a live tree.

00:32:05.040 --> 00:32:06.290
OK Mark.

00:32:12.120 --> 00:32:15.200
As a professor of ecosystem
analysis at the University of

00:32:15.200 --> 00:32:18.160
Washington, Jerry is continually
seeking new

00:32:18.160 --> 00:32:21.150
information about how
a forest works.

00:32:21.150 --> 00:32:23.920
One way to do that is to
climb aboard the Wind

00:32:23.920 --> 00:32:27.600
River canopy crane.

00:32:27.600 --> 00:32:30.380
Located in Southern Washington's
Gifford Pinchot

00:32:30.380 --> 00:32:35.230
National Forest, this 22 story
beauty is helping scientists

00:32:35.230 --> 00:32:39.170
unlock the secrets of the
forest's last frontier.

00:32:39.170 --> 00:32:41.890
That's where photosynthesis
is going on.

00:32:41.890 --> 00:32:45.720
It's where transpiration
moisture being put back in the

00:32:45.720 --> 00:32:46.360
atmosphere.

00:32:46.360 --> 00:32:49.740
It's where the rain is meeting
the ecosystem and being

00:32:49.740 --> 00:32:53.500
transformed in terms
of its chemistry.

00:32:53.500 --> 00:32:55.910
It's where the light's
being intercepted.

00:32:55.910 --> 00:32:57.250
It's where the action is.

00:32:57.250 --> 00:33:01.040
It's where a lot of organisms
are, too.

00:33:01.040 --> 00:33:05.080
Many of these ancient trees
are over 500 years old.

00:33:05.080 --> 00:33:07.730
Today less than 8%
of the Northwest

00:33:07.730 --> 00:33:10.360
original forests remain.

00:33:10.360 --> 00:33:13.880
Satellite images of the Puget
Sound region around Seattle

00:33:13.880 --> 00:33:18.890
show a 40% loss of tree cover
in just over two decades.

00:33:18.890 --> 00:33:22.430
This lost vegetation would have
eliminated 35 million

00:33:22.430 --> 00:33:25.610
pounds of pollutants from
the air every year.

00:33:25.610 --> 00:33:30.460
I think one thing that we can do
is simply be very conscious

00:33:30.460 --> 00:33:33.660
about our consumption
of forest products.

00:33:33.660 --> 00:33:37.010
And we can learn to be more
conservative of how much we

00:33:37.010 --> 00:33:40.240
use and what kinds
of things we use.

00:33:43.302 --> 00:34:44.409
[MUSIC PLAYING]

00:34:44.409 --> 00:34:47.659
In today's society, it's easy
for many of us to consume

00:34:47.659 --> 00:34:50.300
products without thinking much
about the impact of our

00:34:50.300 --> 00:34:54.790
choices, but every product
has a life of its own.

00:34:54.790 --> 00:34:59.560
For example, do you know where
your disposable has been?

00:34:59.560 --> 00:35:02.510
To make the cup, a tree had to
be harvested, chemically

00:35:02.510 --> 00:35:05.410
pulped, milled, and then
packaged and shipped to an

00:35:05.410 --> 00:35:07.025
assembly plant.

00:35:07.025 --> 00:35:09.870
Hot melted adhesives to join
the cup seam were also

00:35:09.870 --> 00:35:13.150
manufacture, packaged, and
shipped to the plant.

00:35:13.150 --> 00:35:15.930
Oil wells extracted the raw
materials for the plastic

00:35:15.930 --> 00:35:17.810
coating that protects the cup.

00:35:17.810 --> 00:35:19.820
This coating, too, had
to be formulated,

00:35:19.820 --> 00:35:21.680
packaged, and shipped.

00:35:21.680 --> 00:35:24.650
The printing on the cup often
contains petroleum-based inks

00:35:24.650 --> 00:35:26.890
that get their color from heavy
metal pigments which,

00:35:26.890 --> 00:35:30.470
you guessed it, had to be
extracted, manufactured,

00:35:30.470 --> 00:35:32.386
packaged, and shipped.

00:35:32.386 --> 00:35:36.130
I think that people are
increasingly taking

00:35:36.130 --> 00:35:39.240
responsibility for
their actions.

00:35:39.240 --> 00:35:41.910
That's the power of the
capitalist system.

00:35:41.910 --> 00:35:45.430
The market, in the end,
calls the shots.

00:35:45.430 --> 00:35:46.565
We are the market.

00:35:46.565 --> 00:35:48.467
So we can call the shots.

00:35:51.390 --> 00:35:54.640
Jerry Franklin's mission to cut
the best deal he can for

00:35:54.640 --> 00:35:57.910
trees has made a tremendous
difference in how many forests

00:35:57.910 --> 00:35:59.440
are managed.

00:35:59.440 --> 00:36:02.610
Every day, each of us also has
an opportunity to make a

00:36:02.610 --> 00:36:06.200
difference through how we choose
to use or not use the

00:36:06.200 --> 00:36:08.340
resources of the world.

00:36:08.340 --> 00:36:11.880
Using less stuff leaves a
healthier ecosystem to perform

00:36:11.880 --> 00:36:14.960
its job in nature.

00:36:14.960 --> 00:36:19.530
All forests are working for us,
and this one is doing a

00:36:19.530 --> 00:36:24.670
tremendous amount of work in
taking greenhouse gases out of

00:36:24.670 --> 00:36:28.300
the air and storing them, in
protecting the soil and

00:36:28.300 --> 00:36:32.410
regulating the stream flow so
it's a nice regulated flow of

00:36:32.410 --> 00:36:33.380
high quality water.

00:36:33.380 --> 00:36:34.630
That's work.

00:36:37.750 --> 00:36:42.480
Conserve your forests,
appreciate its complexity,

00:36:42.480 --> 00:36:46.307
maintain that richness and
diversity within your forests,

00:36:46.307 --> 00:36:47.798
and be humble.

00:37:16.020 --> 00:37:19.500
Every species on earth is a
masterpiece of evolution, a

00:37:19.500 --> 00:37:22.360
priceless collection of genetic
material that took

00:37:22.360 --> 00:37:24.881
millions of years to develop.

00:37:28.220 --> 00:37:32.550
A deep appreciation for this
dazzling variety of life is

00:37:32.550 --> 00:37:35.960
what motivates Harvard
biologist, Edward O. Wilson,

00:37:35.960 --> 00:37:39.590
to be one of the greatest
scientists of our time.

00:37:39.590 --> 00:37:42.090
I've sometimes been called
the ant man.

00:37:42.090 --> 00:37:46.810
And when I'm asked what I find
interesting about ants or

00:37:46.810 --> 00:37:51.320
important, I think of it roughly
as the parallel to

00:37:51.320 --> 00:37:54.090
asking Michael Jordan what he
finds interesting about

00:37:54.090 --> 00:37:55.350
basketball.

00:37:55.350 --> 00:37:59.640
Actually, I started as a
kid working with bugs.

00:37:59.640 --> 00:38:04.030
And I like to say every kid has
a bug period, and I just

00:38:04.030 --> 00:38:06.010
never grew out of mine.

00:38:06.010 --> 00:38:10.010
He never grew out of his bug
period, but Ed Wilson did grow

00:38:10.010 --> 00:38:12.825
up to become a champion
of biodiversity.

00:38:12.825 --> 00:38:16.530
A Harvard professor for four
decades, he has written 20

00:38:16.530 --> 00:38:19.760
books, won two Pulitzer
prizes, and discovered

00:38:19.760 --> 00:38:21.860
hundreds of new species.

00:38:21.860 --> 00:38:25.560
I'm often asked why is it so
important to go out in the

00:38:25.560 --> 00:38:30.020
wild and discover new species,
and classify them, and count

00:38:30.020 --> 00:38:32.670
them, and get them into
museums, and study the

00:38:32.670 --> 00:38:35.290
relationships, and so on.

00:38:35.290 --> 00:38:39.290
Well, that's equivalent to
asking why is it important in

00:38:39.290 --> 00:38:42.670
medicine to know what the parts
of the body are, and how

00:38:42.670 --> 00:38:43.830
they function.

00:38:43.830 --> 00:38:47.790
We need to know every species
of plant and animal in order

00:38:47.790 --> 00:38:50.400
to understand how it was put
together, and how it

00:38:50.400 --> 00:38:54.590
functions, and the best way
to take care of it.

00:38:54.590 --> 00:38:57.520
But the fact is, we're not
taking care of it.

00:38:57.520 --> 00:39:00.030
Although, it's difficult to
calculate an exact rate of

00:39:00.030 --> 00:39:03.220
extinction, even the most
conservative estimates of our

00:39:03.220 --> 00:39:04.830
mind boggling.

00:39:04.830 --> 00:39:08.460
Why worry because isn't
extinction normal?

00:39:08.460 --> 00:39:14.835
Well, extinction is normal,
but with a terrible twist.

00:39:14.835 --> 00:39:19.250
The natural rate of extinction
is very roughly before

00:39:19.250 --> 00:39:20.110
humanity came.

00:39:20.110 --> 00:39:23.110
About one species going extinct
for every million

00:39:23.110 --> 00:39:26.100
species every year.

00:39:26.100 --> 00:39:31.110
Humanity has increased that
rate to about 100 to 1,000

00:39:31.110 --> 00:39:36.260
species going extinct per
milllion every year.

00:39:36.260 --> 00:39:37.560
The problem is this.

00:39:37.560 --> 00:39:40.920
While the present rate of
extinction increased by 100 to

00:39:40.920 --> 00:39:44.870
1,000 times, the number of
species being born has

00:39:44.870 --> 00:39:47.660
remained the same.

00:39:47.660 --> 00:39:51.890
Only one new species is born
per million every year.

00:39:51.890 --> 00:39:55.700
That means species are being
extinguished hundreds, perhaps

00:39:55.700 --> 00:39:57.790
thousands of times faster
than they are

00:39:57.790 --> 00:40:00.890
being replaced by evolution.

00:40:00.890 --> 00:40:04.650
This biological bankruptcy leads
biologists to believe

00:40:04.650 --> 00:40:07.240
that we are now in the midst
of the greatest extinction

00:40:07.240 --> 00:40:08.490
crisis of all time.

00:40:11.390 --> 00:40:14.550
There have been five major
global extinctions over the

00:40:14.550 --> 00:40:19.320
past 500 million years, but
unlike the last five, this

00:40:19.320 --> 00:40:23.400
sixth extinction is not being
fueled by natural disasters

00:40:23.400 --> 00:40:24.650
like meteorites.

00:40:26.760 --> 00:40:31.600
We are now in the beginning
of number six.

00:40:31.600 --> 00:40:36.370
This time, human activity is
unmistakably the cause of mass

00:40:36.370 --> 00:40:38.040
extinction beginning.

00:40:38.040 --> 00:40:40.910
We are the meteorite.

00:40:40.910 --> 00:40:44.850
And the worrisome part about
this is that in each one of

00:40:44.850 --> 00:40:50.080
these previous episodes, it
took somewhere around 10

00:40:50.080 --> 00:40:54.970
million years for evolution to
restore the original level of

00:40:54.970 --> 00:40:57.640
biodiversity on the earth.

00:40:57.640 --> 00:41:01.660
How is humanity destroying the
biodiversity of the world?

00:41:01.660 --> 00:41:04.260
Scientists have come up with a
list of factors that can be

00:41:04.260 --> 00:41:08.250
summarized by the
acronym, HIPPO.

00:41:08.250 --> 00:41:10.060
First of all, habitat
destruction.

00:41:10.060 --> 00:41:15.470
That's the most important,
H in the HIPPO.

00:41:15.470 --> 00:41:18.670
I is for the introduction
of exotic species--

00:41:18.670 --> 00:41:22.100
fire ants, zebra mussels.

00:41:22.100 --> 00:41:24.920
Once they're introduced,
usually, not intentionally by

00:41:24.920 --> 00:41:30.280
people, tend to multiply and
crowd out native species.

00:41:30.280 --> 00:41:35.660
The first P in HIPPO
is for pollution.

00:41:35.660 --> 00:41:39.770
The second P is population
growth.

00:41:39.770 --> 00:41:47.050
And finally, O, the big O, and
that's over-consumption far

00:41:47.050 --> 00:41:56.490
beyond our basic needs to
live and to enjoy life.

00:41:56.490 --> 00:41:59.870
The living world is so complex
that we know next to nothing

00:41:59.870 --> 00:42:01.630
about how it works.

00:42:01.630 --> 00:42:05.930
Yet we are totally dependent
on its gifts of air, water,

00:42:05.930 --> 00:42:08.280
soil, and sun.

00:42:08.280 --> 00:42:11.830
Over 40% of our prescription
drugs are extracted from the

00:42:11.830 --> 00:42:14.260
Earth's many plants
and animals.

00:42:14.260 --> 00:42:17.040
Perhaps a cure for cancer is
waiting to be discovered

00:42:17.040 --> 00:42:20.640
within a tiny flower or
marine invertebrate.

00:42:20.640 --> 00:42:23.900
Common sense tells us that we
might want to protect the

00:42:23.900 --> 00:42:27.665
extraordinary biological wealth
that sustains us.

00:42:27.665 --> 00:42:32.270
Please understand that by
allowing it to disappear,

00:42:32.270 --> 00:42:36.600
there's no coming back to
what was there before.

00:42:36.600 --> 00:42:42.540
And the result will be an
enormous loss for the species

00:42:42.540 --> 00:42:45.920
and for our descendents
for all time to come.

00:43:11.110 --> 00:43:14.131
Human life depends on
maintaining a healthy

00:43:14.131 --> 00:43:17.080
relationship with the
natural world.

00:43:17.080 --> 00:43:20.640
It is a relationship that is
also vital to our emotional

00:43:20.640 --> 00:43:21.890
and spiritual well-being.

00:43:24.890 --> 00:43:28.470
If we choose to embrace the
Earth more as a community to

00:43:28.470 --> 00:43:33.610
which we belong, rather than a
commodity belonging to us,

00:43:33.610 --> 00:43:37.014
then we might begin to cherish
our natural connections to

00:43:37.014 --> 00:43:40.002
this magnificent place
we call home.

00:43:46.990 --> 00:43:52.010
Fundamentally, the issue for
human life on Earth is not, in

00:43:52.010 --> 00:43:54.890
my opinion, an issue
of survival.

00:43:54.890 --> 00:43:58.570
It is an issue of
quality of life.

00:43:58.570 --> 00:44:01.820
And what the richness of species
that we have here

00:44:01.820 --> 00:44:05.760
gives us is an extraordinary
quality of life.

00:44:05.760 --> 00:44:09.320
It makes it a beautiful,
and rich, and

00:44:09.320 --> 00:44:13.030
diverse place to live.

00:44:13.030 --> 00:44:16.388
Every time you lose species,
you lose a

00:44:16.388 --> 00:44:18.060
piece of that richness.

00:44:18.060 --> 00:44:24.270
You lose something now, and you
lose something forever.

00:44:24.270 --> 00:44:29.230
I think the thing to do would be
to pay attention to how we

00:44:29.230 --> 00:44:34.160
live in the world, look for the
connections that we make

00:44:34.160 --> 00:44:35.710
with each, realize
that we're not

00:44:35.710 --> 00:44:38.030
really in this by ourselves.

00:44:38.030 --> 00:44:43.930
That the world is really not
created just for us, as much

00:44:43.930 --> 00:44:47.310
as there are lots of people
would like to think so, and

00:44:47.310 --> 00:44:49.960
above all it, do no harm.

00:44:52.800 --> 00:44:57.640
Biodiversity is the creation,
and no matter what your

00:44:57.640 --> 00:45:02.720
religious belief, or lack of
religious belief, I think you

00:45:02.720 --> 00:45:07.320
would have to find compelling
the argument that it is simply

00:45:07.320 --> 00:45:09.560
wrong to destroy the creation.