Comparing biodiversity and the attitudes about nature in my three very different homes
Since I am from the biological hotspot that is Hawai’i. I m not used to such little biodiversity. So this month I just wanted to take a comparative look at Hawai’i, Austin and Angers.
The Hawaiian islands are the most isolated group of islands on earth and yet there are about 150 distinct ecosystem types in the Hawaiian Islands. These ecosystems are so distinctive that the Hawaiian Islands constitute a unique global bioregion. The island chain stretches over 1,500 miles and these eight tropical islands are one of the youngest geological formations on the planet. The Hawaiian Islands were living laboratories of evolutionary processes that existed in isolation for almost 70,000,000 years. Over 90 per cent of the native flora and fauna are endemic. Meaning that 90 per cent of the species that evolved on the islands are only found on these islands and nowhere else on the Globe!
Unfortunately Hawai’i is also “The Extinction Capital of The World.” Over 75 per cent of the extinctions in the United States have occurred in Hawai’i. It is also known as “The Endangered Species Capital Of The World,” with over 25 per cent of the United States’ endangered species located in Hawai’i. These unfortunate distinctions occur in a state that only has 0.2 per cent of the land area in the country.
The elementary school I attended in Hawai’i had a diverse education. A large portion of what we learned in school was centered around the biodiversity of our home. We would go down to the beach and eat lunch from what we had found at the beach. So we’d bring fishing poles and eat fish that we caught, of course coconuts and if we found mangos or bananas we’d eat those too. Our teachers always made sure our food was safe, nothing rotten or poisonous. Some days we’d have recess in the jungle on the school grounds. (We couldn’t venture elsewhere in the woods because it’s often dangerous because of the high probability of running into someone that doesn’t want you to mess with their illegal crops….) but we would do a lot that had to do with our environment because it’s just so prevalent there. You can’t avoid nature so might as well embrace it and learn to respect it. We had a Jackson chameleon as a class pet for a while that we found at school (Jackson chameleons are super cool and they’re everywhere in Hawai’i) we also learned a lot about the rain cycle and volcanoes at a young age. Nature is extremely important to native Hawaiians and I think that’s why we learn so much about it. They don’t regard nature as their servant or as some antiquated savage place that should be exploited as a tool. But when you see how beautiful Hawai’i is, how could you alter an inch of it? It makes so much sense to me that the natives would tell their stories through Hula, which mimics the motions of nature. Every single movement has meaning and most dances are telling stories about nature or of history of the people. Hawaiians are in touch with their surroundings. I think all our ancestors were, but somewhere along the way we lost this touch and soon became more in touch with greed and money than the world that cradles us.
Austin is such a diverse town that it’s hard to generalize… It’s not like Kailua Kona where it’s so small that everybody knows everybody and you probably either went to Kealakehe or Konawaena high school. In Austin there are the hippies at whole earth provisions and the geeks at Google and the old school Cowboys and everything in between. So for Austin I’ll just give the facts and how these facts have impacted me or rang true or not with me.
In Austin we have 87 species of fish, 28 species of amphibians, 62 reptiles, 419 species of birds, and 73 mammals. Austin is home to at least 669 species of vertebrates, central Texas is internationally recognized as a hotspot of biodiversity. Many species found in central Texas are found nowhere else in the world. Also, central Texas is a culmination of and a convergence point of many different regions of Texas, meaning species typical of south Texas and of the high plains, of the blackland prairies, and of east Texas are all typical around Austin. This blending of species from the north, south, east, and west, combined with unique habitats of central Texas. However, much like Hawai’i, much of this diversity is endangered. Habitat destruction, excessive pumping of groundwater, pollution and diversion of surface water, and the introduction of exotic species are all contributors to this.
While biodiversity is similar in ways to Hawai’i, the attitude about the environment seems very different. Austinites love to be in nature, kayaking and walking on green belts but it’s not the same as Hawai’i in any way. In Austin I would say you find a lot of greenwashing in comparison to Hawai’i. People in Austin have to go out of their way to do something “green” and when they do they have to post about it or brag about it in someway. It’s an urban area which inherently makes it problematic for the environment but the fact that everyone is trying to out “green” each other means our earth is feeling the benefits. I am proud of Austin, I’ve lived here for ten years now and I’ve seen a lot of changes. Some good (becoming a hippie town) some bad (gentrification but that’s a whole different story). I’ve seen people come together who want better for their city and their world and they make great things happen in all different facets. We are on our way.
In Angers I feel the cultural view on the environment is different yet still. Everyone seems to recycle and it just seems to be an expectation, a normality. People walk or take public transportation and there is no stigma surrounding it like there is in Austin. People eat local food because it is just a part of their prideful French culture. They, like Texans, love their land and what they stand for so anything and everything that they make is a source of pride. They love their french food, every aspect of it; in fact they have made it into an art form of sorts with their wine industry. Everything is based off of the land that the grapes came from. I’m currently reading The History of France by Lucien Bély, who seems to agree wholeheartedly with my observation: “Good food is the most evident and delicious symbol of this auld alliance between man and Nature. It reflects the diversity of agricultural production made possible by climate and soil. Wine is part of this history. France has turned wine growing into a science and an art form.”
As far as biodiversity goes, France is also impressively diverse and working towards maintaining this biodiversity. France has some 750 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles according to figures from the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. 1.6 per cent of these species are endemic to France, and 4.9 per cent are threatened. France is home to at least 4,600 species of vascular plants, and 2.9 per cent of these are endemic.
In The History of France Bély discusses the terrain of the land before man and how culture and the French monarchies shaped the land. He says that “France… cleared its forests. The monarchs retained a few, very fine forests for hunting purposes and these areas of woodland became the lungs of the major cities.”
France now recognizes that natural ecosystems are vital and now 3.0 per cent of France is protected under the International Union for Conservation of Nature. In fact, France has been moving in the right direction for many years now. Between 1990 and 2000, France gained an average of 81,300 hectares of forest per year. That’s right, they are reforesting not deforesting! France as an entire country has decided to work towards reestablishing natural ecosystems. This is a huge step towards a reduction in CO2 for them as a country.
In conclusion, I think each of my homes have been unique and yet similar in many ways. They each are so diverse and on their way to environmental changes to impact their world in better ways. The natural environments, while very different, are similar in that they have many endemic species and have a large amount of biodiversity. These environments have affected the foods and the culture of the area.
Works Cited
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