Jeb is a zookeeper. He loves his job!
WHY THIS WORK IS IMPORTANT
A MIGHTY POWER… A MIGHTIER PURPOSE
MAKING PARADISE PARADISE AGAIN
In the 2016 book, HALF-EARTH, Our Planet’s Fight for Survival, famed Harvard biologist and legendary conservationist Edward O. Wilson shares that by saving half the Earth and half the ocean for the rest of life - we can be living in Paradise again. By expanding and connecting existing national parks and wildlife refuges with wildlife corridors and preserves, and establishing large marine conservation areas, we can save 85% of the species on Earth. That is enormously important to stabilize the climate and preserve the balance in nature.
By creating tiny oases, local and regional nature parks, restoring nature to industrialized areas, and setting aside new protected areas, we can create a paradise. It will take time, perhaps a century, the 87 year old Wilson says - yet it is possible. The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation and their global colleagues have created one goal: save half the Earth and half the ocean to save life on Earth.
An International Traveling Exhibition of Endangered Species
Dedicated to the Children of the World by Calley O'Neill with Rama the Elephant
AN EPIC JOURNEY OF ART AND SOUL FOR THE EARTH
RAMA: AMBASSADOR FOR THE ENDANGERED ONES
Speaking Passionately on Behalf of Those who Cannot Speak
We have everything we need to restore the living systems that sustain us, and shift to abundant sustainable lifestyles by broadening our perspectives, taking a long-term view, and going the distance. We have an uncommon chance and responsibility to work together, dedicating our energy and talents to the common good. In so doing, there will be ample noble work to encompass everyone’s energy and highest creativity.
In cities: visualize living walls, pollinator flower beds, vegetable gardens, and meadows on urban and industrial rooftops, native tree lined boulevards that uptake urban and highway traffic noise and pollution, vest pocket parks, urban forests, edible landscapes, and vertical farms in every city powered by the sun.
Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion,
to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.
—Albert Einstein
It has become clear in the last decade or so that we are in the midst of a massive extinction of living species. This crisis is of an order of magnitude not seen since the disappearance of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Scientists believe that this is not an act of nature, but an impending human calamity that can be mitigated. That is the good news, and an extraordinary opportunity for us.
Why is this major extinction event happening? Professor Wilson uses the acronym HIPPO:
- H ~ habitat destruction
- I ~ invasive species
- P ~ pollution
- P ~ over population
- O ~ over harvesting, fishing and hunting
According to the best estimates of ongoing biodiversity research, without significant changes in our environmental practices, half of the Earth’s plant and animal species may be driven to extinction or reduced to ‘the living dead’ (critical endangerment) by the end of the century. Paleontologists estimate that the normal rate of extinction is one species per million per year ~ and the creation of new species is the same (E. O. Wilson). Today, the extinction rate is 1,000 times the birth rate. Our natural heritage is declining at a precipitous rate. Humans are out-competing every species on this small, finite planet. If unabated, the increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution alone could eliminate a quarter of all surviving species within 50 years. (E. O. Wilson) Half the world’s rainforests will be gone by 2025. (HRH Prince of Wales) Scientists, such as physicist Fritoj Capra and Wilson warn that by continuing to disrupt the Earth’s symbiotic living systems, humans place their own survival at great risk.
The oceans, which cover over two-thirds of our planet, contain over 80% of all life on Earth ~ a rich biodiversity unparalleled on land. We are changing the very chemistry of the sea, and wiping out whole phyla through climate change, overfishing with heavy-handed industrial scale techniques, as well as air, water, and plastics pollution.
Climate and biodiversity are not our two greatest problems; they are our two greatest gifts! The good news is that when people work with nature, nature responds in amazing ways!
A strong natural environment is the key to defeating poverty, improving health and developing a just and prosperous future.
We have proven that we know what it takes to build a resilient planet for future generations: we just need to act on that knowledge.
Marco Lambertini WWF International Director General
For positive change to occur we must feel both the loss and the possibility of renewal of on a personal level. It’s got to be personal and practical to take hold. It’s got to be practical and personally beneficial to be acted upon. Nothing is more practical than restoring nature upon which our lives completely depend!
THE RAMA EXHIBITION will provide a riveting experience of love and caring to inspire people around the world of all ages to work toward a vibrant future that holds boundless possibilities for them, their children, and our living Earth to flourish. That’s a real win win!
Hope is believing in spite of the evidence.
–Michael Toms, Founder, New Dimensions Internet Radio
Ua mau ke ea i ka 'āina i ka pono.
"The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness."
King Kamehameha III
Hawai'i State Motto ~ 'Ōlelo No'eau (Hawaiian Proverb)
