Let's protect the oceans like national parks
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0:01 - 0:04So, of all my childhood memories,
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0:04 - 0:07there is one that stands above the rest.
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0:08 - 0:11And that is the time that my brave parents
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0:11 - 0:14rented an RV, packed it
with me and my brothers, -
0:14 - 0:16and drove west
from our house in Minneapolis, -
0:16 - 0:18out to Yellowstone National Park.
-
0:19 - 0:23We saw all the sights, like the geysers,
we stopped at the Badlands, -
0:23 - 0:27but more than any of the places,
I remember this as an adventure. -
0:27 - 0:31This was my introduction to the Wild West.
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0:32 - 0:35But it wasn't until I got older
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0:35 - 0:39and I learned more
about the National Park System -
0:39 - 0:41that I realized just how lucky I was.
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0:41 - 0:43One, to have that experience,
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0:43 - 0:46but also that, hundreds of years ago,
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0:46 - 0:52people had the foresight
to set aside the very best places, -
0:52 - 0:57the very best ecosystems
in the country, for everyone. -
0:57 - 0:59And for future generations.
-
0:59 - 1:05And to really appreciate
just how prescient that idea was, -
1:05 - 1:06you have to go back
-
1:06 - 1:10and you have to look at the history
of the National Parks Service. -
1:10 - 1:14So, a lot of people know, the first
national park was Yellowstone, in 1872. -
1:15 - 1:18A lot of people think of John Muir,
the poet, naturalist, -
1:18 - 1:19who was such a visionary
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1:19 - 1:23in getting people inspired
by the idea of conservation -- -
1:23 - 1:27that we need to take
the best places and protect them. -
1:27 - 1:29He had an audience in very high places --
-
1:29 - 1:32there's a great story
of Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir -
1:32 - 1:36going hiking, in Yosemite,
during his presidency, -
1:36 - 1:39four days, completely off the grid,
just the two of them. -
1:39 - 1:41Can you imagine a president
-
1:41 - 1:44actually just going completely
off the grid for four days? -
1:44 - 1:46(Laughter)
-
1:46 - 1:47No tweeting.
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1:47 - 1:51(Laughter) (Applause)
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1:51 - 1:52Like that idea.
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1:52 - 1:53(Applause)
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1:55 - 2:01But he had a great impact
on Theodore Roosevelt. -
2:01 - 2:03And he created dozens of national parks,
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2:03 - 2:07hundreds of thousands of square acres
of national wildlife refuges. -
2:07 - 2:12It was an important administration,
but it wasn't a done deal. -
2:12 - 2:18Even less than 10 years
after he created all of those new places, -
2:18 - 2:20the future of those places
was very much in doubt. -
2:21 - 2:24And it wasn't until this guy,
Stephen Mather, -
2:24 - 2:26a businessman from Chicago,
-
2:26 - 2:29wrote an angry letter
to the Department of the Interior, saying, -
2:29 - 2:33"You guys aren't doing a good enough job
protecting and preserving these places." -
2:34 - 2:35Then, something was done about it.
-
2:35 - 2:38The Department of the Interior
wrote him back. -
2:38 - 2:40"Mr. Mather, if you care
so much about this, -
2:40 - 2:43why don't you come to Washington
and do it yourself?" -
2:43 - 2:44(Laughter)
-
2:44 - 2:46And he did.
-
2:46 - 2:48He took a job at the Department
of the Interior, -
2:48 - 2:52but more importantly,
he started a campaign. -
2:52 - 2:57He actually had a meeting
two blocks from here, in 1914, -
2:57 - 2:58in California Hall,
-
2:58 - 3:02and he brought together the park
superintendents and a few other people -
3:02 - 3:05who cared about this idea of conservation.
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3:06 - 3:10And they put together a plan,
they hatched a campaign -
3:10 - 3:14that eventually led to the
National Park Service in 1916. -
3:15 - 3:16And that's really important.
-
3:16 - 3:20Because it went from an idea
that we should protect these places -
3:20 - 3:22to an actual plan,
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3:22 - 3:26a way for people to enlist
and carry that idea forward -
3:26 - 3:27for future generations,
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3:27 - 3:31so little kids like me can go
and have these amazing experiences. -
3:32 - 3:35That is the history
of the National Parks on land. -
3:35 - 3:38The ocean, what I want
to talk to you about today, -
3:38 - 3:40is a completely different story.
-
3:40 - 3:44And we are almost precisely
100 years behind. -
3:44 - 3:47So, the first marine
sanctuary was in 1972, -
3:47 - 3:50after the oil spill in Santa Barbara,
-
3:50 - 3:53people got interested
in taking that concept -
3:53 - 3:56and applying it
to underwater environments. -
3:56 - 3:59We've had our own John Muir,
who's Dr. Sylvia Earle, -
3:59 - 4:01who's been a tireless advocate
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4:01 - 4:05for creating these marine
protected areas around the world. -
4:05 - 4:08So, I know there's a lot
of bad news about the ocean, -
4:08 - 4:11there's plastic pollution,
coral bleaching, over-fishing -- -
4:11 - 4:14it's hard to take it all in sometimes.
-
4:14 - 4:19But this idea of setting aside
places for nature is working. -
4:19 - 4:22Science tells us that if you
set these places aside, -
4:22 - 4:26nature will come back
and we can keep the oceans healthy. -
4:26 - 4:28So we know this idea works.
-
4:28 - 4:32And Dr. Sylvia Earl
has been influential, like John Muir, -
4:32 - 4:33with administrations --
-
4:33 - 4:37George W. Bush and Obama
were both fantastic ocean presidents, -
4:37 - 4:41creating marine protected areas
all around the country. -
4:41 - 4:44This is not a conservative idea
or a liberal idea, -
4:44 - 4:46it's not even an American idea,
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4:46 - 4:48it's just a good idea.
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4:49 - 4:50(Laughter)
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4:50 - 4:52(Applause)
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4:52 - 4:53But --
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4:53 - 4:54(Applause)
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4:54 - 4:56Here we are, a few years later.
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4:57 - 5:02And now the administration is proposing
to roll back a lot of the progress -
5:02 - 5:04we've made in the past 20 years.
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5:04 - 5:08So, so, don't mourn -- organize.
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5:09 - 5:12We need to do what
Stephen Mather did 100 years ago. -
5:12 - 5:16We need to start a campaign
to get people engaged with this idea. -
5:16 - 5:21And I think we need a league
of citizen scientists for the ocean. -
5:21 - 5:25And I've seen glimpses of this future,
and I know that it's possible. -
5:25 - 5:29My friend Erik and I started building
underwater robots, -
5:29 - 5:33these little swimming cameras
with lights that you can see underwater. -
5:33 - 5:36We started building these
in his garage five years ago, -
5:36 - 5:37and we've watched that grow
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5:37 - 5:40into this community of thousands
of people around the world, -
5:40 - 5:43who believe that everybody
should have access to these places. -
5:43 - 5:46We all deserve the tools
to go and explore. -
5:46 - 5:48There's stories like Laura James,
-
5:48 - 5:51who used her robot to find out that
sea stars in her area were dying. -
5:51 - 5:54And she started this whole
citizen science campaign, -
5:54 - 5:57collected data and drove awareness
for sea-star wasting syndrome, -
5:57 - 6:01to try and figure out
what was happening there. -
6:01 - 6:03There are stories of fishermen in Mexico,
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6:03 - 6:05who used the robot to create
marine protected areas -
6:05 - 6:10where Nassau grouper were spawning,
to protect the future of this species. -
6:10 - 6:12It's really amazing stuff.
-
6:12 - 6:15We found that if you give
people the tools, -
6:15 - 6:17they'll do the right thing.
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6:19 - 6:21But we need to take it a step further.
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6:21 - 6:25And, actually, I think we can dust off
Stephen Mather's playbook. -
6:25 - 6:26So what did he do?
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6:26 - 6:30So, the first thing that he did
was he focused on infrastructure. -
6:30 - 6:33So 1914 wasn't just
a time for the parks, -
6:33 - 6:35it was also a time for the automobile,
-
6:35 - 6:37the Model T was rolling off the line,
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6:37 - 6:39and Stephen Mather understood
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6:39 - 6:42that this was going to be
an important part of American culture. -
6:42 - 6:45And so he partnered with highway
associations around the country -
6:45 - 6:49to build big, beautiful highways
out to these parks. -
6:49 - 6:52And it worked, he's basically
invented car camping. -
6:53 - 6:56And he knew that if people
didn't go to these places, -
6:56 - 6:59that they wouldn’t fall in love with them
and they wouldn't care. -
6:59 - 7:02So that was a really insightful
idea that he had. -
7:02 - 7:04The second thing they did,
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7:04 - 7:06was they focused
on visionary philanthropy. -
7:06 - 7:10So, Stephen Mather was a successful
businessman from Chicago, -
7:10 - 7:13and anytime there was
a parks association that needed funding, -
7:13 - 7:16anytime there was a highway
association that needed funding, -
7:16 - 7:18they'd step in, write
the checks, make it happen. -
7:18 - 7:20There's a great story
of his friend William Kent, -
7:20 - 7:25who recognized there was a small patch
of redwoods left on the base of Mount Tam, -
7:25 - 7:27and so he quickly bought the land
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7:27 - 7:29and donated it
to this National Parks effort. -
7:29 - 7:31That's Muir Woods today --
-
7:31 - 7:34it's one of the most popular
national parks in the whole country. -
7:34 - 7:36My parents are visiting here
from Minnesota, -
7:36 - 7:38and they don't really even
care about this talk, -
7:38 - 7:41all they're talking about
is going to Muir Woods. -
7:41 - 7:43(Laughter)
-
7:44 - 7:45But the last thing is critical --
-
7:45 - 7:48Stephen Mather focused on engagement.
-
7:48 - 7:52In one of the first meetings that they had
around this new system, he said, -
7:52 - 7:55"If you're a writer,
I want you to write about this. -
7:55 - 7:59If you're a business owner, I want you
to tell your clubs and your organizations. -
7:59 - 8:02If you work for the government,
I want you to pass regulation." -
8:02 - 8:03Everybody had a job.
-
8:03 - 8:05"Each of you, all of you,
have a role to play -
8:05 - 8:08in protecting these places
for future generations." -
8:08 - 8:10Each of you, all of you.
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8:11 - 8:12I love that.
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8:14 - 8:17That's the plan --
simple, three-point plan. -
8:18 - 8:19I think we can do the same.
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8:19 - 8:21So, this was the headline
when Obama created -
8:22 - 8:25the Papahanaumokuakea National Monument:
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8:25 - 8:28"Lots to see, but good luck
trying to get there." -
8:29 - 8:33But like Mather, we should focus
on the technology of our time, -
8:33 - 8:36all of this new, amazing,
digital infrastructure -
8:36 - 8:39can be built to engage people
with the oceans. -
8:40 - 8:44So, the National Marine Sanctuary
-
8:44 - 8:48has created all these
wonderful VR 360 videos, -
8:48 - 8:51where you can actually go
and see what these places look like. -
8:51 - 8:54Our team is continuing to build new tools,
-
8:54 - 8:57this is our latest, this is
the trident underwater drone, -
8:57 - 9:00it's a diving submarine, it's sleek,
you can fit it in a backpack, -
9:00 - 9:03it can go down to 100 meters,
deeper than most divers can go. -
9:04 - 9:08It can see these environments
that most people have never had access to. -
9:09 - 9:12New tools are coming
and we need even better tools. -
9:14 - 9:17We can also use
more visionary philanthropists. -
9:17 - 9:20So, when Erik and I started this,
we didn't have any money, -
9:20 - 9:23we were building this in his garage.
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9:23 - 9:25But we went to Kickstarter.
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9:25 - 9:26And we found over 1,800 people,
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9:26 - 9:29almost a million dollars
we've raised on Kickstarter, -
9:29 - 9:30finding other people who think,
-
9:30 - 9:32"Yeah, that's a good idea.
-
9:32 - 9:33I want to be a part of that."
-
9:34 - 9:37We need more ways for people
to get engaged -
9:37 - 9:39and become visionary
philanthropists themselves. -
9:40 - 9:42We've also had
traditional philanthropists, -
9:42 - 9:43who've stepped up to fund us
-
9:43 - 9:46in the SEE initiative --
the Science Education and Exploration, -
9:46 - 9:51who are going to help us get donated
units out to people on the frontlines, -
9:51 - 9:54people who are doing the science,
people who are telling the stories, -
9:54 - 9:56inspiring communities.
-
9:56 - 9:59You can go on to OpenExplorer.com
and see what people are doing, -
9:59 - 10:01it's hugely inspirational.
-
10:02 - 10:05And it will also, hopefully,
spur you to get involved. -
10:05 - 10:09Because there is plenty of room
to get involved. -
10:09 - 10:12We want to hear what ideas you have
for telling these stories. -
10:14 - 10:16Because that's just it --
this is all about engagement. -
10:16 - 10:20There's all sorts of interesting,
new ways for people to participate -
10:20 - 10:22in the protection of these places.
-
10:22 - 10:23And the understanding.
-
10:23 - 10:27Like, Reef Check -- scuba divers
are going down and swimming transects -
10:27 - 10:30and counting fish and biodiversity data.
-
10:30 - 10:34They're getting the information we need
to protect these places. -
10:34 - 10:37If you're going down to the beach,
participate in MPA Watch. -
10:37 - 10:41Document what activities you see
going on in these different areas. -
10:41 - 10:44There is room for everybody
to participate here. -
10:45 - 10:47And that's just it, that's what we need.
-
10:47 - 10:51We need to build a future
for our grandkids' grandkids. -
10:51 - 10:54Last month, I went out sailing,
-
10:54 - 10:57and we got out to the Farallon Islands,
25 miles off the Gate. -
10:57 - 11:00And most people think of this
as kind of a bird sanctuary, -
11:00 - 11:03but we took our robot, and we sent it in.
-
11:03 - 11:07And the people on the boat were astonished
at the life beneath the surface. -
11:08 - 11:12I mean, these are really,
really important ecosystems. -
11:13 - 11:17Really, and this is a whole
wild world we haven't yet explored. -
11:17 - 11:20And we have an opportunity right now,
-
11:20 - 11:22just as they did 100 years ago,
-
11:22 - 11:27to protect these places, to put in a plan,
to keep people engaged. -
11:28 - 11:30So last year, when the executive
order came out, -
11:30 - 11:32putting all of the progress we've made,
-
11:32 - 11:35all of these new marine protected
areas, under review, -
11:35 - 11:39there were over 100,000 people
who commented online. -
11:40 - 11:42Almost all of these letters were saying,
-
11:42 - 11:47"Don't do it; protecting these places
is the right thing to do." -
11:48 - 11:52My message to those 100,000 people,
those 100,000 letters is: -
11:52 - 11:53don't wait for Washington.
-
11:53 - 11:55We can do this ourselves.
-
11:55 - 11:56Thank you.
-
11:56 - 12:00(Applause)
- Title:
- Let's protect the oceans like national parks
- Speaker:
- David Lang
- Description:
-
You don't have to be a scientist to help protect the world's oceans, says underwater drone expert and TED Fellow David Lang -- in fact, ordinary citizens have pulled together to save the planet's natural treasures many times in history. Lang asks us to take a lesson from the story of the US National Parks Service, offering a three-point plan for conserving underwater wonders.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 12:13
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