How we’re saving one of Earth’s last wild places
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0:01 - 0:02Visible from space,
-
0:02 - 0:03the Okavango Delta
-
0:04 - 0:08is Africa's largest remaining
intact wetland wilderness. -
0:08 - 0:14This shining delta in landlocked Botswana
is the jewel of the Kalahari, -
0:14 - 0:19more valuable than diamonds
to the world's largest diamond producer -
0:19 - 0:21and celebrated in 2014
-
0:21 - 0:24as our planet's 1000th
UNESCO World Heritage Site. -
0:24 - 0:27Now, what you see here
are the two major tributaries, -
0:27 - 0:29the Cuito and the Cubango,
-
0:29 - 0:34disappearing up north
into the little-known Angolan highlands. -
0:34 - 0:38This is the largest undeveloped
river basin on the planet, -
0:38 - 0:40spanning an area larger than California.
-
0:41 - 0:45These vast, undeveloped Angolan
watersheds were frozen in time -
0:45 - 0:48by 27 years of civil war.
-
0:48 - 0:52In fact, Africa's largest tank battle
since World War II -
0:52 - 0:55was fought over a bridge
crossing the Okavango's Cuito River. -
0:55 - 0:56There on the right,
-
0:56 - 0:58disappearing off into the unknown,
-
0:58 - 1:01into the "Terra do fim do mundo" --
-
1:01 - 1:03the land at the end of the earth,
-
1:03 - 1:05as it was known by the first
Portuguese explorers. -
1:06 - 1:10In 2001, at the age of 22,
-
1:10 - 1:14I took a job as head of housekeeping
at Vundumtiki Camp -
1:14 - 1:16in the Okavango Delta ...
-
1:16 - 1:20a patchwork mosaic of channels,
floodplains, lagoons -
1:20 - 1:24and thousands upon thousands
of islands to explore. -
1:24 - 1:28Home to the largest remaining
population of elephants on the planet. -
1:28 - 1:33Rhinos are airlifted in C130s
to find sanctuary in this wilderness. -
1:34 - 1:35Lion,
-
1:35 - 1:36leopard,
-
1:37 - 1:38hyena,
-
1:38 - 1:39wild dog,
-
1:39 - 1:40cheetah,
-
1:40 - 1:44ancient baobab trees
that stand like cathedrals -
1:44 - 1:46under the Milky Way.
-
1:46 - 1:49Here, I discovered something obvious:
-
1:49 - 1:52wilderness is our natural habitat, too.
-
1:52 - 1:56We need these last wild places
to reconnect with who we really are. -
1:58 - 1:59We --
-
1:59 - 2:01all seven billion of us --
-
2:01 - 2:04must never forget
we are a biological species -
2:04 - 2:07forever bound to this
particular biological world. -
2:07 - 2:09Like the waves connected to the ocean,
-
2:09 - 2:11we cannot exist apart from it --
-
2:11 - 2:16a constant flow of atoms and energy
between individuals and species -
2:16 - 2:17around the world in a day
-
2:18 - 2:20and out into the cosmos.
-
2:21 - 2:25Our fates are forever connected
to the millions of species -
2:25 - 2:29we rely on directly
and indirectly every day. -
2:30 - 2:32Four years ago,
-
2:32 - 2:36it was declared that 50 percent
of all wildlife around the world -
2:36 - 2:38had disappeared in just 40 years.
-
2:40 - 2:43This is a mass drowning
of 15,000 wildebeests -
2:43 - 2:46that I witnessed
in the Maasai Mara two years ago. -
2:46 - 2:48This is definitely our fault.
-
2:49 - 2:54By 2020, global wildlife populations
are projected to have fallen -
2:54 - 2:56by a staggering two-thirds.
-
2:56 - 2:58We are the sixth extinction
-
2:58 - 3:01because we left no safe space
for millions of species -
3:01 - 3:03to sustainably coexist.
-
3:04 - 3:10Now, since 2010, I have poled myself
eight times across the Okavango Delta -
3:10 - 3:13to conduct detailed scientific surveys
-
3:13 - 3:16along a 200-mile,
18-day research transect. -
3:16 - 3:17Now, why am I doing this?
-
3:17 - 3:19Why am I risking my life each year?
-
3:19 - 3:21I'm doing this because
we need this information -
3:21 - 3:23to benchmark this near-pristine wilderness
-
3:23 - 3:25before upstream development happens.
-
3:26 - 3:31These are the Wayeyi river bushmen,
the people of the Okavango Delta. -
3:31 - 3:34They have taught me all I know
about the Mother Okavango -- -
3:34 - 3:36about presence in the wild.
-
3:36 - 3:40Our shared pilgrimage across
the Okavango Delta each year -
3:40 - 3:42in our mokoros or dugout canoes --
-
3:42 - 3:45remembers millenia living in the wild.
-
3:46 - 3:48Ten thousand years ago,
-
3:48 - 3:50our entire world was wilderness.
-
3:51 - 3:57Today, wilderness is all that remains
of that world, now gone. -
3:58 - 4:01Ten thousand years ago,
we were as we are today: -
4:01 - 4:05a modern, dreaming intelligence
unlike anything seen before. -
4:05 - 4:08Living in the wilderness
is what taught us to speak, -
4:08 - 4:11to seek technologies
like fire and stone, bow and arrow, -
4:11 - 4:13medicine and poison,
-
4:13 - 4:15to domesticate plants and animals
-
4:15 - 4:18and rely on each other
and all living things around us. -
4:18 - 4:21We are these last wildernesses --
-
4:21 - 4:22every one of us.
-
4:23 - 4:25Over 80 percent
of our planet's land surface -
4:25 - 4:28is now experiencing
measurable human impact: -
4:28 - 4:29habitat destruction
-
4:29 - 4:33and illegal wildlife trade are decimating
global wildlife populations. -
4:33 - 4:37We urgently need to create
safe space for these wild animals. -
4:38 - 4:40So in late 2014,
-
4:40 - 4:42we launched an ambitious
project to do just that: -
4:42 - 4:44explore and protect.
-
4:44 - 4:46By mid-May 2015,
-
4:46 - 4:49we had pioneered access
through active minefields -
4:49 - 4:51to the undocumented source lake
of the Cuito River -- -
4:51 - 4:54this otherworldly place;
-
4:54 - 4:56an ancient, untouched wilderness.
-
4:56 - 4:58By the 21st of May,
-
4:58 - 5:01we had launched
the Okavango megatransect ... -
5:01 - 5:03in seven dugout canoes;
-
5:03 - 5:071,500 miles, 121 days later,
-
5:07 - 5:09all of the poling, paddling
and intensive research -
5:09 - 5:13got us across the entire river basin
to Lake Xau in the Kalahari Desert, -
5:13 - 5:16480 kilometers past the Okavango Delta.
-
5:17 - 5:20My entire world became the water:
-
5:20 - 5:23every ripple, eddy,
lily pad and current ... -
5:24 - 5:26any sign of danger,
-
5:26 - 5:28every sign of life.
-
5:29 - 5:32Now imagine millions of sweat bees
choking the air around you, -
5:32 - 5:33flesh-eating bacteria,
-
5:33 - 5:37the constant threat
of a landmine going off -
5:37 - 5:39or an unseen hippo capsizing your mokoro.
-
5:39 - 5:42These are the scenes
moments after a hippo did just that -- -
5:42 - 5:44thrusting its tusks
through the hull of my boat. -
5:44 - 5:46You can see the two holes --
-
5:46 - 5:48puncture wounds in the base of the hull --
-
5:48 - 5:50absolutely terrifying
-
5:50 - 5:52and completely my fault.
-
5:52 - 5:53(Laughter)
-
5:53 - 5:55Many, many portages,
-
5:55 - 5:59tree blockages
and capsizes in rocky rapids. -
6:01 - 6:03You're living on rice and beans,
-
6:03 - 6:05bathing in a bucket of cold water
-
6:05 - 6:08and paddling a marathon
six to eight hours every single day. -
6:08 - 6:10After 121 days of this,
-
6:10 - 6:12I'd forgotten the PIN numbers
to my bank accounts -
6:12 - 6:14and logins for social media --
-
6:14 - 6:16a complete systems reboot.
-
6:16 - 6:19You ask me now if I miss it,
-
6:19 - 6:21and I will tell you I am still there.
-
6:22 - 6:24Now why do we need to save
places we hardly ever go? -
6:25 - 6:26Why do we need to save places
-
6:26 - 6:29where you have to risk
your life to be there? -
6:29 - 6:33Now, I'm not a religious
or particularly spiritual person, -
6:33 - 6:34but in the wild,
-
6:34 - 6:38I believe I've experienced
the birthplace of religion. -
6:38 - 6:41Standing in front of an elephant
far away from anywhere -
6:41 - 6:44is the closest I will ever get to God.
-
6:45 - 6:48Moses, Buddha, Muhammad, Jesus,
-
6:48 - 6:50the Hindu teachers, prophets and mystics,
-
6:50 - 6:51all went into the wilderness --
-
6:51 - 6:53up into the mountains, into the desert,
-
6:53 - 6:56to sit quietly and listen
for those secrets -
6:56 - 6:58that were to guide
their societies for millennia. -
6:58 - 7:01I go into the Okavango on my mokoro.
-
7:01 - 7:03You must join me one day.
-
7:05 - 7:08Over 50 percent of the remaining
wilderness is unprotected. -
7:08 - 7:10A huge opportunity --
-
7:10 - 7:11a chance for us all.
-
7:13 - 7:16We need to act with great urgency.
-
7:16 - 7:18Since the 2015 megatransect,
-
7:18 - 7:21we have explored all major rivers
of the Okavango River basin, -
7:21 - 7:25covering a life-changing 4,000 miles
of detailed research transects -
7:25 - 7:26on our dugout canoes
-
7:26 - 7:28and our fat-tire mountain bikes.
-
7:29 - 7:31We now have 57 top scientists
-
7:31 - 7:35rediscovering what we call
the Okavango-Zambezi water tower -- -
7:35 - 7:42this vast, post-war wilderness
with undocumented source lakes, -
7:42 - 7:46unnamed waterfalls in what is Africa's
largest remaining Miombo woodland. -
7:47 - 7:50We've now discovered
24 new species to science -
7:50 - 7:53and hundreds of species
not known to be there. -
7:53 - 7:56This year, we start the process,
with the Angolan government, -
7:56 - 8:00to establish one of the largest systems
of protected areas in the world -
8:00 - 8:03to preserve the
Okavango-Zambezi water tower -
8:03 - 8:04we have been exploring.
-
8:04 - 8:08Downstream, this represents
water security for millions of people -
8:08 - 8:11and more than half of the elephants
remaining on this planet. -
8:11 - 8:15There is no doubt this is the biggest
conservation opportunity in Africa -
8:15 - 8:17in decades.
-
8:17 - 8:18Over the next 10 to 15 years,
-
8:18 - 8:20we need to make
an unprecedented investment -
8:20 - 8:23in the preservation
of wilderness around the world. -
8:23 - 8:24To me,
-
8:25 - 8:29preserving wilderness is far more
than simply protecting ecosystems -
8:29 - 8:32that clean the water we drink
and create the air we breathe. -
8:33 - 8:37Preserving wilderness protects
our basic human right to be wild -- -
8:37 - 8:40our basic human rights to explore.
-
8:40 - 8:41Thank you.
-
8:41 - 8:48(Applause)
- Title:
- How we’re saving one of Earth’s last wild places
- Speaker:
- Steve Boyes
- Description:
-
Navigating territorial hippos and active minefields, TED Fellow Steve Boyes and a team of scientists have been traveling through the Okavango Delta, Africa's largest remaining wetland wilderness, to explore and protect this near-pristine habitat against the rising threat of development. In this awe-inspiring talk packed with images, he shares his work doing detailed scientific surveys in the hopes of protecting this enormous, fragile wilderness.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 09:01
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for How we're saving one of Earth's last wild places | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How we're saving one of Earth's last wild places | ||
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for How we're saving one of Earth's last wild places | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How we're saving one of Earth's last wild places | ||
Krystian Aparta accepted English subtitles for How we're saving one of Earth's last wild places | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for How we're saving one of Earth's last wild places | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for How we're saving one of Earth's last wild places | ||
Leslie Gauthier edited English subtitles for How we're saving one of Earth's last wild places |