NICK GARBUTT
INSPIRATION
© Nick Garbutt
www.nickgarbutt.com
B E
Eyes Wild Open Adult Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) at sunset. On tundra vegetation on shores of Hudson Bay, Canada. Digitally Modified.
Can you lend perspective on the far-reaching impact of humans on our wildlife (just how delicate is the balance)? If I look back at all the wonderful places I’ve been to watch and photograph wildlife, there are very few that are as good now as they were when I first experienced them. Whether the first experience was 15, 10 or even 5 years ago, the majority of locations have deteriorated in some way. And almost always the crucial factor is anthropogenic. It may be that the habitat has been degraded as population pressure has expanded, resources might have been exploited or that places have become a victims of their own success and now receive more visitors than they are realistically able to cope with, so the wildlife and wildlife watching is compromised.
I first visited Madagascar 20 years ago and have been every year subsequently. Forests I once walked in and watched lemurs and chameleons have now disappeared and been replaced by rice fields and barren ground. This is primarily a desperately poor rural population exploiting their environment in the only way they know how - to survive. How can you deny them putting food on their plates? So the forests that remain are shrinking further and becoming ever more isolated islands of habitat for the species that rely on them.
I wish I could offer a solution, but I can’t. Many people far more intelligent than I have tried to find long-term solutions and failed. That’s not to say we should stop trying. Quite the contrary. We should keep trying with ever increasing vigor, as the price of failure is too awful to contemplate.
Have you seen any evidence animals are adapting to climate change? Climate change is a subject I have mixed feelings about. There’s no denying it’s occurring, and occurring rapidly: the figures speak for themselves. But I remain less convinced about the underlying causes and still think its necessary to ask questions. I think too many arguments are constructed for political gain and to pedal fashionable political agendas.
There have been massive and repeated fluctuations in the earth climate over the millennia, with the causes being completely independent of human agency (because we either hadn’t evolved or hadn’t been around long enough to exert an influence). So many of today’s arguments appear to be constructed around records kept over the last 200 years at most – a mere blip in geological time. I think it’s dangerous to draw far-reaching conclusions based on data that represents a snap-shot. That said, it is very clear humans are contributing significantly to climate change and we do need to address this.
The plight of the Polar Bears around Hudson’s Bay in Canada is particularly worrying. The rate at which sea ice has melted over the past 30 years is staggering. This has effectively shortened the bear’s winter feeding season (when they’re on the frozen sea hunting seals) and extended their summer fasting season (when they’re on land waiting for the ice to reform). The result is bears gain less weight in the winter and have to survive for longer on their reserves. The obvious strain this causes means, for instance, females are less likely to raise cubs successfully and overall populations are declining. Bears are having to adapt and turn to alternatives – in some areas they now spend time ashore in the late summer feeding on berries and scavenging carrion – an their reliance on these resources is increasing.
How do you view your role in conservation? After I’d finish my research and academic studies, I worked for 3 years on international conservation projects and for a while saw this as the direction my career would take. Experiencing the ‘cutting edge’ of conservation first hand, has made me well aware of the many challenges that initiative face on a daily basis. For this reason I’ve always been pleased and proud to donate my images to conservation initiatives that I feel are soundly thought out, beneficial in the long-term and worthwhile not only for endangered species, but also local and indigenous communities.
“Good pictures do say more than a thousand words and never more so than when trying to convey the beauty, transience and fragility of an endangered species and the world’s wild places”.
Strong images can quickly convey a powerful conservation message. I firmly believe that the power and reach of photography is an important tool in promoting the plight of threatened species to the broadest audience and educating in potential ways human impact on the planet can be alleviated.
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