The Old Diocesan Issue 10 - Magazine - Page 48
FORCE FOR GOOD
types of agricultural systems that
are destroying the planet. It’s like
Earth is alive, but on a drip.
We are not exempt from
planetary forces. No amount
of money or human ingenuity
is going to change the forces that
will eventually play themselves
out on humans. If you go back
and look at human societies that
have existed before us, all have
collapsed. Once you get beyond
what I refer to as the collective
momentum of humanity, no
individual or nation can sway
the decision-making process, so we
don’t reach consensus on anything.
I was talking to my son about the
Rugby World Cup, and he said, “Do
you think there will ever be a time
when there’s no more sport?” Given
the carbon footprint of international
sport, it’s an interesting question.
What are the radical ideas we
should think about if we really
want to change behaviour?
What your son is challenging
is that collective momentum
of humanity, and how difficult
it is to bring about change. In the
book, I talk about factors that
inhibit change. First, we have this
utterly incongruous ethic that says
markets and financial value dictate
the way we view the environment.
We’re told that wilderness will be
judged on the same merits as a
mine or a golf estate. “If it pays,
it stays” is the maxim of the
instrumentalists. If this remains
the status quo, there’s no hope.
We have to understand the
intrinsic nature of our world.
Another factor is education.
My child is 16, but by the time
he was 10, he had already learnt
how to destroy the environment.
He’s learnt about mining and
agriculture, and shipping and
fishing industries. He’s learnt
about GDP-based economics, but
he has no concept of ecosystem
services or planetary boundaries.
He knows that the Amazon jungle
is the lungs of the earth, and that
deforestation is a problem – but
he’s not learning how to restore
the planet and why it is absolutely
vital for his survival.
We watch wildlife documentaries
that present the natural world in a
way that’s articulate and complex.
But when I take my students to the
sewage works at Strandfontein, they
are alarmed by their environment.
It’s an amazing space, yet they
don’t know it exists. I ask them what
happens when they flush the toilet. It
ends up here – but the reality of that
ecosystem is quite foreign to them.
Again, I come back to education.
In the 1970s and ’80s we started
becoming fully aware of what was
going on, but our messaging was
around single, charismatic species
– whales, gorillas, pandas. It was
only in the ’90s that we realised
saving individual species without
saving their ecosystems is pointless.
It requires a holistic approach.
It’s a paradox in SA that we are
concerned about species decline
but have more land set aside for
conservation than ever before. We
practise “fortress conservation”,
fencing out people – but there’s an
increasing move towards a convivial
model, where we learn to live with
wild animals rather than fencing
them off. Was your journey with Ian
BLOOD LIONS
bloodlions.org
Ian (right) heads a safari company that runs trips to 16 countries across Africa.
Here he is leading a 10-day walking expedition across the Okavango Delta.
44 | THE OLD DIOCESAN
The 2015 film, featuring
Ian and directed by Bruce
Young and Nick Chevallier,
became a global sensation,
playing at festivals around
the world. It has since become
the fulcrum for opposition
to the predator breeding and
“canned lion” hunting industry,
an extraordinary example of
impact. Blood Lions is now
prescribed in curricula around
the world – and just after our
conversation, Ian travelled to
Interlochen Center for the
Arts in Michigan, where he
presented the film to students.