A Window into One of
the World’s Most
Diverse Habitats
Gorongosa National Park,
Mozambique
From Edward O. Wilson, one of
the world’s leading naturalists,
A Window on Eternity is the
remarkable story of how one of the
most biologically diverse habitats
in the world was
destroyed, restored, and
continues to evolve.
“It is one thing to draw a line around a beautiful area, declare it a national
park, then add the amenities necessary to serve the public. It is entirely
another thing, at a higher order of magnitude, to restore a damaged park
to its original health and vibrancy.”
“Might it be that the smartest animals
learn more quickly how to deal with
humans, in clever and opportunistic
ways?”
“Those untrained in such matters, which includes almost all the rest of us, think of animal dung, if
we think about any of it at all (as when scraping it off our shoes), as just a smell mess to be
avoided. But for countless small animals [it] is a treasure, a source of life.”
“Crocodiles and hippopotamus congregate close together. The adults of
both species are formidable giants, each capable of mortal danger to the
other. Perhaps the almost intimate coexistence of the two giants illustrates
a principle of evolutionary biology: size counts.”
“Elephants are highly intelligent animals, and relationships among the members of the
clans are intimate and long remembered. With natural lifespans of half a century or
longer, and legendary memories, they remember the horrors inflicted by humans on
foot and from motor vehicles.”
“People are mostly safe amid what remains of the living nature. We
conquered all the man-eaters long ago by destroying almost all of the big
predators willing and able to hunt humans.”
“Social insects are the most spectacular in all the great faunas
on the land. Their species variously build cities, raise gardens, and conduct
endless wars to acquire territory or capture slaves. The wars they
conduct are worthy of Homer.”
“Given that we have scarcely begun to understand the origin and meaning of
our own species, how can we hope by any easy means to master the rest of the living world?”
“The balance of nature in every ecosystem is thus an equilibrium teetering on a razor’s
edge. Even small changes in the environment can tip it enough to extinguish species.”
“Humans come first, of course.
But shouldn’t the rest of life
and the quality of human life
dependent on the rest of life be
entered into the equation? Put
another way,
do we wish future generations
to think we were insane or
perhaps criminally stupid?”
“I believe that the 10 billion people expected to be present at the end
of the century would enjoy a far better quality of life if we considered
half of the planet for nature than if we consumed nature entirely.”
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@EOWilsonFndtn
Get a copy of
A Window on Eternity
