Rotary Peace Fellows - Making a Difference

While  in Bangkok at the World Peace Symposium I had the chance to meet and chat with Peace Scholars from around the world. Here are some thoughts from two of them.

The first is Gord Hughes, an RCMP officer from Spruce Grove, Alberta.

 The second is by Jane Murutu from Kenya.

World Peace Symposium - Bangkok, Thailand

2011 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Leymah Gbowee from Lilberia

Emmanuel Jel

When I signed up to attend the World Peace Symposium in Bangkok many months ago (I registered while still in Vancouver) to be honest I had no idea what to expect. My main area of interest has been conservation and sustainability rather than ‘peace’ per se but my experiences in Bangkok had a real impact on me.

There was a long list of outstanding speakers scheduled for the event (including last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee) but the World Peace Symposium started not with a speech but with the upbeat inspirational music of Emmanuel Jel. Emmanuel was born into turmoil in his home country of Sudan where at the age of seven he was recruited as a child soldier for the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement. He survived front line action and managed to escape against great odds enduring a three month trek on foot across the desert. Many of his young companions died on the journey. He was found or as he put it ‘rescued’ by a British Aid worker who smuggled him into Kenya where he was enrolled in school. He worked hard, learned to read and write and against all odds has developed into a world class international recording artist with a message of Peace.

With Steven Nakana

Emmanuel Jel is one example of how education contributes to a better world but he was not the only one I met at the symposium. In a breakout session discussing the topic of “conflicts in natural resource management” I heard the incredibly articulate Steven Nakana speak. Steven too was born into conflict and poverty in Africa but was given an opportunity to study as a boy. He is now is working on his PhD at University of California Berkeley. Education has such an important role in the future of the planet.

Angelique Kidjo

I was very much inspired by the words of Emmanuel and Steven as well as other speakers including Grammy Award winning musical artist Angelique Kidjo who, like Emmanuel, uses music to spread her message of Peace. In her own words, ‘music is for everyone. It’s not a matter of language, it’s not a matter of color, it’s not a matter of where you come from. It is the only thing, really basically, where everybody can come together and make a conversation’.

Through attending the World Peace Symposium I have a much greater understanding of, and appreciation for, the importance of ensuring we have peace in the world if we truly want a sustainable future. How can citizens be concerned about conservation or sustainability if they are involved in war or conflict and just trying to survive? When it comes down to basics we all want to put food on our tables and have a roof over our heads at night. If we have freedom, access to education and live in a time of peace then we can and hopefully will make the effort to care for the planet that sustains us.

My experiences in Bangkok remind me of the eloquent words of Bernard Ndaye, the geological engineer I met on a train in Zimbabwe in 2002 during the original Catt-Trax journey through Africa.

Xi’an China – Terracotta Warriors

Yesterday I went to visit one of China’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites – and after the Great Wall, perhaps the most famous one – the Terracotta Warriors.

In 1974 farmers digging a well happened upon a few terracotta figures in the dirt, all of them soldiers or warriors. Archaeologists were called in.

Research and further investigation unearthed approximately 6000 warriors (many more have not been dug up yet … and estimates are that there could be another 2000 or more soldiers still buried).

A busy day at the Terracotta Soldier Museum

Every one of them is unique and all are protecting the tomb of the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. So, this site is fact a mausoleum (burial place) of an emperor, not unlike India’s most famous mausoleum, the Taj Mahal.

Xi’an China – World Biodiversity Congress

I left Chengdu after the enlightening experience at the Moon Bear Rescue Centre and flew to Xian as I was scheduled to speak at the 1st World Biodiversity Congress the next day.

Speakers from around the world came to share their research and management findings with the intent of sharing learning related to Biodiversity Conservation around the world.

My contribution was a session on the role of education in Biodiversity Conservation where I related my experiences using online technology and social media to share learning related to conservation and sustainability through my Catt-Trax journeys.

My presentation abstract is as follows:

"Environmental education and advocacy play a critical role in promoting positive environmental and social change. In an ever changing world with an unprecedented rate of loss of biological diversity due to human activities, the role of education has never been as important as it is today. As a wildlife ecologist and photographer, I have tried to increase awareness and contribute to positive change by documenting and sharing the conservation related learning from my international travels to over 60 countries around the globe. In 2002, I carried out an educational journey through Africa (Catt-Trax) and in 2007 did a similar journey through South America and Antarctica (Catt-Trax 2). The conservation issues and successes that I encountered, shared electronically in real time via the internet, were followed by students and adults across Canada and around the world. The objective of the Catt-Trax journeys was to raise awareness of global conservation and sustainability issues using technology and media that would engage and excite concerned world citizens. From March to June, 2012, I am doing a Catt-Trax journey through Asia, this time using social media to share my experiences and learning to increase awareness of global issues and share the message that we can all contribute to biodiversity conservation and a more sustainable future."

The conference was great but I was only able to take in one day of the 4 day event. I was though able to take in talks on the ‘Commercialization of Wildlife in Australia’, 'Sustainable Communities in Utah', 'Invasive Species Management in the US' and also how climate change is influencing the spread of mosquito borne diseases to Europe (including Malaria)!

Musical Contribution by Daniel Stewart

A new musical contribution from an 'about to be' graduate of BCIT's Fish, Wildlife & Recreation program. Many thanks to Daniel Stewart for his wonderful contribution to Catt-Trax 3 :)

Monica Bando - Vet at the Moon Bear Rescue - making a difference

Gong Jien, Susan Xu, Moi and Monica Bando at the Moon Bear Rescue Facility

I asked Monica Bando, the Senior Veterinary Surgeon at the Moon Bear Rescue centre to describe why she does what she does.

 

 

Moon Bears & Traditional Chinese Medicine – Life in a Cage

Millions of people around the world (and particularly in Asia) have benefited from the thousands of years of learning that has gone into the development of traditional Chinese/Asian medicine (TCM). Although most people in the western world consider TCM as alternative medicine, it accounts for about 40% of the treatment s in China… and a large percentage throughout Asia.

Pickled Salamanders and Snakes available in Vietnam

Traditional Chinese Medicine includes things like acupuncture, massage and also the herbal remedies created through the use of plants and animals. Thousands of species of plants and fungi have been used to create remedies for everything from head colds to hemorrhoids. But it is not only plant parts that are used and  as a result there is a huge appetite to fill the demand for parts such as shark fins, deer antlers, rhinoceros horns and the bones and other body parts of mammals ranging from tigers to seahorses. While in Vietnam I saw stores selling living and dried snakes, seahorses, salamanders and pickled scorpions. All in the name of TCM.

But the animal part or product that makes me shudder is the continued use and demand for the bile from the gall bladders of bears.

Moon Bear in Bile Farm Cage

The gall bladders from wild Asian bears have been sought for use in medicines for centuries. But a practice that started only about 30 years ago is one that will likely disgust you.

Imagine for a moment (and please excuse my anthropomorphism) walking in a forest on a beautiful spring day – with fresh air, birds singing and you have that wonderful feeling of freedom.

Then imagine yourself being trapped in a snare, one so tight that despite all of your efforts you are not able to release yourself. Next you are taken (against your will) to a place where you are manhandled and shoved into a tiny cage … one so small that you are not able to turn around, wriggle … or even touch your hand  to your nose to scratch an  itch.

Rescued Moon Bear in Chengdu Facility

Next, a doctor (of sorts) slices you open to find your gall bladder and attaches a tube to siphon off the bile produced … drip by drip. You lay there in excruciating pain unable to move, being fed only enough to keep you alive, trapped motionless in a cage not for one month, not for one year, but for from 20 to 30 years… if you can survive!

This is exactly what is happening to Moon Bears (aka Asiatic Black Bears) in China and Korea (legally) as well as Vietnam (illegally).

The “bear farms” first came to be in the early 1980s in China and Korea. The argument for their creation was that they would reduce the number of wild bears being taken for their gall bladders and instead fill the huge demand for bear bile for an ever increasing human population that believes strongly in a TCM and the medical benefits of bear gall medical products.

It is believed that bile from the bear gall bladders can cure myriad conditions including liver problems, respiratory issues and hemorrhoids.

It is true that research has shown that some of these conditions can be improved with the use of bear bile … but the active ingredient has been synthesized (in Japan and Germany) and is readily available … but tradition has users wanting the real McCoy!

Because of this, the demand for bear bile continues and although some countries have banned the practice of bear farming it is still legal in China and Korea.

The Moon Bear Rescue Facility in Chengdu, operated by Animals Asia, was created in 1993, by Animals Asia Founder and CEO Jill Robinson to rescue bears from Chinese bear bile farms and to increase awareness of the inhumanity of the practice.

There are about 150 adult bears at the rescue centre cared for by vets from overseas and their Chinese support team. It was extremely sad to see some of the bears, who stayed in their cages despite having the opportunity to leave … walking in a small circle continuously …around and around and around … due to psychological damage caused by life in a cage.

But, at the same time it was heart-warming to watch dozens of other bears playing and wrestling with each other, swimming in a bear pool or lazing in the sun... with the freedom to move around their pens.

I was also so impressed by the commitment of the vet team that come from around the world to contribute their knowledge and expertise to making the lives of these rescued bears better.

A huge thank you Gong Jien, Susan Xiu & JingJing Chen at the Moon Bear Rescue

I asked Monica Bando, the senior vet surgeon at the Moon Bear Rescue centre to describe why she does what she does.  (see my next post).

For more information check out: www.animalsasia.org.cn