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Förord av Jane Goodall
Foreword
When I was a child, I learned about the world from books. I read about far away places and dreamed of one day living in Africa and learning about animals.
Today, despite the advent of mass travel, TV and the internet, books still play a very important role. We can hold onto them, lay them on our coffee tables, display them in our bookshelves – look through them in front of a fire in winter or read them in bed at night.
In Tamarinerna - regnskogens lejon Tom Svensson shares with us a collection of amazing photographs of endangered animals. Through these pictures and his words he enables us to see and marvel at these animals, and at the same time increases our awareness of the threats faced by these and other living creatures.
We have only one world, Planet Earth. Yet we are mindlessly destroying her resources through poverty (the poor cut down trees to try to grow crops to feed their starving families), selfishness (the elite take far more than their fair share of natural resources in their desire to acquire more, and ever more stuff – stuff they do not need.) We are poisoning the air, water and land. The signs of climate change are everywhere. And our human populations grow, encroaching into the last wild places and leaving less space for the other animals of the planet.
We must learn to live in greater harmony with Mother Nature, treat her with love and respect. The problems we face today are, indeed, great and for this reason many people feel helpless and so do nothing. Yet if we would think of the consequences of our choices each day – what we eat or wear, how it was grown, from where it came, the ethics of its production, and so much else – we shall begin to make changes in our life style. And even small changes make a difference.
If every one of us just makes some effort to live a more sustainable life, it will be important. For thousands, millions of small actions will lead to the major changes needed to save species and their habitats and improve human life. To create a better world for our children, grandchildren and theirs.
Tom is one of those people who wants to help change the world. The pages of this book bring to life some of the less well known species of animals that are highly endangered, each of which plays its own role in the scheme of things, each of which is precious. And we realize how important it is to save them.
I know that you will love this book. Please buy it and share it with your family. And urge your friends to buy it too.
Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE,
UN Messenger of Peace
Not:
Dr Jane Goodall är världen främsta inom bevarandebiologi
samt studier av chimpanser. Hon studerade dem
i över 44 år. Hon fick oss att ändra synen på hur dessa
människoapor lever och hur de använder redskap, deras
beteende och familjestruktur. Idag driver hon bland
annat ett projekt som heter Root & Shoots, som får
unga att försöka bevara naturen. Hon reser 300 dagar
per år för att få människor att förstå att vi måste göra
något annars tar vi död på vår egen jord.
Förord av Bengt Holst
Foreword
The little spedboat slowly approaches the beach after more than one hours ride from the mainland. A group of dolphins have followed the boat for the last couple of minutes, and fregatebirds dive into the water one by one after having soared for some time watching for prey. The water is still, and the sun is shining from a clear, blue sky.
The closer we get to the island the more spectacular the sight. A long, broad beach with the finest white sand welcomes us, and behind that the forest. We approach a little village, the motor is turned off, and we can hear the silence. Only the waves break the silence, and now and then a bird. It feels like paradise, a marvelous place for people who want to get away from the city and the daily stress, and just want to relax. We are on Superagui Island at the border between Sao Paulo State and Parana State in Brazil – the kingdom of the rare Black-faced Lion tamarin.
This was the scenario that met me during my first visit to the Black-faced Lion Tamarin ten years ago, less than ten years after its discovery. An adventure island with one of the rarest primates in the world. I was more than excited, and reality fully lived up to my expectations. I saw a group of black-faced Lion tamarins already the next morning as they ran out of their sleeping hole in a tree, 8 meter above the ground. It was just a short glimpse, but enough to see their beauty and their agility. I have since then visited the island several times and have had the opportunity to follow groups for longer time and am as fascinated as the first time.
But there is always a snake in paradise. When the Black-faced Lion Tamarin was discovered in 1991 it was already critically endangered. With an estimated population of only 3-400 living in a very restricted area the future certainly did not look bright. Its habitat was slowly disappearing due to logging, tourist interests threatened to take over part of its distribution area, and poverty among the local people made these threats even bigger. And if it hadn’t been for a group of dedicated conservationists from IPÊ (Institute for Biological Research, Brazil) the species could actually have disappeared close to the turn of the millennium.
Fortunately this didn’t happen. Instead we have witnessed a true success story – a story about how a very few people in cooperation with the local community can change not only the future for an animal species, but also improve the living of the local people. This is a true win-win situation, and a story that must be told over and over again. Only by telling the story and by making people aware of the treasure we are about to lose if we do not take action we can hope that future generations also will have the opportunity to experience this magnificent species in its natural habitat.
As I write these lines dedicated researchers from various universities in Brazil are working in the forest of Superagui Island together with the local people of to ensure the future of the species. Researchers and their field assistants from the local community study the behavior and ecology of the tamarins in order to be able to make the right conservation priorities for the species. Educators teach the children about the values of nature and go to village meetings to tell the story to the community as a whole. The research team from ÎPE assists the women in the community to develop their own handicraft industry that can raise the annual income of the households, so that they do not need to invite tourists to come to the island etc. etc.. All with the one goal: to save the future of the Black-faced Lion Tamarin and its natural habitat.
When Tom Svensson a little more than a year ago asked me if I knew of some places where he could make use of his great photo skills for conservation I immediately thought of the Black-faced Lion Tamarins of Superagui Island. Apart from the real experience nothing is as appealing as good photos combined with a good text. Tom has used his camera to document the beauties of this species, and I can only hope that the book will reach a very broad audience and that it will fascinate the readers as much as the Lion Tamarins have fascinated me during the years. Nature needs our support. Let’s provide that support through projects like this.
Bengt Holst
May 2009
Not:
Bengt Holst är vetenskaplig direktör på Köpenhamns
Zoo. Han är även ordförande för CBSG (Conservation
Breeding Specialist Group) och är en av världens främsta
inom bevarandebiologi. Han arbetar också mycket
aktivt för tamarinerna och då främst svarthuvad lejontamarin
där han varit med och gjort en stor skillnad.
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